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Planning for the restoration of native biodiversity within the Goulburn Broken Catchment, Victoria, using spatial modelling
Author(s) -
Wilson Jenny A.,
Lowe Kim W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
ecological management and restoration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.472
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1442-8903
pISSN - 1442-7001
DOI - 10.1046/j.1442-8903.2003.00158.x
Subject(s) - biodiversity , geography , environmental resource management , vegetation (pathology) , measurement of biodiversity , restoration ecology , habitat , ecology , land use , environmental planning , biodiversity conservation , environmental science , biology , medicine , pathology
Summary Conservation planning aims to ensure the protection and continuation of biodiversity. In rural landscapes in Victoria, this will require the restoration of habitat and biophysical processes to levels that can sustain the majority of species. Planning is required at scales large enough to have ecological relevance. In this study, a land‐use change scenario that plans for the conservation of native biodiversity within the Goulburn Broken Catchment was developed using simple ecological principles. A set of indicative rules for restoring remnant native vegetation was modelled within a geographical information system. The modelling of the rules resulted in a change in rural landscapes from highly fragmented (with few large remnants) to highly connected. Future applications of this approach include incorporating the biodiversity rules into a biophysical model to assess the effect of planning landscapes for the conservation of biodiversity on hydrological and economic outcomes for the region. In addition, the rules are to be refined so that the priority landscapes for biodiversity planning can be identified.