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This introduction to the special feature describes the development and application of a "full-spectrum sustainability" evaluation framework that emerged from a transdisciplinary research process. The framework and corresponding case studies described in this paper originated in the work of a Canadian Fisheries Research Network project that sought to enhance fisheries management by including diverse social-ecological considerations in fisheries management evaluation. The first section discusses the tendency of sustainability evaluation frameworks in fisheries to focus on ecological and economic considerations and introduces the Canadian Fisheries Research Network's four pillar approach, which includes ecological, economic, social and cultural, and institutional/ governance categories. To illustrate the comprehensive nature of this framework, the second section provides a comparison of the framework with elements in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. The third section provides an overview of the eight papers in this special feature that explore the development and application of full-spectrum sustainability. The conclusion synthesizes some key findings, highlighting four overall critical and ongoing challenges associated with advancing full-spectrum sustainability evaluation in Canada and elsewhere: the politics of transdisciplinary research; integrating social considerations into management agencies reluctant to move beyond ecological and economic considerations; dynamic and diverse issues involved in supporting robust and inclusive governance processes; and translating technical frameworks into usable practical instruments for different societal actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration professes support for ecosystem-based fisheries management, as mandated by Congress in the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and as endorsed by the Obama Administration's national ocean policy. Nonetheless, driving agency policies, including catch shares and fishing quotas, focus principally on individual species, diverting attention from ecosystem considerations such as habitat, migratory patterns, trophic relationships, fishing gear, and firm-level decision making. Environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO) agendas manifest similar inconsistencies. A case study of Maine's groundfishery demonstrates implications of this policy conflict at the local level. There, multigenerational fishing villages have historically pursued diversified and adaptive livelihood strategies, supported by local ecological knowledge. This tradition is increasingly eroded by regulatory constraints, including catch shares. Field observation, interviews, survey data, and archival review reveal that industry-supported, ecosystem-focused proposals have been rejected by the New England Fishery Management Council, despite the apparent failure of single-species approaches to sustain fish populations, fished ecosystems, and fishing-dependent communities. The creation of groundfishery catch share sectors is likely to perpetuate industry consolidation and political entrenchment under more mobile capital, following precedent set by days-at-sea, and making area protections and gear restrictions less likely. Pending marine spatial planning efforts could enhance social-ecological resilience by creating new opportunities for transdisciplinary decision support, and broader public participation and accountability.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration professes support for ecosystem-based fisheries management, as mandated by Congress in the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and as endorsed by the Obama Administration's national ocean policy. Nonetheless, driving agency policies, including catch shares and fishing quotas, focus principally on individual species, diverting attention from ecosystem considerations such as habitat, migratory patterns, trophic relationships, fishing gear, and firm-level decision making. Environmental non-governmental organization (ENGO) agendas manifest similar inconsistencies. A case study of Maine's groundfishery demonstrates implications of this policy conflict at the local level. There, multigenerational fishing villages have historically pursued diversified and adaptive livelihood strategies, supported by local ecological knowledge. This tradition is increasingly eroded by regulatory constraints, including catch shares. Field observation, interviews, survey data, and archival review reveal that industry-supported, ecosystem-focused proposals have been rejected by the New England Fishery Management Council, despite the apparent failure of single-species approaches to sustain fish populations, fished ecosystems, and fishing-dependent communities. The creation of groundfishery catch share sectors is likely to perpetuate industry consolidation and political entrenchment under more mobile capital, following precedent set by days-at-sea, and making area protections and gear restrictions less likely. Pending marine spatial planning efforts could enhance social-ecological resilience by creating new opportunities for transdisciplinary decision support, and broader public participation and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors respond to a critique by G. Jones about their paper "Biomass Partitioning Following Defoliation of Annual and Perennial Mediterranean Grasses" published in the journal "Conservation Ecology" in 2002. They assert their awareness of the differences of grazing with clipping. They clarify that they conduct experiments under real-world grazing conditions.

Although forest devolution, as a type of decentralization, is a high priority in the policy agendas of developing countries, recentralization has also occurred. In this paper, we focus on emerging recentralization within the devolution process of Collective Forest Tenure Reform (CFTR) in China's southern provinces and conceptualize this process as "recentralized forest devolution." In this paper, we update a key framework for analyzing decentralization and recentralization in governance processes based on the "policy arrangement approach." Case studies were conducted in four counties of the Fujian and Yunnan provinces by tracing governance dynamics from 2001 to 2019. Our study found that the central government has tightened upward accountability and recentralized power for environmental conservation since 2012 under the discourse of "Ecological Civilization." At the local level, recentralized forest devolution was expressed in terms of the restricted timber harvest levels for the purposes of environmental conservation. Therefore, forest devolution could be more vulnerable than expected by researchers and potentially interwoven with recentralization processes. Discourses, actors, property rights, and power are, therefore, considered to be interwoven in the complex dynamics of decentralization and recentralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the scope of energy diversification and profitable forest resource exploitation, increasing the use of biomass residues for energy can play an important role by using local sources of energy, reducing carbon emissions and fossil-energy use, providing additional revenue for the forest sector, and also reducing the risk of forest wildfires. Regional simulators can help forecast available wood and biomass and allow evaluation of possible future conflicts of interest and their consequences for society. This paper focuses on improving an existing regional forest simulator (SIMPLOT) so that it can be applied to study research questions related to increasing the use of eucalyptus biomass for bioenergy and the related consequences for wood available for pulp. Biomass modules were integrated into SIMPLOT so that different sources of biomass used for energy could be accounted for. The updated version of the simulator was used to assess the impact of different biomass demands for bioenergy, combined with different afforestation alternatives on the wood available for the pulp and paper industry in Portugal. SIMPLOT's forecasts indicated that the eucalyptus forest is unable to satisfy wood demand even when pulp afforestation areas are doubled, regardless of the biomass demand considered. Also, the simulation results showed that, with the tested afforestation rates, eucalyptus forest cannot meet high increases in demand for wood.

