Higlights  We present a detailed framework of human wellbeing for ecosystem-based management  Connections, capabilities, and conditions may be assessed using indicators  Cross-cutting analyses can assess equity, security, resilience, and sustainability  The framework and focal attributes should be modified to serve diverse contexts  2300 existing social indicators are compiled from which to select measures

Social indicators, both mature and emerging, are underused

Environments are complex socioecological systems demanding interdisciplinary research and conservation. Despite significant progress in characterizing socioecological complexity, including important inroads for measuring human wellbeing through ecosystem services approaches, cultural interactions with ecosystems remain poorly understood. Inadequate knowledge of cultural dimensions of ecosystems challenges the ability of conservation professionals to include these considerations in their programs. Ecosystem-based conservation without cultural considerations is not only insufficient, it risks producing unaccounted negative impacts to communities and misses an opportunity to build culturally meaningful alternatives. This mini review of relevant social science identifies five key cultural dimensions of ecosystems, highlighting examples from coastal North America. These key dimensions are: meanings, values, and identities; knowledge and practice; governance and access; livelihoods; and interactions with biophysical environments. We outline guiding principles for addressing these connections in integrated conservation research and application. Finally, we discuss potential methodologies to help improve interdisciplinary assessment and monitoring of cultural dimensions of conservation.

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Introduction: Interrelated social and ecological challenges demand an understanding of how environmental change and management decisions affect human well-being. This paper outlines a framework for measuring human well-being for ecosystem-based management (EBM). We present a prototype that can be adapted and developed for various scales and contexts. Scientists and managers use indicators to assess status and trends in integrated ecosystem assessments (IEAs). To improve the social science rigor and success of EBM, we developed a systematic and transparent approach for evaluating indicators of human well-being for an IEA. Methods: Our process is based on a comprehensive conceptualization of human well-being, a scalable analysis of management priorities, and a set of indicator screening criteria tailored to the needs of EBM. We tested our approach by evaluating more than 2000 existing social indicators related to ocean and coastal management of the US West Coast. We focused on two foundational attributes of human well-being: resource access and self-determination. Outcomes and Discussion: Our results suggest that existing indicators and data are limited in their ability to reflect linkages between environmental change and human well-being, and extremely limited in their ability to assess social equity and justice. We reveal a critical need for new social indicators tailored to answer environmental questions and new data that are disaggregated by social variables to measure equity. In both, we stress the importance of collaborating with the people whose well-being is to be assessed. Conclusion: Our framework is designed to encourage governments and communities to carefully assess the complex tradeoffs inherent in environmental decision-making.

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We used folk biological classification as a framework for understanding stakeholder perceptions of marine species diversity and its potential consequences for conservation in Puget Sound, Washington. Respondents (N = 99) classified 46 marine species into folk taxonomies, which diverged substantially from a scientific taxonomy. Variation in folk taxonomy structure was related to respondents' expertise, suggesting that the ways in which people sampled or observed the marine environment led to different perceptions of species diversity within it. Differences in the degree of aggregation among taxa supported the notion that culturally important species are more identifiable. We focused on rockfishes (Sebastes spp.), long-lived species of conservation concern, to demonstrate how different views of biodiversity could lead to divergent perceptions of risk to rockfish populations. Understanding the connection between people's values, goals, and experience and their underlying views of species diversity may help to reconcile differences between stakeholder and scientific perspectives."No one definition has as yet satisfied all naturalists; yet every naturalist knows vaguely what he means when he speaks of a species" (Darwin 1859).