Social-ecological Systems Perspective Research Articles

Urban flood risk management needs nature-based solutions: a coupled social-ecological system perspective

A growing number of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) has been advocated for urban flood risk management (FRM). However, whether NbS for FRM (NbS-FRM) achieves both social and ecological co-benefits remains largely unknown. We here propose and use a conceptual framework with a coupled social-ecological perspective to explore and identify such “win-win” potential in NbS-FRM. Through a scoping-review we find that ecological FRM measures are unevenly distributed around the world, and those solely targeting flood mitigation may have unintended negative consequences for society and ecosystems. In elaborating this framework with evidence from the reviewed studies, we find that NbS-FRM has the potential to provide both social and ecological co-benefits, with remaining gaps including a lack of resilience thinking, inadequate consideration of environmental changes, and limited collaborative efforts to manage trade-offs. The proposed framework shows how to move forward to leverage NbS for equitable and sustainable FRM with improved human well-being and ecosystem health.

Quantifying the effects of institutional shifts on water governance in the Yellow River Basin: A social-ecological system perspective

Water governance in river basins worldwide faces challenges due to complex socio-economic and environmental factors. In the Yellow River Basin (YRB), two major institutional shifts, the 1987 Water Allocation Scheme (87-WAS) and the 1998 Unified Basin Regulation (98-UBR), aimed to address water allocation and usage issues. This study quantifies the net effects of these institutional shifts on water use within the YRB and analyzes the underlying reasons for their success or failure. We employ a Differenced Synthetic Control method to assess the impacts of the institutional shifts. Our analysis suggests that the 87-WAS unexpectedly increased water use by 5.75%, while the 98-UBR successfully reduced water use as anticipated. Our research highlights the role of institutional structures in governance policies, demonstrating that the mismatched structure of the 87-WAS led to increased competition and exploitation of water resources, while the 98-UBR, basin-wide authority and stronger connections between stakeholders, resulted in improved water governance. Our study underscores the importance of designing institutions that are consistent with the scale of the ecological system, promote cooperation among stakeholders, and adapt to changing social-ecological system (SES) contexts. As outdated and inflexible water quotas may no longer meet the demands of sustainable development in the YRB, policymakers must consider the potential consequences of institutional shifts and their impact on water use and sustainability.

A quantitative approach to the understanding of social-ecological systems: a case study from the Pyrenees

Mountains are social-ecological systems exposed to multiple climatic and socioeconomic drivers. The Pyrenees are a clear example of the concomitant challenges that these regions face, as they are exposed to stressors linked to depopulation, an economic shift towards tourism, and climate change. To understand how these multiple stressors affect the system’s resources, it is useful to study them from a social-ecological system (SES) perspective. Focusing on a Pyrenean SES, we use piecewise structural equation modeling and network analysis to quantitatively describe the interactions between water resources, biodiversity, and the social and economic elements of the system. Our results show that the current economic focus and dependency on tourism severely impact water resources and biodiversity. Future climatic scenarios forecast a worsening of the pressures on the hydrological system and may threaten winter tourism. Actions to alleviate the pressures on water and biodiversity and to increase socioeconomic resilience are a priority. We argue that such actions will have to include both a diversification of the region’s touristic offer and of the economy, coupled with a more sustainable use of water resources. Our findings highlight the importance of studying the interactions and causal relationships between SES elements. This can help gain a comprehensive understanding of how the SES functions and its sustainability challenges.

Oil palm growers' prospects for sustainable oil palm production. A case study from Campeche, Mexico

CONTEXTA Social-Ecological System (SES) approach to the analysis of agricultural systems enables consideration of the complexity and interdependencies of social, economic, and ecological components of a region. We used such an approach to understand the barriers and levers to the sustainable development of a palm oil production system from the growers' perspective. The study was conducted in Southeast Mexico, where Federal and State governments from 1998 to 2018, promoted oil palm cultivation to reduce imports and meet domestic demand for palm oil. However, after 2018, public funding for oil palm ceased, at a time when the oldest plantations are approaching the end of their productive lives. At this crossroads, the questions that emerge are: will plantations be renewed by oil palm growers? What are the conditions for sustainable palm oil production in the future? OBJECTIVEWe sought to identify oil palm growers' constraints and concerns regarding continued production and explore potential pathways to a sustainable future. METHODSWe used a non-probabilistic sampling technique to conduct a survey of 41 respondents and 43 semi-structured interviews with oil palm growers between May and July 2021. The sample included seven rural communities. In September 2021, we organized focus groups with 29 producers and inhabitants in three of the seven communities using a participatory modeling approach to develop current and desired collective conceptual models of the SES. These models were integrated and validated in the field with 11 farmers in July 2022. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThe conceptual models revealed the local history of oil palm development and the difficulties that raised from it, they also underlined limitations of the oil palm growers to maintain their activity including renewing the plantation, such as the lack of technical support, producer organizations with management problems, and widespread perception of Government abandonment. Despite these challenges, farmers are willing to continue oil palm production by reorganizing their production system and fostering new linkages, especially with the industry. SIGNIFICANCEParticipatory modeling of SES with oil palm growers' enabled incorporation of diverse knowledge and different understandings of the problem while outlining the emergence of a possible future for sustainable oil palm production systems. The models presented can be used to identify points of convergence, increase coordination and dialogue among stakeholders to address common challenges and move towards sustainability from a SES perspective.

