Complex Socio-ecological Systems Research Articles

Experimenting Transition to Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems—Identifying Constraints and Unintended Processes in a Tropical Highly Urbanized Watershed

Green Infrastructure promotes the use of natural functions and processes as potential solutions to reduce negative effects derived from anthropocentric interventions such as urbanization. In cities of Latin America, for example, the need for more nature-based infrastructure is evident due to its degree of urbanization and degradation of ecosystems, as well as the alteration of the local water cycle. In this study, an experimental approach for the implementation of a prototype is presented. The prototype consists of a gray-hybrid element for first flush bio-treatment and runoff detention, adapted to the existing stormwater sewer. The experiment took place in a highly urbanized watershed located in the Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica. The characteristics of the existing infrastructure in the study area at different scales were mapped and compared using the Urban Water System Transition Framework. Subsequently, preferences related to spatial locations and technologies were identified from different local decision-makers. Those insights were adopted to identify a potential area for the implementation of the prototype. The experiment consisted of the adaptation of the local sewer to act as a temporal reservoir to reduce the effects derived from rapid generation of stormwater runoff. Unexpected events, not considered initially in the design, are reported in this study as a means to identify the necessary adaptations of the methodology. Our study shows from an experimental learning-experience that the relation between different actors advocating for such technologies influences the implementation and operation of non-conventional technologies. Furthermore, the willingness of residents to modify their urban environments was found to be associated to their own perceptions about security and vandalism occurring in green spaces. The implementation of the prototype showed that both the hydraulic performance is relevant for considering it as a success, as well as the dynamics of the adapted element with the existing urban conditions. In consequence, those aspects should be carefully considered as the design factors of engineering elements when they are related to complex socio-ecological urban systems.

An integral approach to address socio-ecological systems sustainability and their uncertainties

The analysis of the sustainability should be addressed with a holistic approach that facilitates an integral analysis of the social, economic, institutional and environmental factors and their interactions characterizing complex socio-ecological systems (SES). Nevertheless, despite the increasing acknowledgment about the need for such systemic approaches, their application in real SES are less frequent than desirable. Among the difficulties behind this, the need for a new conceptual perspective concerning the relationships between science and the management of real SES, as well as the lack of tools to manage the inherent complexity of such systems should be emphasized. In this work, we further discuss these difficulties and propose an integral methodological framework for the assessment of SES sustainability, with the following key components: i) The hierarchical definition of sustainability goals and indicators. ii) A dynamic system model taking into account the key socio-economic and environmental factors and their interactions, in which the most representative indicators and their sustainability thresholds are integrated. iii) The analysis of vulnerabilities to exogenous drivers (scenario analysis) and the exploration of available management and planning options (policy assessment). iv) An uncertainty assessment concerning system behavior and model outcomes to guide decisions for an improved sustainability in complex SES. The whole framework highlights the need to integrate a participative approach, above all at the initial and final steps. In this work, these components are exemplified by means of their application to a real socio-ecological system: Fuerteventura island (The Canary Islands, Spain).

Social translucence as a transition-inducing mechanism in complex socio-ecological systems

As well-known, the interplay between human beings and their environment is complex and non-linear, with changes to initial conditions and local behaviors often being associated with the emergence of dramatically different global (macroscopic) changes. This paper discusses the problem of inducing significant behavioral changes in ecologically biocomplex systems. The role of social translucence in this context is hypothesized and reasoned upon. Elements of a theory of social translucence are provided, and requirements are derived from them. Two architectural models matching those requirements and ranging from the micro to the macro social scale are discussed.

Capabilities, Ecosystem Services, and Strong Sustainability through SMCE: The Case of Haren (Belgium)

The goal of this article is to develop further the promising theoretical framework that cross ecosystem services and capability approach developed by Pelenc and Ballet (2015) in a strong sustainability perspective. Given the multidimensional and deliberative aspect of Pelenc and Ballet's (2015) framework, the social multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) methodology seems relevant to advance the operationalization of the former. Indeed, SMCE is a support tool used in decision-making processes for complex socio-ecological systems. This operationalization is conducted through a participatory action-research with the social movement opposing a mega-prison project in Haren, Brussels (Belgium). Our empirical and methodological results show the richness and limitations of using such a scientific apparatus to conduct action-research with social movement.

