**1. Introduction**

Adaptive capacity can be defined as the ability of a system to adapt to changing internal demands and external circumstances [1]. Social and ecological systems are interlinked systems where outcomes result from the interaction between social and ecological dynamics. Dynamics among social and ecological systems can result in a socio-ecological system that has

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

high adaptive capacity—this is a system able to respond to changing condition—or a system that, despite the intensity of the stimuli, does not respond. Whether the stimulus is climate change, a natural disaster, a new societal preference, a new invasive species, an adaptive SES would respond to the new demands and stresses.

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) can be defined as a socio-ecological system (SES). LULCC is the result of the interaction between natural and human systems [2]. Social, economic and political processes in interaction with ecological processes result in a given land use trend [3]. Forest transitions describe a systemic land use trend change, where a geographic region switches from deforestation toward forest gains [4]. Chile has been identified as a case where, instead of forest recovery, the transition has been dominated by tree farms [5]. Despite the social demand for native forest protection that was raised after the fall of Pinochet's dictatorship, the native forest law, meant to foster and protect native vegetation, had no significant effect [6]. Moreover, in 2017 nearly 518,174 ha were burnt in a massive wildfire that lasted for at least 15 days, affecting three administrative regions. Nearly half of the area burned was fast-growing plantation [7]. Despite this disaster the Chilean State has created a new fund for tree farms. This chapter presents an analysis of the adaptive capacity of the land use trend observed in Chile from a socio-ecological perspective. Through this assessment, it is expected to draw lessons for other countries that are following the Chilean example, while providing deeper insights regarding theoretical questions of land use transitions in the Global South [8].

#### **1.1. Afforestation in Chile**

Similar to many developing countries, Chile had serious deforestation and related erosion problems in the twentieth century [9]. However, from 1973 to 2012, Chile expanded the extent of forestry plantations from 330,000 to nearly 2 million hectares (**Figure 1**) [9]. Chile has not only increased its afforested area during this 30-year period but also developed one of the most vigorous forestry sectors worldwide by increasing forestry exports more than a thousandfold in nominal terms, from US \$36.4 million in 1976 to US \$5.271 million in 2016 [10]. These policies have resulted in successful increases in tree cover, but not in native forest cover [11, 12]. Afforestation in Chile resulted from planting fast-growing trees under intensive management. These plantations use non-native of single species stands, such as *Pinus* and *Eucalyptus*. Tree farms in Chile can reach up to 1250 seedlings per hectare and require the intensive application of fertilizers and herbicides, while clear cuts are conducted every 18–20 years [9].

represent the majority of the national forestry resources, native forest are concentrated on the southernmost area of Chile where there is no overlap with biodiversity hotspots [14–16]. A closer look to the native forest subcategories shows that the most valuable native forest types are still diminishing. From an economic perspective, the most valuable woods (*Nothofagus*

**Figure 1.** Tree farm national statistics for Chile. Solid area indicates the national stock for each year. Dashed line indicates the area planted with subsidy each year (DL 701), and the solid gray line indicates the area planted per year. (Sources:

A Critical Assessment of the Adaptive Capacity of Land Use Change in Chile: A Socio-Ecological Approach

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From an ecological perspective, valuable forest has also been lost. For example, mature forest that provides habitat for endemic and endangered forest specialist species, such as the families Rhinocryptidae and Berberidopsidaceae [17–19], has also diminished [13]. By differentiating between forest types and tree cover, comparisons indicate that Chile's afforestation policy has only increased the total area planted with non-native species, which has important consequences for ecosystem functions, such as water pro-

Even though afforestation came to solve serious erosion problem on the twentieth century (**Table 1**), today there are economic and political dynamics that limit SES adaptation to the new socio-economic conditions. The problem is not widespread erosion but water provision and regulation and resilience against climate change. Chile is already experiencing a megadrought [23], and it is expected that the frequency of such events will increase [24]. The following section is an introduction, based on the work of Holling, Scheffer, and others, to some

spp.) have not increased in area [13].

vision [20–22].

