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Abstract Managing social‐ecological systems (SES) requires balancing the need to tailor actions to local heterogeneity and the need to work over large areas to accommodate the extent of SES. This balance is particularly challenging for policy since the level of government where the policy is being developed determines the extent and resolution of action.We make the case for a new research agenda focused on ecological federalism that seeks to address this challenge by capitalizing on the flexibility afforded by a federalist system of governance. Ecological federalism synthesizes the environmental federalism literature from law and economics with relevant ecological and biological literature to address a fundamental question: What aspects of SES should be managed by federal governments and which should be allocated to decentralized state governments?This new research agenda considers the bio‐geo‐physical processes that characterize state‐federal management tradeoffs for biodiversity conservation, resource management, infectious disease prevention, and invasive species control. Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.
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Convergence science in the Anthropocene: Navigating the known and unknown
Abstract Rapidly changing ecological and social systems currently pose significant societal challenges. Navigating the complexity of social‐ecological change requires approaches able to cope with, and potentially solve, both foreseen and unforeseen societal challenges.The emergent field of convergence addresses the intricacies of such challenges, and is thus relevant to a broad range of interdisciplinary issues.This paper suggests a way to conceptualize convergence research. It discusses how it relates to two major societal challenges (adaptation, transformation), and to the generation of policy‐relevant science. It also points out limitations to the further development of convergence research. A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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- PAR ID:
- 10456229
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- People and Nature
- Volume:
- 2
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2575-8314
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 96-102
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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