How Does Improve Farmers’ Attitudes toward Ecosystem Services to Support Sustainable Development of Agriculture? Based on Environmental Kuznets Curve Theory

Agroecosystems are complex socio-ecological systems that are managed by farmers to achieve desired outcomes, including economic income and environmental benefits contributed by ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, understanding farmers’ attitudes for ES will provide references for targeted agricultural environment management, which is critical to achieving the sustainable development of agriculture. The aim of this study is to identify the attitudes of farmers regarding ES, and to test whether and how annual household income and social demographic characteristics affect farmers’ attitudes toward ES. Using face-to-face interviews to collect data and the hypothesis of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) to provide an analytical framework, the results reveal that, in general, the perceptions of farmers’ attitudes on ES are highly complex, caused by characteristics of the farmers. Furthermore, the inflection points of the U-shaped curves, where priorities change from increasing income to paying more attention to waste assimilation and biological pest control, are identified at 17,091 and 25,071RMB, respectively. Initiatives that aim to achieve sustainable agricultural development by strengthening ES provisions should be sensitive to farmers’perceptions. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen farmers’ educational attainment, concentrate fragmented cultivation area and create reasonable incentives for preserving and restoring of ES and increasing farmers’ income together, which then can enhance the positive outcomes from income growth.

Art-Science Collaborative Competencies: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study for Improving Problem Solving for Sustainability Challenges

The complexity and interconnectedness of sustainability issues has led to the joining of disciplines. This effort has been primarily within the sciences with minimal attention given to the relationship between science and art. The exclusion of art is problematic since sustainability challenges are not only scientific and technical; they are also cultural, so the arts, as shapers of culture, are critical components that warrant representation. Hence, it stands to reason that understanding art-science integration will benefit sustainability’s focus on use-inspired basic research. In this paper, we focus on artist-scientist team dynamics and the impact of those team dynamics on the quality of their outputs, in service of gleaning insight into how interdisciplinary teams can better work together to address sustainability challenges. In other words, we ask the question “How do art-science teams reason together, validate ideas, and produce robust outcomes when facing a task related to complex socio-ecological systems, which sit at the crux of sustainability challenges?” To address this question, we conducted a small-group pilot study of artist-scientist teams tasked with developing interpretive signage for the Tres Rios wetland site. We collected survey and ethnographic data to account for intra- and interpersonal interactions in teams. Specifically, this study focuses on variables we call barriers or carriers, which aid or hinder the collaborative interactions of deeply diverse teams. We found that successful art-science collaborations appear to result in improved communication skills, better problem articulation, more creative problem solving, and the questioning of personal and disciplinary mental models.

Making measures count: Structured indicator selection to improve program success

Indicators are essential, yet often overlooked and undervalued, elements of conservation planning. This is concerning given that selection and implementation of indicators is vital to monitoring, evaluation and learning and can require substantial investment of resources. While indicators are critical for successful program management, indicator selection is rarely approached as a discrete process, subsequently reducing transparency and increasing the likelihood of selection biases. There are many characteristics of a good indicator, such as how easily it is understood by key audiences or how easily it can be measured. As a result, choosing indicators, like choosing management actions, is inherently a value-based judgement because decision-makers must decide which indicator characteristics are most important among many options. We recommend using a structured selection process to deconstruct decision complexities, thereby increasing transparency, reducing selection biases and improving communication among participants involved in the selection process. We demonstrate the value of structured processes by using a PrOACT approach, which is an acronym for the key elements of decision making – Problem, Objectives, Alternatives, Consequences, and Tradeoffs. Operationalizing PrOACT elements within a structured framework involves (1) clarifying the decision problem , (2) specifying objectives for the decision, (3) developing imaginative alternatives , (4) understanding the consequences of your alternatives given the stated objectives, and (5) grappling with tradeoffs . We illustrate how this framework can be incorporated into indicator selection with examples from environmental programs and a case study that demonstrates how to operationalize a structured indicator selection process. Programs often achieve the first three elements – Problem, Objectives, and Alternatives – during indicator selection, but fail to fully address and document the Consequences and Tradeoffs of their decisions. By using a comprehensive PrOACT approach, programs, especially those with complex socio-ecological systems or risk-averse decision contexts, can systematically deconstruct the indicator selection process to more objectively and transparently assess these consequences and tradeoffs so the best possible selections can be made. • Indicators are critical to the success of conservation programs. • Choosing indicators is equally important and complex as choosing conservation actions. • Programs rarely view indicator selection as discrete decisions that involve tradeoffs. • We provide a structure selection process to address complexity and reduce bias. • Our process helps identify a robust set of indicators that aligns with program goals.

