A Science Agenda to Inform Natural Resource Management Decisions in an Era of Ecological Transformation

Abstract Earth is experiencing widespread ecological transformation in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems that is attributable to directional environmental changes, especially intensifying climate change. To better steward ecosystems facing unprecedented and lasting change, a new managem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBioscience Vol. 72; no. 1; pp. 71 - 90
Main Authors Crausbay, Shelley D, Sofaer, Helen R, Cravens, Amanda E, Chaffin, Brian C, Clifford, Katherine R, Gross, John E, Knapp, Corrine N, Lawrence, David J, Magness, Dawn R, Miller-Rushing, Abraham J, Schuurman, Gregor W, Stevens-Rumann, Camille S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Oxford University Press 01.01.2022
Subjects
Aquatic ecosystems
Climate change
Ecology
Environmental changes
Freshwater ecosystems
Marine ecosystems
Natural resource management
Natural resources
Resource management
Strategic management
Terrestrial environments
Transformations
ecological transformation
ecological trajectories
climate change adaptation
transformation science
resist–accept–direct framework
ecological scenarios
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Summary:Abstract Earth is experiencing widespread ecological transformation in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems that is attributable to directional environmental changes, especially intensifying climate change. To better steward ecosystems facing unprecedented and lasting change, a new management paradigm is forming, supported by a decision-oriented framework that presents three distinct management choices: resist, accept, or direct the ecological trajectory. To make these choices strategically, managers seek to understand the nature of the transformation that could occur if change is accepted while identifying opportunities to intervene to resist or direct change. In this article, we seek to inspire a research agenda for transformation science that is focused on ecological and social science and based on five central questions that align with the resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework. Development of transformation science is needed to apply the RAD framework and support natural resource management and conservation on our rapidly changing planet.
ISSN:0006-3568
1525-3244
DOI:10.1093/biosci/biab102