Funding
Needs
Activity
I. Develop methods
that integrate biophysical
and socioeconomic
issues of land-use
systems at the landscape
scale.
Methods
for working at the
plot and farm scale
and the regional scale
(GIS, remote-sensing)
are reasonably well
developed. There are,
however, a
number of methodological
issues (scaling up
and scaling down)
which need to be resolved
for complex agroecosystems
and the management
of these complex agroecosystems
by human communities
at the landscape and
watershed scales.
The
combinations of several
'best bet' options
at the farm, community
and watershed scales
will have major environmental
and socioeconomic
outcomes. For example,
net greenhouse gas
emissions to the atmosphere
will be influenced
by the spatial and
temporal interactions
of sources and sinks
at the landscape scale.
One of the key challenges
is thus to develop
methods and to extend
existing databases
to be able to assess
these phenomena at
the watershed and
landscape level.
This whole-farm and
landscape-level analysis
will build upon the
land use specific
analysis undertaken
in Phase II of ASB.
The methods will be
developed in collaboration
with local land users
to ensure that the
planning and implementation
of land-use systems
is sustainable.
A
number of attributes
of land-use practices
follow relatively
simple scaling rules,
and once assessed
at plot-level, can
be "scaled up"
easily on a unit area
basis. Crop production
and carbon stocks
appear to be in this
category. For other
functions, however,
additive rules cannot
be used, and other
forms of interactions
must be taken into
account. Rather than
attempting to directly
measure these functions
at a wide range of
spatial scales, we
will try to understand
the processes and
patterns underpinning
the scaling rules
that govern them.
A
better understanding
of these relations
and development of
dynamic, spatially
interacting models
of landscape level
processes is necessary
to assess when and
where specific policy
interventions, collective
action mechanisms
or institutional reforms
may be needed, and
where current farmer-led
mosaic formation may
be the best feasible
outcome. In some cases
considerable conflicts
may arise, and conflict
resolution analysis
will be necessary.
We
will develop strong
links and share data
with GCTE and LUCC
programmes to facilitate
methods for both scaling
up and scaling down,
as these programmes
have extensive experience
with these issues.
Linkages and ASB data
input to the regional
and global carbon
and circulation models
will contribute to
improving the predictive
capacity of both ASB
and GCTE/LUCC models.
Expected
outcomes of this
activity include:
-
Standardised
methods for scaling
up and down to watershed
and landscape levels
for data on agronomic,
biodiversity, environmental
and socioeconomic
variables.
-
Dynamic
models for predicting
land-use cover changes
and the impact of
land management
strategies at the
landscape or watershed
scales.
-
Training
of local researchers
in the methods developed.
BACK
Page
preparation by Dr. Erick
C.M. Fernandes, Cornell
University.
--ASB Global Coordinator
(1998-1999)-- |
