Towards a single integrative metric on the dynamics of social-environmental systems
Chen J. John R. Shao C. Ouyang Z. Mack E.A. Henebry G.M. Dong G. Allington G.R.H. Pearson A.L. Zhao F. Roy D.P. Fan P. Shirkey G.E. Tian L. Kussainova M. Chen J. Reed D.E. Abraha M.
October-2 2021MDPI
Sustainability (Switzerland)
2021#13Issue 20
Integrating the dynamics and interconnections of natural and human system properties into a single measure would make it simpler to reliably and repeatedly assess and compare different social-environmental systems (SES). We propose a novel metric to assess the magnitudes and variations in SES dynamics by integrating longitudinal gross domestic product, population, and ecosystem net primary production. We use annual public data across the Asian Drylands Belt (ADB) from 1992 through 2016 for 18 political entities as our testbed for assessing the efficacy of the metric. We perform cross-comparisons with existing natural and social science metrics to demonstrate the validity of the proposed metric, including the Human Development Index and the Palmer Drought Severity Index. The new metric demonstrates notable and meaningful differences in trends among the political entities that reflect major social, economic and environmental events over the 25-year period. It provides unique perspectives about the three pillar components (social, economic and environmental systems) in each of the 18 political entities (PE) of the ADB. The metric also shows meaningful associations with key economic and environmental indicators and great potential for broader application and evaluation, given additional testing in other countries, regions, and biomes.
Asian drylands belt , Quantitative measure , Social-environmental system , Sustainability
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Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48823, MI, United States
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48824, MI, United States
Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, 57069, SD, United States
National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100875, China
Earth System Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, CA, United States
School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China
Department of Geography, George Washington University, Washington, 20052, DC, United States
School of Planning, Design, and Construction, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48824, MI, United States
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
Sustainable Agriculture Center, Kazakh National Agrarian University, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China
Department of Environmental Science, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Chickasha, 73018, OK, United States
Center for Global Change and Earth Observations
Department of Geography
Department of Biology
National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station
Earth System Science Department
School of Life Science
Department of Geography
School of Planning
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research
Sustainable Agriculture Center
Institute of Botany
Department of Environmental Science
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