Complejidad territorial en caletas de pescadores artesanales de Chiloé (Chile)

Coastal artisanal fishing communities (small scale coves or “caletas”) are complex socio-ecological systems that adapt to perturbations depending on their inherent complexity and properties. The ability to evaluate and monitor such adaptive response provides information on caletas sustainability, required for reliable territorial and strategic planning. Six caletas from different geographic locations in Chiloe Island, southern Chile, served as a model to identify territorial complexity. This article identified 4 criteria and 16 sub-criteria (using Expert Choice software) as suitable descriptors of their complexity, and hierarchically ranked them according to importance (%). All these variables were merged into a Territorial Complexity Index (ICT), a quali-quantitative estimator of caletas sustainability. A principal Component Analysis, including all sub-criteria, further characterized caletas complexity. This article showed that complexity needs an integrated analysis of the relevant variables to monitor evolutionary trajectories of caletas, and thus ICT is highlighted as a convenient quantitative tool for territorial and strategic planning.

The Role of Hydrologic Processes in Catchments

Hydrological processes within a catchment perform an important role in the functioning of the ecosystem, by incorporating the complex processes (physical, chemical and biological) that sustain life. Water is a very vital factor that determines the efficiency of the ecosystem, species composition and biodiversity, hence the imperativeness of a review of the catchment hydrological processes causing runoff. Some of the models, such as the Stochastic and the Physical and Probability Distribution Models, will be reviewed. The factors affecting these hydrological processes, determining their functioning within the catchment will be reviewed to examine their effects on the productivity of the basin. For proper catchment management, this review is important for examining integration and understanding the important challenges of the interaction between economic, environmental, and productivity values of catchments as complex socioecological systems. Catchments have common hydrological characteristics but vary in their runoff response within the basin which is subject to the dominant hydrological factor controlling the catchment

Decision-making in conditions of dilemma: risks and mixed information uncertainty

In modern conditions of crises and instability of the functioning and development of socio-economic systems, an important problem of providing management tools and making effective decisions is the development of models, methods and information technologies for optimization and decision-making in a situation of risk and in a mixed information environment. Moreover, the widespread introduction of optimization methods, decision making and optimal control was facilitated by the fact that applied optimization problems in most cases are reduced to standard problems solved, and the growth of the power of updated computer tools contributes to the expansion of the spheres of successful application of decision optimization methods in solving complex and diverse economic problems. The paper proposes models of risk functions related to the decision-making task for harmonizing and optimizing risks and security of a complex system in a mixed information environment, and also proposes a model of penalties for damage to ensure the safety of functioning of complex systems. The work is a continuation of some of the authors' research in the field of modeling, forecasting and managing complex socio-ecological and economic systems to ensure safe, sustainable, sustainable and harmonious development in the face of modern risks and crises.

