Much of our knowledge about land use and ecosystem services in interrelated social-ecological systems is derived from place-based research. While local and regional case studies provide valuable insights, it is often unclear how relevant this research is beyond the study areas. Drawing generalized conclusions about practical solutions to land management from local observations and formulating hypotheses applicable to other places in the world requires that we identify patterns of land systems that are similar to those represented by the case study. Here, we utilize the previously developed concept of land system archetypes to investigate potential transferability of research from twelve regional projects implemented in a large joint research framework that focus on issues of sustainable land management across four continents. For each project, we characterize its project archetype, i.e. the unique land system based on a synthesis of more than 30 datasets of land-use intensity, environmental conditions and socioeconomic indicators. We estimate the transferability potential of project research by calculating the statistical similarity of locations across the world to the project archetype, assuming higher transferability potentials in locations with similar land system characteristics. Results show that areas with high transferability potentials are typically clustered around project sites but for some case studies can be found in regions that are geographically distant, especially when values of considered variables are close to the global mean or where the project archetype is driven by large-scale environmental or socioeconomic conditions. Using specific examples from the local case studies, we highlight the merit of our approach and discuss the differences between local realities and information captured in global datasets. The proposed method provides a blueprint for large research programs to assess potential transferability of place-based studies to other geographical areas and to indicate possible gaps in research efforts.
UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany;Palacký University Olomouc, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, 78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic;Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, D-14412 Potsdam, Germany;Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), D-14195 Berlin, Germany;University of Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany;Thünen Institute of Rural Studies, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, D-38116 Braunschweig, Germany;University of Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute), D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany;Philipps University, Department of Ecology, D-35043 Marburg, Germany;University of Münster, Institute of Landscape Ecology, Heisenbergstr, 2, D-48149 Münster, Germany;UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Community Ecology, D-06120 Halle, Germany;iDiv—German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany;UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Community Ecology, D-06120 Halle, Germany;Sustainable Europe Research Institute SERI Germany e.V., D-51103 Cologne, Germany;UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany;iDiv—German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany;Institute of Geoscience & Geography, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, D-06099 Halle (Saale), Germany
Recommended Citation:
Tomáš Václavík,Fanny Langerwisch,Marc Cotter,et al. Investigating potential transferability of place-based research in land system science[J]. Environmental Research Letters,2016-01-01,11(9)