Biocomplexity In The Big Thicket

Introduction: Overview of the Big Thicket and BiocomplexityThe Big Thicket is an ill-defined region of southeast Texas on the coastal plain of theGulf of Mexico between the Trinity and Sabine rivers, not far from Houston.Because the biological-diversity index of the area is one of the highest in NorthAmerica, the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP)—an archipelago of isolatedconservation ‘units’ administered by the US National Park Service—was establishedin 1974. The BTNP is located in a matrix of privately owned timberland, small farms,and a few small towns. The major human impacts on the region, beginning in the late19th century and continuing into the 21st, have been logging and milling by largeindustrial timber operations and oil and gas extraction. Because of its proximity tothe refineries of Port Arthur and the city of Beaumont and the steady increase in theavailability of automobiles after World War II, residential development has alsobeen a major impact in the region—and now represents the most potent driver ofland-use/land-cover change.Few ecosystems are now free of extensive human influence. However, the wayhuman activity affects natural systems and the way those anthropogenic changes innatural systems reciprocally affect human behavior is poorly understood. Therefore,the aggregate impact of the several decisions of private persons, corporations, andgovernments to buy and sell land, to explore for minerals, to harvest timber, to buildhomes, strip malls, factories, and roads is only perceptible after the fact. Detailedprediction of anthropogenic land-use/land-cover change is impossible with currenttools. However, computer models can simulate the complex interactions betweenhuman and natural systems reliably enough to enable stakeholders and policy