Collaborative Research: Ecological Homogenization of Urban America

合作研究：美国城市的生态均质化

• 批准号: 1065760
• 负责人: James Heffernan
• 金额: $ 22.66万
• 依托单位: Florida International University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-07-01 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1065760&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Ecological; Homogenization; Urban

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.

城市、郊区和远郊环境是重要的生态系统，其范围在美国不断扩大。野生或管理生态系统向城市生态系统的转变导致整个城市的生态系统同质化，全国不同地区的社区具有相似的道路模式，住宅区、商业区和水生景观。 提供资金来检验这一假设，即这种同质化改变了与生态系统碳和氮动态相关的生态结构和功能，并具有大陆尺度的影响。 该研究将为理解城市土地利用变化从地方到大陆尺度的影响提供一个框架。 该研究涵盖从家庭调查到覆盖美国主要气候区（亚利桑那州菲尼克斯、佛罗里达州迈阿密、马里兰州巴尔的摩、马萨诸塞州波士顿、圣路易斯）六个大都市统计区（MSA）的区域规模遥感的数据集。明尼苏达州保罗和加利福尼亚州洛杉矶）确定家庭特征如何与地方、区域和大陆尺度的景观美化决策、土地管理实践以及生态结构和功能相关。 这项研究将改变对重要且日益常见的生态系统类型（“郊区”）的科学认识，以及对多个尺度的碳储存和氮污染的影响。此外，它将增进对人类如何感知、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、多规模的教育和推广计划。活动包括 K-12 教育以及对社区团体、城市/地区规划者、自然历史博物馆、州和地方机构以及非政府组织的宣传。研究生将参加由 NCEAS 和明尼苏达大学环境研究所发起的可持续发展科学分布式研究生研讨会 (DGSS)。