Despite the dramatic increase in ecotourism as a sustainable development strategy over the last two decades (Honey 2008; Yunis 2000), theoretical models to interpret and evaluate ecotourism—as well as the broader field of tourism—are lacking (Farrell and Twining-Ward 2003; Weaver and Lawton 2007). Farrell and Twining-Ward (2003) call for a reconceptualization of tourism study that incorporates social-ecological systems (SES) theory. This dissertation responds by assessing ecotourism as an SES in a dryland setting, addressing the question: "What key characteristics of ecotourism increase social-ecological resilience?" The study site is Santa Rosa National Park and surrounding communities in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Higham and Lück (2008) cite sustainability as the "ultimate goal of ecotourism" (Higham and Lück 2008, p 124); however sustainability itself proves to be a difficult concept to measure and evaluate (Cater and Lowman 1994; Dernbach 2002; Weaver 2001a). SES theory recognizes sustainability as a process rather than an end goal and identifies resilience as a key attribute (Berkes, Colding, and Folke 2003). With ecotourism as an economic strategy of nearly every developing country since the early 1990s and an increasing economic strategy in rural areas worldwide (Valaoras, Pistolas, and Sotiropoulou 2002; Honey 2008), this study investigates ecotourism through the lens of social-ecological resilience for increased sustainability. Based on a 12-month survey conducted in Santa Rosa National Park and the surrounding area, this study identifies characteristics of ecotourism that can cause different levels of resilience using indicators of increasing biodiversity, economic diversity and social capital. These relationships are represented by linked and continually changing social and ecological systems, diagramed by Holling‘s adaptive renewal cycle (Berkes, Colding, and Folke 2003; Gunderson and Holling 2002). Three research papers are included as part of this dissertation: 1) Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Parque Nacional Santa Rosa Ecotourism Study: Final Survey Results, Analysis and Recommendations; 2) Ecotourism‘s Contribution to Social-ecological Resilience: A Case Study Analysis of Rural, Dryland Ecotourism in Guanacaste, Costa Rica; and 3) Barrier-free Ecotourism? The Costa Rican Approach. Findings of this study include recommendations for ecotourism programs to increase social-ecological resilience and contribute to the sustainability of linked SESs.

Human societies are reliant on the functioning of the hydrologic cycle. The atmospheric branch of this cycle, often referred to as moisture recycling in the context of land-to-land exchange, refers to water evaporating, traveling through the atmosphere, and falling out as precipitation. Similar to the surface water cycle that uses the watershed as the unit of analysis, it is also possible to consider a ‘watershed of the sky’ for the atmospheric water cycle. Thus, I explore the precipitationshed - defined as the upwind surface of the Earth that provides evaporation that later falls as precipitation in a specific place. The primary contributions of this dissertation are to (a) introduce the precipitationshed concept, (b) provide a quantitative basis for the study of the precipitationshed, and (c) demonstrate its use in the fields of hydrometeorology, land-use change, social-ecological systems, ecosystem services, and environmental governance. In Paper I, the concept of the precipitationshed is introduced and explored for the first time. The quantification of precipitationshed variability is described in Paper II, and the key finding is that the precipitationsheds for multiple regions are persistent in time and space. Moisture recycling is further described as an ecosystem service in Paper III, to integrate the concept into the existing language of environmental sustainability and management. That is, I identify regions where vegetation more strongly regulates the provision of atmospheric water, as well as the regions that more strongly benefit from this regulation. In Paper IV, the precipitationshed is further explored through the lens of urban reliance on moisture recycling. Using a novel method, I quantify the vulnerability of urban areas to social-ecological changes within their precipitationsheds. In Paper V, I argue that successful moisture recycling governance will require flexible, transboundary institutions that are capable of operating within complex social-ecological systems. I conclude that, in the future, the precipitationshed can be a key tool in addressing the complexity of social-ecological systems. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

