NSF Org:	RISE Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research (ICER)
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO
Initial Amendment Date:	August 26, 2013
Latest Amendment Date:	August 26, 2013
Award Number:	1313761
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Sarah Ruth sruth@nsf.gov  (703)292-7594 RISE  Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research (ICER) GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	September 1, 2013
End Date:	March 31, 2015 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$1,364,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$1,364,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2013 = $200,053.00
History of Investigator:	Jiquan Chen (Principal Investigator) jqchen@msu.edu Yaoqi Zhang (Co-Principal Investigator) Ranjeet John (Co-Principal Investigator) Henry Kinnucan (Co-Principal Investigator) Deirdre Jones (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Toledo 2801 W BANCROFT ST TOLEDO OH  US  43606-3328 (419)530-2844
Sponsor Congressional District:	09
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Toledo 2801 W Bancroft St Toledo OH  US  43606-3390
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	09
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	XA77NAJYELF1
Parent UEI:	EWRDP9YCDDH5
NSF Program(s):	DYN COUPLED NATURAL-HUMAN
Primary Program Source:	01001314DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	1691, 9169, 9186, 9278, EGCH
Program Element Code(s):	169100
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

The Mongolian Plateau includes two regions with similar ecological systems but contrasting socioeconomic systems: Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. The Plateau has increasingly received worldwide attention due its rapid biophysical and socioeconomic changes. Building upon intensive previous work in the region, the purpose of this study is to bring together a multidisciplinary research team to examine and model the changes of the natural and human systems on the Plateau as well as the critical feedbacks between them over recent decades. The project team hypothesizes that while climate change has created pressure on ecosystems and societies in the Plateau, the distinct socioeconomic conditions and development paths of the different administrative units involved have also had a significant effect on the relationships and feedbacks within the human and natural systems. The team will also test the hypothesis that the human influences on the systems exceeded those of the biophysical changes but the significance varies in time, location, and ecological setting. The five major underlying processes studied for the natural systems will include the changes in water fluxes, radiation, soil heat fluxes, primary production, and carbon loss, while the five processes for the human systems are economic growth, population growth, urbanization, technology advancement, and lifestyle change. The system functions and changes will be examined by the life expectancy index, income index, education index, net primary production, evapotranspiration, and ecosystem carbon loss. More importantly, the project team will focus on the relationships between these functions, such as the productivity vs. income index. The connection between the human and natural systems will be viewed through the lens of land use cover and land use change. The progression of causes and consequences will be examined at various levels through three tasks: 1) modeling household behaviors and surrounding ecosystems; 2) studying divergent trajectories for Mongolian systems from past to future; and 3) understanding the vulnerabilities within the system and possible future adaptation strategies toward a sustainable Plateau. The multiple dimensions of the systems will be integrated together systemically, holistically, and across disciplines.

The results of this study will have global implications, especially to this and other regions that are vulnerable to climate and socioeconomic changes. The project will strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration between ecology, economics, anthropology, sociology, and demography and will provide a great opportunity for junior scholars as well as graduate students to conduct interdisciplinary research. Data and findings will be disseminated through a series of transformative activities that benefit the people on the Plateau, students in the US, China, and Mongolia, the scientific community, and stakeholders and policymakers worldwide. Recognizing past difficulties in accessing the data for the Plateau, the project team will first develop a comprehensive database that can be shared with the entire scientific community. Intensive training classes and cross-campus courses will be made available through a virtual classroom using state-of-the-art cyber technology to link researchers and students in the US, Inner Mongolia, and Mongolia. Researchers will deliver invited guest lectures at least twice per term via the virtual classroom and students from the participating universities will be simultaneously exposed to diverse views from each other?s institutions. These lectures will also be openly available to other institutions.

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