Copyright of Journal of Field Ornithology is the property of Resilience Alliance 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 Avian Conservation & Ecology is the property of Resilience Alliance 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.)

Earth Stewardship is a transformative initiative that emphasizes the crucial interdependence between human societies and the intricate ecological systems that sustain all life on our planet. Recognizing geodiversity, a concept encompassing the geological and geomorphological characteristics of the Earth's surface, as an integral dimension of Earth Stewardship, this review highlights its scientific underrepresentation, particularly in East Africa. Geodiversity is pivotal for the integrity of ecological systems, emphasizing its significance as an essential component. By focusing on the Western Rift Valley Corridor (WRVC) within East Africa and its connection to the broader East African Rift System (EARS), we aim to shed light on the significance of geodiversity and its integration with ecological systems in the context of Earth Stewardship. We identify 20 "heritage nodes," areas of significant geological and ecological value, within the WRVC and demonstrate how geological processes have shaped the region's landscape. The paper emphasizes the significance of the WRVC as a vital component of the Africa Alive Corridors (AAC) project, which promotes sustainable development in Africa by fostering connections between earth sciences and the humanities. It argues that a transdisciplinary approach involving local communities and stakeholders is essential for the conservation and development of the WRVC and other similar heritage corridors in Africa. The study concludes that geodiversity is a crucial pillar of heritage that enhances our understanding of ecosystems and contributes to sustainability efforts through Earth Stewardship. This research provides a basis for future work within the AAC initiative and the development of ecosystem services among researchers and local stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the volume of the academic conservation biology literature, there is little evidence as to what effect this work is having on endangered species recovery efforts. Using data collected from a national review of 136 endangered and threatened species recovery plans, we evaluated whether recovery plans were changing in response to publication trends in four areas of the academic conservation biology literature: metapopulation dynamics, population viability analysis, conservation corridors, and conservation genetics. We detected several changes in recovery plans in apparent response to publication trends in these areas (e.g., the number of tasks designed to promote the recovery of an endangered species shifted, although these tasks were rarely assigned a high priority). Our results indicate that, although the content of endangered species recovery plans changes in response to the literature, results are not uniform across all topics. We suggest that academic conservation biologists need to address the relative importance of each topic for conservation practice in different settings. [See Erratum]

Adaptation and livelihood resilience are two key concepts for understanding the climate change process of smallholder farmers, but the relationships between them are not well understood. In this paper, with supporting data from household questionnaire surveys in four regions of the Tibetan Plateau (n = 1552), we aim to explore the relationships between smallholder farmers' climate adaptation and livelihood resilience. Based on existing studies, we developed a conceptual framework to integrate adaptation and livelihood resilience, and constructed a quantitative indicator system to measure livelihood resilience. The adaptation measures adopted by smallholders were classified into stepping out (SO) and stepping up (SU) strategies, and the livelihood resilience of smallholders with different adaptation strategies was calculated and compared using one-way analysis of variance. The multinomial logit (mlogit) model was used to examine the factors influencing the adoption of different adaptation strategies by smallholders. The results showed that the livelihood resilience of smallholders who adopted adaptation strategies was higher than that of those who did not, while the livelihood resilience of smallholders who adopted SO strategies was higher than that of those who adopted SU strategies. The mlogit model reported the factors that influence the adoption of different adaptation strategies by smallholders: household size, health conditions, number of cropland plots, agricultural equipment, number of livestock, and nonagricultural income. These indicators play different roles in the adoption of different adaptation strategies by smallholders. In particular, local government interventions (credit, cooperatives, training) are not only an important component of smallholders' livelihood resilience, but also important determinants of their livelihood strategies. Based on our findings, it is recommended that the government should promote smallholders' adaptation and strengthen their livelihood resilience to climate change by expanding the coverage of credit, cooperatives, and training, diversifying the forms of cooperatives, enriching the content of training, and increasing the frequency of training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) have emerged as instruments to improve social and environmental practices and to communicate sustainability standards in trade and business. However, debates about the correct assessment methodology for VSS risk causing duplication, overlaps, and fragmentation, undermining the value of VSS in sustainability transition. In this paper I propose materiality, theory of change and reflexive governance as the three building blocks of an appropriate framework for VSS and other sustainability assessment schemes in the food and agricultural sectors. Materiality is the specific criteria for defining and assessing factors that matter for sustainability, such as indicators, metrics, and rankings. Materiality is a process of social construction that enables stakeholder engagement and integrated knowledge production, going beyond just benchmarking entities against their competitors using standardized measures. Theory of change is a method that explains how interventions lead to desired outcomes and changes but is much more than a linear logic model of inputs and outputs. It sheds light on underlying assumptions, embedded contexts and long- and short-term dynamics. Reflexive evaluation consists of a single-loop process that follows a problemdetection-correction course and double- and triple-loop learning that allows assumptions and learned propositions to be challenged. It highlights unintended outcomes and offers alternatives to conducting interventions, which is different from conventional monitoring and evaluation methods, which focus on measuring the attainment of intended outcomes only. The study concludes that the semantic meaning of "standards" and "assessment" in agricultural VSS abstract the complex nature of sustainability because of overly linear meaning. In the complex construct of sustainability assessment, the role of VSS is not to conclude a success or a failure but to encourage knowledge-based learning and accountable governance because social change is an open-ended validation and adaption process. The framework proposed by this paper offers a solution by calling for integrated knowledge production resulting from interdisciplinary assessments and learning-oriented actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on harvesting culturally significant food plants can contribute to Indigenous food sovereignty. Relationships drive the process of research, which can affect research methodologies and outcomes. Promoting inclusion and equity in research relationships is necessary to reduce power hierarchies that often position conventional sciences above Indigenous knowledge systems. This paper employs a reflexive lens to consider important dynamics of an ongoing research collaboration between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, federal agencies, and academic partners focused on the Cherokee food plant VVVVV [transliterated as uwasdiha or wasdi and also recognized as ramps or Allium tricoccum]. An aim of our paper is to contribute to our collective understandings of Indigenous research methodologies (IRM) and collaborative research. Through iterative, place-based conversations and thematic analysis we identify and discuss our process engaging in trust building and relationality as co-authors. Key themes emerging from our work include the importance of (1) developing relationships when conducting collaborative research across multiple knowledge systems and (2) Indigenous food narratives that center traditional foods in research and relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Field Ornithology is the property of Resilience Alliance 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 Journal of Field Ornithology is the property of Resilience Alliance 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.)

