What state of the world are we in? Targeted monitoring to detect transitions in vegetation restoration projects.

Monitoring vegetation restoration is challenging because ‘best practice’ monitoring is costly, requires long-term funding, and involves monitoring multiple vegetation variables which are often not linked back to learning about progress toward objectives. There is a clear need for the development of targeted monitoring programs that focus on a reduced set of variables that are tied to specific restoration objectives. In this paper, we present a method to progress the development of a targeted monitoring program, using a pre-existing state-and-transition model. We i) use field data to validate an expert-derived classification of woodland condition states; ii) use this data to identify which variable(s) help differentiate woodland condition states; and iii) identify the target threshold (for the variable) that signifies the desired transition has been achieved. The measured vegetation variables from each site in this study were good predictors of the different states of vegetation condition. We show that by measuring only a few of these variables, it is possible to assign the vegetation condition state for a collection of sites, and monitor if and when a transition to another state has occurred. Out of nine vegetation variables considered, the density of immature trees and percentage of exotic understorey vegetation cover were the variables most frequently specified as effective to define a threshold or transition. We synthesise findings by presenting a decision tree that provides practical guidance for the development of targeted monitoring strategies for woodland vegetation.

A state-and-transition model to guide grassland management

Grassland ecosystems across the globe have been extensively modified and degraded by agriculture and urban development, leaving conservation managers with a complex set of interacting legacies and opportunities to contend with. We advocate the use of state-and-transition models to assist conservation managers to deal with this complexity. Using a major development and compensation project as a case study (The Melbourne Strategic Assessment under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999), we discuss the uses and limitations of state-and-transition models for conservation management. We define a state-and-transition model for an endangered Australian temperate grassland. Soil and vegetation data are used to evaluate the model and confirm that the assigned states relate to observable agro-ecological patterns. We then discuss the use of this model for several different interacting purposes: as a tool for the simple communication of complex ecological processes; as a tool for landscape stratification to aid the spatial application of management and experimentation; as a framework to set and define conservation objectives; and as an aide for adaptive management.

Sustainable livelihoods approach through the lens of the State-and-Transition Model in semi-arid pastoral systems

Dealing with complex challenges worldwide regarding sustainable development and environmental management requires applied frameworks to understand and manage change in complex social-ecological systems. In this regard, frameworks that have originated from different research arenas such as the State-and-Transition Model and the sustainable livelihoods approach provide a conceptual basis for theory and operative integration. The aim of this paper was to provide a conceptual model for social-ecological research and sustainable management in semi-arid pastoral systems. We suggest integrating the state-and-transition model by including structural and functional features of social-ecological systems into the sustainable livelihoods approach. Both attributes are analysed at a household level in five types of capital that typically comprise social-ecological systems: natural, human, manufactured, social and financial. We propose to perform the structural-functional analysis for each capital as separate sub-systems in order to assess the impact of different disturbance factors. Some implications of this framework are explained by providing an example of the impact of drought in smallholder pastoral systems from semi-arid rangelands of North-West Patagonia, Argentina. This approach is encouraging as a step towards two main challenges: (i) the provision of applied frameworks for social-ecological assessment and management, and (ii) an attempt to bring closer science and decision making.

A state-and-transition model of Iberian dehesas based on spatial patterns

<p class="p1a"><em>Aim of study</em>: In this study a process based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) is proposed as a tool for analyzing the spatial structure of the Mediterranean dehesa ecosystem.</p><p class="address"><em>Area of study</em>: Western Peninsular Spain.</p><p class="p1a"><em>Material and methods</em>: The method allows a semi-quantitative “state and transitions” (S&amp;T) net that provides original information derived from spatial patterns that cannot be obtained by other means.</p><p class="p1a"><em>Main results</em>: This GIS analysis also supplies a spatial basis which complements the conceptual framework of vegetation series successional proposals. Moreover, the proposed method can be a useful tool for understanding landscape changes.</p><p class="p1a"><em>Research highlights</em>: Our work proposes not only a descriptive model but also a methodology based on spatial metrics and topological relationships.</p><p class="p1a"><strong>Keywords:</strong><strong> </strong>geographic information systems; successional net; landscape management.</p><strong>Abbreviations used: </strong>S&amp;T: State and Transition; RFP: Regional Forest Plan.