This dissertation aims to advance understanding of the social and ecological dynamics that transform riparian forests and the human and non-human communities that depend on riparian resources. The four articles that comprise this dissertation examine the causes and consequences of social-ecological transformations in the riparian zone of the transboundary San Pedro River watershed, located in the Sonoran Desert borderlands of southern Arizona, USA and northern Sonora, Mexico. The research utilizes an interdisciplinary, mixed methods approach that combines interviews with key informants (including natural resource managers, ranchers, local residents, and political figures), archival research and historical document review, spatial analysis and synthesis of binational datasets, and land use classification and change detection at the watershed scale using methods from remote sensing and geographical information systems.This research is motivated by two objectives. First, I aim to examine how shifts in social and ecological systems have transformed riparian spaces in the transboundary San Pedro River watershed. Second, I intend to assess the consequences of these riparian transformations for the human and ecological communities who depend on riparian resources for survival. Based on these two overarching objectives, there are three interrelated research questions that drive the research and analysis presented in the four chapters of this dissertation: 1) How are social-ecological processes at the watershed scale affecting access to water resources in the riparian zone?; 2) How are shifting relations of access to water and riparian-zone resources influencing and differentiating levels of exposure to hazards over space and across time?; and 3) Following a disturbance event, how are capacity to respond and recover from disturbance and expectations of accountability shifting over space and across time? The findings of this research suggest three broad results. First, social processes of accumulation of land and water resources by the state and industry are creating uneven spatial and temporal experiences of water security and insecurity by shifting the amount, timing, and quality of water resources available and who can physically access the riparian zone to derive benefits from riparian resources. Specifically, the three social processes of resource accumulation that I examine are privatization, expropriation, and conservation. Second, transformations in social-ecological system (SES) dynamics and access to riparian resources differentially impact the production of water insecurity (water quality and water quantity) both between and within communities and economic sectors that depend on riparian resources. Third, the ability for local communities and small-scale agricultural producers to cope with increasing water insecurity and respond to disturbance events is decreasing due to three interrelated causes. The first is limited access of local communities to the wealth and adaptive assets produced from natural resource extraction in the region. The second is the shift at the state and community level toward increasing individuation of responsibility for ensuring livelihood security. And the third is a culture of evasion of accountability to remediate ecological degradation within the transnational mining industry.

Long-term perspectives on the evolution of river deltas have provided useful knowledge capable of responding to pending questions related to the ongoing climate and environmental changes. Increasing utilization pressure on delta environments has necessitated increased attention to protect the socio-economic and ecological values. As a result, multiple local initiatives have been designed, aimed at mitigating environmental deterioration and implementing adaptive measures, but many such initiatives have shown limited success. This thesis uses a case study of Save River delta in Mozambique to explore the relation between geomorphological evolution and socio-ecological system dynamics in delta environments. In addition, key environmental variables that concern the society today are highlighted and discussed in a management perspective. The results of the study show the development of Save River delta from the mid-Holocene to the present. The geomorphological settings of the delta suggest a faulted coastline over which subsequent deposition of fluvial sediments has formed a protruding delta front. Between c. 3000 and 1300 years ago, fine-grained sediments accumulated on top of the delta-front in the proximal part of the delta. This type of material was deposited under intertidal conditions and supported the formation of mangrove habitat. The geographical distribution of the mangrove deposit was driven by successive stages of back-barrier swamp formation and sea-level change as the delta evolved. From c. 1300 years ago, the river delta started to receive fluvial sediments from pulses of floods forming an alluvial floodplain. These sediments have accumulated mainly on the fine-grained mangrove wetland deposit. All the geomorphological features have evolved in a shoreward-shifting pattern over time. Centennial to decadal changes observed in the delta have followed a predictable geomorphological pattern, which is also part of the millennial evolution. The mangrove system, the base for the socio-economic system, is consequently strongly affected by the geomorphological development of the area. An increasing sensitivity of socio-ecological systems to environmental stressors, e.g. floods, cyclones and erosion, has motivated multiple initiatives to work towards a sustainable management of delta environments. This thesis highlights the need for interplay between geomorphology and ecology, considering both long- and short-term dynamics of delta environments. Hitherto, management initiatives have been concentrated on fragmented interventions of controlling water flow, which have disrupted the natural dynamics by obstructing the sedimentation-erosion cycle. To change this trend, coastal planners need to consider the significance of natural processes, e.g. cyclones, floods, erosion and accretion, for the long-term ecological and social sustainability of delta environments. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2. Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis asks what effects concepts of resilience may have on political action and the ongoing ecological crises we see developing throughout the world. Specifically, it addresses disruptions in wild salmon migration, spawning, and fisheries brought about by industrial aquaculture in the so-called Broughton Archipelago in unceded Kwakwaka’wakw territories on the north east coast of Vancouver Island. These disruptions will be looked at as examples of resilience thinking in action. Through this example this thesis will examine the relationship between manifestations of resilience thinking and the emergence of metabolic rifts between nature and society that bring with them ecological crises. This thesis will begin by tracing the genealogy of resilience thinking from its origins in systems ecology to its depoliticizing formation in political-economic development. Through this it will show where resilience has been split from its origins as a socio-ecological concept, into purely social and ecological formations that interact in a zero-sum relationship. As a depoliticizing force, resilience works through the aforementioned cleavage to atomize individuals and distance them from their connections to socio-ecological communities, favouring instead marketized relations that reinforce capitalism, colonialism, and the state form. Following this, this thesis will argue that this cleavage and resilience thinking more broadly also generate sites of metabolic rifts within and between nature and society and are factors in their reproduction and geographic spread. Resilience however need not be a fully depoliticizing force. Taking up from the work of Roberto Esposito on relational community and immunization, this thesis ends with an exploration of how resilience thinking can return to its socio-ecological roots and be used in emancipatory, decolonial, and ecologically sound ways that will help in the reconstituting of the metabolic cycles within and between nature and society disrupted by rifts. Understanding how resilience thinking plays a role in depoliticization and the generation and reproduction of metabolic rifts makes space for turning this mentality on its head. Reconstructing a more holistic socio-ecological form of resilience helps to provide the necessary political tools to challenge underlying structures of domination and exploitation that put our socio-ecosystems at risk. / Graduate

