The importance of socio-ecological system dynamics in understanding adaptation to global change in the forestry sector

The study uses the CRAFTY-Sweden agent-based model to simulate how the Swedish forestry sector adapts to various socio-economic and climatic scenarios up to 2100. It finds that while multi-objective management generally supports adaptation, a diverse combination of management strategies is most effective at meeting ecosystem service demands across large regions. The results indicate that adaptive capacity is dynamic, evolving through interactions between actors and external drivers, suggesting that process-based models are superior to indicator-based models for studying autonomous adaptation. Finally, the paper argues that combining planned and autonomous adaptation is more successful than either approach in isolation.

• Simulations of the Swedish forestry sector indicate that multi-objective management generally offers the best foundation for adaptation, although a mix of different management strategies is more effective for meeting ecosystem service demands across larger regions.
• Adaptive capacity is not static but evolves over time based on interactions between individual actors and external global drivers, making process-based models more suitable for studying autonomous adaptation than models relying on indicators, exogenous proxies, or discrete snapshots.
• The most successful adaptation outcomes are likely to result from a combination of autonomous adaptation by forest owners and planned adaptation by institutions, rather than either acting independently.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2017). The importance of socio-ecological system dynamics in understanding adaptation to global change in the forestry sector. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-importance-of-socio-ecological-system-dynamics-in-understanding-adaptation-to-global-change-in-the-forestry-sector/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. The importance of socio-ecological system dynamics in understanding adaptation to global change in the forestry sector. 2017. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-importance-of-socio-ecological-system-dynamics-in-understanding-adaptation-to-global-change-in-the-forestry-sector/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=The importance of socio-ecological system dynamics in understanding adaptation to global change in the forestry sector |date=1 May 2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/the-importance-of-socio-ecological-system-dynamics-in-understanding-adaptation-to-global-change-in-the-forestry-sector/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2017importance, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{The importance of socio-ecological system dynamics in understanding adaptation to global change in the forestry sector}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/the-importance-of-socio-ecological-system-dynamics-in-understanding-adaptation-to-global-change-in-the-forestry-sector/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }