Social-ecological memory: From concepts and methods to applications

Social-ecological memory (SEM) may be a key source of resilience in social-ecological systems (SES), allowing for renewal and reorganisation after disturbances. This study provides an overview of the genesis and evolution of the SEM concept, its research trends and gaps, and its potential applicability to geographical thought. Combining systematic review and bibliometric analysis, we collected 219 records published in the last two decades, which were reduced to 87 relevant records after applying the inclusion/exclusion criterion. The results indicate that interest in SEM research is growing, but wide acceptance and concordance around terminology are still lagging. The concept has substantially evolved and expanded over the last decade but remains mostly abstract and conceptual. Research has focused predominantly on European countries, rural contexts, and westernised societies, identified multiple disturbances and ecosystem services as driving the maintenance and evolution of SEM, and highlighted an unequal interest between social and ecological memory carriers. Our review underlines the strong pertinence of the SEM concept for the study and management of social-ecological systems, which would benefit from the development of application strategies and tools. In the future, researchers should seek to expand the idea of social-ecological memory into an applied field having clearer links and boundaries with more established concepts important in geography, among them traditional ecological knowledge.