Ecological and social interactions in urban parks in central Arizona-Phoenix: site locations

Our central objective is to use small, neighborhood parks in Phoenix to study: (1) the ways in which ecological processes are influenced by human values, use, and management; and (2) the ways in which human attitudes and activities, and the services valued by humans, are influenced by ecological characteristics and processes. Elucidating this coupling in Phoenix parks will itself be a significant step towards understanding the complexities of human-nature interactions. The information gathered in addressing the central objective, though, can and should be used to assess potential trajectories for ecological processes. Our second objective is to develop trajectories for potential changes in ecosystem services in the Phoenix metropolitan area, given economic and demographic trends, and given the signal of human-nature interactions among different social groups.