UC Riverside

Urban systems, or socio-ecological systems, are complex on fine and coarse scales, and are important to humans through the effects of ecological processes. Nitrogen pollution is uniquely altered by humans and variable on fine spatial scales with understudied potential sources and sinks. We found local atmospheric nitrogen pollution concertation in Riverside correlated with traffic as a pollution source, but plant canopy did not act as a significant source. Atmospheric pollution does not remain within city limits, and effects in natural systems can be observed in the air, canopy, and soil. We observed a deposition gradient, with decreased atmospheric nitrogen further from urbanization. However the pattern was not consistent for nitrogen in the canopy and the soil, highlighting a disconnect in the gradient and the complexity of teleconnections. Urban ecology affects humans in socioecological systems and plays an important role in science policy. The Salton Sea is a hyper-resilient ecological crisis that fits within the framework of wicked problems. Through research on existing government policy and interviews with key stakeholders, we identified issues that potentially keep the sea in a degraded state and recommendation via resilience theory to address the wicked problem. The dissertation as a whole seeks to improve understanding of socio-ecological systems across scales, and quantify variation in ecosystem processes and nitrogen patterns within and beyond urban areas.