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The paper deals with analyses and propositions for adaptive governance of an alpine (A) and an Ethiopian (B) agropastoral system with common-pool pastures. Sustainability can be enhanced by augmenting (i) the ecological and social capitals in relation to costs and (ii) the resilience or adaptive capacity. In (A), a multifunctional agriculture appears to maintain the ecological capital providing many ecosystem services. In (B), the ecological capital can be increased by reversing the trend towards land degradation. In (A), there are several opportunities for reducing the high costs of the social capital. In (B), the institutions should be revised and rules should restrain competitive behavior. (A) and (B) exhibit a high degree of transformability. Many drivers appear to be responsible for the cycling of the agropastoral and higher level systems vulnerable to multiple stressors. Measures are proposed to escape from possible rigidity (A) and poverty (B) traps.
