Search

Fashion's unsustainability needs transformative action, as policymakers, business, and wider society all agree. The lack of a clear definition of sustainable fashion is often given as a major reason behind fashion's increasing unsustainability. Taking a social-ecological system perspective, augmented by a feminist critical realist understanding of being (ontology) and knowledge of being (epistemology), I examine the past two decades of academic literature mentioning the concept "sustainable fashion." I find a definition is indeed lacking in various academic discourses and approaches related to sustainable fashion. This lack is problematic because it means the fashion industry can talk preposterously without making useful progress on decreasing its negative impacts on people and the living planet. However, the ever-changing patterns and contexts of fashion would soon outdate a single fixed definition. What is presented as a two-sided problem – whether or not to define sustainable fashion – is instead a problématique. Sustainable fashion is better understood as an unsolvable predicament in a complex dynamic intertwined social-ecological system. While no solution exists, there are appropriate reflexive responses. These start by using a critical systems approach that includes fashion's social (non-material) and ecological (material) aspects. A social-ecological system approach prevents businesses from exploiting the slipperiness of inconsistent definitions, aids policymaking by providing context and structure for the many contributory concepts (e.g., slow, green, or circular fashion), and fosters vital transdisciplinary research on sustainable fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] An international effort to restore contaminated areas across the Great Lakes has been underway for over 50 years. Although experts have increasingly recognized the inherent connections between ecological conditions and community level benefits, Great Lakes community revitalization continues to be a broad and complex topic, lacking a comprehensive definition. The purpose of this study was to generate a testable "AOC-Revitalization Framework" for linking remediation and restoration success, represented by Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) removal in U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOC), to community revitalization. Using directed content analysis, we conducted a literature review and identified 433 potential revitalization metrics and indicators and grouped them into 15 broader community revitalization attributes to develop the following definition of Great Lakes community revitalization: " locally driven community resurgence resulting in resilient and equitable enhancements to social, economic, and environmental community structures." We surveyed experts within the Great Lakes AOC program on the likelihood remediation and restoration success, would positively impact revitalization attributes. Focus groups triangulated survey results. Results identified BUI removal was expected to positively affect revitalization, but the type of revitalization outcome was based on the BUI being removed. The AOC-Revitalization Framework is the first to empirically outline these possible linkages, providing a clear testable structure for future research; it can be used to better understand how environmental improvements are or are not leading to community revitalization and more accurately identify components of revitalization impacted, thus supporting more equitable representation, communication, and measurement of the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community Conserved Areas exemplify a harmonious interplay between human and nature, contributing to biodiversity conservation. Nonetheless, their sustainability faces jeopardy due to social disruptions. Taking Xishuangbanna as an example, we explore the social-ecological system resilience of Community Conserved Areas at the regional level, taking the disturbances caused by human social activities as the entry point, and construct a resilience evaluation index system based on the pressure-state-response model, evaluating its resilience, and analyzing in depth the factors influencing it. Taking into consideration the pressure, status and response, the percentage of townships with resilience levels ranging from Level V to Level I are 20 %, 23 %, 20 %, 27 % and 10 %, respectively. Among the prominent social factors affecting the resilience of Xishuangbanna's Community Conserved Areas, the hierarchy of influence, ranked in descending pressure, encompasses: agricultural development, population growth and urbanization rate. The status hierarchy is largely dependent on the quality of resources and the condition of the community. Within the response hierarchy, we have explored factors such as education, traditional culture and forest conservation are key. Our study extends the comprehension of socio-ecological resilience within Community Conserved Areas to encompass the regional scale. This clarification underscores the pivotal role of management systems in fortifying social-ecological system resilience, laying a foundation for regional conservation and management efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Wildfire management across large landscapes may be critical to prevent megafires. • We studied private landowners' attitudes and management and parcel fire history. • Whether a landowner had experienced fire predicted how much they manage for fire. • Time since fire was related to landowners' attitudes toward neighbors and the land. • Size and severity of past fire interact to influence landowners' perceptions. As human populations grow and anthropogenic change increases, costly wildland fires increasingly affect rural, public–private interface landscapes. Climate change, a history of fire suppression, and biological invasions are increasing fire risk in systems worldwide. Fires that ignite in one jurisdiction can spread across ownership boundaries, with the result that landscape-scale fire management and planning requires understanding differential fire response and management across jurisdictions. To illuminate relationships between landowner attitudes and fire management and their experience with past wildfires, we combined geospatial wildfire data from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) database and survey response data from 586 private landowners across three national park-centered ecosystems in the American West. We aimed to examine whether landowners' attitudes toward their land, neighbors, public agencies, and fire itself were related to (a) whether they had experienced fire on their parcels, and (b) the extent and severity of the most recent fire event and the time elapsed since that fire. We found that the degree to which respondents reported that they manage for fire is related to whether a fire had burned on their parcels during their land tenure or, if prior to their tenure, within two years of their acquisition of the land. For those respondents that had thus experienced fire, their level of concern about wildfire, interactions with neighbors and public agencies, and perception that their land contributed to a broader economic or natural system were all related to the time that had elapsed since the fire. Furthermore, total burned area and the percent of the burn that was high severity interacted with time since fire to predict respondents' attitudes and perceptions. Our findings illustrate the importance of personal past experiences in shaping private land managers' relationships and viewpoints, as well as the likelihood that they invest in current fire management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrigation-induced landslides occur globally and cause destructive consequences. Farmers' dual roles as the cause and victim of irrigation-induced landslides call for systematic assessment of the nested human-water-land interactions to mitigate landslides. This study develops an analytical framework based on social-ecological system framework (SESF) and sustainable livelihood framework (SLF), which is applied to diagnose human-water-land interactions in the case of Heifangtai (HFT) in Loess Plateau, China. A three-tiered indicator system includes 68 indicators to explicitly assess the first- and second-tier variables in the integrative SESF-SLF. Multi-sourced data was collected, triangulated, and analyzed to unfold the interactions, dynamics, and evolutions in the regional SES and individual livelihood. The results show that the interactions between farmers' livelihood strategies and the carrying capacity of regional land and water systems are the primary drivers shaping social-ecological relationships in HFT, followed by resource utilization and actors' decision-making. Development opportunities are provided based on SES diagnosis, and methodological issues of framework construction and method and data integration are discussed. Integrating individual livelihood perspectives into SES provides a more nuanced solution to explain the specifics of resources utilized in livelihood strategies, which shows applicability and suitability in HFT and other similar cases of human-water-land interaction. [Display omitted] • Integrative SESF-SLF is efficient to unfold human-water-land nexus with dual perspective. • Multiple methods and data are consolidated to make the SESF-SLF framework explict. • Individual decision-making should be emphasized for regional resource manangement analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology / Yingyong Shengtai Xuebao is the property of Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Across the world, social‐ecological rangeland systems have been transformed from a preindustrial extensive status to intensive exploitation, often leading to long‐term livestock population booms, overgrazing, and rangeland degradation. To understand the regulatory mechanisms involved in such historical social‐ecological transformations, we collected population data on the native sheep of the last nomadic county in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (1961–2005). We detected changes in internal feedbacks (e.g., density‐dependent effects) and external disturbance (e.g., winter harshness, rainfall, harvest) between the extensive and intensive management periods using regression models of sheep population growth rate and counterfactual analyses. We found that, in the extensive period, sheep populations were regulated during harsh winters by climate, while they were regulated during mild winters by negative density dependence. In the intensive period, the negative feedback of density dependence was removed through the provision of additional forage and shelter, and only winter climate and growing season rainfall regulated sheep populations. Counterfactual analyses also confirmed the irreplaceable role of density‐dependence in maintaining a sustainable rangeland ecosystem. Although herders attempted to adapt to the removal of negative feedbacks by improving livestock harvest, overgrazing and grassland degradation remain a challenge