Anthropogenic Habitats Facilitate Dispersal of an Early Successional Obligate: Implications for Restoration of an Endangered Ecosystem

Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation disrupt the connectivity of natural landscapes, with major consequences for biodiversity. Species that require patchily distributed habitats, such as those that specialize on early successional ecosystems, must disperse through a landscape matrix with unsuitable habitat types. We evaluated landscape effects on dispersal of an early successional obligate, the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). Using a landscape genetics approach, we identified barriers and facilitators of gene flow and connectivity corridors for a population of cottontails in the northeastern United States. We modeled dispersal in relation to landscape structure and composition and tested hypotheses about the influence of habitat fragmentation on gene flow. Anthropogenic and natural shrubland habitats facilitated gene flow, while the remainder of the matrix, particularly development and forest, impeded gene flow. The relative influence of matrix habitats differed between study areas in relation to a fragmentation gradient. Barrier features had higher explanatory power in the more fragmented site, while facilitating features were important in the less fragmented site. Landscape models that included a simultaneous barrier and facilitating effect of roads had higher explanatory power than models that considered either effect separately, supporting the hypothesis that roads act as both barriers and facilitators at all spatial scales. The inclusion of LiDAR-identified shrubland habitat improved the fit of our facilitator models. Corridor analyses using circuit and least cost path approaches revealed the importance of anthropogenic, linear features for restoring connectivity between the study areas. In fragmented landscapes, human-modified habitats may enhance functional connectivity by providing suitable dispersal conduits for early successional specialists

French Roadmap for complex Systems 2008-2009

This second issue of the French Complex Systems Roadmap is the outcome of the Entretiens de Cargese 2008, an interdisciplinary brainstorming session organized over one week in 2008, jointly by RNSC, ISC-PIF and IXXI. It capitalizes on the first roadmap and gathers contributions of more than 70 scientists from major French institutions. The aim of this roadmap is to foster the coordination of the complex systems community on focused topics and questions, as well as to present contributions and challenges in the complex systems sciences and complexity science to the public, political and industrial spheres

A LANDSCAPE GENETICS APPROACH FOR COMPARING CONNECTIVITY ACROSS THE RANGE OF THE NEW ENGLAND COTTONTAIL

Habitat connectivity is vital for dispersal and metapopulation persistence. Land use change and landscape modification alter the distribution and availability of habitat, thereby altering connectivity and impeding organisms’ dispersal abilities. Reduction of connectivity is a concern for the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis), a species of high conservation priority that has experienced a dramatic decline of its required shrubland habitat. To better understand New England cottontail connectivity, I used a landscape genetics approach to assess the impact of landscape features on cottontail dispersal in two geographically isolated study areas, one in southern Maine-seacoast New Hampshire and the other in eastern Massachusetts on Cape Cod. I also assessed genetic diversity and structure within the Cape Cod population and compared the effectiveness of two panels of microsatellite loci for identifying polymorphism within this study area. To infer dispersal patterns, I used estimates of gene flow evaluated in relation to landscape features. I compared genetic distances calculated from microsatellite genotyping and resistance distances determined from least cost path algorithms using Mantel tests and mixed effect modeling. I tested a priori hypotheses about the influence of barrier features – roads, development, open water, forest, and fields – and facilitating features – roadsides, powerlines, scrub-shrub habitat, wetlands, pine barrens, and LiDAR-derived shrubland habitat – on cottontail dispersal. I used circuit analyses to identify long-distance movement corridors between isolated populations. New England cottontails on Cape Cod comprised one, admixed population. I found signatures of a bottleneck, reduced genetic diversity, and low effective population sizes, as well as fine-scale spatial structuring indicating restricted dispersal in the Cape Cod cottontails. These findings suggest that the long-term persistence of this population may be at risk, without augmentation via translocation or releases of captive-bred rabbits. Unlike other specialist species that display generalist dispersal patterns, New England cottontails across all study areas were dependent upon scrub-shrub habitat for dispersal. This included both natural (scrub-shrub patches and wetlands) and anthropogenically maintained (e.g., powerlines, roadsides) scrub-shrub habitat. The relative effect of landscape features on gene flow differed among study areas according to differences in landscape composition and fragmentation levels. In general, models that were composed of barrier features were most strongly correlated with gene flow for all study areas, although models that were comprised of facilitating features influenced gene flow in more connected landscapes. These results demonstrated that fragmentation influences gene flow patterns. My results also showed that roads have dual effects as both barriers and facilitators of gene flow for early successional habitat specialists. Linear scrub-shrub elements such as roadsides and powerline right-of-ways were important features linking patches and geographically isolated populations. Given the small amount (\u3c5%) of available scrub-shrub habitat in the landscapes occupied by New England cottontails, these anthropogenic linear features are key areas for restoring habitat and landscape connectivity. The New England Cottontail Conservation Strategy, which is focused on restoring habitat to expand remaining New England cottontail populations, can use the results of this study to identify and prioritize management areas that will improve habitat connectivity across the landscape

