ABSTRACT
There is a growing body of theoretical and applied research focused
within the context of human-environment interactions. What has
been learned from these investigations is that conventional methods
used in planning andmanagement of human-landscape interactions
fall far short of the needs of decision-makers who must evaluate
the cascading impacts of humans in visitor landscapes. Many public
land agencies, local governments and international organizations
are exploring tools such as agent-based simulation models coupled
with social science methods such as social networks that elicit
responses from humans about their expectations, experiences,
livelihoods, attitudes, preferences, family structure and so on and
behavioural responses to resource management. There is a need
to analyse and compare interactions and feedbacks between and
within social and biophysical subsystems that serve to couple the
human-natural subsystems in many types of landscapes. The goal
is to identify commonalities in coupling mechanisms that govern
the trajectory of human-nature linkages. A diverse array of modes
of travel, experience opportunities, desired outcomes and benefits
are evident in these landscapes. These outcomes vary in terms of
the scale as well as the environmental and social context in which
they are situated. Only by linking the social and environmental
implications to the flow patterns generated by human pattern of
use simulations is it possible to begin to properly manage the
quality of experience for visitors in recreation settings. Although the
application of simulation to study human-landscape interactions
is in its infancy, there is need to develop a comprehensive and
empirically based framework for linking the social, biophysical and
geographic disciplines across space and time [6].
