Theoretical Study of Coupled Social and Ecological Dynamics for Ecosystem Management and Biodiversity Conservation

Most ecosystems on the Earth are strongly affected by diverse human activities. As a result, for achieving successful ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation, we need to consider social, economic, and cultural aspects of human society. In this thesis, I study key elements of coupled social ecological dynamics, aiming to provide understanding of the whole system and sometimes to give policy recommendation for natural resource management through three different examples. First, a common fishing ground is considered, focusing an example of women divers in Jeju islands, Korea. The model analyzes the impact of tourism in a common fishing ground and points out the potential conflicts between two groups of users. The second model is aiming to emphasize the importance of public support for biodiversity conservation. Conservation of biodiversity needs a constant of supply of public supports the level of which is decided by public concern about biodiversity. The third study in the thesis focuses on the institution which is regarded as essential for cooperation maintenance. We find the conditions under which this institution is optimal for cooperation enforcement provided two conditions are met.