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This beaver dam on a Platte River side channel represents the successful reintroduction of beavers in Nebraska. SNR ecosystems research, teaching and outreach include aquatic ecosystems and can take advantage of the state's ample water resources. |
Ecosystem Sciences Program
The Ecosystem Science program area includes ecologies that are predominantly agricultural (agroecosystems), grassland, woodland or aquatic. It also includes analysis of landscape ecology, carbon storage (sequestration), global climate change, streamside systems and urban habitats.
The School of Natural Resources seeks to bring together the natural and social sciences and their strengths within the emerging discipline of ecosystem science. This systems-oriented approach is emerging nationally and internationally as the primary way of dealing with the complex issues of production, natural resource use and abuse and the integrity of the environment. Integrating our understanding of ecosystems into predictive models tested by networks of site-specific data and analyzed via spatial data bases can help create broad-scale and long-term forecasts of the effects of changes in the environment, marketplace or public policy. At the same time, this knowledge can be applied at the local and field/site level to assist land managers and at the regional level to help decision-makers.
Common to virtually all ecosystem studies is understanding Earth resources and systems, soil processes, nutrient and hydrologic cycles, integration of natural and cultivated ecosystems, watershed management and health of water bodies, population and community ecology, invasive species, genetically modified organisms, landscape ecology and biological diversity. Other key concerns are informing natural resource decision-makers, law and policy.
In addition to these areas, agroecology involves integrating ecology, plant and animal sciences, crop protection and management of rural landscapes for sustainable agriculture. Besides the common ecological issues mentioned above, studies in grassland ecology look at integrating natural and managed grazing systems. Woodland systems include an understanding of forest ecology and management, agroforestry in sustainable agriculture and integrated resource management.
Landscape ecology involves studying land-use/land-cover change at many scales and the use of landscape ecological principles for conservation planning, ecological restoration and recovery of target populations. It also includes statistical analyses of patterns of temporal and spatial variation aimed at ecosystem modeling and prediction of ecological changes. (Sand Hills Biocomplexity Program)
Carbon sequestration studies involve looking at the carbon cycle in detail with a focus on the production of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, and its mitigation by storing carbon in plants and soils. Climate change investigations include studies of climate and society, the El Nino/La Nina cycle and climate variability on multi-year and multi-decade scales. Also included are ancient and future climates, as well as scenarios and impacts of climate change.
Work in aquatic ecosystems involves the study of streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands and the interaction among their biological, physical and chemical components. The study of streamside, or riparian, habitats examines ways to buffer the movement of sediment and agricultural chemicals into water systems and the plant and animal communities dependent on these habitats. Urban habitat investigations examine large and small urban centers and their ecological issues and effects.
Many resources on ecosystem processes and issues, as well as on a host of other subjects related to natural resources and environment, including books, booklets, atlases, fact sheets, newsletters, magazines, video tapes and others, are available from the Conservation and Survey Division, Cooperative Extension and the Environmental Resources Center.
Participating Faculty
