Operationalizing the social-ecological systems framework to assess sustainability.
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.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912; heather.m.leslie@gmail.com xavier.basurto@duke.edu.
Heather M
HM
Leslie
Duke University Marine Laboratory, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Beaufort, NC 28516; heather.m.leslie@gmail.com xavier.basurto@duke.edu.
Xavier
X
Basurto
Duke University Marine Laboratory, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Beaufort, NC 28516;
Mateja
M
Nenadovic
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912; Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research/Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Honolulu, HI 96818;
Leila
L
Sievanen
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912; Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Smithsonian Institution, Edgewater, MD 21037;
Kyle C
KC
Cavanaugh
Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación A.C., La Paz, BCS, 23090 Mexico;
Juan José
JJ
Cota-Nieto
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Marine Biology Research Division, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202;
Brad E
BE
Erisman
Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950;
Elena
E
Finkbeiner
Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación A.C., La Paz, BCS, 23090 Mexico;
Gustavo
G
Hinojosa-Arango
Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación A.C., La Paz, BCS, 23090 Mexico; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Marine Biology Research Division, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202;
Marcia
M
Moreno-Báez
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912; Department of Economics, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912;
Sriniketh
S
Nagavarapu
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912; Central Science Division, The Nature Conservancy, Durham, NC 27701;
Sheila M W
SM
Reddy
Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación A.C., La Paz, BCS, 23090 Mexico;
Alexandra
A
Sánchez-Rodríguez
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912;
Katherine
K
Siegel
Fondo para la Protección de los Recursos Marinos, La Paz, BCS, 23090 Mexico; and.
José Juan
JJ
Ulibarria-Valenzuela
Sociedad de Historia Natural Niparaja A.C., La Paz, BCS, 23020 Mexico.
Amy Hudson
AH
Weaver
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Marine Biology Research Division, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202;
Octavio
O
Aburto-Oropeza
D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003906:Developing Countries; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes; D005523:Food Supply; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D012931:Social Environment; D013597:Systems Analysis
conservation science; coupled natural and human systems; governance; marine; small-scale fisheries