scholarly journals Utilitarian redundancy in local medical systems - theoretical and methodological contributions

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros ◽  
Washington Soares Ferreira Júnior ◽  
Fabiane da Silva Queiroz
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Indication ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Medical Systems ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Number Of Species ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Methodological Improvement ◽  
Redundancy Index

Abstract The utilitarian redundancy model (URM) is one of the recent contributions to ethnobiology. We argue that URM can be applied to access use-pressure on plant species, the resilience of socioecological systems (e.g., local medical systems), cultural keystone species, and the role of exotic species in social-ecological systems. Based on previous URM studies, we also emphasize the need to differ practical (considering plants and uses that are currently employed) and theoretical (considering both currently employed and potentially employed plants and uses) redundancy. Based on the main applications of the URM, we propose a new index to access redundancy of a therapeutic indication: the Uredit, so that Uredit = NSp + CR, were Uredit is the Utilitarian Redundancy Index for the therapeutic indication; NSp is the total number of species mentioned for the indication, and CR is the species’ contribution to redundancy (in terms of knowledge sharing). The maximum value that the Uredit could reach is twice the number of species employed for the therapeutic indication. We believe that this theoretical and methodological improvement in the model can improve comparisons of redundancy in different social-ecological systems. We also highlight some limitations of the URM (and our Uredit), and we believe that conscious reasons behind people’s decisions should be incorporated into future studies on the subject.

scholarly journals Invasion landscapes as social‐ecological systems: Role of social factors in invasive plant species control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Yletyinen ◽  
George L. W. Perry ◽  
Olivia R. Burge ◽  
Norman W. H. Mason ◽  
Philip Stahlmann‐Brown
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Invasive Plant Species ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological

Investigating the Role of Fish and Fishing in Sharing Networks to Build Resilience in Coral Reef Social-Ecological Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-187
Author(s):  
Rachel Dacks ◽  
Tamara Ticktin ◽  
Stacy D. Jupiter ◽  
Alan M. Friedlander
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological

scholarly journals Bioeconomy Transitions through the Lens of Coupled Social-Ecological Systems: A Framework for Place-Based Responsibility in the Global Resource System

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5705 ◽  
Author(s):  
de Schutter ◽  
Giljum ◽  
Häyhä ◽  
Bruckner ◽  
Naqvi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
High Income ◽  
Social Outcomes ◽  
Income Country ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Resource System

Bioeconomy strategies in high income societies focus at replacing finite, fossil resources by renewable, biological resources to reconcile macro-economic concerns with climate constraints. However, the current bioeconomy is associated with critical levels of environmental degradation. As a potential increase in biological resource use may further threaten the capacity of ecosystems to fulfil human needs, it remains unclear whether bioeconomy transitions in high income countries are sustainable. In order to fill a gap in bioeconomy sustainability assessments, we apply an ontological lens of coupled social-ecological systems to explore critical mechanisms in relation to bioeconomy activities in the global resource system. This contributes to a social-ecological systems (SES)-based understanding of sustainability from a high income country perspective: the capacity of humans to satisfy their needs with strategies that reduce current levels of pressures and impacts on ecosystems. Building on this notion of agency, we develop a framework prototype that captures the systemic relation between individual human needs and collective social outcomes on the one hand (micro-level) and social-ecological impacts in the global resource system on the other hand (macro-level). The BIO-SES framework emphasizes the role of responsible consumption (for physical health), responsible production (to reduce stressors on the environment), and the role of autonomy and self-organisation (to protect the reproduction capacity of social-ecological systems). In particular, the BIO-SES framework can support (1) individual and collective agency in high income country contexts to reduce global resource use and related ecosystem impacts with a bioeconomy strategy, (2) aligning social outcomes, monitoring efforts and governance structures with place-based efforts to achieve the SDGs, as well as (3), advancing the evidence base and social-ecological theory on responsible bioeconomy transitions in the limited biosphere.

scholarly journals The Role of Common-Pool Resources’ Institutional Robustness in a Collective Action Dilemma under Environmental Variations

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10526
Author(s):  
Ana Alicia Dipierri ◽  
Dimitrios Zikos
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
External Disturbances ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Environmental Variations ◽  
Better Than

Extreme environmental variations, as a phenomenon deriving from climate change, led to an exacerbated uncertainty on water availability and increased the likelihood of conflicts regarding water-dependent activities such as agriculture. In this paper, we investigate the role of conflict resolution mechanisms—one of Ostrom’s acclaimed Design Principles—when social-ecological systems are exposed to physical external disturbances. The theoretical propositions predict that social-ecological systems with conflict-resolution mechanisms will perform better than those without them. We tested this proposition through a framed field experiment that mimicked an irrigation system. This asymmetric setting exposed farmers to two (2) dilemmas: (i) how much to invest in the communal irrigation system’s maintenance and (ii) how much water to extract. The setting added a layer of complexity: water availability depended not only on the investment but also on the environmental variability. Our findings confirmed the theoretical proposition: groups with stronger ‘institutional robustness’ can cope with environmental variations better than those with weaker robustness. However, we also found that some groups, despite lacking conflict-resolution mechanisms, were also able to address environmental variations. We explored potential explanatory variables to these unexpected results. We found that subjects’ and groups’ attributes might address uncertainty and avert conflict. Thus, social-ecological systems’ capacity to respond to external disturbances, such as environmental variations, might not only be a question of Design Principles. Instead, it might also be strongly related to group members’ attributes and group dynamics. Our results pave the way for further research, hinting that some groups might be better equipped for mitigation measures, while others might be better equipped for adaptation measures.

scholarly journals Conceptualising sustainability through environmental stewardship and virtuous cycles—a new empirically-grounded model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Turnbull ◽  
Graeme F. Clark ◽  
Emma L. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Virtuous Cycle ◽  
Spiral Model ◽  
Earth Stewardship ◽  
Sustainable Futures

AbstractHumans depend on earth’s ecosystems and in the Anthropocene, ecosystems are increasingly impacted by human activities. Sustainability—the long-term integrity of social–ecological systems—depends on effective environmental stewardship, yet current conceptual frameworks often lack empirical validation and are limited in their ability to show progress towards sustainability goals. In this study we examine institutional and local stewardship actions and their ecological and social outcomes along 7000 km of Australia’s coastline. We use empirical mixed methods and grounded theory to show that the combination of local and institutional stewardship leads to improved ecological outcomes, which in turn enhance social values and motivate further stewardship to form a virtuous cycle. Virtuous cycles may proceed over multiple iterations, which we represent in a new spiral model enabling visualisation of progress towards sustainability goals over time. Our study has important implications for collaborative earth stewardship and the role of policy in enabling virtuous cycles to ultimately realise sustainable futures.

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