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Policy strategies to foster the resilience of mountain social-ecological systems under uncertain global change

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  • Brunner, Sibyl Hanna
  • Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne

Abstract

Globalization and climate change threaten the sustained provision of essential ecosystem services (ES) for people living in and downstream of mountain regions. The increasing evidence of the many vulnerabilities of mountain social-ecological systems has highlighted the urgent need for policy-relevant research into ways of coping with these trends. In this context, resilience has been emerging as a concept for both understanding and managing the complex social-ecological systems in which ES are provided and consumed. Yet, literature on resilience of social-ecological systems is mainly theoretical with limited application in real-world mountain case studies. In this paper, we present a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the social-ecological resilience of a case study in the Swiss Alps under global change. We model and evaluate an indicator for resilience that shows the capacity of the mountain social-ecological system to provide a set of demanded ES. In a first step, we model the development of this indicator in different scenarios of global change. In a second step, we test the effect of a rich set of policy strategies under all these scenarios to identify types and timing of interventions that are robust under multiple global change settings. Results indicate that the resilience of the mountain social-ecological system is endangered in all scenarios, especially if strong globalization is assumed. Robust strategies that buffer the system against these pressures require early spatial planning action in combination with more targeted direct payments to support the current regional structure and traditional mountain farming practices. Such information is crucial to guide decision-making processes in the era of highly uncertain future global change.

Suggested Citation

  • Brunner, Sibyl Hanna & Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne, 2016. "Policy strategies to foster the resilience of mountain social-ecological systems under uncertain global change," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 129-139.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enscpo:v:66:y:2016:i:c:p:129-139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.09.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne & Weibel, Bettina, 2020. "Global assessment of mountain ecosystem services using earth observation data," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    2. Bowditch, Euan & Santopuoli, Giovanni & Binder, Franz & del Río, Miren & La Porta, Nicola & Kluvankova, Tatiana & Lesinski, Jerzy & Motta, Renzo & Pach, Maciej & Panzacchi, Pietro & Pretzsch, Hans & T, 2020. "What is Climate-Smart Forestry? A definition from a multinational collaborative process focused on mountain regions of Europe," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    3. Muñoz-Ulecia, E. & Bernués, A. & Casasús, I. & Olaizola, A.M. & Lobón, S. & Martín-Collado, D., 2021. "Drivers of change in mountain agriculture: A thirty-year analysis of trajectories of evolution of cattle farming systems in the Spanish Pyrenees," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    4. A. T. Shruthi Gopirajan & Praveen Kumar & P. K. Joshi, 2022. "Unraveling the complex and dynamic Himalayan socio-ecological systems: a systematic review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1532-1559, February.
    5. Marko OGOREVC & Renata SLABE-ERKER, 2018. "Assessment of the European Common Agricultural Policy and landscape changes: an example from Slovenia," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(11), pages 489-498.
    6. Taboada, Angela & García-Llamas, Paula & Fernández-Guisuraga, José Manuel & Calvo, Leonor, 2021. "Wildfires impact on ecosystem service delivery in fire-prone maritime pine-dominated forests," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    7. Ileana Pătru-Stupariu & Constantina Alina Hossu & Simona Raluca Grădinaru & Andreea Nita & Mihai-Sorin Stupariu & Alina Huzui-Stoiculescu & Athanasios-Alexandru Gavrilidis, 2020. "A Review of Changes in Mountain Land Use and Ecosystem Services: From Theory to Practice," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-21, September.
    8. Ivo Baur & Heinrich H. Nax, 2018. "Adapting Governance Incentives to Avoid Common Pool Resource Underuse: The Case of Swiss Summer Pastures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-20, October.
    9. Schirpke, Uta & Kohler, Marina & Leitinger, Georg & Fontana, Veronika & Tasser, Erich & Tappeiner, Ulrike, 2017. "Future impacts of changing land-use and climate on ecosystem services of mountain grassland and their resilience," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 26(PA), pages 79-94.
    10. Hui Gao & Tonggang Fu & Jintong Liu & Hongzhu Liang & Lipu Han, 2018. "Ecosystem Services Management Based on Differentiation and Regionalization along Vertical Gradient in Taihang Mountain, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Ferreira Costa, Carlos Germano, 2021. "Increased vulnerability of family farming in the context of a weakened FNS agenda due to austerity measures in Brazil," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 21(01), June.
    12. Isabel Dinis & Orlando Simões, 2021. "Resilience in Retrospective: The Trajectory of Agro-Pastoral Systems in the Centro Region of Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-29, May.
    13. Ramel, Cindy & Rey, Pierre-Louis & Fernandes, Rui & Vincent, Claire & Cardoso, Ana R. & Broennimann, Olivier & Pellissier, Loïc & Pradervand, Jean-Nicolas & Ursenbacher, Sylvain & Schmidt, Benedikt R., 2020. "Integrating ecosystem services within spatial biodiversity conservation prioritization in the Alps," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    14. Mangirdas Morkunas & Povilas Labukas, 2020. "The Evaluation of Negative Factors of Direct Payments under Common Agricultural Policy from a Viewpoint of Sustainability of Rural Regions of the New EU Member States: Evidence from Lithuania," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-14, June.
    15. Rewitzer, Susanne & Huber, Robert & Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne & Barkmann, Jan, 2017. "Economic valuation of cultural ecosystem service changes to a landscape in the Swiss Alps," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 26(PA), pages 197-208.
    16. Cristian Accastello & Simone Blanc & Filippo Brun, 2019. "A Framework for the Integration of Nature-Based Solutions into Environmental Risk Management Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-12, January.
    17. Fontana, Veronika & Ebner, Manuel & Schirpke, Uta & Ohndorf, Markus & Pritsch, Hanna & Tappeiner, Ulrike & Kurmayer, Rainer, 2023. "An integrative approach to evaluate ecosystem services of mountain lakes using multi-criteria decision analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).

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