Identifying past social-ecological thresholds to understand long-term temporal dynamics in Spain

A thorough understanding of long-term temporal social-ecological dynamics at the national scale helps to explain the current condition of a country’s ecosystems and to support environmental policies to tackle future sustainability challenges. We aimed to develop a methodological approach to understand past long-term (1960-2010) social-ecological dynamics in Spain. First, we developed a methodical framework that allowed us to explore complex social-ecological dynamics among biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being, drivers of change, and institutional responses. Second, we compiled 21 long-term, national-scale indicators and analyzed their temporal relationships through a redundancy analysis. Third, we used a Bayesian change point analysis to detect evidence of past social-ecological thresholds and historical time periods. Our results revealed that Spain has passed through four socialecological thresholds that define five different time periods of nature and society relationships. Finally, we discussed how the proposed methodological approach helps to reinterpret national-level ecosystem indicators through a new conceptual lens to develop a more systems-based way of understanding long-term social-ecological patterns and dynamicsThis work was supported by the Biodiversity Foundation (http://www.fundacion-biodiversidad.es/) of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Partial financial support was also provided by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (project CGL2014-53782-P: ECOGRADIENTES). The Spanish National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA) funded Marina García-Llorente as part of the European Social Fund. Blanca González García-Mon participated in this article as a “la Caixa” Banking Foundation scholar. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, preparation of the report, or the decision to submit the study for publicatio

Harvesting from land and sea : Social relationships, trade networks, and spatial connectivity in changing social-ecological systems

In the era of global change, the connectivity of aquatic and terrestrial food production systems across spatial scales is increasing. At the same time, diverse actors that participate in food systems, from production to consumption, face the need to adapt their daily activities to an increasingly changing context. This thesis aims to better understand actors’ responses to social or environmental changes in food systems that are characterized by their cross-scale dynamics and social-ecological interactions. The four papers that constitute this thesis address this overarching aim by investigating two processes that are important in responding to changes and creating spatial connectivity between geographical locations: trade (Papers I-III), and spatial diversification or actor’s geographical mobility (Paper IV). The papers analyze fisheries and agricultural systems in Mexico and South Africa, using interview-based data collection and analysis, network analysis, agent-based modeling, and combinations of these methods. Papers I-III specifically examine how trade networks, which are embedded in social relationships and networks that operate across spatial scales, can influence the responses of food system actors to multiple types of changes. Paper I shows that trade relationships across fisheries and agricultural systems are generally embedded in stable business relationships characterized by reciprocity. Paper II finds that different trade network structures in a multi-species Mexican fishery can buffer changes in fish availability and create cascading effects between different species and geographical regions. Paper III describes four types of social networks consisting of relationships within and across scales that enable responding to multiple types of changes in a South African agricultural trade network. Paper IV identifies potential factors, such as environmental changes, that could influence changes in fisheries actors’ spatial diversification observed in Mexico. The thesis contributes to social-ecological systems research with theoretical insights regarding the embeddedness of trade networks in multidimensional social relationships within and across scales, where diverse types of social relationships and networks can influence fishing and farming practices. In addition, it highlights that spatial and temporal heterogeneity can have a key role in responses to changes based on spatial connectivity. Finally, the mixed-method methodology applied in this thesis enables simultaneously analyzing networks and processes in social-ecological systems, while illustrating the challenges and opportunities of method integration.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p

Harvesting from land and sea : Social relationships, trade networks, and spatial connectivity in changing social-ecological systems

In the era of global change, the connectivity of aquatic and terrestrial food production systems across spatial scales is increasing. At the same time, diverse actors that participate in food systems, from production to consumption, face the need to adapt their daily activities to an increasingly changing context. This thesis aims to better understand actors’ responses to social or environmental changes in food systems that are characterized by their cross-scale dynamics and social-ecological interactions. The four papers that constitute this thesis address this overarching aim by investigating two processes that are important in responding to changes and creating spatial connectivity between geographical locations: trade (Papers I-III), and spatial diversification or actor’s geographical mobility (Paper IV). The papers analyze fisheries and agricultural systems in Mexico and South Africa, using interview-based data collection and analysis, network analysis, agent-based modeling, and combinations of these methods. Papers I-III specifically examine how trade networks, which are embedded in social relationships and networks that operate across spatial scales, can influence the responses of food system actors to multiple types of changes. Paper I shows that trade relationships across fisheries and agricultural systems are generally embedded in stable business relationships characterized by reciprocity. Paper II finds that different trade network structures in a multi-species Mexican fishery can buffer changes in fish availability and create cascading effects between different species and geographical regions. Paper III describes four types of social networks consisting of relationships within and across scales that enable responding to multiple types of changes in a South African agricultural trade network. Paper IV identifies potential factors, such as environmental changes, that could influence changes in fisheries actors’ spatial diversification observed in Mexico. The thesis contributes to social-ecological systems research with theoretical insights regarding the embeddedness of trade networks in multidimensional social relationships within and across scales, where diverse types of social relationships and networks can influence fishing and farming practices. In addition, it highlights that spatial and temporal heterogeneity can have a key role in responses to changes based on spatial connectivity. Finally, the mixed-method methodology applied in this thesis enables simultaneously analyzing networks and processes in social-ecological systems, while illustrating the challenges and opportunities of method integration.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p

How traders and their institutional arrangements influence the social- ecological sustainability of small-scale fisheries : The case of a seafood supply chain in Baja California Sur, Mexico

The production of Small-Scale Fisheries (SSFs) satisfies seafood demand and is an important contributor to people’s livelihoods around the world. The disconnection between supply and demand can influence sustainability of SSFs by decreasing actors’ ability to respond to environmental and market changes. In developing contexts, such as many Mexican fishing communities, fishers and traders (fish buyers) establish self-governing instructional arrangements that connect local fish production with demand across scales. This thesis studies the mediating role of traders’ institutional arrangements for the social-ecological (SES) sustainability of a supply chain. A mixed-method approach is applied to a study case in Baja California Sur, Mexico, that includes interviews, surveys, participant observation and a multi-level network analysis. This thesis develops an analytical framework that combines empirical observations with network structures of the supply chain. It is used to identify and quantify self-governing institutions; show social-ecological interdependencies; and hypothesize their sustainability outcomes. The results reveal various types of traders, with different functions in the supply chain. Overall, the structural composition of the supply chain could enhance SES sustainability. I argue that traders’ self-governing institutional arrangements have potential to promote SES sustainability by increasing adaptive capacity. However, this can threaten long-term sustainability if overexploitation is promoted. Traders’ incentives might be key to achieving or impeding sustainability. This investigation contributes to understanding the role of traders in SSF supply chains and yields insights for future research and sustainability interventions. It presents an analytical framework to study sustainability in supply chains from a relational perspective

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Differences in Mean Propulsive Velocity between Men and Women in Different Exercises

The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the differences in the mean propulsive velocities between men and women in the different exercises studied (squat, bench press, inclined bench press and military press). Quality Assessment and Validity Tool for Correlational Studies was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Six studies of good and excellent methodological quality were included. Our meta-analysis compared men and women at the three most significant loads of the force–velocity profile (30, 70 and 90% of 1RM). A total of six studies were included in the systematic review, with a total sample of 249 participants (136 men and 113 women). The results of the main meta-analysis indicated that the mean propulsive velocity is lower in women than men in 30% of 1RM (ES = 1.30 ± 0.30; CI: 0.99–1.60; p p p = 0.05). Our results support the notion that prescription of the training load through the same velocity could cause women to receive different stimuli than men