Center for Water Sciences, Michigan State University, 301 Manly Miles Building, 1405 S. Harrison Rd, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA,
Ambio. 2014 Apr;43(3):275-87. doi: 10.1007/s13280-013-0432-4. Epub 2013 Aug 15.
Applying sustainability at an operational level requires understanding the linkages between socioeconomic and natural systems. We identified linkages in a case study of the Lake St. Clair (LSC) region, part of the Laurentian Great Lakes system. Our research phases included: (1) investigating and revising existing coupled human and natural systems frameworks to develop a framework for this case study; (2) testing and refining the framework by hosting a 1-day stakeholder workshop and (3) creating a causal loop diagram (CLD) to illustrate the relationships among the systems' key components. With stakeholder assistance, we identified four interrelated pathways that include water use and discharge, land use, tourism and shipping that impact the ecological condition of LSC. The interrelationships between the pathways of water use and tourism are further illustrated by a CLD with several feedback loops. We suggest that this holistic approach can be applied to other case studies and inspire the development of dynamic models capable of informing decision making for sustainability.
将可持续性应用于运营层面需要理解社会经济和自然系统之间的联系。我们在对圣克莱尔湖（LSC）地区的案例研究中确定了这些联系，该地区是大湖-圣劳伦斯航道系统的一部分。我们的研究阶段包括：（1）调查和修改现有的耦合人类和自然系统框架，以开发该案例研究的框架；（2）通过举办为期一天的利益相关者研讨会来测试和完善该框架；（3）创建因果关系图（CLD）来说明系统关键组成部分之间的关系。在利益相关者的协助下，我们确定了四条相互关联的途径，包括水的使用和排放、土地利用、旅游和航运，这些途径会影响 LSC 的生态状况。水的使用和旅游途径之间的相互关系进一步通过一个具有几个反馈回路的 CLD 来说明。我们建议可以将这种整体方法应用于其他案例研究，并激发开发能够为可持续性决策提供信息的动态模型。
