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[Objetivo]. Se evaluó el manglar de Chacarita en el Pacífico Central de Costa Rica, a través de la composición florística y las poblaciones de moluscos asociados de interés comercial, con el fin de proponer actividades de aprovechamiento sustentables en el manglar. [Metodología]. Mensualmente y durante un año, se realizaron visitas al área de estudio, con el propósito de establecer una base florística de árboles de mangle y medir el almacenamiento de carbono en el lugar, además, de recolectar moluscos bivalvos para analizar el estado de las poblaciones, con base en las abundancias de organismos hallados y otras características como las longitudes y la masa de estos. En los mangles, se obtuvo el diámetro de la altura de pecho (DAP en cm), la altura (m), el índice de valor de importancia (IVI) y las reservas de carbono (Mg C·ha-1). En cuanto a los moluscos, se examinaron cuatro especies de interés comercial, evaluando la longitud (cm), la masa (g) y el índice gonadosomático. Finalmente, se realizaron valoraciones económicas de los datos obtenidos en el manglar, del turismo e información histórica de pesca para el acopio de Chacarita. [Resultados]. Se hallaron cinco especies de mangles, Rhizophora mangle, Rizophora racemosa, Laguncularia racemosa, Avicennia germinans y Pelliciera rhizophorae; P. rhizophorae fue la de mayor índice de valor de importancia. Se obtuvo un almacenamiento de carbono equivalente a 78.49 Mg C·ha-1. Se contabilizaron 357 organismos, de los cuales el 18 % correspondió a Anadara similis, 37.5 % a Anadara tuberculosa, 41.46 % a Leukoma spp. y 3.08 % a Mytella guyanensis. Tomando en cuenta el valor económico de las reservas de carbono y los moluscos bivalvos presentes en los muestreos, se obtuvieron valoraciones económicas de 9812.63 USD·ha-1 y 28 USD·ha-1, respectivamente. [Conclusiones]. Las bajas densidades poblacionales de moluscos, especialmente del género Anadara, hacen necesario establecer medidas de gestión que permitan recuperar las poblaciones de estos. La presente investigación propone actividades de aprovechamiento sustentables, como turismo comunitario con fines educativos y culturales.

Se analiza la trayectoria hacia un turismo sostenible a través del Proceso de Aprendizaje Social en el manejo de recursos naturales de la Cooperativa de Turismo Rural Tosepan Kali, de Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla. El aprendizaje se evaluó a través de valores y prácticas cotidianas de los cooperativistas. Se utilizaron metodologías antropológicas conocidas que probaron atributos del aprendizaje. La evidencia apunta a que Tosepan Kali establece el aprendizaje social, mas no ha asegurado su trayectoria a la sostenibilidad por múltiples impactos y factores que intervienen en su establecimiento.

Calls for biodiversity conservation practice to be more evidence based are growing, and we agree evidence use in conservation practice needs improvement. However, evidence‐based conservation will not be realized without improved access to evidence. In medicine, unlike in conservation, a well‐established and well‐funded layer of intermediary individuals and organizations engage with medical practitioners, synthesize primary research relevant to decision making, and make evidence easily accessible. These intermediaries prepare targeted evidence summaries and distribute them to practitioners faced with time‐sensitive and value‐laden decisions. To be effective, these intermediaries, who we refer to as evidence bridges, should identify research topics based on the priorities of practitioners; synthesize evidence; prepare and distribute easy‐to‐find and easy‐to‐use evidence summaries; and develop and maintain networks of connections with researchers and practitioners. Based on a review of the literature regarding evidence intermediaries in conservation and environmental management, as well as an anonymous questionnaire searching for such organizations, we found few intermediaries that met all these criteria. Few evidence bridges that do exist are unable to reach most conservation practitioners, which include resource managers in government and industry, conservation organizations, and farmers and other private landowners. We argue that the lack of evidence bridges from research to practitioners contributes to evidence complacency and limits the use of evidence in conservation action. Nevertheless, several existing organizations help reduce the gap between evidence and practice and could serve as a foundation for building additional components of evidence bridges in conservation. Although evidence bridges need expertise in research and evidence synthesis, they also require expertise in identifying and communicating with the community of practitioners most in need of clear and concise syntheses of evidence. Article Impact Statement: Evidence‐based conservation will not be realized without improved access to evidence. We call for intermediary evidence bridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

