Open AccessModeling social‐ecological problems in coastal ecosystems: A case study
Author(s) -
Forrester John,
Greaves Richard,
Noble Howard,
Taylor Richard
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
complexity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1099-0526
pISSN - 1076-2787
DOI - 10.1002/cplx.21524
Subject(s) - computer science , ecological systems theory , simple (philosophy) , psychological resilience , poverty , resilience (materials science) , ecology , complex system , management science , sociology , artificial intelligence , epistemology , political science , psychology , economics , philosophy , physics , law , psychotherapist , biology , thermodynamics
Complex social‐ecological systems (SES) are not amenable to simple mathematical modeling. However, to address critical issues in SES (e.g., understanding ecological resilience/amelioration of poverty) it is necessary to describe such systems in their entirety. Based on empirical knowledge of local stakeholders and experts, we mapped their conceptions of one SES. Modelers codified what actors told us into two models: a local‐level model and an overarching multiple‐entity description of the system. Looking at these two representations together helps us understand links between the locally specific and other levels of decision taking and vice‐versa. This “bimodeling” approach is investigated in one SES in coastal Kenya. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 19: 73–82, 2014
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