A Typology for Complex Social-Ecological Systems in Mountain Communities

The efficient assessment of social-ecological systems is crucial for supporting increased resilience of human communities. One challenge for researchers and managers is that few frameworks exist to assess social-ecological resilience and vulnerability for different landscapes. Mountain landscapes offer management challenges because of their valuable ecosystem services, varying biophysical characteristics, steep gradients, and the socioeconomics of human communities that are distributed across watersheds. Despite this, many mountain communities and regions lack effective management plans to enable adaptive responses to changing socioeconomic and environmental conditions. Assessing the vulnerability and resilience of mountain communities in a standardized manner is an important step in developing adaptation strategies. To help fill this gap, we investigated the utility of a conceptual social-ecological systems typology by assessing 21 mountain communities in the western United States. Our results show that larger cities or urban areas are generally more resilient than smaller communities, but the difference does not seem to be significant. Where there are resilience differences they are often found between communities of different population sizes. However, no community in the Western United States is seen as highly vulnerable to social-ecological change. More broadly, development of such standardized social-ecological systems typologies that are region-specific can be applied towards accommodating other unique environmental niches, while allowing for cross comparisons between regions on a broader continental scale

Ecology, livelihoods, and management of the Mauritia flexuosa palm in South America

Mauritia flexuosa is a key ecological and economic palm found throughout tropical South America. To inform improved management of M. flexuosa, we conducted a systematic review of published information about the ecology, livelihoods, and management of M. flexuosa, synthesized the information and identified knowledge gaps, and analyzed the spatial distribution of publications. A total of 143 documents (primary research, literature reviews, and grey literature) were reviewed. Most published information originates from Peru and Brazil, with a disproportionate number of documents based in the Loreto Department of Peru. Significant geographical gaps in published information exist, especially in the northern portion of the species range. Existing literature emphasizes M. flexuosa fruit, although leaves, oil, and other products play important roles economically. To improve M. flexuosa management, we recommend that future research focuses on: (1) M. flexuosa availability; (2) harvest and cultivation; (3) development of consistent methods and standards; (4) landscape-level issues like land use change; (5) M. flexuosa within broader systems; (6) spatial gaps in research; (7) long-term research; and (8) multi- and interdisciplinary approaches