Pastoral Systems' Responses

Pastoral social ecological systems (PSES) have responded to socio-environmental change over millennia. However, in the last decades, PSES have been driven into marginality, poverty, and vulnerability. This project analyzes the relationship between PSES and global change. The goals of the project are to:

• identify and map the main trends and patterns of socio-environmental change in PSES;
• synthesize the responses of PSES to climatic changes; and
• outline comprehensive policies that include local responses to improve the adaptability and resilience of PSES facing climate change.

Data for this project will be provided by remote sensing, published (peer reviewed and grey literature) materials, and expert opinion.

Three main contributions of this project to socio-environmental synthesis are:

• to disentangle the multiple disturbances on PSES;
• to inform planning and investing decisions of government, business, and households, as well as the agenda for international aid;
• to isolate PSES' responses to climate change.

This framework highlights the relations among responses (e.g., competition or cooperation for social and natural resources); disturbance and response (e.g., one response for multiple or single disturbance); and disturbances (e.g., disturbances that undermine adaptive capacity to face climate change). The outcomes of these three relationships will constitute a powerful tool for designing policy to face global change in social ecological systems.