in this system. We conclude that internal feedbacks within social‐ecological systems should be carefully anticipated and accounted for when managing rangelands for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Application of a participatory social science approach in a nexus case study. • Insights in stakeholders' perceptions on nexusrelationships and measures. • Aggregated cognitive map illustrates perceived synergies and trade-offs. • Stakeholders propose a combination of market-based, technical and legal measures. • Dialogue and coordination supports collective implementation of measures. Multiple societal challenges such as climate change, water pollution and biodiversity loss require coordinated measures. Thereby the adoption of a nexus perspective is expedient. It acknowledges relationships between natural and social entities, and takes synergies and trade-offs of planned and implemented measures into account. We adopt a nexus perspective to elicit sectoral stakeholders' perceptions on the relationships of the regional nexus entities, relevant measures and their perceived synergies and trade-offs in the semi-arid agricultural production region Seewinkel in East Austria. In a multi-step cognitive mapping approach, consisting of a workshop and semi-structured interviews, we developed an aggregated cognitive map with perceptions of stakeholders from agriculture, water management, nature conservation, tourism, the civil society, renewable energy and hunting. Workshop and interview transcripts were analyzed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Stakeholders agree on the priority of a good quantitative and chemical status of the regional groundwater body and a location-adapted agricultural production. They propose a combination of market-based, legal and technical measures supported by cross-sectoral institutions in responding to regional nexus challenges. Stakeholders perceive divergent synergies and trade-offs. Perceived synergies may provide opportunities, which have not yet been considered for planning of measures. Perceived trade-offs require further examination and cross-sectoral discussion to encourage the implementation of measures. The aggregated cognitive map may improve stakeholders' understanding for nexus relationships and facilitate social learning through viewing the interlinked nexus from distance and different perspectives. This may facilitate cross-sectoral dialogue and enable collective decision making to tackle regional nexus challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Top-down and bottom-up processes are important for transformative policy change. • Timing of knowledge generation and sharing in transformations should be considered. • Information in transformative policy change is transmitted by a diversity of actors. Co-management is often put forward as a way to foster sustainability and improve the adaptive capacity of small-scale fisheries. Transformations towards co-management are enabled by processes that support social change, such as nurturing leadership, collective action and learning, as well as political processes that change legislative frameworks from centralized to decentralized decision-making. However, major policy changes can be difficult and change-actors often fail to overcome barriers created by institutional friction, dominant policy discourses or powerful interests supporting the status quo. In the literature, special attention has been paid to social processes that foster cooperation, the role of bridging-actors on the path towards co-management, or conditions that influence its effective implementation. In this paper we shift the attention to political decision-making and changes in policy discourse as an integral part of fisheries' transformations. We use the well-studied cases of co-management transformations in small-scale fisheries to identify how interactions among political actors and stakeholders, as well as social-ecological interactions, shaped the policy discourse and influenced policy change during the transformation process. By comparing how policy change emerged across four fishery transformation cases, we illustrate the importance of (cross-scale and cross-type) coordination and collaboration among diverse political actors in creating conditions for adoption of legislation, as well as its timing during the policy process. The paper contributes to the literature on sustainability transformations by explaining how policy changes supporting such transformations may emerge, in addition to providing insight on political conditions and processes that could be fostered in order to support policy change towards decentralization in fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An approach to stemming the Anthropocene decline in nature is derived from ecological competition theory by seeking conditions for coexistence between people and wild species. It shows how coexistence is attained through a reciprocal process of 'nature exchange' in which people's needs are met from ecosystem services and nature's needs from conservation services. Nature exchange takes place within the 'bioscape', a landscape, seascape or cityscape, in which the human-nature relationship is balanced. The bioscape has several distinguishing features: (a) it introduces competition theory to the exploration of social-ecological systems; (b) it scales in size from local to global; (c) it integrates with other forms of land-use such as protected areas, urban and industrial areas, farmland and wilderness; (d) it contributes to greening of the local economy; (e) it brings people together in managing conflicts over nature; (f) it provides a platform for harmonising intrinsic and utilitarian values of nature; and (g) it constitutes a new tool for halting the global decline in wild species by reducing competition between people and nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ecosystem services governance is shaped by power asymmetries. • There is a need for novel approaches that unravel the nature and intensity of power asymmetries. • Social network analysis can be used to investigate the different forms of power handled by actors. • Some forms of power, such as domination, strongly increase conflict probability. Power asymmetries affect the governance of natural resources but are rarely considered explicitly in ecosystem services research, which often overlooks the diversity of actors and their interactions. In this paper, we propose an innovative and easily replicable method to analyze two types of power asymmetries, using social network analysis and a power typology which distinguishes between influence and domination. We apply this method to a network of actors involved in the governance of eight ecosystem services in the Peruvian Andes. The results reveal substantial power asymmetries, of different types. Indirect managers of ecosystem services had higher influence and domination than the direct managers and beneficiaries. Businesses showed significantly lower influence than members of civil society, non-governmental organizations, and the public sector (state or decentralized organizations, public enterprises). Compared to other actors, members of the public sector had significantly higher domination, especially national actors. Domination and influence relationships strongly increased conflict probability, along with difference of domination score between two actors. A better interdisciplinary understanding of the determinants of power asymmetries can make the governance of socio-ecological systems more sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The evolution of policy instruments in land, water, and environmental governance from 1860 to 2016 in Victoria, Australia. • Four development stages were identified: reserve regime, authority regime, information regime, and integration regime. • Reflecting on policy instrument configurations helps explain policy setting and provide a basis for policy improvement. Debate continues regarding which policy instrument should be used to ensure land, water, and environmental governance that promotes the sustainability of social-ecological systems (SESs). Policy instruments and Social Ecological Systems have played important roles in the theoretical development of natural resource governance systems. They, however, have been considered in isolation from one another. This study aims to bridge between the two by interpreting policy instruments as rules of interaction in a social-ecological system. Specifically, a longitudinal study on Victorian Acts was conducted to understand how policy instruments for land, water, and environmental governances adopted from 1860 to 2016 worked in the governance of SESs. Through a content analysis of the Acts, we constructed a simple typology of the ways in which policy instruments manage components of SESs. This typology includes the reserve regime, authority regime, information regime and integration regime. The study shows the circumstances under which interactions among components of biophysical and social systems deserve attention as partial shapers of policy instruments. The present work can be used to understand, examine and reflect on policy instruments currently used for resource governance and to make strategic improvements that account for current conditions rather than adopting new policies without understanding the existing context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land fragmentation is an interesting physical character in some developing countries, especially China. This study aims to discover the direct and mediated effects of land fragmentation on collective action in China based on an empirical test and the social-ecological system framework. We introduce three innovations to the literature on collective action in the commons. First, we focus on the mechanism of land fragmentation on collective action in the commons, which has been largely ignored in the literature. Second, building on the social-ecological system framework, we use structural equation modeling, which is robust to endogeneity and latent variable problems. Third, we use original survey data from 3895 households and 284 villages from 17 provinces/regions in China, a critical case because China has some of the most fragmented farmland use in the world. We find that land fragmentation has a direct negative effect on irrigation collective action. And besides the direct negative effect, there are four indirect factors: dependency on farming, irrigation rule-making, economic pressure and land circulation. Of these, the first three have a negative effect, and the last one, a positive effect. Our findings add to the theoretical literature on collective action in the commons and suggest new policy handles for more efficient land and labor markets in China. • We focus on the mechanism how land fragmentation affects collective action in the commons. • We employ structural equation modeling using the social-ecological systems framework to explore the mechanism. • The survey data from 3,895 households and 284 villages of 17 regions in China are used to reveal the effect empirically. • We find that land fragmentation has a negative, significant but mediated effect on collective action. • The mediating mechanisms include dependency on farming, irrigation rule-making, economic pressure and land circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Atacameños is the property of Estudios Atacamenos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Perceived adaptive capacity is scale dependent and varies across a system. • A psychometric approach can capture variations in adaptive capacity determinants.