Life Sciences Commons^™

Computer-Based Tools For Decision Support In Agroforestry: Current State And Future Needs, E. A. Ellis, G. Bentrup, M. M. Schoeneberger

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Successful design of agroforestry practices hinges on the ability to pull together very diverse and sometimes large sets of information (i.e., biophysical, economic and social factors), and then implementing the synthesis of this information across several spatial scales from site to landscape. Agroforestry, by its very nature, creates complex systems with impacts ranging from the site or practice level up to the landscape and beyond. Computer-based Decision Support Tools (DST) help to integrate information to facilitate the decision-making process that directs development, acceptance, adoption, and management aspects in agroforestry. Computer-based DSTs include databases, geographical information systems, models, knowledge-base or expert …