En Latinoamérica, se han impulsado procesos de transición y conversión de sistemas agrícolas de producción convencional a sistemas de producción agroecológicos. Sin embargo, no ha sido posible observar su desarrollo, debido a que ha prevalecido el enfoque tecnológico sobre los problemas sociales. Se realizó esta investigación, con el objetivo de diseñar una propuesta de dimensiones e indicadores para el estudio integral del nivel de desarrollo de sistemas de producción agroecológica. Metodológicamente implicó el análisis de enfoques y teorías bajo un episteme racionalista deductivo. Los resultados plantean la necesidad de avanzar del modelo basado en la relación producción-consumo al análisis de las relaciones complejas que se dan entre el ecosistema y las culturas, estudiando el efecto de la intervención humana en los ecosistemas, incorporando instrumentos de análisis holístico para abordar los sistemas socio-ecológicos, los cuales hacen énfasis en la racionalidad ecológica de la agricultura agroecológica. Se concluye en un enfoque de transición social agroecológico con tres dimensiones: Socio-cultural (dinámicas de cooperación social); socio-política (políticas públicas de fomento agroecológico) y eco-estructural, (manejo de los recursos naturales), lo que debería expresar una mejor racionalidad económica productiva del sistema agroecológico (condiciones sociales, productividad, tecnología ambientalmente amigable), considerada como variable proxi del grado de desarrollo.

Durante muchos años se ha buscado optimizar la experiencia educativa con el fin de mejorar la transposición pedagógica en el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Esto llevó al desarrollo de diversas teorías de aprendizaje, entre ellas el conductismo, cognitivismo, constructivismo, socio-constructivismo, conectivismo, entre otras. Cada una de ellas, basada en su epistemología, fomenta el desarrollo del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de una manera especializada. El objetivo del presente análisis se fundamenta en una descripción de las teorías de aprendizaje mencionadas y cómo se relacionan con la educación ambiental en el sistema educativo costarricense. Mediante el estudio bibliográfico y el análisis de algunas actividades educativas socioambientales, se relacionó el uso de estas teorías, con el desarrollo de diversas habilidades enfocadas en promover la importancia de los recursos naturales y la conservación de estos para su uso racional por las futuras generaciones.

Este artículo se centra en un estudio sobre la percepción de multitud que tiene el turista cuando visita espacios naturales de uso turístico-recreativo, como son los cenotes en la península de Yucatán, en concreto, el cenote X´batún del ejido de San Antonio Mulix. La intensidad de este uso afecta al medioambiente, a la experiencia del visitante y a las comunidades locales. Estimar los límites en el número de turistas que pueden estar en un espacio natural simultáneamente demuestra ser una herramienta efectiva para una gestión sostenible. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los estudios se centran en el concepto tradicional de Capacidad de Carga Turística, priorizando los impactos al medio ambiente sobre los percibidos por el turista. Este estudio utilizó un método visual para medir la percepción de multitud de los turistas que visitan el cenote X´batún y se determinaron números máximos aceptables de multitud para cada tipo de turista, (local, nacional y extranjeros) a través de curvas de normas sociales. Los resultados arrojan que los turistas locales aceptan ver 40 personas al mismo tiempo en el cenote; los nacionales 33 y los extranjeros 28. De igual forma, se estimó la cantidad máxima que un visitante está dispuesto a pagar por diferentes niveles de multitud. El estudio discute brevemente las implicaciones de los resultados en el manejo de los cenotes.

Copyright of Pasos: Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural is the property of Universidad de La Laguna, Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Politicas y Sociales 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 Revista de Ciencias Sociales (13159518) is the property of Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad del Zulia Venezuela 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.)

