... towards a new intersectoral discipline.
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.
