Yingjie Li, Nan Jia, Xiang Yu, Nicholas Manning, Xin Lan, Jianguo Liu
{"title":"Transboundary flows in the metacoupled Anthropocene: typology, methods, and governance for global sustainability","authors":"Yingjie Li, Nan Jia, Xiang Yu, Nicholas Manning, Xin Lan, Jianguo Liu","doi":"10.5751/es-14351-280319","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14351-280319","url":null,"abstract":"The world has become increasingly metacoupled through flows of materials, energy, people, capital, and information within and across systems. Transboundary flows, connecting adjacent and distant systems, are deemed the most critical indicators for measuring the intensity of interactions among coupled human-natural systems. To advance metacoupling flow research and governance, we make the first attempt to develop a typology of transboundary flows using six flow attributes (i.e., type, magnitude, direction, distance, time, and mode). Furthermore, we synthesize a portfolio of quantitative and practical methods for characterizing transboundary flows. To effectively govern transboundary flows for global sustainability and resilience, we highlight the need to recognize the shared risks and goals embedded in the interlinkages, use system thinking, and enhance multilateral cooperation.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135594865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Chinese database on ecological thresholds and alternative stable states: implications for related research around the world","authors":"Daikui Li, Ping He, Liping Hou","doi":"10.5751/es-14395-280316","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14395-280316","url":null,"abstract":"The concepts of ecological thresholds and alternative stable states were proposed to explain nonlinear changes. However, the greatest obstacle to advance these theories and their managerial applications is a lack of data and research experience. There are almost all types of ecosystems in China, and various ecological degradation and catastrophe events occurred at the end of the 20th century. Considerable monitoring data and research cases that focus on the ecological thresholds are published in Chinese, limiting their dissemination around the world. We integrate Chinese cases and data that refer to the framework of Threshold Database and Regime Shifts Database. We introduce the China Ecological Thresholds and Alternative Stable States Database (CETASSD), developed by the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, which mainly collects research cases. The CETASSD uses a unified description framework to integrate key information from past 110 case studies from China. This paper summarizes relevant case studies with intrinsic consistency to ecological thresholds and alternative stable states in social-ecological systems. We collate and analyze 26 potential alternative stable states and 60 potential ecological thresholds in CETASSD, covering 14 types of ecosystems. We found several peculiarities of the Chinese case studies. First, more types of alternative stable states were identified in arid areas and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Second, critical thresholds research related to spatial gradient has received great attention. Third, methods of constructing highly generalized “stress-response” process lines are mainly used for threshold analysis. We suggest re-examining past research cases and methods with the latest theories of ecological thresholds and alternative stable states; strengthening research on the detection of threshold and mechanism establishment of certain ecosystems, such as the ocean in China; and further applying ecological thresholds to ecological assessment and early warning.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135441480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mountains of inequality: encountering the politics of climate adaptation across the Himalaya","authors":"Ritodhi Chakraborty, Costanza Rampini, Pasang Sherpa","doi":"10.5751/es-14399-280406","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14399-280406","url":null,"abstract":"There has been a widespread call for the development of transformative adaptation knowledge and strategies in the Himalayan region because of the intensifying onset of climate change impacts. But such transformative thinking is absent in much of Himalayan climate knowledge production, which builds on environmental deterministic and techno-managerial renditions of exceptional precarity; advocates for an increase in the scientific and expert driven projects on the ground; and remains rooted in the scalar realities of the nation-state. This paper contributes to the rich scholarship that counterbalances depoliticized renditions of climate change adaptation, by presenting “everyday stories of adaptation” that have emerged from the authors’ work alongside Himalayan communities. In this work we ask, who is the subject in Himalayan climate adaptation discourse and policies? And how can their stories help us envision an adaptation praxis, which challenges regional narratives of crisis and provides alternatives to climate reductionist thinking/planning, by foregrounding the intersectionality and plurality of communities and ecologies? The stories come from three parts of the Himalaya: Uttarakhand, Khumbu, and Assam, and highlight the daily labor for adaptation and its mercurial relationship with the labor for survival. We find that intertwined with changing climate-society relationships are, historical caste privileges and changing generational relationships to land; the complicated engagements between indigeneity, communal sovereignty, and exclusionary institutional mandates; and life with ethnoreligious othering in an aqueous and geopolitically fluid borderland. Together these stories witness the relational social-ecological worlds of regional inhabitants, challenging their powerless and pejorative depictions through climate reductive framings. We conclude with a set of objectives to enable more hopeful and just adaptation futures.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136374337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Heather Hosterman, Kaylene Ritter, Nancy Schuldt, Darren Vogt, Deanna Erickson, Olivia Griot, Erin Johnston, Karena Schmidt, Evelyn Ravindran, Roger LaBine, Eric Chapman, Sr., William Graveen, Deidre Peroff, Jimmy Taitano Camacho, Sarah Dance, Brandon Krumwiede, Heather Stirratt
