scholarly journals Ecological Systems as Complex Systems: Challenges for an Emerging Science

Diversity ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhur Anand ◽  
Andrew Gonzalez ◽  
Frédéric Guichard ◽  
Jurek Kolasa ◽  
Lael Parrott
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Ecological Systems

scholarly journals Inequities in the emergence, manifestations and consequences of COVID19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Méndez Paz
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Vicious Circle ◽  
Social Inequity ◽  
Universal Vaccine ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Relationship

The Inequality Virus is the name given to SARS-COV2 by an OXFAM publication, highlighting that during the pandemic, the ten richest men on the planet have earned 540 billion dollars, a figure that would serve to finance a universal vaccine for COVID19. This fact is an exemplary demonstration of the inequities of the pandemic, analyzed below in three different dimensions: 1) The origins of the pandemic, in the context of inequitable socio-ecological systems where the relationship amongst humans and between humans and nature has been broken; 2) Its manifestations, in conditions of social inequity, with its patterns of occurrence and a painful trace of disease and death; and 3) The consequences, in a vicious circle with the complex systems that gave rise to it, causing a profound situation of inequity, in other words, the pandemic as a source of more unjust differences.

scholarly journals Contemporary Megaprojects

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Schindler ◽  
Simin Fadaee ◽  
Dan Brockington
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
The Novel

There is renewed interest in megaprojects worldwide. In contrast to high-modernist megaprojects that were discrete projects undertaken by centralized authorities, contemporary megaprojects are often decentralized and pursued by a range of stakeholders from governments as well as the private sector. They leverage cutting-edge technology to ‘see’ complex systems as legible and singular phenomena. As a result, they are more ambitious, more pervasive and they have the potential to reconfigure longstanding relationships that have animated social and ecological systems. The articles in this issue explore the novel features of contemporary megaprojects, they show how the proponents of contemporary megaprojects aspire to technologically enabled omnipresence, and they document the resistance that megaprojects have provoked.

scholarly journals New forms of structure in ecosystems revealed with the Kuramoto model

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Vandermeer ◽  
Zachary Hajian-Forooshani ◽  
Nicholas Medina ◽  
Ivette Perfecto
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Coupled Oscillators ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Kuramoto Model ◽  
Chaotic Orbits ◽  
The Kuramoto Model ◽  
Convection Rolls ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Insight Into

Ecological systems, as is often noted, are complex. Equally notable is the generalization that complex systems tend to be oscillatory, whether Huygens' simple patterns of pendulum entrainment or the twisted chaotic orbits of Lorenz’ convection rolls. The analytics of oscillators may thus provide insight into the structure of ecological systems. One of the most popular analytical tools for such study is the Kuramoto model of coupled oscillators. We apply this model as a stylized vision of the dynamics of a well-studied system of pests and their enemies, to ask whether its actual natural history is reflected in the dynamics of the qualitatively instantiated Kuramoto model. Emerging from the model is a series of synchrony groups generally corresponding to subnetworks of the natural system, with an overlying chimeric structure, depending on the strength of the inter-oscillator coupling. We conclude that the Kuramoto model presents a novel window through which interesting questions about the structure of ecological systems may emerge.

Using the concept of hydrological connectivity to integrate physical and social systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Bracken ◽  
Jacky Croke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Hydrological Connectivity ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Functional Relationships

<p>The concept of connectivity has found great traction in understanding the movement of fluxes across the surface of the earth through disciplinary perspectives including hydrology, geomorphology and ecology (Bracken and Croke, 2007; Bracken et al 2013;2015). Connectivity-based approaches have also generated new understanding of structural-functional relationships that characterise complex systems, for instance in computational neuroscience, social network science and systems biology (Turnbull et al., 2018). Whilst the concept of hydrological connectivity has been used widely, at all scales and with respect to fluxes of both water and sediment, critique and development of the concept is less frequent in the literature. In this paper we revisit the existing body of work around hydrological connectivity to examine whether the concept has been used to it’s full potential and explore further ways in which the concept of hydrological connectivity could be expanded to continue to drive geomorphological research. One potential avenue for research is to learn from complex systems and use the concept of connectivity to embrace human dynamics (through managing the landscape and guiding policy and regulation) on one hand and climate change (which drives system inputs) on the other.  This opportunity is explored here using the water sector as a case study where planning, and managing for, water security under growing population pressures and future climate change are explored through this broader interpretation of connectivity. We see this wider coupling between humans and system inputs playing a significant role in shaping earth surface processes and sediment dynamics and a widening of definition may enable hydrologists and geomorphologists to better integrate socio-ecological systems into our research.</p>

scholarly journals Rapid Games Designing; Constructing a Dynamic Metaphor to Explore Complex Systems and Abstract Concepts

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 7200
Author(s):  
Bruce A Lankford ◽  
Joanne Craven
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Limited Time ◽  
Extended Version ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Agricultural Marketing ◽  
Practical Guidance

