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Ecosystem management in the Anthropocene
Citation:
Garmestani, A. Ecosystem management in the Anthropocene. Clemson University Spring 2023 Ecology & Natural Resources Speaker Series, Clemson, SC, April 21, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
· This presentation discusses how to improve ecosystem management, which has critical ramifications for improving environmental outcomes. The talk moves ecosystem management forward by analyzing the issue, and providing guidance for moving forward. In the long-term, improving ecosystem managementhas broad-scale implications for the environment in the United States, with particular interest for Regions (2 and 4) , communities (Puerto Rico, USVI) and the general public.
Description:
Ecosystem management has largely developed around the prevailing scientific understanding that there is a “balance of nature” that could be sustained in perpetuity or mitigated if out of balance; a dated conception that is at odds with the dynamics of social-ecological systems. Accelerating environmental change will likely result in more frequent non-linear change in systems of humans and nature (e.g., regime shifts in coral reef systems; emergence of novel viruses; more frequent, larger, and intense wildfires and tropical storms), and thus formal institutions are now just one piece of the puzzle for ecosystem management. This perspective has important ramifications for ecosystems moving forward in the Anthropocene. In order to better account for cross-scale dynamics, ecosystem management should further tap adaptive and transformative approaches, as well as subsidiarity principles in order to improve governance of social-ecological systems.
