Introduction to resilience thinking Albert Norström Stockholm Resilience Centre [email protected]

Introduction to resilience thinkingAlbert Norström

Stockholm Resilience Centre [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

The context

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Albert Norström Stockholm Resilience Centre Introduction to resilience thinking

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We are in the anthropocene

Rapid change in major processes and resources

Human use of goods and services is increasing

Most ecosystem services are decreasing

We seem to be approaching thresholds

Governance systems that makes it possible for society to relate with environmental assets in

a fashion that secures their capacity to support societal development for a long time

in the future.

Ability to maintain functioning despite stress, shocks or disturbance

Reflects ability of system to self-organize; build capacity for learning and adaptation


Engineering vs ecosystem resilience

Natural systems were treated as predictable systems with single equilibria

Ecosystems as linear systems





Disturbance




Recovery

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Engineering resilience

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Ecosystems with multiple equilibria

Alternative regimes


Alternative regimes


Alternative regimes


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Linear system

Predictable

Ecosystem

sys

Example:Management of fisheries based on MSY

When stocks are overfished, just stop fishing!

Or?



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Low High

Fishing pressure

Sta

te


Low High

Fishing pressure

Sta

te



Shocks

Slow changes in underlying variables

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Herbivores Habitat builders Predators

Pollinators Seed dispersers

Functional diversity confers resilience

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Herbivores Habitat builders Predators

Pollinators Seed dispersers

Functional diversity confers resilience

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Functional redundancy confers resilience

Herbivores

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Regime shifts



Shocks

Slow changes in underlying variables

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1. Hurricane Allen (1980)

2. sea urchin disease (1983)

extensive coral mortality

mass mortality

of sea urchins

coral recruitme

nt

algal recruitmentalgal recruitment

grazingno grazing





Tim

e

Space


Social-ecological resilience

RESILIENCE

Anthropology

Environmental psychology

Cultural theory

Common property research

Human geography


Resilience thinking is a lens & a

cluster of concepts and methods


Social-ecological systems


Social-ecological traps

Scarcity of goods and services

Overharvesting, destructive gear use

Ecosystem

Positive feedbacks

Socio-economic system


Positive feedbacksCoral fisheries

SES

Transformations

Transformations


Transformations


Ecological knowledgeExperimental management

Transformations


Political turbulenceRecognition of undesirable regime

Transformations


Shadow networks

Resilience concepts

Characteristics

Focus on Context

Engineering Return time, efficiency

Recovery, constancy

Vicinity of a stable equilibrium

Ecosystem Buffer capacity, withstand shock, maintain function

Persistence, robustness

Multiple equilibria, stability landscapes

Social-ecological Interplay disturbance reorganization, sustaining and developing

Adaptive capacity, transformability, learning, innovation

Integrated system feedback, cross-scale dynamic interactions


Documents

Introduction to resilience thinking Albert Norström Stockholm Resilience Centre [email protected]