61
Key Points
• Systems describe a whole composed of many interacting parts with a unifying
framework; boundaries in space and time; external forcing factors; structural
arrangements; functions; change and variability; and humans as both forcings
and participants in the system.
• Complex systems have heterogeneous parts with complex interactions that make
them interdependent, coevolving, and subject to distributed control. The characteristics of the whole system emerge from the interactions between the
components of the system giving rise to stability and changes that are often hard
to predict and sensitive to initial conditions.
• Because complex systems are influenced by external factors such as human
actions, models of complex systems make projections based upon certain
assumptions rather than predictions about actual future outcomes.
Discussion Points and Exercises
1. The FEW system is an excellent example of all four system-of-systems attributes. Now that you have read this chapter, describe how this is so.
2. Discuss what makes a system complex, and why the FEW system IS or IS NOT
complex.
3. Describe a food system as a process network.
4. Describe heterogeneity in a FEW system at the local, regional, and national
levels.
5. Describe hierarchy in an energy system.
6. Describe three emergent properties in a: (a) food system; (b) energy system; (c)
water system; (d) FEW system
7. Develop a Process Network of a (a) food system; (b) energy in transportation
system; (c) water system; (d) farm system including FEW components; (e)
household system including FEW components.
8. Describe a Complex Adaptive System in: (a) the agricultural sector; (b) the electricity sector; (c) a urban FEWs context; (d) a rural FEW context.
For Exercises 9–17, consider modeling a system. Describe the following:
(a) The boundaries of the system;
(b) The main components;
(c) The structural arrangement of the components;
(d) The most significant functional interactions between components;
(e) External factors and their interactions with the system;
(f) The most significant (distributed) controls on the system including human
actions;
(g) Issues that might alter the stability of the system; and
(h) An emergent property of the system.
9. The water system for a city. Specify the location of the city and think about
geographic variation.
10. The water system for a farm growing an irrigated crop.
11. The food system of a landscape encompassing many farms or agricultural
communities.
2 Systems Science
Key Points
• Systems describe a whole composed of many interacting parts with a unifying
framework; boundaries in space and time; external forcing factors; structural
arrangements; functions; change and variability; and humans as both forcings
and participants in the system.
• Complex systems have heterogeneous parts with complex interactions that make
them interdependent, coevolving, and subject to distributed control. The characteristics of the whole system emerge from the interactions between the
components of the system giving rise to stability and changes that are often hard
to predict and sensitive to initial conditions.
• Because complex systems are influenced by external factors such as human
actions, models of complex systems make projections based upon certain
assumptions rather than predictions about actual future outcomes.
Discussion Points and Exercises
1. The FEW system is an excellent example of all four system-of-systems attributes. Now that you have read this chapter, describe how this is so.
2. Discuss what makes a system complex, and why the FEW system IS or IS NOT
complex.
3. Describe a food system as a process network.
4. Describe heterogeneity in a FEW system at the local, regional, and national
levels.
5. Describe hierarchy in an energy system.
6. Describe three emergent properties in a: (a) food system; (b) energy system; (c)
water system; (d) FEW system
7. Develop a Process Network of a (a) food system; (b) energy in transportation
system; (c) water system; (d) farm system including FEW components; (e)
household system including FEW components.
8. Describe a Complex Adaptive System in: (a) the agricultural sector; (b) the electricity sector; (c) a urban FEWs context; (d) a rural FEW context.
For Exercises 9–17, consider modeling a system. Describe the following:
(a) The boundaries of the system;
(b) The main components;
(c) The structural arrangement of the components;
(d) The most significant functional interactions between components;
(e) External factors and their interactions with the system;
(f) The most significant (distributed) controls on the system including human
actions;
(g) Issues that might alter the stability of the system; and
(h) An emergent property of the system.
9. The water system for a city. Specify the location of the city and think about
geographic variation.
10. The water system for a farm growing an irrigated crop.
11. The food system of a landscape encompassing many farms or agricultural
communities.
2 Systems Science