Assessing adaptability of the water resource system to social-ecological systems in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region:Based on the DPSIR-TOPSIS framework

To optimize the overall layout of water resource allocation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,the adaptabil‐ity of the water resource system to the regional social-ecological systems has to be enhanced.Based on the driver-pressure-state-impact-response(DPSIR)framework,this study constructs an evaluation index system to analyze the adaptability mechanisms of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei’s water resource system according to the three major constituent social-ecological systems(i.e.,economic,social,and ecological systems).Moreover,it adopts the technique of order preference similarity to the ideal solution(TOPSIS)to comprehensively evaluate the adaptability of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei’s water resource system based on three constituent social-ecological systems(i.e.,economic,social,and ecological systems)and identifies the spatiotemporal differentiation char‐acteristics of the region.Our results showed that,①from 2000 to 2020,the adaptability of Beijing-Tianjin Hebei’s water resource system,as a whole,significantly improved.In terms of stages,from 2000 to 2007,the adaptability of the water resource social system was significantly higher than that of economic and ecological systems in the region.From 2008 to 2015,by accelerating the transformation and upgrading of industrial structures,improving the efficiency of economic water utilization,and strengthening the governance of the water ecosystem,the adaptability of water resource economic and ecological systems rapidly improved;how‐ever,that of the water resource ecological system was still the lowest.Additionally,the adaptability of the wa‐ter resource economic system exceeded that of the social system.From 2016 to 2020,the gap in adaptability of the water resource system to all three major constituent systems gradually narrowed.By 2020,the three sys‐tems entered a relatively balanced development stage,with the adaptability of the entire water resource system and the three major constituent systems maintaining a high level.②The economic system was significantly af‐fected by per capita GDP,per capita water resources,and the efficiency of economic water utilization.Addition‐ally,the social system was significantly affected by water consumption per unit of irrigation area.Meanwhile,the ecological system was significantly influenced by precipitation,water pollution discharge performance indi‐cators,and the structure optimization indicators of water supply.According to the evaluation results,we pro‐pose countermeasures and provide recommendations to optimize the overall layout of water resource alloca‐tion and promote the coordinated management of water resources in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Understanding Policy Instruments as Rules of Interaction in Social-Ecological System Frameworks

Government interventions to manage and improve trade-offs in social and ecological systems are made through various policy instruments.The conditions of the social ecological system(SES)are a function of the cumulatively implemented policy instruments.Although both policy instruments and social ecological system frameworks have played important roles in theoretical developments in resource management,they have largely been considered in isolation from each other.By including policy instruments into the SES framework,the proposed conceptual model serves as a template to examine how governing takes place by deciphering:1)how the biophysical system has been understood in resource governance;2)how the social system has been set up in resource governance;and 3)how the trade-offbetween dynamic biophysical and social systems has been managed in the governance of SESs.This model can assist identifying any absent,overlapping or contradictory policy instruments in the governance of an SES.

自上而下和自下而上相结合提高大规模生态修复规划的实用性和效率——来自社会生态系统的启示

Ecological restoration policies and their implementation are influenced by ecological and socioeconomic drivers.Top-down approach-based spatial planning,emphasizing hierarchical control within government structures,and without a comprehensive consideration of social–ecological interactions may result in implementation failure and low efficiency.Although many researchers have indicated the necessity to engage social–ecological interactions between stakeholders in effective planning processes,socioeconomic drivers of ecological restoration on a large scale are difficult to quantify because of data scarcity and knowledge limitations.Here,we established a new ecological restoration planning approach linking a social–ecological system framework to large-scale ecological restoration planning.The new spatial planning approach integrates bottom-up approaches targeting stakeholder interests and provides social considerations for stakeholder behavior analysis.Based on this approach,a meta-analysis is introduced to recognize key socioeconomic and social–ecological factors influencing large-scale ecological restoration implementation,and a stochastic model is constructed to analyze the impact of socioeconomic drivers on the behavior of authorities and participants on a large scale.We used the Yangtze River Basin-based Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program(CCFP),one of the largest payments for ecosystem service programs worldwide,to quantify the socioeconomic impacts of large-scale ecological restoration programs.Current CCFP planning without socioeconomic considerations failed to achieve large-scale program goals and showed low investment efficiency,with 19.71% of the implemented area reconverting to cropland after contract expiry.In contrast,spatial matching between planned and actual restoration increased from 61.55% to 81.86% when socioeconomic drivers were included.In addition,compared to that with the current CCFP implementation,the cost effectiveness of spatial planning with social considerations improved by 46.94%.Thus,spatial optimization planning that integrates both top-down and bottom-up approaches can result in more practical and effective ecological restoration than top-down approaches alone.Our new approach incorporates socioeconomic factors into large-scale ecological restoration planning with high practicality and efficiency.