Recognizing the continued human domination of landscapes across the globe, social-ecological systems (SES) research has proliferated, necessitating interdisciplinary collaborations. Although interdisciplinary research started gaining traction in academic settings close to 50 years ago, formal frameworks for SES research did not develop until the late 1990s. The first National Science Foundation (NSF) funding mechanism specifically for interdisciplinary SES research began in 2001 and the SES-specific Coupled Natural Human (CNH) Systems program began in 2007. We used data on funded NSF projects from 2000 to 2015 to examine how SES research was funded, where the research is published, and the scholarly impact of SES research. Despite specific programs for funding SES research within the NSF, this type of research also received funding from non-SES mission programs (e.g., Ecosystem Science constituted 19% of grants in our study, and Hydrology constituted 16% of grants). Although NSF funding for SES research originates from across programs, the majority of products are published in journals with a focus on ecological sciences. Grants funded through the Coupled Natural Human Systems programs were more likely to publish at least one paper that was highly interdisciplinary (Biological Sciences [BE-CNH] constituted 70% of grants in program, and Geosciences [GEO-CNH] constituted 48% of grants) than the traditional disciplinary programs (Ecology [ES], 35% and Hydrology, 27%). This result highlights the utility of these cross-cutting programs in producing and widely disseminating SES research. We found that the number of citations was higher in BE-CNH and ES than other programs, pointing to greater scholarly impact of SES research in these NSF programs. Through our research, we identified the need for institutions to recognize research products and deliverables beyond the "standard" peer-reviewed manuscripts, as SES and interdisciplinary research and unconventional research products (e.g., popular press articles, online StoryMaps, workshops, white papers) continue to grow and are important to the broader societal impact of these types of research programs. This project demonstrates that the outcomes and products of grants awarded through the NSF CNH programs are important to furthering SES research and the programs should be valued and expanded in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrants' home gardens may be created from elements of both old and new landscapes. We assume that medicinal plant assemblages in migrants' gardens are shaped by plant diversity and availability, therapeutic needs, and heritagization processes. Which of the factors prevail: those related to biodiversity and ecology, epidemiology, or heritage and memory? In this paper we offer new knowledge on the garden landscapes of the Global South. The research was conducted in the Atlantic Forest in Argentina. We surveyed 120 home gardens: 60 of transborder Paraguayan migrants, and 60 of transcontinental Europeans who arrived in Misiones, Argentina before WW2 and their descendants. We compared the richness, composition, medicinal uses, and the relationships of garden plants (via plant networks) between these groups, taking into account everyday scales and the transnational scale. Paraguayans cultivated and protected 137 species, predominantly native, and people of European origin 119 spp., native and exotic in similar proportions. The similarity in plant composition (68%) and the consensus in the medicinal use of plants (62%) were high between the migrant groups. Plant network analysis revealed many overlaps in assemblages of plants, but certain particularities of each group remained because of cultural expressions and therapeutic needs. This high level of similarity suggests that plant diversity, both native and allochthonous, shared concepts of illness, and the flux of knowledge between these groups was more significant than heritagization practices in shaping home gardens' medicinal plant assemblages. People of Paraguayan and European origins do not make an active effort to convert their home gardens into heritage. Medicinal plants are connected to the lived emplacement--intimate daily practices--rather than to ethnic identity strategies. Nevertheless, the plant assemblages in gardens have been shaped by ecology, colonial legacy, nostalgia, and transfer of knowledge; therefore migrants' home gardens can be considered heritage in a broad sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 investigated. Therefore, in this article we examine the formal and informal design and working practices of the CGICRGT and determine which type of river basin organization (RBO) it represents. Based on a mixed-method approach combining document analysis with semi-structured qualitative interviews we found that the CGICRGT contains elements of both, an agency RBO and a coordinating RBO. Although coordinating the river management works well to a certain extent, critical challenges remain that hinder a fully successful management of the basin and in consequence the improvement of its ecological status. Amongst them count the overlapping responsibilities of national and local institutions, the missing participation of some important institutions, the lack of financial and personnel resources, slow progress in terms of time, and a lack of motivation of the participating institutions. Although the CGICRGT presents an excellent platform for the integrated management of the Tárcoles river basin its progress will be too slow and its impact too small as long as all participants do not prioritize its work and integrate and motivate all important actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low female participation in community-based forest actions for mitigating and adapting to climate change (i.e., "forest climate actions") increases gender inequalities and could reduce intervention effectiveness. Factors preventing women's participation in forestry are well-researched, while factors motivating women's participation is comparatively lacking. We fill this gap by (i) identifying women's motivations to participate in communal action in other domains; (ii) analyzing to what extent these motivations exist in forest climate actions; (iii) suggesting how forest climate actions can better motivate women's participation. Our paper presents an original mixed methods approach using data from two studies in different domains (health vs. forestry), objectives (feasibility study vs. impact evaluation), and data collection approach (key informant interviews vs. standardized surveys). Women's motivations to participate in Posyandu (Pos Pelayanan Terpadu), a state-run infant and maternal health service system operated mostly by female collaborators (Kader), were contrasted with conditions shaping women's participation in forest climate actions. Data were collected in the same period (2013-2014) in forested rural areas of Indonesia. We find women are motivated by the following values they find lacking in forest climate actions: (1) altruistic values: improving other's well-being through Posyandu, vs. limited benefits from forest climate actions; (2) social capital: enhancing own and family's social status by participating in Posyandu, vs. limited social enhancement through forest climate action; and (3) identity enhancement: increasing own pride and competence when supporting an established organization like Posyandu, vs. no equivalent organization for women in forest climate action. What would attract women to forest climate action? We suggest (1) tangible benefits from forest climate action for women and rural communities, so that women see forests are worth fighting for; (2) respected roles for women in public spheres related to forest climate actions; and (3) self-enhancement opportunities through village-level organizations and good employment opportunities aligned with forest climate actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reindeer pastoralism, practiced by groups of the Indigenous Sámi people in Sweden, is being threatened by a new wave of encroachments. In this paper I take stock of how the Sámi movement has mobilized around grievances related to the ecological conditions that support natural pasture-based reindeer pastoralism. I apply the