Expert understandings on rangeland ecosystem services and their sustainable management (Atrak River Basin, NE Iran)

Over the last three centuries, worldwide improper utilization of rangelands has led to degradation of ecosystem services. Rangelands, like other natural resources used by humans, are embedded in complex socio-ecological systems. To determine how to better manage this important resource, we developed a rangeland ecosystem services model using the Driver-Pressure-State-Impacts–Response (DPSIR) conceptual model. The model was tested in a river basin in north-east of Iran. We asked 56 experts and 42 local land users on their perceptions of rangeland changes, causes of change, and possible actions to mitigate impacts using Delphi method, workshops, and questionnaires. A Multi-Criteria Decision Making method was used to evaluate the perceived interactions among the components of the DPSIR framework. Climate change and rangeland degradation were the most important pressures, leading to a decline in rangeland production, decreased vegetation cover, and land-use change. Experts and locals argued that forage and herbal species production, erosion control, and flood control were the most affected ecosystem services. They suggested the use of resistant plants, local training, and rangeland rest to manage these problems. The DPSIR framework was useful in developing a comprehensive insight for local people and managers on the social and ecological complexity of rangelands and the potential responses for coping with pressures

Holistic perspectives—Understanding rancher experiences with holistic resource management to bridge the gap between rancher and researcher perspectives

On the Ground • Holistic Resource Management (HRM) is a ranch management strategy plagued by controversy; experimental evidence from ecological studies has consistently failed to support that HRM provides ecological benefits, yet many ranchers staunchly support the method. • Using a qualitative approach, we found that the HRM processes used on four case study ranches in eastern Colorado provided a systematic framework for key ranch stakeholders to improve long-term, adaptive approaches to managing ranches as complex socioecological systems. • Notably, the ranchers emphasized the planning benefits of HRM over the grazing benefits, suggesting the value of the system is not in how the cattle are grazed but in how it changes the way ranchers make decisions about how to graze their cattle and manage the many other complexities of operating a ranch. • Approaching HRM as a planning framework versus as a grazing strategy may be a key factor in the difference in claims between ranchers practicing HRM and researchers studying grazing systems.

Marine protected areas for demersal elasmobranchs in highly exploited Mediterranean ecosystems

Marine ecosystems are complex socio-ecological systems where sustainable solutions can be best gained by satisfying both conservation and socioeconomic demands. Concretely, the Mediterranean Sea is facing a huge demand of resources and marine activities while hosting abundant and unique biodiversity. It is considered an important elasmobranch hotspot where seventy-two elasmobranch species are present in the basin. Despite the recognised importance of elasmobranchs as umbrella species, to date only a small number of marine protected areas have been designated towards their protection. The paucity of spatially-explicit abundance data on elasmobranchs often precludes the designation of these areas to protect these marine predators. Here, we aimed to identify marine areas to protect elasmobranch species by means of a systematic spatial planning approach. We first estimated the spatial distribution of five elasmobranch species (three sharks and two rays) in the western Mediterranean Sea and then applied Marxan decision support tools to find priority marine conservation areas. We found that the five elasmobranchs are distributed in coastal and slope areas of the southern waters of the study area while in the northern region they are abundant in the continental slope and towards offshore waters. Conservation priority areas were identified in the southern part of the western Mediterranean. Adding more complex cost layers and zoning to the analysis did not alter conservation priority areas, confirming such areas are highly consistent and highly important for elasmobranch protection. The marine conservation priority areas identified here can contribute to designate a proactive area-based protection strategy towards elasmobranch conservation, related species and the habitats that they depend in the western Mediterranean Sea.

Diversity and Adaptation in Local Forest Governance in Yunnan, China

Natural resource governance is often approached with a single resource or goal in mind. Locally developed community based resource management systems may instead encompass a suite of different natural and cultural resources, as well as aim to achieve multiple social and ecological goals simultaneously. I examine contemporary commons management through the lens of community-based forest governance in 32 communities in Yunnan Province, China. Synthesizing interviews, ethnographic research and published literature on community-level wild mushroom management systems in Yunnan reveals that institutions are focused on social and economic goals, are often adapted over time, and make up only one component of complex multi-resource forest governance arrangements. Flexibility over time, resource type, and land tenure regime allows individuals to variably participate in forest resource extraction and management activities and may promote greater access and equitability than static regulations. Documenting diverse community-led forest management strategies in Yunnan highlights the importance of local experimentation and values for adaptive governance in complex socioecological systems.

