Resilience trinity: safeguarding ecosystem functioning and services across three different time horizons and decision contexts

Ensuring ecosystem resilience is an intuitive approach to safeguard the functioning of ecosystems and hence the future provisioning of ecosystem services (ES). However, resilience is a multi‐faceted concept that is difficult to operationalize. Focusing on resilience mechanisms, such as diversity, network architectures or adaptive capacity, has recently been suggested as means to operationalize resilience. Still, the focus on mechanisms is not specific enough. We suggest a conceptual framework, resilience trinity, to facilitate management based on resilience mechanisms in three distinctive decision contexts and time‐horizons: 1) reactive, when there is an imminent threat to ES resilience and a high pressure to act, 2) adjustive, when the threat is known in general but there is still time to adapt management and 3) provident, when time horizons are very long and the nature of the threats is uncertain, leading to a low willingness to act. Resilience has different interpretations and implications at these different time horizons, which also prevail in different disciplines. Social ecology, ecology and engineering are often implicitly focussing on provident, adjustive or reactive resilience, respectively, but these different notions of resilience and their corresponding social, ecological and economic tradeoffs need to be reconciled. Otherwise, we keep risking unintended consequences of reactive actions, or shying away from provident action because of uncertainties that cannot be reduced. The suggested trinity of time horizons and their decision contexts could help ensuring that longer‐term management actions are not missed while urgent threats to ES are given priority

Ontology based data warehouse modeling and managing ecology of human body for disease and drug prescription management

Health care sector is currently experiencing a major crisis with information overload. With the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and the ageing population the amount of paper-work is more than ever before. In the US, a hospital admission of one patient generates an estimate of 60 pieces of paper. The federal governments of various countries have passed policies and initiatives that focus on introducing information systems into the health care sector. Technology will immensely reduce the cost of managing patients and even reduce the risks of mis-diagnosing and prescribing incorrectmedications to patients. This paper primarily focuses on introducing the concept of ontology based warehouse modelling and managing ecology of human body for disease and drug prescription management. Disorders of the human body and factors such as the patient?s age, living and working conditions, familial and genetic influences can be simulated into Metadata in a warehousing environment. In this environment, various relationships are identified and described between these factors and the diseases. Secondly, we also introduce ontological representation of the various human body systems such as the digestive, musculoskeletal and nervous system in disease processes. Although this is an extensive and complex knowledge domain, the work in this paper is one of the first to attempt to introduce the use of ontology based data warehousing and data mining conceptually. We also aim at implementing and applying this research in practice

Information System Guided Supply Chains and their Visual Analytics in Integrated Project Management

From a digital ecosystem perspective, sustainability is a manifestation of a composite entity with multiple data attribute dimensions. The data relationships may emerge between geographically distributed supply chain management ecosystems and their linked human, economic and environment ecologies. The ecosystems may exhibit inherent connections and interactions. For making connections more resilient, we characterize models that serve multiple industries through numerous data associations, even in Big Data scales. In the context of Integrated Project Management (IPM), the knowledge of boundaries between systems is mysterious, analysing diverse ecosystems through a sustainable framework can uncover new insights of inherent connections. The purpose of this research is to develop a holistic information system approach, in which multidimensional data and their connectivity are analysed, recognizing the ontological cogency, uniqueness of ecosystems and their data sources. The research outcome has facilitated the tactical development of strategies for ameliorating the sustainability challenges in the IPM contexts

Opportunities and challenges for the sustainability of lakes and reservoirs in relation to the sustainable development goals (SDGs)

Emerging global threats, such as biological invasions, climate change, land use intensification, and water depletion, endanger the sustainable future of lakes and reservoirs. To deal with these threats, a multidimensional view on the protection and exploitation of lakes and reservoirs is needed. The holistic approach needs to contain not just the development of economy and society but also take into account the negative impacts of this growth on the environment, from that, the balance between the three dimensions can be sustained to reach a sustainable future. As such, this paper provides a comprehensive review on future opportunities and challenges for the sustainable development of lakes and reservoirs via a critical analysis on their contribution to individual and subsets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, lakes and reservoirs are key freshwater resources. They play crucial roles in human societies for drinking water provision, food production (via fisheries, aquaculture, and the irrigation of agricultural lands), recreation, energy provision (via hydropower dams), wastewater treatment, and flood and drought control. Because of the (mostly) recent intensive exploitations, many lakes and reservoirs are severely deteriorated. In recent years, physical (habitat) degradation has become very important while eutrophication remains the main issue for many lakes and ponds worldwide. Besides constant threats from anthropogenic activities, such as urbanization, industry, aquaculture, and watercourse alterations, climate change and emerging contaminants, such as microplastics and antimicrobial resistance, can generate a global problem for the sustainability of lakes and reservoirs. In relation to the SDGs, the actions for achieving the sustainability of lakes and reservoirs have positive links with the SDGs related to environmental dimensions (Goals 6, 13, 14, and 15) as they are mutually reinforcing each other. On the other hand, these actions have direct potential conflicts with the SDGs related to social and economic dimensions (Goals 1, 2, 3 and 8). From these interlinkages, we propose 22 indicators that can be used by decision makers for monitoring and assessing the sustainable development of lakes and reservoirs

On Developing Sustainable Digital Ecosystems and their Spatial-temporal Knowledge Management

The research aims to assess the sustainment of multiple ecosystems with viable and adaptable models. We propose an Information System (IS) modelling approach and examine the sustainment between ecosystems through connectable multidimensional IS artefacts. For example, humans survive in healthy and hassle-free environments for long-term economic benefits. We conceptualize human, healthcare, and environmental ecosystems are connectable, and the interconnectivity depends on how the ecologies are supportive together and with each other. The ecosystems emerge and grow with data heterogeneity challenges, which can disorganize ecological connectivity, impeding the implementation of resilient digital ecosystems. The development of multidimensional repositories is added motivation to explore connectivity, for which Attribute Journey Mapping and Modelling (AJMM) method is sought. Map views are computed to successfully interpret and establish connectivity, including coherency between attributes of multiple digital ecosystems. Besides, Big Data has changed the ecological research direction with which the coexistence between human-healthcare-environment ecosystems is assessed

Securing the Livelihoods and Nutritional Needs of Fish-Dependent Communities

Starting in June 2012, the Rockefeller Foundation began investigating the pressing problem of the declining health of the oceans due to climate change, overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction, and the effects of this decline on poor and vulnerable people who depend on marine ecosystems for food and livelihoods. The goal was to better understand the nature of the problem and the potential impact of interventions in the fields of fisheries, aquaculture, poverty, and food security.The Foundation assembled a portfolio of learning grants that examined this problem from multiple perspectives in order to inform and assess the viability of and potential impact for future engagement on this topic. We supported four scoping studies that sought to identify populations dependent on marine fisheries, as well as review past experience with integrated approaches to fisheries management within a livelihoods and food security context. In partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, we also supported scoping work in four countries to assess opportunities for a coordinated strategy integrating national policy, local management, and innovative financing.We have learned a tremendous amount from the work our grantees have done, captured here by partner FSG in a summary and synthesis. We hope this information will contribute to the broader body of knowledge on this topic, as well as our own work