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<br />01784 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. Adaptive management process, ecosystem management, integrated research. <br /> <br />Placing the set of priority information needs from the 2004 AMWG workshop <br />into a question format, permits the researcher to address integrated resource impacts of <br />the CRE while at the same time addressing all of the individual discipline resource <br />information needs specified by AMWG. <br /> <br />The following set of science questions, if answered, should significantly advance <br />the understanding of integrated resource impacts of differing managed flow regimes, as <br />well as other resource issues identified by AMWG. And, because science approaches <br />that evaluate individual disciplines (hydrology, fIsh ecology) or resources (sand, <br />sediment, rainbow trout) have not provided appropriate answers to more complex <br />ecosystem questions, the Center will also pursue these questions in a more integrated <br />interdisciplinary science paradigm. <br /> <br />To accomplish all of its programs, the Center expects to employ a mix of <br />disciplinary (single discipline efforts), multidisciplinary (combination additive process <br />with different disciplines) and interdisciplinary (integrated disciplinary approach) efforts. <br />However, the interdisciplinary approach, which synthesizes the perspective of the <br />individual disciplines and integrates during all phases of the approach to a question or <br />problem, will have increased application over the next five years. <br /> <br />Integrated Interdisciplinary River Science <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />GCMRC recognizes the importance of integrated interdisciplinary science as an <br />effective way to study and understand ecosystem complexity. Eugene Odum, the "father <br />of modern ecology," noted that as far as ecosystems are concerned, "the whole is greater <br />than the sum of its parts," and as such, reductionist scientific methods alone cannot <br />adequately explain living systems. Few would argue that one of the traits of an <br />ecosystem is incredible complexity; a bewildering array of interconnections between all <br />the individual components that make the whole. <br /> <br />River science is by its very nature timdamentally interdisciplinary. Answering the <br />most critical freshwater problems of our times requires integrating socio-cultural and <br />biophysical concepts and'iTiethods. Flow, dissolved and suspended materials, and living <br />resources within the river channel all interact. As emphasized in a recent internal USGS <br />(2004) white paper, river science today transcends conventional disciplinary boundaries <br />because "the hydrologic cycle, in concert with human activities and geological, <br />biological, chemical. and climatic processes. controls most of the commonly recognized <br />features of rivers, such as river form. seasonal variations ill jlow, chemical quality, and <br />the type of livillg resources in rivers, " <br /> <br />GCMRC is poised to meet this challenge and provide pioneering work and <br />leadership in the arena of integrative river science. GCMRC is already well along the <br />path to integrative research in many areas. An integrative river science approach will <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />USGS SBSC GCMRC Strategic Science Plan - FY 2005-2009 <br />Draft, October 22, 2004 <br /> <br />13 <br />