Central Arizona-Phoenix LTER: Phase 2

CAP-2计划扩大对亚利桑那州中部和凤凰城的长期研究，凤凰城是一个沙漠地区，在经历快速城市化和人口增长的同时，支持农业和城市/郊区的土地利用。CAP研究生态变化的人类驱动因素和反馈。以前的工作集中在城市化模式和过程改变城市生态条件和周围环境，以及生态反馈-社会系统相互作用的中心主题。CAPP-2将该计划重组为五个新的综合项目区(IPA)，以帮助明确纳入社会经济驱动因素和反馈：1)土地利用和土地覆盖变化，2)气候和生态系统动态，3)水政策，使用和供应，4)物质流动和社会生态系统反应，5)人类对生物多样性的控制。在第一次履约协助方案试点项目期间，确立了长期监测、试验、信息管理、现场管理、网络参与和教育/外联的运作方式。在第二次履约协助方案中继续开展的项目包括：对整个履约协助方案的200个地点进行长期监测；土地利用的历史分析；土地复盖分类；记录土地复盖和利用的变化；城市上方和下方的河流监测；以及建立深入的气候、生态和社会调查和实验的密集地点。将继续进行三个长期试验，并启动第四个试验(沿沉积梯度的长期因子N+P施肥)。最近建立的北大漠村落“实验郊区”将是此类实验研究的第一个，它将对植被类型和灌溉方法进行操作，并在邻里尺度上研究人与生态环境的相互作用。更广泛的影响。拟议的履约协助方案项目的更广泛影响包括：1)提高科学和社会对城市生态的形象和认识，2)促进各级教育和宣传，3)为迅速变化的社会生态系统编制和维护一个全面、长期的生态和社会变量数据库，以及4)促进与社区和政府决策者的知识交流。生态探索者，CAP LTER的K-12教育推广计划，将继续增长，同时保持现有计划的多样性，并努力在全区范围内采用生态探索者课程。引入了两个新的计划来促进本科生的参与，包括研究学者社区和实习生社区。CAP LTER参与者制定了亚利桑那州立大学城市生态学IGERT项目，并将继续支持毕业生参与研究，为CAP-2的独立研究引入夏季支持。信息管理将继续开发创新的新技术，以保持履约协助方案长期数据库的完整性和可访问性。最后，在知识交流方面，长期教育方案将继续与与城市环境有关的科学政策宣传方面的几个相关项目和倡议合作。

CAP-2 proposes to extend long-term study of central Arizona and metropolitan Phoenix, a desert region supporting agricultural and urban/suburban land uses while undergoing rapid urbanization and population growth. CAP studies human drivers and feedbacks of ecological change. Previous work concentrated on the central themes of urbanization patterns and processes altering the city's ecological conditions and surrounding environment, and ecological feedback-social system interactions. CAP-2 reorganizes the program into five new Integrative Project Areas (IPAs) to aid in the explicit inclusion of socioeconomic drivers and feedbacks: 1) land-use and land-cover change, 2) climate and ecosystem dynamics, 3) water policy, use and supply, 4) material flux and socio-ecosystem response, and 5) human control of biodiversity. The modus operandi for long-term monitoring, experiments, information management, site management, network participation and education/outreach was established during CAP-1 pilot projects. Projects continued into CAP-2 include: long-term monitoring at 200 sites across CAP; historical analyses of land use; classification of land cover; documentation of change in land cover and use; river monitoring above and below the city; and establishment of intensive sites for in-depth climatic, ecological, and social surveys and experiments. Three long-term experiments will be continued and a fourth initiated (a long-term factorial N+P fertilization along a deposition gradient). The recently established North Desert Village "experimental suburb" will be the first experimental study of its kind, with manipulations of vegetation types and irrigation methods alongside examination of people-ecological environment interactions at the neighborhood scale. Broader Impacts. The broader impacts of the proposed CAP project include: 1) raising the profile and awareness of urban ecology in both science and society, 2) contributing to education and outreach at all levels, 3) producing and maintaining a comprehensive, long-term database of ecological and social variables for a rapidly changing socio-ecosystem, and 4) promoting knowledge exchange with community and governmental decision makers. Ecology Explorers, CAP LTER's K-12 education-outreach program, will see continued growth while maintaining its existing diversity of programs and working toward district-wide adoption of the Ecology Explorers curriculum. Two new programs are introduced to promote undergraduate involvement, including the Communities of Research Scholars and Interns. CAP LTER participants developed the ASU IGERT program in urban ecology and will continue to support graduate participation in research, introducing summer support for independent research in CAP-2. Information management will continue to develop innovative new techniques to preserve the long-term integrity and accessibility of the CAP LTER database. Finally, for knowledge exchange, CAP LTER will continue to partner with several related projects and initiatives in science-policy outreach relating to the urban environment.