Journal article
Regime shifts and panarchies in regional scale social-ecological water systems
Ecology and society, Vol.22(1), pp.1-31
03/17/2017
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/112591
PMCID: PMC5954423
PMID: 29780427
Abstract
In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, and ecosystem dynamics in six North American water basins, as they respond to changing climate. These case studies were chosen to explore the conditions for emergence of adaptive governance in heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. We summarize resilience assessments conducted in each system to provide a synthesis and reference by the other articles in this special feature. We also present a general framework used to evaluate the interactions between society and ecosystem regimes and the governance regimes chosen to mediate those interactions. The case studies show different ways that adaptive governance may be triggered, facilitated, or constrained by ecological and/or legal processes. The resilience assessments indicate that complex interactions among the governance and ecosystem components of these systems can produce different trajectories, which include patterns of (a) development and stabilization, (b) cycles of crisis and recovery, which includes lurches in adaptation and learning, and (3) periods of innovation, novelty, and transformation. Exploration of cross scale (Panarchy) interactions among levels and sectors of government and society illustrate that they may constrain development trajectories, but may also provide stability during crisis or innovation at smaller scales; create crises, but may also facilitate recovery; and constrain system transformation, but may also provide windows of opportunity in which transformation, and the resources to accomplish it, may occur. The framework is the starting point for our exploration of how law might play a role in enhancing the capacity of social-ecological systems to adapt to climate change.
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Details
- Title
- Regime shifts and panarchies in regional scale social-ecological water systems
- Creators
- Lance Gunderson - Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USABarbara A Cosens - College of Law, Moscow, ID, USABrian C Chaffin - Department of Society & Conservation, College of Forestry & Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USACraig A Tom Arnold - UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA, USAAlexander K Fremier - School of Environment, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USAAhjond S Garmestani - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USARobin Kundis Craig - S.J. Quinney College of Law, Global Change & Sustainability Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USAHannah Gosnell - College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USAHannah E Birge - School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USACraig R Allen - U. S. Geological Survey, Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, NE, USAMelinda H Benson - University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USARyan R Morrison - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USAMark C Stone - University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USAJoseph A Hamm - School of Criminal Justice, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI, USAKristine Nemec - University of Northern Iowa Tallgrass Prairie Center, Cedar Falls, IA, USAEdella Schlager - School of Government and Public Policy, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USADagmar Llewellyn - University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Publication Details
- Ecology and society, Vol.22(1), pp.1-31
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAS)
- Publisher
- Canada
- Identifiers
- 99900548109401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article