ABSTRACT
Modelling environmental impacts of agriculture, focusing on oil palm Paul N. Nelson, James Cook University, Australia; Neil Huth, CSIRO, Australia; Marcus Sheaves, James Cook University, Australia; Cécile Bessou, CIRAD, France; Lénaïc Pardon, CIRAD, France; Han She Lim, James Cook University, Australia; and Rai S. Kookana, CSIRO, Australia
1 Introduction
2 Characteristics of models and the system
3 Integrated environmental impact modelling approaches
4 Modelling impacts of cultivation on components of the environment
5 Modelling causal processes
6 Conclusions and research directions
7 Where to look for further information
8 References
Most people involved in the production, use and consumption of agricultural products, including palm oil, are interested in reducing or eliminating adverse environmental impacts of cultivation while maintaining or improving productivity. To do that we need to know what the impacts are, and predict how they will respond to changes in land use and management. Environmental impacts occur through movement and transformations of energy and materials. In an ideal world, we might monitor all these processes, but that is simply not feasible. We therefore need to estimate them, and this involves models.