Como objetivo se analizaron esquemas de conservación acordes a la realidad de América Latina, tal como la Conservación Basada en Comunidad (CBC). Para ello se empleó una metodología con la que se revisó e integró la información documental relevante del tema. En los resultados del trabajo se reporta en qué consiste la CBC, su relevancia en Latinoamérica y sus temas torales: el socio-ecosistema, la multiescala, los tomadores de decisiones, la apropiación de las estrategias de conservación, las estrategias multi-objetivo, así como las perspectivas de la CBC para América Latina. Las limitaciones y desafíos incluyen saber combinar esto con otras estrategias de conservación, según el contexto. Concluimos que la CBC es una estrategia adecuada, con retos que incluyen su financiamiento, instituciones y cambio en los esquemas federales, que hoy priorizan a las Áreas Naturales Protegidas como estrategia central.

The Mexican countryside is characterized by a multidimensional crisis, affecting not only social wellbeing, but also the conservation of natural resources. As a consequence, from different disciplines new interpretive frameworks have been sought for understanding the multiple society -- nature interrelations. In this article, an applied sociological approach is presented, illustrated by a case study form Western Mexico. The case study shows that rural landscapes are the result of dynamic interrelationships between society and nature. This article ends with a discussion of the implications of this recognition for conservation and development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The ability of private conservation organizations to remain financially viable is a key factor influencing their effectiveness. One‐third of financially motivated private‐land conservation areas (PLCAs) surveyed in South Africa are unprofitable, raising questions about landowners’ abilities to effectively adapt their business models to the socioeconomic environment. In any complex system, options for later adaptation can be constrained by starting conditions (path dependence). We tested 3 hypothesized drivers of path dependence in PLCA ecotourism and hunting business models: (H1) the initial size of a PLCA limits the number of mammalian game and thereby predators that can be sustained; (H2) initial investments in infrastructure limit the ability to introduce predators; and (H3) rainfall limits game and predator abundance. We further assessed how managing for financial stability (optimized game stocking) or ecological sustainability (allowing game to fluctuate with environmental conditions) influenced the ability to overcome path dependence. A mechanistic PLCA model based on simple ecological and financial rules was run for different initial conditions and management strategies, simulating landowner options for adapting their business model annually. Despite attempts by simulated landowners to increase profits, adopted business models after 13 years were differentiated by initial land and infrastructural assets, supporting H1 and H2. A conservation organization's initial assets can cause it to become locked into a financially vulnerable business model. In our 50‐year simulation, path dependence was overcome by fewer of the landowners who facilitated natural ecological variability than those who maintained constant hunting rates and predator numbers, but the latter experienced unsustainably high game densities in low rainfall years. Management for natural variability supported long‐term ecological sustainability but not shorter term socioeconomic sustainability for PLCAs. Our findings highlight trade‐offs between ecological and economic sustainability and suggest a role for governmental support of the private conservation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the capture of small fish, discarded fish, and bycatch is a primary concern of fisheries managers who propose to maintain high yields, species diversity, and ecosystem functions. Modified fishing gear is one of the primary ways to reduce by-catch and capture of small fish. The outcomes of gear modification may depend on competition among fishers using other similar resources and other gears in the same fishing grounds and the subsequent adoption or abandonment of modified gears by fishers. We evaluated adoption of modified gear, catch size, catch per unit effort (CPUE), yield, and fisher incomes in a coral reef fishery in which a 3-cm escape gap was introduced into traditional traps. There were 26.1 (SD 4.9) fishers who used the experimental landing sites and 228(SD 15.7) fishers who used the control landing sites annually over 7 years. The size of fish increased by 10.6% in the modified traps, but the catch of smaller fish increased by 11.2% among the other gears. There was no change in the overall CPUE, yields, or per area incomes; rather, yield benefits were redistributed in favor of the unmodified gears. For example, estimated incomes of fishers who adopted the modified traps remained unchanged but increased for net and spear fishers. Fishers using escape-gap traps had a high proportion of income from larger fish, which may have led to a perception of benefits, high status, and no abandonment of the modified traps. The commensal rather than competitive outcome may explain the continued use of escape-gap traps 3 years after their introduction. Trap fishers showed an interest in negotiating other management improvements, such as increased mesh sizes for nets, which could ultimately catalyze community-level decisions and restrictions that could increase their profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We set out to understand how urbanization affects streams in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Paired t-tests and linear regressions were used to compare physico-chemical stream