Mathematical Modeling for Resources and Environmental Systems

Effective management and planning of resources and environmental systems have been of concerns in the past decades since contamination and resource-scarcity problems have led to a variety of impacts and liabilities. However, achieving a reasonable and efficient management strategy is difficult since many conflicting factors have to be balanced due to complexities of the real-world problems. In resources and environmental systems, there are a number of factors that need to be considered by planners and decision-makers, such as social, economic, technical, legislational, institutional, and political issues, as well as environmental protection and resources conservation. Moreover, a variety of processes and activities are interrelated to each other, resulting in complicated systems with interactive, dynamic, nonlinear, multiobjective, multistage, multilayer, and uncertain features. These complexities may be further amplified due to their association with economic consequences if the promises of expected targets are violated. Mathematical models are recognized as effective tools that could help examine economic, environmental, and ecological impacts of alternative pollution-control and resources-conservation actions, and thus aid planners or decision-makers in formulating cost-effective management policies