Print PageIn this talk, we address the challenge and potential of building long-term social-ecological research (LTSER) platforms and programs in urban areas. We are motivated by the growing scientific interest, practical need, and substantial support for understanding urban and urbanizing areas in terms of their long term social and ecological trajectories: past, present, and future. We begin by asking what lessons we have learned from existing LTSER programs that inform the development of our program. We focus on the analytical strategies of long term monitoring, experimentation, comparative analyses, modeling, environmental history, and participatory research as integrative tools. Combined, these strategies can build long-term social ecological research and elements of the research platform that support the program. From this vantage point we describe a tiered study at two scales: citywide comparisons of Washington DC and Baltimore and neighborhood studies within each city.
Results/Conclusions
In one case study, we examine how contrasting histories impact green infrastructure, particularly urban forests, at both scales. Additional long-term demographic and historical data reveals trajectories of neighborhood change and integrates environmental data, such as green investments, into traditional social analysis. These analyses provide a foundation on which we can examine the relative importance of, planning and policy interventions at city and neighborhood scales for the delivery of ecosystem services. The long term analytical strategy will also allow us to test the relative impact of social, biophysical, and institutional legacies on the present socioecological structure and function of the two cities. We conclude with a discussion on how linkages between scientists and decision makers can add value to scientific inquiry and sustainable management of urban areas.
