Navigating challenges and opportunities of land degradation and sustainable livelihood development in dryland social–ecological systems: a case study from Mexico

Abstract

Drylands are one of the most diverse yet highly vulnerable social–ecological systems on Earth. Water scarcity has contributed to high levels of heterogeneity, variability and unpredictability, which together have shaped the long coadaptative process of coupling humans and nature. Land degradation and desertification in drylands are some of the largest and most far-reaching global environmental and social change problems, and thus are a daunting challenge for science and society. In this study, we merged the Drylands Development Paradigm, Holling's adaptive cycle metaphor and resilience theory to assess the challenges and opportunities for livelihood development in the Amapola dryland social–ecological system (DSES), a small isolated village in the semi-arid region of Mexico. After 450 years of local social–ecological evolution, external drivers (neoliberal policies, change in land reform legislation) have become the most dominant force in livelihood development, at the cost of loss of natural and cultural capital and an increasingly dysfunctional landscape. Local DSESs have become increasingly coupled to dynamic larger-scale drivers. Hence, cross-scale connectedness feeds back on and transforms local self-sustaining subsistence farming conditions, causing loss of livelihood resilience and diversification in a globally changing world. Effective efforts to combat desertification and improve livelihood security in DSESs need to consider their cyclical rhythms. Hence, we advocate novel dryland stewardship strategies, which foster adaptive capacity, and continuous evaluation and social learning at all levels. Finally, we call for an effective, flexible and viable policy framework that enhances local biotic and cultural diversity of drylands to transform global drylands into a resilient biome in the context of global environmental and social change.

It is getting hotter in here: determining and projecting the impacts of global environmental change on drylands

“…We believe that the topics treated here are in urgent need of conceptual advances in order to improve the livelihood of people living in drylands (e.g. desertification and management of natural resources to improve human well-being in developing areas [133,163]). We expect that the multidisciplinary, multi-organismal approach followed in this theme issue will advance our understanding of the projected effects of global change in drylands, and will stimulate further research on this important topic.…”

“…Such impacts may act synergistically with global change-induced biodiversity losses, as biodiversity is crucial for maintaining ecosystem services in drylands [19,131]. Climate-induced migrations and land-use changes are also expected to negatively impact on important cultural services, such as social identity and diversity, tourism and recreation [120,132,133].…”

“…Ultimately, we believe that a major breakthrough in our understanding of global change in drylands will come by the use of multidisciplinary approaches. Huber-Sannwald et al [133] do so by combining the use of different conceptual frameworks with a thorough analysis of biophysical, socio-economical and historical data to assess the challenges and opportunities for livelihood development in drylands. Their results provide important insights to understand the complexities built into land degradation and desertification processes in socio-ecological dryland systems, and illustrate the potential of multidisciplinary studies to advance our knowledge of the links between human development, desertification and global change.…”

Hydrologic variability in dryland regions: impacts on ecosystem dynamics and food security

“…(c) Resilience and food security Similar concepts are often applied to the study of societal resilience with respect to droughts or other stressors [131]. Redundancy of key resources and income diversification are crucial elements that maintain resilience while reducing societal vulnerability to climate change and environmental degradation [132].…”

Lessons from community-based payment for ecosystem service schemes: from forests to rangelands

“…Rangelands introduce additional complexities owing to both the spatial and temporal dynamism of ecological changes in semiarid systems [85][86][87][88] and specific institutional issues associated with the rangeland context [89][90][91]. This complexity has been illustrated by studies assessing the integration of local and scientific knowledge [92,93] and through the development of dynamic systems models of change [94,95]. This section identifies rangeland-specific considerations that will affect the development of CB-PES carbon schemes.…”