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Climate change has increased the variability of river inflows in the Murray–Darling Basin, threatening the viability of irrigated agriculture, food processing industries and ecological condition of wetlands. With increasing water scarcity, decision-makers and communities face heightened contestation over scarce water resources and trade-offs and adaptation have become increasingly necessary. We used a social-ecological systems approach to identify thresholds of change in the Goulburn–Broken Catchment, a major food-producing region, to reveal options for adaptation to climate change. We developed systems models whereby feedbacks are identified between sub-systems of cultural paradigms, policies, human well-being and environmental condition. Models were constructed using data from semi-structured interviews with managers and decision-makers, industry reports and the scientific literature. We found environmental thresholds are fixed, but whether they are exceeded is socially determined. Environmental condition can be maintained by relaxing constraints on volumes of water released into the highly regulated river system and easing rules on the distribution of water among users in the dairy and horticulture industries. Socio-economic thresholds were more flexible. Industries have adapted to water scarcity through irrigation efficiency measures, inter-industry relationships for water-sharing and feed substitutes in dairy production. However, industry interdependence indicates potential for maladaption, whereas investment in adaptation and diversification offers more sustainable options. Current policy and management disconnects between water for the environment and water for food production reveal opportunities for co-benefits between environmental and socio-economic domains. Realising these benefits requires a systemic, inclusive adaptation pathways approach to design and implement options for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Savannas are dynamic and heterogeneous environments with highly variable vegetation that responds to a multitude of interacting drivers. Rainfall, soils, herbivory, fire and land use all effect land cover in savannas. In addition, savannas have a long history of human use. Setting management goals is therefore complex. Understanding long-term variability in savannas using palaeoecology provides a context for interpretation of recent changes in vegetation and can help to inform management based on acceptable or historical ranges of variability. In this article, we review and synthesise palaeoecological data from southern African savannas and use resilience theory as a framework for structuring and understanding of vegetation dynamics in savannas. We identify thresholds between alternate stable states, which have different ecological properties, suites of species and ecosystem services. Multi-proxy palaeoecological records can assist in identifying alternate states in savanna vegetation, as well as showing how different drivers (fire, herbivory, nutrients and climate) interact to drive transitions between states. Conservation implications: The ecological thresholds identified from palaeoecological data can be used to inform the development of management thresholds, known as thresholds of potential concern. Thresholds of potential concern are designed to facilitate or impede transitions between states by manipulation of those variables (e.g. fire and herbivory) that can be controlled at the landscape scale.

Savannas are dynamic and heterogeneous environments with highly variable vegetation that responds to a multitude of interacting drivers. Rainfall, soils, herbivory, fire and land use all effect land cover in savannas. In addition, savannas have a long history of human use. Setting management goals is therefore complex. Understanding long-term variability in savannas using palaeoecology provides a context for interpretation of recent changes in vegetation and can help to inform management based on acceptable or historical ranges of variability. In this article, we review and synthesise palaeoecological data from southern African savannas and use resilience theory as a framework for structuring and understanding of vegetation dynamics in savannas. We identify thresholds between alternate stable states, which have different ecological properties, suites of species and ecosystem services. Multi-proxy palaeoecological records can assist in identifying alternate states in savanna vegetation, as well as showing how different drivers (fire, herbivory, nutrients and climate) interact to drive transitions between states. Conservation implications: The ecological thresholds identified from palaeoecological data can be used to inform the development of management thresholds, known as thresholds of potential concern. Thresholds of potential concern are designed to facilitate or impede transitions between states by manipulation of those variables (e.g. fire and herbivory) that can be controlled at the landscape scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex nature of freshwater systems provides challenges for incorporating evidence-based techniques into management. This paper investigates the potential of participatory evidence-based techniques to involve local stakeholders and make decisions based on different "knowledge" sources within adaptive