LTER: Baltimore Ecosystem Study: Synthesis of long-term studies of how multiple human and biophysical factors interact to drive ecological change of an urban ecosystem

大约20年来，巴尔的摩长期环境研究（LTER）项目的研究人员一直在研究巴尔的摩市的生态。当它开始时，巴尔的摩LTER项目是非常不寻常的，因为大多数生态学家都在更自然的环境中工作。这是最早的城市生态遗址之一。需要对城市生态采取长期办法，因为变化发生缓慢，而且在城市生态系统中可能很少发生重大事件。这支科学家队伍在城市的自然界中有许多突破性的发现。他们弄清楚了城市生态系统如何运作的基本原理。 例如，他们发现了氮等营养物质如何通过蒸汽流动并受到草坪的影响。他们还研究了植物、蚊子和鸟类。这些研究的结果对于改善城市环境质量和帮助减少人类活动的全球影响仍然很重要。后者尤其重要，因为大多数人生活在城市。 LTER的科学家与巴尔的摩的教师和学生密切合作，分享他们的发现，并让新一代人参与生态发现。 该提案为巴尔的摩LTER项目的最后三年提供支持。在巴尔的摩LTER站点的研究集中在自然外源驱动因素，与城市生态系统结构相互作用，影响功能。外源驱动因素包括气候、物种引进和经济;城市生态系统结构包括物理、生物、社会和建成成分;响应功能包括流域生态地球化学、生态群落组成和人类环境决策。这一框架被用来解决城市流域的水和养分的源和汇，生态社区及其随时间变化的能力，以及家庭和组织的长期环境观念和行为的问题。在巴尔的摩长距离接触实验项目的最后阶段，将开展以下活动：1）处理和分析最后样本，收集有限的新数据; 2）确保数据的永久可用性; 3）分析和综合数据; 4）编写使用和介绍BES数据集的出版物; 5）建立一个稳定的静态网站，介绍该项目20年的历史，并提供数据、出版物和其他资源的链接;以及6）巴尔的摩的长期野外场地退役。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

For about 20 years, researchers with the Baltimore Long-Term Environmental Research (LTER) project have studied ecology within the city of Baltimore. When it started, the Baltimore LTER project was highly unusual because most ecologists were working in more natural environments. This was one of the very first urban ecology sites. A long-term approach was needed for urban ecology because changes happen slowly and important events can be rare in urban ecosystems. The team of scientists made many ground-breaking discoveries about nature in cities. They figured out the basics of how an urban ecosystem works. For example, they discovered how nutrients such as nitrogen flow through steams and are affected by lawns. They also studied plants, mosquitoes and birds. Results of these studies remain important for improving environmental quality in cities and for helping reduce the global impact of human activities. The latter is especially important because most humans live in cities. LTER scientists have worked closely with teachers and students in Baltimore to share their findings and engage a new generation in ecological discoveries. This proposal provides support for the final three years of the Baltimore LTER project. Research at the Baltimore LTER site has focused on natural exogenous drivers, interacting with urban ecosystem structure to influence function. Exogenous drivers include climate, species introductions, and economy; urban ecosystem structure includes physical, biological, social, and built components; and response functions include watershed biogeochemistry, the composition of ecological communities, and human environmental decision making. This framework was used to address questions about sources and sinks of water and nutrients in urban watersheds, ecological communities and their capacity to change over time, and environmental perceptions and behaviors of households and organizations over the long term. During this final phase of the Baltimore LTER project, the following activities will take place: 1) processing and analysis of final samples, with limited new data collection; 2) ensuring data availability in perpetuity; 3) analyzing and synthesizing data; 4) preparing publications that use and present BES datasets; 5) developing a stable and static website that describes the 20 year history of the project and provides links to data, publications and other resources; and 6) decommissioning of long-term field sites in Baltimore.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.