Drawing on seminal work by the late Donella Meadows, we propose a leverage points perspective as a hitherto under‐recognized heuristic and practical tool for sustainability science. A leverage points ...perspective focuses on places to intervene in complex systems to bring about transformative change.
A leverage points perspective recognizes increasingly influential leverage points relating to changes in parameters, feedbacks, system design and the intent encapsulated by a given system. We discuss four key advantages of a leverage points perspective.
First advantage: A leverage points perspective can bridge causal and teleological explanations of system change – that is, change is seen to arise from variables influencing one another, but also from how human intent shapes the trajectory of a system.
Second advantage: A leverage points perspective explicitly recognizes influential, ‘deep’ leverage points – places at which interventions are difficult but likely to yield truly transformative change.
Third advantage: A leverage points perspective enables the examination of interactions between shallow and deep system changes – sometimes, relatively superficial interventions may pave the way for deeper changes, while at other times, deeper changes may be required for superficial interventions to work.
Fourth advantage: A leverage points perspective can function as a methodological boundary object – that is, providing a common entry point for academics from different disciplines and other societal stakeholders to work together.
Drawing on these strengths could initiate a new stream of sustainability studies, and may yield both practical and theoretical advances.
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Cultural Ecosystem Services Milcu, Andra Ioana; Hanspach, Jan; Abson, David ...
Ecology and society,
09/2013, Letnik:
18, Številka:
3
Journal Article
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Cultural ecosystem services constitute a growing field of research that is characterized by an increasing number of publications from various academic disciplines. We conducted a semiquantitative ...review of publications explicitly dealing with cultural ecosystem services. Our aims were: (1) to provide an overview of the current state of research, (2) to classify the diversity of research approaches by identifying clusters of publications that address cultural ecosystem services in similar ways, and (3) to highlight some important challenges for the future of cultural ecosystem services research. We reviewed 107 publications and extracted 20 attributes describing their type and content, including methods, scales, drivers of change, and trade-offs between services. Using a cluster analysis on a subset of attributes we identified five groups of publications: Group 1, conceptual focus, deals with theoretical issues; Group 2, descriptive reviews, consists mostly of desktop studies; Group 3, localized outcomes, deals with case studies coming from different disciplines; Group 4, social and participatory, deals mainly with assessing preferences and perceptions; and Group 5, economic assessments, provides economic valuations. Emerging themes in cultural ecosystem services research relate to improving methods for cultural ecosystem services valuation, studying cultural ecosystem services in the context of ecosystem service bundles, and more clearly articulating policy implications. Based on our findings, we conclude that: (1) cultural ecosystem services are well placed as a tool to bridge gaps between different academic disciplines and research communities, (2) capitalizing on the societal relevance of cultural ecosystem services could help address real-world problems, and (3) cultural ecosystem services have the potential to foster new conceptual links between alternative logics relating to a variety of social and ecological issues.
Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation are key drivers of global species loss. Their effects may be understood by focusing on: (1) individual species and the processes threatening them, and ...(2) human-perceived landscape patterns and their correlation with species and assemblages. Individual species may decline as a result of interacting exogenous and endogenous threats, including habitat loss, habitat degradation, habitat isolation, changes in the biology, behaviour, and interactions of species, as well as additional, stochastic threats. Human-perceived landscape patterns that are frequently correlated with species assemblages include the amount and structure of native vegetation, the prevalence of anthropogenic edges, the degree of landscape connectivity, and the structure and heterogeneity of modified areas. Extinction cascades are particularly likely to occur in landscapes with low native vegetation cover, low landscape connectivity, degraded native vegetation and intensive land use in modified areas, especially if keystone species or entire functional groups of species are lost. This review (1) demonstrates that species-oriented and pattern-oriented approaches to understanding the ecology of modified landscapes are highly complementary, (2) clarifies the links between a wide range of interconnected themes, and (3) provides clear and consistent terminology. Tangible research and management priorities are outlined that are likely to benefit the conservation of native species in modified landscapes around the world.
Many traditional farming landscapes have high conservation value. Conservation policy in such landscapes typically follows a “preservation strategy,” most commonly by providing financial incentives ...for farmers to continue traditional practices. A preservation strategy can be successful in the short term, but it fails to acknowledge that traditional farming landscapes evolved as tightly coupled social–ecological systems. Traditionally, people received direct benefits from the environment, which provided a direct incentive for sustainable land use. Globalization and rural development programs increasingly alter the social subsystem in traditional farming landscapes, whereas conservation seeks to preserve the ecological subsystem. The resulting decoupling of the social–ecological system can be counteracted only in part by financial incentives, thus inherently limiting the usefulness of a preservation strategy. An alternative way to frame conservation policy in traditional farming landscapes is a “transformation strategy.” This strategy acknowledges that the past cannot be preserved, and assumes that direct links between people and nature are preferable to indirect links based on incentive payments. A transformation strategy seeks to support community‐led efforts to create new, direct links with nature. Such a strategy could empower rural communities to embrace sustainable development, providing a vision for the future rather than attempting to preserve the past.
