A conceptual view for advancing monitoring and assessment of land resources in the Mexican state of Jalisco

Abstract

This paper addresses key elements of a conceptual view for advancing monitoring and a variety of applications to land resources and environmental management in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Fundamental to this conceptual view is what we know about the structure and functioning of nature: the spatial and temporal dynamics of processes (for example, objects, outcomes), the multirelational matrix of cause-effect relationships, the uncertainty of location and duration of outcomes, and the power of human intelligence that can alter the structure of order in nature. Because knowledge is constantly evolving, we discuss why a new vision of monitoring is needed and how to implement it so through the appropriate use of changing technologies. Articulation of this evolving vision in order to make it operational across the actors and players of the sustainability equation is perhaps the most defining challenge that individuals and institutions face now and in the years to come. The Jalisco Monitoring Pilot Project, an ongoing process of intellectual discovery for practical applications, has provided the fertile ground and multidisciplinary environment for structuring and advancing this conceptual multirelational view of monitoring and assessment of ecological and economic systems.

Parent Publication

• Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere

Citation

Aguirre-Bravo, Celedonio. 2006. A conceptual view for advancing monitoring and assessment of land resources in the Mexican state of Jalisco. In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns, Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 750-754