Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in Australia
Assessment and reporting of changes in vegetation condition at site and landscape scales is critical for land managers, policy makers and planers at local, regional and national scales. Land management, reflecting individual and collective values, is used to show historic changes in ecosystem struct...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2016-11-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/5/4/40 |
| _version_ | 1818838844076720128 |
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| author | Richard Thackway David Freudenberger |
| author_facet | Richard Thackway David Freudenberger |
| author_sort | Richard Thackway |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Assessment and reporting of changes in vegetation condition at site and landscape scales is critical for land managers, policy makers and planers at local, regional and national scales. Land management, reflecting individual and collective values, is used to show historic changes in ecosystem structure, composition and function (regenerative capacity). We address the issue of how the resilience of plant communities changes over time as a result of land management regimes. A systematic framework for assessing changes in resilience based on measurable success criteria and indicators is applied using 10 case studies across the range of Australia’s agro-climate regions. A simple graphical report card is produced for each site showing drivers of change and trends relative to a reference state (i.e., natural benchmark). These reports enable decision makers to quickly understand and assimilate complex ecological processes and their effects on landscape degradation, restoration and regeneration. We discuss how this framework assists decision-makers explain and describe pathways of native vegetation that is managed for different outcomes, including maintenance, replacement, removal and recovery at site and landscape levels. The findings provide sound spatial and temporal insights into reconciling agriculture, conservation and other competing land uses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:44:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-372f2bbbe3954ad5be2d9360c84d79b7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:44:51Z |
| publishDate | 2016-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-372f2bbbe3954ad5be2d9360c84d79b72022-12-21T20:37:10ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2016-11-01544010.3390/land5040040land5040040Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in AustraliaRichard Thackway0David Freudenberger1School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, AustraliaFenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University, Linnaeus Way, Acton, ACT 2601, AustraliaAssessment and reporting of changes in vegetation condition at site and landscape scales is critical for land managers, policy makers and planers at local, regional and national scales. Land management, reflecting individual and collective values, is used to show historic changes in ecosystem structure, composition and function (regenerative capacity). We address the issue of how the resilience of plant communities changes over time as a result of land management regimes. A systematic framework for assessing changes in resilience based on measurable success criteria and indicators is applied using 10 case studies across the range of Australia’s agro-climate regions. A simple graphical report card is produced for each site showing drivers of change and trends relative to a reference state (i.e., natural benchmark). These reports enable decision makers to quickly understand and assimilate complex ecological processes and their effects on landscape degradation, restoration and regeneration. We discuss how this framework assists decision-makers explain and describe pathways of native vegetation that is managed for different outcomes, including maintenance, replacement, removal and recovery at site and landscape levels. The findings provide sound spatial and temporal insights into reconciling agriculture, conservation and other competing land uses.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/5/4/40land managementecosystem structurecompositionfunctiontracking changemonitoringreportinganthropogenictransformationplant communitiesvegetation |
| spellingShingle | Richard Thackway David Freudenberger Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in Australia Land land management ecosystem structure composition function tracking change monitoring reporting anthropogenic transformation plant communities vegetation |
| title | Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in Australia |
| title_full | Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in Australia |
| title_fullStr | Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in Australia |
| title_short | Accounting for the Drivers that Degrade and Restore Landscape Functions in Australia |
| title_sort | accounting for the drivers that degrade and restore landscape functions in australia |
| topic | land management ecosystem structure composition function tracking change monitoring reporting anthropogenic transformation plant communities vegetation |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/5/4/40 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT richardthackway accountingforthedriversthatdegradeandrestorelandscapefunctionsinaustralia AT davidfreudenberger accountingforthedriversthatdegradeandrestorelandscapefunctionsinaustralia |