Collaborative Research: OPUS: Advancing theory and concept of ecosystem heterogeneity: A five-decade synthesis

The science of ecology is deeply concerned with how “patchiness” – the spatial patterns of plants, animals, microbes, and larger ecosystems – controls the composition, functioning, and sustainability of many ecological systems on which society depends. Individual research projects often use the concept of spatial patchiness as a jumping off point for data collection and modeling.

However, it is important to discover how the ideas and data about spatial patchiness develop to help guide future research, shape the growth of ecological science, and facilitate the practical use of the resulting ecological information. This project integrates ecological theories and concepts into a broad synthesis. This is important because it provides an understanding of how synthesis has helped translate ecological knowledge for the public good.

Additional broader impacts of the products focus on: 1) The relevance of applying science to urban design, urban planning, and conservation; 2) An improved ability to assess disturbance in social-ecological-technological systems given changing environments and changing human vulnerability; and 3) Support of ecological education and mentoring efforts and programs. Products will be broadly useful for public communication and education, and will include a multi-media collection of resources that will make the results of the synthesis as widely accessible as possible.

This project aims to study how such a fundamental ecological concept as patchiness has progressed by synthesizing insights from an exemplary scientific career. The research will focus on how key concepts from community ecology, ecosystem ecology, and urban ecology can be integrated using the theory of patchiness, or heterogeneity, into a cross-disciplinary science of societal importance.

The approach is journalistic and interview-based, where the Lead PI will be interviewed by the Co-PI. The synthesis is organized around five thematic modules extracted from the PI’s published record, with each module building on the previous ones while highlighting how new insights and understanding have emerged. This multi-decadal and multi-thematic exploration of the career accomplishments of the Lead PI will reveal cross-cutting approaches and strategies that are not apparent in the collection of individual products. In short, this project will demonstrate the deep intellectual value of emergent synthesis.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.