Presented By: University of Michigan Biological Station
Ecological homogenization of urban America
Dr. Peter Groffman
2016 Ralph E. Bennett All-Camp Lecture in Mycology and Plant Biology
Urban, suburban and exurban ecosystems are important and increasing in the U.S. Homogenization, where neighborhoods in very different parts of the country have similar patterns of land use and aquatic features involves ecological structure and functions relevant to soil and ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics, with continental scale implications. Using datasets ranging from household surveys to regional-scale remote sensing across six metropolitan statistical areas, Dr. Peter Groffman is determining how household characteristics correlate with landscaping decisions, land management practices and ecological structure and functions at local, regional and continental scales.
Watersheds are a natural (and well-used) physical unit for bio-geo-chemical research and can also function as a focus for human-environment interactions. Suburban watershed input/output budgets for nitrogen (N) have shown surprisingly high retention which has led to detailed analysis of sources and sinks in these watersheds. Home lawns have more complex coupled carbon and N dynamics than previously thought. And riparian zones have turned out be N sources rather than sinks in urban watersheds. Geomorphic stream restoration can increase in-stream retention by creating features with high denitrification potential. Considering the “human element” in these biogeochemical source and sink processes is critical to improving the environmental performance of urban and suburban ecosystems.
Dr. Peter M. Groffman is a Professor at the City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center and Brooklyn College. His research interests are in ecosystem, soil, landscape and microbial ecology, with a focus on carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Groffman is chair of the Executive Board of the U.S. National Science Foundation funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network Science Council and a participant in LTER projects in Baltimore (urban) and New Hampshire (northern hardwood forests). Groffman was a Convening Lead Author for the 2013 U.S. National Climate Assessment Chapter on Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and a lead author for the Second (Wetlands) and Third (North America) Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Program on Climate Change (IPCC).
This event is free and open to the public.
Urban, suburban and exurban ecosystems are important and increasing in the U.S. Homogenization, where neighborhoods in very different parts of the country have similar patterns of land use and aquatic features involves ecological structure and functions relevant to soil and ecosystem carbon and nitrogen dynamics, with continental scale implications. Using datasets ranging from household surveys to regional-scale remote sensing across six metropolitan statistical areas, Dr. Peter Groffman is determining how household characteristics correlate with landscaping decisions, land management practices and ecological structure and functions at local, regional and continental scales.
Watersheds are a natural (and well-used) physical unit for bio-geo-chemical research and can also function as a focus for human-environment interactions. Suburban watershed input/output budgets for nitrogen (N) have shown surprisingly high retention which has led to detailed analysis of sources and sinks in these watersheds. Home lawns have more complex coupled carbon and N dynamics than previously thought. And riparian zones have turned out be N sources rather than sinks in urban watersheds. Geomorphic stream restoration can increase in-stream retention by creating features with high denitrification potential. Considering the “human element” in these biogeochemical source and sink processes is critical to improving the environmental performance of urban and suburban ecosystems.
Dr. Peter M. Groffman is a Professor at the City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center and Brooklyn College. His research interests are in ecosystem, soil, landscape and microbial ecology, with a focus on carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Groffman is chair of the Executive Board of the U.S. National Science Foundation funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network Science Council and a participant in LTER projects in Baltimore (urban) and New Hampshire (northern hardwood forests). Groffman was a Convening Lead Author for the 2013 U.S. National Climate Assessment Chapter on Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and a lead author for the Second (Wetlands) and Third (North America) Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Program on Climate Change (IPCC).
This event is free and open to the public.
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