Combining socio-economic and ecological modelling to inform natural resource management strategies

Johannes P.M. Heinonen*, Justin M.J. Travis, Steve M. Redpath, Michelle A. Pinard

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingPublished conference contribution

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Effective management of natural resources requires understanding both the dynamics of the natural systems being subjected to management and the decision-making behaviour of stakeholders who are involved in the management process. We suggest that simulation modelling techniques can provide a powerful method platform for the transdisciplinary integration of ecological, economic and sociological aspects that is needed for exploring the likely outcomes of different management approaches and options. A concise review of existing literature on ecological and socio-economic modelling and approaches at the interface of these fields is presented followed by a framework coupling an individual-based ecological model with an agent-based socio-economic model. In this framework, each individual of the species of interest is represented on a spatially-explicit landscape, allowing the incorporation of individual variability. The socio-economic model also simulates inter-agent variability through the assignment of different attitudes and decision-making options for different agents; these may represent farmers, estate managers, policy-makers, the general public and/or other stakeholders. This structure enables variation in attitudes and circumstances of individual stakeholders, together with interactions between stakeholders, to be simulated. We discuss strengths and limitations of such an approach, and the information requirements for building a robust model to inform a real management situation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationiEMSs 2012 - Managing Resources of a Limited Planet
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 6th Biennial Meeting of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society
Pages2545-2558
Number of pages14
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2012
Event6th Biennial Meeting of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society: Managing Resources of a Limited Planet, iEMSs 2012 - Leipzig, Germany
Duration: 1 Jul 20125 Jul 2012
http://former.iemss.org/sites/iemss2012/proceedings.html (Link to Conference Proceedings)

Conference

Conference6th Biennial Meeting of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society: Managing Resources of a Limited Planet, iEMSs 2012
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityLeipzig
Period1/07/125/07/12
Internet address

Bibliographical note

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank two anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier version of the
manuscript. J.P.M.H. was supported by a PhD studentship from the College of Life
Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, throughout the duration of this work.

Keywords

  • Artificial neural networks
  • Decision-making
  • Machine learning
  • Simulation modelling

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