Toward Understanding Teleconnections that Influence Ecosystem Resilience
Successful local conservation efforts must account for both local and remote influences, the latter of which can be more difficult to identify and quantify. For example, the hydrological connectivity of central U.S. river systems leads to environmental problems downstream, such as the Mississippi River Delta. Understanding these “teleconnections” and their influence on the ecosystems and ecosystem services of the region can be key to finding management strategies that work.
Our Goals
The goal of this community of practice is twofold. On one hand we are interested in understanding and describing teleconnections in atmospheric science, with a special focus on the South-Central United States. On the other hand, we are interested in the concept of teleconnections as used in human-nature systems research, with a special focus on integrative approaches analyzing the relationships among subsystems and their effect on the sustainability of human-nature systems.
Our Team
Established in October 2018, the Understanding Teleconnections that Influence Ecosystem Resilience team has 7 members:
Elinor Martin (co-lead), University of Oklahoma
Jennifer Koch, University of Oklahoma
Greg Sneddon (co-lead), USGS Wetland & Aquatic Research Center
Jack Friedman, University of Oklahoma
Robert Rohli, Louisiana State University
Kristine DeLong, Louisiana State University
Renee McPherson, University of Oklahoma
Our Projects
Milestones & Next Steps for 2021
Since August of 2020, we have been focused on two larger activities, outside of meetings every six weeks:
National Science Foundation (NSF) Proposal: The group developed and submitted a proposal to the NSF Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks RFP titled SRS RN: Building a Transboundary, Whole-basin Collaborative Research Network in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo.
Manuscript Development: The group has been working on a review of teleconnections titled Impacts of Atmosphere-Ocean Teleconnections on the South-Central United States. Solid progress has been made and the plan is to continue working on the review over the 2021 summer. Also, we submitted a request to receive support for a graduate student to support the literature review on the use of teleconnection concepts in human-environment systems research.
Coming up: We have two major goals for the upcoming summer: (1) Continuing to work on the review on Atmosphere-Ocean Teleconnections on the South-Central United States, and (2) developing a first draft of a manuscript on the use of teleconnection concepts in human-environment systems research.