\ • Linking social capital is a critical determinant of perceived adaptive capacity. • A focus on social learning could help to build linking and bridging social capital. • Interventions should foster a balance between different types of social capital. In 2012 Sweden implemented a collaborative governance regime for managing moose (Alces alces). This was guided by the awareness that decentralization and stakeholder participation can help to reduce conflicts, foster systematic learning, and handle complexity. However, previous research has highlighted that there are no blueprint approaches to the governance and management of natural resources. In this case, diverse multi-use landscapes, ever-changing ungulate populations, and other external stressors (e.g. climate change, wildlife diseases) can create challenges for collaborative institutions. Adaptive capacity is therefore needed as it allows a system and the actors involved to react successfully to social-ecological changes and to develop even in times of no imminent change or risk. Using Swedish moose management as an example of a multi-level governance system, this research assesses the critical determinants of adaptive capacity across levels. We developed and applied a psychometric approach to measure actors' perceived adaptive capacity on two levels in the management system. A web-based survey was sent to Moose Management Groups (n = 765, response rate = 81 %) and Moose Management Units (n = 1,380, response rate = 71 %). Using structural equation modelling, we assessed the relative importance of governance aspects, different types of social capital, as well as human and financial capital on actors' perceived adaptive capacity. Linking and bridging social capital in the system had significant impacts on both levels. Actors felt more prepared to handle future challenges in moose management when they perceived benefits through collaborations with levels below and expressed social trust in authorities and the management level above. Besides those similarities between the two levels, fairness was a more important determinant of actors' perceived adaptive capacity on the lower management level. These results can contribute to a future improvement of the collaborative governance setting by finessing strategic interventions on different levels. Furthermore, our results illustrate the importance of scale when assessing the adaptive capacity of a system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership and social networks substantially influence the collective actions in rural communities. It is important to understand how village elites influence villagers through social networks and facilitate collective actions, especially for indigenous communities. This paper takes the rice terrace social-ecological system (SES) of the Hani ethnic minority in China as a case and adopts a mixed methodology to explore the diversified roles of various types of village elites in the collective actions of managing four social-ecological sub-systems: forests, villages, terraces, and water. Results reveal that institutional and non-institutional elites play different roles in coordinating the collective actions of managing four sub-systems. Social network analysis shows that village elites have high degree centrality and play bridging roles between different sub-groups, but differences exist between the network patterns of managing forests and water and managing villages and terraces. Contagion models show that both friendship and advice networks contribute to the social influence among villagers, but advice networks have larger influences in managing villages, terraces, and water than friendship networks. This study provides insights into the heterogeneity and dynamics of village leadership and social networks in managing rural SESs that are experiencing rapid socio-economic changes, and the results contribute to making integrative and adaptive planning and development policies for indigenous communities. • Social network analysis is used to study indigenous natural resource management. • Institutional and non-institutional elites play different roles in managing Hani rice terrace system. • Elites have high centrality and play bridging roles in collective actions. • Friendship networks and advice networks have different roles in behavioral contagion. • Heterogeneity and dynamics of leadership and social networks in governing rural SES are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The Navigate framework offers a joint application of the concepts of resilience and ecosystem services (ES) • Resilience brings in the dynamic perspective while the ES are an operational tool. • Stakeholder engagement reveals social uncertainty and the socio-cultural values of the ES. • This framework was applied to a case study to find the best management strategy to respond to climate change. In the last decades, humanity has considerably altered the functioning of Earth, resulting in global and inter-related social, economic, and environmental crises. To address these crises, the concepts of ES and resilience look promising to understand the complexity of the social-ecological system (SES) and its dynamics. However, operational frameworks that bring together these two concepts are still lacking. We therefore propose the Navigate framework to guide the researchers and the managers in finding sustainable solutions, in other words safe and just strategies. This framework was built from a literature review, interviews with leading experts, and feedback from its implementation in a case study. The conceptual part of the Navigate framework illustrates the multiple interactions between nature and society, depicted by the ES, occurring at various scales. Following disturbances, the SES responds by either persisting, adapting or even transforming (i.e. three forms of resilience). The operational part of Navigate suggests six steps to follow in an iterative process: (1) define the system, (2) define the problem, the stakes and goals, (3) define the pathways, (4) assess the ES, (5) assess the resilience, and (6) design the action plan. The implementation of this framework to a case study demonstrated that together ES and resilience with a participatory process gave a comprehensive picture of the SES, essential to making sound sustainable decisions. Indeed, the integrated assessment of ES combining various complementary methods highlights the stakeholders' needs and perspectives, the various forms of knowledge, the scales, and the interactions. Resilience broadened the analysis by understanding how the important drivers impacted the SES and its ES. In conclusion, the Navigate framework shows the way (i.e. which ES the stakeholders have requested) while considering the dynamic properties of the SES, amidst increasing social and ecological uncertainties, to navigate together toward sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two types of meaning for looking after the rainforest were recorded in the Maya Zone. • Kanan K'áax is a Maya phrase that represents customary rainforest conservation. • Forested landscapes in both study sites are dominated by mature rainforest. • The agricultural frontiers in both study sites have not been expanded. In several tropical forested areas in which biodiversity conservation and indigenous cultures are interwoven, current conservation policies do not consider how the indigenous communities understand the concept of conservation that is promoted and implemented by conservation programs led by external actors, nor do they consider local traditional practices of resource management. To move towards more inclusive conservation policies that take these two aspects into account, research is required in indigenous settings that can inform policy makers. The present study, carried out in the lowland Maya area of Mexico, aims to investigate local meanings of rainforest conservation and dynamics of land use in two Maya common property holdings or 'ejidos' (Noh cah and X-Maben). The study used a Social-Ecological Systems approach comprising: (i) the Maya communities and their local meanings of conservation as a Social Subsystem, assessed through social surveys, and (ii) the rainforest of each studied ejido - which was regarded as an Ecological Subsystem and assessed through satellite images (from 2000 to 2012). In the former, interviewees were asked: "when you hear the phrase 'conservation of the rainforest' what do you think is being said?" They were also asked if there were local words in Maya or Spanish that were similar in meaning to the aforementioned phrase. The results relating to the meanings of conservation demonstrate that Maya people, who rely on the rainforest for multiple livelihoods, understand two types of meanings for looking after the rainforest; one promoted by governmental conservation programs, and the other called Kanan K'áax , a Maya phrase that represents their customary or community-based rainforest conservation. Differences between these two models of conservation encompass differences with respect to scale, gender and the Maya people's own cultural practices. The results of the local dynamics of land use demonstrate that the landscapes of both study sites are dominated by mature rainforest (ranging from 73.9–82.7%), and are therefore in a good state of conservation, and that their agricultural frontiers have not expanded. Our empirical results are valuable in terms of informing the scientific community about the state of rainforest conservation in the Maya Zone, and providing policy makers (from the Maya area and elsewhere) with information to devise new, more inclusive conservation policies that take full account of the indigenous cultural practices of rainforest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A social-ecological system approach has been applied to measure the complexity of sustainable tourism development on small islands. In general, tourism development and ecosystem management have been shown to be relatively unbalanced. Tourism development attempts have not yet been accompanied by environmental management efforts. In this paper, the social-ecological status is measured to improve the sustainable development mechanism with appropriate indicators. Using the Gili Matra Islands as a case study, the social-ecological status of tourism in the region was examined using the social-ecological status index (SESI), a coupling index of the coastal waters quality index (CWQI), the coordination degree model (CCDM) and the index of information entropy weight (IEW) as tools for