Extending the viability theory framework of resilience to uncertain dynamics, and application to lake eutrophication

Rougé, Charles; Mathias, Jean‐Denis; Deffuant, Guillaume

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.12.032

Cited by 46 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(65 reference statements)

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“…These additional uncertainties are mostly related to formalization of the nexus between social, economic, and environmental sub-systems interacting with the system-of-interest (the system assessed). Although methods such as Exploratory Modeling Analysis [18,157] and reliability theory [158], and viability theory [159] might be helpful to address uncertainties, the major source of uncertainties are the assumptions made when mathematically defining dynamic relationships among system parameters (especially in further parts of the system). Overcoming this challenge requires further attention from the scientific community and in-depth research about how things affect each other.…”

Section: Challenges and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Tracking the environmental impacts of production, use, and disposal of products (e.g., goods, and services) have been an important issue in the global economy. Although Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely applied method to track these environmental impacts and support policies, it has certain limitations and an isolated way of evaluating the environmental impacts with no consideration of social and economic impacts and mechanisms. To overcome the limits of current LCA, three mechanisms have been proposed in the literature: (1) broadening the indicators by including social and economic indicators in addition to the environmental impacts; (2) broadening the scope of analysis from product-level assessment to national and global levels; (3) deepening the assessment by inclusion of more mechanisms to account for interrelations among the system elements, uncertainty analysis, stakeholder involvement, etc. With these developments, LCA has been evolving into a new framework called Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). Practical application of LCSA requires integration of various methods, tools, and disciplines. In this study, a comprehensive literature review is conducted to investigate recent developments, current challenges, and future perspectives in the LCSA literature. According to the review, a high number (40%) of LCSA studies are from the environmental science discipline, while contributions from other disciplines such as economics (3%) and social sciences (9%) are very low. On broadening the scope of analysis, 58% of the studies are product-level works, while 37% quantified the impacts at national level and achieved an economy-wide analysis, and only 5% of the studies were able to quantify the global impacts of products using LCSA framework. Furthermore, current applications of LCSA have not considered the rebound effects, feedback mechanisms, and interrelations of the system of interest sufficiently. To address these challenges, we present a complete discussion about the overarching role of systems thinking to bring tools, methods and disciplines together, and provide practical examples from the earlier studies that have employed various system-based methods. We discuss the importance of integrated system-based methods for advancement of LCSA framework in the following directions: (1) regional and global level LCSA models using multi-region input-output analysis that is capable of quantitatively capturing macro-level social, environmental, and economic impacts; (2) dealing with uncertainties in LCSA during multi-criteria decision-making process and expert judgments in weighting of LCSA indicators; and (3) integration of system dynamics modeling to reveal complex interconnections, dependencies, and causal relationships between sustainability indicators.

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Section: Challenges and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

et al. 2017

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“…In this study, we measure robustness as the probability of a control to keep the system in a viable state. This operational definition is close to the one used by Rougé et al (2013).…”

Section: Adaptability and Robustness In Rangelandsmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Viability theory makes it possible to define resilience without reverting to the concept of a steady state (Martin, 2004;Martin et al, 2011), and to define robustness against state uncertainty (Alvarez and Martin, 2011;Rougé et al 2013). In our study, we further developed this approach and showed how viability could be used to define robustness against dynamic stochasticity and management adaptability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If no control is viable for the state s, the robustness index ROB(c,s) is null. This index represents the probability that being in the state s and applying the control c, the system stays in a viable state (Rougé et al, 2013). This index is an adaptation of the robustness index developed by Alvarez and Martin (2011) to the situation where stochasticity occurs as a perturbation of the dynamics rather than a direct perturbation of the state.…”

Section: Adaptability and Robustness In Rangelandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under these conditions, it is widely accepted that range management should aim at robustness and adaptability (Carande et al, 1995;Berkes et al, 2000;Vetter, 2005). Robustness measures the ability of the management actions to maintain the system in desired conditions, despite uncertain environment (Anderies et al, , 2013Rougé et al, 2013). Management adaptability measures the number of management decisions that are available to the rancher in the different rangeland conditions (Berkes et al, 2000;Galoppín, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robustness and management adaptability in tropical rangelands: a viability-based assessment under the non-equilibrium paradigm

Accatino

Sabatier

Michele

et al. 2014

Animal

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Rangelands provide the main forage resource for livestock in many parts of the world, but maintaining long-term productivity and providing sufficient income for the rancher remains a challenge. One key issue is to maintain the rangeland in conditions where the rancher has the greatest possibility to adapt his/her management choices to a highly fluctuating and uncertain environment. In this study, we address management robustness and adaptability, which increase the resilience of a rangeland. After reviewing how the concept of resilience evolved in parallel to modelling views on rangelands, we present a dynamic model of rangelands to which we applied the mathematical framework of viability theory to quantify the management adaptability of the system in a stochastic environment. This quantification is based on an index that combines the robustness of the system to rainfall variability and the ability of the rancher to adjust his/her management through time. We evaluated the adaptability for four possible scenarios combining two rainfall regimes (high or low) with two herding strategies (grazers only or mixed herd). Results show that pure grazing is viable only for high-rainfall regimes, and that the use of mixed-feeder herds increases the adaptability of the management. The management is the most adaptive with mixed herds and in rangelands composed of an intermediate density of trees and grasses. In such situations, grass provides high quantities of biomass and woody plants ensure robustness to droughts. Beyond the implications for management, our results illustrate the relevance of viability theory for addressing the issue of robustness and adaptability in non-equilibrium environments.

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From Resistance to Transformation: A Generic Metric of Resilience Through Viability

Béné

Doyen

2018

Earth's Future

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In the last two decades resilience has emerged as a promising concept that can help societies and more generally social‐ecological systems become less vulnerable to shocks and stressors. As such it has been adopted by a large number of disciplines—from psychology, physics, and ecology to disaster risk reduction, climate change adaption, and humanitarian and food security interventions. However, although numerous definitions or measures of resilience have been proposed, those were mainly discipline centered and, as such, failed to provide an adequate overarching framework. This paper explores the question of the formalization and measurement of resilience, with the objective to develop a generic metric that applies across the disciplines and to the different interpretations of resilience. Building on the definitions found in the literature, a continuum of five categories of resilience responses is identified: (i) resistance, (ii) coping strategies, (iii) adaptation, (iv) adaptive preference, and (v) transformation. Those categories are then reframed into a generic metric, using viability analysis—a mathematical formalism which builds on dynamic systems and control theory. Theoretical and empirical analyses are then conducted, looking in particular at how inertia and costs associated with the types of responses influence the level of resilience. To illustrate this new metric, we draw on two models widely discussed in the resilience literature: the exploitation of renewable resources and the case of lake eutrophication. Both theoretical and numerical analyses demonstrate the relevance of the typology as a generic framework for resilience but also highlight transformation as a particular case of resilience response.

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Extending the viability theory framework of resilience to uncertain dynamics, and application to lake eutrophication

Cited by 46 publications

References 29 publications

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

Systems Thinking for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications, and Future Perspectives

Robustness and management adaptability in tropical rangelands: a viability-based assessment under the non-equilibrium paradigm

From Resistance to Transformation: A Generic Metric of Resilience Through Viability

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