CASCADE - Co-Resilience Of Natural And Social Systems In A Global Biodiversity Hotspot
CASCADE addresses the multilateral relationship between biodiversity, climate change, and society, focusing on unwanted feedbacks in social-ecological systems (SES). We propose, by means of a truly inter- and transdisciplinary approach, to study the drivers and impacts of tipping points in SES in an ideal study region. The main products include early warning systems for regime shifts as well as mechanisms to pre-emptively enhance resilience of natural and social systems (co-resilience). We will study whether cooperative management and the comprehensive appreciation of ecosystem services (ES) delivered by biodiversity aids in threshold-based management (TBM), i.e. management for identifying regime shifts and increasing resilience of SES in a world with more frequent extremes. The project is unique in integrating natural and social sciences at eye level and in adopting the three-step model for transdisciplinarity: co-design, co-production and co-dissemination of research between science and stakeholders.
Our focus is on the Jordan River region, located in a global biodiversity hotspot and including many progenitors of globally important crops. Steep climate gradients and highly diverse socio-economic settings provide an ideal real-life laboratory.
Main Investigator: Katja Tielbörger