habitat variables (i.e., temperature, turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH) and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure (i.e., density, taxonomic richness, Shannon-Weiner diversity) and function (functional feeding groups (FFG]) in four watersheds with urban and reference sites. We then calculated indices of biotic integrity for habitat (rapid visual assessment protocol (RVAP]) and benthos (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera richness (EPT], family biotic index (FBI], rapid bioassessment protocol (RBP] and biotic monitoring Patagonian streams (BMPS]). Results indicated that urbanization negatively impacted these streams' underlying ecological condition, decreasing benthic biodiversity and dissolved oxygen, while increasing conductivity and turbidity. FFG assemblage was similar between both sites, but urbanization increased the existing dominance of collector-gatherers. Additionally, urban sites presented lower values in three of the benthic macroinvertebrate indices (EPT, RBP, BMPS, but not FBI) and also for habitat (RVAP). These data fill an existing gap in stream ecology for southern Patagonia and are useful to create monitoring tools. By incorporating urbanization as a driver of ecosystem change, managers and planners will be better able to confront the issue of sustainable development in this region, which is considered one of the most pristine wilderness areas remaining on the planet but whose human population is concentrated in a few densely populated urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate-change induced uncertainties in future spatial patterns of conservation-related outcomes make it difficult to implement standard conservation-planning paradigms. A recent study translates Markowitz's risk-diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. However, this method is information intensive and requires a large number of forecasts of ecological outcomes associated with possible climate-change scenarios for carrying out fine-resolution conservation planning. We developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. We applied our technique to the Prairie Pothole Region in central North America. A lack of sufficient future climate information prevented attainment of the most efficient risk-return conservation outcomes in the Prairie Pothole Region. The difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate-change information and full climate-change information was as large as 30% for the Prairie Pothole Region even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, our iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate-change forecasts such that the best possible risk-return combinations were obtained. With our most efficient iterative approach, the expected loss in conservation outcomes owing to limited climate-change information could be reduced by 17% relative to other iterative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock grazing is the most widespread land use on Earth and can have negative effects on biodiversity. Yet, many of the mechanisms by which grazing leads to changes in biodiversity remain unresolved. One reason is that conventional grazing studies often target broad treatments rather than specific parameters of grazing (e.g., intensity, duration, and frequency) or fail to account for historical grazing effects. We conducted a landscape-scale replicated grazing experiment (15,000 km2, 97 sites) to examine the impact of past grazing management and current grazing regimes (intensity, duration, and frequency) on a community of ground-dwelling herpetofauna (39 species). We analyzed community variables (species richness and composition) for all species and built multiseason patch-occupancy models to predict local colonization and extinction for the 7 most abundant species. Past grazing practices did not influence community richness but did affect community composition and patch colonization and extinction for 4 of 7 species. Present grazing parameters did not influence community richness or composition, but 6 of the 7 target species were affected by at least one grazing parameter. Grazing frequency had the most consistent influence, positively affecting 3 of 7 species (increased colonization or decreased extinction). Past grazing practice affected community composition and population dynamics in some species in different ways, which suggests that conservation planners should examine the different grazing histories of an area. Species responded differently to specific current grazing practices; thus, incentive programs that apply a diversity of approaches rather than focusing on a change such as reduced grazing intensity should be considered. Based on our findings, we suggest that determining fine-scale grazing attributes is essential for advancing grazing as a conservation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Se ofrece una historia del estudio científico sobre el conocimiento y el uso de la biodiversidad y su conservación, con énfasis en el sur de México, donde se maximizan a la vez la diversidad natural y la marginación social. Abandonada a sí misma por siglos, la región sur de México se ha visto envuelta en las últimas décadas en un proceso depredatorio impresionante. El surgimiento de instituciones científicas en la región desde hace casi medio siglo ha ayudado a conocer el potencial físico, biótico y humano existente y a establecer estrategias para su manejo, ante problemas tales como la globalización y el cambio climático. Aunque la historia de la conservación biológica como tal es mucho más reciente que la del desarrollo rural, existe entre ambas disciplinas una interdependencia crucial. La biodiversidad, su conocimiento, uso y conservación, debe no solo ser compatible con la justicia social, sino contribuir a ésta.

