“Coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) are systems in which human and natural components interact.”

Note: these systems are usually exhibiting non-linear dynamics with thresholds, reciprocal feedback loops, time lags, resilience, heterogeneity, and surprises.

References

Liu, J., Dietz, T., Carpenter, S.R., et al. 2007. Coupled Human and Natural Systems. Ambio, 36(8). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1144004