Relational analysis of the resource nexus in arid land crop production
Cabello, Violeta (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Renner, Ansel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Giampietro, Mario (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2019
Abstract:	While a large number of descriptive studies have delineated the interlinkages between water, food and energy resources in the last decade, there is still need for systematic conceptualization of resource nexus interconnections. This paper proposes a theory of relational analysis of the nexus based on the analytical concept of nexus networks. A taxonomy of nexus interconnections, detailing sequential and hierarchical connections, is characterized between and amongst the technosphere and biosphere. We illustrate the use of a novel diagnostic tool with regard to its ability to integrate macro-, meso- and microscale drivers of nexus problems. We apply this framework to problems generated by intensive crop production for exportation in an arid landscape (driven by external markets) and sustainable management of water resources (driven by public policies) in a southern Spanish region. We elucidate interconnected causal mechanisms for groundwater overexploitation and profile different social-ecological patterns on a spatially-explicit basis. The proposed approach is capable of accounting for the water-energy-food resource nexus in an integrated and multi-level fashion, addressing the tensions generated by both multi-functionality and resource entanglement in complex social-ecological systems.
Grants:	European Commission 689669 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552 Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FPU15/03376
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Nexus networks ; Metabolic processor ; Relational analysis ; Water-energy-food nexus ; Multi-functionality
Published in:	Advances in water resources, Vol. 130 (Aug. 2019) , p. 258-269, ISSN 0309-1708

DOI: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.06.014

12 p, 2.2 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) > Integrated Assessment: Sociology, Technology and the Environment (IASTE)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles