Resilience and Biosphere Reserves‪.‬

Abstract The need to understand complex systems phenomena has influenced the development of theory about sustainability and resilience in coupled systems of humans and nature. This paper summarizes the main features of ongoing research by groups of scientists and resource managers to understanding interacting adaptive cycles operating at different scales within different kinds of social-ecosystems. Emphasis is placed on enhancing the resilience of these coupled systems to reduce the likelihood of their sudden reconfiguration into domains of stability that are undesirable in the view of resource users and managers. Biosphere reserves have long acknowledged the need to think in terms of coupled social-ecosystems. Their commitment to promoting sustainability in the context of complex systems dynamics makes them ideal test sites for this kind of collaborative research. A theoretical framework for resilience analysis that can be used for cross case-study situations is described. An approach for applying it for the area of the Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve is sketched.