Tính bền vững của các dịch vụ hệ sinh thái cho sức khỏe con người sẽ đòi hỏi tư duy nhiều ở quy mô không gian và thời gian (Kates et al 2001). Đánh giá quy mô lớn của sự thay đổi toàn cầu cung cấp một cái nhìn tổng quan về sự đa dạng của các vấn đề môi trường đang xảy ra và có khả năng xảy ra trong tương lai (Đánh giá Hệ sinh thái Thiên niên kỷ 2005). Tuy nhiên, ngay cả các đánh giá toàn cầu đòi hỏi nhân rộng đến các khu vực nhỏ. | 19 Watershed Science Essential Complex M ultidisciplinary and Collaborative R. Jan Stevenson Michael J. Wiley Stuart H. Gage Vanessa L. Lougheed Catherine M. Riseng Pearl Bonnell Thomas M. Burton R. Anton Hough David W. Hyndman John K. Koches David T. Long Bryan C. Pijanowski Jiaquo Qi Alan D. Steinman and Donald G. Uzarski WATERSHED SCIENCE ESSENTIAL Sustainability of ecosystem services for human well-being will require thinking at multiple spatial and temporal scales Kates et al. 2001 . Large-scale assessment of global change provides an overview of the diversity of environmental problems that are occurring and are likely to occur in the future Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 . However even global assessments require scaling to smaller areas to account for local variations in ecosystems human activities affecting those ecosystems and societal values that value different elements of ecosystems. Watersheds provide an important geospatial unit for the science of water resource management because of the greater interaction between humans and ecosystems within watershed boundaries than across watershed boundaries. In this paper we describe the importance of watershed science for watershed management and regional sustainability. We also describe how scientists and other stakeholders from many disciplines must work together to solve and prevent environmental problems and that those collaborations have great benefits for the individuals involved their science and society. To illustrate the concepts discussed examples will be provided from the Muskegon Watershed Research Partnership MRWP . The MRWP conducts an integrated research effort on one of the largest and most ecologically diverse watersheds of the Great Lakes region in the United States. Scientists and policy makers often lament the lack of research and knowledge that are necessary to make the difficult decisions that frequently face resource managers Brewer and Stern 2005 . Scientists need to provide .
