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MULTIPLE SCALES FOR SUSTAINABLE RESULTS
Citation:
Smith, E R. AND M H. Mehaffey. MULTIPLE SCALES FOR SUSTAINABLE RESULTS. Presented at 19th Annual Symposium of the US Regional Chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology, Las Vegas, NV, March 30-April 2, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
Provide regional-scale, spatially explicit information on the extent and distribution of both stressors and sensitive resources.
Develop and evaluate techniques to integrate information on exposure and effects so that relative risk can be assessed and management actions can be prioritized.
Predict consequences of potential environmental changes under alternative future scenarios.
Effectively communicate economic and quality of life trade-offs associated with alternative environmental policies.
Develop techniques to prioritize areas for ecological restoration.
Identify information gaps and recommend actions to improve monitoring and focus research.
There are two task objectives that reflect the work done by LCB in support of the ReVA Program objectives:
Provide information management, spatial analysis support, and data and information accessibility for the ReVA Program
Provide program management support, technology transfer, and outreach.
Description:
This session will highlight recent research that incorporates the use of multiple scales and innovative environmental accounting to better inform decisions that affect sustainability, resilience, and vulnerability at all scales. Effective decision-making involves assessment at multiple scales and quantification of the full range of environmental costs and benefits associated with multiple decision-criteria. Work on a Regional scale contributes to local decision-making by extending the horizon such that environmental stresses that progress across the landscape ( e.g. land use change, atmospheric deposition, spread of non-indigenous species) can be evaluated within the context of current and future cumulative stresses. Similarly, small localized actions add up to regional impacts ( e.g. permitting of small point sources of atmospheric pollutants, linking of green space to provide habitat for migratory species) and are therefore important for maximizing opportunities and heading off actions having only short-term benefits.