Coastal livelihood transitions under globalization with implications for trans-ecosystem interactions

Abstract

Anthropogenic threats to natural systems can be exacerbated due to connectivity between marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems, complicating the already daunting task of governance across the land-sea interface. Globalization, including new access to markets, can change social-ecological, land-sea linkages via livelihood responses and adaptations by local people. As a first step in understanding these trans-ecosystem effects, we examined exit and entry decisions of artisanal fishers and smallholder farmers on the rapidly globalizing Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. We found that exit and entry decisions demonstrated clear temporal and spatial patterns and that these decisions differed by livelihood. In addition to household characteristics, livelihood exit and entry decisions were strongly affected by new access to regional and global markets. The natural resource implications of these livelihood decisions are potentially profound as they provide novel linkages and spatially-explicit feedbacks between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Our findings support the need for more scientific inquiry in understanding trans-ecosystem tradeoffs due to linked-livelihood transitions as well as the need for a trans-ecosystem approach to natural resource management and development policy in rapidly changing coastal regions.

Resource users as land‐sea links in coastal and marine socioecological systems

“…These communities have traditionally relied on both the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems to meet their subsistence needs: fishing freshwater and marine animals along with agroforestry, foraging, and hunting. Despite the episodic exploitation of certain resources (such as rubber and mahogany) driven by foreign interests, the basin's historical inhabitants have and continue to exercise communal management of natural resources and seasonally shift emphasis between livelihood activities to adapt to changing resource availability (Sistla et al., 2016; Kramer et al., 2017; Williams & Kramer, 2019).…”

“…In our case study, the market incentives for local finfish drove overfishing, which resulted in significant declines in the Pearl Lagoon's fish stocks and overall fishery health (Stevens et al., 2014). In communities without direct access to fish buyers via the road, reduced catch rates encouraged community members to invest more effort in the agroforestry systems they maintain in communal lands (Kramer et al., 2017; Williams & Kramer, 2019). Thus, spatially heterogeneous resource access in one ecosystem can drive increased human impacts in a separate ecosystem.…”

“…Households in the region that use both fishing and farming for subsistence have responded to new market access by shifting their natural resource use. Some fishers in FIGURE 2 Nicaragua's Pearl Lagoon basin, its communities, and road the communities near the road continue to maintain highly agrobiodiverse farms (Williams & Kramer, 2019), others have abandoned or suspended farming activities-decreasing landuse pressures-to focus their efforts on more financially lucrative fishing activities (Kramer et al, 2017). This shift is partly driven by the concurrent development of newly available goods and services available for purchase such as electricity and mobile phones (Williams, 2015).…”

“…Our research in the region involved efforts to collect fisheries, agroecological, forestry, ethnographic, and household socioeconomic data. Although we aimed initially to answer questions about the effects of road development and increased access to global markets on natural resource use and ecosystem health (e.g., Stevens et al., 2014; Williams, 2016; Sistla et al., 2016; Kramer et al., 2017; Williams & Kramer, 2019), these separate investigations revealed complex linkages and feedbacks within the system. Through a series of research workshops that included collaboration with local natural resource policy makers, we qualitatively synthesized the findings from our prior work and conceptualized the interrelationships among external drivers, natural resources stocks, ecosystem processes and services, and resource valuation and use dynamics observed in this coastal SES.…”

Disentangling the complex roles of markets on coral reefs in northwest Madagascar

“…As indicators of the technique effect, we examined fishing gear use (Brewer 2013, Stevens et al 2014 by considering gear diversity and the nature of the main gear (spear, line, and gill net) used by households. As an indicator of the composition effect, we examined livelihood diversification (number of livelihood activities; Cinner and Bodin 2010, Chaves et al 2017, Kramer et al 2017) with a focus on fishing activity (proportion of households who rank fishing as primary activity). As indicators of the scale effect, we examined both fish demand and displacement of environmental footprints.…”