An integrated conceptual framework for long‐term social–ecological research
01 Aug 2011-Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (Ecological Society of America)-Vol. 9, Iss: 6, pp 351-357
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an iterative framework, called Press-Pulse Dynamics (PPD), that integrates the biophysical and social sciences through an understanding of how human behaviors affect "press" and "pulse" dynamics and ecosystem processes.
Abstract: The global reach of human activities affects all natural ecosystems, so that the environment is best viewed as a social–ecological system. Consequently, a more integrative approach to environmental science, one that bridges the biophysical and social domains, is sorely needed. Although models and frameworks for social–ecological systems exist, few are explicitly designed to guide a long-term interdisciplinary research program. Here, we present an iterative framework, “Press–Pulse Dynamics” (PPD), that integrates the biophysical and social sciences through an understanding of how human behaviors affect “press” and “pulse” dynamics and ecosystem processes. Such dynamics and processes, in turn, influence ecosystem services –thereby altering human behaviors and initiating feedbacks that impact the original dynamics and processes. We believe that research guided by the PPD framework will lead to a more thorough understanding of social–ecological systems and generate the knowledge needed to address pervasive environmental problems.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an international consensus on how urban ecology can advance along multiple research directions and suggest pathways for advancing urban ecology research to support the goals of improving urban sustainability and resilience, conserving urban biodiversity, and promoting human well-being on an urbanizing planet.
Abstract: Urban ecology is a field encompassing multiple disciplines and practical applications and has grown rapidly. However, the field is heterogeneous as a global inquiry with multiple theoretical and conceptual frameworks, variable research approaches, and a lack of coordination among multiple schools of thought and research foci. Here, we present an international consensus on how urban ecology can advance along multiple research directions. There is potential for the field to mature as a holistic, integrated science of urban systems. Such an integrated science could better inform decisionmakers who need increased understanding of complex relationships among social, ecological, economic, and built infrastructure systems. To advance the field requires conceptual synthesis, knowledge and data sharing, cross-city comparative research, new intellectual networks, and engagement with additional disciplines. We consider challenges and opportunities for understanding dynamics of urban systems. We suggest pathways for advancing urban ecology research to support the goals of improving urban sustainability and resilience, conserving urban biodiversity, and promoting human well-being on an urbanizing planet.
468 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that ANPP will respond to climate-change-driven alterations in water availability and, more importantly, that the magnitude of the response will increase with time.
Abstract: Variability of above-ground net primary production (ANPP) of arid to sub-humid ecosystems displays a closer association with precipitation when considered across space (based on multiyear averages for different locations) than through time (based on year-to-year change at single locations). Here, we propose a theory of controls of ANPP based on four hypotheses about legacies of wet and dry years that explains space versus time differences in ANPP–precipitation relationships. We tested the hypotheses using 16 long-term series of ANPP. We found that legacies revealed by the association of current- versus previous-year conditions through the temporal series occur across all ecosystem types from deserts to mesic grasslands. Therefore, previous-year precipitation and ANPP control a significant fraction of current-year production. We developed unified models for the controls of ANPP through space and time. The relative importance of current-versus previous-year precipitation changes along a gradient of mean annual precipitation with the importance of current-year PPT decreasing, whereas the importance of previous-year PPT remains constant as mean annual precipitation increases. Finally, our results suggest that ANPP will respond to climate-change-driven alterations in water availability and, more importantly, that the magnitude of the response will increase with time.
462 citations
TL;DR: A general causal theory is presented to explain why human societies gained the capacity to globally alter the patterns, processes, and dynamics of ecology and how these anthropogenic alterations unfold over time and space as societies themselves change over human generational time.
