Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future

The growing awareness about the need to anticipate the future of land systems focuses on how well we understand the interactions between society and environmental processes within a complexity framework. A major barrier to understanding is insufficient attention given to long (multidecadal) temporal...

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Main Authors:	Dearing, J. A., Braimoh, A. K., Reenberg, A., Turner, B. L., van der Leeuw, S.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5214

id	okr-10986-5214
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-52142021-04-23T14:02:21Z Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future Dearing, J. A. Braimoh, A. K. Reenberg, A. Turner, B. L. van der Leeuw, S. The growing awareness about the need to anticipate the future of land systems focuses on how well we understand the interactions between society and environmental processes within a complexity framework. A major barrier to understanding is insufficient attention given to long (multidecadal) temporal perspectives on complex system behavior that can provide insights through both analog and evolutionary approaches. Analogs are useful in generating typologies of generic system behavior, whereas evolutionary assessments provide insight into site-specific system properties. Four dimensions of these properties: (1) trends and trajectories, (2) frequencies, thresholds and alternate steady states, (3) slow and fast processes, and (4) legacies and contingencies, are discussed. Compilations and analyses of past information and data from instruments and observations, palaeoenvironmental archives, and human and environmental history are now the subject of major international effort. The embedding of empirical information over multidecadal timescales in attempts to define and model sustainable and adaptive management of land systems is now not only possible, but also necessary. 2012-03-30T07:31:49Z 2012-03-30T07:31:49Z 2010 Journal Article Ecology and Society 1708-3087 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5214 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	The growing awareness about the need to anticipate the future of land systems focuses on how well we understand the interactions between society and environmental processes within a complexity framework. A major barrier to understanding is insufficient attention given to long (multidecadal) temporal perspectives on complex system behavior that can provide insights through both analog and evolutionary approaches. Analogs are useful in generating typologies of generic system behavior, whereas evolutionary assessments provide insight into site-specific system properties. Four dimensions of these properties: (1) trends and trajectories, (2) frequencies, thresholds and alternate steady states, (3) slow and fast processes, and (4) legacies and contingencies, are discussed. Compilations and analyses of past information and data from instruments and observations, palaeoenvironmental archives, and human and environmental history are now the subject of major international effort. The embedding of empirical information over multidecadal timescales in attempts to define and model sustainable and adaptive management of land systems is now not only possible, but also necessary.
format	Journal Article
author	Dearing, J. A. Braimoh, A. K. Reenberg, A. Turner, B. L. van der Leeuw, S.
spellingShingle	Dearing, J. A. Braimoh, A. K. Reenberg, A. Turner, B. L. van der Leeuw, S. Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future
author_facet	Dearing, J. A. Braimoh, A. K. Reenberg, A. Turner, B. L. van der Leeuw, S.
author_sort	Dearing, J. A.
title	Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future
title_short	Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future
title_full	Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future
title_fullStr	Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future
title_full_unstemmed	Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future
title_sort	complex land systems : the need for long time perspectives to assess their future
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5214
_version_	1764394326703472640

Complex Land Systems : The Need for Long Time Perspectives to Assess their Future

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