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Building an Urban LTSER: The Case of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and the D.C./B.C. ULTRA-Ex Project

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Long Term Socio-Ecological Research

Part of the book series: Human-Environment Interactions ((HUEN,volume 2))

Abstract

There is growing scientific interest, practical need, and substantial support for understanding urban and urbanising areas in terms of their long-term social and ecological trajectories: past, present, and future. Long-term social-ecological research (LTSER) platforms and programmes in urban areas are needed to meet these interests and needs. We describe our experiences as a point of reference for other ecologists and social scientists embarking on or consolidating LTSER research in hopes of sharing what we have learned and stimulating comparisons and collaborations in urban, agricultural, and forested systems. Our experiences emerge from work with two urban LTSERs: the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) and the District of Columbia-Baltimore City Urban Long-Term Ecological Research Area-Exploratory DC-BC ULTRA-Ex project. We use the architectural metaphor of constructing and maintaining a building to frame the description of our experience with these two urban LTSERs. Considering each project to be represented as a building gives the following structure to the chapter: (1) building site context; (2) building structure; and (3) building process and maintenance.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based on work supported by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and the National Science Foundation under DEB 1027188 (Baltimore Ecosystem Study) and DEB 0948947 (Washington D.C./Baltimore ULTRA-Ex). We gratefully acknowledge additional support from the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Georgetown University. Partnerships with the US Geological Survey, the City of Baltimore Department of Public Works and Department of Recreation and Parks, the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management and Department of Recreation and Parks, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Forest Service, The Parks & People Foundation, and the Casey Trees Foundation have been instrumental in the lessons reported here. We are grateful to our colleagues at these institutions for their intellectual contributions and insights into the environment and environmental management in the Baltimore region.

We would like to thank Cherie L. Fisher, Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, Chris Boone and Gary Machlis for their assistance with figures for this chapter and helpful suggestions from Chris Boone, Dan Childers and two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Research Station, US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Baltimore, MD, USA

    J. Morgan Grove Ph.D.

  2. Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, USA

    Steward T. A. Pickett Ph.D.

  3. Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    Ali Whitmer Ph.D.

  4. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Mary L. Cadenasso Ph.D.

Authors
  1. J. Morgan Grove Ph.D.
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  2. Steward T. A. Pickett Ph.D.
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  3. Ali Whitmer Ph.D.
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  4. Mary L. Cadenasso Ph.D.
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Correspondence to J. Morgan Grove Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Klagenfurt, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (I, Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, Vienna, 1070, Austria

    Simron Jit Singh

  2. University of Klagenfurt, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (I, Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, Vienna, 1070, Austria

    Helmut Haberl

  3. Yale University, Yale School of Forestry and Environmenta, Center for Industrial Ecology, Edwards Street 380, New Haven, 06511, Connecticut, USA

    Marian Chertow

  4. , Ecosystem Research and Monitoring, Federal Environment Agency, Spittelauer Lände 5, Vienna, 1090, Austria

    Michael Mirtl

  5. University of Klagenfurt, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies (I, Institute of Social Ecology, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, Vienna, 1070, Austria

    Martin Schmid

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Grove, J.M., Pickett, S.T.A., Whitmer, A., Cadenasso, M.L. (2013). Building an Urban LTSER: The Case of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and the D.C./B.C. ULTRA-Ex Project. In: Singh, S., Haberl, H., Chertow, M., Mirtl, M., Schmid, M. (eds) Long Term Socio-Ecological Research. Human-Environment Interactions, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1177-8_16

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