Enhancing the Resilience of Human-Environment Systems: a Social Ecological Perspective

published_or_final_versio

Lessons Learned from a Decade of Sudden Oak Death in California: Evaluating Local Management

Sudden Oak Death has been impacting California’s coastal forests for more than a decade. In that time, and in the absence of a centrally organized and coordinated set of mandatory management actions for this disease in California’s wildlands and open spaces, many local communities have initiated their own management programs. We present five case studies to explore how local-level management has attempted to control this disease. From these case studies, we glean three lessons: connections count, scale matters, and building capacity is crucial. These lessons may help management, research, and education planning for future pest and disease outbreaks

Compassion as a practical and evolved ethic for conservation

© The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The ethical position underpinning decisionmaking is an important concern for conservation biologists when setting priorities for interventions. The recent debate on how best to protect nature has centered on contrasting intrinsic and aesthetic values against utilitarian and economic values, driven by an inevitable global rise in conservation conflicts. These discussions have primarily been targeted at species and ecosystems for success, without explicitly expressing concern for the intrinsic value and welfare of individual animals. In part, this is because animal welfare has historically been thought of as an impediment to conservation. However, practical implementations of conservation that provide good welfare outcomes for individuals are no longer conceptually challenging; they have become reality. This reality, included under the auspices of "compassionate conservation," reflects an evolved ethic for sharing space with nature and is a major step forward for conservation

A note on solution concepts for nontransferable utility games

While many game-theoretic solution concepts pertain to conditions of transferable utility (TU), market transactions and other exchanges generally occur under nontransferable utility (NTU). Extant solutions translate TU solution concepts to the NTU case by utilizing endogenously determined utility weight vectors, which can violate notions of equity. A new solution procedure is developed that resolves this longstanding problem, and an existence proof is provided. © 2011 Elsevier B.V..link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Theorizing peace parks: Two models of collective action

In a reversal of the historical role of territory in intergroup conflict, the article focuses on an emergent notion of territory as an instrument for peace. In this article, the author begins to theorize about the mechanisms by which so-called peace parks might act in resolving conflict and ushering in regional stability. Two models are utilized that differ in their portrayal of how these parks might work. The first model, built on a game-theoretic foundation, provides insight into incentive mechanisms by which parties might agree to a border park. Furthermore, the model sheds light on whether these parks might serve as vacant buffer zones or, alternatively, active zones of cooperation. However, the game-theoretic model should be complemented by another, qualitative model that focuses primarily on how these interactions are embedded in history, culture, tradition, and group identity. To this end, the author develops a second model, which portrays institutions as structures of care. In the model of care, relationships are constitutive of identity, and institutions and practices (including war and peace) evolve in coherence with the web of relationships. It is the employment of mutually complementing analytics that might afford a deeper understanding of how these peace parks might actually serve as effective bridges for peace. © 2006 Journal of Peace Research.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

The design of environmental regimes: Social construction, contextuality, and improvisation

While much of the literature on environmental regimes has focused on effectiveness, this article takes a new look at a lesser-studied topic, the evolution of regime design. Understanding how regimes differ in design, and how various factors and processes shape such design, is important if we are to more carefully craft these regimes. We should also pay close attention to the formative role of social construction and context. Focusing on transboundary marine programs, we see that their designs basically follow a common template, namely that of the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) Regional Seas Programme. However, the action of context (i.e., local actors and political processes) can modify these designs away from the common template. The extent to which these programs begin to differentiate from each other may be an important sign of program maturity and responsiveness to context. In this article, we examine a set of transboundary marine programs to uncover what the important dimensions of differentiation are. Then, we focus on one specific program, the SSME (Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion) and closely trace how its specific form and organization came about. The analysis is informed by a model of institutional coherence that portrays institutions as the product of multiple generative mechanisms (e.g., social construction, ecological fit, and others). While it is premature to make definite judgments about the relative merits of competing regime designs, the work provides us with a new mode of analysis that can provide helpful directions for institutional assessment.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Testing the assumptions behind emissions trading in non-market goods: The RECLAIM program in Southern California

Emissions trading is, essentially, a policy instrument that is designed to simulate a market for an otherwise public good. Conceptually, its justification hinges on a number of key assumptions, namely the negligibility of local impacts, the ability to separate and commodify the good in question, and characteristics of a well-functioning market. The authors examine the performance of RECLAIM, a NOx emissions trading program in Southern California, USA, and illustrate how to test these assumptions. There is some evidence that the trading of NOx generates new externalities, such as the possibility that other air pollutants, e.g. volatile organics, are essentially traded along with it. Moreover, the RECLAIM program has recently begun to experience difficulties due to the fact that the market is relatively thin. This analysis provides ways to assess more deeply and reform these trading regimes, including opening up RECLAIM to public review. The case study speaks to a wider arena, as emissions trading is presently being considered in other parts of the world to address issues ranging from acid rain to non-point source pollution to greenhouse gases. The analytic approach, illustrated herein, is a general one that has a wider applicability than the particular case of NOx trading. It is hoped that this kind of critical inquiry can lead to a more careful deliberation of the merits and challenges of emissions trading. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Fair share: Siting noxious facilities as a risk distribution game under nontransferable utility

The search for equitable solutions to the siting of noxious facilities has long been an unresolved problem, theoretically and politically. Common prescriptions often involve compensating host communities. In this article, we address the case when compensation is not an option, or when we are unable to translate risk into a common measure of utility. We propose a new analytic for finding equity-based fair-share distributions of risk, which translates directly to mixed siting strategies. In order to do this, we employ a new general solution concept for n-person bargaining games under nontransferable utility. We discuss conditions under which the existence of such solutions can be proven. Last, we illustrate the solution concept with application to the LANCER project, a controversial municipal incinerator originally proposed for East Los Angeles, comparing results obtained with the (Ntu)Shapley value with the actual proposal. Finally, we point out that solutions will involve risk elimination, not just redistribution per se, but we need both, and to talk of one without the other is at times unjust, at times ineffectual, and often both. © 2001 Elsevier Science (USA).link_to_subscribed_fulltex