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• Large events. Relatively small changes may lead to large effects. This is the case
if a complex system is close to a tipping point
• Self-organization. Complex adaptive systems operate without central control.
However, they are often characterized by a certain order. They, as it were, organize themselves from the bottom-up.
Using socio-ecological systems to frame the FEW nexus helps us to understand
the deep interactions between human and natural systems. For example, the loss of
supporting services in food due to climate change in Syria (60% farm loss and 80%
livestock abandonment) has been identified as a key destabilizing factor that initiated the war and caused mass migration into Europe. Although these interdependencies and trade-offs were not clear before, they demonstrate the role ecosystems and
the nexus play within complex adaptive systems.
Continuing to undervalue our ecosystems and ignore the complex interactions,
trade-offs, and interdependencies across the nexus will amplify risks to human
development (Chap. 3) and ultimately undermine prosperity. Section 9.3 outlines
how ecosystems and ecosystems services can be valued and undervalued within
the nexus.
9.2 Ecosystem Concepts and Mechanisms Relating
to the Nexus
9.2.1 Hydrological and Biogeochemical Cycles
9.2.1.1 Water Cycle and Atmospheric Processes
Despite the global connectedness of the water cycle as discussed in Sect. 2.5, substantial variability in hydrologic and atmospheric conditions exist in space and
time across the earth’s surface, associated with factors such as landform, climate,
elevation, soil, and season. Because of the dependency of life on the presence
water, the resulting variety in the amount of water and its chemical characteristics—based on its interactions with the surrounding geology and biogeochemical
cycles—provides the conditions for the formation of many different ecosystems
and associated ecological niches to support the organisms that are associated with
those ecosystems.
As discussed in Chap. 11, rapid climate change due to anthropogenic influence
is a problem for organisms that have evolved slowly over time to be adapted to a
specific ecosystem because they may be less able to change on the timeframe
required to cope with conditions that quickly become wetter or drier on a longterm basis.
To the extent that food systems depend on organisms that rely for some of their
support upon neighboring ecosystems that are associated with a particular moisture
regime—such as pollinator insects that cause flowering plants to produce seed or
fruit and parasitoids that control crop pest insects—the water cycle has both direct
9 Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services
• Large events. Relatively small changes may lead to large effects. This is the case
if a complex system is close to a tipping point
• Self-organization. Complex adaptive systems operate without central control.
However, they are often characterized by a certain order. They, as it were, organize themselves from the bottom-up.
Using socio-ecological systems to frame the FEW nexus helps us to understand
the deep interactions between human and natural systems. For example, the loss of
supporting services in food due to climate change in Syria (60% farm loss and 80%
livestock abandonment) has been identified as a key destabilizing factor that initiated the war and caused mass migration into Europe. Although these interdependencies and trade-offs were not clear before, they demonstrate the role ecosystems and
the nexus play within complex adaptive systems.
Continuing to undervalue our ecosystems and ignore the complex interactions,
trade-offs, and interdependencies across the nexus will amplify risks to human
development (Chap. 3) and ultimately undermine prosperity. Section 9.3 outlines
how ecosystems and ecosystems services can be valued and undervalued within
the nexus.
9.2 Ecosystem Concepts and Mechanisms Relating
to the Nexus
9.2.1 Hydrological and Biogeochemical Cycles
9.2.1.1 Water Cycle and Atmospheric Processes
Despite the global connectedness of the water cycle as discussed in Sect. 2.5, substantial variability in hydrologic and atmospheric conditions exist in space and
time across the earth’s surface, associated with factors such as landform, climate,
elevation, soil, and season. Because of the dependency of life on the presence
water, the resulting variety in the amount of water and its chemical characteristics—based on its interactions with the surrounding geology and biogeochemical
cycles—provides the conditions for the formation of many different ecosystems
and associated ecological niches to support the organisms that are associated with
those ecosystems.
As discussed in Chap. 11, rapid climate change due to anthropogenic influence
is a problem for organisms that have evolved slowly over time to be adapted to a
specific ecosystem because they may be less able to change on the timeframe
required to cope with conditions that quickly become wetter or drier on a longterm basis.
To the extent that food systems depend on organisms that rely for some of their
support upon neighboring ecosystems that are associated with a particular moisture
regime—such as pollinator insects that cause flowering plants to produce seed or
fruit and parasitoids that control crop pest insects—the water cycle has both direct
9 Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services