NSF Award Abstract - #0083327

AWSFL008-DS3

Biocomplexity - Incubation Activity: Integrated Modeling of the
Complementarities and Conflicts Between Ecological Systems and Economic
Activities in North Carolina

Abstract

This incubation activity will investigate the nature of the complementarities and conflicts between the services of ecological systems and economic activities, focusing specifically on the land-water interface for North Carolina's linked rivers and estuaries. Recent concerns about rapid economic growth, ongoing transformations to North Carolina's environmental resources, growing nutrient loadings to coastal waterways, animal agriculture, and the prospect of increased hurricanes and coastal flooding in a rapidly developing landscape have focused attention on the development of integrated research to design policy responses to these issues. This research seeks to develop linkages between ecosystem models and a dynamic computational economic model describing equilibrium locations of heterogeneous households and firms in a spatial context. The ecosystem structures simulate ecological processes and functions based on the land use designation of their cells along with their interface with rivers, wetlands, and coastal estuaries. The research will take advantage of attributes of the study area and the research team drawn from the Research Triangle and external universities. These include: (a) a long history of field research for background data (e.g. the EPA Albemarle-Pamlico Study 1990-96), some relatively undisturbed coastal environments for new monitoring activities, and recent efforts to collect fairly extensive information on key descriptors of the major watersheds; (b) a network of linked natural scientists, engineers, and GIS-based landscape ecologists with a history of collaboration; (c) one of the largest collections (in the US) of environmental economists (who also have a history of collaborating with the natural science community); and (d) a select group of distinguished external scholars with experience in the quantitative and methodological requirements of developing and linking spatial models capable of describing the dynamic interactions of ecological processes and economic activities. A team of natural and social scientists and engineers will work with: V. Kerry Smith and Leonard J. Piedrafesa of NC State University; Nancy Bockstael, University of Maryland; and Thomas Rutherford, University of Colorado. Activities include a conference with commissioned papers and a continuing workshop series where natural and social scientists will interact to define the research. This incubation activity was funded as part of the FY2000 Biocomplexity Special Competition.