A Bayesian framework linking perceived social-ecological effectiveness to stakeholder acceptance in China's Sousa chinensis protected areas.

Enhancing stakeholder acceptance of marine protected areas (MPAs) is key to fulfilling the 30 × 30 Target, ocean-related Sustainable Development Goals, and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). These require MPAs not merely as management interventions, but also as social-ecological systems (SESs), where social-ecological effectiveness is the complex coupling of social and ecological effectiveness through interactions. However, the relationships between perceived social-ecological effectiveness and stakeholder acceptance are often indirect and mediated, while traditional models can yield statistical instabilities, risking false conclusions. This article tentatively proposes a partially informative Bayesian posterior framework with three steps and five criteria, using a theoretically based regulator formula and an inverse-Wishart prior in a penalized likelihood function for stricter estimates. Using field surveys and remote sensing data of China's Sousa chinensis MPAs, the study tentatively explores the proposed framework through stakeholder perceptions. Bayesian estimates improved model convergence, positive definiteness and nonsingularity, revealing an average 63 % underestimation of standard errors. Monte Carlo bootstrapping suggested the chain mediation and layered mechanisms, whereby perceived ecological effectiveness is related to stakeholder acceptance through perceived social effectiveness and stakeholder-MPA interaction. Practical implications include socially effective conservation, community-based activities, and stakeholder acceptance monitoring by the scientific community. The framework with more informative Bayesian methods may offer preliminary insights for broader biological conservation settings and practices, subject to contextual adaptations.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Journal of Environmental Management

• Publication date

  2025-05-23

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125839PMID 40412182
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Exploring the diverse values local people associate with marine protected areas and the implications for sustainable ocean management

  2025cited by this paper
• Marine protected areas stage of establishment and level of protection are good predictors of their conservation outcomes

  2025cited by this paper
• Marine protected areas governance, social norms, and social networks

  2025cited by this paper
• Effectiveness of the world network of biosphere reserves in maintaining forest ecosystem functions

  2025cited by this paper
• Insights into conservation success: Analysing shore angling before implementing a marine protected area

  2025cited by this paper
• Testing best practices in small scale fisheries management: Evidence from a collaborative intervention in two marine protected areas of the central Mediterranean Sea

  2024cited by this paper
• Assessing stakeholder perceptions to guide social and ecological fit of marine protected areas

  2024cited by this paper
• Using cumulative human impact assessment to support adaptive management of the threatened species’ habitats in the Yangtze River Estuary

  2024cited by this paper
• A deep learning classification framework for research methods of marine protected area management.

  2024cited by this paper
• Social acceptance in coastal and marine protected areas: Port-cros national park (France)

  2024cited by this paper
• Design and management considerations for the Kenya–Tanzania marine transboundary conservation area

  2024cited by this paper
• Visualising Sustainable Development Goals progress of China’s coastal cities using circular-kaleidoscope charts

  2024cited by this paper
• A framework for assessing the blue equity of social-ocean systems in marine governance transformation

  2024cited by this paper
• Optimization of social-ecological fit in China's Sousa Chinensis protected areas based on modified Moran's I

  2024cited by this paper
• Public perceptions of marine protected areas: an Italian study

  2024cited by this paper
• Marine protected areas and fishing community well-being: An example from statewide socioeconomic monitoring of the California MPA network

  2024cited by this paper
• Assessing socio-ecological fit of international environmental agreements and trade-embodied carbon flows

  2024cited by this paper
• Two-year clinical and radiographic evaluation of ACTIVA BioACTIVE versus Compomer (Dyract® eXtra) in the restoration of class-2 cavities of primary molars: a non-inferior split-mouth randomised clinical trial

  2024cited by this paper
• When will the BBNJ Agreement deliver results?

  2024cited by this paper
• Factors affecting the consumption intention of game meats: Integrating theory of planned behavior and norm activation model

  2024cited by this paper
• The geopolitical environment impact of Arctic Passage on Eurasia: An analysis based on multi-factor geometric potential models

  2024cited by this paper
• Comparing lying behaviour of young riding horses on days in an individual indoor box, on an outdoor paddock alone, or in pairs and in the following night

  2024cited by this paper
• Broad-scale impacts of coastal mega-infrastructure project on obligatory inshore delphinids: A cautionary tale from Hong Kong.

