scholarly journals Environmental Scenario Analysis on Natural and Social-Ecological Systems: A Review of Methods, Approaches and Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noelia Guaita García ◽  
Julia Martínez Fernández ◽  
Carl Fitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Scenario Analysis ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Distributed Models ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Use Of Models

Scenario analysis is a useful tool to facilitate discussions about the main trends of future change and to promote the understanding of global environmental changes implications on relevant aspects of sustainability. In this paper, we reviewed 294 articles published between 1995–2019, to evaluate the state of the art use of models and scenarios to investigate the effects of land use change and climate change on natural and social-ecological systems. Our review focuses on three issues. The first explores the extent to which the environmental dynamics of land use and climate change were jointly analyzed and the spatial scales associated with such integrated studies. The second explores the modelling methodologies and approaches used in the scenario analysis. The third explores the methods for developing or building scenarios. Results show that in most predictions there is little integration of key drivers of change. We find most forecasting studies use a sectoral modelling approach through dynamic spatially distributed models. Most articles do not apply a participatory approach in the development of scenarios. Based on this review, we conclude that there are some gaps in how scenario analysis on natural and social-ecological systems are conducted. These gaps pose a challenge for the use of models and scenarios as predictive tools in decision-making processes in the context of global change.

scholarly journals Exploring sustainable land use in forested tropical social-ecological systems: A case-study in the Wet Tropics

2019 ◽  
Vol 231 ◽  
pp. 940-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julen Gonzalez-Redin ◽  
Iain J. Gordon ◽  
Rosemary Hill ◽  
J. Gary Polhill ◽  
Terence P. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Sustainable Land Use ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Wet Tropics

scholarly journals Measuring the vulnerability of marine social-ecological systems: a prerequisite for the identification of climate change adaptations

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Metcalf ◽  
Elizabeth I. van Putten ◽  
Stewart Frusher ◽  
Nadine A. Marshall ◽  
Malcolm Tull ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological

scholarly journals Meeting sustainable development challenges in growing cities: Coupled social-ecological systems modeling of land use and water changes

2019 ◽  
Vol 245 ◽  
pp. 471-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Kalantari ◽  
Carla Sofia Santos Ferreira ◽  
Jessica Page ◽  
Romain Goldenberg ◽  
Jonas Olsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Systems Modeling ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological

scholarly journals What Do We Talk about When We Talk about Social-Ecological Systems? A Literature Review

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui ◽  
Cecilia Arnaiz-Schmitz ◽  
María Fernanda Reyes ◽  
Marta Telesnicki ◽  
Ignacio Agramonte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Transdisciplinary Research ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Sustainability Governance ◽  
Human Use

In the last decade, probably in response to global changes and environmental crisis, the use of the term “social-ecological system” (SES) in the scientific literature has been growing. This is certainly a sign of the recognition of the need and importance of transdisciplinary research. Here, we explore whether the use of the term is a buzzword, or it actually represents a key concept toward the integration of social and ecological research. We compiled a data base of publications (N = 1289) that mentioned SES in title, keywords and abstract. Subsequently, we analyzed: authors affiliations, type of work (conceptual, empirical, review), study site, prevailing human use, temporal and spatial scales of analysis, kind of variables analyzed (socioeconomic, biophysical), and the method/s used to integrate them. We detected four time spans in the use of the term (1975–1997, 1998–2006, 2007–2012, 2013–2016). Our results suggest that SES is a widely invoked concept to study the interface between social and ecological systems. Most works show some common elements such as the analysis of resilience, ecosystem services, sustainability, governance and adaptive management. However, the majority of studies does not study SES as a whole, integrating both social and ecological variables and their feedback loops. We consider that SES is still a concept in construction in order to build a necessary framework to integrate social and ecological sciences. For a robust evolution we recommend to focus on 1. a conscious, discussed and agreed effort of scientists to conduct transdisciplinary research needed to study SES; 2. developing methodological tools for the true integration of social and ecological data.

scholarly journals Droughts and governance impacts on water scarcity: an~analysis in the Brazilian semi-arid

2015 ◽  
Vol 369 ◽  
pp. 129-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. S. Silva ◽  
C. O. Galvão ◽  
G. N. S. Silva
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Management ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Drought Event ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Semi Arid