Evolution of Yellow River Delta Coastline Based on Remote Sensing from 1976 to 2014, China

Coastal regions are threatened by natural processes, such as erosion driven by storm surges and the effect of jetties, as well as by human behavior. The coastline of the Yellow River Delta(YRD) was monitored using the general high-tide line method, which combines Remote sensing(RS) and geographic information system(GIS) technology, using multi-spectral scanner(MSS), thematic mapper(TM), and enhanced thematic mapper plus(ETM+) images of the YRD from 1976 to 2014 as a data source. The results demonstrated that the shape and length of the YRD coastline has changed dramatically since 1976. The course of the Diaokouhe channel has resulted in mainly inland erosion in the north, and is primarily marine erosion; therefore, it was termed an erosion-type estuary. However, the coastline of the Qingshuigou course has moved seaward, demonstrating an accretion stage, and was therefore termed an accretion-type estuary. The coastline advanced forward before 1997 and shrank after 2003 in the southern part of the river mouth, which was due to the shift in the river mouth in 1996. It has continually extended outward in the northern part of the river mouth from 2003 onward. The coastline in the southern part of the river mouth has moved randomly, with the occurrence of both erosion and sedimentation caused by land reclamation and sea wave intrusion. In most cases, the coastline has extended offshore, especially in the northern part of the river mouth. The YRD coastline has changed frequently and rapidly from 1992 to 2014. The river mouth channel, river water and sediments, and precipitation were the major factors affecting the YRD. The YRD coastline was mainly in an accretion stage during flow periods. The erosion rate decreased and tended to be stable during a dry period. The coastline was basically stable when dry periods occurred over a long period. The location of Yellow River ports and sea erosion were the main factors driving coastline changes. The coastline was mainly influenced by the flow path of the Yellow River, with recent human activity also becoming a factor.

Towards Quantitatively Understanding the Complexity of Social-Ecological Systems——From Connection to Consilience

The complexity of social-ecological systems(SES) is rooted in the outcomes of node activities connected by network topology. Thus far, in network dynamics research, the connectivity degree(CND), indicating how many nodes are connected to a given node, has been the dominant concept. However, connectivity focuses only on network topology, neglecting the crucial relation to node activities, and thereby leaving system outcomes largely unexplained. Inspired by the phenomenon of ‘‘consensus of wills and coordination of activities' ' often observed in disaster risk management, we propose a new concept of network characteristic, the consilience degree(CSD),aiming to measure the way in which network topology and node activities together contribute to system outcomes. The CSD captures the fact that nodes may assume different states that make their activities more or less compatible.Connecting two nodes with in/compatible states will lead to outcomes that are un/desirable from the perspective of the SES in question. We mathematically prove that the CSD is a generalized CND, and the CND is a special case of CSD. As a general, fundamental concept, the CSD can facilitate the development of a new framework of network properties, models, and theories that allows us to understand patterns of network behavior that cannot be explained in terms of connectivity alone. We further demonstrate that a co-evolutionary mechanism can naturally improve the CSD. Given the generality of co-evolution in SES, we argue that the CSD is an inherent attribute rather than an artificial concept, which underpins the fundamental importance of the CSD to the study of SES.