Abstract: Humans, unlike any other multicellular species in Earth's history, have emerged as a global force that is transforming the ecology of an entire planet. It is no longer possible to understand, predict, or successfully manage ecological pattern, process, or change without understanding why and how humans reshape these over the long term. Here, a general causal theory is presented to explain why human societies gained the capacity to globally alter the patterns, processes, and dynamics of ecology and how these anthropogenic alterations unfold over time and space as societies themselves change over human generational time. Building on existing theories of ecosystem engineering, niche construction, inclusive inheritance, cultural evolution, ultrasociality, and social change, this theory of anthroecological change holds that sociocultural evolution of subsistence regimes based on ecosystem engineering, social specialization, and non-kin exchange, or “sociocultural niche construction,” is the main cause of both the long-term upscaling of human societies and their unprecedented transformation of the biosphere. Human sociocultural niche construction can explain, where classic ecological theory cannot, the sustained transformative effects of human societies on biogeography, ecological succession, ecosystem processes, and the ecological patterns and processes of landscapes, biomes, and the biosphere. Anthroecology theory generates empirically testable hypotheses on the forms and trajectories of long-term anthropogenic ecological change that have significant theoretical and practical implications across the subdisciplines of ecology and conservation. Though still at an early stage of development, anthroecology theory aligns with and integrates established theoretical frameworks including social–ecological systems, social metabolism, countryside biogeography, novel ecosystems, and anthromes. The “fluxes of nature” are fast becoming “cultures of nature.” To investigate, understand, and address the ultimate causes of anthropogenic ecological change, not just the consequences, human sociocultural processes must become as much a part of ecological theory and practice as biological and geophysical processes are now. Strategies for achieving this goal and for advancing ecological science and conservation in an increasingly anthropogenic biosphere are presented.
397 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an urban watershed continuum framework recognizes a continuum of engineered and natural hydrologic flowpaths that expands hydrologics networks in ways that are seldom considered. And the authors propose testable hypotheses of how transport/transformation of materials and energy vary along a continuous flowpath in space and time.
Abstract: Urban ecosystems are constantly evolving, and they are expected to change in both space and time with active management or degradation. An urban watershed continuum framework recognizes a continuum of engineered and natural hydrologic flowpaths that expands hydrologic networks in ways that are seldom considered. It recognizes that the nature of hydrologic connectivity influences downstream fluxes and transformations of carbon, contaminants, energy, and nutrients across 4 space and time dimensions. Specifically, it proposes that (1) first order streams are largely replaced by urban infrastructure (e.g. storm drains, ditches, gutters, pipes) longitudinally and laterally within watersheds, (2) there is extensive longitudinal and lateral modification of organic carbon and nutrient retention in engineered headwaters (3) there are longitudinal downstream pulses in material and energy exports that are amplified by interactive land-use and hydrologic variability, (4) there are vertical interactions between leaky pipes and ground water that influence stream solute transport, (5) the urban watershed continuum is a transformer and transporter of materials and energy based on hydrologic residence times, and (6) temporally, there is an evolution of biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem functions as land use and urban infrastructure change over time. We provide examples from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Long-Term Ecological (LTER) site along 4 spatiotemporal dimensions. Long-term monitoring indicates that engineered headwaters increase downstream subsidies of nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, carbon, and metals compared with undeveloped headwaters. There are increased longitudinal transformations of carbon and nitrogen from suburban headwaters to more urbanized receiving waters. Hydrologic connectivity along the vertical dimension between ground water and leaky pipes from Baltimore’s aging infrastructure elevates stream solute concentrations. Across time, there has been increased headwater stream burial, evolving stormwater management, and long-term salinization of Baltimore’s drinking water supply. Overall, an urban watershed continuum framework proposes testable hypotheses of how transport/transformation of materials and energy vary along a continuum of engineered and natural hydrologic flowpaths in space and time. Given interest in transitioning from sanitary to sustainable cities, it is necessary to recognize the evolving relationship between infrastructure and ecosystem function along the urban watershed continuum.
377 citations
Cites background from "An integrated conceptual framework ..."
...…because of the collapse of aging sanitary city infrastructure, and how upgrades and urban design may offer new opportunities and challenges for improving stormwater management and biogeochemical functions such as N retention (e.g. Walsh et al. 2005b; Kaushal et al. 2008b; Collins et al. 2011)....
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...Temporal processes can occur as both short-term “pulses” and long-term “presses” (Collins et al. 2011)....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1990TL;DR: In this paper, an institutional approach to the study of self-organization and self-governance in CPR situations is presented, along with a framework for analysis of selforganizing and selfgoverning CPRs.