{"title":"Lake Superior Manoomin cultural and ecosystem characterization study","authors":"Heather Hosterman, Kaylene Ritter, Nancy Schuldt, Darren Vogt, Deanna Erickson, Olivia Griot, Erin Johnston, Karena Schmidt, Evelyn Ravindran, Roger LaBine, Eric Chapman, Sr., William Graveen, Deidre Peroff, Jimmy Taitano Camacho, Sarah Dance, Brandon Krumwiede, Heather Stirratt","doi":"10.5751/es-13763-280317","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-13763-280317","url":null,"abstract":"Manoomin, wild rice, is integral to the culture, livelihood, and identity of the Anishinaabeg, the indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States that include the Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Algonquin peoples. In addition to the vital role Manoomin has in the lives of the Anishinaabeg, Manoomin is recognized as being ecologically important, feeding migrating and resident wildlife species, providing a nursery for fish and nesting and breeding habitats for many waterfowl and muskrat, and stabilizing shorelines. This study was initiated by a team of Lake Superior basin Anishinaabe communities and federal and state agencies to document and characterize (1) the importance of Manoomin habitat to Anishinaabe cultural perspectives and identity, community connections, spiritual practices, food sovereignty, and food security; and (2) the ecological importance of Manoomin habitat as an indicator of a high-quality, high-functioning, and biodiverse ecosystem. The team applied a set of cultural and ecological metrics to characterize seven case study sites around Lake Superior and used a habitat equivalency analysis to determine the amount of restoration needed to counterbalance the lost Manoomin habitat functionality. Results from this study highlight the difficulty in restoring the cultural and ecological functionality of degraded Manoomin habitat and the importance of preserving and protecting existing Manoomin habitat.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135495044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Helen Pheasey, Richard Griffiths, Eleni Matechou, David Roberts
{"title":"Motivations and sensitivities surrounding the illegal trade of sea turtles in Costa Rica","authors":"Helen Pheasey, Richard Griffiths, Eleni Matechou, David Roberts","doi":"10.5751/es-14296-280415","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14296-280415","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135660822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathan Van Schmidt, Tamara Wilson, Lorraine Flint, Ruth Langridge
{"title":"Trade-offs in adapting to changes in climate, land use, and water availability in California","authors":"Nathan Van Schmidt, Tamara Wilson, Lorraine Flint, Ruth Langridge","doi":"10.5751/es-14261-280409","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14261-280409","url":null,"abstract":"Changes in land use and land cover, water systems, and climate are inextricably linked, and their combined stresses have had severe impacts in many regions worldwide. Integrated adaptation planning can support adaptive capacity by helping institutions manage land and water resources at regional to local scales. Linkages between these stressors mean that planners are often faced with potential trade-offs, and how to couple social and environmental sustainability remains a key question. We explore these questions in California’s Central Coast, a region that is already experiencing serious water shortages, housing shortages, rapid expansion of perennial agriculture, and severe droughts that are projected to become worse with climate change. Linked models of land use change (the Land Use and Carbon + Water Simulator [LUCAS-W]), water resources (LUCAS-W), and climate (the Basin Characterization Model [BCM]) produced forecasts of exposure to regional changes at 270-m resolution. We worked with regional stakeholders to develop a matrix of nine vulnerability measures that assessed key sensitivities to these changes. Each vulnerability measure combined one of the three exposure projections with spatial datasets representing one of three sensitivity communities (agricultural, domestic, or ecological). We assessed how five scenarios of land-use and water management strategies under consideration by regional planners could provide institutional, top-down adaptive capacity, and whether there were trade-offs in sustainable development goals for these communities. We found that specific land and water management strategies could greatly reduce regional vulnerability, particularly programs to cap water extractions to sustainable levels. The most dramatic trade-off was between the strategy of water demand caps that increased risk of habitat loss and ecosystem preservation that increased water vulnerability. However, trade-offs were usually limited and spatially localized, suggesting local tailoring of the strategies we assessed could reduce them. Trade-offs were more frequent across exposure classes (land use vs. water vs. climate changes) rather than sensitivity classes (agricultural vs. domestic vs. ecological communities), suggesting win-win opportunities for natural resource management. Our vulnerability maps can inform prioritization efforts for local adaptation planning.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135214490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluation-perception of site attributes and plant species selection in the public urban green space of a compact city","authors":"Caroline Law, L.C. Hui, C.Y. Jim","doi":"10.5751/es-14222-280322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14222-280322","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding citizens’ evaluation of public urban green space (UGS) attributes and plant species features can inform greenspace design to meet public expectations. This study evaluated the public’s responses to UGS attributes and plant species in Hong Kong using a questionnaire survey of 827 adult respondents. Principal component analysis followed by cluster analysis were applied to analyze the data. The respondents were differentiated into three groups (ecological, eclectic, and pragmatic users) based on the evaluations of UGS attributes. Additionally, three clusters (conservation supporters, all-round perfectionists, and safety defenders) were classified based on evaluating plant species features. Plant knowledge and gender were the main factors associated with respondents’ evaluation profiles. Respondents with different expectations of UGS attributes harbored different evaluations of plant species features. The respondent groups agreed unanimously that similar plant species composition was deployed across UGS sites in Hong Kong. Respondents attaching importance to the conservation value of plant species (i.e., “conservation supporters”) were more concerned about plant species selection. The conservation supporters were dissatisfied with the current plant selection strategy. A zonation strategy for large UGS could cater to a broad range of user demands and create a socially-inclusive venue for residents. Alternatively, a collection of small UGS in a given district can cover a range of functions. The findings could inform a modified approach to UGS design and plant selection to satisfy the residents’ disparate expectations and needs.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135750808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jonathan Farr, Matthew Pruden, Robin Glover, Maureen Murray, Scott Sugden, Howard Harshaw, Colleen Cassady St. Clair
