With a focus on the prairie pothole landscape, NPWRC scientists have worked to develop, parameterize, and validate multiple ecological models needed to facilitate the quantification of a wide array of goods and services provided by naturally functioning prairie ecosystems (e.g., carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, flood water storage, water quality improvement, crop pollination). The models being used by NPWRC scientists facilitate explorations into how the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services valued by society might be influenced by future changes in climate and land-use. Much of the “Integrated Landscape Modeling” work being conducted at NPWRC has been accomplished through close collaborations with the U.S. Department [...]
Summary
With a focus on the prairie pothole landscape, NPWRC scientists have worked to develop, parameterize, and validate multiple ecological models needed to facilitate the quantification of a wide array of goods and services provided by naturally functioning prairie ecosystems (e.g., carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, flood water storage, water quality improvement, crop pollination). The models being used by NPWRC scientists facilitate explorations into how the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services valued by society might be influenced by future changes in climate and land-use. Much of the “Integrated Landscape Modeling” work being conducted at NPWRC has been accomplished through close collaborations with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Services Agency (FSA). Given the significant influence of these two agencies on private lands that dominate the prairie pothole landscape, providing the scientific information needed to effectively implement USDA programs affecting management of these lands is an essential component of maintaining wildlife populations and function ecosystems and therefore a major focus of past and current research at NPWRC.