El presente ensayo fue preparado como parte de una reflexión de la autora en el curso de Introducción al "Diseño Instruccional" en el Programa de Doctorado en Educación en Nova Southeastern University. El tema nació de la necesidad de comparar dos enfoques de las teorías de aprendizaje, el Conductismo vs. Constructivismo, sus aportes en la pedagogía y consecuentemente en el diseño curricular e instruccional. Se logró una aproximación a los fundamentos epistemológicos del conductismo y del constructivismo, su relación con la pedagogía utilizada en el área de las ciencias naturales y finalmente un análisis de la contribución de ambas posturas teóricas del aprendizaje con el diseño curricular y el diseño instruccional de la carrera en estudio.

Se presenta un análisis de la historia de uso del suelo en la región de La Montaña, municipio de Hopelchén, Campeche, realizado a partir de una recopilación de la documentación histórica existente, complementado con información proporcionada por habitantes del lugar. De igual forma, se presenta una caracterización de la población actual y sus sistemas productivos, utilizando información obtenida mediante encuestas, entrevistas y talleres. La Montaña comprende ocho ejidos cuya población maya-hablante tiene una historia de uso de los recursos naturales de más de tres mil años. La estructura y composición del paisaje en esta zona han sido moldeadas por diferentes factores tanto naturales como sociales, estos últimos guiados por intereses tanto internos como externos. Los cambios poblacionales y los movimientos migratorios internos han sido una de las constantes de la región, con una población maya de 14 400 habitantes en 1860, que disminuyó a menos de 5 000 en el 2005. A pesar de la baja densidad poblacional, las actividades productivas recientes están adquiriendo un carácter más agropecuario, modificando la estructura y composición del paisaje. Como propuesta para mejorar la calidad de vida de los pobladores de la región sin comprometer la riqueza natural de la zona, se requiere una inversión tanto en capital social como en términos económicos, para poder impulsar prácticas de manejo que sean ecológica y socialmente sostenibles. El reconocimiento de este territorio maya debe ser consensual, donde los pobladores locales participen de forma activa en el proceso de desarrollo de la región y no como mano de obra barata en la explotación no sustentable de la selva.

Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice. The conservation social sciences can provide unique and important contributions to society's understanding of the relationships between humans and nature and to improving conservation practice and outcomes. There are 4 barriers-ideological, institutional, knowledge, and capacity-to meaningful integration of the social sciences into conservation. We provide practical guidance on overcoming these barriers to mainstream the social sciences in conservation science, practice, and policy. Broadly, we recommend fostering knowledge on the scope and contributions of the social sciences to conservation, including social scientists from the inception of interdisciplinary research projects, incorporating social science research and insights during all stages of conservation planning and implementation, building social science capacity at all scales in conservation organizations and agencies, and promoting engagement with the social sciences in and through global conservation policy-influencing organizations. Conservation social scientists, too, need to be willing to engage with natural science knowledge and to communicate insights and recommendations clearly. We urge the conservation community to move beyond superficial engagement with the conservation social sciences. A more inclusive and integrative conservation science-one that includes the natural and social sciences-will enable more ecologically effective and socially just conservation. Better collaboration among social scientists, natural scientists, practitioners, and policy makers will facilitate a renewed and more robust conservation. Mainstreaming the conservation social sciences will facilitate the uptake of the full range of insights and contributions from these fields into conservation policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Conservation schemes according to the reality of Latin America were analyzed, such as Community Based Conservation (CBC). Methodology: relevant documentary information on the subject was revised and integrated. Results: A report was obtained on what the CBC is, its relevance in Latin America and torales themes: socio-ecosystem, multiscale, decision makers, the appropriation of conservation strategies, strategies multi-purpose and prospects CBC for Latin America. Limitations: Limitations and challenges include how to combine this with other conservation strategies, depending on the context. Conclusions: We conclude that the CBC is an appropriate strategy, challenges include funding, institutions and change in federal schemes, which today priority to protected areas as a central strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a framework of resource characteristics critical to the design and assessment of citizen science programs that monitor natural resources. To develop the framework we reviewed 52 citizen science programs that monitored a wide range of resources and provided insights into what resource characteristics are most conducive to developing citizen science programs and how resource characteristics may constrain the use or growth of these programs. We focused on 4 types of resource characteristics: biophysical and geographical, management and monitoring, public awareness and knowledge, and social and cultural characteristics. We applied the framework to 2 programs, the Tucson (U.S.A.) Bird Count and the Maui (U.S.A.) Great Whale Count. We found that