[7, 9, 74, 75]).

of the basic SES concepts.

Compared to non-native species, native species have rarely been planted in Chile. The national statistics show that the rate of native species afforestation has been orders of magnitude smaller than tree farm afforestation. Moreover, in Chile the proportion of land area covered with native forest has diminished relative to tree farm areas. Between 1997 and 2011, the total covered by native forests increased by 169,008 ha but diminished by roughly 4% in its representation among total national forestry resources [13]. Although native forests still

A Critical Assessment of the Adaptive Capacity of Land Use Change in Chile: A Socio-Ecological Approach http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80559 243

high adaptive capacity—this is a system able to respond to changing condition—or a system that, despite the intensity of the stimuli, does not respond. Whether the stimulus is climate change, a natural disaster, a new societal preference, a new invasive species, an adaptive SES

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) can be defined as a socio-ecological system (SES). LULCC is the result of the interaction between natural and human systems [2]. Social, economic and political processes in interaction with ecological processes result in a given land use trend [3]. Forest transitions describe a systemic land use trend change, where a geographic region switches from deforestation toward forest gains [4]. Chile has been identified as a case where, instead of forest recovery, the transition has been dominated by tree farms [5]. Despite the social demand for native forest protection that was raised after the fall of Pinochet's dictatorship, the native forest law, meant to foster and protect native vegetation, had no significant effect [6]. Moreover, in 2017 nearly 518,174 ha were burnt in a massive wildfire that lasted for at least 15 days, affecting three administrative regions. Nearly half of the area burned was fast-growing plantation [7]. Despite this disaster the Chilean State has created a new fund for tree farms. This chapter presents an analysis of the adaptive capacity of the land use trend observed in Chile from a socio-ecological perspective. Through this assessment, it is expected to draw lessons for other countries that are following the Chilean example, while providing deeper insights regarding theoretical questions of land use transi-

Similar to many developing countries, Chile had serious deforestation and related erosion problems in the twentieth century [9]. However, from 1973 to 2012, Chile expanded the extent of forestry plantations from 330,000 to nearly 2 million hectares (**Figure 1**) [9]. Chile has not only increased its afforested area during this 30-year period but also developed one of the most vigorous forestry sectors worldwide by increasing forestry exports more than a thousandfold in nominal terms, from US \$36.4 million in 1976 to US \$5.271 million in 2016 [10]. These policies have resulted in successful increases in tree cover, but not in native forest cover [11, 12]. Afforestation in Chile resulted from planting fast-growing trees under intensive management. These plantations use non-native of single species stands, such as *Pinus* and *Eucalyptus*. Tree farms in Chile can reach up to 1250 seedlings per hectare and require the intensive application of fertilizers and herbicides, while clear cuts are conducted every

Compared to non-native species, native species have rarely been planted in Chile. The national statistics show that the rate of native species afforestation has been orders of magnitude smaller than tree farm afforestation. Moreover, in Chile the proportion of land area covered with native forest has diminished relative to tree farm areas. Between 1997 and 2011, the total covered by native forests increased by 169,008 ha but diminished by roughly 4% in its representation among total national forestry resources [13]. Although native forests still

would respond to the new demands and stresses.

242 Land Use - Assessing the Past, Envisioning the Future

tions in the Global South [8].

**1.1. Afforestation in Chile**

18–20 years [9].

**Figure 1.** Tree farm national statistics for Chile. Solid area indicates the national stock for each year. Dashed line indicates the area planted with subsidy each year (DL 701), and the solid gray line indicates the area planted per year. (Sources: [7, 9, 74, 75]).

represent the majority of the national forestry resources, native forest are concentrated on the southernmost area of Chile where there is no overlap with biodiversity hotspots [14–16]. A closer look to the native forest subcategories shows that the most valuable native forest types are still diminishing. From an economic perspective, the most valuable woods (*Nothofagus* spp.) have not increased in area [13].

