Recent Scientific Papers
Ecology and Society
A journal of integrative science for resilience and sustainability
| Ecology & Society | ||
| A journal of integrative science for resilience and sustainability | ||
| Diverse actor perspectives on African urban food systems: lessons from participatory food system modeling in Worcester, South Africa | ||
| 04. Dezember 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| Successful management of complex food systems inherently requires societal engagement. A major barrier is the misalignment between high-level generalized scientific representations of the urban food system and the varying practical perspectives of the actors embedded within it. To bridge this gap, participatory approaches can help in collecting and structuring knowledge from food system actors in a way that is understood by people with a diversity of experiences. Here, we showcase an approach to collect and synthesize diverse actor perspectives on the functioning of the urban food system... | ||
| Environmental change and resource access in aquatic food systems: a Photovoice case study of Cambodian fisheries | ||
| 04. Dezember 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| Ecosystem services and the biodiversity that supports them directly provision food and livelihoods to millions around the world within environments increasingly facing multifaceted changes. Yet the perspectives of resource users on the value of those resources and the challenges they face amid social-ecological change are still too often poorly understood. In this study, we use Photovoice methodology and a social-ecological systems perspective to understand the value of access to fish resources and the impacts of changing access for small-scale fishing communities in Cambodia. Contrasting... | ||
| Localizing a just transition: a case study of St. George, Alaska | ||
| 30. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| This paper explores the St. George Economic Development Strategy and strategy development process through a just transitions lens. St. George is a remote island located in Alaska’s Bering Sea, and is home to a small community of Unangan people facing a declining population, infrastructure deficit, and high unemployment. Through a qualitative content analysis and informal interviews, we analyzed how the strategy engaged with four forms of justice (distributive, procedural, recognition, and epistemic) and considered how the development process might have facilitated justice responses. The... | ||
| Restorative practices, marine ecotourism, and restoration economies: revitalizing the environmental agenda? | ||
| 29. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| In this study, we introduce the concept of restorative marine ecotourism (RME) to explore the potential environmental gains of coupling marine ecotourism operations and marine restoration initiatives. Restoring marine ecosystems has become a priority in the international environmental agenda and the field needs novel management strategies to overcome the main challenges. Marine ecotourism provides an opportunity to couple business-based activities and ecological restoration in marine habitats in ways that produce benefits for both marine habitats and local communities. Currently, examples... | ||
| Adjusted to reality? Mandate and functioning of the General Integral Commission of the Grande Tárcoles Rivershed in Costa Rica | ||
| 29. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| The Grande de Tárcoles River in Costa Rica is one of the most polluted and degraded river basins in Central America. At the same time Costa Rica is a country internationally recognized for progressive environmental management. At least on paper, the country fosters sustainable river management in the form of integrated water resources management (IWRM). In the specific case of the Grande de Tárcoles River there is the General Integral Commission of the Grande Tárcoles River basin (CGICRGT) assigned to manage the basin in an integral manner. How this works in practice has so far not been... | ||
| Forgotten forests: expanding potential land use in traditional Hawaiian agroecosystems, and the social-ecological implications | ||
| 28. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| The development of agricultural systems is a fundamental component of social-ecological transformation and a predominant factor influencing social behavior and structuring. However, oversimplification of traditional agricultural production often occurs and limits the understanding of past populations’ abilities to mitigate potential risks and enhance food security through effective land management strategies. The social-ecological traits that characterize the Hawaiian Islands provides a unique vantage to explore human ecodynamics over the longue durée and assess how these systems can be... | ||
| Leadership accountability in community-based forest management: experimental evidence in support of governmental oversight | ||
| 21. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| Evidence of the impact of community-based forest management (CBFM) on conservation outcomes is mixed. Local governance is a key moderating factor, but what constitutes good governance is still up for debate. Desirable institutional features typically arise endogenously, which complicates the analysis of causality. We use an experimental design to analyze the impact on environmental outcomes of adding an externally implemented monitoring regime to an existing CBFM initiative in Ethiopia. We distinguish between bottom-up and top-down monitoring to improve the accountability of local leaders... | ||
| Citizens’ attitudes toward the protection of flying squirrels in urban areas | ||
| 20. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| The Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) is included among the strictly protected species of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EC) of the European Union, which is one of the key instruments for biodiversity preservation in Europe. Strict protection of the species has a potential to cause conflicts in areas where forest management and urban development compete for the same space with the flying squirrel. This study examined attitudes of Finnish citizens toward the protection of flying squirrels in urban areas using survey data collected in three cities: Espoo, Jyväskylä, and Kuopio. Two... | ||
| Wind power distribution across subalpine, boreal, and temperate landscapes | ||
| 17. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| Onshore wind power is increasingly expanding to meet global and national goals to increase renewable, clean, and fossil-free energy production. In many countries and regions, however, historical and current land use is extensive, and the expansion of wind power has to be well-tuned to avoid risking irreversible legacy losses of existing and traditional land uses, landscape values, and cultures. Hence, assessments of the siting premises of current and forecasted expansion of wind power are strongly needed as a basis for sustainable planning. We present a study from alpine to temperate biomes... | ||
| Transitioning toward “deep” knowledge co-production in coastal and marine systems: examining the interplay among governance, power, and knowledge | ||
| 16. November 2023 | Uncategorized | |
| Knowledge co-production (KCP) is presented as an effective strategy to inform responses to complex coastal and marine social-ecological challenges. Co-production processes are further posited to improve research and decision outcomes in a wide range of problem contexts (e.g., biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation), for example, by facilitating social learning among diverse actors. As such, KCP processes are increasingly centered in global environment initiatives such as the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. However, KCP is not a panacea, and... | ||