Abstract. Extreme events are part of climate variability. Dealing with variability is still a challenge that might be increased due to climate change. However, impacts of extreme events are not only dependent on their variability, but also on management and governance. In Brazil, its semi-arid region is vulnerable to extreme events, especially droughts, for centuries. Actually, other Brazilian regions that have been mostly concerned with floods are currently also experiencing droughts. This article evaluates how a combination between climate variability and water governance might affect water scarcity and increase the impacts of extreme events on some regions. For this evaluation, Ostrom's framework for analyzing social-ecological systems (SES) was applied. Ostrom's framework is useful for understanding interactions between resource systems, governance systems and resource users. This study focuses on social-ecological systems located in a drought-prone region of Brazil. Two extreme events were selected, one in 1997–2000, when Brazil's new water policy was very young, and the other one in 2012–2015. The analysis of SES considering Ostrom's principle "Clearly defined boundaries" showed that deficiencies in water management cause the intensification of drought's impacts for the water users. The reasons are more related to water management and governance problems than to drought event magnitude or climate change. This is a problem that holdup advances in dealing with extreme events.

scholarly journals Restoring our senses, restoring the Earth. Fostering imaginative capacities through the arts for envisioning climate transformations

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Galafassi ◽  
J. David Tàbara ◽  
María Heras
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
Current Governance

Humanity has never lived in a world of global average temperature above two degrees of current levels. Moving towards such High-End Climate Change (HECC) futures presents fundamental challenges to current governance structures and involves the need to confront high uncertainties, non-linear dynamics and multiple irreversibilities in global social-ecological systems. In order to face HECC, imaginative practices able to support multiple ways of learning about and experiencing the future are necessary. In this article we analysed a set of arts-based activities conducted within the five-year EU-funded project IMPRESSIONS aimed at identifying transformative strategies to high-end climate change. The exploratory artistic activities were carried out alongside a science-led participatory integrated assessment process with stakeholders from the Iberian Peninsula. Our arts-based approach combined a range of performative, visual and reflexive practices with the ambition to reach out to more-than-rational but also practical elements of HECC futures. Our study suggests that the arts-based approach helped to bring out new ways of seeing, feeling and interpreting the world which may support the development of individual and collective sensibilities needed to address HECC.

Using Earth Observations to engender a social-ecological systems perspective on rural livelihoods and wellbeing.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hargreaves ◽  
Gary Watmough
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Spatio Temporal

<p>An estimated 70% of the world’s poorest people live in rural spaces. There is a consistent differentiation between rural and urban contexts, where the former are typically characterised by weak infrastructure, limited services and social marginalisation. At the same time, the world’s poorest people are most vulnerable to global change impacts. Historic pathways to measuring and achieving poverty reduction must be adapted for an era of increasingly dynamic change, where spatio-temporal blind spots preclude a comprehensive understanding of poverty and its manifestation in rural developing contexts. To catalyse an effective poverty eradication narrative, we require a characterisation of the spatio-temporal anatomy of poverty metrics. To achieve this, researchers and practitioners must develop tools and mobilise data sources that enable the detection and visualisation of economic and social dimensions of rural spaces at finer temporal and spatial scales than is currently practised. This can only be realised by integrating new technologies and non-traditional sources of data alongside conventional data to engender a novel policy landscape.</p><p>Cue Earth Observation: the only medium through which data can be gathered that is global in its coverage but also available across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Earth Observation (EO) data (collected from satellite, airborne and in-situ remote sensors) have a demonstrable capacity to inform, update, situate and provide the necessary context to design evidence-based policy for sustainable development. This is particularly important for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) because the nested indicators are based on data that can be visualised, and many have a definitive geospatial component, which can improve national statistics reporting.</p><p>In this review, we present a rubric for integrating EO and geospatial data into rural poverty analysis. This aims to provide a foundation from which researchers at the interface of social-ecological systems can unlock new capabilities for measuring economic, environmental and social conditions at the requisite scales and frequency for poverty reporting and also for broader livelihoods and development research.  We review satellite applications and explore the development of EO methodologies for investigating social-ecological conditions as indirect proxies of rural wellbeing. This is nested within the broader sustainable development agenda (in particular the SDGs) and aims to set out what our capabilities are and where research should be focused in the near-term. In short, elucidating to a broad audience what the integration of EO can achieve and how developing social-ecological metrics from EO data can improve evidence-based policymaking.</p><p><strong>Key words:</strong> Earth Observation; Poverty; Livelihoods; Sustainable Development Goals; Remote Sensing</p>

scholarly journals Addressing Social-Ecological Systems across Temporal and Spatial Scales: a Conceptual Synthesis for Ethnobiology

Human Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 557-571
Author(s):  
Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque ◽  
David Ludwig ◽  
Ivanilda Soares Feitosa ◽  
Joelson Moreno Brito de Moura ◽  
Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Temporal And Spatial
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