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Learning to roll with the punches: adaptive experimentation in human‐dominated systems
Author(s) -
Cook William M.,
Casagrande David G.,
Hope Diane,
Groffman Peter M.,
Collins Scott L.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0467:ltrwtp]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - landscaping , phoenix , metropolitan area , process (computing) , fundamental human needs , human science , computer science , ecology , environmental resource management , architectural engineering , geography , psychology , environmental science , engineering , sociology , social science , social psychology , biology , archaeology , operating system
The interdisciplinary study of human–environment interactions is becoming increasingly important around the world. Long‐term experimental manipulations that combine approaches from both the ecological and social sciences could play an important role in the study of human–environment feedbacks in cities. The inclusion of in situ human subjects in this research is vital, as it facilitates more accurate scientific models and might produce social benefits such as increasing public trust in scientists. Within a landscape experiment, human subjects may alter experimental conditions to suit their needs, imitating the rapidly changing environmental conditions in cities. In response, researchers adjust explanatory models in a process which could be called “adaptive experimentation”. These ideas are illustrated by a description of a proposed experiment in the Phoenix metropolitan area, where residential landscaping will be manipulated and the feedbacks between ecological processes and the activities of resident humans studied.