Using the ‘regime shift’ concept in addressing social-ecological change Christian A. Kull*a, b Christoph Kuefferc,d David M. Richardsond Ana Sofia Vaze Joana R. Vicentee João Pradinho Honradoe This is an authors’ preprint version of the article published in the journal Geographical Research. The final, definitive version is available through Wiley’s Online Library at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-5871.12267/full Citation: Kull, C.A., Kueffer, C., Richardson, D.M., Vaz, A.S., Vicente, J.R., Honrado, J.P., (2017). Using the ‘regime shift’ concept in addressing social-ecological change. Geographical Research. 56 (1): 26-41. DOI: 10.1111/1745-5871.12267. *Corresponding author.
[email protected] a Institute of Geography and Sustainability, University of Lausanne, Switzerland b Centre for Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Australia c Institute of Integrative Biology, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland d Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa e Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology (InBIO/CIBIO) & Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal ABSTRACT ‘Regime shift’ has emerged as a key concept in the environmental sciences. The concept has roots in complexity science and its ecological applications and is increasingly applied to intertwined social and ecological phenomena. Yet, what exactly is a regime shift? We explore this question at three nested levels. First, we propose a broad, contingent, multi-perspective epistemological basis for the concept, seeking to build bridges between its complexity theory origins and critiques from science studies, political ecology, and environmental history.