IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envsyd/v19y1999i3d10.1023_a1026402812084.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forests and societal values: comparing scientific and public perception of forest health

Author

Listed:
  • Aviva Patel

    (University of Guelph)

  • David J. Rapport

    (University of Guelph)

  • Loren Vanderlinden

    (University of Guelph)

  • John Eyles

    (University of Guelph)

Abstract

This study examines the common ground between lay people and scientists regarding forest values and definitions of forest health. With the forest at Pinery Provincial Park, Ontario, as a case study, the authors compared six ecological indicators to determine which were sensitive to the multiple impacts of visitor use, deer browsing and fire suppression. Plant cover and proportion native species were sensitive to these impacts. Sapling height was greater in low deer density areas. The authors also conducted focused discussions with local interest groups, followed by qualitative data analysis. Overall, there was good convergence between scientific and public views of forests and forest health, although this may partly be due to the groups' interest in nature and the Pinery. Subjects saw a connection between their health and the state of the global and local environment, including forests. There is a need for increased awareness in the public to the necessity of managing high deer populations in parks to protect other forest components such as biodiversity. Forest managers must consider that people greatly value forests near them for mental well being. Group responses suggested that messages explicitly linking forest benefits to human health and well being may motivate people to protect forests.

Suggested Citation

  • Aviva Patel & David J. Rapport & Loren Vanderlinden & John Eyles, 1999. "Forests and societal values: comparing scientific and public perception of forest health," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 239-249, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:19:y:1999:i:3:d:10.1023_a:1026402812084
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1026402812084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1026402812084
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1023/A:1026402812084?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smith, Fraser, 1996. "Biological diversity, ecosystem stability and economic development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 191-203, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. L.M. Marafa, 2002. "Socio-Ecological Impact and Risk Assessments in the Urban Environment: A Multidisciplinary Concept from Hong Kong," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 377-385, December.
    2. Jefferson, R.L. & Bailey, I. & Laffoley, D. d′A. & Richards, J.P. & Attrill, M.J., 2014. "Public perceptions of the UK marine environment," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 327-337.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gowdy, John M. & Ferreri Carbonell, Ada, 1999. "Toward consilience between biology and economics: the contribution of Ecological Economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 337-348, June.
    2. Chuang, Ming Chih & Ma, Hwong Wen, 2013. "Energy security and improvements in the function of diversity indices—Taiwan energy supply structure case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 9-20.
    3. Ohl, Cornelia & Krauze, Kinga & Grunbuhel, Clemens, 2007. "Towards an understanding of long-term ecosystem dynamics by merging socio-economic and environmental research: Criteria for long-term socio-ecological research sites selection," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2-3), pages 383-391, August.
    4. Kohn, Robert E., 1999. "Thresholds and complementarities in an economic model of preserving and conserving biodiversity," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 151-172, June.
    5. Mohammad Reza POURMAJIDIAN & Hossein Kavian, 2017. "Assessment of plant biological diversity and soil characteristics in the pure ash tree stand and in mixture with beech (a case study of Lavij-Noor, Iran)," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 63(10), pages 443-448.
    6. Garí, Josep A., 1996. "HANPP calculated from land cover as indicator of ecological sustainability," EconStor Conference Papers 183215, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Huiqin Li & Yulin Zhu & Yajiao Tang & Mengjia Song, 2024. "Ecological Zoning Based on Value–Risk in the Wuling Mountains Area of Hunan Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Frank G. Miller, 1997. "La Convención sobre Diversidad Biológica: una perspectiva de economía política," Apuntes. Revista de ciencias sociales, Fondo Editorial, Universidad del Pacífico, vol. 24(40), pages 111-131.
    9. Kosai, Shoki & Unesaki, Hironobu, 2020. "Short-term vs long-term reliance: Development of a novel approach for diversity of fuels for electricity in energy security," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:19:y:1999:i:3:d:10.1023_a:1026402812084. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.