CNH-Ex: Shifting Land Use and Forest Conservation: Understanding the Coupling of Social and Ecological Processes Along Urban-to-Rural Gradients

这个跨学科的研究项目将侧重于了解复杂和耦合的社会生态过程，这些过程塑造了城市到农村梯度的森林景观的结构，功能和转变。 森林覆盖的动态及其提供的生态系统服务是由成千上万的土地所有者的土地使用和管理决定以及城镇和环境组织的土地使用规划和保护行动决定的。 研究人员将研究波士顿和马萨诸塞州中部之间从城市到农村的土地利用和森林保护实践的变化。 他们将联合收割机通过焦点小组、邮件调查、访谈和档案研究收集新的数据，并与现有的生态和空间数据相结合，以实现四个研究目标：（1）描述过去30年来沿着城乡梯度的保护和土地管理实践模式;（2）比较过去30年土地利用和管理对森林生态系统关键属性的影响以及沿着城乡梯度提供生态系统服务的情况;（3）分析社会生态过程对保护和土地管理实践的影响;（4）分析人类发展、保护和生态系统服务之间的耦合强度。本项目将促进对人类发展、保护和生态系统服务之间跨城乡梯度的相互作用的基本理解。 特别是，它将阐明社会和生态过程耦合的方式和程度，以及这些过程是否以及如何沿着梯度沿着不同。 该项目将揭示日益增长的发展如何通过改变生物物理特征和改变人与环境之间的关系，改变森林的养护、碳固存和提供其他生态系统服务的可能性。 该项目还将阐明生态系统特征和服务在形成保护和土地管理实践方面相对于其他社会，政治和经济因素的重要性。 这样的理解将提高能力的保护工作和生态系统服务的保护在城市，郊区和农村地区内外的研究区域。 该项目将向社区领导人提供教育和参考材料，他们将把信息传递给其他土地所有者和决策者。 该项目还将促进城乡梯度保护信息的交流，并加强哈佛森林长期生态研究（LTER）计划和波士顿城市长期研究区域探索（ULTRA-Ex）计划之间的合作。 该项目由NSF耦合自然和人类系统动力学（CNH）计划支持。

This interdisciplinary research project will focus on understand the complex and coupled socioecological processes that shape the structure, function, and transformation of forested landscapes across urban-to-rural gradients. The dynamics of forest cover and the ecosystem services they provide are shaped by the land-use and management decisions of thousands of individual landowners and the land-use planning and conservation actions of towns and environmental organizations. The researchers will examine shifting land use and forest-conservation practices across an urban-to-rural gradient between Boston and central Massachusetts. They will combine new data collection through focus groups, a mail survey, interviews, and archival research with existing ecological and spatial data to meet four research objectives: (1) to characterize the patterns of conservation and land-management practices along the urban-to-rural gradient over the past 30 years; (2) to compare the influence of land use and management on key attributes of forested ecosystems and the provision of ecosystem services along the urban-to-rural gradient over the past 30 years; (3) to analyze the ways in which socioecological processes have shaped conservation and land-management practices; and (4) to characterize the strength of coupling among human development, conservation, and ecosystem services.This project will advance basic understanding of the interactions among human development, conservation, and ecosystem services across urban-rural gradients. In particular, it will shed light on the ways and degrees to which social and ecological processes are coupled and if and how these differ along the gradient. The project will uncover ways in which increasing development alters the possibilities for conservation, carbon sequestration, and the provision of other ecosystem services from forests by changing biophysical characteristics and by changing the relationship between people and their surroundings. The project also will illuminate the importance of ecosystem characteristics and services in shaping conservation and land-management practices relative to other social, political, and economic factors. Such understanding will enhance the capacity for conservation efforts and the protection of ecosystem services in urban, suburban, and rural areas in and beyond the study region. The project will provide education and reference material to community leaders who will transfer the information to other landowners and decision makers. The project also will facilitate the exchange of conservation information across the urban-to-rural gradient and strengthen the collaboration between the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program and the Boston Urban Long-Term Research Area Exploratory (ULTRA-Ex) program. This project is supported by the NSF Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Program.