| Conceptual framework | Eyre Peninsula case study | In the model |
| Social, economic, and political setting |
Economic
development of the region. Government resource policies (Natural Resource Management Act and plan). |
Modeled implicitly as context and motivation for the project. |
| Resource system |
Sector:
agriculture. System boundaries: agricultural part of the Eyre Peninsula, South Africa. Productivity of system: capacity of the system to sustain economy and, in our case study, a healthy population of endangered native plants and animals. |
Modeled explicitly: the model includes the resource system as a network of land-units suitable to sustain a selection of important native species. These resources are modelled as a habitat connectivity network. |
| Resource units | Units of land (suitable or not, to sustain healthy native species population). | Modeled explicitly: each land unit is mapped and is part of the landscape connectivity network according to its cover (native vegetation or not). Their nature (remnant vegetation patches, perennials for agriculture, etc.), spatial distributions, and size are taken into account. |
| Governance system |
Natural
resource management agencies. Local governments. NGOs. Special interest groups. |
Modeled explicitly: some natural resource management, local governments, and state agencies are selected as part of a biodiversity conservation programs network. |
| Users | Farmers (whose livelihood mainly comes from cereal crops and/or livestock). | Modeled explicitly: farmers are modelled as intermediaries between the governance system and the resource units. Their number, socioeconomic attributes, locations, and knowledge of the system are taken into account. |
| Interactions |
Management of
native vegetation by farmers on their
land. Information sharing among farmers. Information sharing among natural resource management personnel. Conflicts among and/or between farmers (as individuals or groups) and natural resource management personnel. Promotion of conservation programs. Lobbying activities regarding conservation programs. Self-organizing activities (mainly at the farmer level). Networking activities. Etc. |
Some interactions are explicitly included in
the model. Within the governance system (modelled as a network): natural resource management and NGO
personnel, farmers, etc. exchange information and collaborate on promotion
and/or implementation of biodiversity conservation
programs. Within
the resource system (also modelled as a network), interactions include seed
dispersal and capacity of animals to migrate from one patch to another (both a
function of distance and landscape features between two
patches). Between the governance and resource systems, the users (farmers) act as intermediaries by deciding on the extent to implement biodiversity conservation programs. |
| Outcomes | Ecological performance measures (biodiversity, resilience, etc.). | Modeled explicitly: structural indices related to resilience are calculated from the patterns of interactions described above. |