Socio-ecological Research Research Articles

Using Rich Pictures to Model the ‘Good Life’ in Indigenous Communities of the Tumucumaque Complex in Brazilian Amazonia

The primary objective of this paper is to examine how socio-ecological modeling efforts can use participatory visual methods to bridge cultural and linguistic differences among research participants and researchers. The growing number of case studies of indigenous communities highlights the need for methods that recognize and represent such communities’ distinctive realities while also establishing alternative communication techniques to enhance the participatory process. Using the Rich Picture method as a first step in a participatory modeling effort in the Tumucumaque Complex, a multicultural indigenous reserve in the Brazilian Amazon, our research specifically investigates how young adults envision the “good life” in Tumucumaque, including their perceptions of the elements most central to indigenous lifeways as well as the perceived roles of traditional cultural materials and modern industrial technologies. Finally, we make a critical assessment of the Rich Picture method, elucidating both its strengths and weaknesses while also addressing the, often underestimated, complexity of modeling culture in socio-ecological research.

Towards better traceability of field sampling data

Ensuring traceability of both field experimental data and laboratory sampling data for a reproducible research remains a challenge nowadays. Between the time when geolocalized specimens are taken, and the time the resulting data ends up in analysis published within a study, many manual operations take place that are prone to generate errors. The French nodes of the European Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research Infrastructure called ”Zones Ateliers” propose a solution as generic as possible to this problem of monitoring of the samples and the data associated with them. Compared to existing solutions such as Laboratory Information Management Systems, we target a robust solution for labelling adapted to outdoor working conditions, with the management of storages and movements of samples. We designed and realized a software package tested from end to end, using open source licenses and cheap hardware, including small printers (mobile or not) and Raspberry Pis. This system provides sufficient flexibility so that it can facilitate working with a wide variety of existing protocols. One of the most interesting feature consists to record all contextual data associated with the samples, which constitute important parameters of the subsequent analyses. Furthermore, not only traceability is thus guaranteed, but also we can expect a reduced handling times and an increased streamlining of the storage of samples that will improve the return on investment.

Estimating nitrogen flows of agricultural soils at a landscape level – A modelling study of the Upper Enns Valley, a long-term socio-ecological research region in Austria

This paper explores the fate of reactive nitrogen (Nr) on the landscape scale of present agricultural production practice on arable and grassland soils. We use the soil modelling tool LandscapeDNDC (landscape scale DeNitrification-DeComposition model) to quantify resulting flows of Nr distributed to the atmosphere, hydrosphere and the crops. Test area is a watershed in the Austrian Alps characterized by arable production in the low-lying areas and grassland in the mountains. The approach considers an overall budget of nitrogen, and determines the nitrogen use efficiency for individual crops and crop rotations, with average levels found at 85% for the arable area and 68–98% for the grassland areas. Modelled Nr flows are compared to the values resulting from the national emission factor (EF) method used for the Austrian emission inventory. For the arable part of the study region, the annual sum of released Nr emissions derived from LandscapeDNDC modelling is lower than the result of the EF method by about 13% (or 7 kg N ha−1). Model results are lower also for other Nr species, yet nitrate leaching rates as well as ammonia emissions contribute a major share. For grassland areas, nitrate leaching values estimated by LandscapeDNDC greatly depend on local specifics and substantially exceed EF estimates. All other modelled Nr species are lower than the EF results. The model set-up allows to characterize spatially explicit effects of mitigation measures. As an example, we identify nitrous oxide (N2O) hot spots in the study region, and we quantify the N2O emission saving potential if focusing reduction efforts to such hot spots. Reducing fertilization of hot spots by half could remove 14% of N2O emission for 5% less crop yield and a loss of grassland yield by <1% when extrapolated to the whole study area.

Long-term ecological observatories needed to understand ecohydrological systems in the Anthropocene: a catchment-scale case study in Brittany, France

Over the last half century, humans have become the dominant force driving many of Earth’s cycles. Intensive agriculture has simultaneously increased nutrient loading of pastoral landscapes and decreased the capacity of these ecosystems to retain or remove excess nutrients. Widespread degradation of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems has triggered the establishment of ecological observatories, including the Zone Atelier Armorique (ZAAr) in western France, a part of the International Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) network. The ZAAr includes a patchwork of land covers and uses, including old-growth forests, intensively cultivated row crops, and ancient bocage fields surrounded by hedgerows. In addition to traditional ecological research at ZAAr, the last 8 years have seen the development of multiproxy and multiscale approaches to address surface and groundwater quality. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of this 8-year dataset, including vegetation, soil water storage, and stream and groundwater chemistry. We observed contrasting responses of different catchment components to climate forcing and direct disturbance. Our results highlight a clear relationship between land use and surface water quality, while groundwater quality appeared largely unrelated to land use, suggesting strong differences in aquifer nitrogen removal rates. There were large differences in nutrient fluxes among dry and wet years, with multiyear memory effects apparent for some parameters. Given such complex interactions, including emergent dynamics and decadal to centennial time lags, we conclude that multidimensional observations such as those supported by the ZAAr and other LTSER sites, are critical to understanding ecohydrological systems in the Anthropocene.

