Photo: M. Troell/Azote

Photo: M. Troell

Marine system dynamics

This theme aims to provide a broader and deeper understanding of the resilience and dynamics of marine social-ecological systems

Research within the theme explores and analyses the dynamics of the marine social-ecological systems, and how they are connected to markets and processes that act across different spatial and temporal scales. We aim to synthesize information across case studies that span the tropics (around Australia, Hawaii, the East coast of Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America), the Arctic, as well as temperate systems including the Seas of Norden (e.g. Baltic Sea, Norwegian Sea).

Important research areas within the marine theme include:
- Social-ecological cross-scale interactions
- Global seafood production systems and their links to food security, human wellbeing, and sustainable seafood.
- Transformations of seafood supply chains and consumption patterns.
- Exploring adaptive management approaches.
- Testing regime shifts and CAS theory across marine case studies using modelling and advanced statistics.
- Exploring alternative sustainable development transformations.

Research topics include, for example, coral reef dynamics, fisheries governance, sustainability of aquaculture, marine food-web dynamics, social-ecological health assessments, management implications of global trade dynamics and geopolitics, and sustainable seafood supply chains and fisheries improvements.

The theme uses and tests theories and transdisciplinary methods, including agent based modelling, complex adaptive system modelling, social network analysis, spatial analyses, and qualitative comparison analysis. Researchers of the theme collaborate closely with several other themes and streams at the Stockholm Resilience Centre as well as colleagues at the Stockholm University and other leading international research institutes around the world, including Princeton and Stanford Universities.

Theme contact

Staff details

Theme contact

Theme contact

Thorsten Blenckner

Tracy van Holt

Susa Niiranen

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THEME PUBLICATIONS

Preparing ocean governance for species on the move

Pinsky, M.L., Reygondeau, G., Caddell, R., Palacios-Abrantes, J., Spijkers, J., William, W.L.C.

2018 - Journal / article

The ocean is a critical source of nutrition for billions of people, with potential to yield further food, profits, and employment in the future (1). But fisheries face a serious new challenge as climate change drives the ocean to conditions not experienced historically. Local, national, regional, and international fisheries are substantially underprepared for geographic shifts in marine animals driven by climate change over th...

Coastal communities and livelihoods in a changing world: A comparison of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Matsushima Bay, Japan and the Salish Sea, Canada/USA

Minohara, A., Cooling, C., and Blasiak, R.

2018 - Book chapter

This publication is part of a publication which compiles 11 selected case studies provided by authors belonging to IPSI member organizations and covers experiences from countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, with various socio-political and ecosystem contexts. Authors were asked to identify challenges and opportunities in sustaining livelihoods, social and ecological changes that have occurred and approaches bein...

Corporate control and global governance of marine genetic resources

Blasiak, R., Jouffray, J-B., Wabnitz, C.C.C., Sundström, E., Österblom, H.

2018 - Journal / article

Who owns ocean biodiversity? This is an increasingly relevant question, given the legal uncertainties associated with the use of genetic resources from areas beyond national jurisdiction, which cover half of the Earth’s surface. We accessed 38 million records of genetic sequences associated with patents and created a database of 12,998 sequences extracted from 862 marine species. We identified >1600 sequences from 91 species a...

State of the Art and Challenges for Offshore Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA)

Buck, B. H. Troell, M.F., Krause, G., Angel, D.L., Grote, B., Chopin, T.

2018 - Journal / article

By moving away from coastal waters and hence reducing pressure on nearshore ecosystems, offshore aquaculture can be seen as a possible step towards the large-scale expansion of marine food production. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) in nearshore water bodies has received increasing attention and could therefore play a role in the transfer of aquaculture operations to offshore areas. IMTA holds scope for multi-use o...

Projects

Baltic Health Index

The Baltic Health Index is a regional study under the global Ocean Health Index framework. The aim is to provide a tool for decision-makers to guide management of the Baltic Sea region towards increased sustainability. Read more here

Sustainable Poverty Alleviation from Coastal Ecosystem Services (SPACES)

SPACES aims to understand the complex relationship between ecosystem services and the wellbeing of the poor in coastal Kenya and Mozambique. Read more here

Stockholm Resilience Centre is a collaboration between Stockholm University and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Stockholm Resilience Centre
Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B
SE-10691
Phone: +46 8 674 70 70
info@stockholmresilience.su.se

Organisation number: 202100-3062
VAT No: SE202100306201