CONCLUSIONS
We believe that ecologists can be more effective in
supporting wise decisions on rural land use. To that
end, we have offered a brief review of recent ecological
work, sketched the typical rural land-use planning
framework, and identified some emerging useful approaches to incorporating ecological knowledge in established decision making processes. We are encouraged by an increasing level of awareness and enthusiasm from ecologists for the critical need to improve
ecological support for rural land-use planning (e.g.,
Perlman and Milder 2005). Unfortunately, we have
been challenged to find useful examples of truly outstanding or successful projects that have informed rural
land-use planning. We do not mean to imply, however,
that ecologists are having no influence on rural landuse planning. Rather, we conclude there is a paucity of
organized and systematic efforts to evaluate and learn
from applied projects.
We believe that four fundamental challenges remain
that require additional attention from ecologists. First,
there is a mismatch in spatial and temporal scales where
ecologists have the greatest understanding and those
where land-use decisions occur (Fig. 2). In addition,
critical and systematic evaluations of how, if, and when
ecological information has influenced land-use outcomes are needed. Ideally, these should be conducted
by social scientists to better understand how ecological
information is used, how it can be improved, and what
different information is needed.
For instance, although NDIS is arguably successful
in informing land-use planning with readily available
biological information, it remains difficult to provide
objective measures of its success. How many land-use
decisions have been influenced by NDIS? How many
times have NDIS maps been considered during landuse hearings? How many county supervisors, planning
and zoning commissioners, or interested citizens have
visited the NDIS website? How many students have
used NDIS as a source of information for their research
projects? Regrettably, we do not have good answers to
these questions. Ecologists excel at producing data and
insight, but improving the relevancy and practical application of ecological science requires that ecologists
critically evaluate its use and efficacy.
Moreover, standard land-use frameworks used to
classify the type of land use (i.e., urban, suburban,
agricultural) or the level of stewardship and protection
require significant refinement. Negative ecological effects are typically inferred from classes of land use
such as high-density residential, commercial, or dryland agriculture, but more detailed examination and
analysis are needed to identify specific, measurable factors of these effects. For instance, are impermeable
surfaces, maintenance of exotic species (lawn), modification of vegetation structure (trimming, thinning),
etc. the main land cover modifications of high-density
residential land use that cause impacts? What activities
associated with high-density residential have impacts
(e.g., Lepczyk et al. 2004)? Are the major activities
that impact ecological systems free-roaming cats and
dogs, increased automobile traffic and associated noise,
presence of humans? Coarse classes or levels of stewardship (e.g., U.S. Geological Survey’s Gap Analysis
Project Status I-IV and IUCN’s I-VII; Davey 1998) also
need to be refined to explicitly examine allowed activities (e.g., active vs. passive recreation) and possible
modification of disturbances such as fire suppression
or unintended introduction of disturbances from activities such as mechanical thinning.
Finally, a critical component of adaptive management is missing in land-use planning—monitoring and
evaluation. For example, a monthly or yearly summary
of environmental performance should be assessed using
ecological indicators that directly measure land-use decisions. These indicators could include the decrease of
critical habitat (or increase through restoration), increase or decline of protected lands, change in air quality due to vehicle miles traveled, etc. Yet, effective
participation in land-use planning requires ecologists
to understand trade-offs, for example the need to balance a land owner’s desire for a fair and predictable
process with the ‘‘learn as you go’’ approach of adaptive management. Perhaps most importantly, ecologists
must challenge the assumption that simply providing
better ecological information and knowledge leads to
better land-use planning. Broberg (2003) emphasized
the direct roles that ecologists may play (rather than
in generating information per se) in the planning process, from less to more direct: generate recommendations while participating in citizen review panels, testify at public hearings, educate staff and planning
boards, and become planning board members. Ecologists have a significant and important role in generating
and sharing scientific information to decision makers
to help anticipate possible unintended ecological effects of rural land-use change.