management programs. It focuses on the application of thresholds of potential concern (TPC) within strategic adaptive management (SAM) for facilitating inclusive decision-making. The study is based on the case of the Edward-Wakool (E-W) "Fish and Flows" SAM project in the Murray-Darling River Basin, Australia. We demonstrate the application of TPCs for improving collaborative decision-making within the EW, associated with environmental watering requirements, and other natural resource management programs such as fish stocking. The development of TPCs in the E-W fish and flows SAM project helped improve stakeholder involvement and understanding of the system, and also the effectiveness of the implemented management interventions. TPCs ultimately helped inform environmental flow management activities. The TPC process complemented monitoring that was already occurring in the system and provided a mechanism for linking formal and informal knowledge to form explicit and measurable endpoints from objectives. The TPC process faced challenges due to the perceived reduction in scientific rigor within initial TPC development and use. However, TPCs must remain tangible to managers and other stakeholders, in order to aid in the implementation of adaptive management. Once accepted by stakeholders, over time TPCs should be reviewed and refined in order to increase their scientific rigor, as new information is generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive resource management is a learning-by-doing approach to natural resource management. Its effective practice involves the activation, completion, and regeneration of the "adaptive management cycle" while working toward achieving a flexible set of collaboratively identified objectives. This iterative process requires application of single-, double-, and triple-loop learning, to strategically modify inputs, outputs, assumptions, and hypotheses linked to improving policies, management strategies, and actions, along with transforming governance. Obtaining an appropriate balance between these three modes of learning has been difficult to achieve in practice and building capacity in this area can be achieved through an emphasis on reflexive learning, by employing adaptive feedback systems. A heuristic reflexive learning framework for adaptive resource management is presented in this manuscript. It is built on the conceptual pillars of the following: stakeholder driven adaptive feedback systems; strategic adaptive management (SAM); and hierarchy theory. The SAM Reflexive Learning Framework (SRLF) emphasizes the types, roles, and transfer of information within a reflexive learning context. Its adaptive feedback systems enhance the facilitation of single-, double-, and triple-loop learning. Focus on the reflexive learning process is further fostered by streamlining objectives within and across all governance levels; incorporating multiple interlinked adaptive management cycles; having learning as an ongoing, nested process; recognizing when and where to employ the three-modes of learning; distinguishing initiating conditions for this learning; and contemplating practitioner mandates for this learning across governance levels. The SRLF is a key enabler for implementing the "adaptive management cycle," and thereby translating the theory of adaptive resource management into practice. It promotes the heuristics of adaptive management within a cohesive framework and its deployment guides adaptive resource management within and beyond typical single-loop learning, across all governance levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, fire ecology was poorly understood in the eastern coastal region of the Cape Floral Kingdom (CFK), South Africa. Rainfall in the area is aseasonal and temperatures are milder than in the winter-rainfall and drier inland parts of the CFK, with implications for the management of fire regimes. We synthesised the findings of a research programme focused on informing ecologically sound management of fire in eastern coastal fynbos shrublands and explored potential east–west trends at the scales of study area and CFK in terms of fire return interval (FRI) and fire season. FRIs (8–26 years; 1980–2010) were comparable to those elsewhere in the CFK and appeared to be shorter in the eastern Tsitsikamma than in the western Outeniqua halves of the study area. Proteaceae juvenile periods (4–9 years) and post-fire recruitment success suggested that for biodiversity conservation purposes, FRIs should be ≥ 9 years in eastern coastal fynbos. Collectively, findings on the seasonality of actual fires and the seasonality of fire danger weather, lightning and post-fire proteoid recruitment suggested that fires in eastern coastal fynbos are not limited to any particular season. We articulated these findings into ecological thresholds pertaining to the different elements of the fire regime in eastern coastal fynbos, to guide adaptive management of fire in the Garden Route National Park and elsewhere in the region.Conservation implications: Wildfires are likely to remain dominant in eastern coastal fynbos, whilst large-scale implementation of prescribed burning is unattainable. Fires occurring in any season are not a reason for concern, although other constraints remain: the need for sufficient fire intensity, safety requirements, and integration of fire and invasive alien plant management.

