Seeking sustainability in an age of complexity / Graham Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, Graham P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sustainable development.

Natural resources--Management.

Natural resources.

Physical Description:

viii, 366 pages ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

Seeking Sustainability in an Age of Complexity explains why sustainability is hard and why 'collapse' can occur. In the last 20 years the theory of complexity has been developed - complex systems science (CSS) speaks to natural systems and particularly to ecological, social and economic systems and their interaction. Due to the growing concern over the huge changes occurring in the global environment, such as climate change, deforestation, habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity, Graham Harris sets out what has been learned in an attempt to understand the implications of these changes and suggests ways to move forward. This book discusses a number of emerging tools for the management of 'unruly' complexity that facilitate stronger regional dialogues about knowledge and values, that will be of interest to ecologists, sociologists, economists, natural resource managers and scientists in State and local governments and those involved in water and landscape management.

Contents:

1 Preamble: the world we are in 1

2 Complexity and complex systems 19

3 New science, new tools, new challenges 28

4 The complexity of ecology 39

5 The generation of complexity 53

6 Micro-interactions and macro-constraints 69

7 A sense of place 83

8 Created landscapes and our changing sense of place 101

9 Catchment form and function 115

10 Catchment loads: ecosystem impacts 127

11 Change detection, monitoring and prediction 140

12 Evidence, uncertainty and risk 162

13 Modified landscapes: biodiversity 175

14 Function in fragmented landscapes 189

15 Environmental flows 204

16 Evidence for global change 219

17 Values and beliefs 235

18 Managing environmental, social and economic systems 245

19 Linking multiple capitals in a changing world 264

20 Community, capacity, collaboration and innovation 280

21 A new environmental paradigm 294

22 Emergent problems and emerging solutions: developing an 'ecolophysics'? 309

23 Avoiding collapse 328.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521873499

0521873495

9780521695329

0521695325

OCLC:

123113790