Integrated watershed management:evolution,development and emerging trends

Watershed management is an ever-evolving practice involving the management of land, water, biota, and other resources in a defined area for ecological, social, and economic purposes. In this paper, we explore the following questions： How has watershed management evolved？ What new tools are available and how can they be integrated into sustainable watershed management？ To address these questions, we discuss the process of developing integrated watershed management strategies for sustainable manage- ment through the incorporation of adaptive management techniques and traditional ecological knowledge. We address the numerous benefits from integration acrossdisciplines and jurisdictional boundaries, as well as the incorporation of technological advancements, such as remote sensing, GIS, big data, and multi-level social-eco- logical systems analysis, into watershed management strategies. We use three case studies from China, Europe, and Canada to review the success and failure of integrated watershed management in addressing different ecological, social, and economic dilemmas in geographically diverse locations. Although progress has been made in watershed management strategies, there are still numerous issues impeding successful management outcomes; many of which can be remedied through holistic management approaches, incorporation of cutting-edge science and technology, and cross-jurisdictional coordination. We conclude by high- lighting that future watershed management will need to account for climate change impacts by employing techno- logical advancements and holistic, cross-disciplinary approaches to ensure watersheds continue to serve their ecological, social, and economic functions. We present three case studies in this paper as a valuable resource for scientists, resource managers, government agencies, and other stakeholders aiming to improve integrated watershed management strategies and more efficiently and successfully achieve ecological and socio-economic management objectives.

Vulnerability and adaptation of an oasis social–ecological system affected by glacier change in an arid region of northwestern China

The Hexi Inland River Basin in an arid region of northwestern China was chosen as the study area for this research. The authors define the vulnerability of an oasis social-ecological system to glacier change; select 16 indicators from natural and socioeconomic systems according to exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity; and construct a vulnerability-assessment indicator system aimed at an inland river basin in the arid region of Northwestern China. Vulnerability of the oasis socialecological system affected by glacier change in the study area is evaluated by Spatial Principal Component Analysis(SPCA) under the circumstance of glacier change. The key factors affecting the vulnerability are analyzed. The vulnerability of the oasis social-ecological system in the Hexi Inland River Basin affected by glacier change is of more than medium grade, accounting for about 48.0% of the total number of counties in the study area. In terms of the spatial pattern of the vulnerability, the oasis economic belt is the most vulnerable. With the rapid development of the area's society and economy, the exposure of the system to glacial changes is significantly increased; and an increase in glacial meltwater is not enough to overcome the impact of increased exposure, which is the main reason for the high vulnerability. Based on the result of the vulnerability analysis and combined with the present industrial structure in the Hexi Inland River Basin, near-,medium-, and long-term adaptation initiatives are put forward in the article.

Social-ecological dynamics of the small scale fisheries in Sundarban Mangrove Forest, Bangladesh

The Sundarban Mangrove Forest(SMF)is an intricate ecosystem containing the most varied and profuse natural resources of Bangladesh.This study presents empirical research,based on primary and secondary data,regarding the social-ecological system(SES),social-ecological dynamics,different stakeholders and relevant management policies of small-scale or artisanal fisheries such as the SMF;showing how,despite extensive diversification,the livelihood activities of the artisanal fishers in the SMF all depend on the forest itself.Regardless of this critical importance of mangroves,however,deforestation continues due to immature death of mangroves,illegal logging,increased salinity,natural disasters and significant household consumption of mangrove wood by local people.As the mangroves are destroyed fish stocks,and other fishery resources are reduced,leading to moves of desperation among those whose livelihood has traditionally been fishing.The present study also considers several risks and shock factors in the fishers'livelihood:attacks by wild animals(especially tigers)and local bandits,illness,natural disasters,river bank erosion,and the cost of paying off corrupt officials.The artisanal fishers of the SMF have adopted different strategies for coping with these problems:developing partnerships,violating the fisheries management laws and regulations,migrating,placing greater responsibility on women,and bartering fishing knowledge and information.This study shows how the social component(human),the ecological component(mangrove resources)and the interphase aspects(local ecological knowledge,stakeholder's interest,and money lenders or middle man roles)of the SMF as an SES are linked in mutual interaction.It furthermore considers how the social-ecological dynamics of the SMF have negative impacts on artisanal fishermen's livelihoods.Hence there is an urgency to update existing policies and management issues for the sustainable utilization of the SMF resources,eventually contributing to the improvement of the artisanal fishers'livelihoods.

