This chapter examines the methods e

This chapter examines the methods employed in research exploring the relationships between systems of human relations, or social networks, and people’s interactions with various elements of natural ecosystems. Social networks are fundamental to understanding cultural systems of resource sharing; cooperation in hunting, fi shing, and agricultural production; the diffusion of technological innovations; the sharing and distribution of ecological and environmental knowledge; and in human adaptive responses to changes at various scales from acute ecological disruptions, such as hurricanes, to major environmental shifts, such as global climate change.