guidelines and advice on how to appropriately manage natural resources.
Yet, the agencies are often so busy that they cannot respond to an owner’s
request in a timely fashion. For example, in the state of Tennessee, there are
more than 300,000 parcels of forest land larger than 15 acres and only 33
state foresters to assist with the management of these lands. The lack of
environmental managers is quite bleak in developing nations. Individual
landowners frequently would like to manage their resources in an ecologically appropriate way, but lack the information or tools to do so. Thus,
resource owners often turn to other approaches to seek advice on how best
to manage their resources. One of the most effective ways to educate
landowners about sustainable land-use practices is to establish demonstration projects. For example, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia, the government has established farmers who grow a mix of crops and use native
products in a way that can provide long-term support. However, looking at
other examples of environmental management is not always applicable,
because each situation is unique in its environmental conditions, socioeconomic and political constraints, and opportunities for resource extraction and use.
Ecological models offer a means to quantify definitions of sustainability
and to project the function, composition, and structure of sustainable
systems over space and time. Developing a model requires explicit statement of the goals, inputs, and outputs of concern. The time frame and spatial
boundaries and influences must be chosen. In other words, the management
context and implications must be explicitly discussed and set forth. The act
of determining parameter values and boundary conditions of models is
valuable to the decision-making process. Models also need to be able
to integrate information from several disciplines to address the specific
constraints, conditions, and opportunities noted above. These tools need
to address key resource management concerns, to be usable within the
cultural traditions and economic and time constraints of the resource
manager, and to be made known and available to potential users. Integrating models into decision making requires developing flexible tools for
environmental management and making them available and understandable to landowners and resource managers. For such applications, ecological models need to be designed up front to meet these diverse needs.
However, applicable and usable models are not always available to resource
managers and, as a result, are not used in many instances in which they
could make a significant contribution to the decision-making process.
Therefore, this book is devoted to an exploration of the development and
application of ecological models for resource management.
One purpose of this book is to bring to the environmental manager’s
attention the diversity of models that can be used in management activities. Some ecological models require technical data and instruments, such
as remote sensing data or sophisticated computers. Some models build upon
previous information that has been acquired from ecological, historical,
6
Virginia H. Dale
Yet, the agencies are often so busy that they cannot respond to an owner’s
request in a timely fashion. For example, in the state of Tennessee, there are
more than 300,000 parcels of forest land larger than 15 acres and only 33
state foresters to assist with the management of these lands. The lack of
environmental managers is quite bleak in developing nations. Individual
landowners frequently would like to manage their resources in an ecologically appropriate way, but lack the information or tools to do so. Thus,
resource owners often turn to other approaches to seek advice on how best
to manage their resources. One of the most effective ways to educate
landowners about sustainable land-use practices is to establish demonstration projects. For example, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia, the government has established farmers who grow a mix of crops and use native
products in a way that can provide long-term support. However, looking at
other examples of environmental management is not always applicable,
because each situation is unique in its environmental conditions, socioeconomic and political constraints, and opportunities for resource extraction and use.
Ecological models offer a means to quantify definitions of sustainability
and to project the function, composition, and structure of sustainable
systems over space and time. Developing a model requires explicit statement of the goals, inputs, and outputs of concern. The time frame and spatial
boundaries and influences must be chosen. In other words, the management
context and implications must be explicitly discussed and set forth. The act
of determining parameter values and boundary conditions of models is
valuable to the decision-making process. Models also need to be able
to integrate information from several disciplines to address the specific
constraints, conditions, and opportunities noted above. These tools need
to address key resource management concerns, to be usable within the
cultural traditions and economic and time constraints of the resource
manager, and to be made known and available to potential users. Integrating models into decision making requires developing flexible tools for
environmental management and making them available and understandable to landowners and resource managers. For such applications, ecological models need to be designed up front to meet these diverse needs.
However, applicable and usable models are not always available to resource
managers and, as a result, are not used in many instances in which they
could make a significant contribution to the decision-making process.
Therefore, this book is devoted to an exploration of the development and
application of ecological models for resource management.
One purpose of this book is to bring to the environmental manager’s
attention the diversity of models that can be used in management activities. Some ecological models require technical data and instruments, such
as remote sensing data or sophisticated computers. Some models build upon
previous information that has been acquired from ecological, historical,
6
Virginia H. Dale