Abstract
Canada’s Dry Belt has been subject to recurring climatic stimuli, political changes and macro-economic conditions throughout its history of human occupation. The various social–ecological systems that emerged as a result of these broad stimuli, changes and conditions have been associated with attendant societal and institutional reorganization. This paper uses the lens of institutional fit and interplay to examine three dominant systems – open range ranching, crop-based wheat farming, and mixed ranching – since Europeans first settled the area in the late 19th Century. We focus on one particular example institutional jurisdiction, the Special Areas of Alberta administrative unit, to illustrate how institutional fit and interplay both facilitate particular social-ecological systems and contribute to a shift in the dominant system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Ablan MCA, Garces LR (2005) Exclusive economic zones and the management of fisheries in the South China Sea. In: Ebbin SA, Hoel AH, Syndes AK (eds) A sea change: the exclusive economic zone and governance institutions for living marine resources. Springer, New York, pp 136–149
Arthur G (1984) The North American Plains bison: a brief history. Prairie Forum 9(2):281–289
Bauer CJ (2004) Results of Chilean water markets: empirical research since 1990. Water Resources Research 40:1–11
Bester D (2007) Personal communication with Chair of Butte Action Committee, Innisfail, Alberta, February 2007
Breen DH (1983) The Canadian Prairie West and the ranching frontier, 1874–1924. University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Berkes F, Folke C (1998) Linking social and ecological systems for resilience and sustainability. In Berkes F, Folke C (eds), Linking Social and Ecological Systems: Management Practices and Social Mechanisms for Building Resilience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 1–25
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) (2009) Using water. http://www.capp.ca/environmentCommunity/water/Pages/UsingWater.aspx. Accessed 9 Jul 2009
Daschuk J (2009) A dry oasis: the Canadian plains in late prehistory. Prairie Forum 34(1):1–29
Elofson WM (2000) Cowboys, gentlemen and cattle thieves: ranching on the western frontier. McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal, Kingston
Evans SM (1983) The end of the open range era in Western Canada. Prairie Forum 8(1):71–87
Folke C, Pritchard L, Berkes F, Colding J, Svedin U (1998) The problem of fit between ecosystems and institutions. IHDP Working Paper No. 2. International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change, Bonn, Germany. Online at http://www.ihdp.uni-bonn.de/html/publications/workingpaper/wp02m.htm
Folke C, Hahn T, Olsson P, Norberg J (2005) Adaptive governance of social–ecological systems. Annu Rev Environ Resour 30:441–473
Folke C, Pritchard L Jr, Berkes F, Colding J, Svedin U (2007) The problem of fit between ecosystems and institutions: ten years later. Ecol Soc 12(1):30, [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art30/
Galaz V, Olsson P, Hahn T, Folke C, Svedin U (2008) The problem of fit among biophysical systems, environmental and resource regimes, and broader governance systems: insights and emerging challenges. In: Young OR, King LA, Schroeder H (eds) Institutions and environmental change. MIT, Cambridge, pp 147–186
Gehring T, Oberthür S (2007) Interplay: exploring institutional interaction. In: Young OR, King LA, Schroeder H (eds) Institutions and environmental change. MIT, Cambridge, pp 187–223
Gorman J (1988) A land reclaimed: a story of the special areas in Alberta. Special Areas Board, Hanna, AB
Hyland R (2006) Personal communication with Manager of Bullpound Pastuer, Special Areas. November 2006
Jameson SS (1986) The ranching industry of Western Canada: its initial epoch, 1873–1910. Prairie Forum 11(2):229–242
Jones DC (1985) The Canadian Prairie dryland disaster and the reshaping of ‘expert’ farm wisdom. J Rural Stud 1(2):135–146
Jones DC (2002) Empire of dust: settling and abandoning the prairie dry belt. University of Calgary, Calgary
Keskitalo ECH, Kulyasova AA (2009) The role of governance in community adaptation to climate change. Polar Res 28:60–70
Khandekar ML (2004) Canadian prairie drought: a climatological assessment. Alberta Environment Publication T/787, Edmonton
Lapp S, Sauchyn D, Toth B (2009) Constructing scenarios of future climate and water supply for the SSRB: use and limitations for vulnerability assessment. Prairie Forum 34(1):153–180
Lebel L (2005) Institutional dynamics and interplay: critical processes for forest governance and sustainability in the mountain regions of northern Thailand. In: Huber UM, Bugmann HKM, Reasoner MA (eds) Global change and mountain regions. Springer, Berlin, pp 531–540
Marchildon GP (2007) Institutional adaptation to drought and the special areas of Alberta, 1909–1939. Prairie Forum 32(2):251–272
Marchildon GP (2009) The Prairie farm rehabilitation administration: climate crisis and federal–provincial relations during the great depression. Can Hist Rev 90(2):275–301
Marchildon GP, Anderson C (2006) Economic, demographic and agricultural statistics for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, 1905–2005. Institutional Adaptation to Climate Change working paper. http://www.parc.ca/mcri/iacc039.php. Accessed 16 Jul 2009
Marchildon GP, Kulshreshtha S, Wheaton E, Sauchyn D (2008) Drought and institutional adaptation in the great plains of Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1914–1939. Nat Hazards 45(3):391–411
Marchildon GP, Pittman J, Sauchyn D (2009) The dry belt and changing aridity in the Palliser Triangle, 1895–2000. Prairie Forum 34(1):31–44
Moss T (2004) Institutional drivers and constraints of floodplain restoration in Europe. International Journal of River Basin Management 5(2):121–130
Sauchyn D (2007) Climate change impacts on agriculture in the prairies. In: Wall E, Smit B, Wandel J (eds) Farming in a changing climate: agricultural adaptation in Canada. UBC, Vancouver, pp 67–80
Schindler DW, Donahue WF (2006) An impending water crisis in Canada’s western prairie provinces. PNAS 103(19):7210–7216
Slemp J (2006). Personal communication with the Chair of the Special Areas Board, Hanna, Alberta, November 2006
Smit B, Wandel J (2006) Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. Glob Environ Change 16:282–292
Special Areas Board (2005) Special areas water supply project: project summary. Special Areas Board, Hanna, Alberta
Vilmow JR (1956) The nature and origin of the Canadian dry belt. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 46(1):211–232
Walters C, Maguire JJ (1996) Lessons for stock assessment from the northern cod collapse. Rev Fish Biol Fish 6:125–137
Wandel J, Young G, Smit B (2009) Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change: the case of the 2001–2002 drought in Alberta’s special areas. Prairie Forum 34(1):211–234
Williams D (2006) Personal communication with Chair of Prairie Association of Water Managers, Hanna, Alberta, November 2006
Young OR (2008) Institutions and environmental change: the scientific legacy of a decade of IDGEC research. In: Young OR, King LA, Schroeder H (eds) Institutions and environmental change. MIT, Cambridge, pp 3–45
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wandel, J., Marchildon, G.P. (2010). Institutional Fit and Interplay in a Dryland Agricultural Social–Ecological System in Alberta, Canada. In: Armitage, D., Plummer, R. (eds) Adaptive Capacity and Environmental Governance. Springer Series on Environmental Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12194-4_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12194-4_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-12193-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-12194-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)