  2024cited by this paper
• Multi-Stakeholder Game Relationships in Promoting the Development of the Non-Timber Forest Product Industry by State-Owned Forest Farms

  2024cited by this paper
• Ocean economic and cultural benefit perceptions as stakeholders' constraints for supporting conservation policies: A multi-national investigation

  2024cited by this paper
• Responses of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) to construction of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge

  2024cited by this paper
• Challenges in assessing the effects of environmental governance systems on conservation outcomes

  2024cited by this paper
• Perceived Social Impacts of Protected Areas, Their Influence on Local Public Support and Their Distribution across Social Groups: Evidence from the Eifel National Park, Germany, during the COVID-19 Pandemic

  2023cited by this paper
• Exploring Community Perceptions and Attitudes toward Protected Areas in Myanmar: The Role of Socio-Spatial Factors in Conservation Support

  2023cited by this paper
• Does outcome expectancy predict outcomes in online depression prevention? Secondary analysis of randomised‐controlled trials

  2023cited by this paper
• Entry barriers and tripartite evolutionary game analysis of seawater desalination under the government regulation in China

  2023cited by this paper
• Governance and Conservation Effectiveness in Protected Areas and Indigenous and Locally Managed Areas

  2023cited by this paper
• Do poverty alleviation measures play any role in land transfer farmers well-being in rural China?

  2023cited by this paper
• How effective are protected areas for reducing threats to biodiversity? A systematic review protocol

  2023cited by this paper
• Influence of socioeconomic costs on the conservation planning of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) in a highly urbanised bay

  2023cited by this paper
• Advancing protected area effectiveness assessments by disentangling social‐ecological interactions: A case study from the Luangwa Valley, Zambia

  2023cited by this paper
• Co-benefits of marine protected areas for nature and people

  2023cited by this paper
• Research advances on the ecology of Sousa chinensis

  2023cited by this paper
• Exploring local public support for protected areas: What social factors influence stated and active support among local people?

  2023cited by this paper
• Using perceived impacts, governance and social indicators to explain support for protected areas

  2023cited by this paper
• Nutrient management in Lake Erie: Evaluating stakeholder values, attitudes, and policy preferences

  2023cited by this paper
• Stakeholder perceptions of wildfire management strategies as nature-based solutions in two Iberian biosphere reserves

  2023cited by this paper
• Assessing the management effectiveness of China's marine protected areas: Challenges and recommendations

  2022cited by this paper
• Kaleidoscope visualisation of China’s internal migration, 1985–2020

  2022cited by this paper
• Features of Geo-Economic Network between China and Countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road

  2022cited by this paper
• Avoiding the misuse of other effective area-based conservation measures in the wake of the blue economy

  2022cited by this paper
• Understanding the interacting factors that determine ecological effectiveness of terrestrial protected areas

  2022cited by this paper
• Evaluating the performance of Bayesian and frequentist approaches for longitudinal modeling: application to Alzheimer’s disease

  2022cited by this paper
• Advances in the use of nighttime light data to monitor and assess coastal fisheries under the impacts of human activities and climate and environmental changes: A case study in the Beibu Gulf

  2022cited by this paper
• What is driving the passenger demand on new regional air routes in India: A study using the gravity model

  2022cited by this paper
• Understanding farmers’ willingness in arable land protection cooperation by using fsQCA: Roles of perceived benefits and policy incentives

  2022cited by this paper
• Protected Area Effectiveness in the Scientific Literature: A Decade-Long Bibliometric Analysis

  2022cited by this paper
• Factors Influencing Communities’ Attitudes and Participation in Protected Area Conservation: A Case Study from Northern Myanmar

  2022cited by this paper
• New abundance and survival estimates for the critically endangered Taiwanese white dolphin indicate no signs of recovery

  2022cited by this paper
• Understanding Public Support for European Protected Areas: A Review of the Literature and Proposing a New Approach for Policy Makers

  2022cited by this paper
• Low Survivals and Rapid Demographic Decline of a Threatened Estuarine Delphinid

  2022cited by this paper
• Remotely sensed effectiveness assessments of protected areas lack a common framework: A review

  2022cited by this paper
• Structural equation modeling reveals decoupling of ecological and self-perceived outcomes in a garden box social-ecological system

  2022cited by this paper
• Drivers of ecological effectiveness of marine protected areas: A meta-analytic approach from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (Brazil).

