Adaptive Capacity applies to both ecological systems and human social systems. Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (known as the great apes). ... Social structure (also referred to as a social system) is a system in which people forming the society are organized by a patterns of prelationships. ...

As applied to ecological systems, the adaptive capacity is determined by

• genetic diversity of species
• biodiversity of particular ecosystems
• heterogenous ecosystem mosaics as applied to specific landscapes or biome regions.

As applied to human social systems, the adaptive capacity is determined by Genetic diversity is a characteristic of ecosystems and gene pools that describes an attribute which is commonly held to be advantageous for survival -- that there are many different versions of otherwise similar organisms. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... Rainforests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of life. ... In ecology, an ecosystem is a community of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms - also referred as biocenose) together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a unit. ... A heterogeneous compound, mixture, or other such object is one that consists of many different items. ... An ecosystem, a contraction of ecological and system, refers to the collection of components and processes that comprise, and govern the behavior of, some defined subset of the biosphere. ... The Harvesters, by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1565: Peace and agriculture in a pre-Romantic ideal landscape, without sublime terrors The term Landscape as most westerners use it, is completely entrenched in western notions of land, nature and art. ... In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities best adapted to the regions physical natural environment, latitude, altitude, and terrain. ...

• the ability of institutions and networks to learn, and sotre knowledge and experience.
• creative flexibility in decision making and problem solving
• the existence of power structures that are responsive and consider the needs of all stakeholders

An institution is a group, tenet, maxim, or organization created by a group of humans. ... A wide variety of systems of interconnected components are called networks. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Knowledge is information of which a person, organization or other entity is aware. ... Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts. ... For other uses of the term, see: flexibility (disambiguation). ... Decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. ... Problem solving forms part of thinking. ... Political power (imperium in Latin) is a type of power held by a person or group in a society. ... The concept of Needs is often used to refer to things that people must have. ... A stakeholder was originally a person who holds money or other property while its owner is being determined. ...

Benefits of Adaptive Capacity

Adaptive capacity confers resilience to perturbation, giving ecological and human social systems the ability to reconfigure themselves with minimum loss of function. For the band see Resilience (band) Resilience generally means the ability to recover from (or to resist being affected by) some shock, insult, or disturbance. ... Perturbation is a term used in astronomy to describe alterations to an objects orbit caused by gravitational interactions with other bodies. ... Look up Function in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

• In ecolofical systems this resilence shows as net primary productivity and maintenance of biomass and biodiversity, and the stability of hydrological cycles.
• in human social systems it is demonstrated by the stability of social relations, the maintenance of social capital and economic prosperity.

The Net Primary Productivity of an ecosystem is the rate at which it accumulates biomass,excluding the energy it uses for the process of respiration. ... Switchgrass, a hardy plant used in the biofuel industry in the United States In energy production and industry, biomass refers to living and recently living biological material which can be used as fuel pickle or for industrial production. ... Rainforests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of life. ... Water covers 70% of the Earths surface. ... Although Harvard University has featured a Department of Social Relations (in which Talcott Parsons played a prominent role), and although the term social relations is frequently used in social sciences, there is no commonly agreed meaning for this concept (see also the entry social). ... Social capital is defined as the value that is created through the application of social networks during non-organizational time. ... Face-to-face trading interactions among on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor In the social sciences, economics is the study of human choice behavior and how it effects the production, distribution, and consumption of scarce resources. ... According to “Building Black Wealth In America” prosperity is that point where all reasonable wealth accumulation goals are exceeded for successive generations, it is the epitome of financial stability, reliability, and security. ...

Enhacing Natural Capacity

Adaptive capacity can be enhanced by

• learning to live with change and uncertainty;
• nurturing diversity for resilience;
• combining different types of knowledge for learning; and
• creating opportunity for self-organization towards social-ecological sustainability.