Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword / Carl Folke -- Part I. Introduction: 1. A social relational approach to natural resource governance / Örjan Bodin, Saudiel Ramirez-Sanchez, Henrik Ernstson, and Christina Prell; 2. Some basic structural characteristics of networks / Christina Prell; 3. Combining social network approaches with social theories to improve understanding of natural resource governance / Beatrice Crona, Henrik Ernstson, Christina Prell, Mark Reed, and Klaus Hubacek -- Part II. Case studies: Individual (node) Level: 4. Barriers and opportunities in transforming to sustainable governance: the role of key individuals / Örjan Bodin and Beatrice Crona; 5. Social network analysis for stakeholder selection and the links to social learning and adaptive co-management / Christina Prell, Mark Reed, and Klaus Hubacek; 6. Who and how: engaging well-connected fishers in social networks to improve fisheries management and conservation / Saudiel Ramirez-Sanchez; 7. The effects of social network ties on the public's satisfaction with forest management in British Columbia, Canada / David B. Tindall, Howard Harshaw, and J.M. Taylor; 8. Social network models for natural resource use and extraction / Ken A. Frank; Subgroup Level: 9. Friends or neighbors? subgroup heterogeneity and the importance of bonding and bridging ties in natural resource governance / Beatrice Crona and Örjan Bodin; 10. The role of individual attributes in the practice of information sharing among fishers from Loreto, BCS, Mexico / Saudiel Ramirez-Sanchez; The Network Level: 11. Transformative collective action: a network approach to transformative change in ecosystem-based management / Henrik Ernstson; 12. Social networks, joint image building, and adaptability: the case of local fishery management / Annica Sandström; 13. Agrarian communication networks: consequences for agroforestry / Marney Isaac and Evans Dawoe -- Part III. Summary and Outlook: 14. Social network analysis in natural resource governance--summary and outlook / Örjan Bodin and Christina Prell.

"Social Network Analysis (SNA), a quantitative approach to the study of social relations, has recently emerged as a key tool for understanding the governance of natural resources. Bringing together contributions from a range of researchers in the field, this is the first book to fully explore the potential applications of SNA in the context of natural resource management. Topics covered include the role of SNA in stakeholder selection; improving fisheries management and conservation; the effect of social network ties on public satisfaction and agrarian communication networks. Numerous case studies link SNA concepts to the theories underlying natural resource governance, such as social learning, adaptive co-management and social movements theory. Reflecting on the challenges and opportunities associated with this evolving field, this is an ideal resource for students and researchers involved in many areas of natural resource management, environmental biology, sustainability science and sociology"--

"The goal of this book is to outline how social network analysis can be used as a conceptual tool and an analytical method for uncovering a variety of social factors affecting resource governance, particularly as it is conceptualized by these more recent perspectives. We will therefore confine our discussion to adaptive co-management (hereafter ACM), in an attempt to show how this theory, and related concepts, are linked to other theories of importance for natural resource governance, and how social network analysis can help further our understanding in this domain. In doing this we do not suggest that ACM is necessarily better than other concept or theoretical frameworks available"--