Arid and Semi-Arid Landscapes (ASALs) support millions of people worldwide yet these livelihoods and landscapes are increasingly vulnerable in the face of multiple environmental stressors. In recent decades, climate change and variability of rainfall -- from droughts to increasingly patchy rainfall - have exacerbated this vulnerability and worsened aridity in many ASALs. Climate change is also expected to cause shifts in climate suitability of crops and increase the suitability of some crop disease vectors, pests, and diseases, potentially leading to further decrease in productivity of crops and pastoral systems. Increasing demand for row crop agriculture has further caused unsustainable intensification and expansion of cropland into ASALs and forests leading to continuous degradation of the ecological landscape. Such dynamics collectively change the structure and function of ASALs in unknown ways that reduce social-ecological system (SES) resilience. Recent expansion of cropland into arid and semi-arid land and forests further threatens traditional livelihoods and ecosystem services. Successful mainstreaming of climate change adaptation policies requires integrative approaches that span the socioeconomic and biophysical spheres, especially within complex social-ecological systems. Limited studies have been done to characterize dynamics of agropastoral landscapes in the sub-Saharan region where vulnerability to climate change is highest, and where local assessment of impact is necessary to adequately determine adaptation strategies. My dissertation research investigated landscape dynamics of the agropastoral landscape of Narok, Kenya -- as a case study site, focusing on the nature and impacts of climate induced changes in rainfall patterns, and historical legacies of land policies to understand how the resultant landscape supports ecosystem services abundance and access to address local vulnerability. To begin with, in Chapter 2, I investigated the influence of historical land policies on contemporary patterns of land use and land cover to determine potential impacts on ecosystem services. In Chapter 3, I characterized the spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall variability. In Chapter 4, I explored local perceptions of change in rainfall patterns, and its impacts. Collectively, my dissertation generated essential knowledge on dynamics of a complex and vulnerable agropastoral landscape that are necessary for determining contextualized adaptation strategies and enhancing social-ecological resilience.

We all know that our planet is losing its biological diversity at an alarming rate, with frightening implications for our future. But when does an ecosystem hit the breaking point? In this important book, Princeton biologist Simon Levin offers general readers the first look at how the new science of complexity can help to solve our looming ecological crisis. Levin argues that our biosphere is the classic embodiment of what scientists call complex adaptive systems. By exploring how such systems work, we can determine how they might fail: How much loss can an ecosystem bear before it starts to collapse? How resilient are these systems? Do they in fact hover at the edge of chaos? A deeply original work on one of the most pressing issues of our time, Fragile Dominion is a powerful appeal to understand and protect the global “commons.”

The report proposes a framework for assessing the sustainability of social-ecological landscapes (SEL) to be used by the West and Central African Food Systems Transformation (TAFS-WCA) initiative for research, planning, and implementation of its Work Package 3 (WP3). It builds on existing assessment frameworks from relevant fields (e.g., Eco agriculture, Agroecology, Integrated Landscape Management, etc.). At the center of a Sustainable Social-Ecological Landscape (SSEL) is the improvement of the management of land and the natural resource base in such a way that land use concurrently meets three goals: (i) provision of products (e.g., food) and services on a sustainable basis, (ii) support for sustainable livelihoods for all social groups and (iii) conservation of the full complement of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Globally, SSEL related approaches like eco-agriculture, agroecology, and landscape approaches are already being applied, with promising results, especially in places where food production, poverty alleviation, and conservation of biodiversity, water, and ecosystem services are all high priorities. However, a comprehensive framework for measuring/monitoring landscape status and performance vis-a-vis competing landscape uses and management interventions has not been given much priority in the literature. Different forms of land use, such as forestry, agriculture, extraction of minerals, conservation/protected areas, and settlements, are interdependent. Therefore, landscape performance and monitoring frameworks that focus exclusively on protecting natural resources or the intensification of agriculture and other land uses can only give an incomplete viewpoint/overview of landscapes with all their uses and stakeholders. Considering the SSEL goals above, a holistic conceptual framework for landscape-based assessment is needed; such a framework must consider the drivers and effects of land use and the individual management interventions as well as the complex interactions among different land uses and interventions across the landscape. The present study proposes the Drivers-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework for SEL. It is important to emphasize that this study recognizes that different individuals and organizations under the TAFS-WCA initiative may have different interests in understanding the status and performance of selected SELs. The research envisages two important applications of a framework for measuring and understanding SEL: i) it can facilitate inclusive decision-making by multiple stakeholders working in the same landscape by explaining interactions, synergies, and trade-offs among SSEL goals and landscape components, and ii) when SSEL-related management innovations are successful (or otherwise), the framework can help document the same, reinforcing the case for adopting and scaling up innovations.

Urban centres are bastions of inequalities, where poverty, marginalization, segregation and health insecurity are magnified. Minorities and the poor – often residing in neighbourhoods characterized by degraded infrastructures, food and job insecurity, limited access to transport and health care, and other inadequate public services – are inherently vulnerable, especially at risk in times of shock or change as they lack the option to avoid, mitigate and adapt to threats. Offering both theoretical and practical approaches, this book proposes critical perspectives and an interdisciplinary lens on urban inequalities in light of individual, group, community and system vulnerabilities and resilience. Touching upon current research trends in food justice, environmental injustice through socio-spatial tactics and solution-based approaches towards urban community resilience, Resilience, Environmental Justice and the City promotes perspectives which transition away from the traditional discussions surrounding environmental justice and pinpoints the need to address urban social inequalities beyond the build environment, championing approaches that help embed social vulnerabilities and resilience in urban planning. With its methodological and dynamic approach to the intertwined nature of resilience and environmental justice in urban cities, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners within urban studies, environmental management, environmental sociology and public administration.

Reflecting the very latest research, this book provides an in-depth review of the role of resilience in the management of social-ecological systems and the ecosystem services they provide. Leaders in the field outline seven principles for building resilience in social-ecological systems, examining how these can be applied to advance sustainability.

Increasingly, cracks are appearing in the capacity of communities, ecosystems, and landscapes to provide the goods and services that sustain our planet's well-being. The response from most quarters has been for "more of the same" that created the situation in the first place: more control, more intensification, and greater efficiency. "Resilience thinking" offers a different way of understanding the world and a new approach to managing resources. It embraces human and natural systems as complex entities continually adapting through cycles of change, and seeks to understand the qualities of a system that must be maintained or enhanced in order to achieve sustainability. It explains why greater efficiency by itself cannot solve resource problems and offers a constructive alternative that opens up options rather than closing them down. In Resilience Thinking, scientist Brian Walker and science writer David Salt present an accessible introduction to the emerging paradigm of resilience. The book arose out of appeals from colleagues in science and industry for a plainly written account of what resilience is all about and how a resilience approach differs from current practices. Rather than complicated theory, the book offers a conceptual overview along with five case studies of resilience thinking in the real world. It is an engaging and important work for anyone interested in managing risk in a complex world.

This open access book brings together research findings and experiences from science, policy and practice to highlight and debate the importance of nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation in urban areas. Emphasis is given to the potential of nature-based approaches to create multiple-benefits for society. The expert contributions present recommendations for creating synergies between ongoing policy processes, scientific programmes and practical implementation of climate change and nature conservation measures in global urban areas. Except where otherwise noted, this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/