Disproportionality as a Framework for Linking Social and Biophysical Systems

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research is capable of investigating questions that no single or independent collection of disciplines can address. This interdisciplinary approach was used to investigate why nonpoint source pollution to a lake had not changed even though the often cited social drivers of this situation had changed significantly. The concept of disproportionality was adapted to examine social and biophysical interactions at different spatial and temporal scales to address this situation. Rather than using social and biophysical variable as contextual or additive relative to each other, we examined their interactive or multiplicative effects at coarse and fine spatial and temporal scales. Limited occurrence of inappropriate behaviors in vulnerable biophysical settings resulted in disproportionate environmental impacts. The concept of disproportionality implies that the environmental meaning placed on any social behavior requires accounting for where and when it occurs in a biophysical setting, and that a few outliers can determine system performance and outcomes.

A cross-disciplinary toolkit to assess the risk of faecal indicator loss from grassland farm systems to surface waters

“…Of course the human dimension must also be factored in to gain an appreciation that while infrastructure may be advantageous for limiting FIO loss from land to water, poor management can over-ride its intended benefits. Management decisions governing distribution of animal manures are critical social processes that vary in space and time and disproportionality occurs when inappropriate social actions occur in vulnerable biophysical settings (Nowak et al, 2006). This concept applies in reverse also; one farmer interviewed in our study had an astute awareness of diffuse pollution and stated: 'diffuse pollution -that's insidious pollution coming from unidentifiable sources'.…”

“…Not only must assessments of risk account for heterogeneous physical landscapes and farm infrastructures, they must consider the wider cultural and political economy of farming, particularly the processes that shape prevailing attitudes and influence farmers' decisions to take action in complex ways (Burton and Wilson 2006). Approaches to agricultural risk assessment that fail to embrace both social and natural aspects of the farm environment may lead to pathways of environmental protection that are disproportionate or inappropriate in conception (Nowak et al, 2006).…”

Disproportionality as a Framework to Target Pollution Reduction from Urban Landscapes

“…We propose that effective, economical nutrient reduction strategies for urban landscapes could be developed with the disproportionality framework proposed by Nowak et al (2006). Nowak et al argued that nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is a function of both the biophysical characteristics of the landscape and human behaviors, both of which exhibit skewed distributions (Figure 1).…”

“…Figure 1. Schematic of the disproportionality framework , modified from Nowak et al (2006). The x-axis represents environmental site vulnerability (factors such as slope and soil type) and the y-axis represents behavioral characteristics (e.g., lawn management practices).…”

“…One way to make the task tractable is to develop an approach for targeting problem lawns. The goal of this paper is to explore a conceptual framework -the disproportionality hypothesis (Nowak et al 2006) -as a tool for targeting the intersection of vulnerable landscapes and inappropriate behaviors. The working hypothesis for this paper is that a small fraction of lawns contribute disproportional nutrient loads to storm water.…”