CONCLUSIONS
We believe that ecologists can be more effective in
supporting wise decisions on rural land use. To that
end, we have offered a brief review of recent ecological
work, sketched the typical rural land-use planning
framework, and identified some emerging useful approaches to incorporating ecological knowledge in established decision making processes. We are encouraged by an increasing level of awareness and enthusiasm from ecologists for the critical need to improve
ecological support for rural land-use planning (e.g.,
Perlman and Milder 2005). Unfortunately, we have
been challenged to find useful examples of truly outstanding or successful projects that have informed rural
land-use planning. We do not mean to imply, however,
that ecologists are having no influence on rural landuse planning. Rather, we conclude there is a paucity of
organized and systematic efforts to evaluate and learn
from applied projects.
We believe that four fundamental challenges remain
that require additional attention from ecologists. First,
there is a mismatch in spatial and temporal scales where
ecologists have the greatest understanding and those
where land-use decisions occur (Fig. 2). In addition,
critical and systematic evaluations of how, if, and when
ecological information has influenced land-use outcomes are needed. Ideally, these should be conducted
by social scientists to better understand how ecological
information is used, how it can be improved, and what
different information is needed.
For instance, although NDIS is arguably successful
in informing land-use planning with readily available
biological information, it remains difficult to provide
objective measures of its success. How many land-use
decisions have been influenced by NDIS? How many
times have NDIS maps been considered during landuse hearings? How many county supervisors, planning
and zoning commissioners, or interested citizens have
visited the NDIS website? How many students have
used NDIS as a source of information for their research
projects? Regrettably, we do not have good answers to
these questions. Ecologists excel at producing data and
insight, but improving the relevancy and practical application of ecological science requires that ecologists
critically evaluate its use and efficacy.
Moreover, standard land-use frameworks used to
classify the type of land use (i.e., urban, suburban,
agricultural) or the level of stewardship and protection
require significant refinement. Negative ecological effects are typically inferred from classes of land use
such as high-density residential, commercial, or dryland agriculture, but more detailed examination and
analysis are needed to identify specific, measurable factors of these effects. For instance, are impermeable
surfaces, maintenance of exotic species (lawn), modification of vegetation structure (trimming, thinning),
etc. the main land cover modifications of high-density
residential land use that cause impacts? What activities
associated with high-density residential have impacts
(e.g., Lepczyk et al. 2004)? Are the major activities
that impact ecological systems free-roaming cats and
dogs, increased automobile traffic and associated noise,
presence of humans? Coarse classes or levels of stewardship (e.g., U.S. Geological Survey’s Gap Analysis
Project Status I-IV and IUCN’s I-VII; Davey 1998) also
need to be refined to explicitly examine allowed activities (e.g., active vs. passive recreation) and possible
modification of disturbances such as fire suppression
or unintended introduction of disturbances from activities such as mechanical thinning.
Finally, a critical component of adaptive management is missing in land-use planning—monitoring and
evaluation. For example, a monthly or yearly summary
of environmental performance should be assessed using
ecological indicators that directly measure land-use decisions. These indicators could include the decrease of
critical habitat (or increase through restoration), increase or decline of protected lands, change in air quality due to vehicle miles traveled, etc. Yet, effective
participation in land-use planning requires ecologists
to understand trade-offs, for example the need to balance a land owner’s desire for a fair and predictable
process with the ‘‘learn as you go’’ approach of adaptive management. Perhaps most importantly, ecologists
must challenge the assumption that simply providing
better ecological information and knowledge leads to
better land-use planning. Broberg (2003) emphasized
the direct roles that ecologists may play (rather than
in generating information per se) in the planning process, from less to more direct: generate recommendations while participating in citizen review panels, testify at public hearings, educate staff and planning
boards, and become planning board members. Ecologists have a significant and important role in generating
and sharing scientific information to decision makers
to help anticipate possible unintended ecological effects of rural land-use change.
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