Social-ecological transformations of Inner Mongolia:a sustainability perspective

Introduction:Sustainability requires the reconciling of human needs with the healthy natural ecosystem,which should be achieved within the grand course of industrialization and modernization.Systematic transitions on demography,economy,technology,and institutions are required,while different civilizations may take their respective paths.In this study,we analyze the social-ecological transitions of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China during the past century,focusing on major changes in its environmental,demographic,and socioeconomic conditions.Results:A two-level social-ecological system analysis framework was proposed,and four stages of transition were identified:traditional nomadism,primitive industrial civilization,collectivization era,and economic reform/opendoor policy era.Our analysis showed that Inner Mongolia has made great achievements in its socioeconomic domains but is faced with numerous challenging environmental problems.Overconsumption of resources and failure to curtail ecological degradation may lead to a trap of unsustainability.Conclusions:However,the slowing-down population growth,improvements of the economic structure,and many new sustainability initiatives and strong support from the central government together give hope for a sustainable future of the region.

Rural social-ecological systems navigating institutional transitions: case study from Transylvania (Romania)

Traditional rural social-ecological systems(SES)share many features which are crucial for sus-tainable development.Eastern European countries such as Romania,are still rich in traditional cultural landscapes.However,these landscapes are increasingly under internal(e.g.,people’s aspirations toward western socioeconomic ideals)and external(institutional changes,globalization of the commodity market,connectivity with other cultures)pressures.Therefore,understanding the ways how traditional SES navi-gated past and more recent changes is of crucial importance in getting insights about the future trajectory of these systems.Here,we present the rural SES from the Saxon region of Transylvania through the lens of institutional transitions which happened in the past century in this region.We show that the rural SES went through episodic collapses and renewals,their cyclic dynamic being related to the episodic chang-es of the higher level formal institutions.These episodic collapses and renewals created a social-ecolog-ical momentum for the sustainability of these SES.While we recognize that policy effectiveness depends on institutional stability(and institutions are unstable and prone to collapses),maintaining those social-ecological system properties which can assure navigation of societies through the challenges imposed by global changes should be in the heart of every governance system.Such properties includes wide extent of native vegetation,fertile soils,wide range of provisioning ecosystem services,genuine links between people and landscapes and knowledge about the social-ecological systems.These features could provide important capitals and memory elements for the(re)emergence of social-ecological systems(old or new).

Local perceptions of climate change and adaptation needs in the Ifugao Rice Terraces (Northern Philippines)

The Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines is recognized worldwide as a sustainable landscape where humans live in harmony with nature. The success of the Ifugao Rice Terraces largely depends on the attunement of local farmers to their environment and their ability to adapt to perceived changes, as manifested in their complex body of traditional ecological and climatic knowledge. This paper examines the local perceptions on climate change and other challenges to sustainability through focus group discussions with farmers and traditional knowledge holders. Our main findings can be summarized as follows:(i) Ifugao farmers were able to observe climatic changes in recent years, and these changes were intimately linked with broader environmental and socio-cultural changes in the Ifugao social-ecological system;(ii) The climatic changes qualitatively observed by the farmers were in agreement with trends in datasets commonly used in scientific assessments, although this agreement depends on the spatial and temporal resolution of the dataset, and the type of statistical analysis performed, and;(iii) The Ifugaos stressed the importance of traditional knowledge and culture in climate change adaptation, and preferred measures which could increase internal adaptive capacity while addressingbroader sources of community vulnerability. Our results support calls to recognize Indigenous and Western science as equally valid ways of knowing. Discussions with the farmers revealed that in the Ifugao context, climate change may be better framed in the context of multiple stressors on rural livelihoods, with adaptation integrated into broader development objectives. Our findings also emphasize the need for greater engagement of indigenous Ifugao people in planning processes in order to identify adaptation strategies that are culturally appropriate, equitable, and effective in responding to local needs.

