The Ecosystem Approach

Complexity, Uncertainty, and Managing for Sustainability
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-231-13250-3
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 408 Seiten, Format (B × H): 178 mm x 254 mm, Gewicht: 879 g

Reihe: Complexity in Ecological Systems

Is sustainable development a workable solution for today's environmental problems? Is it scientifically defensible? Best known for applying ecological theory to the engineering problems of everyday life, the late scholar James J. Kay was a leader in the study of social and ecological complexity and the thermodynamics of ecosystems. Drawing from his immensely important work, as well as the research of his students and colleagues, The Ecosystem Approach is a guide to the aspects of complex systems theories relevant to social-ecological management.

Advancing a methodology that is rooted in good theory and practice, this book features case studies conducted in the Arctic and Africa, in Canada and Kathmandu, and in the Peruvian Amazon, Chesapeake Bay, and Chennai, India. Applying a systems approach to concrete environmental issues, this volume is geared toward scientists, engineers, and sustainable development scholars and practitioners who are attuned to the ideas of the Resilience Alliance-an international group of scientists who take a more holistic view of ecology and environmental problem-solving. Chapters cover the origins and rebirth of the ecosystem approach in ecology; the bridging of science and values; the challenge of governance in complex systems; systemic and participatory approaches to management; and the place for cultural diversity in the quest for global sustainability.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Waltner-Toews, David

Kay, James

Lister, Nina-Marie

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Angewandte Physik Soziophysik, Wirtschaftsphysik
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Terrestrische Ökologie
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Umweltgeologie, Geoökologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Naturschutzbiologie, Biodiversität
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Paläoökologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Ökologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Meeres- und Süßwasserökologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface David Waltner-Toews, by Nina-Marie E. ListerPart I. Some theoretical bases for a new ecosystem approach 1. An Introduction to Systems Thinking James Kay 2. Framing the Situation: Developing a system description James Kay3. Scale and type: a requirement for addressing complexity with dynamical quality Tim Allen4. Self-Organizing, by Holarchic Michelle Boyle and James Kay 5. So what changes? Implications of complexity for an ecosystem approach to management James Kay 6. Bridging Science and Values: The Challenge of Biodiversity Nina-Marie E. Lister7. The cultural basis for an ecosystem approach Fikret Berkes and Iain Davidson-Hunt8. A Family of Origin for an Ecosystem Approach to Managing for Sustainability Martin Bunch, by Dan McCarthyPart II. Case studies: Learning by Doing 9. Linking hard and soft systems in local development Reg Noble, by Ricardo Ramirez10. Human Activity and the Ecosystem Approach: The contribution of Soft Systems Methodology to managing the Cooum River in Chennai, by India Martin Bunch11. Landscape Perspectives on Agroecosystem Health in the Great Lakes Basin Dominique Charron and David Waltner-Toews12. An Agroecosystem Health case study in the Central Highlands of Kenya Thomas Gitau, by David Waltner-Toews13. Food, by Floods and Farming: an Ecosystem Approach to Human Health on the Peruvian Amazon frontier Tamsyn Murray, by David Waltner-ToewsPart III. Managing for Sustainability: Meeting the Challenges 14. Implementing an Ecosystem Approach: The Diamond and AMESH David Waltner-Toews and James Kay15. Return to Kathmandu: A Post-Hoc Application of AMESH Cynthia Neudoerffer, by D. Waltner-Toews16. Tools for Learning: monitoring and indicator development Michelle Boyle and James KayPart IV. Where to from here? Some challenges for a new science in an uncertain world 17. Beyond complex systems - Emergent complexity and social solidarity Silvio Funtowicz and Jerry Ravetz 18. Third World inequity, by critical political economy and an ecosystem approach Ernes

Über Autor(innen)

David Waltner-Toews is a Professor in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph. He was trained both as a biologist and a veterinarian. He is the founder of the organization Veterinarians Without Borders.James J. Kay was Professor of Environment and Resource Studies at the University of Waterloo. He is internationally known for applying ideas from thermodynamics to ecological systems.Nina-Marie E. Lister is Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto.