Data_Sheet_1_The Metacoupling Framework Informs Stream Salmonid Management and Governance.PDF

Stream salmonid fisheries are ecologically and socioeconomically important at local to global scales throughout the world. Although these fisheries are interacting systems of biota, habitats, and humans, systematic social-ecological integration across space and time is scarce. However, theoretical and methodological advancements in the study of coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) offer new insights for stream salmonid research, management, and policymaking. The metacoupling framework is a novel tool for studying and managing social-ecological linkages that occur within stream salmonid fisheries as well as between adjacent and distant fisheries (i.e., metacouplings). For instance, coldwater streams containing brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Michigan, United States, encompass metacoupled movements of water, information, fish, people, and money throughout CHANS that provide drinking water, recreational fisheries, and employment. However, groundwater withdrawal is altering stream hydrology and causing public controversy over how hydrological changes affect salmonid populations and thermal habitats. Using this complex social-ecological scenario as a case study, we describe the utility of the metacoupling framework for fisheries systems analysis and demonstrate how this approach promotes metacoupled governance– management of relationships among metacoupled systems rather than specific physical places alone– to better sustain stream salmonid fisheries locally, regionally, and globally. Overall, stream salmonid science and management can be enhanced by using the metacoupling framework to synthesize social and ecological information, characterize cross-scalar tradeoffs and feedbacks, understand stakeholder diversity, and ultimately develop metacoupling-informed policies that promote socially and ecologically desirable outcomes.

全球范围内，从地方到全球尺度，溪流鲑科渔业均兼具重要的生态价值与社会经济意义。尽管这类渔业属于生物群落、栖息地与人类相互作用的复合系统，但跨时空的系统性社会-生态整合研究仍较为稀缺。不过，耦合人类与自然系统（Coupled Human and Natural Systems, CHANS）研究领域的理论与方法学进展，为溪流鲑科渔业的研究、管理与政策制定提供了全新视角。跨域耦合框架（Metacoupling Framework）是一种用于研究与管理溪流鲑科渔业内部，以及相邻与远距渔业间社会-生态联系的新型工具，此类跨系统耦合联系即被称为跨域耦合（Metacouplings）。例如，美国密歇根州境内栖息着溪红点鲑（Salvelinus fontinalis）与褐鳟（Salmo trutta）的冷水溪流，就存在贯穿CHANS的水、信息、鱼类、人类与资金的跨域耦合流动，为当地提供饮用水源、休闲渔业资源与就业岗位。然而，地下水抽取活动正在改变溪流水文状况，并引发了公众争议：水文变化如何影响鲑科鱼类种群与热栖息地。本研究以这一复杂的社会-生态场景为案例，阐述了跨域耦合框架在渔业系统分析中的应用价值，并展示了该方法如何推动跨域耦合治理——即对跨域耦合系统间的关系进行管理，而非仅关注特定物理空间——以在地方、区域与全球尺度更好地维持溪流鲑科渔业。总体而言，通过运用跨域耦合框架整合社会与生态信息、刻画跨尺度权衡与反馈机制、厘清利益相关者的多样性，并最终制定基于跨域耦合逻辑的政策以实现兼具社会与生态效益的目标，能够有效提升溪流鲑科渔业的研究与管理水平。