From an ecological perspective, valuable forest has also been lost. For example, mature forest that provides habitat for endemic and endangered forest specialist species, such as the families Rhinocryptidae and Berberidopsidaceae [17–19], has also diminished [13]. By differentiating between forest types and tree cover, comparisons indicate that Chile's afforestation policy has only increased the total area planted with non-native species, which has important consequences for ecosystem functions, such as water provision [20–22].

Even though afforestation came to solve serious erosion problem on the twentieth century (**Table 1**), today there are economic and political dynamics that limit SES adaptation to the new socio-economic conditions. The problem is not widespread erosion but water provision and regulation and resilience against climate change. Chile is already experiencing a megadrought [23], and it is expected that the frequency of such events will increase [24]. The following section is an introduction, based on the work of Holling, Scheffer, and others, to some of the basic SES concepts.


**2. Socio-ecological framework**

variables in SES.

are noncontinuous and nonlinear.

The socio-ecological system (SES) is an approach to understand the outcomes that emerge from the interaction between both social and ecological dynamics [25]. Historically, social and natural sciences have developed independently of each other, thus generating valuable but separated knowledge [25]. Therefore, policy is often based on a single discipline and fails to address the complexity of the socio-ecological systems. Neglecting complexity can easily result in unintended consequences, surprises, pathologies, or traps [26, 27]. In rigidity traps, institutions become highly connected, self-reinforcing, and inflexible so that "forces of power, politics, and profit are reinforced one another" [1, 26]. At the same time, rigidity traps are "accidents" waiting to happen. In rigidity traps interconnectedness is so high that any random event, such a as a fire or disease, can cause a system ripple [26]. By analyzing natural

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The adaptive change theory developed by Gunderson and Holling [26] was originated in ecological studies on population dynamics. The original ecological studies sought to explain why there could be multiple stable dynamics among two populations, as well as cycles of rapid change, including outbreaks and population decline [28]. The populations' studies found that changes in slow-changing variables, as well as stochastic events, can explain outbreaks and population decline and even new stable states [28–30]. Based on these studies, Holling and others elaborated on the idea of multiple alternate state in SES, focusing on the relationships between "slow" and "fast" variables [26]. Gunderson and Holling [26] have proposed that social variables are slow-changing variables that control change in SES. More specifically, Scheffer et al. [31] argue that large-scale cultural variables function as the slow

Scheffer et al. [31], hereafter SSEF (Scheffer's socio-ecological framework), proposed an explanation of how a SES might depart from an adaptive behavior by drawing on sociology, neoclassical economics, and systems ecology. Briefly summarized, SSEF starts by focusing on a hypothetical ecosystem where the relationship between the ecosystem integrity and the stress

The classical example is water turbidity and nutrient addition to a shallow lake. Low levels of nutrients result in low water turbidity. As more nutrients are added to the lake, turbidity increases up to a threshold where light levels are insufficient to support aquatic vegetation, and it disappears. After this point, turbidity continues to increase, but reducing nutrient concentrations does not result in more transparent water. SSEF works under the assumption that ecosystems do not have linear dynamics and restoration is much more than doing the opposite that damaged the system [31]. Because SSEF is a socio-ecological framework, it is important to consider how changes in the ecosystem affect total welfare of people. Total welfare is the third variable of the SES. In the SSEF, a hypothetical rational manager "knows" the optimal combination between ecosystem stress, ecosystem integrity, and maximum realizable welfare [31]. The realizable maximum welfare is different from the theoretical welfare because

A more realistic account of SSEF includes the effects of politics. Different groups of people have different power, and, in some cases, political pressure from powerful groups influences

resource policy as a SES, it is possible to see those broader dynamics.

of the nonlinear relationship between stress and ecosystems integrity.




**Table 1.** Key milestones in the Chilean land use socio-ecological system.
