CNH: Collaborative Research: Coupled Natural Human Systems in the Chicago Wilderness: Evaluating the Biodiversity and Social Outcomes of Different Models of Restoration Planning

都市地区频繁发生的人为干扰对具有高保护价值的城市生境的管理提出了重大挑战。通常，这些地区需要积极、持续的管理干预，通常以恢复活动的形式（例如，清除入侵物种，使用规定的火），以实现为其设定的生物多样性保护目标。芝加哥荒野是一个由240多个组织组成的联盟，其主要目标是保护、恢复和管理大芝加哥地区36万英亩受保护开放空间的生物多样性。本研究将以芝加哥荒野的林地和稀树草原为模型，研究在复杂的大都市景观中，恢复和保护规划过程如何影响生物多样性的结果。将利用几种相关的研究方法，包括开发模型来探索不同群体之间的相互作用如何导致不同的恢复和管理实践，以及这些实践如何影响生物多样性的结果。记录整个芝加哥地区林地和稀树草原恢复地点的生物多样性结果范围，将允许测试关于恢复规划过程的不同模式（传统、共同管理、基层）与生物多样性之间关系的假设。因此，该项目将通过规划过程研究人类对城市环境中生物多样性的影响，以及这些生物多样性结果对人类社会不同成员的相互影响。该项目将使人们更加了解保护管理规划与其实施所产生的生物多样性成果之间的联系。该项目将产生与保护具有全球意义的栖息地（如橡树稀树草原、橡树林地和高草草原）相关的结果，同时加强对机构应对平衡多个目标和将异质信息来源纳入规划过程的挑战的理解。研究结果将广泛适用于美国和世界其他复杂的大都市景观。博士后学者和本科生将接受跨学科研究项目的指导和培训。

The frequency of human-caused disturbance in metropolitan areas imposes significant challenges to the management of urban habitats of high conservation value. Typically these areas require active, sustained management intervention, usually in the form of restoration activities (e.g., removal of invasive species, use of prescribed fire), in order to realize the biodiversity conservation objectives set for them. Chicago Wilderness is a consortium of over 240 organizations that has as its primary goal the conservation, restoration and management of biodiversity on 360,000 acres of protected open space in the greater Chicago area. This research will use ongoing efforts in the woodlands and savannas of Chicago Wilderness as a model for investigating how the restoration and conservation planning process affects biodiversity outcomes in complex metropolitan landscapes. Several related research approaches will be utilized, including development of models to explore how interactions among different constituencies may lead to different restoration and management practices, and in turn, how these practices affect biodiversity outcomes. Documenting the range of biodiversity outcomes in woodland and savanna restoration sites across the Chicago region will permit a test of hypotheses about the relationship between distinct models of the restoration planning process (traditional, co-management, grassroots) and biodiversity. Thus, the project will research the impact of humans, via the planning process, on biodiversity in an urban context, and also the reciprocal influence of these biodiversity outcomes on different members of the human community. The project will add to knowledge of the connections between conservation management planning and the biodiversity results that emerge from its implementation. The project will generate results relevant to the conservation of habitats of global significance (e.g. oak savanna, oak woodlands, and tallgrass prairie) while simultaneously enhancing the understanding of institutional responses to the challenges of balancing multiple objectives and incorporating heterogeneous sources of information into the planning process. The results will be broadly applicable to other complex metropolitan landscapes throughout the U.S. and the world. Postdoctoral scholars and undergraduates will be mentored and trained in this interdisciplinary research project.