contentious politics approach to social movement theory, and Felix Kolb's conceptualization of five strategies that social movements have used when interacting with the state to achieve political change. Drawing upon 10 years of data from the Sámi public news service, my study makes three main contributions. First, I identify a set of themes found in the public grievances connected to ecological conditions articulated by reindeer pastoralist organizations in the public sphere that are a focus for mobilization. Second, I present an overview of the five strategies that the Sámi movement applies in claims-making to address those grievances: the public preference mechanism, the political access mechanism, the judicial mechanism, the international politics mechanism, and the disruption mechanism, and show how they relate to one another. Third, I discuss the limitations of current mobilization efforts, and argue that cross-movement coalitions are needed to challenge the hegemonic bloc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 aim of this research is to share St. George's efforts to build a more sustainable and just future for their community, as well as highlight key considerations for other communities and researchers engaging in this type of work. The success of St. George's Economic Development Strategy is due to strong community leaders, a community focused approach to engagement, and respectful consideration and inclusion of the community's values and beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present novel evidence about heterogeneity in climate beliefs using a large-scale survey of farmers, foresters, growers, and lifestyle block owners in New Zealand. Using a flexible, conditional-moments approach, we estimate the interpersonal dispersion in climate change beliefs conditional on individual characteristics, which provides a direct measure of the heterogeneity in beliefs about climate change. Our results show that women, younger respondents, farmers with less family farming history, higher educated respondents, and those respondents who are less trusting in social media are more likely to believe in climate change. Further, beliefs are more heterogeneous among males (young and old), the less educated, and those who trust social media. Our results offer new insights allowing governments and NGOs to design and communicate policies to reduce the heterogeneity in climate change beliefs, which should support the uptake of climate change actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use frontiers are territories with abundant land for agriculture and forestry, availability of natural resources relative to labor or capital and predisposed to rapid land-use change, often driven by large-scale land investments and capitalized actors, producing commodities for distal markets. Strategic spatial planning (SSP) represents a consolidated long-term governance practice across high- and low-income countries. One of the objectives of SSP processes is to articulate a more coherent and future-oriented spatial logic for the sustainability of land-use patterns and typologies, natural-resources protection, and investments. SSP may thus constitute a useful approach in addressing some of the challenges affecting land governance in frontier settings; to date, its potential contribution to land-use frontiers lacks explicit exploration. In this paper, we examine how SSP can play a role in governing land-use frontiers through a case-study analysis of Mozambique as an emerging frontier, located on the southeast coast of Africa. We gathered empirical evidence by interviewing experts involved in resource management, territorial planning, and development in the country. The theoretical spine of the paper builds on the literature focusing on land-use challenges and SSP. We show that emerging land-use frontiers face several challenges, such as transnational land deals and the intensification of commercial plantations. Interview data show that several structural factors are hindering the establishment of a long-term territorial development strategy. These are, among others, the short-termism of political cycles and the absence of a long-term strategic vision. Our analysis reveals that SSP processes could contribute to addressing land-use challenges in frontier contexts, such as poverty traps and land degradation spirals, should various local and distant actors join forces and marry interests. We conclude by presenting a systematic rationale, explaining how SSP could play a role in governing land-use frontiers, with a view to promoting the well-being and sustainability of rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Field Ornithology is the property of Resilience Alliance 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 Journal of Field Ornithology is the property of Resilience Alliance 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.)

Traditional ecological knowledge enables pastoralists to cope with social-ecological changes, thereby increasing the sustainability of their practices and fostering social-ecological resilience. Yet, there is a significant knowledge gap concerning the extent to which pastoral traditional ecological knowledge has changed over time at the global level. We aim to fill this gap through a systematic literature review of 288 scientific studies on pastoral traditional ecological knowledge. We reviewed 152 papers in detail (selected randomly from the 288) for their content, and focused specifically on 61 papers that explicitly mentioned one of the four types of knowledge transition (i.e., retention, erosion, adaptation, or hybridization). Studies on pastoral traditional knowledge represent less than 3% of all the scholarly literature on traditional ecological knowledge. Geographical distribution of the 288 case studies was largely biased. Knowledge domains of pastoral knowledge such as herd and livestock management, forage and medicinal plants, and landscape and wildlife were relatively equally covered; however, climate-related knowledge was less often studied. Of the 63 papers that explicitly mentioned transition of pastoral traditional ecological knowledge, 52 reported erosion, and only 11 studies documented explicitly knowledge retention, adaptation, or hybridization of traditional knowledge. Thus, adaptation and hybridization was understudied, although some case studies showed that adaptation and hybridization of knowledge can efficiently help pastoralists navigate among social-ecological changes. Based on the review, we found 13 drivers which were mentioned as the main reasons for knowledge transition among which social-cultural changes, formal schooling, abandonment of pastoral activities, and transition to a market economy were most often reported. We conclude that future research should focus more on the diverse dynamics of pastoral traditional knowledge, be more careful in distinguishing the four knowledge transition types, and analyze how changes in knowledge impact change in pastoral practices and lifestyles. Understanding these phenomena could help pastoralists' adaptations and support their stewardship of their rangeland ecosystems and biocultural diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livelihoods are activities and practices in which social and environmental factors interlink, and they play a key role in achieving human well-being and environmental conservation. Livelihood analyses are therefore important to social-ecological systems research. With a few exceptions, however, the concept of agency has been largely missing in research applying the social-ecological systems approach. This is an important gap to address, because humans are not passive victims of broader sociopolitical trends and environmental changes, but rather play causative roles that shape history. This paper presents a conceptual framework that enables the explicit integration of agency into livelihood analyses, and is useful for examining the extent to which livelihoods enable people to be agents of their own well-being, and stewards of their environment. The framework has four pillars of agency: preconditions (referring to capital assets and resources, or CARs); processes (feedbacks and dynamics); power (the social and political fabrics, and relations in which livelihoods