The loss of natural habitat from conversion to human dominated uses is the major cause of the decline of terrestrial biodiversity. The formation of networks of natural reserves is a cornerstone conservation strategy, but existing reserve networks are nowhere near what is necessary to protect existing biodiversity. Much of the existing literature on systematic conservation planning is within a static context even though both conservation planning and habitat loss via development are ongoing processes which unfold over time.

The Chicago Region ULTRA-Ex will address a question fundamental to understanding the dynamic interactions between biodiversity conservation, ecosystem processes, and human well being in urban landscapes: In a complex urban/metropolitan system, what are the synergies and tradeoffs between conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services to people? The project focuses on the Green Infrastructure Vision of the Chicago Wilderness alliance, a conservation consortium of over 240 organizations.

The temperate forests of eastern North America support high biodiversity and critical ecosystem functions while providing natural resources and cultural benefits to an expanding human population. The region is shaped by a legacy of landscape change: major shifts in climate, vegetation and disturbance at millennial time scales; extensive deforestation for agriculture in the 17th – 19th centuries; and abandonment of farmlands, natural reforestation and increasing urbanization through the mid-21st century.

The Integrative Science for Society and Environment (ISSE) initiative and its working model for the interaction of ecosystems and social systems represent the product of tremendous investment by the LTER network and its scientists as part of the 20-year planning process. Researchers in the emerging field of sustainability science promote similar frameworks that fundamentally integrate economy, ecology, and equity.

Wildlife face ever-increasing threats from emerging pathogens, many that also cause disease in humans. Genetic diversity plays a central role in buffering populations against the effects of parasites and pathogens. The ability to isolate genes related directly to disease susceptibility and understanding how those genes evolve is important for designing successful and cost-effective conservation programs. We are investigating the relationship between diversity in six immune system genes and the parasite community of black-tailed prairie dogs.

This session is intended both for social and biophysical scientists who want to help develop a proposal for the kind of “multi-site, highly collaborative and integrated research initiative” envisioned by the LTER planning group. The focus will be on what the LTER planning process calls the “centerpiece” of the group's conceptual framework, as well as one of “Grand Challenges” to be addressed at the network level – “the dynamics of coupled human-natural ecosystems.”

Conservation Management and Community Integration: Comparative Case Studies for Puerto Rico
Lindsay Cray ^1,2 William Gould² Diane Kuehn¹ and Charles Hall¹

1. SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse , NY 13210.

2. USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico.

 Changes in biodiversity are predicted to have a major impact on ecosystem processes.  A fundamental challenge for ecologists is to determine the influence of species on ecosystem processes prior to declines or losses, and to determine whether there are species that may compensate for the loss of other species.