Acoupled human–environment system (known also as acoupled human and natural system, orCHANS) characterizes the dynamical two-way interactions between human systems (e.g., economic, social) and natural (e.g., hydrologic, atmospheric, biological, geological) systems.[1][2] This coupling expresses the idea that the evolution of humans and environmental systems may no longer be treated as individual isolated systems.[3]
As CHANS research is relatively new, it has not yet matured into a coherent field. Some research programs draw from, and build on, the perspectives developed in trans-disciplinary fields such ashuman ecology,ecological anthropology,environmental geography,economics, as well as others. In contrast, other research programs, such asCritical Zone[4] science, aim to develop a more quantitative theoretic framework focusing on the development of analytical and numerical models, by building on theoretical advances incomplex adaptive systems,complexity economics,dynamical systems theory, and theearth sciences. To some extent, all CHANS programs recognize the need to move beyond traditional research methods developed in the social and natural sciences, as these are not sufficient to quantify the highly nonlinear dynamics often present in CHANS. Some research into CHANS emulates the more traditional research programs that tended to separate the social from the ecological sciences.[5][6]
The phrase "coupled human–environment systems" appears in the earlier literature (dating back to 1999) noting that social and natural systems are inseparable.[7][8] "In 2007 a formal standing program in Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems was created by the U.S. National Science Foundation."[2]: 218 Research into CHANS is increasing in frequency in scientific literature concerning thesustainability andconservation ofecosystems andsociety.[9]
Funding by theNational Science Foundation to study "Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems" occurred from 2001-2005 as a part of a "special competition" within the "Biocomplexity in the environment" program, and in 2007 gained formal standing.[10][11]
W.C. Clark,B. L. Turner,R. W. Kates, J. Richards, J. T. Mathews, and W. Meyer, eds.The Earth as Transformed by Human Action. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
Eric Sheppard and Robert B. McMaster, eds.Scale and Geographic Inquiry: Nature, Society, and Method (see especially "Crossing the Divide: Linking Global and Local Scales in Human–Environment Systems" by William E. Easterling and Colin Polsky) (Blackwell Publishing, January 1, 2004)
^abAlberti, Marina; Asbjornsen, Heidi; Baker, Lawrence A; Brozovic, Nicholas; Drinkwater, Laurie E; Drzyzga, Scott A; Jantz, Claire A; Fragoso, José; Holland, Daniel S; Kohler, Timothy (Tim) A;Liu, Jianguo (Jack); McConnell, William J; Maschner, Herbert D. G; Millington, James D. A; Monticino, Michael; Podestá, Guillermo; Pontius, Robert Gilmore; Redman, Charles L; Reo, Nicholas J; Sailor, David; Urquhart, Gerald (2011)."Research on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS): Approach, Challenges, and Strategies".Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America.92 (2):218–28.doi:10.1890/0012-9623-92.2.218.hdl:2376/5747.
^Liu, Jianguo; Dietz, Thomas; Carpenter, Stephen R; Folke, Carl; Alberti, Marina; Redman, Charles L; Schneider, Stephen H; Ostrom, Elinor; Pell, Alice N; Lubchenco, Jane; Taylor, William W; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Deadman, Peter; Kratz, Timothy; Provencher, William (2007). "Coupled Human and Natural Systems".Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment.36 (8):639–49.doi:10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[639:chans]2.0.co;2.JSTOR25547831.PMID18240679.S2CID18167083.
^National Research Council Policy Division Board on Sustainable Development. Washington, DC: Natl Acad Press; 1999. Our Common Journey: A Transition Toward Sustainability.