Initiated by a research project examining agricultural and water resilience in South Africa and tested in workshops on a range of topics, we reflect on our application of a half-to-one day “games designing” format for constructing dynamic metaphors for complex systems and related concepts (e.g., the resilience or sustainability of a catchment/agricultural marketing system). While this short format gives rich and detailed games that potentially could be played in an extended version of the workshop, we did not go ahead with this step. Instead, we devoted the limited time available to supporting participants in designing, comparing and discussing their games and to exploring the concepts and meanings of a given complex system, even if the latter was initially deemed by participants to be abstract and “academic”. Our abridged term for short-format games designing is “rapid games designing” (RGD). Key benefits to participating individuals, the whole group and workshop organizers include (a) the highly productive and creative use of limited time; (b) an inclusive group exercise that draws everyone into the process; (c) rich discussion of pluralist viewpoints through the comparison of the remarkable variety of games generated, including their differences in purpose, players and rules; and (d) observations on how the games construct a dynamic metaphor for the system and its properties, leading to deeper insights and knowledge building regarding system concepts and components. Here, we use two case studies in South Africa to explore what value RGD provides and how it does so, and then we briefly compare it to other similar methods. We also provide practical guidance for facilitating RGD workshops. In conclusion, we argue this format offers an option for the ongoing evolution of games about complex human, natural and socio-ecological systems and that it generates considerable creativity, learning, discussion and insights amongst all participants.

scholarly journals Heterogeneity: method and applications for complex systems analysis

2022 ◽  
Vol 2159 (1) ◽  
pp. 012013
Author(s):  
J M Redondo ◽  
J S Garcia ◽  
C Bustamante-Zamudio ◽  
M F Pereira ◽  
H F Trujillo
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Systems Analysis ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
Time Lags ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Sustainability Analysis

Abstract Socio-ecological systems like another physical systems are complex systems in which are required methods for analyzes their non-linearities, thresholds, feedbacks, time lags, and resilience. This involves understanding the heterogeneity of the interactions in time and space. In this article, we carry out the proposition and demonstration of two methods that allow the calculation of heterogeneity in different contexts. The practical effectiveness of the methods is presented through applications in sustainability analysis, land transport, and governance. It is concluded that the proposed methods can be used in various research and development areas due to their ease of being considered in broad modeling frameworks as agent-based modeling, system dynamics, or machine learning, although it could also be used to obtain point measurements only by replacing values.

scholarly journals Review article: Towards a context-driven research: a state-of-the-art review of resilience research on climate change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ringo Ossewaarde ◽  
Tatiana Filatova ◽  
Yola Georgiadou ◽  
Andreas Hartmann ◽  
Gül Özerol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Review Article ◽  
System Property ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Climate Crisis

Abstract. Since the 1970s, Holling's socio-ecological systems (SES) approach has been a most predominant theoretical force in resilience research in the context of the climate crisis. From Holling's approach, however, two contrasting scientific approaches to resilience have developed, namely, naturalism and constructivism. While naturalist resilience research takes SES as complex systems marked by non-linearity and evolutionary changes, constructivist resilience research focuses on the embeddedness of SES in heterogenous contexts. In naturalist resilience research resilience is defined as a system property, while in constructivist resilience research resilience is politically loaded and historically contingent. The aim of this paper is to review and structure current developments in resilience research in the field of climate change studies, in terms of the approaches, definitions, models and commitments that are typical for naturalism and constructivism; identify the key tension between naturalist and constructivist resilience research in terms of the widely discussed issue of adaptation and transformation, and discuss its implications for sustainable development; and propose a research agenda of topics distilled from the adaptation-transformation tension between naturalist and constructivist resilience research.

scholarly journals Building Resilience through Farmers’ Experiments in Organic Agriculture: Examples from Eastern Austria

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Kummer ◽  
Rebecka Milestad ◽  
Friedrich Leitgeb ◽  
Christian R. Vogl
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Eastern Austria ◽  
Management Changes

<p class="StandardTextkrperSAR">Farmers have always lived in changing environments where uncertainty and disturbances are inevitable. Therefore, farmers need the ability to adapt to change in order to be able to maintain their farms. Experimentation is one way for farmers to learn and adapt, and may be a tool to build farm resilience. Farmers’ experiments as defined in this paper are activities where something totally or partially new is introduced at the farm and the feasibility of this introduction is evaluated. The theoretical framework applied to study farmers’ experiments is the concept of resilience. Resilience is the capacity of social-ecological systems to cope with change, and is a framework used to assess complex systems of interactions between humans and ecosystems.</p> <p class="StandardTextkrperSAR">This paper explores to which extent farmers’ experimentation can help build farm resilience. In addition to arguments found in the literature, five organic farms in Eastern Austria are used to illustrate this potential. The farmers were interviewed in 2007 and 2008. The respective farmers all worked fulltime on their farms, were between 34 and 55 years old, and owned farms between 15 and 76 ha. These farmers experimented in ways that enhance resilience – at the farm and in the region. The outcome of experiments can be management changes, new insights, or technology that can be passed on and potentially be built into education and advisory institutions. To encourage farmers’ experiments, it is important to develop conditions that support farmers in their experimenting role.</p>

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