The researches on the processes of land use and land cover change are at the center of attention of the current environmental research, because their implications in relation to the loss of habitat, biodiversity, environmental services and productive capacity of ecosystems; as well as being recognized as one of the most important factors of global change and representing the second anthropogenic source of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The characteristics of land use are the result of the interrelationship between physical or natural factors and cultural and human factors. Hence, the balance between natural habitat and man-made landscape could determine the future of biodiversity conservation, the provision of ecosystem services and the sustaining of productive activities in large areas of the planet.
Understanding these complex processes and quantifying the degree of human conversion of natural ecosystems is very important, therefore the socio-ecological systems approach represents a support for the holistic analysis between systems since allows the formation of an integrated and unitary system.
Although research in modeling has been carried out under this approach, little attention has been paid to the inclusion of the endogenization (in double via) of their relations between the social and natural systems. Natural and social systems have usually been linked together in only one direction ignoring the feedback between them.
This research aims at generating a model of simulation that allows the analysis of the dynamic of some services ecosystem associated to the natural capital of the soil in a basin hydrographic of half mountain Colombian under the of social-ecological system approach.
The methodological stage is composed of four phases
Phase 1: Definition of parameters, endogenous and exogenous variables. This phase comprises activities such as describing the processes to be modeled, as well as the interaction between them and other processes, in addition to definying the modeling tool (s) to be used to achieve the purpose. The agent-based model and system dynamics are the most commonly used tools in the literature. However, it is necessary to evaluate the advantages and the requirements of each one and the possibility of coupling them.
Phase 2. Conceptualization of the theoretical model. In this phase, the dynamic system hypothesis is formulated using causal diagrams.
Phase 3. Design of the computational model. The activities that are included are: Designing the graphic representation of the configurations that are included in the model, and building the formal model with mathematical description.
Phase 4. Consolidation of the computational model. Activities such as model validation and model application are included. The application will be able to simulate the dynamics of the ecosystem services in the future under land use change scenarios.
This research is the doctoral proposal which attempts at contributing to acknowledge some of the challenges that are in force in the modeling of socio-ecological systems. Besides, it also aims at generating a tool that allows to understand the dynamics of the services and their management, since they are input for decision-making processes.
1a Sustainable development science: fundamental concepts (definitions, fundamental concept
