Spatial Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems
Spatial Resilience is a new and exciting area of interdisciplinary research. It focuses on the influence of spatial variation – including such things as spatial location, context, connectivity, and dispersal – on the resilience of complex systems, and on
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Graeme S. Cumming
Spatial Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems
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Graeme S. Cumming Percy FitzPatrick Institute DST/NRF Centre of Excellence University of Cape Town Rondebosch 7701 Cape Town South Africa [email protected]
The cover photograph shows a view from Strandfontein wastewater treatment works (near Muizenberg, on the edge of False Bay), looking towards Table Mountain. The idyllic appearance of this wetland disguises the high human use of this system and the ecological costs of the interaction: high Escherichia coli levels in the water in the settling ponds, invasive Typha reedbeds on the pond’s edge, a landfill site just out of view to the left of the picture, and globally endangered lowland fynbos vegetation on the ridge behind the pond. Despite these problems, Strandfontein remains a nationally important site for waterbirds. Photograph by Graeme S. Cumming, 2008.
ISBN 978-94-007-0306-3 e-ISBN 978-94-007-0307-0 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0307-0 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To Nils and Clara, my delightful inspirations – May you find as much pleasure as I have in exploring this green world!
Preface
This book represents a personal landmark along a path that I have been following for close to 15 years. Along the way I have spent considerable amounts of time debating and pondering with friends and colleagues over the relevance of space, and spatial variation, for the intricate workings of complex systems. These interactions have greatly enriched the journey, and I remain deeply grateful for them. Thanks are due to many people. Although I can not list all of you here, I would particularly like to acknowledge the influence of three groups. The first consists of members of the Resilience Alliance, which has provided a wonderful arena for free thought and passionate debate. The Resilience Alliance has been the creation of many people who can not all be listed here, but my particular thanks go to Buzz Holling, Steve Carpenter, Carl Folke, Lance Gunderson, Phil Taylor, and Brian Walker for their role in consistently creating, redefining, and defending this small but highly influential think-space. Within the Resilience Alliance I am also deeply indebted to a group of younger scientists for crazy discussions and far-ranging debate: in this context, thanks are particularly due to Garry Peterson, Jon Norberg, Craig Allen, Marco Janssen, Marty Anderies, Örjan Bodin, Michael Schoon, and Henrik Ernstson. The second important group of people is t
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