Greenspace Conservation Planning Framework for Urban Regions Based on a Forest Bird-Habitat Relationship Study and the Resilience Thinking

The research involves first conducting a case study of ecological data and applying the results, together with the resilience concept, to the development of a greenspace conservation planning framework for urban regions. The first part of the research investigates the relationship between forest bird abundance and the surrounding landscape characteristics, especially, forest area and its spatial configuration in urban regions at multiple scales. The results are similar for simple and multiple regression analyses across three scales. The percentage of forest cover in a landscape is positively correlated with bird abundance with some thresholds. Overall, the percentage of forest cover in the landscape, contrast-weighted forest edge density, and the similarity of land cover types to forest cover are identified as important for the conservation of the target bird species. The study points to the importance of species-specific habitat requirements even for species with similar life history traits and of maintaining some forest edges and/or edge contrast. The second part of the research involves the development of a landscape planning meta-model and its conceptual application to greenspace conservation planning, integrating the results of the first part. Administrative and planning units are recognized to exist in a nested hierarchy of neighborhood, city, and urban region, just as biodiversity can be conceived in a nested hierarchical organization of genes, populations/species, communities/ecosystems, and landscapes. Resilience thinking, especially the panarchy concept, provides a scientific basis and a metaphorical framework to develop the meta-model, integrating a proposed landscape planning best practice model at each planning scale. Ecological concepts such as response and functional diversity, redundancy, and connectivity across scales are identified as key concepts for conserving and increasing biodiversity and the resilience of an urban region. These concepts are then used in the meta-model to develop the greenspace conservation planning framework. Ecological processes such as pollination and dispersal, as well as social memory and bottom-up social movements---small changes collectively making a large impact at the broader scales as well as these incremental changes gaining momentum as they cascade across scales---are identified as cross-scale processes and dynamics that connect various planning scales in the meta-model

Assessing and managing urban riverscapes: integrating physical processes and social-ecological values