Does labor out‐migration affect the sustainability of disaster mitigation? Insight from the social–ecological system perspective

AbstractMuch is known about disaster mitigation (DM) actions, but little is known about the impact of migration as an exogenous shock. Rural farmers in mountainous areas are under the pressure of poverty, and also face the threat of geo‐hazards. Therefore, a more complex relationship exists between rural farmers' willingness to out‐migration for work and their DM behavior. To gain insight into the relationship between the two, we constructed the social–ecological system (SES) framework based on the survey data of 864 households in 53 villages in Chongqing, and verified our findings using the endogenous switching regression model and the mediation effect model. The results show that labor out‐migration has a negative correlation with the DM behavior of peasant households. When the total effect is further categorized into the direct effect and mediation effect; the negative total effect of labor out‐migration on the DM of farmers changes from a significant to an insignificant negative direct effect. It can be seen that labor out‐migration is not the direct cause of low motivation for DM, but the loss of leadership caused by labor out‐migration, the dilution of farmers' sense of place, and the decline of farmers' risk perception are the causes that ultimately lead to the decline of farmers' action ability for DM. This study confirms that the SES framework is suitable for empirical research on how labor out‐migration affects the ability of local villages to ensure DM action. These findings add new theoretical insights to the literature on DM.

Building robustness for rural revitalization: A social-ecological system perspective

Collaborative governance has the potential to foster co-creative solutions to rural issues. Many rural areas have deteriorated due to rapid and encroaching urbanization and globalization. By building institutions to support and convey collaborative governance processes, rural areas can be revitalized and equipped with the ability to cope and evolve in the face of unexpected shocks and disturbances, they can be made robust. Concepts and arguments developed in a social-ecological systems framework are drawn on to flesh out a theoretical logic to aid understandings of how institutional design can enhance the robustness of a rural social-ecological system through fostering collaboration. A critical instance case study of a rural revitalization project undertaken at a traditional village in Hong Kong, Lai Chi Wo, allows for in-depth analysis of the relationship between intuitional design, collaborative governance and robustness. Through this case study, we show how institutions can be designed and built to foster collaborative processes and, hence, enhance the system's robustness. The demonstration of this logic extends theoretical understandings regarding the identification of mechanisms through which institutional variables can impact and condition collaborative processes and so outcomes. While demonstrated here in the case of rural revitalization, these findings contribute to wider understandings of how collaborative endeavors can be fostered and enhanced and how robustness in social-ecological systems can be better supported.

Special Issue “Rural–Urban Transformation of Asian Megacities from a Social-Ecological Systems Perspective”

In 2021, 56% of the global population lived in cities, and by 2050 the ratio of urban-to-rural population is expected to reach 67% [...]

Adaptive Governance of River Deltas Under Accelerating Environmental Change.

Many deltas are increasingly threatened by environmental change, including climate change-induced sea-level rise, land subsidence and reduced sediment delivery. Dealing with these challenges is a pressing necessity because deltas are home to many people and are important centres for economic and agricultural development. Successfully adapting to climate change requires a social-ecological system (SES) perspective, emphasising that social and ecological components of deltas are intertwined. Various modes of governance have been suggested to deal with uncertainty associated with environmental change in SESs, such as adaptive governance. Adaptive governance underlines the need for governance systems to be flexible enough to adapt to variable degrees of uncertainty in SESs. In this paper, we analyse the Dutch Delta Programme (DDP) and the Mekong Delta Plan (MDP) to explore their strengths and limitations relating to nine principles for adaptive governance proposed by DeCaro and others. We evaluate the suitability of this framework for the Rhine and Mekong deltas and contribute to the current understanding of delta governance in light of climate change. Most of the principles outlined by DeCaro and others are present in the DDP and MDP. However, adaptive governance is context dependent. The Rhine and Mekong deltas display different obstacles to adaptive governance, some of which are not sufficiently emphasised in this academic adaptive governance framework. Instead of relying on one framework as a blueprint for adaptive governance, using principles from different frameworks depending on the case may be the best approach for addressing environmental challenges in deltas.

