Creating institutions to meet the challenge of sustainability is arguably the most important task confronting society; it is also dauntingly complex. Ecological, economic, and social elements all play a role, but despite ongoing efforts, researchers have yet to succeed in integrating the various disciplines in a way that gives adequate representation to the insights of each.Panarchy, a term devised to describe evolving hierarchical systems with multiple interrelated elements, offers an important new framework for understanding and resolving this dilemma. Panarchy is the structure in which systems, including those of nature (e.g., forests) and of humans (e.g., capitalism), as well as combined human-natural systems (e.g., institutions that govern natural resource use such as the Forest Service), are interlinked in continual adaptive cycles of growth, accumulation, restructuring, and renewal. These transformational cycles take place at scales ranging from a drop of water to the biosphere, over periods from days to geologic epochs. By understanding these cycles and their scales, researchers can identify the points at which a system is capable of accepting positive change, and can use those leverage points to foster resilience and sustainability within the system.This volume brings together leading thinkers on the subject -- including Fikret Berkes, Buz Brock, Steve Carpenter, Carl Folke, Lance Gunderson, C.S. Holling, Don Ludwig, Karl-Goran Maler, Charles Perrings, Marten Scheffer, Brian Walker, and Frances Westley -- to develop and examine the concept of panarchy and to consider how it can be applied to human, natural, and human-natural systems. Throughout, contributors seek to identify adaptive approaches to management that recognize uncertainty and encourage innovation while fostering resilience.The book is a fundamental new development in a widely acclaimed line of inquiry. It represents the first step in integrating disciplinary knowledge for the adaptive management of human-natural systems across widely divergent scales, and offers an important base of knowledge from which institutions for adaptive management can be developed. It will be an invaluable source of ideas and understanding for students, researchers, and professionals involved with ecology, conservation biology, ecological economics, environmental policy, or related fields.
List of Figures List of Tables List of Boxes Preface
PART I. Introduction Chapter 1. In Quest of a Theory of Adaptive Change
PART II. Theories of Change Chapter 2. Resilience and Adaptive Cycles Chapter 3. Sustainability and Panarchies Chapter 4. Why Systems of People and Nature Are Not Just Social and Ecological Systems Chapter 5. Back to the Future: Ecosystem Dynamics and Local Knowledge Chapter 6. The Dynamics of Political Discourse in Seeking Sustainability
PART III. Myths, Models, and Metaphors Chapter 7. Collapse, Learning, and Renewal Chapter 8. Dynamic Interaction of Societies and Ecosystems-Linking Theories from Ecology, Economy, and Sociology Chapter 9. A Future of Surprises Chapter 10. Resilience and Sustainability: The Economic Analysis of Nonlinear Dynamic Systems
PART IV. Linking Theory to Practice Chapter 11. Resilient Rangelands-Adaptation in Complex Systems Chapter 12. Surprises and Sustainability: Cycles of Renewal in the Everglades Chapter 13. The Devil in the Dynamics: Adaptive Management on the Front Lines Chapter 14. Planning for Resilience: Scenarios, Surprises, and Branch Points
PART V. Summary and Synthesis Chapter 15. Discoveries for Sustainable Futures Chapter 16. Toward an Integrative Synthesis
Appendix A. A Model for Ecosystems with Alternative Stable States Appendix B. Optimizing Social Utility from Lake Use Appendix C. Tax as a Way to Direct Society Appendix D. Collective Action Problems and Their Effect on Political Power References List of Contributors Index
"We denizens of the early twenty-first century have urgent need for an integrative theory that links changes in our global environment to underlying causes. Panarchy is the best presentation I've seen of the elements of such a theory, considering everything from ecosystems to political action. Anyone desiring a serious understanding of our global environment—and that should be all of us—will find no better starting point for their quest."
