Wildfire risk in temperate forests has become a nearly intractable problem that can be characterized as a socioecological “pathology”: that is, a set of complex and problematic interactions among social and ecological systems across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Assessments of wildfire risk could benefit from recognizing and accounting for...
In the mid-2000s the U.S. west coast oyster industry experienced several years of significant production failures. This industry has been referred to as the “canary in a coal mine” for ocean acidification (OA). Industry-led collaboration with university and government scientists identified a relationship between elevated carbon dioxide in seawater and...
Fire-prone landscapes are not well studied as coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) and present many challenges
for understanding and promoting adaptive behaviors and institutions. Here, we explore how heterogeneity, feedbacks, and external
drivers in this type of natural hazard system can lead to complexity and can limit the development...