Enhancement of Ecological Field Experimental Research by Means of UAV Multispectral Sensing

Although many climate research experiments are providing valuable data, long-term measurements are not always affordable. In the last decades, several facilities have secured long-term experiments, but few studies have incorporated spatial and scale effects. Most of them have been implemented in experimental agricultural fields but none for ecological studies. Scale effects can be assessed using remote sensing images from space or airborne platforms. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are contributing to an increased spatial resolution, as well as becoming the intermediate scale between ground measurements and satellite/airborne image data. In this paper we assess the applicability of UAV-borne multispectral images to provide complementary experimental data collected at point scale (field sampling) in a long-term rain manipulation experiment located at the Kiskun Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) site named ExDRain to assess the effects on grassland vegetation. Two multispectral sensors were compared at different scales, the Parrot Sequoia camera on board a UAV and the portable Cropscan spectroradiometer. The NDVI values were used to assess the effect of plastic roofs and a proportional reduction effect was found for Sequoia-derived NDVI values. Acceptable and significant positive relationships were found between both sensors at different scales, being stronger at Cropscan measurement scale. Differences found at plot scale might be due to heterogeneous responses to treatments. Spatial variability analysis pointed out a more homogeneous response for plots submitted to severe and moderate drought. More investigation is needed to address the possible effect of species abundance on NDVI at plot scale contributing to a more consistent representation of ground measurements. The feasibility of carrying out systematic UAV flights coincident or close to ground campaigns will certainly reveal the consistency of the observed spatial patterns in the long run.

Contemporary International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER)—from biogeosciences to socio-ecology and biodiversity research

Long-term ecological research (LTER) has a strong foundation in the fields of biogeosciences and ecosystem research with infrastructures established in the nineteenth (e.g., 1891—Plon, Germany; 1840—Rothamsted, England) and twentieth centuries (e.g., 1906—Lunz, Austria; 1925—Trout Lake Station, WI, USA; 1955—Hubbard Brook, NH, USA; 1960—Solling, Germany). Over time, it has been repeatedly shown that the long-term study of processes has the potential to significantly improve ecological understanding at the ecosystem or larger scales. The international network of LTER sites (ILTER) was established in 1993 and included 28 countries by the turn of the millennium. The geographical spread of LTER sites across the globe has significantly increased since then, and by 2016, 44 countries have established formal LTER programs with approximately 800 LTER sites and 70 Long-term Socio-ecological Research (LTSER) platforms as part of the international network. Stimulated by the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the UN Convention on Biodiversity, research topics at ILTER sites have diversified considerably. Scientists started to address societal processes driving environmental change, as well as feedbacks of environmental changes on society. Furthermore, biodiversity research became an intrinsic part of LTER in many countries initializing the establishment of research infrastructures in ecosystems not yet included (e.g., caves, marine habitats). In October 2016, the ILTER Open Science Meeting in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, gave an impressive overview of the diversity of LTER across the globe today. With this special issue, we aim to present the broad range of research currently conducted across the ILTER network with a collection of papers from different continents and with research topics both classical to LTER and emerging fields of contemporary LTER.

On the Definition of Cultivated Ecology

Sagoff (2017) critiqued the exclusion of cultivated plants and animals from much of the body of work in ecology. However, there is a history of attempting to incorporate cultivated landscapes in ecology that goes back at least two decades, particularly in urban ecology. The subdiscipline of urban ecology has received relatively little attention in philosophy, although some of its methodologies, such as coupled human-natural systems research, have been critiqued. Here I will attempt to explicitly address the conceptual limitations in ecology for studying cultivated ecosystems and evaluate these limitations in the context of coupled human-natural systems and socioecological research, urban ecosystem services frameworks, and actor-network theory. I argue that the history of cultivated organisms is highly germane to their ecology, necessitating the incorporation of human agency into ecological theory. However, human agency and nonhuman nature exist along a continuum of nature vs. culture. As a result, dualistic approaches to studying the role of human agency in ecosystem processes, such as socioecology and ecosystem services assessments—which explicitly separate humans from nature—have had limited success in cultivated landscapes. More fully integrated frameworks such as actor-network theory may better address ecological research questions in cultivated landscapes.

