Overview
 
Our research has focused on both contemporary and historic social ecological dynamics, with particularly attention to the social consequences of income, race, social identity and status, and environmental quality. The results of this research indicate that long term social ecological dynamics are far more complex than the environmental justice literature indicates. For instance, environmental equity literature points to the unequal consequences of urbanization on public health and living conditions. Our study of infant mortality in 1880 Baltimore shows that patterns were uneven with a marked concentration in low-lying areas. In 1880, 1 in 4 children died before their first birthday, most from diseases linked to unsanitary conditions. The pattern of deaths showed no link with land use, as hypothesized, but did demonstrate a strong correlation with low elevation, where drainage was poor. Interestingly, Baltimoreans recognized this pattern in the 1880s. Those that had the means moved to the Piedmont to improve the life chances of their infants. This began a process of suburbanization, driven by poor public health conditions and inadequate infrastructure, which remapped the social and built geography of Baltimore.
 
Environmental equity theory also suggests that minority populations are most likely to live near environmental hazards. Our research found the opposite, whites were more likely than blacks to live in or near Census Tracts that contain a Toxic Release Inventory site. While the present geography appears to be an amenity for black Baltimoreans, it reflects a long history of residential and occupational segregation. Living close to work, factories and facilities that are now sites of toxic releases, was once considered an amenity, a privilege afforded mainly to whites. Zoning in the 1920s held the spread of potentially toxic industry in check in southeastern Baltimore, areas that have traditionally and continue to be primarily white neighborhoods. The study demonstrates that historical analysis is critical for understanding the processes that create contemporary landscapes of inequity.
 
Our studies of contemporary landscapes has compared theories of demographics (population density), social stratification and environmental equity (income and education, race), and social identity and status. We propose that social group identity and status are a particularly important social science contribution to what we call an "ecology of prestige," which recognizes that household livelihoods and lifestyles and neighborhood cultural traditions are significant drivers of social and biophysical structure and function.
 
To test these theories we have used three methods of data collection: a household telephone survey, a field observation survey, and a photonarrative survey. The household telephone survey (n=800, 1999 and 2000, n=1,500 households 2003) includes questions about recreation behavior (types and frequency), watershed knowledge, neighborhood social capital, willingness to participate in environmental activities, environmental perceptions, and perceptions of neighborhood environmental quality of life. In addition to associating these data with PRIZM classes and US Census Block Groups, each record has the latitude / longitude for each household, which permits spatial analysis with biophysical data for the entire metropolitan region, with particularly sampling of the Gwynns Falls Watershed. We conduct the field observation survey using nested 100m / 300m plots tied to a permanent, geographic reference grid for the entire Baltimore Metropolitan Region. The sampling minimum for the field observation survey is 5% of all households in each neighborhood. Data from the field observation survey can be used to measure social order. Examples include measures of trash, graffiti, and lawn / building maintenance. The photonarrative uses an approach of in-depth resident interviews and photo-documentation focusing on neighborhood-level recreation activities, social cohesion, identity, and environmental quality. We use data from the photonarrative to triangulate and enhance data from the telephone and field observation surveys. We have collected data using the field observation survey (n=~250) and photonarrative (n=~26) all the biophysical permanent plots and Watershed 263 and field observation surveys only for the residential plots of the 200-plot survey. These methods will be repeated on a long term basis for Watershed 263 and our long term monitoring sites. The field observation survey has been modified and applied in the Central Arizona-Phoenix (CAP) LTER and cross-site analyses are on-going.
 
Using the PRIZM as a measure of social identity and status, our results indicate surprisingly that social group identity and status are better predictors of variations in watershed knowledge, neighborhood social capital, and willingness to participate or support environmental restoration activities than population density, income/education, or race. We collected data about Environmental Quality of Life indicators in the household telephone survey in 2003 and Ecosystem Services through the "The EcoValue Project": http://ecovalue.uvm.edu/evp/default.htm, and these will be used in further analyses of social group identity and status.
 
Researchers and natural resource managers from Baltimore City, Maryland Department of Natural Resources' Forest Service and the USDA Forest Service are using BES social ecological patch data to create an Urban, Community Forestry Typology and applying it to a classification of Baltimore City. This novel classification system will be developed as a prototype for Baltimore City and replicated in a modified form with partner Urban Ecology Collaborative cities: Boston, New York, New Haven, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.