Steven Cork - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Steven Cork

Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 1994

The Journal of Climate Change and Health

Ecology and Society, 2006

Ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs arise from management choices made by humans, which can change ... more Ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs arise from management choices made by humans, which can change the type, magnitude, and relative mix of services provided by ecosystems. Trade-offs occur when the provision of one ES is reduced as a consequence of increased use of another ES. In some cases, a trade-off may be an explicit choice; but in others, trade-offs arise without premeditation or even awareness that they are taking place. Trade-offs in ES can be classified along three axes: spatial scale, temporal scale, and reversibility. Spatial scale refers to whether the effects of the trade-off are felt locally or at a distant location. Temporal scale refers to whether the effects take place relatively rapidly or slowly. Reversibility expresses the likelihood that the perturbed ES may return to its original state if the perturbation ceases. Across all four Millennium Ecosystem Assessment scenarios and selected case study examples, trade-off decisions show a preference for provisioning, regulating, or cultural services (in that order). Supporting services are more likely to be "taken for granted." Cultural ES are almost entirely unquantified in scenario modeling; therefore, the calculated model results do not fully capture losses of these services that occur in the scenarios. The quantitative scenario models primarily capture the services that are perceived by society as more important-provisioning and regulating ecosystem services-and thus do not fully capture tradeoffs of cultural and supporting services. Successful management policies will be those that incorporate lessons learned from prior decisions into future management actions. Managers should complement their actions with monitoring programs that, in addition to monitoring the short-term provisions of services, also monitor the long-term evolution of slowly changing variables. Policies can then be developed to take into account ES trade-offs at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Successful strategies will recognize the inherent complexities of ecosystem management and will work to develop policies that minimize the effects of ES trade-offs.

Encyclopedia of GIS, 2017

science might inform a more environmentally sustainable and socially equitable Australia. We conc... more science might inform a more environmentally sustainable and socially equitable Australia. We concluded that a set of ‘living scenarios ’ could support a richer national conversation, but there are many challenges in developing such scenarios. A review of horizontal, vertical and archetype scenario approaches stressed engaging in dialogue and making assumptions explicit. Our workshop invited a small group of Australians to engage in short, intimate conversations through four scenario archetypes in order to explore a process and develop broad narratives for further exploration as living scenarios.

Routledge Handbook of Ecosystem Services, 2016

Journal of Futures Studies, 2014

The Australian Academy of Sciences began Australia 2050: Living Scenarios to explore how science ... more The Australian Academy of Sciences began Australia 2050: Living Scenarios to explore how science might inform a more environmentally sustainable and socially equitable Australia. We concluded that a set of 'living scenarios' could support a richer national conversation, but there are many challenges in developing such scenarios. A review of horizontal, vertical and archetype scenario approaches stressed engaging in dialogue and making assumptions explicit. Our workshop invited a small group of Australians to engage in short, intimate conversations through four scenario archetypes in order to explore a process and develop broad narratives for further exploration as living scenarios.

Environmental problems often arise from deficient, uncertain or confusing information about what ... more Environmental problems often arise from deficient, uncertain or confusing information about what ecosystem goods and services are available, how they are important to humans, who benefits and over what scales, combined with incomplete, inconsistent or unenforceable rules, rights and responsibilities. Establishing rules, rights and responsibilities at the range of spatial and temporal scales at which ecosystems function is a major challenge. Furthermore, the costs of implementing regimes of property rights and responsibilities can be beyond many land owners and managers. The concept of ecosystem services is being adapted and tested in Australia as a way to address some of the limitations of information and institutional rules. It attempts to express the benefits of ecosystems in language and concepts that the majority of land managers and users can understand and identify with, and it lays the foundations for developing formal and informal markets in which a fuller range of the benef...

ABSTRACT A scenario is an internally consistent narrative about the future, developed using a str... more ABSTRACT A scenario is an internally consistent narrative about the future, developed using a structured approach with clear and consistent logic to consider systematically how uncertainties and surprises in the future might lead to alternative plausible outcomes. Scenarios can share meaning at deeper levels than logic-based communication through their basis in narrative. Scenario development draws on a range of information, quantitative modelling, expert judgement and creative thinking. These ingredients are combined using procedures that ensure that three key requirements are satisfied: legitimacy (that the information base is reliable and the models used are sound), saliency (that the questions or future uncertainties probed by the scenarios are pertinent) and credibility within specified boundaries (that the scenario is considered plausible by participants in the scenario-building process and by observers). A crucial starting point in scenario development is the specification of a focal question. To exemplify these concepts, we consider scenarios arising from three different focal questions, respectively concerning approaches to climate change, governance and complexification. Finally, we consider processes that could potentially engage Australian society in using scenarios to navigate the future, thereby aiding a national strategic conversation about the issues driving change in Australia over the next 40 years and their relevance for human wellbeing.

Plant Polyphenols, 1992

Trees of the genus Eucalyptus dominate the temperate forests of Australia. Eucalypts are known fo... more Trees of the genus Eucalyptus dominate the temperate forests of Australia. Eucalypts are known for high production of a wide range of polyphenols, many of which affect acid-base balance and retention of energy and nitrogen in the few marsupials (pouched mammals) that eat Eucalyptus foliage (i.e., koalas and possums). Koalas and leafeating possums are abundant in a small proportion of present eucalypt forests and appear to be restricted to eucalypt communities growing on the best soils. I have investigated two hypotheses: (1) The concentration of polyphenols in foliage increases as nutrient availability for growth decreases; (2) the nutritional quality of foliage is higher in eucalypt communities favorable for arboreal, folivorous marsupials than in unfavorable communities, largely due to the influence of polyphenols. Both hypotheses appear to hold when total polyphenols are considered, although the same trends are not evident for all components of the polyphenolic fraction. The challenge now is to understand the rules determining allocation of carbon to individual polyphenols in eucalypts and the significance of between-species differences for the ecology of leaf-eating marsupials.

Challenging Future Practice Possibilities, 2019

Resilience and Transformation explores what factors contribute to Australia’s resilience, what tr... more Resilience and Transformation explores what factors contribute to Australia’s resilience, what trends are apparent, and what actions are required to better prepare us for the immediate and longer term future. Resilience is a word used more and more across societies worldwide as decision makers realise that predicting and controlling the future does not work and that preparing for uncertainty and surprise is vital. Many viewpoints have emerged on how to assess and achieve resilience of individuals, organisations, communities and ecosystems, but rarely has the resilience of a nation been considered. As Australia moves into a millennium that promises major economic, social, technological and environmental change, Australia21 has assembled some of Australia’s leading thinkers to give their perspectives on the extent and direction of resilience across our nation’s social, economic, ecological and disaster management systems.