Deforestation May Trigger Black-and-Chestnut Eagle (Spizaetus isidori) Predation on Domestic Fowl

In anthropogenically transformed habitats, some birds of prey feed on domestic animals, triggering conflict between people and predators. To manage this conflict, it is important to understand the ecological circumstances associated with the predation of domestic animals. We studied variation in the diet of the endangered Black-and-chestnut Eagle ( Spizaetus isidori) in four different Andean landscapes in Colombia. We analyzed 261 prey items brought to five S. isidori nests during the period when the nestlings were being raised. Domestic fowl are relatively frequent prey in the diet of S. isidori in three of the four localities studied (frequency: 9.3%–36%), representing 12.2% to 37.1% of the total biomass of prey consumed. In terms of biomass, in Ciudad Bolívar, Jardín, and Campohermoso, the sites with the greatest forest cover, mammals were the most important prey in the diet of S. isidori, while in Gachalá, the most deforested site, domestic fowl were the most important prey. We recommend that forest cover be maintained and increased to provide habitat for wild prey in the breeding territories of S. isidori using the landscape management tools best suited to the specific socioecological contexts of this eagle’s territories. We also suggest that the management of domestic fowl under controlled conditions or the use of some deterrent be examined as strategies to mitigate or prevent conflict between people and S. isidori. Socioecological research and educational programs should be carried out to increase the public’s understanding of this eagle and its benefits to the ecosystem.

Rapid Assessment of Ecological Integrity for LTER Wetland Sites by Using UAV Multispectral Mapping

Long-term ecological research (LTER) sites need a periodic assessment of the state of their ecosystems and services in order to monitor trends and prevent irreversible changes. The ecological integrity (EI) framework opens the door to evaluate any ecosystem in a comparable way, by measuring indicators on ecosystem structure and processes. Such an approach also allows to gauge the sustainability of conservation management actions in the case of protected areas. Remote sensing (RS), provided by satellite, airborne, or drone-borne sensors becomes a very synoptic and valuable tool to quickly map isolated and inaccessible areas such as wetlands. However, few RS practical indicators have been proposed to relate to EI indicators for wetlands. In this work, we suggest several RS wetlands indicators to be used for EI assessment in wetlands and specially to be applied with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We also assess the applicability of multispectral images captured by UAVs over two long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) wetland sites to provide detailed mapping of inundation levels, water turbidity and depth as well as aquatic plant cover. We followed an empirical approach to find linear relationships between UAVs spectral reflectance and the RS indicators over the Doñana LTSER platform in SW Spain. The method assessment was carried out using ground-truth data collected in transects. The resulting empirical models were implemented for Doñana marshes and can be applied for the Braila LTSER platform in Romania. The resulting maps are a very valuable input to assess habitat diversity, wetlands dynamics, and ecosystem productivity as frequently as desired by managers or scientists. Finally, we also examined the feasibility to upscale the information obtained from the collected ground-truth data to satellite images from Sentinel-2 MSI using segments from the UAV multispectral orthomosaic. We found a close multispectral relationship between Parrot Sequoia and Sentinel-2 bands which made it possible to extend ground-truth to map inundation in satellite images.

LTSER platforms as a place-based transdisciplinary research infrastructure: learning landscape approach through evaluation

ContextPlace-based transdisciplinary research involves multiple academic disciplines and non-academic actors. Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) platform is one concept with ~ 80 initiatives globally.ObjectivesAs an exercise in learning through evaluation we audited (1) the siting, construction and maintenance of individual LTSER platforms, and (2) them as a distributed infrastructure for place-based transdisciplinary research with focus on the European continent.MethodsFirst, we defined a normative model for ideal performance at both platform and network levels. Second, four surveys were sent out to the 67 self-reported LTSER platforms officially listed at the end of 2016. Third, with a focus on the network level, we analyzed the spatial distribution of both long-term ecological monitoring sites within LTSER platforms, and LTSER platforms across the European continent. Fourth, narrative biographies of 18 platforms in different stages of development were analyzed.ResultsWhile the siting of LTSER platforms represented biogeographical regions well, variations in land use history and democratic governance were not well represented. Platform construction was based on 2.1 ecological monitoring sites, with 72% ecosystem and 28% social system research. Maintenance of a platform required three to five staff members, focused mostly on ecosystem research, was based mainly on national funding, and had 1–2 years of future funding secured. Networking with other landscape approach concepts was common.ConclusionsIndividually, and as a network, LTSER platforms have good potential for transdisciplinary knowledge production and learning about sustainability challenges. To improve the range of variation of Pan-European social–ecological systems we encourage interfacing with other landscape approach concepts.

