Evolution of Social-Ecological Research in the LTER Network and the Baltimore Ecosystem Study

The addition of two urban sites, based in Baltimore, Maryland, and Phoenix, Arizona, to the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program in 1997, posed challenges for creating a truly integrated social-ecological framework. Proposals to include social “core areas” to sites with social science agendas were developed in concert with national environmental priorities being set within the scientific community. Although the National Science Foundation rejected these proposals for LTER as a whole, researchers at the urban sites pursued their goals of developing more sophisticated multi-disciplinary frameworks for the study of urban patterns and processes. The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) illustrates how the conceptual basis of urban ecology evolved over 20 years, developing new strategies to manage cross-disciplinary interactions and relationships. Researchers drew especially on the concept of “boundary objects” as articulated by S. L. Star and J. Griesemer, and on General Stanley A. McChrystal’s conception of the “team of teams” as a way to engage with complex problems. Looking forward, BES is positioned now to expand to a long-term, transdisciplinary science platform which we call the Baltimore Ecosystem Alliance. Its goals include developing an authentic urban ecology on local and regional levels, while also serving as a national and international leader in urban ecology.