Conceptualizing ecosystem services using social-ecological networks

María R Felipe-Lucia; Angela M Guerrero; Steven M Alexander; Jaime Ashander; Jacopo A Baggio; Michele L Barnes; Örjan Bodin; Aletta Bonn; Marie-Josée Fortin; Rachel S Friedman; Jessica A Gephart; Kate J Helmstedt; Aislyn A Keyes; Kailin Kroetz; François Massol; Michael J O Pocock; Jesse Sayles; Ross M Thompson; Spencer A Wood; Laura E Dee

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.012

Conceptualizing ecosystem services using social-ecological networks

Trends Ecol Evol. 2022 Mar;37(3):211-222. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.012. Epub 2021 Dec 27.

Authors

María R Felipe-Lucia¹, Angela M Guerrero², Steven M Alexander³, Jaime Ashander⁴, Jacopo A Baggio⁵, Michele L Barnes⁶, Örjan Bodin⁷, Aletta Bonn⁸, Marie-Josée Fortin⁹, Rachel S Friedman¹⁰, Jessica A Gephart¹¹, Kate J Helmstedt¹², Aislyn A Keyes¹³, Kailin Kroetz¹⁴, François Massol¹⁵, Michael J O Pocock¹⁶, Jesse Sayles¹⁷, Ross M Thompson¹⁸, Spencer A Wood¹⁹, Laura E Dee¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: maria.felipe.lucia@gmail.com.
² Stockholm Resilience Centre, Kräftriket 2B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden; Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, 4000, Australia.
³ Environmental Change and Governance Group, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
⁴ Resources for the Future, 1616 P St. NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA.
⁵ School of Politics, Security and International Affairs, National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, 4297 Andromeda Loop N, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.
⁶ ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia.
⁷ Stockholm Resilience Centre, Kräftriket 2B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁸ Department Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburgerstraße 159, 07743 Jena, Germany.
⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2, Canada.
¹⁰ Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University College of Science, Building 141, Linnaeus Way, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Environmental Science, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016, USA.
¹² School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St., Brisbane, City, QLD, 4000, Australia.
¹³ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Ramaley Biology, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
¹⁴ School of Sustainability, Arizona State University and Resources for the Future, PO Box 875502, Tempe, AZ 85287-5502, USA.
¹⁵ University of Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019, UMR 9017, Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), F-59000 Lille, France.
¹⁶ Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 9QY, UK.
¹⁷ ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow Appointed with the US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, 27 Tarzwell Dr., Narragansett, RI 02882, USA.
¹⁸ Centre for Applied Water Science, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT, 2617, Australia.
¹⁹ College of the Environment, University of Washington, Box 352100, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

PMID: 34969536
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.012

Abstract

Social-ecological networks (SENs) represent the complex relationships between ecological and social systems and are a useful tool for analyzing and managing ecosystem services. However, mainstreaming the application of SENs in ecosystem service research has been hindered by a lack of clarity about how to match research questions to ecosystem service conceptualizations in SEN (i.e., as nodes, links, attributes, or emergent properties). Building from different disciplines, we propose a typology to represent ecosystem service in SENs and identify opportunities and challenges of using SENs in ecosystem service research. Our typology provides guidance for this growing field to improve research design and increase the breadth of questions that can be addressed with SEN to understand human-nature interdependencies in a changing world.

Keywords: complex systems; coupled human and natural systems; multilayer networks; multiplex network; nature contributions to people; social–ecological interactions.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Conservation of Natural Resources*
Ecosystem*
Humans