Part of the book: Biodiversity in Ecosystems
Deriving vegetation condition assessments from land use classifications and mapping only provides rudimentary and very coarse insights; ones that may be misleading for planning and priority setting by regional planners and policy makers. Standardized indicators of past ecological resilience for a particular landscape can assist land managers and ecologists track, evaluate and report the outcomes of land management decisions. Developing a timetable of the varying goals of land management practices and their past effects on vegetation condition including regenerative capacity is suited to on-ground managers.Access to information about how and why landscapes were transformed helps regional planners and policy makers identify and prioritise areas for investment relative to an ideal state. Tracking the responses of previous native plant communities to a range of land management practices helps decision makers gain an understanding of which outcomes can be realistically achieved in particular landscape contexts.
Part of the book: Landscape Ecology