Spatio-temporal quantification of patterns, trade-offs and synergies among multiple hydrological ecosystem services in different topographic basins

A comprehensive understanding of the spatio-temporal characteristics of interactions and spatial scales of multiple hydrological ecosystem services (HESs) is important for sustainable ecosystem management, but interactions among multiple HESs and their underlying mechanisms in complex socio-ecological systems in different topographic areas remain under-researched. This study discuss the spatial and temporal variation of patterns and interactions of five HESs (biodiversity maintenance, water yield, soil conservation, aquatic purification and water production) in plain and mountain regions to determine synergies and trade-offs at the sub-catchment scale and county scale from 1980 to 2015, and this study employ a case study in the western plain and eastern mountain part of the Nansihu Lake basin in eastern China. The correlation analysis and bagplot analysis were applied to analyze the linkages between HESs, and then redundancy analysis was used to identify important drivers of spatial patterns and interactions of HESs based on socio-ecological variables (e.g., climate, topography, land use, gross domestic product and population density). The results demonstrate that the intercorrelations among HESs varied significantly between the western plain and eastern mountain in both the strength and the direction of the correlating HESs. It was found that there was a trade-off between the water yield and water production in the provisioning services in the eastern mountain basin, while there was no correlation in the western plain basin. Trade-offs and synergies in the entire basin varied greatly over time and space. Compared to the sub-catchment scale, the relationships among the different HESs were mostly weak and some were not significant at the county scale. The study also revealed that topography, land use and climate were the main driving factors affecting the distribution of HESs and their relationships. This study suggested that the sub-catchment scale was more suitable for policy analysts and policy-makers that are concerned with HESs.

Towards A Relational Model for Emerging Urban Nature Concepts: A Practical Application and an External Assessment in Landscape Planning Education

The increasing interest in urban nature and its connection to urban sustainability and resilience has promoted the generalized use of new concepts such as green infrastructure, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions. However, due to their heterogeneous origins and interpretations, the usage and understanding of these concepts may vary considerably between different academic and professional groups, affecting their coordinated and synergistic use in integrative planning education and emphasizing the need for the exploration of clearer syntaxes and articulations between them. Accordingly, the main aim of this research was to develop a relational model and to investigate, through an external evaluation process, the benefits that these types of models can provide in higher education and in professional practice. This article presents the background theory and process that led to the development of the relational model, the outcomes of its academic implementation and the results of the assessment of both the model and the students’ work by different types of planners, researchers and practitioners. The findings show the potential of the defined relational model to integrate different concepts operating in complex socio-ecological systems and the benefits of developing, testing and validating models by linking research, education and professional practice.

Actors, Scales and Spaces Dynamics Linked to Groundwater Resources use for Agriculture Production in Haouaria Plain, Tunisia. A Territory Game Approach

Groundwater resources became a recognized enabler of important rural and socio-economic development in Mediterranean countries. However, the development of this groundwater economy is currently associated with an increased pressure on the available resource and negative implications on the socio-ecological system. Managing complex socio-ecological systems, such as those that occur in water resource management, is a multi-actor, multi-scale and dynamic decision-making process. This study aims to build a collective learning and collaborative construction tool through the territory game method. It was implemented in the Haouaria Plain, in Northern Tunisia, where farmers are currently dependent upon groundwater use for their livelihood and food security. After the diagnosis of the territorial issues, the drivers of change and a common spatial representation of the future trend of the territory, we dive into the dimensions that hinder or facilitate the implementation of scenarios and the pathways of actions. Thereafter, we analyzed these dimensions together again and reflect on the interactions among actors at different levels to transform the local territory. From the perspective of evolution scenarios for the Haouaria plain, the participants indicated the conditions that hinder or facilitate their implementation and they proposed twenty-three possible actions to be carried out in order to achieve the desired trends. They indicated how these propositions can be achieved, by whom, and where. The local stakeholders coordinate actors, activities and spaces on their territory. Spaces such as El Garâa basin, littoral forest or food processing companies are at stake to develop an integrated response to territorial issues.

