The draining of the Iraqi Marshlands is an example of the reorganization of a linked social-ecological system (SES) following a collapse. The goal of this study was to examine the utility of resilience as a water management tool through a case study of the Marshlands. Using the Four-Step Framework by Walker et al. (2002), it analyzed the Marshlands through the metaphor of the adaptive cycle, explored three possible future scenarios, created two models to characterize the system, and reviewed the implications of the analysis for water management in the Marshlands and resilience. This study found that resilience, and the Framework, could offer new perspectives for managing complex SESs. However, resilience is not useful during times of intense violent conflict, like war. It also found that there are resilient pathways to help the Marshlands reorganize. However, the Marshlands are very vulnerable and require strong institutional support to keep them from disappearing.

The adaptive cycle metaphor provides insight into how and why social-ecological systems change. Literature on 'resilience thinking' has built upon this foundation and further developed the concepts of resilience, adaptation, and transformation to describe social-ecological system behavior. The resilience-thinking literature also describes systems that do not change, even when such change is desirable, as being in a trapped state. However, relatively little research has explored why such systems are trapped and how to free them. This thesis is the product of doctoral research which resolves how to identify, evaluate, and free a system caught in a maladaptive system trap. The study setting is water management in Grenada, a small island developing state in the southeastern Caribbean. Four research questions guide this study: (1) To what extent is Grenadian water management in a trap?, (2) To what extent is Grenadian water management transformable?, (3) Do current and recent interventions effectively foster or utilize transformability?, and (4) Which interventions should be pursued to facilitate transformation of water management in Grenada?. The study is informed by literature on social-ecological systems and integrated water resources management. Methodologically, the study is an explanatory single-case study of water management in Grenada, conducted from 2012 to 2013. The study utilizes data from semi-structured interviews (n=19), a questionnaire (n=180), a document review (n>200), and observation. The general strategy was to evaluate attempts to transform Grenadian water management within the 3-phase transformation framework described in the resilience-thinking literature. 'Points of failure' in transformation are defined as the cause(s) of a trap, and interventions to relieve the points of failure are proposed. Results indicate Grenadian water management is in a rigidity trap, although it exhibits some capacity to transform. A key point of failure of attempts to transform the Grenadian water sector into an integrated and holistic management system has been an inability to seize windows of opportunity to pass key legislation. I conclude the primary cause for this failure is poor fit among the problem, as perceived by various stakeholders, the proposed solution prescribed by water sector reform proponents, and political reality. In addition, reform proponents focus on advocating for reform to water sector professionals and do little to broker passage of legislation politically. Finally, reform proponents also assume legislation will be effectively implemented, which is not certain. Contributions specific to the Grenadian setting include a post-mortem on why efforts to reform the water sector have failed, described above. Five recommendations are made for future interventions to foster transformation of Grenadian water management: (1) engage residents as part of a vision to create political pressure for proposed solutions, (2) frame the problem with substantial resident input and focus, (3) craft solutions which take advantage of political realities such as funding restrictions, (4) anticipate and prepare for crises, and (5) enlist one or more people or organizations to serve as brokers. Empirical contributions include support for the three-streams framework of seizing windows of opportunity as fundamental to explain transformation of social-ecological systems. The primary conceptual contribution is the development of resilience thinking to illuminate ways to free trapped systems. I begin by providing a nomenclature to quantify and describe traps, which includes the type of trap, the degree of persistence and undesirability of the trap, and recent changes in these properties. Then, I develop a framework to assess transformability of a given system based on the existing 3-phase framework of transformation. When applied empirically, this framework illuminates points of failure of transformation, which I define as the cause of a given trap. Once identified, specific strategies can be devised to foster transformation and to break free of a trap.

