ULTRA-Ex: Connectivity Along Urban Rivers: A Keystone Process for Urban Ecosystems

城市流域代表了河流及其海岸线内的水和物质流动与管理土地和河流本身的人类组织之间的复杂互动。虽然流域分析显示了城市化如何改变河流及其附近的水质、水流和生态，以及城市人口如何评估、使用和管理河流，但很少有研究考察城市河流系统的生态或组织连通性。城市流域内生态和组织连通性的模式可以分析为网络及其结构，然后进行比较，以更动态地理解人类和生态过程的复杂相互作用。该项目将研究新泽西州高度城市化的拉赫威河小流域，并通过对政府机构和非政府组织的研究，通过研究种子的传播和运输以及组织的连通性来衡量生态连通性。具体的假设涉及加强或限制社会和生态连通性的因素，这些因素将通过对公民和决策者的采访以及沿河流系统的生态采样进行检验。将进行网络分析，以了解连接的类型，包括连接中断或故障，并分析生态网络和组织网络的一致性。该项目将为基础自然科学和社会科学以及城市流域的管理作出贡献。在这种情况下，网络分析还没有应用于综合的社会和自然科学数据。一致性分析将是理解相互关联的社会和生态系统的新的和重要的贡献。该项目还将为土地管理者提供一个基础，以加强加强生态连接所需的跨司法管辖区的组织联系。该项目的理论和应用两个方面都将为今后更全面的城市小流域治理工作奠定基础。

Urban watersheds represent complex interactions between the flow of water and materials within a river and its shoreline and the human organizations that manage both the land and the river itself. While watershed analyses have demonstrated how urbanization alters water quality, water flow and the ecology in and adjacent to rivers, as well as how urban populations value, use and manage rivers, there has been little research examining either ecological or organizational connectivity along urban river systems. The patterns of both ecological and organizational connectivity within an urban watershed can be analyzed as networks and their structures then compared to produce a more dynamic understanding of the complex interplay of human and ecological processes. This project will examine the small, highly urban, Rahway River watershed in New Jersey and measure ecological connectivity through a study of seed dispersal and transport and organizational connectivity through a study of government agencies and non-governmental organizations. Specific hypotheses address factors that enhance or limit social and ecological connectivity that will be tested through interviews of citizens and decision makers and ecological sampling along the river system. Network analyses will be conducted to understand the types of connectivity, including interruptions or failures of connectivity, and analyze the congruence of the ecological and organizational networks. This project will contribute to both basic natural and social science, as well as to the management of urban watersheds. Network analysis has not been applied to integrated social and natural scientific data in such settings. The analyses of congruence will be novel and important contributions to understanding linked social and ecological systems. The project will also provide a basis for land managers to strengthen organizational connections across jurisdictions needed to enhance ecological connectivity. Both the theoretical and applied aspects of the project will establish a foundation for more comprehensive work on the management of small urban watersheds in the future.