Publication archive

The Covid-19 pandemic stress the need to build resilient production ecosystems

Gordon, L. 2020. The Covid‑19 pandemic stress the need to build resilient production ecosystems. Agriculture and Human Values, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10105-w

2020 - Journal / article

Mapping social-ecological systems archetypes

Rocha, J. C., Malmborg, K., Gordon, L. J., Brauman, K. A. & DeClerck. 2019. Mapping social ecological systems archetypes. Environ Res Lett (2019). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab666e

2020 - Journal / article

Achieving sustainable development goals requires targeting and monitoring sustainable solutions tailored to different social and ecological contexts. A social-ecological systems (SESs) framework was developed to help diagnose problems, identify complex interactions, and solutions tailored to each SES. Here we develop a data-driven method for upscaling the SES framework and apply it to a context where data is scarce, but also ...

Effects of development interventions on biocultural diversity: a case study from the Pamir Mountains

Haider, L.J., Boonstra, W.J., Akobirshoeva, A., Schlüter, M. 2019. Effects of development interventions on biocultural diversity: a case study from the Pamir Mountains. Agric Hum Values (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-10005-8

2020 - Journal / article

The relationship between nature and culture in biocultural landscapes runs deep, where everyday practices and rituals have coevolved with the environment over millennia. Such tightly intertwined social–ecological systems are, however, often in the world’s poorest regions and commonly subject to development interventions which effect biocultural diversity. This paper investigates the social and ecological implications of an int...

The importance of transient social dynamics for restoring ecosystems beyond ecological tipping points

Martin, R., Schlüter, M., Blenckner, T. 2020. The importance of transient social dynamics for restoring ecosystems beyond ecological tipping points. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1817154117

2020 - Journal / article

Managing regime shifts is often associated with “turning back from the brink” assuming that once a system has transgressed a tipping point, it moves unavoidably toward the undesired state. We show that a regime shift is rather a slippery slope that can be managed and even reversed when transient dynamics and time lags in the coupled social-ecological system are taken into account. We constructed an empirically based simulatio...

Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries

Gerten, D., Heck, V., Jägermyr, J., Bodirsky, B., L., Fetzer, I., et.al. 2020. Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries. Nat Sustain (2020) doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0465-1

2020 - Journal / article

Global agriculture puts heavy pressure on planetary boundaries, posing the challenge to achieve future food security without compromising Earth system resilience. On the basis of process-detailed, spatially explicit representation of four interlinked planetary boundaries (biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, nitrogen flows) and agricultural systems in an internally consistent model framework, we here show t...

Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth’s climate by 2050

Otto, I.M., Donges, J.F., Cremades, R., Bhowmik, A., Hewitt, R.J. et.al. 2020. Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth’s climate by 2050. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jan 2020, 201900577; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900577117

2020 - Journal / article

Achieving a rapid global decarbonization to stabilize the climate critically depends on activating contagious and fast-spreading processes of social and technological change within the next few years. Drawing on expert elicitation, an expert workshop, and a review of literature, which provides a comprehensive analysis on this topic, we propose concrete interventions to induce positive social tipping dynamics and a rapid global...

Principles for knowledge co-production in sustainability research

Norström, A. V., Cvitanovic, C., Löf, M.F., West S., Wyborn,. C., Balvanera, P. et.al. 2020. . Principles for knowledge co-production in sustainability research. Nature Sustainability 3 (1) doi 10.1038/s41893-019-0448-2

2020 - Journal / article

Research practice, funding agencies and global science organizations suggest that research aimed at addressing sustainability challenges is most effective when ‘co-produced’ by academics and non-academics. Co-production promises to address the complex nature of contemporary sustainability challenges better than more traditional scientific approaches. But definitions of knowledge co-production are diverse and often contradictor...

Mobilisation of indigenous and local knowledge as a source of useable evidence for conservation partnerships

Malmer, P., Masterson, V., Austin, B., & Tengö, M. 2020. Mobilisation of indigenous and local knowledge as a source of useable evidence for conservation partnerships. In W. Sutherland, P. Brotherton, Z. Davies, N. Ockendon, N. Pettorelli, & J. Vickery (Eds.), Conservation Research, Policy and Practice (Ecological Reviews, pp. 82-113). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108638210.006

2020 - Book chapter

Mobilising indigenous and local knowledge systems has the potential to make their critical knowledge about landscapes and biodiversity meaningful as evidence in conservation and governance. Collaborative approaches to conservation must be equitable and just to be effective in the long term. The Multiple Evidence Base (MEB) is an inclusive approach to combining diverse sources of evidence. We review uptake of the MEB approach a...

Integrating the Water Planetary Boundary With Water Management From Local to Global Scales

Zipper, S.C., Jaramillo, F., Erlandsson, L-W., Cornell, S.E., Gleeson, T., Poorka. M. 2020. Integrating the water planetary boundary with water management from local to global scales. Earth's Future, DOI: 10.1029/2019EF001377

2020 - Journal / article

The planetary boundaries framework defines the “safe operating space for humanity” represented by nine global processes that can destabilize the Earth System if perturbed. The water planetary boundary attempts to provide a global limit to anthropogenic water cycle modifications, but it has been challenging to translate and apply it to the regional and local scales at which water problems and management typically occur. We dev...

Water resilience and human life support - global outlook for the next half century

Falkenmark, M. 2020. Water resilience and human life support - global outlook for the next half century. International Journal of Water Resources Development, DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2019.1693983

2020 - Journal / article

This article highlights green and blue water functions in the densely tied global water network, stabilizing the life support system and generating ecosystems and ecological services. Essential water challenges of the next half century are analyzed, identifying low-latitude dryland vulnerability and sharpening hydro-social water constraints. Attention is drawn to global warming, and the crucial roles of water and agriculture i...