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Connectivity: what is it and why do we care?
Citation:
Ali, G., C. Lane, AND S. Leibowitz. Connectivity: what is it and why do we care? WATER RESOURCES IMPACT. American Water Resources Association, Middleburg, VA, 19(2):6, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
Article for popular press American Water Resources Association journal "Water Resources Impact". This will highlight the upcoming AWRA Spring Specialty conference on connectivity, "Connecting the dots: The emerging science of aquatic system connectivity". See: http://www.awra.org/meetings/Snowbird2017/
Description:
Being “connected” is an essential component of human health. Connections between people allow for communication, trade and other critical social interactions. Similarly, connections are important for the ecosystems that make up our environment. While “aquatic connectivity” might seem a bit mystical, water-mediated connections or interactions between ecosystems allow for movement of materials (including nutrients and organisms) between them (Figure 1). This is critical to the health and sustainability of the ponds, rivers and lakes that people rely on for their subsistence or recreation. The science of connectivity is still new and like any developing discipline, it has its overall focus but is still refining its marching orders, which policy-makers and the general public can help formulate. As regulators, inhabitants and users of the landscape, they are witnesses to current environmental degradation. Their testimony is necessary to assess how the science of aquatic connectivity might help tip the scales towards greater environmental sustainability and therefore better landscape health.
