Historical reconfigurations of a social–ecological system adapting to economic, policy and climate changes in the French Alps

To ensure their quality of life, people adapt to multiple changes by maintaining or transforming the structure and functions of their socio-ecological systems (SES). A better understanding of mechanisms underpinning SES adaptation, especially the contribution of changes in human–nature interactions, is crucial to facilitate adaptation to future challenges. Using a chronosystemic timeline and based on literature, archives and local knowledge of inhabitants, we explored the past trajectory of a mountain SES (Pays de la Meije, French Alps) since 1900 by analysing drivers, impacts and responses. We hypothesised that adaptation has occurred through changes in the co-production of nature’s contributions to people (NCP). We identified four historical periods of combined changes in agriculture and tourism with associated changes in NCP. Results show which and how drivers of changes have influenced NCP co-production, how NCP have been mobilised in adaptive responses and how human and natural capitals involved in NCP co-production have been reconfigured for adaptation. We show that drivers of change have been mainly exogenous and out of the control of local actors, like public policies, markets and consumption patterns. These drivers can directly impact the capitals involved in NCP co-production like amount of workforce, knowledge or skills, creating not only threats but also opportunities for the livelihood of the local community. Depending on the intensity of capital reconfiguration and the type of NCP involved, adaptive responses range from resistance to transformation of the governance system and socio-economic sectors. This analysis highlights existing path dependencies that could hinder future adaptation.

Biogeochemical proxy evidence of gradual and muted geolimnological response of Lake Nkunga, Mt. Kenya to climate changes and human influence during the past millennium

Lake Nkunga is a crater Lake on the north eastern slopes of Mount Kenya that provides a record of catchment changes covering the last millennium. A multi proxy study was carried out on 89 cm of sediment core retrieved from 20 m near the lake shoreline. The mineralogy, magnetic mineralogy, organic and elemental geochemical proxies indicate a rejuvenating lake during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly with limited sediment supply and sustained by ground water. A progressive response to wetter conditions commences ca. 810 cal yr. BP with an increase in sediment influx that peaked at 500 cal yr. BP, a period that encompasses the start of the Little Ice Age (LIA). The establishment of the present-day maar conditions may have occurred during this period of the LIA. The lake has been relatively stable with declining terrestrial input from 290 cal yr. BP to present. The inferred changes in Lake Nkunga levels from deep to shallow phases are characterized by slow and muted response to both abrupt (e.g. Medieval Climate Anomaly) and sustained and prolonged climate shifts (e.g. Little Ice Age), reflecting the resilience of geolimnological and catchment processes in this lake and its watershed to climatic changes and human influence. This study provides new insights into the utility of biogeochemical proxies from nearshore lake cores in the equatorial east Africa highlands whose responses to extreme weather events are not well understood over the last 1000 years.

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