  2021cited by this paper
• Linear Mixed Effects Model

  2021cited by this paper
• Public perceptions of ocean health and marine protection: Drivers of support for Oregon's marine reserves

  2021cited by this paper
• Evaluating the social and ecological effectiveness of partially protected marine areas

  2021cited by this paper
• Evaluating ecological outcomes from environmental stewardship initiatives: A comparative analysis of approaches.

  2021cited by this paper
• Complexity-based social-ecological systems research: philosophical foundations and practical implications

  2021cited by this paper
• What are social-ecological systems and social-ecological systems research?

  2021cited by this paper
• Evaluating the evidence for ecological effectiveness of South Africa’s marine protected areas

  2021cited by this paper
• Visualising global currents of international students between 1999 and 2018

  2021cited by this paper
• Habitat protection planning for Indo‐Pacific humpback dolphins ( Sousa chinensis ) in deteriorating environments: Knowledge gaps and recommendations for action

  2021cited by this paper
• Stakeholder mental model analysis supports focused conservation policy and actions for Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) reintroduction

  2021cited by this paper
• An Outcome-Oriented, Social–Ecological Framework for Assessing Protected Area Effectiveness

  2021cited by this paper
• Factors Affecting Residents’ Support for Protected Area Designation

  2020cited by this paper
• Social-ecological vulnerability to climate change in small-scale fisheries managed under spatial property rights systems

  2020cited by this paper
• Reducing Incidence of Nonpositive Definite Covariance Matrices in Mixed Effect Models

  2020cited by this paper
• The multifaceted challenge of evaluating protected area effectiveness

  2020cited by this paper
• Area-based conservation in the twenty-first century

  2020cited by this paper
• The ecology of human–nature interactions

  2020cited by this paper
• Social and ecological outcomes of conservation interventions in tropical coastal marine ecosystems: a systematic map protocol

  2020cited by this paper
• Evaluating the impacts of protected areas on human well-being across the developing world

  2019cited by this paper
• Socioeconomic effects of protected areas in Spain across spatial scales and protection levels

  2019cited by this paper
• Multilevel analysis of climate change risk perception in Europe: Natural hazards, political contexts and mediating individual effects

  2019cited by this paper
• Setting ecological expectations for adaptive management of marine protected areas

  2019cited by this paper
• Specialised recreational fishers reject sanctuary zones and favour fisheries management

  2019cited by this paper
• Understanding perceptions of the social impacts of protected areas: Evidence from three NATURA 2000 sites in Greece

  2018cited by this paper
• An Assessment of the Acceptance of Government-Issued Tourism Strategies: A Case of Tourism Students

  2018cited by this paper
• Attitudes to a marine protected area are associated with perceived social impacts

  2018cited by this paper
• Assessing nature's contributions to people

  2018cited by this paper
• A review of the social-ecological systems framework: applications, methods, modifications, and challenges

  2018cited by this paper
• External Injuries of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in Xiamen, China, and Its Adjacent Waters as an Indicator of Potential Fishery Interactions

  2018cited by this paper
• Marine partially protected areas: drivers of ecological effectiveness

  2018cited by this paper
• The Use of Cronbach’s Alpha When Developing and Reporting Research Instruments in Science Education

  2017cited by this paper
• An evaluation of crowdsourced information for assessing the visitation and perceived importance of protected areas

  2017cited by this paper
• Social and ecological effectiveness of large marine protected areas

  2017cited by this paper
• The social structural foundations of adaptation and transformation in social-ecological systems

  2017cited by this paper
• Collaborative environmental governance: Achieving collective action in social-ecological systems

  2017cited by this paper
• Quality of governance and effectiveness of protected areas: crucial concepts for conservation planning

  2017cited by this paper
• Understanding local‐scale drivers of biodiversity outcomes in terrestrial protected areas

  2017cited by this paper
• Toward Human-Carnivore Coexistence: Understanding Tolerance for Tigers in Bangladesh

  2016cited by this paper
• Biology and Conservation of the Taiwanese Humpback Dolphin, Sousa chinensis taiwanensis.

  2016cited by this paper
• Weakly Informative Prior for Point Estimation of Covariance Matrices in Hierarchical Models

  2015cited by this paper
• Assessing Tolerance for Wildlife: Clarifying Relations Between Concepts and Measures

  2015cited by this paper

• Eco‐Effectiveness of the Ecological Resettlement Project for Millions of People in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China: Based on the Assessment of Long‐Term NPP , SE, and LULC

  2025cites this paper