How deserts shape their networks: lessons for arid businesses

…the science of desert living

Ryan McAllister, Mark Stafford Smith, and a host of others

Variability and extremes in primary drivers

(rainfall, other weather)

Low fertility and patchy natural resources

Sparse, mobile and patchy human

population

Distant markets and political centres

Limited research knowledge

Unpredictability in or lack of control of

markets, labour, policy

Greater significance of local and traditional

knowledge

Particular types of people, cultures and

institutions

Variability and extremes in primary drivers

(rainfall, other weather)

Low fertility and patchy natural resources

Sparse, mobile and patchy human

population

Distant markets and political centres

Limited research knowledge

Unpredictability in or lack of control of

markets, labour, policy

Greater significance of local and traditional

knowledge

Particular types of people, cultures and

institutions

Stafford Smith 2008. The 'drylandsyndrome, Rangeland Journal 30(1)

Network – paths from deserts to consumers

Network – paths from deserts to consumers

Producers Processors& Wholesale

Retail

Emergent networks

Highly Variable Low Variability

I: Smallness drives individuals to have stronger links. Desert systems also tend to lack critical mass; this drives individuals to favor fewer but stronger links

II: Uncertainty of resources drives individuals to have weaker, but more numerous links to others

III: Where cooperative objectives drive networks, links are stronger but fewer

IV: If one individual contains greater resources, than it can form a hub

…theory modelling results

Jenny Cleary; Sarah Holcombe; Pascal Tremblay; Deb Rockstroh; Michael Laflamme; Alicia Boylea; Metta Young; Jocelyn Davies; Fay Rola-Rubzen; Mark Stafford Smith; Cathy Robinson

…co-contributors

Need to promote networks that favour a diverse range of weak ties over a more selective range of stronger ties,

This needs to be supported by a culture which allows for the effective and efficient activation of the ties in times of need.

Many arid Australia networks already have such characteristics. Where they do not, they could be encouraged by actions to reduce the transactions costs associated with networking, and cultural and formal institutions that explicitly foster flexibility and cooperation.

…generalised implications

Reynolds JF et al (2007). Global desertification: Building a science for dryland development, Science 316, 847-851.

McAllister RRJ et al (2008). Social networks in arid Australia: a review of concepts and evidence, The Rangeland Journal 30

Stafford Smith DM (2008). The 'dryland syndrome' a causal chain of factors characterising outback Australia, The Rangeland Journal 30

Stafford Smith DM, McAllister RRJ, (2008). Managing dryland natural resources for spatial and temporal variability - an approach from first principles, The Rangeland Journal 30

Stafford Smith DM et al (2008). The community-settlement nexus - drivers of 'viability' in remote areas, The Rangeland Journal 30

McAllister RRJ et al, Patterns of accessing variable resources across time and space: desert plants, animals and people, Journal of Arid Environments, doi: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2008.10.007

McAllister RRJ, Livestock mobility in arid and semi-arid Australia: escaping variability in space, Nomadic Peoples (in review)

McAllister RRJ et al, Research impact within the international arid literature: an Australian perspective based on network theory Journal of Arid Environments (in review)

Stafford Smith DM, Cribb J, Drytimes: blueprint for a red land. (in review)

…the science of desert living