Moving beyond the panarchy heuristic

Abstract

Panarchy is a heuristic of complex systems change rooted in resilience science. The concept has been rapidly assimilated across scientific disciplines due to its potential to envision and address sustainability challenges, such as climate change and regime shifts, that pose significant challenges for humans in the Anthropocene. However, panarchy has been studied almost exclusively via qualitative research. Quantitative approaches are scarce and preliminary but have revealed novel insights that allow for a more nuanced understanding of the heuristic and resilience science more generally. In this roadmap, we discuss the potential for future quantitative approaches to panarchy. Transdisciplinary development of quantitative approaches, combined with advances in data accrual, curation and machine learning, may build on current tools. Combined with qualitative research and traditional approaches used in ecology, quantification of panarchy may allow for broad inference of change in complex systems of people and nature and provide critical information for the management of social-ecological systems.

Keywords

cross-scale structure; dynamic change; information flow; Panarchy; quantitative ecology; social—ecological systems

Published in

Advances in Ecological Research
2023, volume: 69, pages: 69-81
Title: ADVANCES IN ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 69, PT B
Publisher: Academic Press Inc.

SLU Authors

• Angeler, David

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Brain Capital Alliance
  • Deakin University
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Global goals (SDG)

SDG13 Climate action

UKÄ Subject classification

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Environmental Sciences

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aecr.2023.10.005

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/129490