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Science 14 September 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5844, pp. 1513 - 1516
DOI: 10.1126/science.1144004
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Review

Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems

Jianguo Liu ,1* Thomas Dietz,2 Stephen R. Carpenter,3 Marina Alberti,4 Carl Folke,5,6 Emilio Moran,7 Alice N. Pell,8 Peter Deadman,9 Timothy Kratz,10 Jane Lubchenco,11 Elinor Ostrom,12 Zhiyun Ouyang,13 William Provencher,14 Charles L. Redman,15 Stephen H. Schneider,16 William W. Taylor1

Integrated studies of coupled human and natural systems reveal new and complex patterns and processes not evident when studied by social or natural scientists separately. Synthesis of six case studies from around the world shows that couplings between human and natural systems vary across space, time, and organizational units. They also exhibit nonlinear dynamics with thresholds, reciprocal feedback loops, time lags, resilience, heterogeneity, and surprises. Furthermore, past couplings have legacy effects on present conditions and future possibilities.

1 Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
2 Environmental Science and Policy Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
3 Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
4 Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
5 The Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Post Office Box 50005, SE 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.
6 Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
7 Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
8 Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
9 Department of Geography, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
10 Trout Lake Station, University of Wisconsin, Boulder Junction, WI 54512, USA.
11 Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
12 Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408–3895, USA.
13 Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.
14 Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
15 Global Institute for Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287–3211, USA.
16 Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305–5020, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jliu{at}panda.msu.edu

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