The concept of vulnerability as the combination of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to a stressor is gaining traction outside of the climate realm, opening new avenues to address contemporary sustainability issues more holistically. Yet, critical notions that underpin vulnerability have yet to be integrated into its application to natural resource management and non-climatic stressors. In particular, the way generic and stressor-specific facets of vulnerability interact and can inform decision-makers about how interventions combine and/or trade-off remains unexplored. Here, we investigate the salience of the generic/specific framing in the context of Chilean artisanal fishing communities engaged in rights-based co-management and experiencing pressures from two stressors: poaching and market volatility. Specifically, we draw on market data combined with socio-economic surveys conducted with 446 members and leaders from 42 fisher unions to quantitatively investigate potential trade-offs and synergies between facets of vulnerability to poaching and markets. Generic adaptive capacity (i.e. flexibility, assets, learning, organization and agency) likely facilitated stressor-specific adaptive capacities to both stressors. High levels of specific adaptive capacity to one stressor neither increased exposure nor undermined specific adaptive capacity to the other stressor. However, adaptive capacity did not translate into exposure reduction as expected, suggesting that adaptation barriers may prevent fishers from mobilizing adaptive capacity into effective adaptive action. This study illustrates how breaking down vulnerability into generic and specific facets can help us better anticipate important trade-offs and synergies in management interventions. More generally, it highlights the potential of the climate adaptation and vulnerability literatures in informing place-based management of natural resources. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. Resumen El concepto de vulnerabilidad -visto como la combinacion entre exposicion, sensitividad y capacidad adaptativa- esta ganando importancia en nuevas esferas ademas del cambio climatico. Esto abre oportunidades para investigar problemas de sustentabilidad de manera mas holistica. Sin embargo, aun queda por integrar conceptos fundacionales de vulnerabilidad en aplicaciones relacionadas a manejo de recursos naturales y estresores no climaticos. Particularmente, no se ha explorado la forma en que facetas genericas de vulnerabilidad o aquellas especificas a un estresor interactuan entre si. En este estudio, investigamos la importancia de facetas genericas y/o especificas de vulnerabilidad en el contexto de organizaciones de pescadores artesanales en Chile que participan en un sistema de co-manejo. Se aborda la exposicion a dos estresores: robos (pesca illegal) y volatilidad de mercados. Especificamente, usamos datos sobre mercados combinados con encuestas socioeconomicas realizadas a 446 pescadores y dirigentes de 42 organizaciones de pescadores para explorar de manera cuantitativa potenciales trade-offs y sinergias entre componentes de vulnerabilidad a robos y a la vulnerabilidad del mercado. La capacidad adaptativa generica (ej. flexibilidad, bienes, aprendizaje, organizacion y agencia) parece haber facilitado la capacidad adaptativa especifica a cada estresor. Sin embargo, altos niveles de capacidad adaptativa especifica a un estresor no incrementan la exposicion ni afectan la capacidad adaptativa especifica al otro estresor. Contrario a las expectativas, mayor capacidad adaptativa no se manifiesta en una menor exposicion. Esto sugiere que existen posibles barreras evitando que pescadores movilicen su capacidad adaptativa hacia acciones concretas. Este estudio ilustra como la descomposicion de la vulnerabilidad en componentes genericos y especificos puede ayudarnos a anticipar sinergias y trade-offs que pueden ser claves en intervenciones de manejo. A modo general, esto remarca el potencial de utilizar aproximaciones basadas en adaptacion y vulnerabilidad climatica en informar el manejo local de recursos naturales. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Thiault, L; Gelcich, S; Cinner, JE; Tapia-Lewin, S; Chlous, F; Claudet, J
Generic and specific facets of vulnerability for analysing trade-offs and synergies in natural resource management
People And Nature