Abstract
There is no single way of increasing climate resilience that works in all locations and circumstances. This Perspective examines two current approaches to climate-resilient conservation projects that draw on insights from the Earth sciences. A cultural diversity approach has long been used by conservation organizations with large and well-trained personnel, whereas a geodiversity approach is gaining support as a way to undertake large-scale conservation planning using readily available tools. Because the two approaches are not inherently incompatible with each other, and have complementary strengths and weaknesses, land trust project managers should take advantage of both approaches to achieve their local goals.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ervin, J. Integrating protected areas into climate planning. Biodiversity 12, 2–10 (2011).
Groves, C. R. et al. Incorporating climate change into systematic conservation planning. Biodivers. Conserv. 21, 1651–1671 (2012).
Jones, K. R., Watson, J. E., Possingham, H. P. & Klein, C. J. Incorporating climate change into spatial conservation prioritisation: a review. Biol. Conserv. 194, 121–130 (2016).
Conserving Nature in a Changing Climate: A Three-Part Guide for Land Trusts in the Northeast (Open Space Institute, 2016).
Anderson, M. G. et al. Resilient and Connected Landscapes for Terrestrial Conservation (TNC, Eastern Conservation Science, Eastern Regional Office, 2016).
Comer, P. J. Ecoregional planning and climate change adaptation. Ref. Module Earth Syst. Environ. Sci. 2, 245–256 (2013).
Fowler, R. & Robinson, E. Creating resilient communities through Earth science data. Eos (30 December 2015).
Council, N. R. Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative (National Academies, Washington DC, 2012).
Barnosky, A. D. et al. Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems. Science 355, eaah4787 (2017).
National Land Trust Census Report: Our Common Ground and Collective Impact (Land Trust Alliance, 2015).
Morris, A. W. Easing conservation? Conservation easements, public accountability and neoliberalism. Geoforum 39, 1215–1227 (2008).
Kay, K. Breaking the bundle of rights: Conservation easements and the legal geographies of individuating nature. Environ. Plan. A 48, 504–522 (2016).
Building Community Resilience by Strengthening America’s Natural Resources and Supporting Green Infrastructure (White House Press Office, 2014); https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ceq/Press_Releases/October_8_2014
Resilient and Connected Landscapes (Conservation Gateway, TNC, accessed 6 April 2019); https://go.nature.com/2xNZb7w
Barak, R. S. et al. Taking the long view: integrating recorded, archeological, paleoecological, and evolutionary data into ecological restoration. Int. J. Plant Sci. 177, 90–102 (2016).
Szabó, P. & Hédl, R. Advancing the integration of history and ecology for conservation. Conserv. Biol. 25, 680–687 (2011).
Rick, T. C. & Lockwood, R. Integrating paleobiology, archeology, and history to inform biological conservation. Conserv. Biol. 27, 45–54 (2013).
Howell, E. A., Harrington, J. A., Glass, S. B. Introduction to Restoration Ecology (Island Press, Washington DC, 2012).
Athens, J. S., Rieth, T. M. & Dye, T. S. A paleoenvironmental and archaeological model-based age estimate for the colonization of Hawai’i. Am. Antiq. 79, 144–155 (2014).
Kirch, P. V. Late Holocene human-induced modifications to a central Polynesian island ecosystem. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93, 5296–5300 (1996).
Paulay, G. & Starmer, J. Evolution, insular restriction, and extinction of oceanic land crabs, exemplified by the loss of an endemic Geograpsus in the Hawaiian Islands. PLoS ONE 6, e19916 (2011).
Burney, D. A. & Burney, L. P. Paleoecology and “inter-situ” restoration on Kaua’i, Hawai’i. Front. Ecol. Environ. 5, 483–490 (2007).
Kittinger, J. N. et al. Historical reconstruction reveals recovery in Hawaiian coral reefs. PLoS ONE 6, e25460 (2011).
Pau, S., MacDonald, G. M. & Gillespie, T. W. A dynamic history of climate change and human impact on the environment from Keālia Pond, Maui, Hawaiian Islands. Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr. 102, 748–762 (2012).
Prebble, M. & Dowe, J. L. The late Quaternary decline and extinction of palms on oceanic Pacific islands. Quat. Sci. Rev. 27, 2546–2567 (2008).
Folke, C. Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses. Glob. Environ. Change 16, 253–267 (2006).
Mayunga, J. S. Understanding and applying the concept of community disaster resilience: a capital-based approach. Summer Acad. Soc. Vulnerab. Resil. Build. 1, 16 (2007).
Lau, L.-K. S. & Mink, J. F. Hydrology of the Hawaiian Islands (Univ. Hawaii Press, Honolulu, HI, 2006).
Walker, B. & Salt, D. Resilience Practice: Building Capacity to Absorb Disturbance and Maintain Function (Island Press, Wasington DC, 2012).
Beatley, T. Planning for Coastal Resilience: Best Practices for Calamitous Times (Island Press, Washington DC, 2012).
Cote, M. & Nightingale, A. J. Resilience thinking meets social theory: situating social change in socio-ecological systems (SES) research. Prog. Hum. Geogr. 36, 475–489 (2012).