Thirty-two essential questions for understanding the social-ecological system of forage fish:the case of pacific herring

Forage fishes are ecologically and economically important low trophic level species,and in recent years interest in their biology and management has intensified.Pacific Herring are emblemat-ic of the management issues facing forage species-they are central components of the Northeast Pacific pelagic food web and support important commercial fisheries.In addition,the importance of Herring to indigenous peoples have made them cultural keystone species.We employed a participatory process to promote collaborative priority-setting for this critical forage species.Working with managers,the fisher-ies industry,indigenous peoples,and scientists,we co-constructed a conceptual model of the Pacific Her-ring social-ecological system(SES)in the Northeast Pacific.We then identified a set of questions,that,if answered,would significantly increase our ability to sustainably manage the Herring SES.Our objective was to generate a road map for scientists who wish to conduct useful forage fish research,for resource managers who wish to develop new research efforts that could fill critical gaps,and for public agencies and private foundations seeking to prioritize funding on forage fish issues in the Pacific.With this socio-cultural centrality comes complexity for fisheries management.Our participatory process highlighted the value of conceptualizing the full SES,overcame disciplinary differences in scientific approaches,research philos-ophy,and language,and charted a path forward for future research and management for forage species.

Ontological Foundation of Ecosystem Services and the Human Dimension of Agroecosystems

The purpose of this contribution is to lay down a preparatory groundwork for an ontology of ecosystem services in the setting of agroecosystems viewed as social-ecological systems. This ontology aims at defining a set of representational primitives with which to model agroecosystems, through the prism of ecosystem service flows to and from agriculture. It helps delineate between biophysical structures, processes, functions, and ecosystem services. On the human side of agroecosystems, the ontology includes a conceptualization of the behaviors that govern the management of ecosystem services at different levels. It strengthens the existing analytic basis of multidisciplinary research on ecosystem services in agroecosystems by prompting modelers to stick to a homogeneous dynamic-system decomposition of the target agroecosystem. Most importantly, it provides the conceptual link between biophysical research on ecosystem services and equally important considerations on cognitive and social aspects involved in agricultural and landscape-level decisions that aim at implementing agroecological principles.

中国乡村人一野猪冲突时空特征及对生态系统“反服务”的启示

In the context of social and economic transformation in rural China,ecosystem disservices have emerged frequently.This study reveals the spatiotemporal patterns,hazards and driving factors of wild boar damage from 2000 to 2021 by using the meta-analysis and collecting 733 typical human and wild boar conflicts.In this period,the number,spatial scope and hazard degree of wild boar damage incidents showed an increasing trend,and the number of provincial-level regions,prefecture-level cities and districts(counties)involved increased from 18,41 and 67 to 25,147 and 399,respectively.Wild boar damage incidents were concentrated in Chongqing municipality and central and western Hubei province before 2005,and then expanded to the Sichuan Basin,Loess Plateau,middle-lower reaches of Yangtze River and mountainous areas such as Changbai Mountains after 2015.The main manifestations were destroying crops,infringing poultry and causing casualties,especially the destruction of crops and farmland abandonment,accompanied by a rapid increase in casualties,accounting for 23.66% of the damage incidents.Meanwhile,the spreading trend and harmfulness of wild boar damage is a typical phenomenon of ecosystem disservices.The aggravation of this phenomenon is the result of ecological restoration,hunting ban policy,unclear boundary between agricultural land and ecological land,strong viability of wild boar and lack of natural enemies.This has posed an obvious threat to the use of abandoned farmland,the improvement of farmers’livelihood and the maintenance of regional ecological security.It is urgent to formulate a policy of controlling the number of wild boars and establish a compensation mechanism for the loss by wild boars.

耦合魔方——一个分析人地系统耦合机理的多维框架

Understanding the interactions between humans and nature in the Anthropocene is central to the quest for both human wellbeing and global sustainability.However,the time-space compression,long range interactions,and reconstruction of socio-economic structures at the global scale all pose great challenges to the traditional analytical frameworks of human-nature systems.In this paper,we extend the connotation of coupled human and natural systems(CHANS)and their four dimensions—space,time,appearance,and organization,and propose a novel framework:“Coupled Human and Natural Cube”(CHNC)to explain the coupling mechanism between humans and the natural environment.Our proposition is inspired by theories based on the human-earth areal system,telecoupling framework,planetary urbanization,and perspectives from complexity science.We systematically introduce the concept,connotation,evolution rules,and analytical dimensions of the CHNC.Notably there exist various“coupling lines”in the CHNC,connecting different systems and elements at multiple scales and forming a large,nested,interconnected,organic system.The rotation of the CHNC represents spatiotemporal nonlinear fluctuations in CHANS in different regions.As a system continually exchanges energy with the environment,a critical phase transition occurs when fluctuations reach a certain threshold,leading to emergent behavior of the system.The CHNC has four dimensions—pericoupling and telecoupling,syncoupling and lagcoupling,apparent coupling and hidden coupling,and intra-organization coupling and inter-organizational coupling.We mainly focus on the theoretical connotation,research methods,and typical cases of telecoupling,lagcoupling,hidden coupling,and inter-organizational coupling,and put forward a human-nature coupling matrix to integrate multiple dimensions.In summary,the CHNC provides a more comprehensive and systematic research paradigm for understanding the evolution and coupling mechanism of the human-nature system,which expands the analytical dimension of CHANS.The CHNC also provides a theoretical support for formulating regional,sustainable development policies for human wellbeing.