measuring and evaluating the social-ecological status and sustainable development of small island tourism. • The status of the social-ecological system must be understood as a complex system to evaluate the impact of development. • Tourism development greatly affects a social-ecological system depending on the development scale of tourism. • In the tourism context, the social and ecological developments are present in a relatively unbalanced and unregulated way. • An integrated evaluation system is very important for improving management effectiveness and efficiency of small islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Ecosystem-based management (EBM) remains largely undefined for urban forestry. • Traditional EBM concepts must be renegotiated for the urban context. • Spatial and temporal scale are poorly integrated in existing management frameworks. • Urban forest EBM must also account for social and institutional processes. • New themes include resilience, data, environmental justice, and civic engagement. Abstract The concept of ecosystem-based management (EBM) emerged from growing concern around adverse environmental impacts associated with resource management in the late twentieth century. Despite inconsistencies and ambiguities in both definition and implementation, the concept has seen considerable uptake in federal and provincial/state policies. More recently, municipal urban forest plans and programs have been making reference to EBM, yet there is almost no existing research on EBM in urban settings. In this paper, we discuss EBM in the context of urban forest ecosystems. Specifically, we ask three questions: (1) how might the concept of EBM remain relevant and be applied in densely-populated urban settings; (2) what structure and form might EBM take in the management of urban forest ecosystems; and (3) what are some examples of EBM applications in municipal urban forestry? The review is structured around 10 prominent themes from the EBM literature, which are re-negotiated for the urban context and, where necessary, are altered, omitted, or replaced with new themes. We also draw from four complementary cases of EBM in practice in Halifax, Toronto, and Edmonton. The resulting 12 themes of urban forest EBM include: Resilience, hierarchical context, social-ecological boundaries, data and information management, monitoring, adaptive management, interagency cooperation, partnerships and civic engagement, organizational change, social change, environmental justice, and values. Urban forests are important ecosystem service providers, but managers face a host of challenges, ranging from a consistent lack of resources to degraded urban sites. Continued dialogue on best approaches for integrating ecological principles into management is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Risks and challenges for the international wine industry are increasingly complex. • Novel socio-ecological resilience framework applied to assess characteristics of resilience in the wine industry. • Assessment empirically applied to recent earthquake in Marlborough wine region (New Zealand). • Critical vulnerabilities and opportunities to enhance resilience identified. • Provides the basis for further conceptual development of resilience assessment. Abstract This paper examines resilience through a case study of New Zealand's largest wine region following a damaging earthquake in late-2016. Resilience assessment for the wine industry to date has largely focused on characterising risks and responses as a function of organisational and business management practices. Less in known about socio-ecological characteristics of resilience and how these shape and influence response capabilities and capacity to low-frequency, high-magnitude events within the broader context of other risks. The research employs a resilience-based framework to identify and assess relevant properties incorporating a whole-of-value-chain perspective. The participatory approach includes semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, including wine business managers, wine researchers, industry bodies and others involved in the production and distribution of wine; document analysis (media and emergency response reports), and insurance assessments. Results show the earthquake had direct impacts on infrastructure, with indirect impacts and implications in particular for transportation and logistics, affecting the industry's ability to mitigate losses. Resilience varies across the region and the industry, in part as a function of size, scale, and ownership structure of the operation, which in turn influences future levels of preparedness. Resilience analysis provides conceptual and methodological tools for assessing the capacity of socio-ecological systems to recover from shocks and stresses. The framework developed here provides a useful conceptual and theoretical basis for further assessments and can inform the design of resilience indices to monitor organisations' capacity to absorb shocks and prepare for future uncertainty. This type of analysis can help identify system-critical vulnerabilities and sensitivities and inform the development of strategies to develop specified and general resilience in the face of multiple stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Biosecurity is often conceptualised and managed as an issue of biological risk. However, biosecurity policy and programs need to also manage for the social risks and impacts of biological invasions. This paper applies theory on the social aspects of social-ecological system resilience to understand how growers from the Queensland Banana industry in north east Australia coped with the social impacts of the Panama Tropical Race 4 incursion. We present a conceptual framework that highlights how emergency responses can also support programs to build and enhance the social resilience of affected actors. Management programs and activities can be designed to support affected actors to cope with the impacts of the invasion, at the same time as working to eradicate or contain the invasive species. Short term immediate management actions coupled with developing institutions and process to support and build social resilience of actors in the longer-term, may enable them to learn to live with a new species in the landscape, and, or be able to better cope with the social impacts of future invasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Spatial determinants of residential intention to adopt GSI varied among practices. • Household and neighborhood problems predicted intention to adopt infiltration trenches. • Intention to adopt diversion of roof runoff show association with broader green actions and norms. • Residing in a town with stormwater permitting may influence one's intention to adopt rain gardens. Abstract Improved stormwater management for the protection of water resources requires bottom-up stewardship from landowners, including adoption of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). We use a statewide survey of Vermont paired with a cross-scale and spatial analysis to evaluate the influence of interacting spatial, social, and physical factors on residential intention to adopt GSI across a complex social-ecological landscape. Specifically, we focus on how three GSI practices, ("rain garden (bio retention)," "infiltration trenches," and "actively divert roof runoff to a rain barrel/lawn/garden instead of the street/sewer") vary with barriers to adoption, and household attributes across stormwater contexts from the household to watershed scale. Private landowners, who may be motivated more by on-site and neighborhood stormwater problems, may gravitate toward practices like infiltration trenches compared with practices (e.g., rain gardens) perceived to serve stormwater function over larger areas. Diversion of roof runoff was found to be more likely to be a part of a larger assembly of green behaviors. Improved stormwater management outcomes at the watershed, town, neighborhood, and household levels depend on adaptive approaches and adjusting strategies along the rural-urban gradient, across the bio-physical landscape, and according to varying norms and institutional arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Social-ecological system (SES) archetype mapping is a key tool in developing transferrable sustainability solutions. • We advance SES archetype mapping to 1 km resolution. • Fine resolution mapping is facilitated by multiple open-access geospatial big data. • SES archetypes reveal four archetypical human-environmental interactions. Scaling up case-based knowledge to understand human-environmental interactions is key to addressing the sustainability challenges we face in the Anthropocene. Mapping social-ecological system (SES) archetypes has emerged as a promising tool in identifying these interactions in a spatially explicit manner and developing transferrable sustainability solutions based on context-specific challenges. However, state-of-the-art SES archetype mapping is mainly bound to administrative borders. Lack of spatial details in SES maps does not always capture the panorama of SES configurations and hidden mechanisms. Empowered by multiple open-access geospatial big data streams, this study mapped two-tier nested SES archetypes at 1 km fine resolution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration with high validation accuracy. Global SES archetypes derived from top-down rule-based classification revealed broad social-ecological configurations and social-ecological gradients across SESs. Meanwhile, regional SES sub-archetypes generated by bottom-up hierarchical clustering presented detailed SES characteristics that helped to identify location-specific sustainability challenges. Additionally, by scrutinizing the relationships among SES variables, we identified empirical evidence supporting the existence of four archetypical human-environmental interactions in an urban agglomeration area, manifesting as telecoupling between human and environment, human dependence on the environment, human adaption to the environment, and human modification and conservation of the environment. Generally, fine-resolution SES archetypes demonstrate great potential in supporting the recognition of local needs and gaps in existing policies, and further promoting sustainable landscape management in the BTH region and similar regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covering approximately 15% of the Earth's land surface and home to 14% of the total global population, semi-arid pastoral areas are characterized by high climatic variability and ecological vulnerability. Recurring extreme weather prodoundly shapes decision-making in semi-arid pastoral social–ecological systems (SAPSES) and their traditional natural-resource-based livelihoods. This study developed a conceptual framework of climate-livelihood vulnerability in SAPSES and evaluated the vulnerability of SAPSES to climate change effects and environmental pressure in Hulunbuir, China using a questionnaire survey and remote sensing monitoring data. Results