| Social-ecological systems (SESs) refer to the linked systems of people and nature, which are dynamic, non-equilibrium and hierarchical and as such require multi-scale analyses to reveal how they are structured and to formulate hypotheses about possible regulatory mechanisms. Alternative stable states mean that there are different stable states which have different structures and functions under the same conditions, and each kind of stable state decided by certain variables or the parameter. Therefore it is necessary to conduct the research on regime and the regime shift, track variable and parameter transformations which are influence system regime shift, understand the driving mechanism of system regime shift, all in order to monitor the direction and manage the process of regime shift, enhance system's resilience and put down frangibility, with purpose prevents regime catastrophic shift which may not be able to return. System in the new regime has a different structure and function, these differences can have important consequences for society and some shifts are deemed desirable and others not. In the loess plateau, the social economy system operation and ecological processes coupled together, the fragile ecological environment is undering the double stress by soil erosion serious and human activities, so the coordinate development of local population, resource and environment is constrained.This research located on typical rural social-ecological system in Loess Plateau, based on scale of village and peasant household, form two ways of regime shift which named system variables change and system parameters change explored in recent 30 years (from 1984-2010) the process of local rural social-ecological system regime shift, meanwhile analyzed the shift driving mechanisms and evaluated the consequences regime shift effect on system resilience. As the results showed, the rural social-ecological system of has indeed experienced a regime shift during the past 30 years of evolution as well as from a traditional agricultural state in the beginning of reform and opening up period, named dominated by food crops grown traditional agricultural regime into a current new apple-planting-depended agricultural regime, the former subsistence mode is single (Labour was tied on the land), family income rely on food grown, the latter one is diversification of subsistence mode and the income structure, be system structure and function have undergone significant changes and differentiated each other. The driving forces of such shift are mainly from the gaps of incomes due to the different land use (planting crops or growing apples) and livelihoods of individual labor engaged on (planting crops or growing apples), by changing the system control variables-apple growing area, driving the entire local rural social-ecological system has undergone transformation, coupled with the impact of the four external factors that are the external scientific and technological strength involved in; the external economic conditions change, and the national preferential agricultural policies and the improving of local infrastructure to the end makes the system regime shift. For the peasant household, due to their own adaptability different transition process emerge discrepancy, in other words the shift in varying degrees. In addition, the resulting consequences might be depend on study scales, for regime shift might weaken the resilience which declined the ability of system to cope with external disturbances in the large scale, but increase in the small one. This Social-ecological systems research from scale of villages and and the peasant household, for the purpose of helping the Loess Highlands area to realize the agricultural sustainable development, Simultaneously can also for the local rural Social-ecological ecology plan, the environmental protection, the resource management policy formulation and so on provide the theory support and the decision-making depends on according. |
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