Modelling interactions between biophysical and social systems: the example of vegetation dynamics in the Causse Méjean (France)

Abstract

This interdiciplinary research focuses on explaining the process of bush growth progression in the Causse Méjean. The paper presents the method by which heterogeneous data in time and space scales have been matched and hierarchized. Data concerning vegetation, environment conditions, history of property and land use, social practices and representations have been treated by the P.C.A. (to describe vegetation) and by Canonical Analysis (to check its correlations with explanatory factors). This research opens some ways to model the interactions between biophysical and social systems.

Keywords

• vegetation dynamics
• statistics
• Causse Méjean