showed that the study area were impacted substantially by climate change (0.68). However, the vulnerability was relatively low because of the moderate adaptability (0.59) and medium sensitivity of the local socio–ecological system (0.61). Natural factors, including climate variation, natural disasters and ecosystem sensitivity, were the main causes of vulnerability. The increasing vulnerability had been largely slowed by adaptive capital, the traditional cultural organization system and the collective action mechanism. Degraded grassland cover, lack of technical training and high habitation stickiness were the main reasons for increased sensitivity. Natural capital and financial capital were important factors restricting regional adaptive capacity. Therefore, promoting local livestock cooperatives, improving the provision of public services and strengthening ecological governance can help to enhance the climate change resilience and increase the stability and sustainability of SAPSES. [Display omitted] • Climate-livelihood vulnerability of semi-arid social-ecological system was evaluated. • High exposure caused by the climate variation and natural disaster caused vulnerability. • Grassland degradation and high habitation stickiness increased sensitivity. • Natural capital and financial capital restricted regional adaptive capacity. • Traditional cultural organization system and collective action mechanism mitigated vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the largest archipelagic country, Indonesia has been unable to prioritize the ocean to improve its economy. Despite implementing various fisheries management approaches, Indonesia has consistently failed to establish the right policies. The Indonesian government's current breakthrough was to combine the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) and quota-based fisheries management (QBFM). Policies that combine these two concepts are known as 'perikanan terukur' (measurable fisheries). The observation views the perspective of local stakeholders on this measurable fisheries policy. Fisheries management area (FMA) 718 was conducted as research areas while designed as industrial fisheries and national fish supply areas. FMA 718 is also represented by Merauke Regency (South Papua) and Aru Islands Regency (Maluku). The perception of 67 key respondents was modeled using qualitative network modeling. The results showed at least 28 initial variables related to the response to QBFM. The developed model indicated that local stakeholders had rejected this policy. The implications that emerged to implement this policy were to ensure the distribution of authority between layers of government. The gap between local and commercial fishermen must be resolved immediately. There is a need for community involvement in policy, including efforts to develop policies based on data and factual conditions. [Display omitted] • FMA 718's Stakeholders rejected quota-based policy due to amidst reduced the authority in fisheries management. • The failure of local fishery industries in Indonesia is due to limited basic infrastructure, human resources, and capital. • Indonesia must tackle the socioeconomic disparity between commercial and local fishers to promote well-economic fisheries. • Indonesian central government should decentralize fisheries management area and provide standardized instruments. • Indonesian fisheries stakeholders must collaborate and organize a massive campaign about sustainable fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal social-ecological systems (SES) are essential for the wellbeing of coastal communities and the wider society. However, in many parts of the world coastal SES face rapid change, and ultimately degradation. In this paper we unravel the mechanisms and implications of change in coastal SESmobilising multiple sources of knowledge, including scientific, expert-based and traditional and local knowledge (TLK). We focus on the rapidly changing Nakatsu mudflat in Japan, and combine primary and secondary data elicited through a mixed-method participatory approach that mobilised local stakeholders with different types of engagement with (and knowledge of) the mudflat. Through 4 expert interviews and 40 questionnaire surveys we identified the main ecosystem services provided by the mudflat that are perceived to be essential to the wellbeing of the local community. Although practically all respondents identified food provision as an important mudflat ecosystem services, many also pointed to the importance of some cultural (e.g. aesthetic beauty, spirituality, education and knowledge) and supporting services (e.g. habitat provision, sediment formation/retention). Through 8 Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and concept mapping we identified and systematized the underlying direct and indirect drivers of ecosystem change in the Nakatsu mudflat. These include population ageing and shrinking, economic diversification, and technological change that have collectively eroded TLK practices associated with the sustainable use of the mudflat. We also identified the mechanisms mediating these drivers and how they unfold in reality. Our study demonstrates that participatory processes engaging multiple stakeholders with different types of knowledge can provide rich and useful information on coastal SES change, which might not be readily obvious from simple headline indicators such as the change in the extent of the SES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sandy beaches are ecosystems that hold great economic value at local, national, and international level. However, their perception as social-ecological systems is often limited by users and managers to the recreational asset, and their perception of "beauty". Such a perception bias can hamper conservation management, negatively impact the biodiversity on sandy beaches and even threaten the ecosystem services they provide. To survey this perception bias, we applied the method of netnography to analyse Instagram posts with the hashtag #sandybeach, extracting perceptions and values for nature (intrinsic, instrumental, and relational) towards sandy beaches and their ecological features. We used the concept of littoral active zone (LAZ) to define the boundaries of this social-ecological system that spans the land and the sea. Our results show that Instagram users focus on their social media mainly on the recreational values of sandy beaches and prioritise ecological features fitting into an imaginary of a "pristine" beach, characterised by white sand and clear water – therewith supporting the hypothesis about a perception bias on sandy beaches. We identified a diverse set of relational values, especially around recreation and aesthetics, with a very marginal number of posts mentioning intrinsic or instrumental values. A recurring activity on LAZ was surfing, which emphasises the LAZ (wave break point, surf zone). To conserve the biodiversity and ecosystem services of sandy beaches, we see it as necessary to move away from a biased and narrow perception to one that, based on the LAZ as a system, is capable of including a diversity of biogeographical and ecological features, and the natural processes that maintain them. • By doing a netnographic analysis in Instagram the small data approach was applied. • Instagram users favour white and beige coloured sandy beaches with fine grain, gently slope, and light-blue water. • Especially relational values of recreation and aesthetics were dominating. • We urge to move away from a biased beach perception towards a plural valuation of sandy beaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Linkages between ES supply and demand, actors, drivers, pressures and responses determined. • Demand for ES and environmental behavior of direct and indirect users were evaluated. • Direct users are the potential landscape stewards of the agro-ecosystems. • Concept of access before assess for holistic ES assessment suggested. • Application of landscape stewardship concept for sustainable management of ecosystems. Abstract Ecosystems provide services which are central to human well-being. However, they are undergoing rapid change due to human interferences. In times of globalization and cosmopolitan citizenship, boundaries (fringe) between rural and urban landscapes are blurring which make agro-ecosystems vulnerable. Critical understanding of societal transformation driving ecological change across different scales, especially fringe landscapes is necessary for operationalizing a holistic growth model in developing nations. Ecosystem services provided by agro-ecosystems and their value to stakeholders are often overlooked in the conservation and resource management actions in India. An evaluation framework was designed, considering stakeholders with direct and indirect access to services for agro-ecosystem management. Users' demand for ecosystem services and their environmental behavior was assessed, using a combination of ES valuation tools and methods. Results highlight that direct users are the potential landscape stewards of agro-ecosystems. Being custodians of the ecosystem, there is a need for engagement of direct users in the present management interventions to ensure sustainable social-ecological systems in future. The study puts forward that the application of landscape stewardship concept can contribute to sustainable management of ecosystems, while considering the nested multi-scale dynamics of social-ecological systems in developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Resource users’ perceptions are crucial for successful marine governance because they affect community support, participation and legitimacy. Efforts have been made to understand how fishers’ attitudes, understandings and interpretations of the environment and its governance emerge in small-scale fisheries. However, many quantitative studies have focused on how individual-level attributes like socio-demographics are associated with perceptions, ignoring a fundamental scale at which humans arrive at their views about the world – the social group. In multi-gear fisheries, fishers typically cluster in two overlapping types of group: occupational groups (defined by fishing gear) and village communities. Taking into account also individual-level variables, which group type is more associated with particular environmental and governance perceptions, e.g. about change in fish stocks, collective action or appropriate management actions? Through questionnaires in combination with multivariate and multi-model inference, this study reveals that, among fishers in two villages in Zanzibar (n = 172), village is more associated with perceptions than occupational group or any other factor. Further, individual attributes like education and age influence perceptions. The main finding implies that the role of social-cultural processes might have been underestimated in quantitative research on research users’ perceptions. This has consequences for policy and research and shows that both can be informed by statistical analyses that disentangles effects