{"title":"A ten-year community reporting database reveals rising coyote boldness and associated human concern in Edmonton, Canada","authors":"Jonathan Farr, Matthew Pruden, Robin Glover, Maureen Murray, Scott Sugden, Howard Harshaw, Colleen Cassady St. Clair","doi":"10.5751/es-14015-280219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14015-280219","url":null,"abstract":"In cities throughout North America, sightings of coyotes (<em>Canis latrans</em>) have become common. Reports of human-coyote conflict are also rising, as is the public demand for proactive management to prevent negative human-coyote interactions. Effective and proactive management can be informed by the direct observations of community members, who can report their interactions with coyotes and describe the location, time, and context that led to their interactions. To better understand the circumstances that can predict human-coyote conflict, we used a web-based reporting system to collect 9134 community-supplied reports of coyotes in Edmonton, Canada, between January 2012 and December 2021. We used a standardized ordinal ranking system to score each report on two indicators of human-coyote conflict: coyote boldness, based on the reported coyote behavior, and human concern about coyotes, determined from the emotions or perceptions about coyotes expressed by reporters. We assigned greater scores to behaviors where coyotes followed, approached, charged, or contacted pets or people, and to perceptions where reporters expressed fear, worry, concern, discomfort or alarm. Using ordered logistic regression and chi-square tests, we compared boldness and concern scores to spatial, temporal, and contextual predictors. Our analysis showed that coyotes were bolder in less developed open areas and during the pup-rearing season, but human concern was higher in residential areas and during the dispersal season. Reports that mentioned dogs or cats were more likely to describe bolder coyote behavior, and those that mentioned pets or children had more negative perceptions about coyotes. Coyote boldness and human concern both indicated rising human-coyote conflict in Edmonton over the 10 years of reporting.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135180979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Skylar Skinner, Anastasia Addai, Stephen Decker, Michael van Zyll de Jong
{"title":"The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned","authors":"Skylar Skinner, Anastasia Addai, Stephen Decker, Michael van Zyll de Jong","doi":"10.5751/es-14379-280320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14379-280320","url":null,"abstract":"Despite millions of dollars being spent annually to restore degraded river ecosystems, there exist relatively few assessments of the ecological effectiveness of projects. An evidence-based synthesis was conducted to describe river restoration activities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The synthesis identified 170 river restoration projects between 1949 and 2020. A practitioner’s survey was conducted on a subset of 91 projects to evaluate ecological success. When the perceived success of managers was compared to an independent assessment of ecological success, 82% of respondents believe the projects to be completely or somewhat successful whereas only 41% of projects were evaluated as ecologically successful through an independent assessment. Only 11% of practitioners’ evaluations used ecological indicators, yet managers of 66% of projects reported improvements in river ecosystems. This contradiction reveals a lack of the application of evidence to support value-based judgments by practitioners. Despite reporting that monitoring data were used in the assessment it is doubtful that any meaningful ecological assessment was conducted. If we are to improve the science of river restoration, projects must demonstrate evidence of ecological success to qualify as sound restoration. River restoration is a necessary tool to ensure the sustainability of river ecosystems. The assessment conducted in this study suggests that our approach to planning, designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating projects needs to improve. An integrated-systems view that gives attention to stakeholders’ values and scientific information concerning the potential consequences of alternative restoration actions on key ecosystem indicators is required.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135599466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mai Ka Pō Mai: applying Indigenous cosmology and worldview to empower and transform a management plan for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument","authors":"Kalani Quiocho, Kekuewa Kikiloi, Keoni Kuoha, Alyssa Miller, Brad Kaʻaleleo Wong, Hōkū Kaʻaekuahiwi Pousima, Pelika Andrade, ʻAulani Wilhelm","doi":"10.5751/es-14280-280321","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5751/es-14280-280321","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental conservation management planning has an important role in creating conditions for social learning, adaptive governance, and improvements for co-management arrangements with Indigenous peoples. Incorporating Indigenous cosmologies, worldviews, and epistemologies within management planning processes can enable factors that support appropriate management practices for protected areas considered to be sacred natural sites by Indigenous peoples. Here, we review processes and outcomes of management planning led by Native Hawaiians with various positionalities that resulted in the Mai Ka Pō Mai Native Hawaiian Guidance Document for the Management of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. As we look back to look forward, we highlight the factors that supported knowledge co-production and expanded opportunities to develop management planning and evaluation processes informed by Hawaiian place-based knowledge and human-nature relations of care and reciprocity. These include collaborative approaches, long-term commitment to community and institution capacity-building; an enabling policy environment; and diverse and consistent involvement of Native Hawaiians.","PeriodicalId":51028,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Society","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135701626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}