resource characteristics such as accessibility, diverse institutional involvement in resource management, and social or cultural importance of the resource affected program endurance and success. However, the relative influence of each characteristic was in turn affected by goals of the citizen science programs. Although the goals of public engagement and education sometimes complimented the goal of collecting reliable data, in many cases trade-offs must be made between these 2 goals. Program goals and priorities ultimately dictate the design of citizen science programs, but for a program to endure and successfully meet its goals, program managers must consider the diverse ways that the nature of the resource being monitored influences public participation in monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen science has been gaining momentum in the United States and Europe, where citizens are literate and often interested in science. However, in developing countries, which have a dire need for environmental data, such programs are slow to emerge, despite the large and untapped human resources in close proximity to areas of high biodiversity and poorly known floras and faunas. Thus, we propose that the parataxonomist and paraecologist approach, which originates from citizen-based science, is well suited to rural areas in developing countries. Being a paraecologist or a parataxonomist is a vocation and entails full-time employment underpinned by extensive training, whereas citizen science involves the temporary engagement of volunteers. Both approaches have their merits depending on the context and objectives of the research. We examined 4 ongoing paraecologist or parataxonomist programs in Costa Rica, India, Papua New Guinea, and southern Africa and compared their origins, long-term objectives, implementation strategies, activities, key challenges, achievements, and implications for resident communities. The programs supported ongoing research on biodiversity assessment, monitoring, and management, and participants engaged in non-academic capacity development in these fields. The programs in Southern Africa related to specific projects, whereas the programs in Costa Rica, India, and Papua New Guinea were designed for the long term, provided sufficient funding was available. The main focus of the paraecologists' and parataxonomists' activities ranged from collection and processing of specimens (Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea) or of socioeconomic and natural science data (India and Southern Africa) to communication between scientists and residents (India and Southern Africa). As members of both the local land user and research communities, paraecologists and parataxonomists can greatly improve the flow of biodiversity information to all users, from local stakeholders to international academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative livelihood project (ALP) is a widely used term for interventions that aim to reduce the prevalence of activities deemed to be environmentally damaging by substituting them with lower impact livelihood activities that provide at least equivalent benefits. ALPs are widely implemented in conservation, but in 2012, an International Union for Conservation of Nature resolution called for a critical review of such projects based on concern that their effectiveness was unproven. We focused on the conceptual design of ALPs by considering their underlying assumptions. We placed ALPs within a broad category of livelihood-focused interventions to better understand their role in conservation and their intended impacts. We dissected 3 flawed assumptions about ALPs based on the notions of substitution, the homogenous community, and impact scalability. Interventions based on flawed assumptions about people's needs, aspirations, and the factors that influence livelihood choice are unlikely to achieve conservation objectives. We therefore recommend use of a sustainable livelihoods approach to understand the role and function of environmentally damaging behaviors within livelihood strategies; differentiate between households in a community that have the greatest environmental impact and those most vulnerable to resource access restrictions to improve intervention targeting; and learn more about the social-ecological system within which household livelihood strategies are embedded. Rather than using livelihood-focused interventions as a direct behavior-change tool, it may be more appropriate to focus on either enhancing the existing livelihood strategies of those most vulnerable to conservation-imposed resource access restrictions or on use of livelihood-focused interventions that establish a clear link to conservation as a means of building good community relations. However, we recommend that the term ALP be replaced by the broader term livelihood-focused intervention. This avoids the implicit assumption that alternatives can fully substitute for natural resource-based livelihood activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Las redes complejas han probado ser una poderosa herramienta analítica en aspectos teóricos y prácticos en las Ciencias Sociales y la Ecología. A pesar de que la Ecología Humana derivó de estas disciplinas, las redes complejas en este campo del conocimiento están actualmente subutilizadas. Esto es preocupante porque las redes complejas podrían ayudar a entender y solucionar algunos desafíos socio-ambientales enfrentados por conservacionistas. Por ello, en esta revisión presentamos las bases teóricas generales y aplicaciones de las redes complejas en Ciencias Sociales y Ecología, así como novedosas y potenciales aplicaciones en Ecología Humana. El objetivo principal es despertar el interés de los académicos y tomadores de decisiones en el área socioambiental sobre las aplicaciones posibles de las redes complejas en este campo.