The Watershed Development Programme has gained growing support among development policy planners since the 1980s in India. This programme is designed to facilitate sustainable rural development by building irrigation capacity of the, otherwise, rainfed agricultural regions. Irrigation capacity is built via the adoption of various soil and water conservation measures, which then facilitate recharge of groundwater tables within an identified micro-watershed (typically consisting of one or two village communities). The recharged groundwater table becomes the natural resource base from which farming households draw water for irrigation by investing in wells or other such assets. The management of micro-watersheds are based on the principles of community based natural resource management. However, the irrigation access (wells) to this common pool resource of groundwater is privately and individually owned which deters effective monitoring of resource use through collective action. This thesis is built on Ostrom's sustainability of socio-ecological systems (SES) framework and uses a three-essay format. Each essay uses econometric techniques in an attempt to identify particular factors that enable self-organizing ability of communities dependent on groundwater-based irrigation system for generating better livelihoods. The fieldwork was conducted in three villages belonging to the semi-arid districts of Ahmednagar and Jalna in the state of Maharashtra. Quantitative and some qualitative data was collected from nearly 670 households through household surveys. The thesis is organised as three core essays and three supporting chapters. Chapter 1 provides a background to WDP in India and sets the context for the research questions. Chapter 2 presents the literature survey and provides the rationale for choosing SES framework over sustainable livelihoods. It also discusses the broader research methodology. At the end, chapter 3 includes a consolidation of inferences drawn from each of the three essays, and identifies their potential applications and future research direction. The three essays address the research questions raised in this thesis. The first essay analyses the role that knowledge of the resource system (micro-watershed) among resource users, plays in modifying individual farmer's irrigation demand (modelled as crop choice). Two watershed communities located on either side of the ridge line of the watershed are compared. The second essay analyses the role that social capital plays in encouraging self-organization in the community. Social capital is modelled as social betweenness scores calculated by applying Social Network Analysis. A comparison between two villages located in two districts belonging to two different rainfall zones is made. The third essay conceptualizes 'water stack' (collection of irrigation access points) that a farming household owns. The relation between the water stack of the households and the resource use norms in the community is analysed. A comparative analysis between all the three villages is made in this essay. Knowledge of the resource system, social capital and continued support from the agricultural extension agency were found to encourage self-organization and enforcement of resource use norms, resulting in good health of the micro-watershed system.

At the Rio Conference in 1992, the sustainable development agenda promised a new era for natural resource management, where the wellbeing of human society would be enhanced through a more sustainable use of natural resources. Several decades on, economic growth continues unabated at the expense of natural capital – as evidenced by natural resource depletion, biodiversity loss, climate change and further environmental issues. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? This research examines what socio-economic and governance factors affect sustainability in complex coupled social-ecological systems. Furthermore, it analyses the role of power relations and imbalances between economic and conservation forces with regard to sustainable development. The original contribution to knowledge of this thesis is based on one conceptual and two empirical (Agent-Based) models. These explore, through several case-studies, the potential of different future scenarios in fostering synergies and win-win contexts of ecosystem services and socio-economic indicators. Overall, the research showed the complex and interconnected relationship between the economy and natural systems, and between economic and conservation forces, in coupled social-ecological systems. Addressing complex sustainability issues requires the use of integrative, holistic and interdisciplinary approaches, in addition to considering the particular socio-economic, cultural, political and environmental contexts of the social-ecological system being analysed. The models demonstrated that the current economic system requires an ever-increasing use of natural resources, and that the economy does not protect the natural capital on which it depends. This is based on a disjunction of the economic and conservation elements upon which the sustainable development paradigm is founded. Furthermore, several socio-economic and governance factors appeared to be key for diminishing sustainability in coupled social-ecological systems; namely, the type of economic and production systems, the particular use of monetary debt, technological development, and weak conservation forces (both top-down and bottom-up). However, results also showed alternative scenarios where these same factors could be redirected to enhance social-ecological sustainability. This dual role supports the argument that the current economic system is not inherently (i.e. by definition, per se) unsustainable. Rather, the specific use of economic mechanisms and behaviour of economic entities, as well as their decisions and relationships with the environment, show a tendency to increase unsustainability. Hence, short- and medium-term sustainability can be enhanced by developing mechanisms that start shifting capitalist forces to support environmental conservation; here, the role of Payments for Ecosystem Services will be essential. Enhancing long-term sustainability, however, may require a further paradigm change – where economic and production systems integrate, and fully account for, externalities and the value of natural capital, thus human society is embedded within the wider, and more important, natural environmental system.

