Defining tipping points for social-ecological systems scholarship - An interdisciplinary literature review

M. Milkoreit (1) , J. Hodbod (2) , J. Baggio (3) , K. Benessaiah (4) , R. Calderon-Contreras (5) , J. F. Donges , Jean-Denis Mathias , J. C. Rocha , M. Schoon , S Werners

1 Department of Geological Sciences
2 PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
3 UR LISC - Laboratoire d'ingénierie pour les systèmes complexes
4 School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning [Tempe]
5 Departamento de. Ciencias Sociales [Cuajimalpa]

The term tipping point has experienced explosive popularity across multiple disciplines over the last decade. Research on social-ecological systems (SES) has contributed to the growth and diversity of the term's use. The diverse uses of the term obscure potential differences between tipping behavior in natural and social systems, and issues of causality across natural and social system components in SES. This paper aims to create the foundation for a discussion within the SES research community about the appropriate use of the term tipping point, especially the relatively novel term 'social tipping point.' We review existing literature on tipping points and similar concepts (e.g. regime shifts, critical transitions) across all spheres of science published between 1960 and 2016 with a special focus on a recent and still small body of work on social tipping points. We combine quantitative and qualitative analyses in a bibliometric approach, rooted in an expert elicitation process. We find that the term tipping point became popular after the year 2000

Mots clés: ecology; sociology; terminology

Mots clés: TERMINOLOGIE; ECOLOGIE; SOCIOLOGIE

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

M. Milkoreit, J. Hodbod, J. Baggio, K. Benessaiah, R. Calderon-Contreras, et al.. Defining tipping points for social-ecological systems scholarship - An interdisciplinary literature review. Environmental Research Letters, 2018, 13 (3), 12 p. ⟨10.1088/1748-9326/aaaa75⟩. ⟨hal-02155674⟩