Document Type
Poster Session
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
This poster examines stormwater ponds as complex adaptive ecosystems in the urban environment, in which community residents and other stakeholders are integral components. Stormwater ponds are important forms of green infrastructure used to control flooding in the Tampa Bay area. These ponds also can help mitigate the flow of nutrients into the bay, which can cause harmful algal blooms that impact people and marine life. With increasing frequency and intensity of flooding events due to climate change, some stormwater ponds, such as Aaran’s Pond in the University Area Community near the USF Tampa campus, are becoming less effective at flood management and increasingly characterized by poor water quality due to excessive nutrient pollution that negatively impacts the health of the pond ecosystem and the people who rely on it.
This research draws on data from 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with environmental scientists and community residents. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data reveals how the Aaran’s Pond stormwater infrastructure has become a pond ecosystem with important ecosystem services that support and sustain human livelihoods. The analysis also reveals important insights for ecological restoration.
Scholar Commons Citation
Moore, Cya; Echols, Serena A.; and Wells, E. Christian, "Stormwater Infrastructure as a Socio-Ecological System: The Case of Aaran’s Pond" (2024). Weather, Climate, and Society REU. 13.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/weather-climate-society_reu/13
