Publications

Folke, C., R. Biggs, A. V. Norström, B. Reyers, and J. Rockström. 2016. Social-ecological resilience and biosphere-based sustainability science. Ecology and Society 21(3):41. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08748-210341

Humanity has emerged as a major force in the operation of the biosphere. The focus is shifting from the environment as externality to the biosphere as precondition for social justice, economic development, and sustainability. In this article, we exemplify the intertwined nature of social-ecological systems and emphasize that they operate within, and as embedded parts of the biosphere and as such coevolve with and depend on it...

Schlüter, M., R. (Oonsie) Biggs, M.L. Schoon, M.D. Robards, J.M. Anderies. 2015. Reflections on building resilience: Interactions among principles and implications for governance. In: Biggs, R. (Oonsie), M. Schlüter, M.L. Schoon (Eds.), Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK pp. 251–282

As both the societies and the world in which we live face increasingly rapid and turbulent changes, the concept of resilience has become an active and important research area. Reflecting the very latest research, this book provides a critical review of the ways in which resilience of social-ecological systems, and the ecosystem services they provide, can be enhanced. With contributions from leaders in the field, the chapter...

Biggs, R. (Oonsie), M. Schlüter, M.L. Schoon. 2015. An introduction to the resilience approach and principles to sustain ecosystem services in social-ecological systems. In: Biggs, R. (Oonsie), M. Schlüter, M.L. Schoon (Eds.), Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK pp. 1–31

A major challenge of the twenty-first century is ensuring an adequate and reliable flow of essential ecosystem services to meet the needs of the world's burgeoning and increasingly wealthy population. This challenge needs to be addressed in the face of rapidly changin social, technological and environmental conditions that characterize the world today. Social-ecological resilience is one fast-growing approach that attempts ...

Biggs, R. (Oonsie), L.J. Gordon, C. Raudsepp-Hearne, M. Schlüter, B. Walker. 2015. Principle 3 Manage slow variables and feedbacks. In: Biggs, R. (Oonsie), M. Schlüter, M.L. Schoon (Eds.), Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK pp. 105–141

Many social-ecological systems can exist in different self-organizing configurations or 'regimes'. Each of these configurations produces a different set of ecosystem services, with different consequences for different users. Changes in controlling slow variables can cause a system to shift from one regime to another if certain thresholds are exceeded and there is a change in dominat feedback processes in the social-ecological ...

Selomane, O., B. Reyers, R. Biggs, H. Tallis, S. Polasky. 2015. Towards integrated social-ecological sustainability indicators: Exploring the contribution and gaps in existing global data. Ecological Economics 118: 140–146.

Sustainable development goals (SDGs), which recognise the interconnections between social, economic and ecological systems, have ignited new interest in indicators able to integrate trends in – and interactions between – nature and socio-economic development. We explore whether existing global data can be used to measure nature's contribution to development targets and explore limitations in these data. Using Millennium Develo...

Rocha, J.C., G.D. Peterson, R. Biggs. 2015. Regime shifts in the Anthropocene: Drivers, risks, and resilience. PLoS ONE 10(8): e0134639.

Many ecosystems can experience regime shifts: surprising, large and persistent changes in the function and structure of ecosystems. Assessing whether continued global change will lead to further regime shifts, or has the potential to trigger cascading regime shifts has been a central question in global change policy. Addressing this issue has, however, been hampered by the focus of regime shift research on specific cases and t...

Rocha, J., J. Yletyinen, R. Biggs, T. Blenckner, G. Peterson. 2015. Marine regime shifts: Drivers and impacts on ecosystems services. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 370(1659): 20130273.

Marine ecosystems can experience regime shifts, in which they shift from being organized around one set of mutually reinforcing structures and processes to another. Anthropogenic global change has broadly increased a wide variety of processes that can drive regime shifts. To assess the vulnerability of marine ecosystems to such shifts and their potential consequences, we reviewed the scientific literature for 13 types of marin...

Steffen, W., K. Richardson, J. Rockström, S.E. Cornell, I. Fetzer, E.M. Bennett, R. Biggs, S.R. Carpenter, W. De Vries, C.A. De Wit, C. Folke, D. Gerten, J. Heinke, G.M. Mace, L.M. Persson, V. Ramanathan, B. Reyers, S. Sörlin. 2015. Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science 347: 736, 1259855

The planetary boundaries framework defines a safe operating space for humanity based on the intrinsic biophysical processes that regulate the stability of the Earth system. Here, we revise and update the planetary boundary framework, with a focus on the underpinning biophysical science, based on targeted input from expert research communities and on more general scientific advances over the past 5 years. Several of the boundar...

Palmer, C.G., R. Biggs, G.S. Cumming. 2015. Applied research for enhancing human well-being and environmental stewardship: Using complexity thinking in Southern Africa. Ecology and Society 20(1): 53.

Schoon, M.L., M.D. Robards, K. Brown, N. Engle, C.L. Meek, R. Biggs. 2015. Politics and the resilience of ecoystem services. In: Biggs, R. (Oonsie), M. Schlüter, M.L. Schoon (Eds.), Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK pp. 32–49.

As both the societies and the world in which we live face increasingly rapid and turbulent changes, the concept of resilience has become an active and important research area. Reflecting the very latest research, this book provides a critical review of the ways in which resilience of social-ecological systems, and the ecosystem services they provide, can be enhanced. With contributions from leaders in the field, the chapters ...