Negotiating local versus global needs in the International Long Term Ecological Research Network’s socio-ecological research agenda

Over the past decade, long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) has been established to better integrate social science research and societal concerns into the goals and objectives of the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network, an established global network of long-term ecological monitoring sites. The Horizon 2020 eLTER project, currently underway, includes as one of its key objectives to evaluate the performance of LTSER platforms. This article reflects part of this evaluation: six LTSER platforms were assessed through site visits of the lead author, coupled with reflections and insights of the platform managers, who are also co-authors. We provide background for the mission and goals of LTSER, then assess the six international LTSER platforms—Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER, USA; Braila Island LTSER, Romania; Cairngorms LTSER, UK; Doñana LTSER, Spain; Omora Ethnobotanical Park Cape Horn LTER, Chile; and Sierra Nevada LTSER, Spain. While based on a strong theoretical foundation in socio-ecological research, there has been a steep learning curve for scientists applying the concept in practice at LTSER platforms. We show positive impacts that have been achieved, including contributions to policy, land-use planning, and natural resource management. We explain key aspects of LTSER platforms that have proven challenging, including management, interdisciplinary integration, and stakeholder collaboration. We characterize the tensions between top-down desires for network harmonization, bottom-up demands such as local policy relevance, and platform-level constraints such as time and budget. Finally, we discuss challenges, such as local context dominating the character of LTSER platforms, and the fact that scientists are often disincentivized from engaging in transdisciplinary science. Overall, we conclude that while the international network offers important advantages to its members, a more productive balance between local and global goals could be achieved, and members may need to temper their expectations of what the network can and cannot offer at the local level.

Variation in the social organization of gorillas: Life history and socioecological perspectives.

A focus of socioecological research is to understand how ecological, social, and life history factors influence the variability of social organization within and between species. The genus Gorilla exhibits variability in social organization with western gorilla groups being almost exclusively one-male, yet approximately 40% of mountain gorilla groups are multimale. We review five ultimate causes for the variability in social organization within and among gorilla populations: human disturbance, ecological constraints on group size, risk of infanticide, life history patterns, and population density. We find the most evidence for the ecological constraints and life history hypotheses, but an over-riding explanation remains elusive. The variability may hinge on variation in female dispersal patterns, as females seek a group of optimal size and with a good protector male. Our review illustrates the challenges of understanding why the social organization of closely related species may deviate from predictions based on socioecological and life history theory.

Challenges in coupling LTER with environmental assessments: An insight from potential and reality of the Chinese Ecological Research Network in servicing environment assessments

Environmental assessments estimate, evaluate and predict the consequences of natural processes and human activities on the environment. Long-term ecosystem observation and research networks (LTERs) are potentially valuable infrastructure to support environmental assessments. However, very few environmental assessments have successfully incorporated them. In this study, we try to reveal the current status of coupling LTERs with environmental assessments and look at the challenges involved in improving this coupling through exploring the role that Chinese Ecological Research Network (CERN), the LTER of China, currently plays in regional environment assessments. A review of official protocols and standards, regional assessments and CERN researches related to ecosystems and environment shows that there is great potential for coupling CERN with environment assessments. However in practice, CERN does not currently play the expected role. Remote sensing and irregular inventory data are still the main data sources currently used in regional assessments. Several causes led to the present situation: (1) insufficient cross-site research and failure to scale up site-level variables to the regional scale; (2) data barriers resulting from incompatible protocols and low data usability due to lack of data assimilation and scaling; and (3) absence of indicators relevant to human activities in existing monitoring protocols. For these reasons, enhancing cross-site monitoring and research, data assimilation and scaling up are critical steps required to improve coupling of LTER with environmental assessments. Site-focused long-term monitoring should be combined with wide-scale ground surveys and remote sensing to establish an effective connection between different environmental monitoring platforms for regional assessments. It is also necessary to revise the current monitoring protocols to include human activities and their impacts on the ecosystem, or change the LTERs into Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) networks.

