Operationalizing the social-ecological systems framework to assess sustainability
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Environmental governance is more effective when the scales of ecological processes are well matched with the human institutions charged with managing human-environment interactions. The social-ecological systems (SESs) framework provides guidance on how to assess the social and ecological dimensions that contribute to sustainable resource use and management, but rarely if ever has been operationalized for multiple localities in a spatially explicit, quantitative manner. Here, we use the case of small-scale fisheries in Baja California Sur, Mexico, to identify distinct SES regions and test key aspects of coupled SESs theory. Regions that exhibit greater potential for social-ecological sustainability in one dimension do not necessarily exhibit it in others, highlighting the importance of integrative, coupled system analyses when implementing spatial planning and other ecosystem-based strategies.
Authors: Heather M. Leslie, Xavier Basurto, Mateja Nenadovic, Leila Sievanen, Kyle C. Cavanaugh, Juan José Cota-Nieto, Brad E. Erisman, Elena Finkbeiner, Gustavo Hinojosa-Arango, Marcia Moreno-Báez, Sriniketh Nagavarapu, Sheila M. W. Reddy, Alexandra Sánchez-Rodríguez, Katherine Siegel, José Juan Ulibarria-Valenzuela, Amy Hudson Weaver, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza
Institutions: Brown University, Duke University, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, The Nature Conservancy
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2037993219