Bai-lian Larry
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See B Larry Li
Ecological Complexity and Sustainability
The relationships between human and natural ecological systems are extremely complex. Understanding such complicated interactions and predicting or altering future dynamics from the standpoint of a single scientific discipline or from a reductionist position is almost certain to miss crucial mechanisms and dynamics. A holistic, complex systems approach is needed.
Systems approaches in ecological studies have made considerable progress in understanding the fundamental ecological interactions in relatively "pristine" ecosystems, especially through the establishment of systems ecology and ecosystems theory. Human systems – also regarded as complex – have also been analyzed from a systems perspective. There are many models on basic economic and social processes, as well as practical applications in urban and regional planning, transportation system design, etc.
Recent environmental, economic and political demands are requiring better understanding of the linkage between the ecological and human social systems, especially in the context of the development of management strategies for a sustainable world. We are facing several environment-related threats to human welfare, health and security in the coming century. The respective questions for a holistic approach to such dynamic human-environmental interactions are extremely important and significant for the scientific progress, as well as for the political decision-making and development processes in the face of inevitable environmental change.
New methods and approaches in the science of complexity have provided us a new opportunity to comprehensively understand the coupling dynamics of human and ecological systems, and the prospects of sustainable management across a range of spatial and temporal scales. New complex systems approaches also shed a new light on co-evolution trajectories and the resilience of coupled social and ecological systems. In this talk, I will outline this latest development and research results in this emerging and exciting research area, along with some of my own works.