Genesis, goals and achievements of Long-Term Ecological Research at the global scale: A critical review of ILTER and future directions

Since its founding in 1993 the International Long-term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) has gone through pronounced development phases. The current network comprises 44 active member LTER networks representing 700 LTER Sites and ~80 LTSER Platforms across all continents, active in the fields of ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research. The critical challenges and most important achievements of the initial phase have now become state-of-the-art in networking for excellent science. At the same time increasing integration, accelerating technology, networking of resources and a strong pull for more socially relevant scientific information have been modifying the mission and goals of ILTER. This article provides a critical review of ILTER's mission, goals, development and impacts. Major characteristics, tools, services, partnerships and selected examples of relative strengths relevant for advancing ILTER are presented. We elaborate on the tradeoffs between the needs of the scientific community and stakeholder expectations. The embedding of ILTER in an increasingly collaborative landscape of global environmental observation and ecological research networks and infrastructures is also reflected by developments of pioneering regional and national LTER networks such as SAEON in South Africa, CERN/CEOBEX in China, TERN in Australia or eLTER RI in Europe. The primary role of ILTER is currently seen as a mechanism to investigate ecosystem structure, function, and services in response to a wide range of environmental forcings using long-term, place-based research. We suggest four main fields of activities and advancements for the next decade through development/delivery of a: (1) Global multi-disciplinary community of researchers and research institutes; (2) Strategic global framework and strong partnerships in ecosystem observation and research; (3) Global Research Infrastructure (GRI); and (4) a scientific knowledge factory for societally relevant information on sustainable use of natural resources.

Rural land use bifurcation in the urban-rural gradient

The classic urban-rural gradient concept assumes a decline in land use intensity from an intensively developed urban core outward to residential suburbs, culminating in lightly developed rural areas. The concept provides a common framework directing urban socio-ecological research. Given that rural land use includes woodlands and croplands, and croplands appear as ecologically depauperate as urban lands, we investigated land-use patterns along urban-rural gradients for 30 large metropolitan areas in the eastern United States. We predicted a bifurcation at the rural end of the gradient between woodland and cropland land use that does not correspond with human population density (expected to be relatively low in rural areas regardless of land use type). Our data indicated that ‘rural’ was a poor substitute for ‘natural’ as the rural end of the gradients bifurcated at the rural end between woodland and cropland – croplands being demonstratively poor ecological habitats. Indeed, we found that when defined by habitat quality, the habitat known to be biotically homogenized (urban and cropland) remained steady along the urban-rural gradient. Our results do not undermine the utility of the urban-rural gradient framework, but do suggest that the gradient and/or human population density do not necessarily indicate shifts in habitat quality.

Towards sustainable and multifunctional agriculture in farmland landscapes: Lessons from the integrative approach of a French LTSER platform

Agriculture is currently facing unprecedented challenges: ensuring food, fiber and energy production in the face of global change, maintaining the economic performance of farmers and preserving natural resources such as biodiversity and associated key ecosystem services for sustainable agriculture. Addressing these challenges requires innovative landscape scale farming systems that account for changing economic and environmental targets. These novel agricultural systems need to be recognized, accepted and promoted by all stakeholders, including local residents, and supported by public policies. Agroecosystems should be considered as socio-ecological systems and alternative farming systems should be based on ecological principles while taking societal needs into account. This requires an in-depth knowledge of the multiple interactions between sociological and ecological dynamics. Long Term Socio-Ecological Research platforms (LTSER) are ideal for acquiring this knowledge as they (i) are not constrained by traditional disciplinary boundaries, (ii) operate at a large spatial scale involving all stakeholders, and (iii) use systemic approaches to investigate biodiversity and ecosystem services. This study presents the socio-ecological research strategy from the LTSER “Zone Atelier Plaine & Val de Sèvre” (ZA PVS), a large study area where data has been sampled since 1994. Its global aim is to identify effective solutions for agricultural development and the conservation of biodiversity in farmlands. Three main objectives are targeted by the ZAPVS. The first objective is intensive monitoring of landscape features, the main taxa present and agricultural practices. The second objective is the experimental investigation, in real fields with local farmers, of important ecosystem functions and services, in relation to pesticide use, crop production and farming socio-economic value. The third aim is to involve stakeholders through participatory research, citizen science and the dissemination of scientific results. This paper underlines the relevance of LTSERs for addressing agricultural challenges, while acknowledging that there are some yet unsolved key challenges.

