Environmental Issues of National Importance

  Environmental change and its influence on biological processes occur on regional, continental, and global scales. We define a region on the basis of environmental characteristics that influence biology, such as climate and precipitation.

The challenges are to develop an increased understanding, via improved observations, focused experimentation and the development and testing of mechanistic theory of the following pressing environmental issues:

Biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem functioning

Decreases in biodiversity and changes in species composition accompany most human uses of the biosphere. The loss of biodiversity can affect ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services of value to society. The loss of biodiversity and shifts in ecosystem composition range from local to continental scales, and thus must be studied on their natural scale if their national implications are to be understood.

Ecological aspects of the biogeochemical cycle

 Humans are dominating natural processes as the major suppliers of the basic elements of life (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur). The redistribution of those chemical elements, and human-produced toxins, on regional and continental scales may have profound effects on human health and on ecosystem function and stoichiometry, which may result in shifts in biodiversity, toxin accumulation, and concentration through the food chain

. 

Human-induced climate warming and variability strongly affect individual species, community structure and ecosystem functioning. Changes in vegetation in turn affect climate through their role in partitioning radiation and precipitation at the land surface. Climate-driven biological impacts are often only discernable at a regional-continental scale. Regional changes in ecosystem processes affect global water and carbon cycles. Therefore, a national approach to understanding biological response to climate variability and change is required.

Ecology and evolution of infectious diseases.

Exposure to and the dynamics, spread and control of emerging diseases and their effects on humans, crops, livestock, and wildlife require a new level of understanding. The majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans either utilize vectors such as mosquitoes or ticks, or are zoonotic diseases that are transmitted from wildlife. That will require knowledge of spatial variations in exposure, of the population dynamics of disease reservoirs, of the effects of pathogens on individual behavior, of the molecular basis of host-parasite interactions, and of the interactions with other pathogens and environmental threats.

Invasive species

Invasive species affect virtually every ecosystem  cause substantial economic and biological damage. The identification of potentially harmful invasive species, the early detection of new species as invasion begins, and the knowledge base needed to prevent their spread require a comprehensive monitoring and experimental network and a mechanistic understanding of the interplay of invader, ecosystem traits and other factors including climate and land use that determine invasiveness.

Land use and habitat alteration.

Deforestation, suburbanization, road construction, agriculture, and other human land-use activities cause changes in ecosystems. Those changes modify water, energy and material balances and the ability of the biotic community to respond to and recover from stress and disturbance. Actions in one location, such as farming practices 

Each of these six environmental challenges is a source of effects in human social and economic systems, as well as in the nation's ecosystems. Environmental sustainability and livability depend heavily on natural resource use and other human behaviors. The environment is “the critical infrastructure without which neither an economy nor a society can survive