Social-ecological alignment and ecological conditions in coral reefs

Complex social-ecological interactions underpin many environmental problems. To help capture this complexity, we advance an interdisciplinary network modeling framework to identify important relationships between people and nature that can influence environmental conditions. Drawing on comprehensive social and ecological data from five coral reef fishing communities in Kenya; including interviews with 648 fishers, underwater visual census data of reef ecosystem condition, and time-series landings data; we show that positive ecological conditions are associated with ‘social-ecological network closure’ – i.e., fully linked and thus closed network structures between social actors and ecological resources. Our results suggest that when fishers facing common dilemmas form cooperative communication ties with direct resource competitors, they may achieve positive gains in reef fish biomass and functional richness. Our work provides key empirical insight to a growing body of research on social-ecological alignment, and helps to advance an integrative framework that can be applied empirically in different social-ecological contexts.The relationships between people can have important consequences for the systems they depend on. Here the authors show that when coral reef fishers face commons dilemmas, the formation of cooperative communication with competitors can lead to positive gains in reef fish biomass and functional richness.

[1]  M. Manseau,et al.  Creative convergence: exploring biocultural diversity through art , 2017 .

[2]  M Aaron MacNeil,et al.  Toward pristine biomass: reef fish recovery in coral reef marine protected areas in Kenya. , 2007, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[3]  Ö. Bodin,et al.  Untangling the drivers of community cohesion in small-scale fisheries , 2018 .

[4]  Juan C. Rocha,et al.  Social-Ecological Network Approaches in Interdisciplinary Research: A Response to Bohan et al. and Dee et al. , 2017, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[5]  Emmanuel Lazega,et al.  Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences; Theory, Methods and Applications , 2016 .

[6]  Garry Robins,et al.  Network structure and institutional complexity in an ecology of water management games , 2014 .

[7]  Bernard Perbal,et al.  Ten years later… , 2009, Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling.

[8]  David Mouillot,et al.  Gravity of human impacts mediates coral reef conservation gains , 2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[9]  R. Hinde,et al.  The Possibility of Cooperation@@@Cooperation: The Basis of Sociability.@@@Cooperation and Prosocial Behavior.@@@Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. , 1990 .

[10]  L. Teh,et al.  A Global Estimate of the Number of Coral Reef Fishers , 2013, PloS one.

[11]  Albert,et al.  Emergence of scaling in random networks , 1999, Science.

[12]  E S Hobson,et al.  Feeding relationships of teleostean fishes on coral reefs in Kona, Hawaii , 1974 .

[13]  Andrew H Baird,et al.  Comanagement of coral reef social-ecological systems , 2012, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[14]  Ö. Bodin.  Collaborative environmental governance: Achieving collective action in social-ecological systems , 2017, Science.

[15]  C. Mora,et al.  How accessible are coral reefs to people? A global assessment based on travel time. , 2016, Ecology letters.

[16]  Jesse S Sayles,et al.  Social–ecological network analysis of scale mismatches in estuary watershed restoration , 2017, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[17]  Shaun K Wilson,et al.  Critical thresholds and tangible targets for ecosystem-based management of coral reef fisheries , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[18]  Marc-Thorsten Hütt,et al.  Connectivity and complex systems: learning from a multi-disciplinary perspective , 2018, Applied Network Science.

[19]  G. Cumming,et al.  Feedbacks as a bridging concept for advancing transdisciplinary sustainability research , 2017 .

[20]  Matthew E. Brashears,et al.  Exponential Random Graph Models for Social Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications , 2014 .

[21]  B. Crona,et al.  Conservation Success as a Function of Good Alignment of Social and Ecological Structures and Processes , 2014, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[22]  Garry Robins,et al.  NETWORK GOVERNANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: CONFLICT AND COOPERATION , 2011 .

[23]  Kerrie A. Wilson,et al.  Achieving social-ecological fit through bottom-up collaborative governance: an empirical investigation , 2015 .

[24]  D. Balliet.  Communication and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas: A Meta-Analytic Review , 2010 .

[25]  Tom A. B. Snijders,et al.  Markov Chain Monte Carlo Estimation of Exponential Random Graph Models , 2002, J. Soc. Struct..

[26]  F. Harary,et al.  STRUCTURAL BALANCE: A GENERALIZATION OF HEIDER'S THEORY1 , 1977 .

[27]  F. E. Satterthwaite.  An approximate distribution of estimates of variance components. , 1946, Biometrics.

[28]  P. Leung,et al.  When does it pay to cooperate? Strategic information exchange in the harvest of common-pool fishery resources , 2017 .

[29]  Аna Bilinovic,et al.  Homophily in social networks , 2016 .

[30]  S. Wilson,et al.  Gear-based fisheries management as a potential adaptive response to climate change and coral mortality , 2009 .

[31]  Tony Malim,et al.  Conflict and Cooperation , 1998 .

[32]  A. Arenas,et al.  Multiplex social ecological network analysis reveals how social changes affect community robustness more than resource depletion , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[33]  Garry Robins,et al.  Network models for social selection processes , 2001, Soc. Networks.

