Research Interests
The form and function of natural landscapes are the result of complex interactions between many coupled processes – geomorphology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and ecology. These relationships determine the patterns we observe in nature, from the branching of river networks and deltas to the distribution of plant and animal species and their habitats. In recent times (often termed the anthropocene – ca. 8,000 bp to present), the human footprint on the landscape has increased profoundly; imposing significant changes to the function of natural systems. This influence now occurs on a global scale, making it difficult to separate “natural” from “human-altered” systems and requiring earth system research approaches to fully consider the human population as an integral component. My research revolves around the idea that proper characterization of coupled dynamics in both natural and human-altered landscapes is necessary to inform natural resource management and policy decisions.
My primary focus is on the development of simulation models integrating the processes of hydrology, soil chemistry and microbiology, and ecology to investigate the co-variability of these systems in humid environments. At the plot scale, climate (precipitation and temperature) drives the temporal variability of microbiological communities and chemical constituents within the soil. This, in turn, determines the amount and type of nutrition available to the plant community, which subsequently drives above-ground ecological structure. Future work will consider these processes spatially distributed within the watershed and their relationship with topography.
I am also involved with a multi-disciplinary project aiming to establish the trajectory of human-induced environmental changes in the Northeastern United States from the colonial period to the present ( www.cuahsi.org/nchs.html). My interest here lies in understanding the coupling between human decision-making and natural resource availability, or the socio-economic and biogeophysical systems. In the future, I am interested in extending the models described above to include human dimensions and their relationships with the fluxes and stores of water, carbon, and nitrogen within the watershed.
For more information regarding prior professional experience and other projects, please see my current CV
Selected Publications and Presentations
Contact Information
Tony Parolari
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Ave., 48-216
Cambridge MA 02139
parolari@mit.edu