How Are Humans Changing Nature?

Scientists from across the U.S. plan to gather tomorrow to examine how human activities are affecting nature in different parts of the world.

The 7th annual mini-symposium on long-term ecological research is set for Thursday, Feb. 28, at the National Science Foundation's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Among those taking on the subject of social-ecological interactions in a changing world: Stephen Carpenter, a lake researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Limnology; Hugh Ducklow, a climate change scientist with the Marine Biological Laboratory of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and Charles Redman, director of the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University.

During Thursday's symposium, Ducklow will tackle the subject of "Global Connections and Drivers of Site Dynamics: The Antarctic Connection." Ducklow spends several months each year with the Palmer Antarctica Long-Term Ecological Research Project, where he helps track how climate change is affecting the Antarctic landscape. He notes the region has changed dramatically since 1950, when the average winter temperature was 11 degrees Fahrenheit colder than it is today.

"The glaciers are receding, grasses and mosses are growing," Ducklow said. "Within fifty years, there will be trees there, The place is changing very fast. It provides us with a wonderful research opportunity to understand how ecosystems respond to climate change."

Ducklow expects that the sea ice near Palmer Station will be gone in the next two or three decades, leading to major changes in the Antarctic food chain.

"What will happen when the sea ice is no longer there?" he said. "It will affect all the animals who live there."

Redman plans to take on the subject of agricultural transitions in a changing world during Thursday's symposium. He has spent years studying the long-term ecology of Arizona's fast-growing urban areas.

"We need to tackle our problems comprehensively," Redman said. "It is not enough just to solve the water problem. After all, we could just desalinate the Pacific Ocean. But there are energy issues involved with that.

"We must innovate, work together and successfully implement new ideas if we are to successfully live in the desert," he continued. "Sustainability is not just an attitude about how we are going to do something. It is going to require a real comprehensive evaluation on how we go about doing our business."

Among the other topics expected to be discussed during the symposium: social-ecological feedback loops, how humans and nature affect the water cycle, native perspectives in ecological education and ways to coordinate long-term research in social-ecological science.

The National Science Foundation's long-term ecological research network covers 26 sites across the U.S. as well as in parts of the tropics, Arctic and Antarctic. The research sites study some of the planet's major ecosystems, including deserts, forests, grasslands, agricultural areas, lakes, marshes, coastal ocean areas and coral reefs.