2022 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.In the age of the Anthropocene, human influence has spread far and wide across our planet affecting the physical, chemical, and biological condition of the rivers, streams, and floodplains in the urban environment, our "urban riverscapes." The human connection to urban riverscapes includes both the built environment created and accessed by people and the intangible community values that humans place upon flowing water. The value of these benefits encourages stewardship of our waterways by integrating experiential, aesthetic, and cultural attributes that foster appreciation for streams as natural systems in the built environment. However, when poorly managed, human activities adversely impact our natural ecosystems, resulting in less resilient stream systems, poor aesthetics, and unsafe conditions. The research presented in this dissertation asks the following overarching research question: How can managers and practitioners apply multi-scale social-ecological, hydrologic, geomorphologic, and riparian ecological remote sensing and field data to advance urban riverscape management? Four chapters follow from this hypothesis: urban riverscape problems lie on a spectrum of complexity where solutions are often conceivable but difficult to implement. Integrating diverse perspectives and knowledge extends the scope of stakeholder perspectives so that social-ecological context is considered alongside the physical processes that typically characterize riverscapes. This approach entails leveraging existing and new methods to create frameworks that integrate the multi-scale assessment of physical conditions and social-ecological qualities underlying applied riverscape management. I explore the integration of diverse knowledge to enhance management outcomes through the concept of "wicked problems." I analyze the connections between diverse types of knowledge and practices through numerous case studies. My analysis shows how systematically characterizing project attributes, such as the prominence of local government and technical knowledge or the weakness of academia and indigenous knowledge, requires an approach that builds capacity and collaboration within transdisciplinary stakeholder groups. I find that the importance of integrating communities, including under-represented knowledge bases, into urban riverscape management can generate equitable and incremental solutions. To evaluate connections between social values, ecological conditions, and hydrogeomorphic processes, I outline a framework for urban riverscape assessment that advances the practice of managing urban riverscapes facing complex problems. The framework is based upon evaluation across four foundational categories, or facets, critical to the management of urban riverscapes: (1) human connections and values, (2) hydrologic processes and hydraulic characteristics, (3) geomorphic forms and processes, and (4) ecological structure and processes. I structure the framework around three tiers of actionable steps, which tackle the questions: Why are we assessing this riverscape (Tier 1)? What do we need to understand in and along this riverscape (Tier 2)? How will we assess the riverscape to develop that understanding (Tier 3)? I find that the answer to the first question is context-based and dependent upon integrating diverse types of knowledge, while the response to the second question involves examining the functions and values of urban riverscapes through the lens of the four facets and their inter-related processes. Answering the third question requires developing and testing a novel assessment method – the "Urban Riverscape conditions-Based Assessment for management Needs" (URBAN). I base URBAN on riverscape context and on integrating the assessment of facets at multiple scales. I apply the method to a test data set of publicly available and site-specific data across a study area in the Denver metropolitan region to illustrate its overall performance, including its ability to evaluate specific riverscape physical conditions and social-ecological qualities. I find reach typologies combined with urban riverscape characteristics provide tangible management strategies that managers can use to inform planning and decision making. The overarching conclusion of this dissertation is that managing urban riverscapes requires assessment methods that consider scale (spatial, temporal, and topical) and context (both physical and social characteristics), and the use of indicators and metrics that directly support decision-making among interdisciplinary stakeholders. It is possible to move toward this vision by using remote-sensed and field data that provides both social and physical information, to assess the relationship between physical condition and social-ecological values, and to use that information to determine where and how to prioritize management strategies for urban riverscapes

Multi-scale Models for Transportation Systems Under Emergency Conditions

The purpose of this study is to investigate human behavior in emergencies. More specifically, agent-based simulation and social force models were developed to examine the impact of various human and environmental factors on the efficiency of the evacuation process, through a series of case studies. The independent variables of the case studies include the number of exits, the number of passengers, the evacuation policies, and instructions, as well as the queue configuration and wall separators. The results revealed the location of the exits, number of exits, evacuation strategies, and group behaviors all significantly impact the total time of the evacuation. For the queue configuration, short aisles lower infection spread when rope separators were used. The findings provide new insights in designing layout, planning, practice, and training strategies for improving the effectiveness of the pedestrian evacuation process under emergency

Toward cognitive digital twins using a BIM-GIS asset management system for a diffused university