Highlights: [•] A temporal perspective is needed for the management and conservation of variable ecosystems; palaeoecology and environmental history, alongside satellite data and climate trajectories, can inform future scenario building. [•] Long-term data can be embedded into the adaptive management cycle. [•] Although there are a range of examples showing the use of palaeo-data for ecosystem management and restoration, palaeoecological databases need to be made user-friendly for conservation managers and other stakeholders. [•] Long-term data can be integrated into the wider socio-environmental policy arena, through linking with key concepts such as sustainability and ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive management theory has attracted substantial interest in recent years, in natural resource management in general and also for invasive alien species management. However, whilst many theoretical and conceptual advances have been made, documented cases of practical applications are rare. Coupling invasive species management components with adaptive feedback processes is not without challenges, requiring a substantial change in the thinking and practice of all those involved. Drawing on a decade of experience in South African National Parks, we suggest an approach to implementing adaptive management for controlling invasive alien species. Whilst efforts have been made to advance components of the overall management strategy, the absence of a framework for decision making and feedback mechanisms, inflexibility in the system and shortcomings in the governance structure are all identified as barriers to learning and knowledge integration for the purposes of effective invasive alien species management. The framework provided here, encompassing documents, committees and processes, is aimed at addressing these shortcomings. Conservation implication: Adaptive management theory offers a robust tool for managing inherently complex systems. Its practical application, however, requires distilling the theory into useable functions. We offer a framework to advance implementation of strategic adaptive management for the control of invasive alien species using experiences gained from South African National Parks.

Abstract: The relative importance of fire and herbivory on vegetation structure has been the subject of much debate in savanna ecology. Fire regime and herbivore numbers are two key variables that managers of protected areas can manipulate to meet their conservation objectives. We deployed a new airborne remote sensing system (Carnegie Airborne Observatory) to the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa, to map a unique herbivore/fire exclusion experiment on basaltic soils. We collected high resolution (56cm) three-dimensional (3-D) vegetation structural data over areas that have been protected from herbivores (34yr) and/or fire (7yr), as well as those exposed to both disturbance agents. Canopy height distribution, as well as the distribution of foliage within the vertical canopy profile, differed significantly between all treatments and between each treatment and the control area (Kolmogorov–Smirnov, p <0.001). Herbivory exerted a greater influence on vegetation 3-D structure and heterogeneity than did fire. At the broad scale, total percentage woody cover was 36 times greater in areas protected from herbivores, compared to the control area. At a finer scale, areas protected from herbivores contained 5 times more tall tree canopy (>9m) and up to 66 times more small tree canopy (3–6m). Fire restricted growth of vegetation in the 0–3m height range, both in the absence and presence of herbivores. Our findings highlight the active role that conservation managers can play in modifying vegetation structure and heterogeneity through herbivore and fire management, as well as the value of 3-D remote sensing for the assessment of conservation management outcomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Malkumba-Coongie Lakes Ramsar Site has extensive terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems (largest Ramsar Site in Oceania, 2,178,952 ha, designated in 1987), including freshwater and salt lakes, lignum swamps and river channels in central Australia. It is supplied by Cooper Creek, a free-flowing Lake Eyre Basin river system. The area includes pastoral leases (97% of site grazed, including a regional conservation reserve (35%)) and a National Park (3%), with the largest oil and gas production field in Australia. We developed a Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM) Plan, linking science, monitoring and management of this social-ecological system, involving stakeholders and workshops. This involved developing a shared vision and hierarchy of objectives linked to management actions and identified outputs and outcomes. We exemplify this approach with explicit and measurable end-points (thresholds of potential concern) culminating from low level objectives for fish communities, particularly the alien sleepy cod Oxyeleotris lineolata. We describe this framework, highlighting the benefits in prioritizing management actions and monitoring in collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders, driving adaptive feedback for learning. The whole approach is aimed at successfully achieving mutually agreed management objectives and the vision to maintain the ecological character of the Malkumba-Coongie Lakes Ramsar Site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]