Democratization of ecosystem services--a radical approach for assessing nature's benefits in the face of urbanization

Objectives:(1)To evaluate how ecosystem services may be utilized to either reinforce or fracture the planning and development practices that emerged from segregation and eco-nomic exclusion;(2)To survey the current state of ecosystem service assessments and synthesize a growing number of recommendations from the literature for renovating ecosys-tem service analyses.Methods:Utilizing current maps of ecosystem service distribution in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality,South Africa,we considered how a democratized process of assessing ecosys-tem services will produce a more nuanced representation of diverse values in society and capture heterogeneity in ecosystem structure and function.Results:We propose interventions for assessing ecosystem services that are inclusive of a broad range of stakeholders'values and result in actual quantification of social and ecological processes.We demonstrate how to operationalize a pluralistic framework for ecosystem service assessments.Conclusion:A democratized approach to ecosystem service assessments is a reimagined path to rescuing a poorly implemented concept and designing and managing future social-ecological systems that benefit people and support ecosystem integrity.It is the responsi-bility of scientists who do ecosystem services research to embrace more complex,pluralistic frameworks so that sound and inclusive scientific information is utilized in decision-making.

Change detection:how has urban expansion in Buenos Aires metropolitan region affected croplands

Cropland is one of the essential elements of our ecological systems for producing agricultural products.In developing countries,urban expansion is a frequently appearing phenomena,which is a type of land cover land use(LCLU)change.This change can drastically alter the features on the land surface including croplands.It can lead to detrimental consequences which has considerable effects on the socialecological systems when croplands are lost.Argentina is an extremely agricultural intense developing country,and Buenos Aires province is a top agricultural production site and has been urbanizing during the last 30 years.Thus studying and analyzing the metropolitan area of this province will contribute to our understanding of the relationship between urban expansion and its effect on croplands.So far,no research has used measurable quantitative methodologies on the Buenos Aires metropolitan region(BAMR)to reveal the relationship between urbanization and cropland.By using 30-meter resolution Landsat images of June 1985 and July 2015,this study finds urban land has expanded from 937.16 km^(2) to 1835.47 km^(2),and 30.28% of the new urban lands comes from existing croplands.

Evolution and future of urban ecological science:ecology in,of,and for the city

The contrast between ecology in cities and ecology of cities has emphasized the increasing scope of urban ecosystem research.Ecology in focuses on terrestrial and aquatic patches within cities,suburbs,and exurbs as analogs of non-urban habitats.Urban fabric outside analog patches is considered to be inhospi-table matrix.Ecology of the city differs from ecology in by treating entire urban mosaics as social-ecolog-ical systems.Ecology of urban ecosystems incorporates biological,social,and built components.Originally posed as a metaphor to visualize disciplinary evolution,this paper suggests that the contrast has conceptual,empirical,and methodological contents.That is,the contrast constitutes a disciplinary or“local”paradigm shift.The paradigm change between ecology in and ecology of represents increased complexity,moving from focus on biotic communities to holistic social-ecological systems.A third paradigm,ecology for the city,has emerged due to concern for urban sustainability.While ecology for includes the knowledge generated by both ecology in and ecology of,it considers researchers as a part of the system,and acknowledges that they may help envision and advance the social goals of urban sustainability.Using urban heterogeneity as a key urban feature,the three paradigms are shown to contrast in five important ways:disciplinary focus,the relevant theory of spatial heterogeneity,the technology for representing spatial structure,the resulting classification of urban mosaics,and the nature of application to sustainability.Ecology for the city encourages ecologists to engage with other specialists and urban dwellers to shape a more sustainable urban future.

