Sustainability. Systems integration for global sustainability.
Global sustainability challenges, from maintaining biodiversity to providing clean air and water, are closely interconnected yet often separately studied and managed. Systems integration—holistic approaches to integrating various components of coupled human and natural systems—is critical to understand socioeconomic and environmental interconnections and to create sustainability solutions. Recent advances include the development and quantification of integrated frameworks that incorporate ecosystem services, environmental footprints, planetary boundaries, human-nature nexuses, and telecoupling. Although systems integration has led to fundamental discoveries and practical applications, further efforts are needed to incorporate more human and natural components simultaneously, quantify spillover systems and feedbacks, integrate multiple spatial and temporal scales, develop new tools, and translate findings into policy and practice. Such efforts can help address important knowledge gaps, link seemingly unconnected challenges, and inform policy and management decisions.
Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. liuji@msu.edu.
Jianguo
J
Liu
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Harold
H
Mooney
Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Vanessa
V
Hull
Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
Steven J
SJ
Davis
World Bank, Washington, DC, USA.
Joanne
J
Gaskell
Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
Thomas
T
Hertel
Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA.
Jane
J
Lubchenco
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Karen C
KC
Seto
The Pacific Institute, Oakland, CA, USA.
Peter
P
Gleick
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Claire
C
Kremen
Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Shuxin
S
Li
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D056804:Biofuels; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018534:Earth, Planet; D056727:Endangered Species; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D006801:Humans; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018511:Systems Integration; D001503:Ursidae
D056804:Biofuels