Bright spots among lakes in the Rideau Valley Watershed, Ontario

Abstract

Water quality, of critical importance to the ecological and social health of lake ecosystems, is maintained through complex interactions within lakes as well as between lakes and their watersheds. Often, water quality is managed by working toward improved water clarity, however, our ability to predict water clarity, and to manage lakes for it, is not always as successful as desired. Regional strategies for water clarity improvement often overlook the role of local environmental stewardship actions performed by lake associations on individual lakes across a region. Lake associations can act through directly altering biophysical drivers of clarity or the way that residents act within the system, demonstrating great potential to be incorporated into successful lake scale water quality management plans. We used a "bright spots" lens, in which we focus on those lakes whose water quality is higher than expected, to investigate the relationship between lake associations and water quality on 39 lakes in the Rideau Valley Lake Region (Ontario, Canada). We found that lake associations that are linked to "bright spot" lakes operate in a distinctly different way than other groups in the region, focusing on networking and advocacy activities instead of on ecological management. This points to the importance of working toward networking and advocacy goals as a future for lake stewardship groups in the Rideau Valley and other stewardship groups adapting this approach to their own social-ecological contexts.

Motives for Citizen Science Program Participation and the Role of the Organization: Lessons from Water Quality Monitors in Texas

“…"Altruistic motivations were the most important factor for students to begin volunteering, self-interest motivations such as social interactions were what eventually caused them to stay committed to the organization" (McDougle et al 2011, p. 329). Further, regardless of the CSV's age, CS organizations that focus on social engagements, in addition to environmental objectives, are often more successful in their environmental objectives than organizations that forgo social interaction as an organizational goal (Garrah et al 2019;Neves 2009;Sommer 2003;Foster 2018, Ahmed 2004. As posited by Shirk et al (2012), CSVs who feel satisfied with their volunteer experience may also increase the quantity of time dedicated to volunteering; i.e., organizational variables affect sustained participation.…”

A leverage points perspective on social networks to understand sustainability transformations: evidence from Southern Transylvania

“…Second, our approach provides first empirical insights on the role of relations and networks for amplification processes applied by local actors to increase the impact of their sustainability initiatives. Recent research highlights the importance of relations and networks between local actors trying to amplify their impact to foster sustainability (Moore et al 2015;Garrah et al 2019). Our results reveal significant differences for centrality metrics (i.e., weighted degree, betweenness, eigenvector) of NGOs in Southern Transylvania that apply or do not apply amplification processes.…”

“…First, our approach identifies key actors for intervening in specific or across system characteristics to foster transformative change towards sustainability. Recent research highlights the importance of local actors and their initiatives to foster sustainability transformations (Garrah et al 2019). We exemplified how a leverage points perspective in a social network analysis unravels "where" (i.e., leverage points) local actors jointly intervene in a system by providing a heuristic and practical tool to structure relations according to the system characteristics that they address.…”

“…One key aspect of applying amplification processes are the relations among local actors; and hence, their social networks (Frantzeskaki et al 2014;Moore et al 2015;Garrah et al 2019). Social networks of local actors develop, protect, support, and share new ideas, knowledge, practices, and approaches that can lead to sustainability transformations (Moore and Westley 2011;Smith and Raven 2012).…”

Implications of Panarchy for ecosystem service research: the role of system dynamics in service delivery

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