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1. Chinese cities as digital environmental governance innovators: Evidence from subnational low-Carbon plans

   https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083231186622  

   Hsu, Angel; Lili, Li; Schletz, Marco; Yu, Zhitong (July 2023, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science)

   Research examining the rise of digital environmental governance, particularly at the subnational scale in China, is fairly limited. Critical questions regarding how digital technologies applied at the subnational level may shape or transform environmental governance are only beginning to be explored, given cities’ increasing role as sustainability experimenters and innovators. In this study, we investigate how smart city initiatives that incorporate big data, artificial intelligence, 5G, Internet of Things, and information communication technologies, may play a role in the transformation towards a “digital China.” We conceptualize three major pathways by which digital technology could transform environmental governance in China: through the generation of new data to address existing environmental data gaps; by enhancing the policy analytical capacity of environmental actors through the use of automation, digitalization, and machine learning/artificial intelligence; and last, through reshaping subnational-national, and state-society interactions that may shift balances of power. With its dual prioritization of digital technologies and climate change, China presents an opportunity for examining digitalization trends and to identify gaps in governance and implementation challenges that could present obstacles to realizing the transformative potential of digital environmental management approaches. 

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2. Conformity and tradition are more important than environmental values in constraining resource overharvest

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0272366  

   Wright, Glenn; Salk, Carl; Magnuszewski, Piotr; Stefanska, Joanna; Andersson, Krister; Benavides, Jean Paul; Chazdon, Robin (February 2023, PLOS ONE)

   Zerriffi, Hisham (Ed.)

   We present the results of a hybrid research design that borrows from both experimental techniques—experimental games—and observational techniques—surveys—to examine the relationships between basic human values and exposure to natural ecosystems, on the one hand, and collective action for resource governance, on the other. We initially hypothesize that more frequent exposure to forests, and more pro-environmental values will be associated with more conservation action. However, we find that other values—tradition and conformity—are more important than pro-environmental values or exposure to nature. Our results imply that resource governance is likely to be more successful where resource users hold values that facilitate cooperation, not necessarily strong pro-environmental values. 

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3. Governing change: a dynamical systems approach to understanding the stability of environmental governance

   https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1677-2022  

   Molla, Nusrat; DeIonno, John; Gross, Thilo; Herman, Jonathan (January 2022, Earth System Dynamics)

   Abstract. The ability to adapt to social and environmental change is an increasinglycritical feature of environmental governance. However, an understandingof how specific features of governance systems influence how theyrespond to change is still limited. Here we focus on how system featureslike diversity, heterogeneity, and connectedness impact stability,which indicates a system's capacity to recover fromperturbations. Through a framework that combines agent-basedmodeling with “generalized”dynamical systems modeling, we model the stability of thousandsof governance structures consisting of groups of resource users and non-government organizations interacting strategically with the decision centers that mediate their access to a shared resource. Stabilizing factors include greater effortdedicated to venue shopping and a greater fraction of non-governmentorganizations in the system. Destabilizing factors include greaterheterogeneity among actors, a greater diversity of decision centers,and greater interdependence between actors. The results suggest thatwhile complexity tends to be destabilizing, there are mitigating factorsthat may help balance adaptivity and stability in complex governance. This study demonstrates the potential inapplying the insights of complex systems theory to managing complexand highly uncertain human–natural systems in the face of rapid socialand environmental change. 

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4. Global Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases

   https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-111820-024214  

   Nova, Nicole; Athni, Tejas S.; Childs, Marissa L.; Mandle, Lisa; Mordecai, Erin A. (October 2022, Annual Review of Resource Economics)

   Our world is undergoing rapid planetary changes driven by human activities, often mediated by economic incentives and resource management, affecting all life on Earth. Concurrently, many infectious diseases have recently emerged or spread into new populations. Mounting evidence suggests that global change—including climate change, land-use change, urbanization, and global movement of individuals, species, and goods—may be accelerating disease emergence by reshaping ecological systems in concert with socioeconomic factors. Here, we review insights, approaches, and mechanisms by which global change drives disease emergence from a disease ecology perspective. We aim to spur more interdisciplinary collaboration with economists and identification of more effective and sustainable interventions to prevent disease emergence. While almost all infectious diseases change in response to global change, the mechanisms and directions of these effects are system specific, requiring new, integrated approaches to disease control that recognize linkages between environmental and economic sustainability and human and planetary health. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 14 is October 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates. 

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5. Ranging behaviours across ecological and anthropogenic disturbance gradients: a pan-African perspective of giraffe ( Giraffa spp . ) space use

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0912  

   Brown, Michael Butler; Fennessy, Julian T.; Crego, Ramiro D.; Fleming, Christen H.; Alves, Joel; Brandlová, Karolina; Fennessy, Stephanie; Ferguson, Sara; Hauptfleisch, Morgan; Hejcmanova, Pavla; et al (June 2023, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   Animal movement behaviours are shaped by diverse factors, including resource availability and human impacts on the landscape. We generated home range estimates and daily movement rate estimates for 148 giraffe (Giraffaspp.) from all four species across Africa to evaluate the effects of environmental productivity and anthropogenic disturbance on space use. Using the continuous time movement modelling framework and a novel application of mixed effects meta-regression, we summarized overall giraffe space use and tested for the effects of resource availability and human impact on 95% autocorrelated kernel density estimate (AKDE) size and daily movement. The mean 95% AKDE was 356.4 km²and the mean daily movement was 14.1 km, both with marginally significant differences across species. We found significant negative effects of resource availability, and significant positive effects of resource heterogeneity and protected area overlap on 95% AKDE size. There were significant negative effects of overall anthropogenic disturbance and positive effects of the heterogeneity of anthropogenic disturbance on daily movements and 95% AKDE size. Our results provide unique insights into the interactive effects of resource availability and anthropogenic development on the movements of a large-bodied browser and highlight the potential impacts of rapidly changing landscapes on animal space-use patterns. 

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