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Background
The Lower Rio Grande Valley is a dynamically changing landscape with a long history of habitat conservation efforts. Recently, a number of us collaborated on a proposal to study the integrated human and natural systems of the LRGV. Our goal is to better understand the interplay between human actives influencing the landscape and how the landscape supports biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We proposed that there are multiple networks influencing this system: networks of habitat patches linked by dispersal, networks of interactions between stakeholders, and networks that link stakeholders to different landscape elements. Essential to evaluating this model is a better understanding of what is happening on the ground in the LRGV to conserve and restore habitats and how different groups are involved in shaping these efforts. Thus, we are hosting a meeting among stakeholders, including researchers and practitioners, to generate a more highly resolved picture of the current status and trends of habitats and management practices.
Our goals are to:
(1) Get to know stakeholders working to preserve habitats and biodiversity in the LRGV
(2) Identify the major institutional barriers to the attainment of greater resilience of biodiversity in the LRGV to landscape and climate change
(3) Identify the major gaps in knowledge needed to more effectively manage biodiversity in the LRGV
(4) Identify data collection and synthesis needs that could help to fill these gaps
Conceptual Model
The LRGV is comprised of a dynamic network of human and natural systems, interacting across landscape scales and organizational sectors. Interactions among stakeholder groups, connections between stakeholders and the landscape, and links among habitats, all have downstream effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function. Understanding the interplay of these groups facilitates informed conservation efforts and sustainable biodiversity management in the LRGV.
Further reading:
USGS Report: Conservation of biodiversity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (David M. Leslie Jr. 2016) https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165078Â
Organizing Committee
Assistant Professor, School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin
For more information, contact: nicole.wonderlin@austin.utexas.edu
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