BIOCOMPLEXITY: Coupled Nutrient, Water, and Salt Cycles in Urban and Agricultural Ecosystems

The goal of this Biocomplexity incubation study is to develop an approach for studying coupled biogeochemical cycles in urban and agricultural ecosystems, with a primary focus on nitrogen. A series of focused workshops will be held addressing topics including: identification of knowledge gaps regarding key processes, issues regarding temporal and spatial scales, developing a modeling framework, and integration and education. The study regions for the full-scale research program will be the Central Arizona-Phoenix ecosystem (currently site of a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program) and the Minnesota River-Twin Cities ecosystem (currently subject of an interdisciplinary watershed study). The existing extensive databases from these and other studies will facilitate the initiation of this project. Understanding coupled biogeochemical cycles in human ecosystems (cities and farms) will lead to a holistic, integrated approach for effective pollution management.