Summary of System-Wide Questions
The overarching research question of the project is:
What is the magnitude and nature of the interaction between land use and climate change at regional and local scales?
The sub-research questions addressing the components and linkages, include:
- Global to regional links: Is global climate change discernibly
affecting regional climate, and if so, how? What are the current and near
term climate variability trends, such as the frequency and intensity of
droughts, floods and El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and how
are they influenced by large-scale climate phenomena?
- Regional climate to productivity: Does the
composition and distribution of natural and agro-ecosystems change
with past and future climate change? How might the spatial and temporal
dynamics of natural and agro-ecosystems affect net primary productivity
(NPP)?
- Productivity to use: How will changes in natural
and agricultural productivity affect land use practices and patterns? What
aspects of climate change are most likely to affect individual and community
decisions regarding their land use? How will different livelihood systems respond?
- Use to cover: What intensity of land use change significantly affects land cover?
- Cover to climate: How sensitive is regional climate
to alterations of land cover? What degree of conversion of land cover, such as
from bush to crops or forest to crops, is required to alter biophysical parameters
that link to regional climate? What spatial extent of land cover change is
required before the climate is affected?
By addressing
the above research questions, the project will contribute to a broader
understanding of interactions between physical and human processes in
tropical regions.