of different levels of group belonging. Highlights • Resource users’ perceptions are essential for community support in marine governance. • Little research has investigated the role of different overlapping groups for perceptions formation. • Are fishers perceptions associated with village or with occupational group (i.e., main gear type)? • Perceptions strongly cluster by village in a small-scale fishery in Zanzibar. • Probably, social-cultural group processes, apart from socio-demographics, are important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban park soil plays a vital part in urban ecosystems, which harbor a considerable microbial diversity. Those microbes regulate soil fertility, plant health, and biogeochemical cycling. The existing studies have hardly focused on microbial diversity from urban parks, especially from China. As Shanghai, the largest city of China has experienced extensive urbanization, the present study focused on bacterial community compositions and their functional genes collected from 24 urban parks soils to ensure soil health and microbial sustainability of major parks of this city. To elucidate the bacterial communities from all 24 urban parks, soils were analyzed by sequencing V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene using Illumina MiSeq. At the taxonomic level, 12,67,055 16S rRNA gene sequences were secured from all the soil samples. Out of 43 classified phyla, all the urban park soils had higher relative abundances of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria accounting for 33.01–45.49 and 18.7–30.12%, respectively. A total of 6909 bacterial functional genes showing high functional gene diversity for essential biogeochemical processes (including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur cycles) exist in Shanghai urban parks that could be helpful in maintaining fertility of park soils and thus greenery of city. This is the first extensive report on soil microbial diversity from urban parks of China. Our results provide a foundation or a guideline to urban planners and to compare future research related to urban parks soil biodiversity and ecosystem function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cities increasingly become the dominant settlement form across the world, it is critical to gain a deeper insight into their dynamics, in order to better direct environmental management towards enhancing urban sustainability and environmental quality. People are a key driver shaping the ecological makeup of cities, not least through landscaping actions and choices. In this study, we explore social factors shaping plant selection in Cape Town, South Africa through interviews with stakeholders responsible for managing and landscaping across three land use types: private residential gardens, public parks and open space, and conservation areas. We combine an interdisciplinary, multi-scalar framework on residential landscape dynamics and a plant traits lens to structure our approach to examining the influence of social factors on plant selection across spatial and institutional scales in the city, from a bottom-up perspective. Residents name a variety of reasons for plant selection at the household scale related to plant traits, including aesthetics, utility (e.g., food provision), environmental suitability, and personal symbolic meanings. Parks managers select for ecological suitability as well as aesthetic concerns, and conservation managers select chiefly for ecological integrity. All stakeholders describe factors at other scales (e.g., property structure, government policies) that influence their plant selection. We indicate that a complementary patchwork of private gardens and public open spaces could serve as a source of trait diversity and provide a variety of ecosystem functions and services in the urban landscape, and suggest that management and policy efforts can focus on leveraging synergies towards this end. This study contributes to a greater understanding of the social-ecological dynamics in a global south city and biodiversity hotspot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to integrate local residents’ awareness and perception of ecosystem services (ES) into the ES assessment for the planning of protected areas (PAs). Using data collected from the newly designated Wuyishan national park pilot, we assessed communities’ identification and perceptions of a broad range of ESs. We examined the factors that affected the preference and assessment across communities and found a PA-enclave effect: preference towards the ES categories diverge between residents inside and outside of current protected areas resulted from previous PA management. While provisioning services were recognised and closely bonded with livelihood when communities acquired them as demanders, cultural services were also recognised when communities saw themselves as providers. The recognition and assessment of regulating services were generally low as local people were more sensitive to ecological outcomes than processes. The results underline the importance of the cultural landscape history in shaping communities’ mind and the security of livelihood as a baseline to facilitate regional conservation planning. Since communities are diverse in perceptions to ESs even in the relatively homogeneous national park pilot, the management must consider a strategic planning in regulation to address the diversity in demand to achieve the conservation goal in the whole region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how urban forests developed their current patterns of tree canopy cover, species composition, and diversity requires an appreciation of historical legacy effects. However, analyses of current urban forest characteristics are often limited to contemporary socioeconomic factors, overlooking the role of history. The institutions, human communities, and biophysical conditions of cities change over time, creating layers of legacies on the landscape, shifting urban forests through complex interactive processes and feedbacks. Urban green spaces and planted trees can persist long after their establishment, meaning that today’s mature canopy reflects conditions and decisions from many years prior. In this synthesis article, we discuss some of the major historical human and biophysical drivers and associated legacy effects expressed in present urban forest patterns, highlighting examples in the United States and Canada. The bioregional context – native biome, climate, topography, initial vegetation, and pre-urbanization land use – represents the initial conditions in which a city established and grew, and this context influences how legacy effects unfold. Human drivers of legacy effects can reflect specific historical periods: colonial histories related to the symbolism of certain species, and the urban parks and civic beautification movements. Other human drivers include phenomena that cut across time periods such as neighborhood urban form and socioeconomic change. Biophysical legacy effects include the consequences of past disturbances such as extreme weather events and pest and disease outbreaks. Urban tree professionals play a major role in many legacy effects by mediating the interactions and feedbacks between biophysical and human drivers. We emphasize the importance of historical perspectives to understand past drivers that have produced current urban forest patterns, and call for interdisciplinary and mixed methods research to unpack the mechanisms of long-term urban forest change at intra- and inter-city scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural households in developing countries often depend on non-timber forest products (NTFPs), including foods, traditional medicines, fuelwood, fodder, and construction and craft materials such as bamboo and rattan, for their livelihoods, but the forests that supply NTFPs are subject to competition from other land uses. NTFP collectors who are unable to sustain their livelihoods because of changes caused in the NTFP collection environment by deforestation and degradation may even convert surrounding forests to agricultural land to compensate for their reduced incomes. This feedback loop of deforestation and degradation can create further conflicts among natural resource users and undermine long-term development goals. Here, we aimed to advance the discussion of forest conservation interventions in protected areas in developing countries—particularly the discussion of patrolling strategies in and around existing wildlife sanctuaries—by presenting a new approach that uses the case of NTFP collection and a human geography perspective. We used a structured questionnaire composed of closed questions to measure the awareness of village households of the impacts of deforestation and/or illegal extraction of trees on NTFP collection over a short period of time (2014–2016) near the Prey Long Wildlife Sanctuary in the eastern part of the Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia. Our survey was based on the conceptual framework of Bohensky and Lynam (Ecol. Soc. 10, 11; 2005) that people in complex adaptive systems change their behaviour after becoming aware of the impact or consequences of a change. The probability of a village having an affected household (i.e., a household that was aware of the impact) was predicted by using generalized linear mixed models. By using identified geospatial indicators of environmental and socioeconomic aspects, including distance between the village and the wildlife sanctuary, size of deforested area per capita in 2014–2016 within a 10-km radius of the village and proportion of households in the village that collect NTFPs for cash income, we predicted the spatial distribution of villages with affected NTFP-collecting households. Priority areas for NTFP collection were then mapped with reference to the identified indicators. By using these results, we present an approach to breaking the deforestation feedback loop by identifying priority areas for patrolling and other forest conservation interventions in the wildlife sanctuary. • We mapped the distribution of NTFP-collecting households affected by deforestation. • We also mapped priority areas for NTFP collection. • These maps help with the triaging of forest conservation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A risk assessment for disasters is usually composed of hazard, vulnerability and exposure variables, which are hardly studied and modeled simultaneously. In volcanology, it remains ambitious to anticipate risk trajectories of pre- and post-eruption regimes. The interdependencies and feedback loops of the system's components, between geological, ecological, social and economic ones, give rise to trade-offs and synergies that should be disentangled for supporting decision-makers and helping local communities to face the risks. We developed here an innovative discrete-event and possibilistic model based on a dynamical network representation to assess volcanological multi-risk and long term post-eruption impacts of such a multifactorial system. We illustrated