Using a social-ecological systems perspective to identify context specific actions to build resilience in small scale fisheries in Mexico

To promote the resilience and sustainability of coastal social-ecological systems (SES), it is necessary to implement adaptive and participatory management schemes. Successful examples of adaptation to the rapid change in coastal SES exist, but the question of whether these cases may be scalable to other regions and contexts remains. To this end, the present study aimed to identify how successful management strategies implemented in a fishing cooperative in Baja California, Mexico, can be adapted to other coastal SES. In particular, this study aimed to understand whether adaptive co-management of Isla Natividad (IN) could be replicated in Isla Todos Santos (ITS), a biophysically similar coastal SES to IN but with different results with regard to fisheries management. We found that the resource systems and resources in both SESs were similar. However, there were substantial differences with regard to governance and resource users. In Isla Natividad, the level of organization orchestrated by the resource users has contributed to establishing rules and sanctions that have supported the sustainable use of fishery resources. On the contrary, in ITS, the number of resource users and their socioeconomic attributes have impeded the establishment of effective rules or sanctions. The results of this study suggest that the ITS governance system needs to be improved in order to adapt some of the IN management strategies to increase its adaptive capacity. To promote successful adaptive management, it is necessary to develop context-specific adaptive pathways that contribute to greater resilience in the SESs of this region and in other regions that face similar conditions.

COVID-19: Understanding Novel Pathogens in Coupled Social–Ecological Systems

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and the spread of COVID-19 is explored using a social-ecological systems (SES) framework. From an SES perspective, the pandemic is the outcome of feedback loops and cascading interactions within an anthropologically disturbed system. However, the SES framework tends to overemphasize human agency as drivers of system disequilibrium. Drawing on posthumanism theory in social science, the agency of the non-human world also plays a critical role in disturbances in SES. Non-human agency is incorporated into the SES framework, applying it to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and the spread of COVID-19, and public health responses. The paper is interdisciplinary, and a non-systematic literature review was combined with Socratic dialogue to examine how human-induced changes trigger feedbacks in SES, such as SARS-CoV-2. The non-human world, embedded within a coupled system of material relations; the natural/biological element, that finds expression in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and in generating the genome novel recombinant, which aligns with the conceptualization of the non-human as “vibrant”, all play a role in shaping systems dynamics. This calls into question the anthropocentric view that human agency has the capacity to drive ecosystem dynamics. The implications for SES theory are discussed and we conclude with a case for a new ethics of interdependency to better serve SES analysis. The implications for practice, particularly considering projected future novel virus outbreaks, are discussed.

Concept Mapping: An Effective and Rapid Participatory Tool for Analysis of the Tourism System?

Sustainable tourism has grown rapidly in the last 35 years, both on the ground and as an area of academic study. However, the results of sustainable tourism development have proven to be mixed, with many unwanted outcomes stemming from its development in destinations around the world. Recent academic approaches to studying sustainable tourism development are increasingly turning towards social–ecological systems (SESs) thinking in order to embrace the inherent complexity and rapid change found in today’s world. This stems partly from an understanding that tourism is a complex social–ecological phenomenon, and that its success relies on understanding its dynamics in a given location. While SES approaches to understanding complex phenomena such as tourism are well-developed, they tend to be resource-intensive and unwieldy in rapidly changing environments, such as those found in sustainable tourism destinations. Therefore, we hypothesized that a novel form of concept mapping based on an SES perspective and the paradigm of resilience thinking could address limitations in conceptualizing and understanding sustainable tourism as part of a larger SES. In this paper, we outline our method thoroughly, then evaluate concept mapping by assessing its effectiveness as a rapid assessment tool that enhances systems understanding while being easy to use in the field, privileging local knowledge, and emphasizing relationships within the SES. We focus on the method and its applicability rather than the results of the maps themselves. Through a case study in Ometepe, Nicaragua, our results showed that concept mapping revealed key drivers and values within the SES and emphasized the value of participatory and transdisciplinary tourism research. Our study demonstrates that concept mapping is an effective method for rapidly assessing the complexity of a tourism destination in a manner that is accessible, adaptable, and achievable.

