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Community perceptions of socioecological stressors and risk-reducing strategies in Tabasco, Mexico

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Abstract

Rural inhabitants in many parts of the world face multiple stressors associated with socioecological and climatic change, yet their risk-reducing strategies have rarely been linked to these stressors. Extant studies present unclear and often unspecific definitions of adaptation or focus on just one type of stressor rather than acknowledging that there can be multiple responses to myriad stressors. In an attempt to overcome some of these gaps, we utilize a typology of adaptation strategies that addresses deficiencies in the current adaptation literature. This research draws on qualitative interview data to examine resident perceptions of water-related socioecological and climatic changes and potential risk-reducing strategies within small rural communities in Tabasco, Mexico. The increased frequency of drought and flooding in low-lying areas near the Usumacinta River has reduced local community members’ ability to sustain their livelihoods. Results from interview analysis show that residents are using four major strategies that they perceive as helping them respond to water-related problems. They are mobility, diversification, communal pooling, and environmental management. Our findings contribute to understandings of rural community risk reduction strategies that may be shared by other rural communities in places around the world experiencing negative climate change impacts.

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Notes

  1. Names have been changed to protect the identity of interviewees. Quotations were translated from Spanish by the authors.

  2. Mexico was the first developing country to enact a Climate Change Law in 2012, which created a National Climate Change Strategy at the national level (see Gobierno de la Republica de Mexico 2013) and several state plans (IDB 2014; World Bank Group 2017).

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships in International Research and Education (PIRE) Program IIA #1243444 and Research Coordination Network (RCN) Program CBET #1140152, SES-0823058, as well as the Inter-American Institute (IAI) for Global Change Research CRN3105.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, 209 Academic Office Building, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA

    Erin C. Pischke & Kathleen E. Halvorsen

  2. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur Unidad Villahermosa, Carretera Villahermosa-Reforma km 15.5, Ranchería Guineo, sección II, CP 86280, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

    M. Azahara Mesa-Jurado

  3. Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Calle 61 Número 525 por 66 y 68 Centro, CP 97000, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

    Amarella Eastmond

  4. University of Oregon, 130 Hendricks Hall, 5247 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA

    Jesse Abrams

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  1. Erin C. Pischke
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  2. M. Azahara Mesa-Jurado
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  4. Jesse Abrams
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Correspondence to Erin C. Pischke.

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Pischke, E.C., Azahara Mesa-Jurado, M., Eastmond, A. et al. Community perceptions of socioecological stressors and risk-reducing strategies in Tabasco, Mexico. J Environ Stud Sci 8, 441–451 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-018-0493-6

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