our method with the region around Mount Meru (Northern Tanzania), a strato-volcano with various eruption styles, located in a growing economic and touristic region (>1 M.inh.). We used qualitative and rule-based Petri nets, largely unused in environmental sciences, for an integrated assessment of the overall system dynamics and associated risks. As a central result, we showed that the region could recover from a blast eruption, irrespective of the timescale. Our study highlights the fact that agriculture and pastoralism remain key activities to favour the recovery of this region. Yet, as soon as subsidies from governmental and non-governmental organizations are lacking, the modeled region remains isolated from national and international activities and shifts to rural dynamics. Our case study can equip environmental risk assessment with innovative models, new dynamical indices (e.g. desirable and non-desirable trajectories), and rigorous reasoning for an ultimate integrated management of social-ecological systems at stake. • We integrated geological, ecological and socio-economic components/processes. • We developed innovative discrete-event and qualitative models. • We modeled exhaustive pre- and post-eruption trajectories of such systems. • This is a first application to multi-risk assessment in geology and environment. • Modeled systems confirmed the importance of rural activities for resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Adaptive management for multifunctional forests. • Interdependencies in forest coupled systems. • Safe operating spaces for forest multifunctional management. • Viability theory for forest management. The sustainable management of forests is a critical global challenge that requires meeting human needs while also preserving forest ecosystems and the livelihoods they provide. To achieve this goal, forest management must encompass all goods and services provided by the forest, and increasingly, forests are being viewed as complex social-ecological systems that require adaptive and multifunctional management. One key aspect of sustainable and multifunctional forest management is the use of shared infrastructures, such as roads, to connect the capacity for production and multifunctional use. However, the provision of roads raises issues and dilemmas, particularly in contexts where different forest functions have conflicting objectives. Effective governance is essential to address these challenges. In this article, we propose a control problem framework with infinite horizon that integrates the role of roads and their governance into adaptive management. Our approach involves using a dynamical forest model that considers the roads related to forest functions as part of the mathematical viability theory problem. We distinguish between different scenarios of mono-functional and multifunctional forest management and examine the safe operating space of the exploited ecosystems for each scenario. Our results demonstrate the formalization of complex interactions within a multifunctional forest system and highlight how even small changes in infrastructure provision strategies can dramatically impact the safe operating space of the forest ecosystem. By incorporating shared infrastructures into adaptive forest management, we can ensure the sustainability of both the forest ecosystem and the human communities that depend on it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seagrass beds have historically received little to no management attention, contributing to significant declines in their extent globally. Recently, seagrass beds, and other blue carbon ecosystems, have gained greater management attention due to their potentially critical role in climate mitigation. Therefore, some countries, such as Belize in 2021, have included blue carbon ecosystems within their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). To date, no specific regulations exist to manage seagrass beds in Belize; however, there is a plan to develop a national seagrass policy. In support of this effort and to gain a better understanding of institutions' current knowledge and perceptions regarding seagrass beds and their management, as well their experiences with community engagement, we conducted interviews with six Belizean management institutions (two government departments, four non-government organizations) involved in marine resource management. Respondents perceived seagrass beds as important, identifying climate mitigation and fisheries as critical ecosystem services. They saw the importance of managing and protecting seagrass beds, and identified several direct (e.g., dredging) and indirect (e.g., land-based pollution) threats. Also highlighted were several management challenges, with governance structure identified as a major one; seagrass beds can fall under the purview of several government departments, which has jurisdictional implications. Interviewees discussed challenges and opportunities regarding community engagement, and they desired greater community inclusion within marine resource management at planning and implementation phases. Based on these findings, we build on existing management frameworks to present one that can foster just and equitable seagrass policy, management, and social-ecological outcomes. • Seagrass beds considered to be healthy and an important natural climate solution. • Governance structures pose one of the greatest challenges for seagrass management. • Community engagement often involves socialization rather than inclusion. • Future policy should address governance, inclusion, and management scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the important yet largely misunderstood relationship between resilience and sustainability and the gap between these theoretical constructs and the practice of urban development. It explores how these two separate constructs, each with its own theoretical framework, complement and support each other as approaches to the complex issues arising from fast-changing urban conditions and unprecedented pressures on the urban social-ecological system. The City of Tshwane metropolitan urban system, which includes Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, forms the exploration ground for this study. As a metropolitan area undergoing rapid urbanization along with increasing resource depletion, service delivery issues and social injustices, Tshwane provides a number of extreme urban design and planning problems of varying scales within a single urban system that are directly related to the constructs of resilience and sustainability. The paper uses the example of gated communities, a common spatial response to the sustainability goal of security, to examine and elucidate a broader understanding of the relationship between sustainability and resilience attributes and their application to spatial development practices. It is proposed that the understanding of the structure and dynamics of the city provided by resilience thinking, combined with the normative positions offered by sustainability offers, a) a way for urban design and planning interventions to constructively engage with the realities of a fast-changing city; and b) a new understanding of resilience within urban design and planning fields which includes interpretations that extend beyond climate change mitigation or rapid urbanization adaptation, seeing its potential as means of informing transformative development across scales through establishing mechanisms for the development of spatial resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation of environmental policies to often unexpected crises is an important function of sustainable governance arrangements. However the relationship between environmental change and policy is complicated. Much research has focused on understanding institutional dynamics or the role of specific participants in the policy process. This paper draws attention to interest groups and the mechanism through which they influence policy change. Existing research offers conflicting evidence in regards to the different ways in which interest groups may affect change. This paper provides an in-depth study of the 2013 European Union Common Fisheries Policy reform − a policy change characterized by active interest group participation. It traces the activity of interest group coalitions to understand how they achieved influence under a changing policy context. The study involves interviews with interest group representatives, policy experts and decision-makers, document analysis of interest group statements and EU legislative documents. Findings identify the important role of coalition-building and informational lobbying for environmental interest group success in exploiting favorable sociopolitical conditions and influencing reform outcomes. An insight on interest group influence and its conditions contributes to our understanding of the complex dynamics of the environmental policy process as well as its implications for policy adaptation to environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ambiente & Sociedade is the property of Nepam Unicamp and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ambiente & Sociedade is the property of Nepam Unicamp and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mud crabs ( Scylla serrata ) are the most conspicuous and commercially important portunid species in the Indo-Pacific mangroves. In Indian Sundarban mangrove, mud crabs are valuable bioresource that contributed economically for the coastal communities. The majority of the crab fishers use traditional methods with minimal investment and without any restriction, resulting unregulated fishery practices. The present study aims to identify the status of crab fishery following ecological and social aspects over three year's data series. Monthly samplings were conducted in seven fishing villages of Sundarban having similar principle livelihood and socio-cultural makeup. The population structure, abundance, biomass and sex-ratio of the crabs were recorded each month. The organization of local marketing chain was analyzed. Daily and monthly catch in different traditional fishing techniques were compared. Based on the three years survey data a conceptual framework of future management strategy had also been developed. Six different size classes were identified during the study. Ovigerous ratio and juvenile recruitment of the population showed distinct peaks. Two major fishing techniques were identified which are practiced traditionally by the local communities. They differed in terms of size-specific collection, catch per unit effort and hours of activities for the crab collectors. Maximum exploitation of the wild population was observed in the case of mangrove-fringed villages. Due to the recent increasing demands of mud crabs in domestic and international markets, the natural stock is continually been depleted. Therefore, involvement of the resource extractors into the future management trajectories is necessary to overcome the present crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem services (ES) research