The new millennia has been characterised by developments in the digital world, creating a new space for social work practice globally. The aim of this research is to explore the online medium as an alternative resource for social work with online groups through an observation and interviews in an online group for Bipolar Disorderin Sweden. The results found that lived experience proved central to all forms of participation and support was seen as a resource to be shared. The implications for social work practice were found on multiple levels with broad areas of influence, such as utilising the online medium as an alternative source of insight, thereby allowing needs assessment, both onindividual and [sub]group level. Accessibility by way of the internet was seen as a catalyser to participation as well as a comprehensive method in creating such communities both locally and internationally through the development of digital social work.

The diffuse runoff of agricultural nutrients, also called agricultural nonpoint source pollution (NPS), is a widespread threat to freshwater resources. Despite decades of research into the processes of eutrophication and agricultural nutrient management, social, economic, and political barriers have slowed progress towards improving water quality. A critical challenge to managing agricultural NPS pollution is motivating landowners to act against their individual farm production incentives in response to distant ecological impacts. The complexity of governing the social-ecological system requires improved understanding of how policy shapes farmer behavior to improve the state of water quality. This dissertation contributes both theoretically and empirically to NPS pollution governance by examining the impacts of water quality policy design on farmer nutrient management decision making and behavior. In the first study, I theoretically contextualize the issue of agricultural NPS pollution in the broader discussion of environmental public goods dilemmas to suggest that an increased focus on the link between policy and behavior can improve sustainable resource management. I propose two empirical approaches to study the policy-behavior link in environmental public goods dilemmas: 1) explicit incorporation of social psychological and behavioral variables and 2) utilization of actor mental models, or perceptions of the world that guide decision making, to identify behavioral drivers and outcomes. In the second and third studies, I then use these approaches to examine how water quality policies for agricultural NPS collectively change farmer behavior to reduce nutrient emissions. The second chapter uses a quantitative, survey-based approach to examine the relationship between mandatory policy design and behavior change in New Zealand. I find that a shift to mandatory policy is not immediately associated with increased adoption of nutrient management practices, but the mandatory policy design is important for potential future behavior change and long-term policy support. In the third study, I combine qualitative methodology with network analysis of qualitative data to examine a spectrum of agricultural NPS pollution policies in Vermont, USA and Taupo and Rotorua, New Zealand. I use farmer mental models to examine behavior change within each of the regions, the perceived drivers of behavior change and perceived outcomes of the policy. In this study, farmers across all three regions cite mandatory water policy as a key behavioral driver, but in each region, policy design interacts with the social-ecological context to produce distinct patterns of behaviors and perceived outcomes. Taken together, this dissertation demonstrates that agricultural NPS pollution policy design must consider the interactions between policy and other social-ecological behavioral drivers in order to achieve long term water quality improvements.

Following a wildfire, land management agencies act quickly to protect ecosystem services. We don't currently understand how post-wildfire managers make trade-off decisions in these tight timelines, or if these decisions reflect current science. Using Brunson’s (2014) social-ecological systems multi-scalar model, surveys assessed manager opinions about post-wildfire projects, perceptions of stakeholder opinions, and ability or willingness to consider new science results. Public surveys asked local citizens their opinions about post-wildfire projects. Manager perceptions were measured through semi-structured phone interviews (n = 8) and a structured online survey (n = 256). Public surveys were mailed to 1,000 (971 deliverable, n = 152 usable) residents in rural and urban Great Basin and Mojave Desert ZIP codes. We found coarse- and fine-scale social and political opinions were associated with all post-wildfire management decisions, often creating perceived barriers to project implementation. Conversely, local citizens were more supportive of projects than managers perceived them to be. While the majority of managers and citizens supported the concept of incorporating experimental research, managers were less able to consider more specific research incorporation into actual projects. Ecologically, biological soil crusts (BSC) are emerging as an important fine-scale component of semi-arid restorations. However, even when BSCs are assessed prior to a restoration plan, it is unclear how or if this knowledge has any impact. BSCs were evaluated both socially and ecologically: all manager surveys contained questions specifically related to BSC, and a pilot greenhouse study assessed a) if seed drilling simulations on different stages of BSC may affect restoration plant establishment and b) if BSC excluded the invasive species Bromus tectorum. Similar to other new science results, managers were unlikely to be able/willing to consider BSC status in post-wildfire projects. However, our results suggest the possibility that, even when lightly burned, seeding strategy may influence native plant establishment. In ideal greenhouse conditions, B. tectorum was able to establish readily on both burned and unburned BSC.