Enhancing and utilising landscape heterogeneity to meet multiple ecosystem objectives

Citation

Land & Water Australia. 2009. Enhancing and utilising landscape heterogeneity to meet multiple ecosystem objectives. [Online] (Updated April 23rd, 2009)
Available at: http://lwa.gov.au/node/3257 [Accessed Tuesday 26th of April 2011 07:01:34 PM ].

This project aims to help pastoralists in northern Australia better manage and utilise the spatially patchy nature of forage and vegetation resources at large scales as a means of enhancing native vegetation condition and improving economic outcomes.

The project will work with land managers to develop and demonstrate analytical tools to assist pastoralists decide where additional grazing properties might be best located to help minimise the impacts of climate variability and avoid some of the current problems associated with declining native vegetation condition during drought.

It will develop methods of quantifying beneficial aspects of diversity in vegetation, particularly those that could be used to provide a buffer in mitigating the effects of climate variability on the goods and services provided by rangelands.

Outcomes

1. Develop methods of quantifying beneficial aspects of diversity in native vegetation, particularly those that could be used to provide a buffer in mitigating the effects of climate variability on the goods and services provided by rangelands;

2. Quantify these patterns and provide them in a form that can assist land managers in decision making, particularly how large scale vegetation diversity can be used to structure networks of pastoral properties to manage the risks associated with climate variability;

3. Together with land mangers, develop options for enhancing and utilising vegetation diversity to meet both environmental and production ecosystem service objectives.