Applying landscape science to natural resource management

Abstract

Current trends in the condition of Australia's natural resources show that while some improvements are occurring, many areas are declining due to increasing pressures of agricultural intensification, urbanisation, invasive species and climate change. Arresting and reversing this persistent trend will need new approaches and tools to assist planning, implementation and monitoring of conservation and restoration programs. Critical to the success of these approaches is the need for integration as a deliberate process of considering and modelling the resources, people and institutions in a region in a holistic and systematic way. The modelling tools need to represent the processes and interactions between the biophysical, ecological, social, economic and institutional components making up the landscape. The intent of the modelling is to identify the causes, effects and consequences of existing and potential changes in regional landscapes. Simply relying on improved component information and understanding will not address the most challenging management issue – how do we manage the whole with a reasonable appreciation of the consequences of individual actions? This cannot be done without invoking integrated landscape science. But this new and challenging form of systems science is currently under-developed, highlighting the need for a significant integrated landscape science capability in Australia. The paper identifies those groups and studies in Australia that are contributing to the development of landscape science, compares these with international activity and highlights future needs and directions.