Adaptive comanagement (ACM) is a novel approach to environmental governance that combines the dynamic learning features of adaptive management with the linking and network features of collaborative management. There is growing interest in the potential for ACM to resolve conflicts around natural resource management and contribute to greater social and...
The state of Oregon’s (USA) land use planning framework has long been characterized by tensions between state and local authority, between traditionally-defined “urban” and “rural” concerns, and between the competing interests of various landowners. An examination of Wallowa County, Oregon’s implementation of House Bill 3326, a 2001 law giving counties...
Polycentric networks of formal organizations and informal stakeholder groups, as opposed to centralized institutional hierarchies, can be critically important for strengthening the capacity of governance systems to adapt to unexpected social and biophysical change. Adaptive governance is one type of environmental governance characterized by the emergence of networks that stimulate...
Adaptive governance is an emergent form of environmental governance that is increasingly called upon by scholars and
practitioners to coordinate resource management regimes in the face of the complexity and uncertainty associated with rapid
environmental change. Although the term “adaptive governance” is not exclusively applied to the governance of social-ecological...
In recent years the conservation community has engaged in debate over value in nonhuman nature, especially as it relates to motivations for conservation. Many have expressed the assumption that more people are willing to support conservation when emphasis is placed on the human benefits of nonhuman nature, rather than the...
To maximize the utility of research to decisionmaking, especially given limited financial resources, scientists must set priorities for their efforts.
We present a list of the top 40 high-priority, multidisciplinary research questions directed toward informing some of the most important current
and future decisions about management of species, communities, and...
Measurements of a fresh surface anomaly (fresh lens) produced by rainfall during a westerly wind burst have been analyzed. The measurements were made in December 1992 as part of the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Response Experiment in the western equatorial Pacific (2°S, 156°E). Measurements included radar estimates of rainfall, upper-ocean temperature (T),...
Ecological network models and analyses are recognized as valuable tools for understanding the dynamics and resiliency of
ecosystems, and for informing ecosystem-based approaches to management. However, few databases exist that can
provide the life history, demographic and species interaction information necessary to parameterize ecological network
models. Faced with the difficulty...
In recent years the “working landscape” concept has risen to prominence in popular, academic, and policy discourse surrounding conservation of both natural and cultural values in inhabited landscapes. Despite its implied reconciliation of commodity production and environmental protection, this concept remains contested terrain, masking tensions over land use practices and...
Riparian vegetation along streams provides a suite of ecosystem services in rangelands and thus is the target of restoration when degraded by over-grazing, erosion, incision, or other disturbances. Assessments of restoration effectiveness depend on defensible monitoring data, which can be both expensive and difficult to collect. We present a method...