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A social–ecological perspective for riverscape management in the Columbia River Basin
Author(s) -
Hand Brian K,
Flint Courtney G,
Frissell Chris A,
Muhlfeld Clint C,
Devlin Shawn P,
Kennedy Brian P,
Crabtree Robert L,
McKee W Arthur,
Luikart Gordon,
Stanford Jack A
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1002/fee.1752
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , geography , ecology , habitat , environmental resource management , drainage basin , natural resource management , climate change , natural resource , environmental planning , environmental science , population , sociology , biology , demography , cartography
Riverscapes are complex, landscape‐scale mosaics of connected river and stream habitats embedded in diverse ecological and socioeconomic settings. Social–ecological interactions among stakeholders often complicate natural‐resource conservation and management of riverscapes. The management challenges posed by the conservation and restoration of wild salmonid populations in the Columbia River Basin ( CRB ) of western North America are one such example. Because of their ecological, cultural, and socioeconomic importance, salmonids present a complex management landscape due to interacting environmental factors (eg climate change, invasive species) as well as socioeconomic and political factors (eg dams, hatcheries, land‐use change, transboundary agreements). Many of the problems in the CRB can be linked to social–ecological interactions occurring within integrated ecological, human–social, and regional–climatic spheres. Future management and conservation of salmonid populations therefore depends on how well the issues are understood and whether they can be resolved through effective communication and collaboration among ecologists, social scientists, stakeholders, and policy makers.