Collaborative Research: Ecological Homogenization of Urban America

在美国，城市、郊区和远郊环境是重要的生态系统，其范围正在扩大。野生生态系统或管理生态系统向城市生态系统的转变导致了城市生态系统的同质化，在美国不同地区的社区有着相似的道路、住宅用地、商业区和水生特征。本文还提供了资金来验证这种均质化改变生态结构和与生态系统碳氮动态相关的功能的假设，并具有大陆尺度的影响。该研究将为理解从地方到大陆尺度的城市土地利用变化的影响提供一个框架。该研究涵盖了涵盖美国主要气候区域（凤凰城，亚利桑那州，迈阿密，佛罗里达州，巴尔的摩，马里兰州，波士顿，马萨诸塞州，圣保罗，MN和洛杉矶）的六个大都市统计区（MSA）的家庭调查和区域尺度遥感数据集，以确定家庭特征如何与当地，区域和大陆尺度的景观决策，土地管理实践和生态结构和功能相关联。这项研究将改变对一种重要且日益常见的生态系统类型（“郊区”）的科学认识，以及在多个尺度上对碳储存和氮污染的影响。此外，它将促进对人类如何感知、重视和管理周围环境的理解。该奖项将利用与正在进行的LTER和/或ULTRA-EX项目相关的广泛的、多规模的教育和推广计划。活动包括K-12教育和向社区团体、城市/区域规划者、自然历史博物馆、州和地方机构以及非政府组织提供服务。研究生将参加由NCEAS和明尼苏达大学环境研究所共同发起的可持续性科学分布式研究生研讨会。

Urban, suburban and exurban environments are important ecosystems and their extent is increasing in the U.S. The conversion of wild or managed ecosystems to urban ecosystems is resulting in ecosystem homogenization across cities, where neighborhoods in very different parts of the country have similar patterns of roads, residential lots, commercial areas and aquatic features. Funds are provided to test the hypothesis that this homogenization alters ecological structure and functions relevant to ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics, with continental scale implications. The research will provide a framework for understanding the impacts of urban land use change from local to continental scales. The research encompasses datasets ranging from household surveys to regional-scale remote sensing across six metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) that cover the major climatic regions of the US (Phoenix, AZ, Miami, FL, Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, St. Paul, MN and Los Angeles, CA) to determine how household characteristics correlate with landscaping decisions, land management practices and ecological structure and functions at local, regional and continental scales. This research will transform scientific understanding of an important and increasingly common ecosystem type (?suburbia?) and the consequences to carbon storage and nitrogen pollution at multiple scales. In addition, it will advance understanding of how humans perceive, value and manage their surroundings. The award will leverage an extensive, multi-scale program of education and outreach associated with ongoing LTER and/or ULTRA-EX projects. Activities include K-12 education and outreach to community groups, city/regional planners, natural history museums, state and local agencies and non-governmental organizations. Graduate students will participate in a Distributed Graduate Seminar in Sustainability Science (DGSS) initiated by NCEAS and the University of Minnesota Institute on Environment.