Framing integrated research to address a dynamically complex issue: The red headed cockchafer challenge

In South East Australia redheaded cockchafers Adoryphorous coulonii are a pasture pest with an increasing economic impact on the dairy industry. The industry is taking a strategic and systemic approach to identifying the research needs and management responses in recognition of the dynamic complexity of the issue. We discuss the process used to help a range of farmers, industry stakeholders, and scientists to achieve a shared understanding of the cockchafer-pasture-agribusiness system. This process provided an integrative framework for the generation of hypotheses that can be used to design effective trans-disciplinary or multi-disciplinary research.

► Many problems in agribusiness are dynamically complex.
► Solutions to complex problems require integrated trans-disciplinary research.
► Integrated research requires shared conceptual understanding of the system.
► We apply an a priori integrative framework for trans-disciplinary research.