Ecosystem Resilience on Human Terms

Abstract

Linked socioecological systems consist of economies in societies in nature and make explicit the relationship between the natural environment and human well‐being using the language of ecosystem services. A growth‐based economy within a constrained biophysical planet (e.g., human activities) has led to a need for ecosystem resilience. Valuation of ecosystem services using the language of economics appears insufficient in the face of human activity. All ecosystems are resilient but will demonstrate that resilience in unexpected and potentially unwanted ways, particularly as human pressures and influences lead to tipping points of extinction (e.g., complete die‐off of coral reefs) in these linked socioecological systems. Structured approaches for evaluating the risks, benefits, and impacts of human activities exist but are not effectively applied and when applied, focus on downstream outcomes rather than on upstream actions (e.g., responding to climate change impacts rather than addressing causes of climate change). Ecosystem resilience in the face of unprecedented environmental challenges may not result in the hoped‐for set of ecosystem services. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:598–600. © 2018 SETAC

Potato Farming Systems from a Social-Ecological Perspective: Identifying Key Points to Increase Resilience in a High Andean Productive Landscape

“…Unfortunately, current technology and productivity based approaches are insufficient to overcome these mounting challenges in this agricultural production system [9,10]. Contemporary work dealing with strategies to improve the living standards of a population instead has focused on incorporating adaptive management [11][12][13], meaning that stakeholders should assess, design, and implement activities based on what they have learned to thus manage their landscapes in a way that allows them to face uncertainty [14,15].…”

The social-ecological dimensions of changing global freshwater availability

“…[14][15][16][17] . This framework to analyze 'economies in societies in nature' 18 highlights the interactions between governance systems, actors, and resources in the context of existing social, economic, and political settings that together govern overall system outcomes 19 such as the water security of a nation, region, or world. Varis et al 14 apply the social-ecological systems framework to a global analysis of river basin resilience, however the framework remains to be applied explicitly in global water security analysis.…”