Scientific achievements in 2013

The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program's research strategy in 2013 was to produce policy-relevant science backed by advanced integrated models.

Tree © K. Platzer | IIASA

Tree

In 2013 ESM delivered policy-relevant science related to the management of land based resources and also documented its scientific progress through publications, covering a very broad scope of scientific fields, including mathematics, physics, biology, environmental sciences, economics, and Earth science.

ESM also paid special attention to the development of novel methodological backgrounds for integrated assessment modeling, and continued to make further improvements to the ESM Integrated Modeling Cluster and Earth Observation Systems for which selected highlights are provided in the following six subsections:

Agro-Ecological Systems (AES)

In 2013 substantive progress was made in extending and validating the IIASA EPIC model for major crops in Europe and for assessing the biophysical impacts of a mean 2°C temperature rise. More

Earth Observation Systems (EOS)

Through its Geo-Wiki tool, Earth Observation Systems (EOS) in 2013 introduced new ways for citizen scientists worldwide to contribute to improving future global land cover maps. More

Environmental resources and development (ERD)

The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program group on environmental resources and development (ERD) tackles the multiple interrelationships that exist between the natural environment and the human systems that actually or potentially affect it - population, land use, soil, water, chemicals, climate, crop management systems, and global trade. More

Forest Ecosystem Management (FEM): Biomass studies

In 2013 the Forest Ecosystem Management (FEM) research group studied how to manage forests for maximization of forest stock and forest increment, as well as the availability of woody biomass for the energy sector. More

Methods for economic decision making under uncertainty (MEDU)

The Methods for Economic Decision making under Uncertainty (MEDU) group aims to develop and improve a wide spectrum of modeling methodologies, with an emphasis on economic incentives and mechanisms for mitigation and adaptation, including market solutions for implementing REDD-based measures and a special focus on decision making under uncertainty. More

Policy and science interface (PSI)

The Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program’s Policy and Science Interface (PSI) group aims to strengthen various aspects of the role played by the ESM research program in the climate and land use change-relevant community. More



Print this page

Last edited: 22 May 2014

CONTACT DETAILS

Michael Obersteiner

Principal Research Scholar Exploratory Modeling of Human-natural Systems Research Group - Advancing Systems Analysis Program

Further information

Events

Staff

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313