Premium
Clear and present danger: balancing the land management issues of today with the eternal challenge of climate change
Author(s) -
Claridge Andrew W.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1111/j.1442-8903.2011.00610.x
Subject(s) - biodiversity , climate change , environmental resource management , clearing , psychological resilience , land management , ecosystem services , adaptive management , ecosystem management , natural (archaeology) , geography , environmental planning , resilience (materials science) , fire regime , land use , government (linguistics) , vegetation (pathology) , ecology , ecosystem , business , environmental science , medicine , psychology , philosophy , physics , archaeology , finance , pathology , psychotherapist , biology , thermodynamics , linguistics
Summary Management of natural ecosystems in Australian landscapes is fraught with difficulties and challenges. While unfavourable climate change is viewed of as an overwhelming critical factor, government and nongovernment groups faced with conserving biodiversity and ecological processes must continue to focus on already well‐advanced present‐day threats that erode the resilience of species to environmental perturbations and change. The most notable of these are posed by land clearing, introduced pests, weeds and inappropriate fire regimes. There are many positive examples of the biodiversity gains that can be made from reconnecting remnant vegetation, intensive and extensive pest and weed control, and re‐adjusting fire regimes. When such pressures are alleviated, native species sometimes display an innate ability to recover. This gives hope that natural systems can be both resurrected and maintained for a range of functions, including providing sufficient suitable habitat to support the movement of component species in response to climate change. Achieving success in managing natural areas over the long term may be further assisted by looking outside the box for funding sources. Monitoring the outcome of land management activities is a key to understanding what is being achieved and should be encouraged wherever possible.