Socioecological systems

The socioecological system (SES) theory sprang from the recognition of close interaction between society, in terms of social–economic system, and natural system. Human society represents the driving forces of biosphere and ecological systems. So, it is relevant to understand the human sources of ecological change. To do this, we must understand the driving forces motivating human actions. There are several examples on how human and environment systems are coupled and how human choices and the consequent environmental effects influence each other. Here three examples regarding southern Yucatan, Arctic region, and Eastern Europe are reported. The assessment of the vulnerability of modern socioecological systems to future human activities and climate change can be greatly improved by (1) knowing the rates and directions of past trajectories in key processes, such as land cover, soil erosion, and flooding; (2) analyzing how thresholds have been transgressed in the past; and (3) deducing the natural or pre-impact patterns of environmental variability. Therefore, the past provides the means to test the models upon which we depend for future projections and scenarios. For this reason three generic responses are possible when a crisis occurs: (1) no effective responses; (2) response without experience; and (3) response with experience, in which the institution has previous experience with a crisis of that kind and management policy used on previous occasions.