The Experts below are selected from a list of 64041 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Christo Fabricius - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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powerless spectators coping actors and adaptive co managers a synthesis of the role of communities in Ecosystem management
Ecology and Society, 2007Co-Authors: Christo Fabricius, Carl Folke, G Cundhill, Lisen SchultzAbstract:We provide a synthesis of the papers in the Special Issue, the Communities Ecosystems and Livelihoods component of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), and other recent publications on the ada ...
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Measuring conditions and trends in Ecosystem services at multiple scales: The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) experience
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological sciences, 2005Co-Authors: A. S. Van Jaarsveld, Erin Bohensky, Reinette Biggs, Robert J. Scholes, Belinda Reyers, T Lynam, Constansia D Musvoto, Christo FabriciusAbstract:The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) evaluated the relationships between Ecosystem services and human well-being at multiple scales, ranging from local through to sub-continental. Trends in Ecosystem services (fresh water, food, fuel-wood, cultural and biodiversity) over the period 1990–2000 were mixed across scales. Freshwater resources appear strained across the continent with large numbers of people not securing adequate supplies, especially of good quality water. This translates to high infant mortality patterns across the region. In some areas, the use of water resources for irrigated agriculture and urban–industrial expansion is taking place at considerable cost to the quality and quantity of freshwater available to Ecosystems and for domestic use. Staple cereal production across the region has increased but was outstripped by population growth while protein malnutrition is on the rise. The much-anticipated wood-fuel crisis on the subcontinent has not materialized but some areas are experiencing shortages while numerous others remain vulnerable. Cultural benefits of biodiversity are considerable, though hard to quantify or track over time. Biodiversity resources remain at reasonable levels, but are declining faster than reflected in species extinction rates and appear highly sensitive to land-use decisions. The SAfMA sub-global Assessment provided an opportunity to experiment with innovative ways to assess Ecosystem services including the use of supply–demand surfaces, service sources and sink areas, priority areas for service provision, service ‘hotspots’ and trade-off Assessments.
Erin Bohensky - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Measuring conditions and trends in Ecosystem services at multiple scales: The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) experience
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological sciences, 2005Co-Authors: A. S. Van Jaarsveld, Erin Bohensky, Reinette Biggs, Robert J. Scholes, Belinda Reyers, T Lynam, Constansia D Musvoto, Christo FabriciusAbstract:The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) evaluated the relationships between Ecosystem services and human well-being at multiple scales, ranging from local through to sub-continental. Trends in Ecosystem services (fresh water, food, fuel-wood, cultural and biodiversity) over the period 1990–2000 were mixed across scales. Freshwater resources appear strained across the continent with large numbers of people not securing adequate supplies, especially of good quality water. This translates to high infant mortality patterns across the region. In some areas, the use of water resources for irrigated agriculture and urban–industrial expansion is taking place at considerable cost to the quality and quantity of freshwater available to Ecosystems and for domestic use. Staple cereal production across the region has increased but was outstripped by population growth while protein malnutrition is on the rise. The much-anticipated wood-fuel crisis on the subcontinent has not materialized but some areas are experiencing shortages while numerous others remain vulnerable. Cultural benefits of biodiversity are considerable, though hard to quantify or track over time. Biodiversity resources remain at reasonable levels, but are declining faster than reflected in species extinction rates and appear highly sensitive to land-use decisions. The SAfMA sub-global Assessment provided an opportunity to experiment with innovative ways to assess Ecosystem services including the use of supply–demand surfaces, service sources and sink areas, priority areas for service provision, service ‘hotspots’ and trade-off Assessments.
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Evaluating Responses in Complex Adaptive Systems: Insights on Water Management from the Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA)
Ecology and Society, 2005Co-Authors: Erin Bohensky, Timothy LynamAbstract:Ecosystem services are embedded in complex adaptive systems. These systems are riddled with nonlinearities, uncertainties, and surprises, and are made increasingly complex by the many human responses to problems or changes arising within them. In this paper we attempt to determine whether there are certain factors that characterize effective responses in complex systems. We construct a framework for response evaluation with three interconnected scopes or spatial and temporal domains: the scope of an impact, the scope of the awareness of the impact, and the scope of the power or influence to respond. Drawing from the experience of the Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA), we explore the applicability of this framework to the example of water management in southern Africa, where an ongoing paradigm shift in some areas has enabled a transition from supply-side to demand-side responses and the creation of new institutions to manage water across scales. We suggest that the most effective responses exhibit congruence between the impact, awareness, and power scopes; distribute impacts across space and time; expand response options; enhance social memory; and depend on power-distributing mechanisms. We conclude by stressing the need for sufficient flexibility to adapt responses to the specific, ever-evolving contexts in which they are implemented. Although our discussion focuses on water in southern Africa, we believe that the framework has broad applicability to a range of complex systems and places.
