Citation:

KEPNER, W. G. AND J. L. RUBIO. FORWARD: DESERTIFICATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION: A SECURITY ISSUE. Chapter For, Kepner, Rubio, Mouat, Pedrazzini, and Gonzalez (ed.), Desertification in the Mediterranean Region. Springer Science and Business Media B.V;Formerly Kluwer Academic Publishers B.V., , Germany, , Xi - XV, (2005).

Impact/Purpose:

The primary objectives of this research are to:

Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;

Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;

Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;

Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;

Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.

This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.

Description:

The Workshop focused on two basic concepts: security and desertification and their linkages. Since the end of the Cold War, traditional security concepts based on national sovereignty and territorial security have increasingly been brought under review. Currently, a broader definition of security that would incorporate non-traditional threats and their causes, including environmental stress, has been advocated. Most current research indicates that global environmental change and its subsequent socio-economic effects are likely to continue and intensify in the future. The intensity as well as the interdependence of these problems will have affects not only at local scales, but also on an international scale and will begin to impact developing and industrialized countries more directly. These challenges call for mutual cooperation at the international level which provides for multi-disciplinary integration of both technical and policy-making individuals involved in the areas of environment, development of natural resources, foreign relations, and security.

Record Details: