Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, covering approximately 5.6 million km2 of the earth's surface. They support a wealth of biodiversity, and provide a variety of ecosystem services essential to human existence.
As human populations increase worldwide, wetlands are under considerable pressure, from development that increasingly strains their capacity to resist degradation and provide those services. Preservation of some wetlands may be possible, but most are so intimately connected to human economies that their preservation may be best achieved through what Article 3.1 of the RAMSAR Convention termed "Wise Use." (Defined as sustainable utilization of wetland resources in such a way as to benefit the human community while maintaining their potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations.)
A key to wetland function is the water that sustains hydrologic patterns and delivers both necessary nutrients and harmful pollutants. Often identified as the single most important driving force for wetlands, water is increasingly diverted for human purposes. Diversion of water can negatively impact wetland functions, resulting in a reduction in their value and economic use. This, in turn, may threaten the livelihood of people who depend on them. Many wetlands are overexploited as extractive users harvest at unsustainable levels. In many cases the filtering capacity of wetlands is further burdened by excessive chemical and sediment inputs, as surrounding lands are increasingly exploited. The cumulative effects of these impacts can be disastrous.
Wise use of wetlands cannot be separated from wise use of the water that sustains them. For wetlands to be sustainable, management decisions regarding wetlands, and the use, reuse, and disposal of their water, must be made at the basin scale or higher. Wise use of these resources must be the guiding principle. Such decisions are often trans-boundary in scale and complex in character. Wise management schemes require educated stakeholders who have broad interdisciplinary backgrounds in science, management, and policy. This will enable them to make informed assessments within a dynamic ecological and socioeconomic landscape. Wise use not only demands complex knowledge, but also requires ethical grounding to address both human and ecological concerns.
The broadest goal of our program is to change the dominant culture of graduate education by developing an interdisciplinary doctoral program that stresses integration of engineering, biophysical, and social sciences and addresses important issues related to wise use of water and wetlands through cutting edge, field-based teaching and research. Our students will achieve depth in their chosen major, receive a foundation in systems science, and acquire a working knowledge in the biophysical sciences (for social science majors) and the social sciences (for biophysical sciences or engineering majors).
Our IGERT program contains the following elements that add value to the research and educational experiences of our faculty and graduate students alike:
Adaptive Management: Wise Use of Water, Wetlands & Watersheds
is an NSF-funded IGERT program at the University of Florida