has rapidly gained momentum in environmental policy and practice. However, qualitative socio-cultural approaches are still limited, and therefore, ES important for people, are currently not commonly captured. We performed 34 face-to-face semi-structured interviews to describe stakeholders' appreciation of ES from dehesa landscapes in northern Extremadura, Spain. A total of 45 ES were mentioned, and compared among different sectors and levels of governance. At the local level, people appreciated especially provisioning and cultural services. In contrast, regional level respondents showed more appreciation for regulating and supporting services, which included biodiversity conservation and climate regulation. Private and public sector respondents appreciated provisioning services more, whereas the civil sector mentioned supporting and regulating services more. For instance, water regulation was only mentioned by civil and public sector respondents, while genetic resource preservation was only expressed by the private sector. All sectors noted cultural services as key ES. We discuss most mentioned ES by respondents, the co-production nature of ES in wood-pastures, as well as cultural services as key ES of dehesas in coupled social-ecological systems. We conclude with policy recommendations drawn from the insights of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agri-food system is a vital and complex social-ecological system characterized by interactions between humans and the environment. For such systems, qualitative scenarios (QS) can generate pictures of possible futures, which combined with quantitative modelling allow identifying pathways towards improved resilience and exploring system uncertainties. However, the interpretation of qualitative narratives into quantitative simulation parameters remains challenging due to system complexity. In this study, we translate QS into quantitative agent-based model (ABM) parameters and estimate the likelihood of each scenario in the evolved agri-food system in response to individual actions. We implement a five-step approach consisting of: i) the generation of the QS, ii) the parameterization of the ABM iii) the translation of scenario assumptions into ABM parameters, iv) the validation of our results via an expert workshop, v) the assessment of the scenarios in the evolved system. The results of an illustrative example reveal that, with the implementation of cropping diversification, the system will evolve to a combination of scenario 1, 2, 3 and 4 at probabilities of 9 %, 35 %, 30 % and 26 %, respectively, which change under different management options. Overall, we conclude that QS-ABM combination is a promising approach to provide robust quantitative projections of the agri-food system future. • Natural and financial capital of actors in the agri-food system are estimated to increase by 20 %. • With cropping diversification, the agri-food system has a 35 % probability to evolve to scenario-2. • Having more nature conservation activists shows a 60 % likelihood that the system will evolve towards scenario-3. • A combination of qualitative scenarios with agent-based modelling can provide clear quantitative projections of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing interest in assessing the effects of changing environmental conditions and management actions on human wellbeing. A challenge is to translate social science expertise regarding these relationships into terms usable by environmental scientists, policymakers, and managers. Here, we present a comprehensive, structured, and transparent conceptual framework of human wellbeing designed to guide the development of indicators and a complementary social science research agenda for ecosystem-based management. Our framework grew out of an effort to develop social indicators for an integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) of the California Current large marine ecosystem. Drawing from scholarship in international development, anthropology, geography, and political science, we define human wellbeing as a state of being with others and the environment, which arises when human needs are met, when individuals and communities can act meaningfully to pursue their goals, and when individuals and communities enjoy a satisfactory quality of life . We propose four major social science-based constituents of wellbeing: connections, capabilities, conditions, and cross-cutting domains. The latter includes the domains of equity and justice, security, resilience, and sustainability, which may be assessed through cross-cutting analyses of other constituents. We outline a process for identifying policy-relevant attributes of wellbeing that can guide ecosystem assessments. To operationalize the framework, we provide a detailed table of attributes and a large database of available indicators, which may be used to develop measures suited to a variety of management needs and social goals. Finally, we discuss four guidelines for operationalizing human wellbeing measures in ecosystem assessments, including considerations for context, feasibility, indicators and research, and social difference. Developed for the U.S. west coast, the framework may be adapted for other regions, management needs, and scales with appropriate modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying socio-economic drivers of small-scale fisheries is a fundamental step to understand impacts and pressures on fishery resources, and the behaviour of seafood trade actors. It is especially relevant for developing countries where such information is usually lacking and fisheries management is greatly needed. To address this gap, this study maps the structure of value chains of fish and marine invertebrates caught by small-scale fisheries from São Vicente, Cape Verde (West Africa), and examines the main socio-economic drivers behind the seafood trade on the island. Specifically, it shows how drivers, such as tourism and the local market, shape the preferences for certain species and how they affect the distribution of income among actors involved in the seafood trade. To collect this information, interviews were done with fishers, small-scale traders, market vendors, and restaurant owners, in all fishing communities of the island of São Vicente, in 2015. Tourism and the local market drive the exploitation of a wide variety of marine species, from small demersal low trophic level fish and marine invertebrates, to large pelagic high trophic level fish species. Moreover, the local seafood market, and especially tourism dynamics, contribute to the unequal distribution of income among actor groups, benefiting mostly restaurant owners due to their direct access to tourist consumers. Such findings have implications for local fishery resources management, food security, and fishing communities’ livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interdisciplinary paper presents an empirical analysis of techno-institutional lock-in in a regional fishery, in the Logone floodplain in the Far North Region of Cameroon. In the Logone floodplain, one fishing technique is spreading exponentially even though it is changing the social, hydrological and ecological dynamics of the system in ways that are largely considered problematic by local communities. We use a complex systems framework to analyze large hydrological and socio-economic datasets. Results show how social-ecological feedbacks foster the spread of the technique and contribute to the process of lock-in. The lock-in leads to a resistance to change despite awareness of the technique’s impact, a situation that may also be described as a social-ecological trap. We identify and explain four kinds of positive feedback loops relating to socio-economic, behavioral, demographic and hydrological processes, respectively. We also identify possible solutions that consider the complexity of the feedback loops across multiple dimensions of the floodplain system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based financing of rural water supply operation and maintenance is a well-established policy principle in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet evidence from over 90,000 waterpoints in five sub-Saharan African countries suggests a majority of communities fail to establish and sustain a revenue collection system. As a result, insufficient finances to repair waterpoints can lead to lengthy downtimes or abandonment, threatening the health and welfare of millions of water users forced to revert to unsafe or distant alternatives. Applying a social-ecological systems framework to community waterpoints in rural Kenya, we empirically assess the prevalence and determinants of financial contributions among water users. The analysis draws on multi-decadal data covering 229 years' worth of water committee financial records consisting of more than 53,000 household payments. Results reveal that non-payment and late payment are prevalent, and payment behaviours are predicted by groundwater quality, waterpoint location, productive water use, and rainfall season. The findings reflect the socio-ecological nature of waterpoint sustainability in rural sub-Saharan Africa and confirm that households are not always willing and able to pay for an improved water supply. This situation is symptomatic of a fundamental operation and maintenance financing challenge that must be addressed if the Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to safe water is to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often, we think of cities as designed landscapes, where people manage everything from water to weeds. But we do not fully understand what happens to these extensively managed landscapes when there is an abrupt disruption in economic activity. Considering the ability of cities to support plant biodiversity and their importance as human habitat, we studied pre- and post-recession landscapes across a gradient of human influence by asking: How did vegetation change over time from before the housing bubble to after the nadir of the Great Recession? And how did vegetation vary across sites at regional versus residential scales? This investigation used long-term vegetation data to examine diversity trends and responses to a novel economic disturbance in an urban social-ecological system. Overall, we found that plant species diversity increased through time across scales, while species composition homogenized in urban and agricultural areas. Residential yards, however, initially had high compositional heterogeneity which then increased over time. Changes in residential diversity were driven by substantial increases in the role of annual plants. This research improves our understanding of spatiotemporal vegetation dynamics in a coupled human-natural system, and specifically how urban vegetation dynamics are linked to anthropogenic influence. Ultimately, we recommend that city planners and managers consider economic trends when approaching community projects because of the interconnectedness of ecology and socioeconomics in urban landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]