Abstract: Preface 1. Reflections on the commons 2. An institutional approach to the study of self-organization and self-governance in CPR situations 3. Analyzing long-enduring, self-organized and self-governed CPRs 4. Analyzing institutional change 5. Analyzing institutional failures and fragilities 6. A framework for analysis of self-organizing and self-governing CPRs Notes References Index.
16,852 citations
10,424 citations
"An integrated conceptual framework ..." refers background in this paper
...2003) seeking to understand how institutions and economies solve common-property resource problems (Ostrom 1990; Dietz et al. 2003), and more recently by studies of resiliency in regional social-ecological systems (Gunderson and Holling 2002; Walker and Salt 2006)....
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...…of America Kennedy 1997; Berkes and Folke 1998; Berkes et al. 2003) seeking to understand how institutions and economies solve common-property resource problems (Ostrom 1990; Dietz et al. 2003), and more recently by studies of resiliency in regional social–ecological systems (Gunderson and…...
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TL;DR: Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing as discussed by the authors, between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction.
Abstract: Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing. Between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction. By these and other standards, it is clear that we live on a human-dominated planet.
8,831 citations
"An integrated conceptual framework ..." refers background in this paper
...Every ecosystem on Earth is influenced by human actions (Vitousek et al. 1997; Palmer et al. 2005), and the consensus view now holds that, for many of today’s most pressing issues, the environment is best understood and studied as a social–ecological system (Liu et al. 2007)....
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...…The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersinecology.org Over the past 50 years, ecosystems have been altered byhumans more than at any other time in recorded history (Vitousek et al. 1997; Chapin et al. 2010), and those changes have resulted in reciprocal effects on human wellbeing (MA 2005)....
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Book•
01 Aug 2002
TL;DR: The authors examines theories (models) of how systems (those of humans, nature, and combined humannatural systems) function, and attempts to understand those theories and how they can help researchers develop effective institutions and policies for environmental management.
Abstract: The book examines theories (models) of how systems (those of humans, nature, and combined humannatural systems) function, and attempts to understand those theories and how they can help researchers develop effective institutions and policies for environmental management. The fundamental question this book asks is whether or not it is possible to get beyond seeing environment as a sub-component of social systems, and society as a sub-component of ecological systems, that is, to understand human-environment interactions as their own unique system. After examining the similarities and differences among human and natural systems, as well as the means by which they can be accounted for in theories and models, the book examines five efforts to describe human-natural systems. The point of these efforts is to provide the means of learning about those systems so that they can be managed adaptively. The final section of the book uses case studies to examine the application of integrated theories/models to the real world.
3,864 citations
"An integrated conceptual framework ..." refers background in this paper
...…and Folke 1998; Berkes et al. 2003) seeking to understand how institutions and economies solve common-property resource problems (Ostrom 1990; Dietz et al. 2003), and more recently by studies of resiliency in regional social–ecological systems (Gunderson and Holling 2002; Walker and Salt 2006)....
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TL;DR: Promising strategies for addressing critical problems of the environment include dialogue among interested parties, officials, and scientists; complex, redundant, and layered institutions; a mix of institutional types; and designs that facilitate experimentation, learning, and change.
Abstract: Human institutions—ways of organizing activities—affect the resilience of the environment. Locally evolved institutional arrangements governed by stable communities and buffered from outside forces have sustained resources successfully for centuries, although they often fail when rapid change occurs. Ideal conditions for governance are increasingly rare. Critical problems, such as transboundary pollution, tropical deforestation, and climate change, are at larger scales and involve nonlocal influences. Promising strategies for addressing these problems include dialogue among interested parties, officials, and scientists; complex, redundant, and layered institutions; a mix of institutional types; and designs that facilitate experimentation, learning, and change.
3,706 citations
"An integrated conceptual framework ..." refers background in this paper
...…1997; Berkes and Folke 1998; Berkes et al. 2003) seeking to understand how institutions and economies solve common-property resource problems (Ostrom 1990; Dietz et al. 2003), and more recently by studies of resiliency in regional social–ecological systems (Gunderson and Holling 2002;…...
[...]
...2003) seeking to understand how institutions and economies solve common-property resource problems (Ostrom 1990; Dietz et al. 2003), and more recently by studies of resiliency in regional social–ecological systems (Gunderson and Holling 2002; Walker and Salt 2006)....
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