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Multi-Criteria Assessment of Tensions in Resource Use at Continental Scale: A Proof of Concept with Australian Rangelands

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to help to inform policy development for the Australian rangelands, and provide a proof of concept for application of a multi-criteria analysis approach to assessment of competing resource use at continental scale. The study aimed to identify and locate key natural resource and agricultural production assets in the rangelands, define a number of measures of potentially threatening processes, and use a multi-criteria approach to identify areas where threatening processes, agricultural production problems, or valuable natural resources coincided. The analysis used 35 readily available, continental spatial data layers at 5-km pixel resolution ranked from 1 (low) to 5 (high) under three themed groupings: natural resource base, production base, and threatening processes. These measures were aggregated into composite indicators to define attributes such as environmental sensitivity and total grazing pressure. The composites were then compared in a two-way analysis to explore particular interactions between threatening processes such as pastoralism and mining, and the condition of production and natural resource assets. These interactions were defined as “tensions” for purposes of this analysis. Example “tensions” included the association of high grazing intensity with areas of high environmental sensitivity, indicating a risk of land degradation under adverse climatic conditions. A summary of patterns of tension was obtained by extracting area proportions of high-tension classes for selected Natural Heritage Trust Regions, which are a basis for Australian Government funding of improved environmental management. The study provides a basis for further examination of trade-offs in the use of natural assets, opportunities for improved productivity and sustainability, and social and economic implications.

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Acknowledgments

The Natural Heritage Trust provided financial support for this project. The authors express their thanks to the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage for the provision of key data inputs. Draft versions of this article benefited from the comments of W. Jones, and J. Chesson of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry. We thank four anonymous reviewers for suggested improvements.

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  1. Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra, PO Box 858, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Michael J. Hill, Robert Lesslie, Randall Donohue, Paul Houlder, Jane Holloway, Jodie Smith & Kim Ritman

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  1. Michael J. Hill
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Correspondence to Michael J. Hill.

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Hill, M.J., Lesslie, R., Donohue, R. et al. Multi-Criteria Assessment of Tensions in Resource Use at Continental Scale: A Proof of Concept with Australian Rangelands. Environmental Management 37, 712–731 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-004-0390-5

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