Assessing the Cumulative Effects of Alberta’s Land Uses using ALCES
The presentation will focus on past, current and future land use trajectories in Alberta as quantified for the Alberta Land Use Framework using the ALCES Simulator and ALCES Mapper.
The role of both natural disturbance and anthropogenic disturbances in shaping performance of triple bottom line indicators (social, economic, ecological) will be discussed, as will the role in “beneficial management practices” in mitigating risk to air, land, and water metrics.
The analyses reveal that historic spatial growth patterns in land use, while instructive, are not necessarily predictive templates in understanding the key issues that will drive Alberta into the next 5 decades.
If Alberta is to achieve reasonable success in developing, defending, and implementing regional land use plans, a suite of complementary simulation products (educational, strategic, tactical) will be required to convey sustainability challenges to the “average” Alberta and the range of land use options (pace, tempo, geography) available to mitigate risk and optimize performance.
The role of both natural disturbance and anthropogenic disturbances in shaping performance of triple bottom line indicators (social, economic, ecological) will be discussed, as will the role in “beneficial management practices” in mitigating risk to air, land, and water metrics.
The analyses reveal that historic spatial growth patterns in land use, while instructive, are not necessarily predictive templates in understanding the key issues that will drive Alberta into the next 5 decades.
If Alberta is to achieve reasonable success in developing, defending, and implementing regional land use plans, a suite of complementary simulation products (educational, strategic, tactical) will be required to convey sustainability challenges to the “average” Alberta and the range of land use options (pace, tempo, geography) available to mitigate risk and optimize performance.