Considering an integrated malacology approach to ecosystem assessment: a socio-ecological system analysis of the terrestrial mollusks in an atlantic rainforest area, southeastern Brazil

The invertebrate group is not considered in environmental studies. When they are remembered, the studies are vague, superficial and do not give the due importance that the group has in the ecosystem dynamics. This paper aimed at placing the terrestrial mollusks in the discussion agenda of complex socio-ecological systems and analyzed the interactions of these mollusks with the other components of the socio-ecological subsystems. The analysis was based on the theoretical-methodological framework proposed by Ostrom and discussed how terrestrial mollusks have the potential to support actions for decision-making in biodiversity conservation, public health and local economy. The framework presented four subsystems categorized as ecological, political, social and economic, with the Sooretama Biological Reserve in the Northern state of Espirito Santo as a geographical boundary. The results allow us to perceive that terrestrial mollusks have essential characteristics that reflect into ecosystem health, acting in an integrated way with the dynamics of environmental services and the equilibrium of habitats.

Resilience Management for Conservation of Inland Recreational Fisheries

Resilience thinking has generated much interest among scientific communities, yet most resilience concepts have not materialized into management applications. We believe that using resilience concepts to characterize systems and the social and ecological processes affecting them is a way to integrate resilience into better management decisions. This situation is exemplified by inland recreational fisheries, which represent complex socioecological systems that face unpredictable and unavoidable change. Making management decisions in the context of resilience is increasingly important given mounting environmental and anthropogenic perturbations to inland systems. Herein, we propose a framework that allows resilience concepts to be better incorporated into management by (i) recognizing how current constraints and management objectives focus on desired or undesired systems (specific fish and anglers), (ii) evaluating the state of a system in terms of how both social and ecological forces enforce or erode the desired or undesired system, (iii) identifying the resilience-stage cycles a system state may undergo, and (iv) determining the broad management strategies that may be viable given the system state and resilience stage. We use examples from inland recreational fisheries to illustrate different system state and resilience stages and synthesize several key results. Across all combinations of socioecological forces, five common types of viable management strategies emerge: (i) adopt a different management preference or focus, (ii) change stakeholder attitudes or behaviors via stakeholder outreach, (iii) engage in (sometimes extreme) biological intervention, (iv) engage in fishery intervention, and (v) adopt landscape-level management approaches focusing on achieving different systems in different waters. We then discuss the challenges and weaknesses of our approach, including specifically the cases in which there are multiple strong social forces (i.e., stakeholders holding competing objectives or values) and situations where waters are not readily divisible, such as rivers or great lakes, and in which spatial separation of competing objectives will be difficult. We end with our vision of how we believe these types of operationalized resilience approaches could improve or transform inland recreational fisheries management.

Linking humans, their animals, and the environment again: a decolonized and more-than-human approach to "One Health".

This article considers a broad perspective of “One Health” that includes local and animal knowledge. Drawing from various colonial efforts to link human, animal, and environmental health, it first shows that the current “One Health” initiative has its roots in colonial engagement and coincides with a need to secure the health of administrators (controlling that of local populations), while pursing use of resources. In our contemporary period of repeated epidemic outbreaks, we then discuss the need for greater inclusion of social science knowledge for a better understanding of complex socio-ecological systems. We show how considering anthropology and allied sub-disciplines (anthropology of nature, medical anthropology, and human-animal studies) highlights local knowledge on biodiversity as well as the way social scientists investigate diversity in relation to other forms of knowledge. Acknowledging recent approaches, specifically multispecies ethnography, the article then aims to include not only local knowledge but also non-human knowledge for a better prevention of epidemic outbreaks. Finally, the conclusion stresses the need to adopt the same symmetrical approach to scientific and profane knowledge as a way to decolonize One Health, as well as to engage in a more-than-human approach including non-human animals as objects-subjects of research.