Pastoralist Systems in Transition: Social and Ecological Dimensions of Vulnerability
Funding: NSF Dynamics of Coupled Human-Natural Systems
Drylands cover 40% of the continent of Africa, and are the basis for traditional pastoralist social-ecological systems, in which societies have adapted to rely heavily or entirely on livestock production for their livelihoods in harsh and variable environments. Modernity has brought drastic political, social and land use changes, as well as unprecedented population growth, land degradation and more frequent droughts that decimate herds. Today, fewer pastoralists are meeting their livelihood needs through livestock and many are seeking novel avenues for livelihood diversification; dryland agriculture is a salient option. Such a transformation entails profound changes in ecological functioning of landscapes, in household- and collective-level risk exposure, and in the institutions governing evolving and emerging land use systems. Given the complexity and novelty of these changes, assessing whether social and ecological vulnerability is likely to be alleviated or exacerbated poses a profound challenge, but remains an urgent need as traditional pastoralist societies worldwide face similarly uncertain futures.
We are employing an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate emerging patterns of vulnerability in two pastoralist communities in Kenya which have begun to diversify into maize agriculture alongside their struggling livestock-based livelihood system. We are adopting approaches to investigate how mixed land use affects the sensitivity of range productivity to drought and shifting grazing pressures; how composition and inequities in household livestock assets create differential patterns of risk exposure associated with entry into agriculture; and how evolving land use institutions affect the coping capacity and resilience at individual and collective scales.
Collaborators: Laura German [UGA Anthropology], Ryan Unks [UGA ICON PhD program], Trenton Franz [University of Nebraska Natural Resources], and coming soon…Gabriele Volpato [UGA CICR Postdoctoral Fellow]
Understanding Sustainability Challenges via Tradeoffs in Ecosystem Services
This project arose through an NCEAS-supported Working Group.
Meeting human needs while sustaining the planet’s life support systems is the fundamental challenge of our time. While theoretical notions of the goals of sustainability science seek a unified path forward, realities on the ground present challenges. Too often, strategies that appear to be “win-win” in theory end up generating conflicts and losses as well. Our working group sought to synthesize the relevant ecological and welfare economics literature to present a simple analytical framework for understanding the constraints and challenges arising from tradeoffs in ecosystem services.
This led to a recent Special Feature in the journal Ecology and Society, which presents the analytical framework, explores its practical utility in navigating conflicts, and provides a series of case studies to illuminate impediments posed to sustainability by contrasting biophysical constraints and human values. Our goal is to provide novel insights on how sustainability can be achieved internationally through exploration of constraints, trade-offs, and human values examined at multiple scales, and across geographic regions from a range of cultural perspectives.
Read more by visiting the Special Feature in Ecology and Society (open access journal)
Collaborators: Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Steve Polasky (University of Minnesota), Patty Balvanera, Tuyeni Mwampamba (CIECO – UNAM, Mexico)
MVUA MINGI: A Model of Dryland Hillslope Vegetation Dynamics
Together with long-time collaborator Trenton Franz, we recently developed a dynamic cellular automata model that incorporates the factors that our empirical research has shown to strongly govern vegetation dynamics at the patch scale (2-4m): rain event frequency and intensity, surface water flow paths, infiltration, vegetation growth, death, and ungulate herbivory. Building on a static hillslope model that Trenton developed as part of his dissertation research, we have built in growing-season patch type transition functions that depend on seasonal soil moisture, as well as dry-season transition functions that depend on grazing intensity and antecedent patch growth. It’s generating some interesting results, and we’re writing it up now…
Role of Social Capital in Pastoralist Resource Management & Restoration
This project evolved as a partnership with Eva Kaye-Zwiebel, to further analyze her dissertation research findings through the lens of social capital and ecosystem services. The resulting manuscript argues that neighboring communities express different perceptions of ecosystem services and also exhibit differing forms and levels of social capital. These present important considerations when planning development initiatives.
Kaye-Zwiebel, E., and E. King. 2014. Kenyan pastoralist societies in transition: varying perceptions of the value of ecosystem services. Ecology and Society 19(3): 17.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06753-190317
Projects Quietly Bubbling on the Back Burner:
Ecohydrology of Sansevieria volkensii Proliferation: Resilience and Regime Shifts in Degraded Kenyan Drylands
This project is investigating how and why Sansevieria volkensii, a humble succulent native to Kenyan drylands, has become a pernicious pest plant. The proliferation has coincided with intensifying grazing pressure in the area and drastic reduction of grass cover. The plant used to occur sparsely, but now forms large, dense patches that impede people and livestock movement and utilization of the landscape. While viewed by residents as horrible, these patches harbor remnant populations of grasslands and forbs. So the patches may actually be preventing the ecosystem from even more severe collapse.
We continue to monitor the spread of patches, particularly in areas where Sanse appears to be just starting to expand. With almost 5 years of data, measuring rates of spread and associated environmental variables, we’re about ready to draw some conclusions about the conditions that favor establishment, and those that favor proliferation.
This work began in collaboration with Trenton Franz, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska and Kelly Caylor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Princeton University.
Seasonal and Long-Term Changes in Dryland Landscape Function
With Trenton Franz and Dan Rubenstein, we have been monitoring 24 30-m transects on a hillslope at Koija, Kenya for 7 years. On each transect, we monitor the vegetation patch structure, composition, and soil surface condition using the Landscape Function Analysis protocol developed by Tongway, Ludwig, and Hindley in Australia. The protocol generates indices of soil stability, nutrient cycling, and infiltration. It’s amazing to see how much the patch structure changes from season to season, with grass patches blinking in and out very rapidly. We are starting to see different trajectories, and potentially different legacy effects, in the functional indices, especially following severe droughts…
This work is in collaboration with Trenton Franz, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska and Dan Rubenstein, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University.
From Mongolia to Maasailand: A Comparative Assessment of Linkages between Pastoralist Land Rights and Social-Ecological Sustainability
This interesting synthesis of transcendental factors that can be “deal-makers and deal-breakers” for pastoralist sustainability is now off the back burner and getting properly cooked and seasoned to be served up to the public quite soon!