Landscape simplification is a worldwide phenomenon that impacts biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Humans benefit greatly from nature’s contributions to people in both material and immaterial ...ways, yet landscape simplification can undermine these contributions. Landscape simplification can have negative consequences, for example, for human–nature connectedness and other relational values. Major and rapid land-use change, together with a declining appreciation of nature by individuals and societies, in turn, could cause a downward spiral of disconnections. Our empirical research combined a comprehensive assessment of five dimensions of human–nature connectedness with the lens of relational values to assess how these are influenced by landscape simplification. Focusing on two rural landscapes with differing agricultural development in Lower Saxony (Germany), we conducted 34 problem-centred interviews. We found that landscape simplification, especially if rapid, negatively influenced human–nature connectedness and particular relational values such as social relations, social cohesion or cultural identity. We postulate that human–nature connectedness might have a balancing influence on preserving relational values, buffering negative impacts of landscape simplification. Losing connections to nature could potentially foster conflicts among actors with different values. We conclude that combining the notions of human–nature connectedness and relational values can generate valuable insights and may help to uncover new ways to foster sustainability.
Human–nature connectedness is hailed as a potential remedy for the current sustainability crisis, yet it is also deeply affected by it. Here, we perform a comprehensive assessment of human–nature ...connectedness that includes material, experiential, cognitive, emotional, and philosophical dimensions. We show that these dimensions of human–nature connectedness are strongly interlinked, especially via emotional and experiential connectedness. Our findings showcase a cross-country comparison of four focal landscapes in Transylvania, Romania and Lower Saxony, Germany, which represent gradients from minor and gradual to relatively major and rapid landscape change. Based on content analysis of 73 in-depth interviews, we show that landscape change was seen by the interviewees to have a strong, and often negative, influence on multiple dimensions of human–nature connectedness. Focusing only on isolated dimensions of human–nature connectedness could inadvertently exacerbate the sustainability crisis because unawareness about relationships between dimensions of connectedness may lead to false predictions regarding policy implications.
To address the challenges of biodiversity conservation and commodity production, a framework has been proposed that distinguishes between the integration (“land sharing”) and separation (“land ...sparing”) of conservation and production. Controversy has arisen around this framework partly because many scholars have focused specifically on food production rather than more encompassing notions such as land scarcity or food security. Controversy further surrounds the practical value of partial trade‐off analyses, the ways in which biodiversity should be quantified, and a series of scale effects that are not readily accounted for. We see key priorities for the future in (1) addressing these issues when using the existing framework, and (2) developing alternative, holistic ways to conceptualise challenges related to food, biodiversity, and land scarcity.
Scattered trees are declining in agricultural landscapes worldwide. They are considered keystone structures because their effect on ecosystem functioning is believed to be disproportionate relative ...to the small area occupied by any individual tree. We empirically demonstrate the disproportionate value of scattered trees for birds and bats in an Australian livestock grazing landscape. We surveyed birds at 108 sites and bats at 63 sites. Sites spanned the full range of tree densities in the study area, from zero to over 100 trees per hectare. The marginal value of individual trees was highest when trees occurred at low densities. Compared to treeless sites, bird richness doubled with the presence of the first tree; bat richness tripled with the presence of 3–5 trees; and bat activity increased by a factor of 100 with the presence of 3–5 trees. Thereafter, the marginal effect of additional trees on birds and bats diminished rapidly. Although specialist species were restricted to large areas of dense tree cover, scattered trees effectively maintained moderate levels of bird and bat activity throughout largely cleared parts of the landscape. Future management activities should recognize the disproportionate value of scattered trees.
The term ‘habitat fragmentation’ is often used inconsistently and as a broad umbrella for many patterns and processes that accompany landscape change. This has made it a panchreston or an explanation ...or theory used in such a variety of ways as to become meaningless. The panchreston problem has hampered efforts to understand and mitigate the negative impacts of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity, and has contributed to several largely unproductive debates. To overcome the panchreston problem, we suggest that the focus of future work needs to be specified more clearly within several key themes that comprise the broad domain of habitat fragmentation. Here, we outline three of these key themes and provide unambiguous terminology to help overcome the panchreston problem.
•Human–nature connections are receiving increasing attention in sustainability science.•Relevant insights have been obtained in diverse disciplines, but integration is lacking.•‘Nature’ is often ...undefined and the focus is on the individual.•Groups of papers characterised by cognitive psychology, nature experience and place attachment.•Integrating, expanding, and focusing on transformation are key steps forward.
In sustainability science calls are increasing for humanity to (re-)connect with nature, yet no systematic synthesis of the empirical literature on human–nature connection (HNC) exists. We reviewed 475 publications on HNC and found that most research has concentrated on individuals at local scales, often leaving ‘nature’ undefined. Cluster analysis identified three subgroups of publications: first, HNC as mind, dominated by the use of psychometric scales, second, HNC as experience, characterised by observation and qualitative analysis; and third, HNC as place, emphasising place attachment and reserve visitation. To address the challenge of connecting humanity with nature, future HNC scholarship must pursue cross-fertilization of methods and approaches, extend research beyond individuals, local scales, and Western societies, and increase guidance for sustainability transformations.
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