Integrated regional models are conceptual and mathematical models that describe the physical environment, biological interactions, human decision-making, and human impact on the environment. Efforts are now being made to integrate regional models from the physical, biological and social sciences in order to respond to diverse environmental problems. This volume explores the latest research developments on processes operating at a variety of scales, including regions, and how scientists can combine their efforts to develop models linking biological, physical, and human systems. Data requirements for successful integrated regional models are identified and discussed. Chapters also consider methodological questions, such as whether to integrate disciplinary approaches at the beginning or the end of the modelling process, and whether integrated regional models should focus on specific regions or specific problems. The information in this volume will enable the reader to view problems such as coastal zone management, atmospheric pollution, non-point source pollution, commodity production in forested areas, and urban expansion in a broad, conceptual context. Researchers and graduate students in ecology, biology, geography and geology will benefit from this innovative approach to contemporary environmental problems.

Introduction: Integrated regional models-- David Schimel; Diciplinary reviews of regional models--outsider perspectives: An overview of biological models: A physical scientist's perspective-- Bruce Hayden; An ecologist's encounter with some models in the social sciences-- Stephen Pacala; Uncertainty in the construction and interpretation of mesoscale models of physical and biological processes: a social scientist's perspective-- Richard Berk; Case studies: Modeling social systems and their interactions with the environment-- Diana Liverman; Interactions of landuse and ecosystem structure and function: A case study in the central Great Plains-- Ingrid C. Burke, William Lauenroth, William Parton, C. Vernon Cole; The study of the ozone climatology and pollution in the northeastern and southern United States using regional air quality models-- William Chameides; Integrated models of forested regions-- Steward Pickett, Ingrid C. Burke, Virginia H. Dale, James R. Gosz, Robert G. Lee, Stephen W. Pacala, and Moshe Shachak; Summary and overview: Prospects for the development of integrated regional models-- Elizabeth Blood.