Scenario and policy assessments in socioeconomic and environmental studies face significant challenges in socio-ecological systems (SES). There are a limited number of studies that have looked at the impact of different scenarios within integrated approaches, and many have used a static approach with a single driver of change. The present work analyzes the SES dynamics for a strategic basin in the Colombian Andes when implementing and analyzing scenarios and policies related to land cover and land use change using a system dynamics simulation model. The model includes natural, ecosystem services, sociocultural, and economic components. Scenarios and policy options are analyzed both individually and jointly to identify synergies or trade-off effects between the different SES components. The results showed the different trajectories of the socio-ecological system according to the cases studied, and its impact on different variables in the analyzed components. Some counterintuitive effects were also identified, such as the importance of intrinsic motivations in decision-making processes, and determinants in land management and policy design.

Studies of landscape dynamics in protected areas often rely exclusively on remotely-sensed data, leading to bias by neglecting how local inhabitants, who often have a long history of interaction with their environment, perceive and structure the landscape over time. Using a socio-ecological system (SES) approach in a forest-swamp-savannah mosaic within the Bas-Ogooué Ramsar site in Gabon, we assess how human populations participate in landscape dynamics over time. We first conducted a remote sensing analysis to produce a land-cover map representing the biophysical dimension of the SES. This map is based on pixel-oriented classifications, using a 2017 Sentinel-2 satellite image and 610 GPS points, that categorized the landscape in 11 ecological classes. To study the landscape\'s social dimension, we collected data on local knowledge to understand how local people perceive and use the landscape. These data were collected through 19 semi-structured individual interviews, three focus groups and 3 months of participant observation during an immersive field mission. We developed a systemic approach by combining data on biophysical and social dimensions of the landscape. Our analysis shows that in the absence of continued anthropic interventions, both savannahs and swamps dominated by herbaceous vegetation will experience closure by encroaching woody vegetation, leading to eventual biodiversity loss. Our methodology based on an SES approach to landscapes could improve the conservation programs developed by Ramsar site managers. Designing actions at the local scale, rather than applying one set of actions to the entire protected area, allows the integration of human perceptions, practices and expectations, a challenge that is more than essential in the context of global change.

The dynamic changes in socio-ecological system (SES) have exerted increasing pressures on the natural environment, leading to observable changes in terrestrial surface structure. Therefore, understanding the historical evolution mechanism of social ecosystems is crucial for the future sustainable management of karst regions. However, detailed quantitative analyses of karst socio-ecological system at a long-term scale are lacking. Here, we applied a comprehensive research framework for the SES of karst region to visually analyze the evolution of karst SES over the past 1000 years in Guizhou Province, defining five evolution stages of the karst SES. Concurrently, we characterized the interactive effects of drivers on karst socio-ecological system during every evolutionary stage, and then assess major influences between these stages. Despite rocky desertification as the main effect of karst SES driven by many indicators, the quantitative analysis indicated that human-dominated land-use change explained the expansion of rocky desertification. Although effective implementation of relevant policies partly compensated for increased environmental pressures, continued structure and function shifts in local ecosystem can challenge progress towards sustainability in karst region. Our findings provide scientific references for managers and policymakers to assist them to identify how environmental issues emerged in karst areas and how they should be addressed.

An effective and efficient stewardship of natural resources requires consistency across all decision-informing approaches and components involved, i.e., managerial, governmental, political, and legal. To achieve this consistency, these elements must be aligned under an overarching management goal that is consistent with current and well-accepted knowledge. In this article, we investigate the adoption by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of an environmental resilience-centered system that manages for resilience of marine ecological resources and its associated social elements. Although the framework is generally tailored for this Bureau, it could also be adapted to other federal or non-federal organizations. This paper presents a dynamic framework that regards change as an inherent element of the socio-ecological system in which management structures, e.g., federal agencies, are embedded. The overall functioning of the management framework being considered seeks to mimic and anticipate environmental change in line with well-accepted elements of resilience-thinking. We also investigate the goal of using management for resilience as a platform to enhance socio-ecological sustainability by setting specific performance metrics embedded in pre-defined and desired social and/or ecological scenarios. Dynamic management frameworks that couple social and ecological systems as described in this paper can facilitate the efficient and effective utilization of resources, reduce uncertainty for decision and policy makers, and lead to more defensible decisions on resources.

Pollution from mining activities is a global environmental concern, not limited to areas of current resource extraction, but including a broader geographic area of historic (legacy) and abandoned mines. The pollution of surface waters from acid mine drainage is a persistent problem and requires a holistic and sustainable approach to addressing the spatial and temporal complexity of mining-specific problems. In this paper, we focus on the environmental, socio-economic, and legal challenges associated with the concurrent activities to remediate a coal mine site and to develop a national memorial following a catastrophic event. We provide a conceptual construct of a socio-ecological system defined at several spatial, temporal, and organizational scales and a critical synthesis of the technical and social learning processes necessary to achieving sustainable environmental remediation. Our case study is an example of a multi-disciplinary management approach, whereby collaborative interaction of stakeholders, the emergence of functional linkages for information exchange, and mediation led to scientifically informed decision making, creative management solutions, and ultimately environmental policy change.