Adaptive Management

Encouragement of learning is considered central to resilience of complex systems such as social-ecological systems (SESs). However, despite the consensus on the centrality of learning, our understanding of the details of how learning should be encouraged remains far from settled. This study investigates that puzzle by examining existing data of a behavioral experiment of a SES that involves endogenous group learning. We generate new hypotheses regarding how learning should be encouraged by comparing the learning process undergone by 21 groups of human-subjects.

In recent years there has been a shift in biodiversity conservation efforts from the confines of enclosed protected areas to a more expansive view of interlinked habitat patches across multiple land tenure types and land uses. However, much work remains on how conservation managers can intervene in such a system to achieve the sustainability of basic conservation goals.