Social Work Interventions: A Socio-Ecological Analysis of Climate Change and Conflict Refugees in the Sahel

The UN Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, has stated that climate change will disproportionally impact the displaced as it becomes more unpredictable, intense, frequent, and dangerous (Gaynor, 2020). The UNHCR reported that in 2019, weather-related hazards resulted in almost 25 million displacements in 140 countries. This paper will examine the effects of climate change and ensuing conflict on refugees in the Sahel Region of Africa. This paper will first look at the effects from a social-ecological systems perspective, analyzing the interrelating contexts. This paper will then examine the harmful effects of climate change and ensuing conflict on humans, other species, and the environment. This paper will follow this examination with an analysis of which actors benefit from the systems that initiate these detrimental effects, and how they can be held accountable. The general media narratives of refugees will be examined, establishing barriers for humanitarian aid and public support to reach those in need. Then, this paper will examine three leverage points through which the profession of social work and other helping professions could intervene to address the problem, followed by the identification of one specifically poignant leverage point from the three – community organizing, providing a blueprint to effectively address the harmful effects climate change and conflict are having on refugees in the Sahel.

A social-ecological systems perspective on the impacts of armed conflict on water resources management: Case studies from the Middle East

Armed conflicts disrupt social, environmental and economic processes. This includes water resources management and the provision of water services, with numerous implications for human security and environmental sustainability. Such impacts go beyond direct, immediately visible effects and can have far-reaching, long-term consequences. However, the understanding of these indirect conflict impacts in different social and political contexts is still limited. In order to address this knowledge gap, we build on the social-ecological systems framework to differentiate between direct and indirect conflict impacts and to analyze their effects on the water system. We then apply the framework to map direct and indirect impacts of armed conflict on water resources management, using empirical data from eleven cases in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Yemen. This allows us to identify pathways in which conflict impacts are propagated through the water system. The results show the central role of financial mechanisms in upholding water resources management throughout conflict and the importance of enforcing international humanitarian law on the protection of civilian infrastructure. They also highlight the value of system-based approaches in revealing cumulative effects that can reinforce conflict impacts within the system, and in identifying potential obstacles for coping strategies employed by local populations throughout the conflict.

Unravelling hidden factors explaining competition for and overuse of groundwater in Azraq, Jordan: digging deeper into a network of action situations

In Azraq in Eastern Jordan, farmers, domestic users, and a wetland ecosystem compete for and overexploit limited groundwater resources. Current studies explain parts of the problem, but do not take a comprehensive social–ecological systems perspective and tend to miss underlying hidden factors. To explain decision-making in this complex social–ecological system, we combine the concept of networks of action situations (NAS) with the political economy concept of the social contract. While the NAS allows a systematic exploration of the system, the concept of the social contract allows a deeper understanding of how informal institutions and power influence the system. Besides a comprehensive literature review, we draw on social network mapping and 67 semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders. We find that the main conflict arises between a heterogeneous group of farmers, who use groundwater for irrigation agriculture supported by a strong political lobby, and the water authorities, which rely on the aquifer for domestic water supply at national level. The original wetland with its diverse ecosystem services has largely disappeared and its remainder is maintained artificially. Our analysis reveals that a diversity of action situations, including water, agricultural, environmental, energy, and land governance, but also the monarchy’s underlying social contract and the informal concept of wasta, influence outcomes on the ground. We show that no panacea exists, but that systems thinking may help identify a range of intervention points, some more sensitive than others, that could support a social–ecological transformation towards sustainability.

Advancing the study of driving forces of landscape change

ABSTRACT Over the past 25 years, the study of driving forces of landscape change has developed into a central theme in land change science by contributing to theory development, promoting the analysis of causation of change and gaining insights into how landscape development could be steered into a societally more desirable direction. Based on this progress, we designate important research avenues, reviewing critical challenges forming the base for advancing the study of driving forces of landscape change and addressing the question on how the study of driving forces can contribute to system transformative research. For each of the research avenues, we describe the current dominant approach and provide some specific ways of advancing both the conceptualization and the research methods. Together, advancing on these research avenues will promote a more social-ecological systems perspective to the study of driving forces of landscape change.

