A Workshop on Conservation and Natural Resource Management in an Uncertain Future: Using the Southeastern U.S. as a Model for Managing Change

人类有很大的能力影响全球范围内的生态变化，但在管理或预测结果方面取得的成功有限。随着人口的增长和生态资源和服务的极限的压力，这种失败是令人担忧的。应该为解决全球性问题提供见解的科学学科，包括生态学，保护生物学和恢复生态学，通常都是从过去寻找未来的指导。然而，人们日益认识到，当前的快速变化需要新的视角和更广阔的视野。不幸的是，很少有人努力综合管理未来的变化和由此产生的保护挑战。这次会议将汇集来自相关管理和科学界的国际，国家和区域领导人，以解决当前和预期的未来保护和管理挑战，使用美国东南部作为制定区域保护计划的案例研究。这一地区拥有值得注意的生物多样性、快速增长的人口、快速的城市化、悠久的商品生产历史、大部分私有土地和极其重要但稀少的公共土地。未来的区域保护工作必须包括不同的利益，共同目标是融合经济和生态福祉。本次会议建立在琼斯中心的使命，以了解，展示和促进卓越的自然资源管理和保护在东南部。这是该中心，美国农业部林务局南方研究站，生态学在格鲁吉亚大学奥德姆学院，和国防部战略和环境研究发展计划之间的跨学科伙伴关系。与会者将确定现有知识的差距，并制定管理社会，政治，经济和生态系统的战略，以应对关键的保护挑战。重点将是综合区域到国际范围的理解，科学在区域规划中的应用，以及优先考虑应对区域保护挑战的方法。 会议的成果和预期产品将反映并受益于与会者的广泛性。

Humans have great ability to affect ecological changes at global scales, yet have had limited success in managing or predicting the outcomes. This failure is worrisome as human populations grow and press the limits of ecological resources and services. Scientific disciplines that should provide insight into solving global problems, including ecology, conservation biology and restoration ecology, have generally looked to the past for guidance about the future. However, it is increasingly recognized that high rates of current change require new perspectives and broader vision. Unfortunately, there have been few efforts to synthesize what is known about managing change into the future and the conservation challenges that result. This conference will bring together international, national and regional leaders from the relevant management and scientific communities to address current and anticipated future conservation and management challenges, using the southeastern United States as a case study for developing a regional conservation plan. This region has noteworthy biological diversity, rapidly increasing human populations, rapid urbanization, long history of commodities production, and mostly privately owned land with critically important, but sparse public land.Future regional conservation efforts must include diverse interests with the common goal of blending economic and ecological well-being. This conference builds on the Jones Center mission to understand, demonstrate and promote excellence in natural resource management and conservation in the southeast. It is an interdisciplinary partnership between the Center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Southern Research Station, The Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia, and the Department of Defence Strategic and Environmental Research Development Program. Participants will identify gaps in current knowledge and develop strategies for managing social, political, economic and ecological systems to deal with critical conservation challenges. Focus will be on the synthesis of understanding at regional to international scales, applications of science to regional planning, and prioritization of approaches to meet regional conservation challenges. Outcomes and anticipated products of the conference will reflect and benefit from the breadth of the participants.