ABSTRACT
Contemporary environmental researchers have learned to appreciate the notion of coupled human–environmental systems. 19 Studying the dynamics of interaction between humans and their environment in coupled human–environmental systems can, on the one hand, be a useful intellectual activity helping to clarify the intricacies of temporal dynamics, cross-scale interactions, and complex adaptive action. It can, however, also have a more practical purpose as a way of assessing the sustainability, adaptive capacity, and functioning of a given human–environmental system.
