Sustainable Communities Interdisciplinary Project

Funded by: The Northwest Area Foundation

Mission Statement:

To design an interdisciplinary team composed of natural and social scientists who would investigate rural community change in agricultural, montane, and recreational settings. The goal is to understand the sources of social, economic and ecological change in rural communities (in this case the region around Three Forks, MT) and the role these changes have on land use and inherent ecological quality of the affected lands (Graphic) and viability and sustainability of the rural community.                                                        1979

The project relies on a self-designed land use prediction system housed in a GIS format to explore linkages between a range of disparate data sources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2040

 

 

Research Team:

Co-Principle Investigators:

Bruce Maxwell - Department of Plant, Soils and Environmental Science, MSU

Jerry Johnson - Department of Political Science, MSU

Cliff Montagne - Department of Plant, Soils and Environmental Science, MSU

Richard Aspinall - Director, Geographic Information & Analysis Center, MSU

Kim Ernstrom - GIS Technician

 

The project is divided into three major components, each has several subprojects associated with them:

1.A Study of the Social Community

  1. Community meetings
  2. Community survey

    3. 2. A Study of the Ecological Community

    Hypothesis - Ecosystem Integrity is a function of intact structure and system operation and is related to changes in the amount and type of Land Use/Land Cover

    The project attempts to integrate two programs measuring ecosystem integrity
  3. Land use change - a four decade record based on air photos

4. Ecological study - a multiple measure of structure and system operation

3. A Methodology to Allow Us to Understand How the Two Are Related

 

BACK TO AGROECOLOGY/WEED ECOLOGY PROJECT