Social-ecological Systems of Latin America: Complexities and Challenges

Human societies are influencing nature in such a way that their independent analysis is no longer suitable. Fortunately, social-ecological systems provide a conceptual framework for the interconnected analysis of societies and ecosystems. However, in the case of Latin America, the complexity of social-ecological processes undermined a much-needed compilation of theoretical concepts, methods and case studies. Increasing readers' understanding of such systems using a postnormal approach, the book discusses current concepts and methods with examples of studies from eight countries. It is a useful resource for social actors, government decision makers and scholars.

Autorentext
Luisa E. Delgado is a Professor at Universidad de Chile, Invited Professor at Universidad Nacional de Asunción (Paraguay) and founder of Fundación Centro Transdisciplinario de Estudios FES-sistémicos (Chile). She has a doctoral degree in Social Processes and Public Policies from Universidad de Artes y Ciencias Sociales and a master's degree in Ecology from Universidad de Chile. She was awarded scholarships by the Deutshcer Akademisher Austauschdients (DAAD, Germany) and the World Bank. She is currently pursuing research, financed by CONICYT-Chile, on social-ecological systems, ecosystem services, human wellbeing and environmental governance.
Víctor H. Marín is Full Professor at Universidad de Chile (Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias). He has a Ph.D. in Oceanography and postdoc in Ecosystem Ecology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (USA), and he received a Georg Forster fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) to study aquatic ecosystems. He is currently a Professor of Ecosystem Ecology and Numerical Modelling at Universidad de Chile.

Inhalt
Section I - Concepts and methods to study Social-ecological SystemsChapter 1 - Social-ecological systems and postnormal scienceChapter 2 - Studying social-ecological systems from the perspective of social sciences in Latin America.
Chapter 3 - Simplifying the complexity of social-ecological systems with conceptual models.
Chapter 4 - Social actors and participative modelling
Chapter 5 - Social-ecological systems and human wellbeing
Section II - Challenges of Latin America social-ecological systems**Chapter 6 - Poor-people ecologism
Chapter 7 - A new environmental governance
Chapter 8 - A hierarchical approach for the valuation of multiple ecosystem services.
Chapter 9 - Novel ecosystems and social-ecological complexities
Chapter 10 - Social-ecological systems and the economy of nature: A Latin-American perspective
Section III - Case studies**Chapter 11 - Spatial modelling of social-ecological systems: The Arroyo las Conchas watershed, Argentina
Chapter 12 - Analyzing social vulnerability to natural disasters in northeast Brazil: catastrophic flooding cycles at Alagoas littoral zone.
Chapter 13 - San Rafael Reserve, Paraguay: key social actors and sustainability scenarios. through environmental governance schemes.
Chapter 14 - Valuation of hydrological supply in high Andes wetlands of Chinchiná River, Colombia.
Chapter 15 - Participative management and local institutional strengthening: the successful case of mangle social-ecological systems in Ecuador.
Chapter 16 - Integrated assessment of the effects of the payment for hydrological services program at Ajusco, Mexico City.
Chapter 17 - Influence of the rural/urban context in the implementation of forest conservation programs in Mexico: Oaxaca and Mexico City case studies
Chapter 18 - Characterizing social-ecological traps: A case study of forest and marine systems in Southern and Austral Chile
Chapter 19 - Ecosystem services from a multi-stakeholder perspective: a case study in a Biosphere Reserve in central Chile
Chapter 20 - Restoration of riverside forests: contributing to the fisheries management of river Pichis watershed, central jungle, Perú.
Chapter 21 - The challenge of integrated management of Isla de Chiloé coastal zone
Chapter 22 - Social valuation of ecosystem services at local scale: challenges for the management of a multiple-use coastal and marine protected area (MU-CMPA): Isla Grande de Atacama
Section IV - Social-ecological challenges for a complex Latin-American future.**Chapter 23 - Potential futures of social-ecological systems in Latin America.