Closing the adaptive management loop; why practical experience is necessary but not sufficient and science essential but not always right

From the air in summer, inland Australia presents an intricate pattern of creek lines and vegetation over a patchwork of soils, all lying beneath a rigid grid of fence lines and roads. Occasionally, geography dictates that the cadastral grid of the surveyor conforms to the shape of the landscape. Usually it follows the compass, at odds with the movement of water and animals and the ancient patterns of soil and vegetation.