Se presenta un análisis de la historia de uso del suelo en la región de La Montaña, municipio de Hopelchén, Campeche, realizado a partir de una recopilación de la documentación histórica existente, complementado con información proporcionada por habitantes del lugar. De igual forma, se presenta una caracterización de la población actual y sus sistemas productivos, utilizando información obtenida mediante encuestas, entrevistas y talleres. La Montaña comprende ocho ejidos cuya población maya-hablante tiene una historia de uso de los recursos naturales de más de tres mil años. La estructura y composición del paisaje en esta zona han sido moldeadas por diferentes factores tanto naturales como sociales, estos últimos guiados por intereses tanto internos como externos. Los cambios poblacionales y los movimientos migratorios internos han sido una de las constantes de la región, con una población maya de 14 400 habitantes en 1860, que disminuyó a menos de 5 000 en el 2005. A pesar de la baja densidad poblacional, las actividades productivas recientes están adquiriendo un carácter más agropecuario, modificando la estructura y composición del paisaje. Como propuesta para mejorar la calidad de vida de los pobladores de la región sin comprometer la riqueza natural de la zona, se requiere una inversión tanto en capital social como en términos económicos, para poder impulsar prácticas de manejo que sean ecológica y socialmente sostenibles. El reconocimiento de este territorio maya debe ser consensual, donde los pobladores locales participen de forma activa en el proceso de desarrollo de la región y no como mano de obra barata en la explotación no sustentable de la selva.

En este artículo se presenta un estudio sociológico enfocado al aprovechamiento del carrizo (phragmites australis) en el occidente de México. El carrizo se ha utilizado para diversos fines por lo que, además de que representa una fuente de ingresos, es factor de unión familiar. Se describe cómo se maneja el recurso, incluyendo los acuerdos sociales y su evolución en la región, así como los problemas que se enfrentan. Se concluye que el carrizo representa una alternativa viable ante el modelo actual de desarrollo, poniendo en práctica los principios de desarrollo rural endógeno, en particular el principio de multifuncionalidad.