Walker, J. & Cooper, M. Genealogies of resilience from systems ecology to the political economy of crisis adaptation. Secur. Dialog. 42, 143–160 (2011).
Satterthwaite, D. The political underpinnings of cities’ accumulated resilience to climate change. Environ. Urban. 25, 381–391 (2013).
Pelling, M. Adapting to Climate Change, From Resilience to Adaptation (Routledge, New York, NY, 2011).
Bahadur, A. V. & Tanner, T. Policy climates and climate policies: Analysing the politics of building urban climate change resilience. Urban Clim. 7, 20–32 (2014).
Bahadur, A. & Tanner, T. Transformational resilience thinking: putting people, power and politics at the heart of urban climate resilience. Environ. Urban. 26, 200–214 (2014).
Cannon, T. & Schipper, L. World Disasters Report 2014: Focus on Culture and Risk (IFRC, 2014).
Walker, B., Carpenter, S., Rockstrom, J., Crépin, A.-S. & Peterson, G. Drivers, “slow” variables, “fast” variables, shocks, and resilience. Ecol. Soc. 17, 430–433 (2012).
Jenkins, R E. Maintenance of natural diversity: approach and recommendations. Trans. Wildl. Nat. Resour. Conf. 41, 441–451 (1976).
Stein, B. A., Kutner, L. S. & Adams, J. S. Precious Heritage: The Status of Biodiversity in the United States (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2000).
Anderson, M. G. et al. Case studies of conservation plans that incorporate geodiversity. Conserv. Biol. 29, 680–691 (2015).
Beier, P., Hunter, M. L. & Anderson, M. Special section: conserving nature’s stage. Conserv. Biol. 29, 613–617 (2015).
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Framework for Assessment (Island Press, 2005).
Hjort, J., Gordon, J. E., Gray, M. & Hunter, M. L. Why geodiversity matters in valuing nature’s stage. Conserv. Biol. 29, 630–639 (2015).
Gordon, J. E. & Barron, H. F. The role of geodiversity in delivering ecosystem services and benefits in Scotland. Scott. J. Geol. 49, 41–58 (2013).
Beier, P. & Brost, B. Use of land facets to plan for climate change: conserving the arenas, not the actors. Conserv. Biol. 24, 701–710 (2010).
Berkes, F., Folke, C. & Gadgil, M. in Biodiversity Conservation (eds Perrings, C. et al.) 269–287 (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1995).
Conservation in the Northeast (Land Trust Alliance, accessed 6 April 2018); https://www.landtrustalliance.org/what-we-do/our-regional-programs/northeast
Brewer, R. Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement in America (UPNE, Lebanon, NH, 2004).
Holling, C. S. Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 4, 1–23 (1973).
Holling, C. S. in Engineering Within Ecological Constraints (ed. Schulze, P.) 31–44 (National Academy Press, Washington DC, 1996).
Gunderson, L. H. Ecological resilience—in theory and application. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 31, 425–439 (2000).
Timmerman, P. Vulnerability, Resilience and the Collapse of Society: A Review of Models and Possible Climatic Applications Environmental Monograph 1 (Institute for Environmental Studies, Univ. Toronto, 1981).
O’Keefe, P., Westgate, K. & Wisner, B. Taking the naturalness out of natural disasters. Nature 260, 566–567 (1976).
Adger, W. N. Social and ecological resilience: are they related? Prog. Hum. Geogr. 24, 347–364 (2000).
Adger, W. N., Hughes, T. P., Folke, C., Carpenter, S. R. & Rockström, J. Social-ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Science 309, 1036–1039 (2005).
Walker, B. et al. Resilience management in social-ecological systems: a working hypothesis for a participatory approach. Conserv. Ecol. 6, 14–31 (2002).
Folke, C. Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social–ecological systems analyses. Glob. Environ. Change 16, 253–267 (2006).
Folke, C., Hahn, T., Olsson, P. & Norberg, J. Adaptive governance of social-ecological systems. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 30, 441–473 (2005).
Walker, B. & Salt, D. Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World (Island Press, Washington DC, 2012).
Anderies, J., Janssen, M. & Ostrom, E. A framework to analyze the robustness of social-ecological systems from an institutional perspective. Ecol. Soc. 9, 18–35 (2004).
Turner, B. L. et al. A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 100, 8074–8079 (2003).
Ostrom, E. A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science 325, 419–422 (2009).
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by a seed grant from the London School of Economics Institute for Global Affairs–Rockefeller Research and Impact Fund and a Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the planning of the paper and its writing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Knudson, C., Kay, K. & Fisher, S. Appraising geodiversity and cultural diversity approaches to building resilience through conservation. Nature Clim Change 8, 678–685 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0188-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0188-8
This article is cited by
-
Including stewardship in ecosystem health assessment
Nature Sustainability (2023)
-
A Near Four-Decade Time Series Shows the Hawaiian Islands Have Been Browning Since the 1980s
Environmental Management (2023)
-
Working with Natural Processes: Restoring a Mining Landscape in the High Arctic, Svalbard, Norway
Geoheritage (2023)
-
Assessing the relation between geodiversity and species richness in mountain heaths and tundra landscapes
Landscape Ecology (2023)
-
Geodiversity impacts plant community structure in a semi-arid region
Scientific Reports (2021)