Timothy Lynam - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Evaluating Responses in Complex Adaptive Systems: Insights on Water Management from the Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA)
Ecology and Society, 2005Co-Authors: Erin Bohensky, Timothy LynamAbstract:Ecosystem services are embedded in complex adaptive systems. These systems are riddled with nonlinearities, uncertainties, and surprises, and are made increasingly complex by the many human responses to problems or changes arising within them. In this paper we attempt to determine whether there are certain factors that characterize effective responses in complex systems. We construct a framework for response evaluation with three interconnected scopes or spatial and temporal domains: the scope of an impact, the scope of the awareness of the impact, and the scope of the power or influence to respond. Drawing from the experience of the Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA), we explore the applicability of this framework to the example of water management in southern Africa, where an ongoing paradigm shift in some areas has enabled a transition from supply-side to demand-side responses and the creation of new institutions to manage water across scales. We suggest that the most effective responses exhibit congruence between the impact, awareness, and power scopes; distribute impacts across space and time; expand response options; enhance social memory; and depend on power-distributing mechanisms. We conclude by stressing the need for sufficient flexibility to adapt responses to the specific, ever-evolving contexts in which they are implemented. Although our discussion focuses on water in southern Africa, we believe that the framework has broad applicability to a range of complex systems and places.
A. S. Van Jaarsveld - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Measuring conditions and trends in Ecosystem services at multiple scales: The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) experience
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological sciences, 2005Co-Authors: A. S. Van Jaarsveld, Erin Bohensky, Reinette Biggs, Robert J. Scholes, Belinda Reyers, T Lynam, Constansia D Musvoto, Christo FabriciusAbstract:The Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (SAfMA) evaluated the relationships between Ecosystem services and human well-being at multiple scales, ranging from local through to sub-continental. Trends in Ecosystem services (fresh water, food, fuel-wood, cultural and biodiversity) over the period 1990–2000 were mixed across scales. Freshwater resources appear strained across the continent with large numbers of people not securing adequate supplies, especially of good quality water. This translates to high infant mortality patterns across the region. In some areas, the use of water resources for irrigated agriculture and urban–industrial expansion is taking place at considerable cost to the quality and quantity of freshwater available to Ecosystems and for domestic use. Staple cereal production across the region has increased but was outstripped by population growth while protein malnutrition is on the rise. The much-anticipated wood-fuel crisis on the subcontinent has not materialized but some areas are experiencing shortages while numerous others remain vulnerable. Cultural benefits of biodiversity are considerable, though hard to quantify or track over time. Biodiversity resources remain at reasonable levels, but are declining faster than reflected in species extinction rates and appear highly sensitive to land-use decisions. The SAfMA sub-global Assessment provided an opportunity to experiment with innovative ways to assess Ecosystem services including the use of supply–demand surfaces, service sources and sink areas, priority areas for service provision, service ‘hotspots’ and trade-off Assessments.
W. V. Reid - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Testing the Limits of Interdisciplinary and Multi-scale Science
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2016Co-Authors: W. V. Reid, Harold A. MooneyAbstract:The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It was carried out as a pilot of an Assessment mechanism designed to meet decision makers’ needs for information on how human actions were changing biodiversity and Ecosystems, how those changes were affecting Ecosystem services and human well-being, and what actions could be taken to enhance environmental conservation and human well-being. Despite the considerable research that was available in 2000 on biodiversity and Ecosystems and on various aspects of human well-being, it was surprisingly difficult to find research at the interface of natural and social sciences and economics. Yet the key questions being posed by decision-makers (e.g., ‘what will be the impact of biodiversity changes on local or national economies and human health’) required that interdisciplinary research. We encountered other key research gaps, including the need for better understanding of the cross-scale impacts of both environmental changes and policy interventions and the challenges of addressing questions of human well-being across different cultures and different understandings of science and epistemology. This paper identifies some of the most challenging elements of the Assessment and the steps that were taken to address them. In addition to the knowledge assessed by the MA, one of the important outcomes was to stimulate greater interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research to address these issues that were not only fundamentally scientifically interesting, but also critically important for decision makers.
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Bridging Scales and Knowledge Systems: Concepts and Applications in Ecosystem Assessment
2006Co-Authors: W. V. Reid, Fikret Berkes, Thomas J. Wilbanks, D CapistranoAbstract:Bridging the gap between local knowledge and western science is essential to understanding the world's Ecosystems and the ways in which humans interact with and shape those Ecosystems. This book brings together a group of world-class scientists in an unprecedented effort to build a formal framework for linking local and indigenous knowledge with the global scientific enterprise. Contributors explore the challenges, costs, and benefits of bridging scales and knowledge systems in Assessment processes and in resource management. Case studies look at a variety of efforts to bridge scales, providing important lessons concerning what has worked, what has not, and the costs and benefits associated with those efforts. Drawing on the groundbreaking work of the Millennium Eco-system Assessment, "Bridging Scales and Knowledge Systems" will be indispensable for future efforts to conduct Ecosystem Assessments around the world.
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millennium Ecosystem Assessment research needs
Science, 2006Co-Authors: Stephen R. Carpenter, Thomas Dietz, Harold A. Mooney, W. V. Reid, Ruth S Defries, Stephen Polasky, R J ScholesAbstract:The research community needs to develop analytical tools for projecting future trends and evaluating the success of interventions as well as indicators to monitor biological, physical, and social changes.
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The millennium Ecosystem Assessment: what is it all about?
Trends in ecology & evolution, 2004Co-Authors: Harold A. Mooney, A. Cropper, W. V. ReidAbstract:Hundreds of scientists from over 70 nations are now engaged in an intensive effort to assess what we know about the status of the world's Ecosystems. Here, we describe the fundamental nature of this Assessment, what it hopes to accomplish and how it will go about its work. The results of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment will serve as a baseline for future Assessments, as well as a blueprint for action for sustaining the Ecosystem services upon which we all depend for our well being.
