Publications

Biggs R, T Blenckner, C Folke, L Gordon, A Norström, M Nyström, GD Peterson. 2012. Regime Shifts. In: Encyclopedia of Theoretical Ecology. A Hastings, L Gross (eds). University of California Press, Ewing, NJ, USA.

O’Brien K, A Patwardhan, M Pelling, S Hallegatte, A Maskrey, T Oki, U Oswald-Spring, T Wilbanks, PZ Yanda, F Berkhout, R Biggs, HG Brauch, K Brown, C Folke, L Harrington, H Kunreuther, C Lacambra, R Leichenko, R Mechler, C Pahl-Wostl, V Przyluski, D Satterthwaite, F Sperling, L Sygna, T Tanner, P Tschakert, K Ulsrud, V Viguié. 2012. Toward a Sustainable and Resilient Future. Chapter 8 in: Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX). Group II Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Scientists are increasingly confident that the increased number of extreme weather events, like heat waves and heavy rainfall, is linked to human-induced climate change. This is also the conclusion of a new report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) entitled Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) . Jointly coordinated by Work...

Biggs, D., R. Biggs, V. Dakos, R. J. Scholes, and M. Schoon. 2011. Are we entering an era of concatenated global crises? Ecology and Society 16(2): 27. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss2/art27/

Publication review An increase in the frequency and intensity of environmental crises associated with accelerating human-induced global change is of substantial concern to policy makers. The potential impacts, especially on the poor, are exacerbated in an increasingly connected world that enables the emergence of crises that are coupled in time and space. We discuss two factors that can interact to contribute to such an ...

Elmqvist, T., S. Polasky, F. Alpizar, H. Berg, T. Bergendorff, R. Biggs, G. Cumming, O. Eriksson, A. Hejnowicz, A. Kinzig, C. Kremen, A. Larigauderie, S. Naeem, C. Perrings, S. Purushothaman, B. Reyers, M. Schultz. 2010. Ecosystem Service Indicators: A social-ecological systems approach for generating relevant indicators for the CBD 2020 targets. Report to UNEP and the CBD. DIVERSITAS bioSUSTAINABILITY Program, Stockholm, Sweden.

Scholes, R.J., R. Biggs, C. Palm and A. Duraiappah. 2010. Assessing state and trends in ecosystem services and human well-being. Chapter 4 in: Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A manual for assessment practitioners. N. Ash, H. Blanco, C. Brown, K. Garcia, T. Henrichs, N. Lucas, C. Raudsepp-Hearne, R.D. Simpson, R.J. Scholes, T. Tomich, B. Vira, and M. Zurek (eds). Island Press, Washington DC. ISBN: 9781597267106.

Biggs, R., M.W. Diebel, D. Gilroy, A.M. Kamarainen, M.S. Kornis, N.D. Preston, J.E. Schmitz, C.K. Uejio, M.C. Van De Bogert, B.C. Weidel, P.C. West, D.P.M. Zaks and S.R. Carpenter. 2010. Preparing for the future: Teaching scenario planning at the graduate level. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8(5): 267-273. doi:10.1890/080075

Publication review Are environmental science students developing the mindsets and obtaining the tools needed to help address the considerable challenges posed by the 21st century? Today's major environmental issues are characterized by high-stakes decisions and high levels of uncertainty. Although traditional scientific approaches are valuable, contemporary environmental issues also require new tools and new ways of thinki...

Pereira H. M., P. W. Leadley, V. Proença, R. Alkemade, J. P. W. Scharlemann, J. F. Fernandez-Manjarrés, M. B. Araújo, P. Balvanera, R. Biggs, W. W. L. Cheung, L. Chini, H. D. Cooper, E. L. Gilman, S. Guénette, G. C. Hurtt, H. P. Huntington, G. M. Mace, T. Oberdorff, C. Revenga, P. Rodrigues, R. J. Scholes, U. R. Sumaila, and M. Walpole. 2010. Scenarios for Global Biodiversity in the 21st Century. Science 330:1496-1501. DOI: 10.1126/science.1196624.

Publication review Quantitative scenarios are coming of age as a tool for evaluating the impact of future socioeconomic development pathways on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We analyze global terrestrial, freshwater, and marine biodiversity scenarios using a range of measures including extinctions, changes in species abundance, habitat loss, and distribution shifts, as well as comparing model projections to observat...

Leadley, P., H.M. Pereira, R. Alkemade, J.F. Fernandez-Manjarrés, V. Proença, J.P.W. Scharlemann, M.J. Walpole, et al. 2010. Biodiversity Scenarios: Projections of 21st century change in biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. 132 pp. Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, Canada. ISBN 92-9225-219-4. [Contributing author]

Publication review This synthesis focuses on estimates of biodiversity change as projected for the 21st century by models or extrapolations based on experiments and observed trends. The term “biodiversity" is used in a broad sense as it is defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity to mean the abundance and distributions of and interactions between genotypes, species, communities, ecosystems and biomes. This synth...

Biggs, R., F. R. Westley, and S. R. Carpenter. 2010. Navigating the back loop: fostering social innovation and transformation in ecosystem management. Ecology and Society 15(2): 9. [online] URL: http://www. ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss2/art9/

Publication review Current management of ecosystems is unsustainable; more adaptive, collaborative processes are needed, say researchers. There is a growing concern among scientists that many current ecosystem management institutions are too sectoral and expert-centered to cope with much needed transformations in ecosystem management. Scientists have already warned that crises spawned by human activity are outpacing the ca...

Chapin, F.S., III, S.R. Carpenter, G.P. Kofinas, C. Folke, N. Abel, W.C. Clark, P. Olsson, D.M. Stafford Smith, B.H. Walker, O.R. Young, F. Berkes, R. Biggs, J.M. Grove, R.L. Naylor, E. Pinkerton, W. Steffen and F.J. Swanson. 2010. Ecosystem Stewardship: Sustainability Strategies for a Rapidly Changing Planet. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25:241-249.

Publication review Ecosystem stewardship is an action-oriented framework intended to foster the social—ecological sustainability of a rapidly changing planet. Recent developments identify three strategies that make optimal use of current understanding in an environment of inevitable uncertainty and abrupt change: reducing the magnitude of, and exposure and sensitivity to, known stresses; focusing on proactive policies that ...