Towards Understanding and Sustaining Natural Resource Systems through the Systems Perspective: A Systematic Evaluation

Abstract

A bibliometric and network analysis was performed to explore global research publication trends and to investigate relevant policy recommendations in the field of sustainability of natural resources, system dynamics, and systems thinking, to solve water resources issues and enhance water resource management. Overall, 1674 academic research articles data were generated from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, from 1981 to 2019. The findings of this study revealed that system dynamics and systems thinking research has significantly increased over the last decade (from 40 to 250 articles). Countries such as the USA (20%), China (18%), the United Kingdom (5%), Canada, Iran, Australia, and India (4% each) have the most publications and strongest collaborative networks. Sterman (2000) and Forrester (1961) had the most co-cited research while Zhang X had the highest citations, respectively. Results also showed that system theory which includes systems thinking and system dynamics were the most used keywords. The Journal of Cleaner Production was found to have published the highest number of systems thinking and system dynamics related studies, perhaps due to scope relevance. Despite the exponential rise in natural resource sustainability research globally, the result of this study shows that developing countries especially in Africa have low numbers of research publications in the field. Thus, the result of this study serves as a signal for policymakers to increase attention on research publications that could enhance natural resource sustainability, particularly in less developed countries in Africa where the application of systems thinking to natural resource management is limited.

A conceptual model for enabling sustainable management of soil-sediment-water ecosystems in support of European policy

“…Regarding the ‘information’ building block in the conceptual model, it is commonly agreed that the better we understand the functioning of ecosystems – and how they respond to human (miss) use and climate change – the better we will be able to manage them sustainably (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; Allison and Hobbs, 2006; European Commission 2013; Brils et al 2014 and 2022; Bradley et al 2017; Van der Meulen and Maring, 2018; Giakoumis & Voulvoulis, 2018; Nyam et al, 2020 etc.). Or, as stated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan related to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005: “Only by understanding the environment and how it works, can we make the necessary decisions to protect it.…”

Drought Disaster Risk Adaptation through Ecosystem Services-Based Solutions: Way Forward for South Africa

“…It indicates the predominant word or term used in the drought coupled with ecosystem services research. It is easy to distinguish and figure out different areas of associations and prominent terms within the wordcloud [18]. This was done to know the research trends in the drought and ecosystem services research field and to identify the most emerging and frequent keywords used in the field.…”

A drought and heat risk assessment framework for urban green infrastructure

“…We apply a systems approach to analyze the situation of UGI under drought and heat conditions, providing a holistic perspective. The systems approach has been adopted by many research studies in the field of risks and natural resources management (e.g., Bosch et al., 2007; Mai et al., 2020; Schanze, 2006), with the advantages of including connectedness, relationships, and the broader context of situations (Nyam et al., 2020).…”