The integrated use of building information modeling (BIM) and geographic information system (GIS) is promising for the development of asset management systems (AMSs) for operation and maintenance (O & M) in smart university campuses. The combination of BIM-GIS with cognitive digital twins (CDTs) can further facilitate the management of complex systems such as university building stock. CDTs enable buildings to behave as autonomous entities, dynamically reacting to environmental changes. Timely decisions based on the actual conditions of buildings and surroundings can be provided, both in emergency scenarios or when optimized and adaptive performances are required. The research aims to develop a BIM-GIS-based AMS for improving user experience and enabling the optimal use of resources in the O & M phase of an Italian university. Campuses are complex assets, mainly diffused with buildings spread across the territory, managed with still document-based and fragmented databases handled by several subjects. This results in incomplete and asymmetrical information, often leading to ineffective and untimely decisions. The paper presents a methodology for the development of a BIM-GIS web-based platform (i.e., AMS-app) providing the real-time visualization of the asset in an interactive 3D map connected to analytical dashboards for management support. Two buildings of the University of Turin are adopted as demonstrators, illustrating the development of an easily accessible, centralized database by integrating spatial and functional data, useful also to develop future CDTs. As a first attempt to show the AMS app potential, crowd simulations have been conducted to understand the buildings' actual level of safety in case of fire emergency and demonstrate how CDTs could improve it. The identification of data needed, also gathered through the future implementation of suitable sensors and Internet of Things networks, is the core issue together with the definition of effective asset visualization and monitoring methods. Future developments will explore the integration of artificial intelligence and immersive technologies to enable space use optimization and real-time wayfinding during evacuation, exploiting digital tools to alert and drive users or authorities for safety improvement. The ability to easily optimize the paths with respect to the actual occupancy and conditions of both the asset and surroundings will be enabled

River Restoration: Institutions, Boundaries, and Social Ecological Dynamics

This human dimensions research, consisting of three manuscripts, explores the social and ecological dimensions of river restoration through an examination of the restoration trajectories of the Androscoggin, an impaired system, and the Kennebec, a restored system. Manuscript one examines the influence of biophysical and community attributes and institutional rules on policy stakeholders goals and actions within the two watersheds. For manuscripts one and two, we conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants, assembled documents pertaining to restoration actions, and conducted participant observation at stakeholder meetings. We qualitatively analyzed transcripts and documents. Results suggest that policy stakeholders’ understandings of biophysical and community attributes influence watershed goals. Collaborations leverage institutional rules in use differently as a function of restoration state to achieve goals. Within impaired systems, collaborations invest in shifting public perception to build support for longer term restoration actions. Manuscript two examines factors contributing to emergence of boundary management processes associated with addressing river restoration challenges. Our second objective was an examination of the influence of restoration state on four functions of boundary organizations: convening, collaborating, translating, and mediating. Results indicate that the underlying restoration state influences the nature of collaborations at an individual and organization level differently. At an individual level within the impaired watershed, stakeholders valued the role of researchers in lending neutrality. At an institutional level, boundary organizations occupied varying roles, shifting public perception at one end of the restoration spectrum and leveraging restoration gains into community benefits at the other end. Certain functions transcend the state of restoration such as the role of student learning in fostering collaborations. Manuscript three examines the social dimensions of river restoration. Using spatial analysis, we examine spatial-temporal patterns of water classification shifts, and interaction with the creation of amenity infrastructure and landscape patterns along the river corridors. Despite historical differences in patterns of water classification levels, these two systems were comparable in the level amenity infrastructure and in many landscape metrics. The pace of amenity development differed over time and along the rivers, raising questions about the larger role of amenity investment in increasing community awareness of river systems

A heuristic for local land planning: Linking ecological function and policy-in context to Charlotte, North Carolina-

Ecological systems and services are foundational to human well-being, and in recent years have received increasing scholastic attention. The functional ability of these systems is influenced however, by human-induced land transformation related to conventional patterns of growth and development. Such land transformations, which commonly occur as single-family residential development, are criticized as being wasteful and inefficient, leading to issues like air and water pollution, diminished forests and wetlands, and habitat loss and fragmentation. In the United States a patchwork of policy exists aimed at addressing such ecological concerns. Despite best efforts, most local governments and planning offices still miss the mark, creating policy that only peripherally addresses ecological function. The research presented herein aims to deal with this; by way of a new heuristic, designed to link ecological function and land-use policy, this research offers direction to local land-use planners and policymakers who wish to integrate the preservation of ecological systems in local policy creation