Historical ecology research is valuable for assessing long-term baselines and is increasingly applicable to conservation and management. In this study, we describe how historical range data can inform key aspects of protected species management, including evaluating conservation status and recovery, and determining practical management units. We examine contemporary (1973–2012) and historical (1250–1950) data on nesting beach distributions for green sea turtles Chelonia mydas in the Hawaiian Islands. Green turtle populations in Hawaii declined until federal and international protections began in the 1970s, but over the past four decades one index population has shown encouraging increases and broader recovery has been inferred. We find that 80 percent of historically major nesting populations are extirpated or have heavily reduced nesting abundances in comparison with current estimates. Furthermore, historical nesting areas were not geographically isolated, but distributed across the archipelago. In comparison, today more than 90 percent of green turtle nesting in Hawaii occurs at a single site that is vulnerable to sea level rise. This research suggests that assessing recovery without historical data on spatial patterns may overlook important ecological dynamics at the population or ecosystem level, which can result in improper or inadequate conservation assessments and recovery targets.
Publications by: John N. ("Jack") Kittinger
This global review of progress in spatial reserarch on human activities and social dimensions of ocean environments responds to calls for implementing ocean planning and mangement that consider the complex human relationship with ecosystems including social, cultural, political and economic dimensions. It also explores the promise social-based research has for enhancing ecosystem-based ocean planning.
Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet but are declining because of human activities. Despite general recognition of the human role in the plight of coral reefs, the vast majority of research focuses on the ecological rather than the human dimensions of reef ecosystems, limiting our understanding of social relationships with these environments as well as potential solutions for reef recovery. We synthesize existing concepts related to SESs and present a human dimensions framework that explores the linkages between social system structural traits, human activities, ecosystem services, and human well-being in coral reef SESs.
ABSTRACT. – This study reports observations of Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a remote and protected expanse of coral atolls considered outside the species range. Since no direct monitoring efforts exist, we synthesized records from historical accounts, opportunistic sightings, and internet crowdsourcing. We found 6 definitive hawksbill observations and 3 additional potential nesting records, documenting that hawksbills currently reside in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and suggesting that they occurred there in greater numbers historically.
The Hawaiian monk seal Monachus schauinslandi is Critically Endangered, but relatively little is known about the sociocultural significance of the species in Native Hawaiian communities. An accurate assessment of historical and modern sociocultural values and perceptions is needed to inform conservation and recovery planning for the species, particularly since the species is not universally well-regarded by ocean users. We conducted extensive archival research and oral history interviews to characterize past and current human−monk seal relationships in the Hawaiian archipelago. We report heterogeneity in both historical and contemporary cultural associations for monk seals, which appear to be related to place-specific histories and specific stakeholder groups. We introduce the concept of ‘cultural endemism’ to characterize this pattern of sociocultural heterogeneity, and discuss the relevance of shifting baselines, species recovery, and sociocultural information to conservation planning. We focus on participatory conservation planning approaches as being potentially useful in reducing human−wildlife conflicts and developing collaborative stewardship for better conservation success.
Global overfishing indicates a need to define fisheries sustainability thresholds and identify social factors promoting successful management, but rates of fishing and factors mediating sustainability over long timescales are largely unknown. Here, we reconstruct fisheries yield for the entire period of human habitation (five to seven centuries) for two coral reef ecosystems with substantially different fisheries histories (Florida Keys and the Hawaiian Islands) and evaluate the management strategies associated with periods of sustainable fishing. This involved a mixed methods approach, in which we estimated yield by fishery sector (commercial, subsistence, recreational and aquaculture) and characterized management strategies associated with periods of sustained high yields. We found differences between the two locations, with Hawai‘i sustaining yields of more than 12 mt km−2 for four centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans. This period was characterized by adaptive management whose design and enforcement exhibited characteristics of common property resource governance systems, and which effectively protected reef habitat, vulnerable life-history stages for fish, and species with high susceptibilities to overfishing. Reefs in both Florida and Hawai‘i were exploited intensively after European contact, with sequential export-driven depletion evident in Florida over the past century. Today, both exhibit strikingly similar modern catch levels, with landings exceeding 10 mt km−2 and evidence of overfishing. Our results demonstrate that management strategies and social institutions that support strict enforcement by a local rule-making authority have had substantial impacts on fisheries yields in the past and suggest that long-term sustainability of fisheries is possible, although rare today.
The Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is highly endangered, but relatively little is known about how human societies interacted with the species in the past. We reviewed historical documents to reconstruct past human–monk seal relationships in the Hawaiian archipelago and describe ongoing efforts to understand the significance of the species in Native Hawaiian culture. Though the prehistoric period remains poorly understood, our findings suggest that monk seals were likely rare but not unknown to Hawaiian communities in the 19th and 20th centuries. References are made to monk seals in Hawaiian-language newspapers, and oral history research with Native Hawaiian practitioners and community elders reveals new words for the species that were previously unknown. This information may prove useful in crafting culturally appropriate management plans for the species and for developing more effective outreach activities to engage with coastal communities and ocean users. Our research may also aid in establishing long-term ecological baselines that can inform modern efforts to recover the species.
Coral reef ecosystems are declining worldwide, yet regional differences in the trajectories, timing and extent of degradation highlight the need for in-depth regional case studies to understand the factors that contribute to either ecosystem sustainability or decline. We reconstructed social-ecological interactions in Hawaiian coral reef environments over 700 years using detailed datasets on ecological conditions, proximate anthropogenic stressor regimes and social change. Here we report previously undetected recovery periods in Hawaiian coral reefs, including a historical recovery in the MHI (~AD 1400–1820) and an ongoing recovery in the NWHI (~AD 1950–2009+). These recovery periods appear to be attributed to a complex set of changes in underlying social systems, which served to release reefs from direct anthropogenic stressor regimes. Recovery at the ecosystem level is associated with reductions in stressors over long time periods (decades+) and large spatial scales (>103 km2). Our results challenge conventional assumptions and reported findings that human impacts to ecosystems are cumulative and lead only to long-term trajectories of environmental decline. In contrast, recovery periods reveal that human societies have interacted sustainably with coral reef environments over long time periods, and that degraded ecosystems may still retain the adaptive capacity and resilience to recover from human impacts.
Large, regional-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) and MPA networks face different challenges in governance systems than locally managed or community-based MPAs. An emerging theme in large-scale MPA management is the prevalence of governance structures that rely on institutional collaboration, presenting new challenges as agencies with differing mandates and cultures work together to implement ecosystem-based management. We analyzed qualitative interview data to investigate multi-level social interactions and institutional responses to the surprise establishment of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (monument) in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The governance arrangement for the monument represents a new model in US MPA management, requiring two federal agencies and the State of Hawai‘i to collaboratively manage the NWHI. We elucidate the principal barriers to institutional cotrusteeship, characterize institutional transformations that have occurred among the partner agencies in the transition to collaborative management, and evaluate the governance arrangement for the monument as a model for MPAs. The lessons learned from the NWHI governance arrangement are critical as large-scale MPAs requiring multiple-agency management become a prevalent feature on the global seascape.
The land–sea interface is a complex social–ecological system characterized by natural ecological processes and human-induced changes. Holistic management of the shoreline is a critical element of an ecosystem-based approach to the land–sea interface in coastal zone management (CZM) programs. Anthropogenic alteration of shoreline environments has resulted in significant loss of sandy beach ecosystems and eroded the resilience of these systems to disturbance. We tested the efficacy of CZM programs in managing the land–sea interface under current and future challenges by comparing alternative approaches to shoreline management in two U.S. states (Hawai‘i and North Carolina). Our results show that explicit prohibition of shoreline armoring has been more effective in conserving dynamic coastal environments and communities by passing the risk associated with coastal development from the public trust to private landowners. Over the long-term, robust anti-armoring legislation will de-incentivize risky coastal development projects while preserving coastal environments and the ecological services they provide to society. Policy prescriptions for effective shoreline management and increased coastal resilience under persistent coastal erosion and future sea-level rise are proposed.
