Abstract
In the last decade, probably in response to global changes and the environmental crisis, the use of the term “social-ecological system” (SES) in scientific literature has grown. This is certainly a sign that the need and importance of transdisciplinary research has been recognized. Here, we explore whether the use of the term is a buzzword or, rather, actually represents a key concept in the integration of social and ecological research. We compiled a database of publications (N = 1289) that mentioned SES in the title, keywords and abstract. Subsequently, we analyzed the authors’ affiliations, type of work (conceptual, empirical or review), study site, prevailing human use, temporal and spatial scales of the analysis, kind of variables analyzed (socioeconomic or biophysical), and the method/s used to integrate them. We detected four time spans in the use of the term (1975–1997, 1998–2006, 2007–2012, 2013–2016). Our results suggest that SES is a widely invoked concept in the study of the interface between social and ecological systems. Most works show some common elements, such as the analysis of resilience, ecosystem services, sustainability, governance and adaptive management. However, the majority of studies do not study SES as a whole, integrating both social and ecological variables and their feedback loops. We consider SES as a concept still in construction in order to build a necessary framework for the integration of social and ecological sciences. For a robust evolution, we recommend that one focus on: (i) A conscious, discussed and agreed effort of scientists to conduct the transdisciplinary research needed to study SES; and (ii) the development of methodological tools for the true integration of social and ecological data.
Highlights
The widespread and profound, wanted or unwanted, changes observed around the Earth have prompted the recognition that there is an urgent need to understand the ways in which humans affect and are affected by nature
We address the main landmarks in the history of social-ecological system (SES) and discuss some major points derived from the analysis of the data, especially related to the asymmetries that might be identified
In December 2017, we conducted a review in Scopus, searching for the terms “socio-ecosystem”, “social-ecological system”, “socio-ecological system” and their Spanish translations, excluding those related to the areas of biomedicine, business, mathematics and physics, in the title, keywords and abstract
Summary
The widespread and profound, wanted or unwanted, changes observed around the Earth have prompted the recognition that there is an urgent need to understand the ways in which humans affect and are affected by nature. There is an increasing consensus that many of the complex world issues relating to the environmental crisis require management under the framework of sustainable development, as has been expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [4]. Many aspects of the environmental crisis, considered at the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (2000), have been carried forward to SDGs because they are complex issues to be dealt within the social-ecological system (SES) framework. This involves integrating the social and natural sciences, and there is a growing agreement that transdisciplinary research is a key tool in facing environmental challenges. These modifications mean shifting the object of study towards social-ecological systems [5,6,7]
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