A social-ecological systems approach for the assessment of ecosystem services from beef production in the Canadian prairie

Abstract Producing food to meet rising global demand requires a more thorough understanding of how farming systems can ensure food security without compromising economic, environmental, and social sustainability. This dilemma can be addressed through a social-ecological systems approach to ecosystem service assessment, which assesses the linkages between the different components of an agricultural social-ecological system – beef production in the Canadian Prairies. Using this framework, we documented the relationships between governance and management, social and ecological structures and processes, ecosystem services and human well-being for these systems. We also examined how this framework could aid in the greater integration of ecosystem services into decision-making and management practices for these systems. The framework was applied to all stages of the prairie beef production cycle, consisting of the cow-calf, backgrounding, finishing and feed production stages. The benefits, shortcomings and limitations of such an approach as well as the state of knowledge on relationships between the components of the system are discussed, and recommendations for future research directions, farm management strategies and policy are proposed. Overall, the high degree of heterogeneity in biophysical and socio-economic conditions across the prairie landscape underscores the need for more site-specific ecosystem service assessments and environmental stewardship policies that are tailored to these specific contexts.