[34]  M. MacNeil,et al.  Predicting climate-driven regime shifts versus rebound potential in coral reefs , 2015, Nature.

[35]  Thomas Elmqvist,et al.  Network analysis in conservation biogeography: challenges and opportunities , 2010 .

[36]  R. Dahlstrom,et al.  Challenges and opportunities , 2021, Foundations of a Sustainable Economy.

[37]  William B. Kristan,et al.  Faculty Opinions recommendation of Network motifs: simple building blocks of complex networks. , 2002 .

[38]  Peng Wang,et al.  Exponential random graph models for multilevel networks , 2013, Soc. Networks.

[39]  P. Gleick,et al.  Systems integration for global sustainability , 2015, Science.

[40]  David Mouillot,et al.  A functional approach reveals community responses to disturbances. , 2013, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[41]  Satterthwaite Fe.  An approximate distribution of estimates of variance components. , 1946 .

[42]  G. Robins,et al.  The social structural foundations of adaptation and transformation in social-ecological systems , 2017 .

[43]  Redistribution of benefits but not detection in a fisheries bycatch‐reduction management initiative , 2018, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[44]  Nevil. Quinn,et al.  Toward an analytical framework for understanding complex social- ecological systems when conducting environmental impact assessments in South Africa , 2015 .

[45]  C. Folke,et al.  The problem of fit between ecosystems and institutions , 2007 .

[46]  Kerrie A. Wilson,et al.  Achieving Cross‐Scale Collaboration for Large Scale Conservation Initiatives , 2015 .

[47]  Kendall R. Jones,et al.  Modeling Reef Fish Biomass, Recovery Potential, and Management Priorities in the Western Indian Ocean , 2016, PloS one.

[48]  L. Felkins.  The Social Dilemmas , 2015 .

[49]  Eve McDonald-Madden,et al.  Operationalizing Network Theory for Ecosystem Service Assessments. , 2017, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[50]  K. Arrow,et al.  Social-ecological systems as complex adaptive systems: modeling and policy implications , 2012, Environment and Development Economics.

[51]  E. Ostrom.  A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems , 2009, Science.

[52]  M. McPherson,et al.  Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks , 2001 .

[53]  S. Shen-Orr,et al.  Network motifs: simple building blocks of complex networks. , 2002, Science.

[54]  PingSun Leung,et al.  Social networks and environmental outcomes , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[55]  G. Hardin,et al.  The Tragedy of the Commons , 1968, Green Planet Blues.

[56]  M. Scheffer,et al.  Coral reefs in the Anthropocene , 2017, Nature.

[57]  B. Enquist,et al.  Rebuilding community ecology from functional traits. , 2006, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[58]  Julien Brailly,et al.  Exponential Random Graph Models for Social Networks , 2014 .

[59]  Joseph Maina,et al.  Recovery potential of the world's coral reef fishes , 2015, Nature.

[60]  T. McClanahan.  Kenyan coral reef lagoon fish: effects of fishing, substrate complexity, and sea urchins , 1994, Coral Reefs.

[61]  Ramiro Berardo,et al.  The evolution of self-organizing communication networks in high-risk social-ecological systems , 2014 .

[62]  Ö. Bodin,et al.  Disentangling intangible social-ecological systems , 2012 .

[63]  P. Kollock.  SOCIAL DILEMMAS: The Anatomy of Cooperation , 1998 .

[64]  David F. Sally.  Conversation and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas , 1995 .

[65]  G. Brady.  Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action , 1993 .

[66]  B. Luckhurst,et al.  Analysis of the influence of substrate variables on coral reef fish communities , 1978 .

[67]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity , 1998 .

[68]  A. Coughlan,et al.  An Empirical Investigation * , 2002 .

[69]  G. Cumming,et al.  Scale mismatches in social-ecological systems: Causes, consequences, and solutions , 2006 .

[70]  E. Ostrom,et al.  Revisiting the commons: local lessons, global challenges. , 1999, Science.

[71]  John M. Anderies,et al.  Toward a network perspective of the study of resilience in social-ecological systems , 2006 .

[72]  Jacob L. Moreno,et al.  Statistics of Social Configurations , 1938 .

[73]  Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts,et al.  Research, part of a Special Feature on New Methods for Adaptive Water Management Managing Change toward Adaptive Water Management through Social Learning , 2007 .

[74]  Joshua E. Cinner,et al.  Social-ecological traps in reef fisheries , 2011 .

[75]  Tom A. B. Snijders,et al.  Exponential Random Graph Models for Social Networks , 2013 .

[76]  C. Folke,et al.  Adaptive Comanagement for Building Resilience in Social–Ecological Systems , 2004, Environmental management.

[77]  T. McClanahan,et al.  Establishment of Community Managed Fisheries’ Closures in Kenya: Early Evolution of the Tengefu Movement , 2016 .

[78]  M. MacNeil,et al.  Biomass‐based targets and the management of multispecies coral reef fisheries , 2015, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.