abstract: Consideration of both biological and human-use dynamics in coupled social-ecological systems is essential for the success of interventions such as marine reserves. As purely human institutions, marine reserves have no direct effects on ecological systems. Consequently, the success of a marine reserve depends on managers` ability to alter human behavior in the direction and magnitude that supports reserve objectives. Further, a marine reserve is just one component in a larger coupled social-ecological system. The social, economic, political, and biological landscape all determine the social acceptability of a reserve, conflicts that arise, how the reserve interacts with existing fisheries management, accuracy of reserve monitoring, and whether the reserve is ultimately able to meet conservation and fishery enhancement goals. Just as the social-ecological landscape is critical at all stages for marine reserve, from initial establishment to maintenance, the reserve in turn interacts with biological and human use dynamics beyond its borders. Those interactions can lead to the failure of a reserve to meet management goals, or compromise management goals outside the reserve. I use a bio-economic model of a fishery in a spatially patchy environment to demonstrate how the pre-reserve fisheries management strategy determines the pattern of fishing effort displacement once the reserve is established, and discuss the social, political, and biological consequences of different patterns for the reserve and the fishery. Using a stochastic bio-economic model, I demonstrate how biological and human use connectivity can confound the accurate detection of reserve effects by violating assumptions in the quasi-experimental framework. Finally, I examine data on recreational fishing site selection to investigate changes in response to the announcement of enforcement of a marine reserve in the Gulf of California, Mexico. I generate a scale of fines that would fully or partially protect the reserve, providing a data-driven way for managers to balance biological and socio-economic goals. I suggest that natural resource managers consider human use dynamics with the same frequency, rigor, and tools as they do biological stocks. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Applied Biological Sciences 2014

abstract: Though cities occupy only a small percentage of Earth's terrestrial surface, humans concentrated in urban areas impact ecosystems at local, regional and global scales. I examined the direct and indirect ecological outcomes of human activities on both managed landscapes and protected native ecosystems in and around cities. First, I used highly managed residential yards, which compose nearly half of the heterogeneous urban land area, as a model system to examine the ecological effects of people's management choices and the social drivers of those decisions. I found that a complex set of individual and institutional social characteristics drives people's decisions, which in turn affect ecological structure and function across scales from yards to cities. This work demonstrates the link between individuals' decision-making and ecosystem service provisioning in highly managed urban ecosystems. Second, I examined the distribution of urban-generated air pollutants and their complex ecological outcomes in protected native ecosystems. Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), reactive nitrogen (N), and ozone (O₃) are elevated near human activities and act as both resources and stressors to primary producers, but little is known about their co-occurring distribution or combined impacts on ecosystems. I investigated the urban "ecological airshed," including the spatial and temporal extent of N deposition, as well as CO₂ and O₃ concentrations in native preserves in Phoenix, Arizona and the outlying Sonoran Desert. I found elevated concentrations of ecologically relevant pollutants co-occur in both urban and remote native lands at levels that are likely to affect ecosystem structure and function. Finally, I tested the combined effects of CO₂, N, and O₃ on the dominant native and non-native herbaceous desert species in a multi-factor dose-response greenhouse experiment. Under current and predicted future air quality conditions, the non-native species (<italic>Schismus arabicus</italic>) had net positive growth despite physiological stress under high O₃ concentrations. In contrast, the native species (<italic>Pectocarya recurvata</italic>) was more sensitive to O₃ and, unlike the non-native species, did not benefit from the protective role of CO₂. These results highlight the vulnerability of native ecosystems to current and future air pollution over the long term. Together, my research provides empirical evidence for future policies addressing multiple stressors in urban managed and native landscapes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Plant Biology 2014

A literatura que descreve os efeitos locais de empreendimentos hidrelétricos tem recebido contribuições importantes nos últimos anos. Esses trabalhos, contudo, lançam perspectivas disciplinares sobre essa problemática. O presente estudo busca compreender tais efeitos de maneira integrada, partindo de uma perspectiva sistêmica associada à teoria da resiliência em sistemas socioecológicos. Para tal, adota o caso da usina hidrelétrica de Barra Grande, analisando de que forma a dinâmica do sistema socioecológico local diretamente afetado pela barragem transformou-se na época de sua implantação. Assim, o sistema socioecológico local fora conceitualmente modelado e caracterizado para todo o ciclo de implantação da usina de Barra Grande, por meio da coleta de dados e informações primários e secundários. Como principais resultados, estão a concentração de alterações mais significativas nas proximidades do eixo da barragem, a criação de novos atratores para o sistema econômico local, a profunda alteração de aspectos do sistema social e a depleção da resiliência dos ecossistemas afetados pela barragem. / The literature that describes the local effects of undertaking hydropower plants has received important contributions in the past few years. These efforts, however, are based on disciplinary approaches. His study aims to understand the local effects of undertaking hydropower plants in an integrated way, following a systemic approach related to the theory of social-ecological systems resilience. O accomplish that, it is adopted the case of the Barra Grande dam, analyzing the changes in the dynamics of the local social-ecological system directly affected by the dam. The local social-ecological system was conceptualy modeled and designed for the entire projects lifecycle. It was made through collecting primary and secondary data. As maisn results, there are the concentration of significant alterations in the surroundings of the dams axis, the creation of new attractors for the economic system, a deep change in the social systems aspects and the depletion of the resilience of the ecosystems directly affected by the dam.

The practices related to the growing, harvesting, preparation, and celebration of food over millennia have given rise to diverse biocultural landscapes the world over. These landscapes – rich in biological and cultural diversity – are often characterised by persistent poverty, and, as such, are often the target of development interventions. Yet a lack of understanding of the interdependencies between human well-being, nature, and culture in these landscapes means that such interventions are often unsuccessful - and can even have adverse effects, exacerbating the poverty they were designed to address. This thesis investigates different conceptualisations of persistent poverty in rural biocultural landscapes, the consequences of these conceptualisations, and the ways in which development interventions can benefit from, rather than erode, biocultural diversity. The thesis first reviews conceptualisations of persistent poverty and specifically, the notion of a poverty trap (Paper I), and examines the consequences of different conceptualisations of traps for efforts to alleviate poverty (Paper II). Paper I argues that the trap concept can be usefully broadened beyond a dominant development economics perspective to incorporate critical interdependencies between humans and nature. Paper II uses multi-dimensional dynamical systems models to show how nature and culture can be impacted by different development interventions, and, in turn, how the degradation of both can undermine the effectiveness of conventional poverty alleviation strategies in certain contexts. In the second section, the thesis focuses on the effects of, and responses to, trap-like situations and development interventions in a specific context of high biocultural diversity: the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. Paper III advances a typology of responses to traps based around the mismatch of desires, abilities and opportunities. Observing daily practice provides a way to study social-ecological relationships as a dynamic process, as practices can embody traditional and tacit knowledge in a holistic way.  Paper IV examines the diverse effects of a development intervention on the coevolution of biocultural landscapes and the ways in which everyday practice – particularly around food – can be a source of both innovation and resilience. Papers I-IV together combine insights from diverse disciplines and methodologies, from systematic review to dynamic systems thinking and participant observation. Paper V provides a critical analysis of the opportunities and challenges involved in pursuing such an approach in sustainability science, underscoring the need to balance methodological groundedness with epistemological agility. Overall, the thesis contributes to understanding resilience and development, highlighting the value of viewing their interrelation as a dynamic, coevolving process. From this perspective, development should not be regarded as a normative endpoint to be achieved, but rather as a coevolving process between constantly changing ecological and social contexts. The thesis proposes that resilience can be interpreted as the active and passive filtering of practices via the constant discarding and retention of old and new, social and ecological, and endogenous and exogenous factors. This interpretation deepens understanding of resilience as the capacity to persist, adapt and transform, and ultimately shape new development pathways. The thesis also illustrates how daily practices, such as the growing, harvesting, and preparation of food, offer a powerful heuristic device for understanding this filtering process, and therefore the on-going impact of development interventions in rural landscapes across the world. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Beekeepers help to secure the pollination capacity of bees by mediating bee-stressors. This study argues that beekeeper strategies are best conceptualized as a series of specialized practices for bettering bee-health, which are mobilized by a variety of actors, including those who are not traditionally considered ‘beekeepers’. The aim of this paper is to explore those human beliefs and practices which are most relevant for gaining insight into the current pollinator problem. Farmers, bee-conservationists, bee-researchers and honeybee-keepers all play an important role in securing bee health. The paper draws on the social-ecological perspective to consider alternative definitions of caring for bees, what shapes these conceptualizations and how these are reflected in beekeeper strategies, which inevitably contribute to the overall functioning of human-bee constituted systems. In the context of rising honeybee colony losses in Canada and of wild bee decline around the world, understanding the diversity of approaches for bettering bee-health is exceedingly important for initiating long-term, sustainable and multi-level bee-pollinator conservation.

abstract: Humans have modified land systems for centuries in pursuit of a wide range of social and ecological benefits. Recent decades have seen an increase in the magnitude and scale of land system modification (e.g., the Anthropocene) but also a growing recognition and interest in generating land systems that balance environmental and human well-being. This dissertation focused on three case studies operating at distinctive spatial scales in which broad socio-economic or political-institutional drivers affected land systems, with consequences for the environmental conditions of that system. Employing a land system architecture (LSA) framework and using landscape metrics to quantify landscape composition and configuration from satellite imagery, each case linked these drivers to changes in LSA and environmental outcomes. The first paper of this dissertation found that divergent design intentions lead to unique trajectories for LSA, the urban heat island effect, and bird community at two urban riparian sites in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The second paper examined institutional shifts that occurred during Cuba’s “special period in time of peace” and found that the resulting land tenure changes both modified and maintained the LSA of the country, changing cropland but preserving forest land. The third paper found that globalized forces may be contributing to the homogenizing urban form of large, populous cities in China, India, and the United States—especially for the ten largest cities in each country—with implications for surface urban heat island intensity. Expanding knowledge on social drivers of land system and environmental change provides insights on designing landscapes that optimize for a range of social and ecological trade-offs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geography 2020

abstract: My research is motivated by a rule of thumb that no matter how well a system is designed, some actors fail to fulfill the behavior which is needed to sustain the system. Examples of misbehavior are shirking, rule infraction, and free riding. With a focus on social-ecological systems, this thesis explored the effectiveness of social feedback mechanisms driven by the two available individual options: the exit option is defined as any response to escape from an objectionable state of affairs; and the voice option as any attempt to stay put and improve the state. Using a stylized dynamic model, the first study investigates how the coexistence of participatory and groundwater market institutions affects government-managed irrigation systems. My findings suggest that patterns of bureaucratic reactions to exit (using private tubewells) and voice (putting pressure on irrigation bureaus) are critical to shaping system dynamics. I also found that the silence option – neither exit nor voice – can impede a further improvement in public infrastructure, but in some cases, can improve public infrastructure dramatically. Using a qualitative comparative analysis of 30 self-governing fishing groups in South Korea, the second study examines how resource mobility, group size, and Ostrom’s Design Principles for rule enforcement can co-determine the effectiveness of the voice option in self-controlling rule infractions. Results suggest that the informal mechanism for conflict resolution is a necessary condition for successful self-governance of local fisheries and that even if rules for monitoring and graduated sanctions are not in use, groups can be successful when they harvest only stationary resources. Using an agent-based model of public good provision, the third study explores under what socioeconomic conditions the exit option – neither producing nor consuming collective benefits – can work effectively to enhance levels of cooperation. The model results suggest that the exit option contributes to the spread of cooperators in mid- and large-size groups at the moderate level of exit payoff, given that group interaction occurs to increase the number of cooperators. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Environmental Social Science 2020

More than 3,5 billion people currently lives in cities, a number that is expected to increase further. The densification of cities makes it increasingly difficult for people to access natural areas, at the same time as biological diversity is threatened. In this study, we highlight the importance of urban ecosystem services through social and ecological aspects. This study presents a summary of different evidence-based solutions that contribute with urban ecosystem services. It moreover uses a case of urban development in Slakthusområdet (Meatpacking district), Stockholm, in order to describe contemporary processes that integrate solutions that contribute to urban ecosystem services. The results show that there are challenges in implementing these solutions with respect to political, economic, and market factors. The study thereby identifies how examining authorities and policy demands on a green factor tool enable ecosystem service solutions. By studying ecosystem services as part of a social-ecological system, this study ultimately contributes with knowledge on the execution of multifunctional solutions, which are becoming ever more important with the densification of cities around the globe. / Över 3,5 miljarder människor är idag bosatta i städer, och i framtiden förväntas den siffran öka. Förtätningen av städer försvårar människornas tillgång till naturområden samtidigt som den biologiska mångfalden hotas. I den här studien understryker vi de urbana ekosystemtjänsternas roll utifrån sociala och ekologiska aspekter. Härigenom presenterar den här studien en sammanställning över olika evidensbaserade gröna lösningar som bidrar med urbana ekosystemtjänster. Vidare tar den här studien avstamp i stadsutvecklingen av Slakthusområdet i Stockholm i syfte om att studera samtida processer kopplat till implementeringen av lösningar som bidrar med ekosystemtjänster. Resultatet pekar på att det finns utmaningar för implementering av lösningar som bidrar med ekosystemtjänster kopplade till ekonomi, politik och marknadslösningar. Därigenom identifieras kravet för grönytefaktor (GYF) och de granskande myndigheternas arbete med möjligheter för implementering av gröna lösningar. Genom att studera ekosystemtjänster som en del av ett social-ekologiska system bidrar den här studien med kunskap om tillämpningen av mångfunktionella lösningar, vilka blir allt viktigare i och med den ökade förtätningen av städer.