A social-ecological systems perspective on dried fish value chains

Small-scale fisheries (SSF) support over 90% of the 120 million people engaged in fisheries globally. Dried fish is an important sub-sector of SSF, which is characterized by declining social, economic, political conditions of people involved in its production, and the ecosystems they depend on. Dried fish accounts for 12% of the total fish consumption globally but can increase up to 36% in low-income countries. About half of the people involved in dried fish production and marketing are women. The approach taken to analyse dried fish sector has so far followed a narrow subset of commodity chain approaches with a focus on financial value, transmitted in a linear ‘vertical’ fashion across value chain actors. Existing value chain approach fails to factor the non-capital relationships of dried fish that are contingent upon specific histories, ecologies, peoples, places, and the practices. The narrow neoclassical economic perspective of dried fish value chain (DFVC) also impedes appropriate responses to their unique attributes pertaining to social, ecological, institutional interactions across multiple scales. Failure to consider social-ecological system (SES) attributes, its connections and relationships with dried fish value chain not only undermine social wellbeing of upstream actors but also perpetuates social-environmental inequity and injustice. The paper offers a novel SES-oriented DFVC perspective that focuses on social wellbeing of fishers and dried fish workers. The reconceptualisation of structure, conduct and performance of DFVC is done by conducting an interdisciplinary analysis of peer-reviewed literature from SES, value chain and social wellbeing.

Decomposing the Healthy Immigrant Effect: The Role of GDP of Birth Country in Immigrant Health.

Drawing on the social-ecological systems perspective of health, this study explores whether the deteriorating trend of immigrant health over time differs depending on immigrants' pre-migration macro-level factors in their birth country. Using the Household, Income, and Labor Dynamics in Australia survey (N = 1,847), we conducted an HLM analysis to examine the association among GDP per capita in the birth country, length of stay, and immigrants' health status post-migration. Support was found for both the negative association between the length of stay and health and the positive association between the GDP of the birth country and health. The negative association between length of stay and health was stronger among immigrants from low GDP countries compared to those from high GDP countries. Our findings suggest the importance of the population-level characteristics of the birth country in understanding healthy immigrant effect post-migration.

Partnership and Community Engagement Models for Stewarding National Scenic Trails: A Social-Ecological Systems Perspective

ABSTRACT Long distance trails offer distinctive opportunities for people to connect with natural and cultural heritage through recreation, tourism, and stewardship. Such connections can lead to broad support for conservation goals. In the United States, National Scenic Trails (NSTs) promote community engagement in trail planning, development, maintenance, and management. Governance of these multi-jurisdictional trails occurs through a diverse array of governmental and non-governmental actors. We conducted interviews (n=17) with federal trail administrators and non-governmental trail organizations to trail management and administration. A social-ecological systems framework helped us to examine power relations and dynamics in the NST network and identify the role that trails play in fostering community resilience. We observe that the NST governance model emphasizes partnerships with established non-governmental organizations and leverages relationships of these partners with community-based stewardship organizations. Targeted engagement of local partners may strengthen the NST system while improving opportunities for tourism development and community resilience.

Evolution of habitat quality and association with land-use changes in mountainous areas: A case study of the Taihang Mountains in Hebei Province, China

Landscape patterns have a large impact on biodiversity in ecosystems. As a proxy for biodiversity research, assessing changes in habitat quality (HQ) induced by land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes will provide a scientific foundation for ecological protection and land resource management, especially in the ecologically fragile regions such as mountainous areas. Based on land-use data covering the period from 1990 to 2020 from the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, this paper selected 10 landscape metrics at the class and landscape levels to examine the dynamics of LULC. Then, this study evaluated HQ by employing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and quantitatively analyzed the impact of land use changes on HQ using a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The results showed that arable land, grassland and forestland were the main land categories in the study area, and the major changes were the conversion of arable land and grassland to construction land during 1990–2020. During the research period, landscape patches tended to fragment, shape complexity and varied and were evenly distributed. Overall, the region had a high HQ, but the average HQ has exhibited a declining trend in the past 30 years. In addition, changes in HQ were significantly related to land-use changes, and the areas dominated by construction land or arable land, which were closely related to anthropogenic activities, had a relatively low HQ. To balance the tradeoff between economic development and ecological integrity, a social-ecological systems perspective is needed in the design of political-economic policies. This research could improve our understanding of the effects of land-use pattern dynamics on HQ, which has important significance in preserving biodiversity, safeguarding ecological security, and achieving the sustainability of the ecological environment.

COVID-19 and the opportunities for research: The lockdowns' impacts on wildlife, ecology and conservation biology, and the humanities.

The ongoing lockdowns provide ideal conditions to study the relationship between wildlife and humans but among humans themselves.