Content and complexity of stakeholders’ mental models of socio-ecological systems

Stakeholders' interactions with environmental resources are influenced by their mental models of the socio-ecological system resource. Individual differences in such particularly important to identify, as diverse may be associated different behaviour or policy preferences and affect collaborative conservation efforts. In present work, we explore stakeholders' a assess content complexity across fishing experience levels, migration status, regions. We mapped Tanzanian fishers' ( N = 185) drivers Nile perch stock fluctuation at Lake Victoria. The findings show that (1) fishers’ were complex diverse, (2) focused on causal influence destructive activities, (3) model complexity, but not content, varied regions, (4) status consistently related content. These results have implications for resource management • map fish fluctuation. Fishers' diverse. focus activities. Mental — differs Fishing do predict complexity.