are embedded); and possibilities (the extent to which a present livelihood expands into future options, and builds the ability to act on options). The framework is then applied to a case study analyzing smallholder farming livelihoods and food security in southwest Ethiopia. The case study is based on empirical work involving quantitative survey, in-depth interviews, and focus-group discussions. This paper demonstrates the applicability of the framework to identifying agency constraints in smallholder farming, and helps determine areas where agency can be further strengthened. Beyond the case study, the framework may also be applied in other contexts and to other livelihood types. Its application can strengthen the contribution of livelihood analysis to social-ecological systems research by providing a way to operationalize and foreground agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the universally recognized importance of fostering trust and avoiding distrust in governance relationships, there remains considerable debate on core questions like the relation between (dis)trust and the evaluations of the characteristics that make a governance agent appear (un)worthy of trust. In particular, it remains unclear whether levels of (dis)trust simply follow levels of (dis) trustworthiness--such that building trust is primarily a question of increasing evidence of trustworthiness and avoiding evidence of distrustworthiness, or if their dynamics are more complicated. The current paper adds novel theory for thinking about the management of trust and distrust in the governance context through the application of principles borrowed from resilience theory. Specifically, we argue that trust and distrust exist as distinct, self-reinforcing (i.e., stable) states separated by a threshold. We then theorize as to the nature of the self-reinforcing processes and use qualitative data collected from and inductively coded in collaboration with Flint residents as part of a participatory process to look for evidence of our argument in a well-documented governance failure. We conclude by explaining how this novel perspective allows for clearer insight into the experience of this and other communities and speculate as to how it may help to better position governance actors to respond to future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several urban landscape planning solutions have been introduced around the world to find a balance between developing urban spaces, maintaining and restoring biodiversity, and enhancing quality of human life. Our global mini-review, combined with analysis of big data collected from Google Trends at global scale, reveals the importance of enjoying day-to-day contact with nature and engaging in such activities as nature observation and identification and gardening for the mental well-being of humans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Home-based activities, such as watching birds from one's window, identifying species of plants and animals, backyard gardening, and collecting information about nature for citizen science projects, were popular during the first lockdown in spring 2020, when people could not easily venture out of their homes. In our mini-review, we found 37 articles from 28 countries with a total sample of 114,466 people. These papers suggest that home-based engagement with nature was an entertaining and pleasant distraction that helped preserve mental well-being during a challenging time. According to Google Trends, interest in such activities increased during lockdown compared to the previous five years. Millions of people worldwide are chronically or temporarily confined to their homes and neighborhoods because of illness, childcare chores, or elderly care responsibility, which makes it difficult for them to travel far to visit such places as national parks, created through land sparing, where people go to enjoy nature and relieve stress. This article posits that for such people, living in an urban landscape designed to facilitate effortless contact with small natural areas is a more effective way to receive the mental health benefits of contact with nature than visiting a sprawling nature park on rare occasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global shift toward agricultural specialization in the 20th century led to unprecedented ecological and socioeconomic changes, both positive and negative, in rural landscapes. Economic theory describes comparative advantage and market participation as two important drivers of such changes. Landscapes in the Global South are still often characterized by subsistence agriculture and direct dependence on natural ecosystem processes. Agricultural specialization is part of the structural transformation process from subsistence to market-oriented agriculture. However, comparative advantage and market participation as major drivers for agricultural specialization remain understudied. In this paper, we assess the potential drivers of ecosystem service specialization in an Ethiopian smallholder landscape at the kebele level, the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia. We measured specialization via the concentration of production for a range of locally important provisioning ecosystem services (beef, cattle, coffee, eucalyptus, honey, maize, sorghum, and teff). We measured comparative advantage based on productivity data, and assessed spatial flows of ecosystem services to local, regional, and global markets (i.e., telecoupling). To unpack the relationships between specialization, comparative advantage, and telecoupling, we used hierarchical clustering, principal component analysis, correlation analysis, and linear regression. More telecoupled kebeles (i.e., kebeles that produced more of ecosystem services that flow to broader spatial scales) were more specialized in their ecosystem service production, and the positive relationship between comparative advantage and specialization grew stronger with altitude. Wealthier kebeles and kebeles with higher population density were less specialized. Biophysical drivers, such as altitude and amount of forest cover, influenced the ecosystem services produced and the relationship between comparative advantage and specialization. Policy makers should therefore try to balance potential positive and negative consequences of specialization, and to account for fine-scale social and biophysical drivers underpinning diverse ecosystem service production profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are in a period of unprecedented growth in conservation philanthropy. How will this influx of private funding affect conservation agendas? Inspired by a collaborative research co-design process, this paper addresses questions about how foundations influence conservation agendas in the places they work. We draw from a case study of the world's largest philanthropic funder of marine conservation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and their 20 years of investment in marine conservation in Palau and Fiji. Conservation practitioners in both countries universally agreed that the Packard Foundation had a significant and positive influence on the agenda, which they attribute to both how the foundation worked and what they chose to fund. Specifically, our study reveals how the Packard Foundation shaped conservation agendas in Palau and Fiji in partnership with its grantees through a grant-making process characterized by relationship building, collaborative decision making, convening and promoting of collective action, flexibility, and long-term funding. Packard's approach was often identified as unique, and contrasted with numerous other donors, including foundations and other types of donors, who use a more top-down approach. By describing a relative success story in how philanthropic foundations can work with conservation practitioners to co-design a shared conservation agenda, our work provides timely guidance for donors and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a proliferation of studies that use archetype analysis to better understand and to foster transitions toward sustainability. This growing literature reveals a common methodological ground, as well as a variety of perspectives and practices. In this paper, we provide an