BE/CNH: Modeling Biocomplexity and Socio-Economic Decisionmaking Under Uncertainty in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

University Of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Investigators

Abstract

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has been described as both the quintessential American wilderness and a battle zone that pits humans against nature. Controversial issues range from socio-economic concerns (e.g., rural development and subdivisions) to basic ecology (e.g., the relationship between elk and vegetation). The future health of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem depends as much on human decision-making dynamics as on biophysical processes and environmental change. The long-term goal of this project is to integrate biophysical and decision-making models into a framework that allows exploration of future scenarios that include likely social and environmental stressors. This incubation project will enable a team-building and data-gathering exercise as part of the larger effort to couple mass balance and bioenergetics models with cognitive models that represent the decision making process. An interdisciplinary research team will be assembled to guide model design, and stakeholder perspectives will be collected during the project.