What is socio-ecological research delivering? A literature survey across 25 international LTSER platforms

With an overarching goal of addressing global and regional sustainability challenges, Long Term Socio-Ecological Research Platforms (LTSER) aim to conduct place-based research, to collect and synthesize both environmental and socio-economic data, and to involve a broader stakeholder pool to set the research agenda. To date there have been few studies examining the output from LTSER platforms. In this study we enquire if the socio-ecological research from 25 self-selected LTSER platforms of the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network has produced research products which fulfil the aims and ambitions of the paradigm shift from ecological to socio-ecological research envisaged at the turn of the century. In total we assessed 4983 publically available publications, of which 1112 were deemed relevant to the socio-ecological objectives of the platform. A series of 22 questions were scored for each publication, assessing relevance of responses in terms of the disciplinary focus of research, consideration of human health and well-being, degree of stakeholder engagement, and other relevant variables. The results reflected the diverse origins of the individual platforms and revealed a wide range in foci, temporal periods and quantity of output from participating platforms, supporting the premise that there is a growing trend in socio-ecological research at long-term monitoring platforms. Our review highlights the challenges of realizing the top-down goal to harmonize international network activities and objectives and the need for bottom-up, self-definition for research platforms. This provides support for increasing the consistency of LTSER research while preserving the diversity of regional experiences.

A methodology for evaluating transdisciplinary research on coupled socio-ecological systems

Socio-ecological research, as conducted within the Long Term Ecological Research network in Europe (eLTER), is a relatively young field that studies coupled ecological and social systems to advance solutions for contemporary challenges in human-nature interactions. While many research and applied projects have been launched using a socio-ecological conceptual framework, there are few tested protocols to evaluate the effectiveness of such efforts at meeting their goals, e.g., goals relating to knowledge integration and influence on policy and practice, which distinguish this type of research. We suggest that such socio-ecological research may be conceptualized as an expression of the broader trend in science favoring transdisciplinarity, an approach that calls for research that fuses knowledge and methods from academia, practice, and broader society, with the goal of addressing shared public problems.We conducted a literature review of definitions of transdisciplinarity, and used these definitions to distill the core characteristics of transdisciplinary research. From these characteristics, we developed a list of guiding questions for conducting a second literature review, this time to select evaluation frameworks deemed suitable for assessing transdisciplinary research whose content was socio-ecological in nature.The resulting evaluative approaches were categorized into five groups: questionnaire models; mixed methods; staged environmental policymaking process review; the Research Embedment and Performance Profile approach; and case studies. Selected elements from these approaches were compiled and synthesized to create a six-stage framework for the assessment of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary socio-ecological research projects and programs. The framework begins with qualitative analysis, followed by: quantitative analysis; data synthesis and visualization; the use of focus groups to reflect on interim conclusions, and, culmination with a final data synthesis and conclusions customized to the intended audience(s) of the evaluation. We provide an example of testing the first two stages of this framework using two Romanian Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) platforms.

Integrating Food-Water-Energy Research through a Socio-Ecosystem Approach

The nexus approach helps in recognizing the link between water, energy and food production systems, emphasizing the need to manage them in a more integrated way. The socio‑ecosystem (SES) approach, however, goes beyond that, by incorporating the regulation and supporting services in the management equation. Changes in ecosystem integrity affect the delivery of ecosystem services to society, which affects local people’s well-being, creating a feedback mechanism regarding management strategies. The SES approach makes explicit the “human‑bio‑physical” nature of our interaction with ecosystems, highlighting the need for a more integrated and interconnected social‑ecological research perspective. In addition, the SES approach makes more explicit the multi-scale character of the ecological processes that structure and maintain social‑ecological systems. Water dynamics have an important role in shaping ecosystem’s structure and functioning, as well as determining the systems capacity for delivering provisioning services. The tropical dry-deciduous forest, is particularly useful in studying water-food-energy trade-off interactions. Recently, a category 5 hurricane landed in the study area (Mexico’s Pacific coast), triggering various social and ecological problems. This event is challenging the current forest management strategies in the region. The extreme hydrometeorological event created an excellent opportunity to test and promote the SES approach for more integrated food‑water‑energy research. By using the SES approach within our long-term socio-ecological research project, it was easier to identify opportunities for tackling trade‑offs between maintaining the transformation of the system and a more sustainable alternative: promoting the maintenance of the ecosystem’s integrity and its capacity to deliver provisioning and regulating services.

Socio-ecological research and the transition toward sustainable agriculture

It is well-established that modern agricultural practices contribute to the deterioration of the environment and negatively impact human health (Reganold & Wachter, 2016; Rockstrom et al., 2017). S...