scholarly journals Social and Ecological Systems Resilience and Identity

2021 ◽  
pp. 705-724
Author(s):  
Francois Bousquet ◽  
Tara Quinn ◽  
Clara Therville ◽  
Raphaël Mathevet ◽  
Olivier Barreteau ◽  
...  

In this chapter, the authors first introduce the notion of social-ecological systems (SES) resilience. They trace the history of the two concepts (SES and resilience), which are interdependent, narrating the interactions between groups of researchers who study social and ecological processes. In the second part of the paper, the authors examine resilience through the specific question of the identity of an SES and how this identity persists or changes. They examine the meaning of identity through a literature review that orients readers to the study of the process of resilience as inextricably shaped by the vulnerabilities embedded in the SES. They claim in this chapter that the disruption of the relationship between natural and social entities that compose an SES leads to a new distribution of vulnerabilities among the entities. After these changes, the SES will be ascribed a new identity that reflects the new distribution of vulnerabilities among the entities and the means to cope with them.

Author(s):  
William H. Durham

Why is Galápagos so endlessly fascinating, whether to read about, to visit, or both? Reasons include its menagerie of truly unusual organisms (like tree daisies, marine iguanas, and flightless cormorants), its relatively low human impact (most of its endemic biodiversity is still extant), and its unrivalled role in the history of science ever since Charles Darwin. Exuberant Life offers a contemporary synthesis of what is known about the evolution of the curiously wonderful organisms of Galápagos, of how they are faring in the tumultuous world of human-induced change, and how evolution can guide efforts today for their conservation. In eight case-study chapters, the book looks at each organism’s ancestry, at how and when it came to Galápagos, and how and why it changed since its arrival, all with an eye to its conservation today. Such analysis often provides surprises and suggestions not previously considered, like the potential benefits to joint conservation efforts with tree daisies and tree finches, for example, or ways that a new explanation for peculiar behaviors in Nazca and blue-footed boobies can benefit both species today. In each chapter, a social-ecological systems framework is used, because human influence is always present, and because it allows an explicit link to evolution. We see how the evolutionary fitnesses of Galápagos organisms are now a product of both ecological conditions and human impact, including climate change. Historically, Galápagos has played a central role in the understanding of evolution; what it now offers to teach us about conservation may well prove indispensable for the future of the planet.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane K. Michaelis ◽  
Donald Webster ◽  
L. Jen Shaffer

As members of complex social-ecological systems (SES),fishermen navigate and respond to system changes to maintain their livelihoods. These changes often involve dynamic power relationships. In Maryland (United States), commercial fishermen or watermen demonstrate a history of responding to SES changes, including power relationships in which they often feel restricted. We describe how watermen have historically employed tactics, as conceived by de Certeau (1984), to resist and succeed within a constraining system. We considerinvolvement in oyster aquaculture as a recent tactic, and compare data from interviews with watermen and non-watermen involved in aquaculture to understand power relationships and adaptations within this SES. Interviews suggest that, while both watermen and non-watermen aquaculturists perceive similar power relations within the system, only watermen begin work in oyster aquaculture as a tactic in response to these relations (P<0.001). Results illustrate diverse perceptions of power as well as ongoing changes within the SES. More broadly, we introduce the idea of SES adaptations as tactics of resistance and emphasize the need for a more integrative understanding of SES and power.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0260159
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Law ◽  
John D. C. Linnell ◽  
Bram van Moorter ◽  
Erlend B. Nilsen

Sustainable wildlife harvest is challenging due to the complexity of uncertain social-ecological systems, and diverse stakeholder perspectives of sustainability. In these systems, semi-complex stochastic simulation models can provide heuristics that bridge the gap between highly simplified theoretical models and highly context-specific case-studies. Such heuristics allow for more nuanced recommendations in low-knowledge contexts, and an improved understanding of model sensitivity and transferability to novel contexts. We develop semi-complex Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) models capturing dynamics and variability in ecological processes, monitoring, decision-making, and harvest implementation, under a diverse range of contexts. Results reveal the fundamental challenges of achieving sustainability in wildlife harvest. Environmental contexts were important in determining optimal harvest parameters, but overall, evaluation contexts more strongly influenced perceived outcomes, optimal harvest parameters and optimal harvest strategies. Importantly, simple composite metrics popular in the theoretical literature (e.g. focusing on maximizing yield and population persistence only) often diverged from more holistic composite metrics that include a wider range of population and harvest objectives, and better reflect the trade-offs in real world applied contexts. While adaptive harvest strategies were most frequently preferred, particularly for more complex environmental contexts (e.g. high uncertainty or variability), our simulations map out cases where these heuristics may not hold. Despite not always being the optimal solution, overall adaptive harvest strategies resulted in the least value forgone, and are likely to give the best outcomes under future climatic variability and uncertainty. This demonstrates the potential value of heuristics for guiding applied management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4015
Author(s):  
Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui ◽  
Cecilia Arnaiz-Schmitz ◽  
María Fernanda Reyes ◽  
Marta Telesnicki ◽  
Ignacio Agramonte ◽  
...  

The authors would like to make the following corrections to their published paper [...]


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 033005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjana Milkoreit ◽  
Jennifer Hodbod ◽  
Jacopo Baggio ◽  
Karina Benessaiah ◽  
Rafael Calderón-Contreras ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (19) ◽  
pp. 5979-5984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Leslie ◽  
Xavier Basurto ◽  
Mateja Nenadovic ◽  
Leila Sievanen ◽  
Kyle C. Cavanaugh ◽  
...  

Environmental governance is more effective when the scales of ecological processes are well matched with the human institutions charged with managing human–environment interactions. The social-ecological systems (SESs) framework provides guidance on how to assess the social and ecological dimensions that contribute to sustainable resource use and management, but rarely if ever has been operationalized for multiple localities in a spatially explicit, quantitative manner. Here, we use the case of small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur, Mexico, to identify distinct SES regions and test key aspects of coupled SESs theory. Regions that exhibit greater potential for social-ecological sustainability in one dimension do not necessarily exhibit it in others, highlighting the importance of integrative, coupled system analyses when implementing spatial planning and other ecosystem-based strategies.


Author(s):  
Marc J. Stern

This chapter covers systems theories relevant to understanding and working to enhance the resilience of social-ecological systems. Social-ecological systems contain natural resources, users of those resources, and the interactions between each. The theories in the chapter share lessons about how to build effective governance structures for common pool resources, how to facilitate the spread of worthwhile ideas across social networks, and how to promote collaboration for greater collective impacts than any one organization alone could achieve. Each theory is summarized succinctly and followed by guidance on how to apply it to real world problem solving.


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