Modeling human decisions in coupled human and natural systems: Review of agent-based models

Author(s):

Journal or Book Title: Ecological Modelling

Keywords: agent-based modeling; human decision making; coupled human and natural systems; review

Volume/Issue: 229/March 24, 2012

Page Number(s): 25-36

Year Published: 2012

Abstract:

Coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) manifest various complexities such as heterogeneity, nonlinearity, feedback, and emergence. Humans play a critical role in affecting such systems and in giving rise to various environmental consequences, which may in turn affect future human decisions and behavior. In light of complexity theory and its application in CHANS, this paper reviews various decision models used in agent based simulations of CHANS dynamics, discussing their strengths and weaknesses. This paper concludes by advocating development of more process-based decision models as well as protocols or architectures that facilitate better modeling of human decisions in various CHANS.

URL: Modeling human decisions in coupled human and natural systems: Review of agent-based models

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.07.010

Type of Publication: Journal Article

Editor(s):

An, Li; Lopez-Carr, David

Publisher: Elsevier

Sponsors

National Science Foundation (NSF) - The only federal agency whose mission includes support for all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except for medical sciences. We are tasked with keeping the United States at the leading edge of discovery in areas from astronomy to geology to zoology. So, in addition to funding research in the traditional academic areas, the agency also supports "high-risk, high pay-off" ideas, novel collaborations and numerous projects that may seem like science fiction today, but which the public will take for granted tomorrow.

Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State University - A center of excellence that integrates ecology with socioeconomics, demography, and other disciplines for ecological sustainability from local, national, to global scales.

Global Land Project - A joint research project for land systems in the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and the International Human Dimensions Programme.

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Coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) are integrated systems in which humans and natural components interact. CHANS research has recently emerged as an exciting and integrative field of cross-disciplinary scientific inquiry, with research projects covering a variety of coupled systems in locations spanning the globe. Although individual projects have generated many important insights, it is essential to systematically transform the field to be more than the sum of its parts and provide broader insights of greater scientific and societal significance than those resulting from individual projects alone. The goal of CHANS-Net is to foster this transformation by facilitating communication and collaboration among members of the CHANS research community.

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