9529656 Villagr=E1n This Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) Start-Up Grant Phase I proposal will support two workshops, which have the following goals: linking the research activities of the principal paleoenvironmental research centers of southern South America; integrating different sources of proxy data for paleoclimatic reconstructions; and evaluating the effects of climate variability on the major ecosystems of the region. The workshop will bring together researchers from the paleobotanical and palynological laboratories of several universities located in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, recognized scientists from selected South American institutions, and representatives from the main dendroclimatological institutions of the region. In addition, in order to promote future academic interaction among the institutions involved in this proposal, graduate students whose research deals with paleoenvironmental questions will be invited to the workshop. The following topics will be covered at the workshops: the relationships between proxy data and climate in subtropical-temperate ecosystems in southern South America and their values as analogs for interpretation of past paleoenvironmental changes; the evaluation of methods from different proxy data sources; field trips to select study sites; the determination of taxa to be studied; the design of research strategies and an academic exchange program; and the development of an IAI Phase II proposal with the purpose of predicting the possible effects of global changes on the ecosystems of southern South America. This project will contribute to the ongoing work of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme's Past Global Changes (IGBP/PAGES) and Pole-Equator-Pole (IGBP/PEP-I) projects. %%% This Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) Start-Up Grant Phase I proposal will support two workshops, which have the following goals: linking the research activities of the principal paleoenvironmental research centers of southern South America; integrating different sources of proxy data for paleoclimatic reconstructions; and evaluating the effects of climate variability on the major ecosystems of the region. The workshop will bring together researchers from the paleobotanical and palynological laboratories of several universities located in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, recognized scientists from selected South American institutions, and representatives from the main dendroclimatological institutions of the region. In addition, in order to promote future academic interaction among the institutions involved in this proposal, graduate students whose research deals with paleoenvironmental questions will be invited to the workshop. Considering the limited availability of emerged lands in the southern hemisphere, paleoenvironmental proxy data from southern South America are unique sources of information for understanding the dynamics of global change. Antarctic ice records and records for the last glaciation from the surrounding oceans document changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation patters, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and some of the possible mechanisms of abrupt climatic change. Furthermore, several paleoenvironmental records document the history of ecosystem changes as a consequence of climate. Additionally, along with natural vegetation changes, man has become a landscape-transforming agent which is as strong as, or stronger than, climate. This proposal will make use of paleoclimatic-biological indicators of different temporal and spatial resolutions which have the potential to become excellent tools to evaluate the impact of climatic variability and anthropogenic disturbance on southern South American ecosystems, and provide a perspective for the prediction of future changes. This proposal assembles a team of scientists from the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. These countries are Member States of the IAI, an initiative to stimulate cooperative research on g lobal change issues among the scientific institutions of the Americas. The National Science Foundation is the designated U.S. Government agency to carry our the Unites States responsibilities within the IAI. ***
