Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA
Social-ecological systems are considered resilient when they are capable of recovering from externally forced shocks. Thus, whether a given system is identified as resilient depends on a number of contested definitions: what constitutes a shock, what constitutes a discrete system, and what constitut...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Resilience Alliance
2014-09-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Society |
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| Online Access: | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art45/ |
| _version_ | 1818825418741907456 |
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| author | Liz Carlisle |
| author_facet | Liz Carlisle |
| author_sort | Liz Carlisle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social-ecological systems are considered resilient when they are capable of recovering from externally forced shocks. Thus, whether a given system is identified as resilient depends on a number of contested definitions: what constitutes a shock, what constitutes a discrete system, and what constitutes acceptable performance. Here, I present a case study in which outcomes apparent to both the researcher and the study subjects demonstrated resilience in effect: a group of farmers in the northern Great Plains in the north-central United States realized economically sufficient production during a low rainfall year when many others in the region did not. However, the researcher's attempt to model this case as a resilient system was continually challenged by qualitative findings, suggesting that these farmers did not experience the officially decreed "drought" year as a shock. Moreover, the social and ecological processes that produced a "resilience effect" functioned as open systems, and were not readily bounded, even in analytical terms. This is not to suggest that resilience is not an operationalizable concept. Rather, the series of processes which produce a resilience effect may be best understood within a broad framework attentive to diversity, flexibility, and relationships at multiple scales - instead of quantitative models focused on discrete moments of disturbance and adaptation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T00:11:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3a5dbbf5593c443fb858848dd8c241c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1708-3087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T00:11:27Z |
| publishDate | 2014-09-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-3a5dbbf5593c443fb858848dd8c241c62022-12-21T20:46:01ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872014-09-011934510.5751/ES-06736-1903456736Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USALiz Carlisle0PhD Candidate, Dept. of Geography, University of California-BerkeleySocial-ecological systems are considered resilient when they are capable of recovering from externally forced shocks. Thus, whether a given system is identified as resilient depends on a number of contested definitions: what constitutes a shock, what constitutes a discrete system, and what constitutes acceptable performance. Here, I present a case study in which outcomes apparent to both the researcher and the study subjects demonstrated resilience in effect: a group of farmers in the northern Great Plains in the north-central United States realized economically sufficient production during a low rainfall year when many others in the region did not. However, the researcher's attempt to model this case as a resilient system was continually challenged by qualitative findings, suggesting that these farmers did not experience the officially decreed "drought" year as a shock. Moreover, the social and ecological processes that produced a "resilience effect" functioned as open systems, and were not readily bounded, even in analytical terms. This is not to suggest that resilience is not an operationalizable concept. Rather, the series of processes which produce a resilience effect may be best understood within a broad framework attentive to diversity, flexibility, and relationships at multiple scales - instead of quantitative models focused on discrete moments of disturbance and adaptation.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art45/diversified farming systemdiversitydroughtresiliencenorthern Great PlainsUSAscaleslow variablessocial-ecological systemssustainable agriculturevalues-based supply chain |
| spellingShingle | Liz Carlisle Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA Ecology and Society diversified farming system diversity drought resilience northern Great Plains USA scale slow variables social-ecological systems sustainable agriculture values-based supply chain |
| title | Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA |
| title_full | Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA |
| title_fullStr | Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA |
| title_short | Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA |
| title_sort | diversity flexibility and the resilience effect lessons from a social ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern great plains usa |
| topic | diversified farming system diversity drought resilience northern Great Plains USA scale slow variables social-ecological systems sustainable agriculture values-based supply chain |
| url | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art45/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lizcarlisle diversityflexibilityandtheresilienceeffectlessonsfromasocialecologicalcasestudyofdiversifiedfarminginthenortherngreatplainsusa |