historical overview of the roots of archetype analysis from ancient philosophy to recent sustainability science. We thereby derive core features of the archetype approach, which we frame by eight propositions. We then introduce the Special Feature, "Archetype Analysis in Sustainability Research," which offers a consolidated understanding of the approach, a portfolio of methods, and quality criteria, as well as cutting-edge applications. By reflecting on the Special Feature's empirical and methodological contributions, we hope that the showcased advances, exemplary applications, and conceptual clarifications will help to design future research that contributes to collaborative learning on archetypical patterns leading toward sustainability. The paper concludes with an outlook highlighting central directions for the next wave of archetype analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green and blue space interventions may bring about unintended consequences, involving trade-offs between the different land uses, and indeed, between the needs of different urban inhabitants, land users, and owners. Such trade-offs include choices between green/blue and non-green/blue projects, between broader land sparing vs. land sharing patterns, between satisfying the needs of the different inhabitants, but also between different ways of arranging the green and blue spaces. We analyze investment and planning initiatives in six case-study cities related to green and blue infrastructure (GBI) through the lens of a predefined set of questions--an analytical framework based on the assumption that the flows of benefits from GBI to urban inhabitants and other stakeholders are mediated by three filters: infrastructures, institutions, and perceptions. The paper builds on the authors' own knowledge and experience with the analyzed case-study cities and beyond, a literature overview, a review of the relevant city documents, and interviews with key informants. The case studies indicate examples of initiatives that were intended to make GBI benefits available and accessible to urban inhabitants, in recognition of GBI as spaces with diverse functionality. Some case studies provide examples of trade-offs in trying to plan and design a green space for multiple private and public interests in densely built-up areas. The unintended consequences most typically resulted from the underappreciation of the complexity of social-ecological systems and--more specifically--the complexity of the involved infrastructures, institutions, and perceptions. The most important challenges addressed in the paper include trade-offs between the different ways of satisfying the residents' different needs related to the benefits from ecosystem services, ensuring proper recognition of the inhabitants' needs and perceptions, ecogentrification, caveats related to the formalization of informal spaces, and the need to consider temporal dynamics and cross-scale approaches that compromise different goals at different geographical scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood risk is a complex and transboundary issue that is expected to escalate with climate change and requires to be governed by collaborative networks of actors. Municipal administrations have been suggested to have a particularly important and challenging role in such governance. Although collaborative governance has attracted intense scientific attention, empirical studies generally focus either on the macro-level institutions per se, or on the meso-level interaction between organizations, without corresponding attention to the micro-level interactions between the individual actors constituting the organizations and reproducing the institutions. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of how flood risk is governed within municipal administrations, by studying how actors interact within them when implementing tightly coupled policies. The paper draws on comparative case study research of three Swedish municipal administrations (Lomma, Lund, and Staffanstorp). Data were collected through interviews with all 143 actors actively contributing to mitigating flood risk within the municipal administrations, and analyzed structurally and interpretatively using social network analysis and qualitative analysis. Although the Swedish legal framework consists of tightly coupled policies demanding coordination between the actors implementing them, there is a recurrent pattern of relative integration between actors implementing policies for planning and water and sewage, and substantial separation between them and actors implementing policy for risk and vulnerability. This cinderellic fragmentation generates a "problem of fit" between the legal framework and the collaborative networks implementing it, which undermines the effectiveness of flood risk mitigation in municipal administrations. It is not accidental but a consequence of a directional separation of institutionalization, where the more bottom-up and problem-oriented institutionalization of practices in planning and water and sewage, and the more top-down and complianceoriented institutionalization of practices in risk and vulnerability pull the network of actors apart. I demonstrate how the mechanisms of increasing returns, commitments, and objectification may all operate simultaneously but to various degrees in different practices across any collaborative governance network. Hence, potentially undermining policy coherence, policy integration, and collaborative governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along the coast of what has come to be known as British Columbia, First Nations face persistent challenges related to the state of the fisheries on which they depend. Fisheries management strategies imposed by the colonial-through-to-federal governance regimes have been implicated in contributing to the challenges, and are rejected by many coastal First Nations who are reasserting governance authority over their fisheries. In particular, the current management approach continues to set ceilings on First Nations' harvest rates (e.g., food, social, and ceremonial allocation). Too often the evidence used to determine such ceilings reflects diets and fishing practices deeply disrupted by social-ecological change, including, but not limited to, colonialism and climate change. Through this paper we use the example of salmon to propose harvest rates more consistent with less disrupted diets, what we refer to as restorative diets. Methodologically, we use empirical records on historical diets as a basis for envisioning what restorative diets might look like and for considering the magnitude of the difference between harvest rates consistent with such diets compared to contemporary diets. We do so by developing a model of restorative harvest rates in reference to caloric needs, the proportion of diets historically contributed by salmon, and the amount of salmon harvested per calorie, which we parameterize using existing empirical records. These methods yield coast-wide restorative harvest rates that range from 68 to 235 kg of salmon per person per year. Such estimates are three to 14 times higher than contemporary rates. We offer the methodology and findings presented here as both catalyst and guidance for further investigations of the conditions (ecological, social, and political) necessary to support the efforts of coastal First Nations, and Indigenous Peoples globally, to restore their fisheries, diets, and food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable fishing is one of the most pressing challenges for mankind and requires insightful knowledge of the drivers that may foster or hinder predatory exploitation. It has been widely recognized that Indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of resources, such as fisheries, worldwide. Nevertheless such knowledge continues to be marginalized and unacknowledged by a range of academic scientists and policy makers. In the present paper, we tackle this issue by discussing laws regarding closed fishing seasons, which are part of the Brazilian environmental policies for protecting marine fauna, from the perspective of artisanal fishers' knowledge. In Brazil, these laws are typically based on governmental decisions (i.e., by administrative organizations and