9529399 Perillo This proposal is for a series of three workshops which have the purpose of beginning preparations for an international system for the integrated study of estuaries within the IAI region, establishing the basis for a structured estuarine management system, and defining specific temperate coast estuaries where comprehensive, multidisciplinay investigations will be proposed for IAI Phase II. The goals of the workshop are the following: to integrate researchers with common estuary interests; to define the elements of an estuary management system; to establish common methodologies that can be used in all regions, emphasizing measurements that can be made by low budget research groups; to define the characteristics of representative estuary systems; and to form groups to develop an IAI Phase II proposal to initiate research in those systems. The Phase II proposal will address setting up an international IAI estuary study system which will be composed of a pool of experts that can devote their attention to problems in any IAI country. The Phase II will establish the basis of an estuary management system to be used in all countries and will select several temperate estuaries as representative systems and design the research that will be carried out on those systems. %%% This proposal is for a series of three workshops which have the purpose of beginning preparations for an international system for the integrated study of estuaries within the Americas, establishing the basis for a structured estuarine management system, and defining specific temperate coast estuaries where comprehensive, multidisciplinary investigations will be proposed for IAI Phase II. The Phase II program will develop a comprehensive multidisciplinary investigation combining both long term monitoring and intensive sampling strategies on each of the selected estuaries by an international team. This will allow for the testing of new instrumentation, new field methodologies and will also provide a training gro und for groups willing to develop projects for studying estuaries in their own country. The ultimate goal of Phases I and II is to provide decision makers with the basic elements for them to evaluate and to make decisions and to take actions in order to prevent harmful effects of climate change on their respective country's estuaries, the population and biota associated with them, and the general economic welfare of the region. This proposal brings together participants from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, the United States, and Uruguay. These countries are Member States of the IAI, an initiative to stimulate cooperative research on global change issues in the Americas. The National Science Foundation is the designated U.S. Government to carry out U.S. responsibilities within the IAI. ***
