@article{0e58e33cfcac4bda80db225627227082,
title = "A Land Systems Science Framework for Bridging Land System Architecture and Landscape Ecology: A Case Study from the Southern High Plains",
abstract = "Resource-use decisions affect the ecological and human components of the coupled human and natural system (CHANS), but a critique of some frameworks is that they do not address the complexity and tradeoffs within and between the two systems. Land system architecture (LA) was suggested to account for these tradeoffs at multiple levels/scales. LA and landscape ecology (LE) focus on landscape structure (i.e., composition and configuration of land-use and land-cover change [LULCC]) and the processes (social-ecological) resulting from and shaping LULCC. Drawing on mixed-methods research in the Southern Great Plains, we develop a framework that incorporates LA, LE, and governance theory. Public land and water are commons resources threatened by overuse, degradation, and climate change. Resource use is exacerbated by public land and water policies at the state-and local-levels. Our framework provides a foundation for investigating the mechanisms of land systems science (LSS) couplings across multiple levels/scales to understand how and why governance impacts human LULCC decisions (LA) and how those LULCC patterns influence, and are influenced by, the underlying ecological processes (LE). This framework provides a mechanism for investigating the feedbacks between and among the different system components in a CHANS that subsequently impact future human design decisions.",
keywords = "CHANS, Governance, High Plains Aquifer Region, Ogallala, Patterns, Social-ecological processes",
author = "Vadjunec, {Jacqueline M.} and Frazier, {Amy E.} and Peter Kedron and Todd Fagin and Yun Zhao",
note = "Funding Information: Informal governance arrangements have also shifted the water use of Union County substantially. A prime example of this is the 2011 creation of the Union County Hydrology Project. Supported by the Union County Soil and Water Conservation District, the project educates citizens about the HPA and maps and monitors aquifer recharge and drawdown. These different and changing water governance scenarios gradually influence the local landscape patterns again (hence repeating the cycle, Figure 2). While water governance in all three counties appears to be strong on paper, in reality the interpretation and results of that governance varies considerably. In contrast, Funding Information: Figure 1. Traditional framework for coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) studies. Source: Figure adapted by the authors from National Science Foundation (NSF) 18-503 (2017: p. 4) (See: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18503/nsf18503.pdf) Funding Information: Acknowledgments: This research has been generously funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) research grants #CMMI-1266381, #OIA-1301789, #BCS-1561021. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders. We are grateful for our research assistants, Brian Birchler, Kathryn Wenger, and Austin Boardman, as well as Michael P. Larson for assistance on various aspects of this project. Lastly, we thank the residents of the tri-state area for their time and generosity. Funding Information: This research has been generously funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) research grants #CMMI-1266381, #OIA-1301789, #BCS-1561021. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders. We are grateful for our research assistants, Brian Birchler, Kathryn Wenger, and Austin Boardman, as well as Michael P. Larson for assistance on various aspects of this project. Lastly, we thank the residents of the tri-state area for their time and generosity. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",
year = "2018",
month = mar,
doi = "10.3390/land7010027",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "7",
journal = "Land",
issn = "2073-445X",
publisher = "Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)",
number = "1",
}