Projects
The Landscape Logic research Hub is structured into three themes;
- Knowledge Discovery
- Knowledge Integration and
- Knowledge Broking.
Knowledge Discovery
The Knowledge Discovery theme will generate new knowledge through 5 projects.
- The Spatial Analysis and Database project (Project 1) led by Prof. Tony Norton (UTAS) will find and analyse spatial data such as time-series aerial photography and remote sensed data, and relate this to historic data on change in environmental condition. It will also examine ways to improve access to spatial information for catchment and property level planning.
- The Social Research project (Project 2) will collect local knowledge to complement the formal history of the study areas to understand the context of past interventions – who did what, where and why? It will also carry out research into the motivations for land use chnage and conservation practice to improve understanding of adoption processes and likely response to incentive schemes.
- The Victorian and Tasmanian Retrospective studies (Projects 3 and 4) will test the effectiveness of past environmental management programs using the information from the Spatial and Social projects. The emphasis in Victoria will be the effectiveness of past programs directed at native vegetation condition, while in Tasmania it will be on the effects of land use and land management on water yield, river condition and estuarine health. The retrospective projects are led by Dr Bill Cotching (TIAR/CSIRO) in Tasmania and Adam Hood (DSE Victoria).
- The Catchment nutrient and sediment management project (Project 5) led by Dr. Hamish Cresswell (CSIRO) will develop a conceptual approach to understanding water quality by breaking catchments up into likely source areas for sediment and nutrients, and testing this using new high frequency water quality monitoring equipment. The aim is to develop a rules-based approach to investing in water quality management in catchments.
Knowledge Integration
- The Knowledge Integration theme (Project 6) led by Prof. Tony Jakeman (ANU) will use a range of integration approaches including Bayesian Decision Networks to develop decision networks that can capture knowledge about environmental assets, management actions, incentive programs, rates of adoption to explore their net effect on resource condition. They will also incorporate the inevitable uncertainty that surrounds environmental management, the associated processes and information. These decision networks are being developed with catchment managers to ensure they meet their practical needs.
Knowledge Broking
- The Knowledge Broking theme (Project 7) and is led by Geoff Park (North Central CMA). It will be responsible for ensuring a shared understanding of the project activities and purpose amongst the partners and managing an outreach and training program for partners and other regional organisations.
The relationship between the 7 research projects within the Hub is shown diagrammatically in the figure below. The six circles marked S, N, CC, NC, GB and NE represent the six regional partners (NRM South, North and Cradle Coast in Tasmania and North Central, Goulburn Broken and North East CMAs in Victoria).
The Knowledge Integration Theme will work closely with the six regional partners to develop new decision making approaches relevant to the types of decisions the regions are required to make. This will provide the context for the Knowledge Discovery projects, which will provide content for the decision networks by improving our understanding of the likely responses to intervention based on their retrospective studies.
