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Science of Desert Living

About the Science of Desert Living ...

... towards a new intersectoral discipline.

Science of Desert Liviing spiral Life in desert regions of Australia (and indeed worldwide) is affected by a number of features – variability in climate, markets and policy that is outside the control of local people; sparse and often mobile populations; natural, human and cultural resources that are patchy in space and time; and relatively poor scientific understanding in regions with significant local and traditional knowledge, among other factors. These drivers affect not only ecology and natural resource management, but also service delivery, enterprise development, governance systems and many other aspects of desert living.

This project aims to consolidate these issues into an integrated, intersectoral new discipline – the Science of Desert Living. Aside from helping to consolidate an otherwise small and disparate research effort in desert lands, this new discipline will help to develop a solid underlying theoretical basis for developing solutions to applied desert living problems more rapidly and confidently.

Interacting with the Science of Desert Living ...

The sharing of ideas and knowledge is central to the Science of Desert Living. Those with access to the Desert Knowledge CRC intranet will have access to a password-protected intranet site, where reports from project workshops and other internal documents will be stored, and information regarding occasional discussion forums will be given. If you wish to be involved in the Science of Desert Living, please contact either Ryan McAllister or Mark Stafford Smith.

The Science of Desert Living project is also maintaining links with the international ARIDnet project.  

Project outputs

McAllister, R.R.J. Stafford Smith, D.M. 2006. "The science of desert living". Proceedings of the Australian Rangeland Society Conference. Renmark, in press.


 

Contacts

Dr Mark Stafford Smith
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems (& Desert Knowledge CRC)
Tel: 02-6242 1719

Mobile: 0408 852 082
Fax: 02-6242 1517

PO Box 284
Canberra, ACT 2602Australia


Dr Ryan McAllister
Systems Scientist
CSIRO, St Lucia
Tel: +61 (7) 3214 2359

Mobile: 428263473
Fax: 61 (7) 3214 2308

306 Carmody Road
Brisbane, QLD 4067Australia


Documents

Developing a Knowledge Base for Sustainable Outback Living
Keynote address at the Australian Rangelands Society Biennial Conference, Alice Springs, July 2004. [pdf 147.1 kb]


Rangeland Conference_Renmark: The Science of Desert Living
Paper presented at the Australian Rangelands Society Biennial conference, Renmark, 2006, by Mark Stafford Smith and Ryan McAllister. [pdf 34.7 kb]


Article

Background References

Maru YT, McAllister RRJ., Stafford Smith DM. in press. Modelling community interactions and social capital dynamics: the case of regional and rural communities of Australia. Agricultural Systems.

McAllister RRJ, Gordon IJ, Janssen MA, Abel N. 2006. Pastoralists' responses to variation of rangeland resources in time and space. Ecological Applications 16, 572--583.

Stafford Smith DM, Reynolds JF.  2002. Desertification: a new paradigm for an old problem, in: (Eds ), Reynolds, JF Stafford Smith, DM, Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts?, Dahlem University Press, 403--424.

Wand, P. and Stafford Smith, DM. 2004.  Developing a Knowledge Base for Sustainable Outback Living.  Keynote address.  Proceedings of the Australian Rangeland Society Conference. Alice Springs, 5-22

All Content © Desert Knowledge CRC 2006