researchers acting as consultants) without taking fishers' knowledge into account. Through semistructured interviews with traditional experts of fishing villages situated along the northeast coast of Brazil, we aimed to investigate their knowledge of fish reproductive periods and analyze how it is related to the closed seasons at work in their region. We found an exact agreement between fishers' knowledge and closed season regulations on the reproductive period of the mangrove crab (Ucides cordatus), but a conflict regarding the reproductive period of two snook species and four species of shrimps. We highlight the potential of fishers' knowledge contributions to environmental regulations and we also explore three challenges of incorporating epistemic diversity in environmental policy. We conclude by advocating for a reflexive transdisciplinarity that highlights the potential of Indigenous and local knowledge while critically reflecting on the methodological and political challenges of transdisciplinary practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is motivated by the question: how does governance emerge within social-ecological systems (SESs)? Addressing this question is critical for fostering sustainable transformations because it directs attention to the context specific and process intensive nature of governance as arising from the internal dynamics (i.e., interplay of feedbacks and interdependencies between the components) of SESs. This contrasts with the commonly held view of governance as an external intervention applied to a system. To systematically examine the recurrent patterns in how the internal dynamics promote/detract from the emergence of different types of governance, we applied archetype analysis to 60 selected cases of irrigation systems from Asia. Drawing inspiration from grid-group typology of cultural theory, we developed four specific archetypes: egalitarian, individualist, hierarchical, and fatalist. To build these archetypes, we applied a robustness framework and several other theories/perspectives to identify the different social-ecological and infrastructural attributes of irrigation SESs, and their interdependencies and feedback structures. We then used these attributes, identified through our theoretical review, to deductively code our selected cases and classify them into the different archetypes. The results show the different configurations of attributes that co-occur in each archetype, and how together these attributes and their inter-relationships lead to specific types of governance. Our archetype analysis also provides several interesting examples of fine-tuning between different SES attributes and how this fine-tuning is being threatened by various social and environmental changes. Through a systematic exploration of recurrent patterns using archetype analysis, our work builds on past efforts to apply ideas from complexity theory--specifically emergence--to unpack the complexities of SESs and offer practical guidance for fostering sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative care refers to the collectively formed reciprocal relationships that emerge between the human and morethan-human world. Such care relations are more robust when individuals from different socioeconomic, gender, and political stratifications participate in decision making. This condition applies to gender equity in ocean conservation and fisheries governance practices. Despite their deep involvement in marine fisheries and their labor in sustainable fisheries management and marine conservation, women are often underrepresented in and overlooked by environmental management institutions. Highlighting the importance of gender to effective marine management underscores the need to reconfigure leadership in marine resource governance, and to reconsider how that leadership is understood. To investigate how gender affects community-based conservation, this paper explores marine management practices in Madagascar. Incorporating conversational method and auto-ethnography, we center the expertise and experience of Malagasy women leaders, who have been deeply involved with the foundation and management of a genderinclusive community marine resource management network. This is especially relevant to Madagascar, where locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) have expanded dramatically in the last decade. Many of these LMMAs have explicitly focused on reconfiguring power relations between international conservation efforts and local resource user needs and values. Overall, the LMMA approach has improved local involvement in resource management decisions, yet areas of weakness remain. We argue that a more inclusive, and thus more effective, approach to governing marine commons requires a focus on the act of commoning: the process through which reciprocity, accountability, and collaborative care are developed within a community. To achieve whole-community governance, we advocate for allocating more resources toward such commoning practices and toward those who are most marginalized in current marine management. Madagascar's evolving network of fisherwomen leaders provides key insights into how interventions for commoning in marine conservation can advance collaborative care of interdependent human-environment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmon are intrinsic to health and well-being in Alaska, and sit at the center of myriad social, cultural, and spiritual practices, norms, and values. These practices and values are essential to living and being well in many communities in Alaska, but often remain invisible and unaccounted for in management contexts. This paper stems from the collective efforts of a cross-disciplinary, crosscultural project team brought together as part of the State of Alaska's Salmon and People (SASAP) knowledge synthesis project. In this paper, we assess the sustainability and equity of Alaska salmon systems through a well-being framework. Key objectives include (1) defining and conceptualizing well-being in the context of Alaska salmon systems; (2) developing and assessing well-being indicators for Alaska salmon systems; and (3) evaluating how well-being concepts are currently incorporated into Alaska salmon management and suggesting improvements. We draw on specific examples to evaluate the application of well-being indicators as a tool to more effectively measure and evaluate social considerations, and discuss how to better integrate well-being concepts into governance and management to improve data collection and decision making. As part of this effort, we discuss trends and inequities in Alaska fisheries and communities that impact well-being, and tensions between equality and equity in the context of Alaska salmon management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2014, several local entrepreneurs and public institutions of culture have collaborated in transforming a central but neglected place in Warsaw, Poland: Plac Defilad (Parade Square), one of the biggest public squares in Europe. These organizations faced the challenge of taking care of their direct environment, even though they had no legal rights to it, and made efforts to get involved in local management, land-use, and place-making politics by establishing informal cross-sectoral partnership agreements. Between 2017 and 2019 the project was further developed under the conceptual framework of urban environmental stewardship as a participatory action research (PAR) program, facilitated by the author of the paper. The primary goal was to examine whether local institutions of culture could play the roles of urban stewards, and, as such, facilitate the process of creating hybrid governance structures. Only partly successful so far, the project can be seen as a precedent for more inclusive urban environmental governance policies in Warsaw. The findings of the paper highlight an underlying lack of legal vehicles and resources that would allow public institutions to form a coalition and become permanently involved in public space planning issues (that is, a contribution to stewardship practices). Furthermore, the paper argues for the need to consider the "concrete" public square an environmental issue, and for the usefulness of the conceptual framework of urban environmental stewardship for developing further research on hybrid governance initiatives in Poland (a contribution to stewardship theory). