Networking Urban Ecological Models Through Distributed Services

Understanding of the functioning of urban ecosystems cannot be achieved without the data collection and modeling developed by scientists working for federal, state, and local agencies, often in cooperation with university researchers. The project engages a broad range of partners. Local government agencies include the City of Phoenix (COP), Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR). These and other agencies have been engaged through the Greater Phoenix 2100 organization (http://gp2100.org), a multi -agency partnership led by ASU to identify long-term planning issues. Collaboration with the Central Arizona Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAPLTER) project links this effort with an energetic research program in urban ecology. Partners in informatics research include the San Diego Supercomputer Center, which participates in a subcontract, and collaborative interactions with the Science Environment for Ecological Knowledge (SEEK), and the Geosciences Network (GEON) in the form of shared software and metadata standards, joint meetings and working group memberships.