Despite its necessity, integration of natural and social sciences to inform conservation efforts has been difficult. We examined the views of 63 scientists and practitioners involved in marine management in Mexico's Gulf of California, the central California coast, and the western Pacific on the challenges associated with integrating social science into research efforts that support ecosystem-based management (EBM) in marine systems. We used a semistructured interview format. Questions focused on how EBM was developed for these sites and how contextual factors affected its development and outcomes. Many of the traditional challenges linked with interdisciplinary research were present in the EBM projects we studied. However, a number of contextual elements affected how mandates to include social science were interpreted and implemented as well as how easily challenges could be addressed. For example, a common challenge is that conservation organizations are often dominated by natural scientists, but for some projects it was easier to address this imbalance than for others. We also found that the management and institutional histories that came before EBM in specific cases were important features of local context. Because challenges differed among cases, we believe resolving challenges to interdisciplinary research should be context specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The melliferous flora honey and its flowering in the subtropical dry forest area of the Northwest, of the Dominican Republic were studied. A survey of 30 local beekeepers as well as four semi-structured interviews on important plants for beekeeping were applied. Plants were scored according to their importance by observation is confirmed in the field visits bees species observed and consulted information secondary on flowering dates and features honey, secondary data, and applied the index Jaccard to determine the degree of similarity between the set of the plants mentioned by beekeepers and observed in the field. Coincidence, relatively good, between the plants identified by beekeepers and plants were observed in the bee visits the field confirms the validity of the method. Most plants are identified as wild honey and belong to the dry forest vegetation. There is a period abundant flowering from March to June and a period shortages from September to December. Recommended conservation of significant areas of dry forest and of mangroves in coastal areas, and the establishment of hedges and other agroforestry systems in the agricultural landscape, which take into account tree species relevant to beekeeping, with additional flowering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Geographic information system (GIS) technology fundamentally changes how information is viewed, literally, for its maps and databases contain uncertainty, assumptions, privileged knowledge, and story-making power, along with unintended social consequences. This article hypothesizes that the introduction of GIS into the public participation process in natural resource management blurs the boundaries between science and nonscience, requiring a revision of the way we think about, learn from, and use maps for environmental decision-making. This may lend a degree of “social power” to nonscientists in the form of providing improved access to data and maps, and along with it the resulting expression of community needs, priorities, and goals, with perhaps the “power” to influence policy and management decisions. A case study from western Oregon forest management provides context and practical examples. We consider, through a broad conceptual discussion, how GIS technology might contribute to, or detract from, confrontational environmental policy discussions, in particular the process of designing and structuring decision problems. In natural resource management this has tended to be a largely science-driven exercise at the expense of input from nonscientific stakeholders. Our case study findings suggest that using GIS can, with time, open the door to making environmental assessments more collaborative, story-making processes, with implications for natural resource management of many kinds. Although epistemological and power differences between scientists and lay audiences remain, they can be offset through various kinds of collaboration. Such efforts could contribute to a new phase in technology diffusion that we call development of faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monitoring of trends in the status of species or habitats is routine in developed countries, where it is funded by the state or large nongovernmental organizations and often involves large numbers of skilled amateur volunteers. Far less monitoring of natural resources takes place in developing countries, where state agencies have small budgets, there are fewer skilled professionals or amateurs, and socioeconomic conditions prevent development of a culture of volunteerism. The resulting lack of knowledge about trends in species and habitats presents a serious challenge for detecting, understanding, and reversing declines in natural resource values. International environmental agreements require signatories undertake systematic monitoring of their natural resources, but no system exists to guide the development and expansion of monitoring schemes. To help develop such a protocol, we suggest a typology of monitoring categories, defined by their degree of local participation, ranging from no local involvement with monitoring undertaken by professional researchers to an entirely local effort with monitoring undertaken by local people. We assessed the strengths and weaknesses of each monitoring category and the potential of each to be sustainable in developed or developing countries. Locally based monitoring is particularly relevant in developing countries, where it can lead to rapid decisions to solve the key threats affecting natural resources, can empower local communities to better manage their resources, and can refine sustainable-use strategies to improve local livelihoods. Nevertheless, we recognize that the accuracy and precision of the monitoring undertaken by local communities in different situations needs further study and field protocols need to be further developed to get the best from the unrealized potential of this approach. A challenge to conservation biologists is to identify and establish the monitoring system most relevant to a particular situation and to develop methods to integrate outputs from across the spectrum of monitoring schemes to produce wider indices of natural resources that capture the strengths of each. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disintegration of African agrarian societies is partly caused by the dissipative economy of development aid and becomes more visible in wartime. The resilience of agrarian societies constitutes thus an important resource for the whole country. Their capacity to maintain stability and a productive agricultural potential can ensure the survival of urban populations driven from the cities in time of war. The potential for reconstruction of these agrarian societies after catastrophes depends on internal - genetic as well as social - resources and on their capacity to mobilize and to integrate external resources. The thesis of this article is that the usual package of emergency relief, rehabilitation and rural development aid does not form the most adequate approach to traumatized societies. The authors show that in the south of Guinea-Bissau during and after the armed conflict, the established interethnic network of rural populations was able to shelter a large number of urban refugees for a considerable time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]