BE/CNH: Human And Natural Systems Associated With Mediterranean Watersheds: An Interdisciplinary Framework

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Mediterranean systems offer an abundance of water over short, unpredictable time periods, usually between November and April in California. Time periods with scarce water can be long-lasting, making it difficult to manage water and land use and to supply consistent goods and services to large population centers. The primary goal of this developmental project is to develop a theoretical framework that will allow for an integration of human and biophysical Mediterranean watershed dynamics. This requires a greater understanding of the inherent biocomplexity of Mediterranean watersheds and the dynamic relationships among these environmental systems and human actions, institutions, and policies. A multidisciplinary team of researchers drawn from both the natural and social sciences will explore the consistency between hydrologic, biotic, and socioeconomic models that are used to explain and to regulate watershed ecosystem behavior and the realities of watershed behavior in Mediterranean environments. Prevailing scientific models of watersheds and regulatory systems developed to manage natural resources in watersheds commonly have evolved without a thorough understanding of Mediterranean watershed dynamics. The investigators hypothesize that these scientific models are better suited to relatively homogenous environments with fairly predictable rainfall and tight relations between stream flow and proximate land uses than they are to Mediterranean watersheds with their episodic hydrology and frequent disturbance. The validity of this hypothesis will be tested as a basis for potentially more useful formulations of Mediterranean problems. In doing so, the investigators will explore the influence of physical, biological, social, and institutional processes on the function and health of Mediterranean ecosystems at various spatial scales ranging stream reaches and individual watersheds to entire river systems. They will conduct a series of facilitated workshops and field days to help critically assess the suitability of existing models for Mediterranean conditions. These workshops and field days will help to identify shared variables among disciplines and their use in developing interdisciplinary models; design a comparative research framework to test new models and hypotheses; provide an operational watershed forum and academic advancement for the broader community; and enhance support for comparative interdisciplinary research. Human population growth in Mediterranean-climate regions has placed considerable pressure on scarce freshwater resources, resulting in widespread impairment of river and stream systems. A great deal of capital is being invested in restoring Mediterranean watersheds with a very shallow conceptual awareness of where, how, and what is being restored. This has led to many restoration project failures in California and elsewhere. By integrating theories, perspectives, and methods from the physical, biological, and social sciences, this project will provide a sounder basis for the restoration of Mediterranean watersheds, and it will help address existing laws and institutional structures that are not well-equipped to deal with this kind of dynamic system. This project is an award emanating from the FY 2001 special competition in Biocomplexity in the Environment focusing on the Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems.