1. Indigenous people are considered to be among the most vulnerable to food insecurity and biodiversity loss. Biodiversity is cited as a key component of indigenous food security; however, ...quantitative examples of this linkage are limited. 2. We examined how species and population diversity influence the food security of indigenous fisheries for Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species). We compared two dimensions of food security - catch stability (interannual variability) and access (season length) - across a salmon diversity gradient for 21 fisheries on the Fraser River, Canada, over 30 years, using linear regression models. We used population diversity proxies derived from a range of existing measures because population-specific data were unavailable. 3. While both population and species diversity were generally associated with higher catch stability and temporal access, population diversity had a stronger signal. Fisheries with access to high species diversity had up to 1·4 times more stable catch than predicted by the portfolio effect and up to 1·2 times longer fishing seasons than fisheries with access to fewer species. Fisheries with access to high population diversity had up to 3·8 times more stable catch and three times longer seasons than fisheries with access to fewer populations. 4. Catch stability of Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and sockeye Oncorhynchus nerka fisheries was best explained by the number of populations and conservation units, respectively, that migrate past a fishery en route to spawning grounds. Similar population diversity metrics were important explanatory variables for season length of sockeye, pink Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, coho Oncorhynchus kisutch and chum Oncorhynchus keta fisheries. 5. Synthesis and applications. We show an empirical example of how multiple scales of biodiversity support food security across a large watershed and suggest that protecting fine-scale salmon diversity will help promote food security for indigenous people. The scales of environmental assessments need to match the scales of the socio-ecological processes that will be affected by development. We illustrate that upstream projects that damage salmon habitat could degrade the food security of downstream indigenous fisheries, with implications to Canadian indigenous people and to watersheds around the world where migratory fishes support local fisheries.
Abstract
The concept of adaptive capacity has received significant attention within social-ecological and environmental change research. Within both the resilience and vulnerability literatures ...specifically, adaptive capacity has emerged as a fundamental concept for assessing the ability of social-ecological systems to adapt to environmental change. Although methods and indicators used to evaluate adaptive capacity are broad, the focus of existing scholarship has predominately been at the individual- and household- levels. However, the capacities necessary for humans to adapt to global environmental change are often a function of individual and societal characteristics, as well as cumulative and emergent capacities across communities and jurisdictions. In this paper, we apply a systematic literature review and co-citation analysis to investigate empirical research on adaptive capacity that focus on societal levels beyond the household. Our review demonstrates that assessments of adaptive capacity at higher societal levels are increasing in frequency, yet vary widely in approach, framing, and results; analyses focus on adaptive capacity at many different levels (e.g. community, municipality, global region), geographic locations, and cover multiple types of disturbances and their impacts across sectors. We also found that there are considerable challenges with regard to the ‘fit’ between data collected and analytical methods used in adequately capturing the cross-scale and cross-level determinants of adaptive capacity. Current approaches to assessing adaptive capacity at societal levels beyond the household tend to simply aggregate individual- or household-level data, which we argue oversimplifies and ignores the inherent interactions within and across societal levels of decision-making that shape the capacity of humans to adapt to environmental change across multiple scales. In order for future adaptive capacity research to be more practice-oriented and effectively guide policy, there is a need to develop indicators and assessments that are matched with the levels of potential policy applications.
Emergent stability in a large, free-flowing watershed Moore, Jonathan W; Beakes, Michael P; Nesbitt, Holly K ...
Ecology (Durham),
2015-February, 20150201, February 2015, 2015-Feb, 2015-02-00, Letnik:
96, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
While it is widely recognized that financial stock portfolios can be stabilized through diverse investments, it is also possible that certain habitats can function as natural portfolios that ...stabilize ecosystem processes. Here we propose and examine the hypothesis that free-flowing river networks act as such portfolios and confer stability through their integration of upstream geological, hydrological, and biological diversity. We compiled a spatially (142 sites) and temporally (1980-present) extensive data set on fisheries, water flows, and temperatures, from sites within one of the largest watersheds in the world that remains without dams on its mainstem, the Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. We found that larger catchments had more stable fisheries catches, water flows, and water temperatures than smaller catchments. These data provide evidence that free-flowing river networks function as hierarchically nested portfolios with stability as an emergent property. Thus, free-flowing river networks can represent a natural system for buffering variation and extreme events.
Coexistence between large carnivores and humans is a global conservation concern. Montana (USA) is home to recovering grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations and increasing human–grizzly ...interactions. In 2019, we administered a survey of Montanans to investigate factors influencing normative beliefs about grizzly bear population sizes and quantify the relationship between these beliefs and satisfaction with grizzly management in the state. Using a linear regression (r2 = .61), we found that residents with positive attitudes and emotional dispositions toward grizzlies or who trusted the agency were more likely to believe grizzly populations were too low. Residents who believed hunting should be used to manage conflict, were themselves hunters, had vicarious wildlife experience with property damage, believed grizzly populations were expanding, or were older were more likely to believe populations were too high. We found a negative quadratic relationship between normative grizzly bear population size beliefs and satisfaction with management, suggesting an optimal “Goldilocks” zone where coexistence is most possible. In practice, if observed Goldilocks zones are incompatible with population numbers required to meet conservation goals, considering factors influencing these beliefs may help bolster acceptance of larger population sizes.
Conserving large carnivores while keeping people safe depends on finding means for peaceful coexistence. Although large carnivore populations are generally declining globally, some populations are ...increasing, causing greater overlap with humans and increasing potential for conflict. One method of reducing conflict with large carnivores is to secure attractants like garbage and livestock. This method is effective when implemented; however, implementation requires a change in human behavior. Human-wildlife interaction is a public good collective action problem where solutions require contributions from many and individual actions have effects on others. We used the collective interest model to investigate how individual and collective factors work in concert to influence landowner attractant securing behavior in Montana, USA, in black (Ursus americanus) and grizzly bear (U. arctos) range. We used data from a mail-back survey to develop logistic regression models testing the relative effects of collective and individual factors on landowners– attractant securing behaviors. The most important factor was whether individuals had spoken to a wildlife professional, a reflection of social coordination and pressure. Other collective factors (e.g., social norms i.e., expectations and behaviors of peers and the existence of discussion networks i.e., how much social influence an individual has) were equally important as individual factors (e.g., beliefs, age, gender) for influencing attractant securing behavior among Montana landowners. This research suggests pathways for wildlife managers and outreach coordinators to increase attractant securing behavior by emphasizing collective factors, such as social norms, rather than appealing exclusively to individual factors, such as risk perception of large carnivores. Furthermore, wildlife agencies would be justified in increasing their efforts to connect with landowners in person and to connect with members of the public who play an important role in discussion networks. This research demonstrates that, even on private lands, collective interests may be a missing and important piece of the puzzle for encouraging voluntary attractant securing behavior and improving wildlife-human coexistence.
Identifying habitat that is essential to the recovery of species at risk, known as critical habitat, is a major focus of species at risk legislation, yet there has been little research on the degree ...to which these areas are protected. Here, we first review the provisions for protecting critical habitat on non‐federal lands within Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA). Next, we use the declining southern mountain population of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in British Columbia, Canada as a case study to show that identification of critical habitat does not guarantee its protection on non‐federal lands. Our analyses show that 909 km2 of critical habitat identified on provincial lands were logged in 5 years after it was legally identified under SARA. Existing provincial legislation and policies have provided incomplete protection of caribou critical habitat, and Canada's federal government has yet to exercise authority under SARA that could protect these areas. In the absence of nondiscretionary protection under provincial legislation, a combination of alternative mechanisms, involving all levels of government, Indigenous people, and industry, will be essential to protect critical habitat and help recover species at risk.
Self-efficacy, or the belief we have in our own abilities, plays an important role in determining individuals’ participation and success in outdoor activities. In the U.S., managers have increasingly ...sought ways to support underrepresented groups’ participation in outdoor recreation. Hunting provides a particularly illustrative example, where female hunters and hunters of other racial and ethnic groups remain a starkly underrepresented, albeit growing constituent of the U.S. hunting population. In this study, we investigated the role of self-efficacy as it relates to female hunter participation to inform managers’ innovative efforts to recruit and retain this important constituency. Specifically, we look at how self-efficacy and its components change as female hunters gain experience. In a sample of female Oregon hunters (n = 147) drawn from the 2008 big game license database conducted in the summer of 2010, we found that hunters with fewer years of experience had lower overall self-efficacy compared to more experienced hunters. While skills-based components of self-efficacy were lower for less experienced hunters, there was less of a difference in the social support-based components of self-efficacy as hunters gained experience. These findings suggest that social support is important for the recruitment and retention of all female hunters regardless of skill level or experience.
Managers seeking to bolster or maintain hunter participation might consider tailoring recruitment and retention efforts to address the social support needs and unique motivations of female hunters as they seek to achieve the goals of inclusivity in hunting as well as conservation and wildlife management more broadly.
While it is widely recognized that financial stock portfolios can be stabilized through diverse investments, it is also possible that certain habitats can function as natural portfolios that ...stabilize ecosystem processes. Here we propose and examine the hypothesis that freeâflowing river networks act as such portfolios and confer stability through their integration of upstream geological, hydrological, and biological diversity. We compiled a spatially (142 sites) and temporally (1980âpresent) extensive data set on fisheries, water flows, and temperatures, from sites within one of the largest watersheds in the world that remains without dams on its mainstem, the Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. We found that larger catchments had more stable fisheries catches, water flows, and water temperatures than smaller catchments. These data provide evidence that freeâflowing river networks function as hierarchically nested portfolios with stability as an emergent property. Thus, freeâflowing river networks can represent a natural system for buffering variation and extreme events.
Through a multi-center collaboration study, we here report six individuals from five unrelated families, with mutations in KAT6A/MOZ detected by whole-exome sequencing. All five different de novo ...heterozygous truncating mutations were located in the C-terminal transactivation domain of KAT6A: NM_001099412.1: c.3116_3117 delCT, p.(Ser1039∗); c.3830_3831insTT, p.(Arg1278Serfs∗17); c.3879 dupA, p.(Glu1294Argfs∗19); c.4108G>T p.(Glu1370∗) and c.4292 dupT, p.(Leu1431Phefs∗8). An additional subject with a 0.23 MB microdeletion including the entire KAT6A reading frame was identified with genome-wide array comparative genomic hybridization. Finally, by detailed clinical characterization we provide evidence that heterozygous mutations in KAT6A cause a distinct intellectual disability syndrome. The common phenotype includes hypotonia, intellectual disability, early feeding and oromotor difficulties, microcephaly and/or craniosynostosis, and cardiac defects in combination with subtle facial features such as bitemporal narrowing, broad nasal tip, thin upper lip, posteriorly rotated or low-set ears, and microretrognathia. The identification of human subjects complements previous work from mice and zebrafish where knockouts of Kat6a/kat6a lead to developmental defects.
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