Integrating structure and function:mapping the hierarchical spatial heterogeneity of urban landscapes

Background:Cities are social-ecological systems characterized by remarkably high spatial and temporal heterogeneity,which are closely related to myriad urban problems.However,the tools to map and quantify this heterogeneity are lacking.We here developed a new three-level classification scheme,by considering ecosystem types(level 1),urban function zones(level 2),and land cover elements(level 3),to map and quantify the hierarchical spatial heterogeneity of urban landscapes.Methods:We applied the scheme using an object-based approach for classification using very high spatial resolution imagery and a vector layer of building location and characteristics.We used a top-down classification procedure by conducting the classification in the order of ecosystem types,function zones,and land cover elements.The classification of the lower level was based on the results of the higher level.We used an objectbased methodology to carry out the three-level classification.Results:We found that the urban ecosystem type accounted for 45.3%of the land within the Shenzhen city administrative boundary.Within the urban ecosystem type,residential and industrial zones were the main zones,accounting for 38.4%and 33.8%,respectively.Tree canopy was the dominant element in Shenzhen city,accounting for 55.6%over all ecosystem types,which includes agricultural and forest.However,in the urban ecosystem type,the proportion of tree canopy was only 22.6%because most trees were distributed in the forest ecosystem type.The proportion of trees was 23.2% in industrial zones,2.2%higher than that in residential zones.That information“hidden”in the usual statistical summaries scaled to the entire administrative unit of Shenzhen has great potential for improving urban management.Conclusions:This paper has taken the theoretical understanding of urban spatial heterogeneity and used it to generate a classification scheme that exploits remotely sensed imagery,infrastructural data available at a municipal level,and object-based spatial analysis.For effective planning and management,the hierarchical levels of landscape classification(level 1),the analysis of use and cover by urban zones(level 2),and the fundamental elements of land cover(level 3),each exposes different respects relevant to city plans and management.

Vector-borne disease and climate change adaptation in African dryland socialecological systems

Background:Drylands,which are among the biosphere's most naturally limiting and environmentally variable ecosystems,constitute three-quarters of the African continent.As a result,environmental sustainability and human development along with vector-borne disease(VBD)control historically have been especially challenging in Africa,particularly in the sub-Saharan and Sahelian drylands.Here,the VBD burden,food insecurity,environmental degradation,and social vulnerability are particularly severe.Changing climate can exacerbate the legion of environmental health threats in Africa,the social dimensions of which are now part of the international development agenda.Accordingly,the need to better understand the dynamics and complex coupling of populations and environments as exemplified by drylands is increasingly recognized as critical to the design of more sustainable interventions.Main body:This scoping review examines the challenge of vector-borne disease control in drylands with a focus on Africa,and the dramatic,ongoing environmental and social changes taking place.Dryland societies persisted and even flourished in the past despite changing climates,extreme and unpredictable weather,and marginal conditions for agriculture.Yet intrusive forces largely out of the control of traditional dryland societies,along with the negative impacts of globalization,have contributed to the erosion of dryland's cultural and natural resources.This has led to the loss of resilience underlying the adaptive capacity formerly widely exhibited among dryland societies.A growing body of evidence from studies of environmental and natural resource management demonstrates how,in light of dryland system's inherent complexity,these factors and top-down interventions can impede sustainable development and vector-borne disease control.Strengthening adaptive capacity through community-based,participatory methods that build on local knowledge and are tailored to local ecological conditions,hold the best promise of reversing current trends.Conclusions:A significant opportunity exists to simultaneously address the increasing threat of vector-borne diseases and climate change through methods aimed at strengthening adaptive capacity.The integrative framework and methods based on social-ecological systems and resilience theory offers a novel set of tools that allow multiple threats and sources of vulnerability to be addressed in combination.Integration of recent advances in vector borne disease ecology and wider deployment of these tools could help reverse the negative social and environmental trends currently seen in African drylands.