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

大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。 这些地区通常需要积极、持续的管理干预，通常采取恢复活动的形式（例如，清除入侵物种，使用规定的火），以实现为他们设定的生物多样性保护目标。 芝加哥荒野是一个由240多个组织组成的财团，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。 这项研究将使用正在进行的努力，在林地和稀树草原的芝加哥荒野作为一个模型，调查如何恢复和保护规划过程中影响生物多样性的结果在复杂的大都市景观。 将利用若干相关的研究方法，包括建立模型，探讨不同组成部分之间的相互作用如何导致不同的恢复和管理做法，以及这些做法如何影响生物多样性成果。 记录整个芝加哥地区的林地和稀树草原恢复网站的生物多样性成果的范围将允许恢复规划过程（传统的，共同管理，基层）和生物多样性的不同模式之间的关系的假设进行测试。 因此，该项目将研究人类通过规划过程对城市环境中生物多样性的影响，以及这些生物多样性成果对人类社区不同成员的相互影响。该项目将增加对养护管理规划与其实施过程中产生的生物多样性成果之间联系的了解。 该项目将产生与保护具有全球意义的生境（如橡树稀树草原、橡树林地和高草草原）有关的成果，同时加强对机构应对平衡多个目标和将不同来源的信息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在这个跨学科的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.