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars, politicians, practitioners, and civil society increasingly call for sustainability transformations to cope with urgent social and environmental challenges. In sustainability transformations research, understandings of transformations are often dominated by Western scientific knowledge. Through a systematic literature review, we investigated how indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) is represented in peer-reviewed empirical scientific papers that apply ILK in contexts of transformation, transition, and change. Our results show, first, that all papers applied ILK to confirm and complement scientific knowledge in contexts of environmental, climate, social-ecological, and species change. Only four papers (5%) applied ILK to conduct research on transformations. Second, we identified four research clusters that apply ILK in contexts of transformation, transition, or change in (1) Arctic, (2) terrestrial, (3) coastal, and (4) grass and rangelands environments. These clusters are located along two axes: tropic to Arctic and marine to terrestrial. Finally, our results indicate that indigenous and local understandings of transformations are currently neglected in the scholarly transformations discourse. The reviewed papers do not focus on how indigenous peoples and local communities understand transformations, instead they focus on what changes indigenous peoples and local communities observe and describe, resulting from their daily experiences and activities. We argue that because of its in-depth local, place-based character, ILK can substantially contribute to a more plural understanding of transformations and the assessment of transformative change. We conclude that future research needs to investigate how to gain a more plural understanding of transformations that leads potentially to more inclusive actions toward more just, equitable, and sustainable futures on a local and global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What helps or limits the use of ecosystem services ideas in practice? In this paper we develop and test a new institutionalistbased analytical scheme to explore how ecosystem services as a "new" policy idea might interact with established policy regimes, processes, and norms. The scheme is based on three different decision-making levels: micro, meso, and macro. To test the plausibility of the scheme, it is applied to the case of the UK where a specific ecosystem services framework (ESF) was prioritized as a new way of doing environmental policy after 2011. Drawing on findings from 32 elite interviews, the paper shows how dynamics at all three levels intersect with differing institutional explanations. It helps explain important factors for embedding, or restricting embedding, of the ESF in policy making. The scheme provides a useful way to link analysis of the "lived experience" of policy actors implementing the ESF with the institutional landscape they occupy, and allows for a nuanced and integrated analysis of the potential barriers faced by ecosystem services ideas generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species loss is well-known as a defining challenge of our era. But in an era of increasing anthropogenic stressors, several ecosytems are at risk of collapsing because of human pressures. In the emergent literature on ecosystem collapse, few studies have focused on how ecosystem collapse is experienced by the communities living through it. In this paper I explore how communities understand ecosystem collapse, and possible ways of managing it, through a study of California's largest lake. The Salton Sea is at an ecological tipping point where it is rapidly shrinking and becoming more saline. This paper draws on 30 semistructured interviews in the Coachella and Imperial valleys around the lake, as well as observation of community meetings and archival material, to explore the following: How do people living around the Salton Sea view its collapse, including the failure to stop it? What measures do they see as having the potential to avert its collapse? These interviews indicate a clear understanding of the imminent decline, and a variety of conjectures about why nothing has been done, attributing this to its peripherality, power inequalities, the professionalization of Salton Sea solutions, and systematic incapacity on the part of the state of California. Respondents also surfaced three potential alternative pathways for restoration, as well as insights into the challenges of implementing them. The story of the Salton Sea, an ecosystem collapse in progress with no real action, may be repeated around the world, including in high-income jurisdictions like California, and it is important to understand the political and social contexts that determine whether or not a major effort is made to prevent collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transdisciplinarity is gaining acceptance in sustainability science research as an approach to work across disparate types of knowledge and practices in order to tackle complex social-ecological problems. On paper, transdisciplinarity appears to be substantially helpful, but in practice, participants may remain voiceless and disadvantaged. In this paper, we retrospectively investigate four case studies using recent design principles for transdisciplinary research, to explore a deeper understanding of the practical successes and failures of transdisciplinary research engagement. We show that the transdisciplinary way of working is time consuming, challenging, and insists that researchers and participants contribute reflexively. Careful attention to research design and methodology is central. The acceptance that complexity renders knowledge provisional, and complete honesty about the purpose of the research are critical to building relationships between researchers and participants. Gaining an understanding of the values people hold influences the research process and the possible outcomes toward sustainable and just natural resource management. We suggest that in order to enable sustainable and just natural resource management, transdisciplinary research should include values and ethics in the design, implementation, and reporting of projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay is the ancestral and contemporary homeland of the Anishinaabe Ojibwa and their relatives. It is also a toxic riskscape: Its waters, shorelines, and fish beings are polluted by an unknown tonnage of legacy mining waste rock called “stamp sands,” which contain unsafe levels of toxic compounds. This paper describes Ojibwa stewardship principles and reciprocal obligations, illustrating First Treaty With Gichi-Manitou practices of restoring relations within a toxic riskscape. Defined here, riskscapes are places and spaces where pollution/toxicity relations are continually reconfigured in literal, symbolic, and systemic ways. We share a story from Keweenaw Bay’s Sand Point restoration project (2002–present) to elucidate distinctly different approaches and challenges to restoring ecological relationships, including those between human and more-than-human beings. The restoration of 35 acres of barren shoreline into a thriving landscape concurrently created space for reclaiming Ojibwa stewardship obligations to land, water, and life. The goal was to restore Sand Point as a self-sustaining plant community, but maintenance remains demanding and costly. Lake Superior forces continually mobilize stamp sands, and recent extreme storm events have done so with even greater force. Thus measures of “success” are reconsidered annually, a reminder that “in perpetuity” toxic governance regimes are as unstable as riskscapes themselves. Yet Sand Point is a story of hope. Substantial transformations atop the surface reflect the restoration of many relationships between communities, institutional partners, and more-than-human beings. It is our Sand Point plant relatives who share the most valuable lessons of restoring sustainable livelihoods: resilience is inter-dependent communities caring for one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]