Human Contributions and
Responses in Agroecosystems
Research on human contributions and responses
in agroecosystems focus on: 1) how natural
and human-induced environmental changes interact
to affect the structure and function of ecosystems
(and the goods and services they provide)
at a range of spatial and temporal scales,
including those ecosystem processes that
influence regional and global environmental
changes; and 2) how society can enhance and
sustain desirable ecosystem goods and services,
in the context of still uncertain regional
and global environmental changes. Current
foci include:
- the potential effects of climate variability
and change on human health and welfare;
- human influences on the climate system,
land use, and other global environmental
changes;
- analyses of societal vulnerability and
resilience to global environmental change;
- decision making under conditions of significant
complexity and uncertainty; and
- integrated assessment methods, including
the development of models to evaluate the
consequences of human perturbations on
essential nutrient cycles in soils, sediments,
water, and other ecosystems. Such models
assess the major pools for global carbon
and nitrogen storage, human and natural
transport of elements, and elemental interactions
that affect ecosystem productivity.
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