No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Assessing the emergence of pro-biodiversity practices in citizen scientists of a backyard butterfly survey
... The literature review did not reveal any consensus in the field on the definition of urban rewilding in gardens, but the researchers appraised what should be included in, or added to, the study's adopted definition of incorporating 'native plants and animals into urban infrastructure' (Mills et al. 2017). The terminology identified as equating to urban rewilding in the literature ranged from the conceptual, such as 'wilderness and rewilding' (Bauer et al. 2009), 'nature-based solutions' (van der Jagt et al. 2017) and 'human-nature interconnectedness' (Lewis and Townsend 2014), to the more pragmatic, such as 'sustainable gardening practices' (Coisnon et al. 2019), 'environmentally friendly gardening practices' (Lewis et al. 2018) and 'pro-biodiversity behaviours' (Deguines et al. 2020). Specific examples of activity identified as rewilding behaviour included 'selecting plants that benefit birds', 'avoiding non-native plants' and 'leaving space for wild animals' (Coisnon et al. 2019); preferring 'a "messier" appearance' and shunning 'synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers' (Lewis et al. 2018); providing 'nectar resources' and 'features benefiting butterflies' (Deguines et al. 2020); and composting (Nova et al. 2020). ...
... The terminology identified as equating to urban rewilding in the literature ranged from the conceptual, such as 'wilderness and rewilding' (Bauer et al. 2009), 'nature-based solutions' (van der Jagt et al. 2017) and 'human-nature interconnectedness' (Lewis and Townsend 2014), to the more pragmatic, such as 'sustainable gardening practices' (Coisnon et al. 2019), 'environmentally friendly gardening practices' (Lewis et al. 2018) and 'pro-biodiversity behaviours' (Deguines et al. 2020). Specific examples of activity identified as rewilding behaviour included 'selecting plants that benefit birds', 'avoiding non-native plants' and 'leaving space for wild animals' (Coisnon et al. 2019); preferring 'a "messier" appearance' and shunning 'synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers' (Lewis et al. 2018); providing 'nectar resources' and 'features benefiting butterflies' (Deguines et al. 2020); and composting (Nova et al. 2020). Conversely, behaviour opposed to rewilding included pesticide use (Deguines et al. 2020) and 'fencing [being] used to exclude predators such as foxes' (Sweeney et al. 2019). ...
... Specific examples of activity identified as rewilding behaviour included 'selecting plants that benefit birds', 'avoiding non-native plants' and 'leaving space for wild animals' (Coisnon et al. 2019); preferring 'a "messier" appearance' and shunning 'synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers' (Lewis et al. 2018); providing 'nectar resources' and 'features benefiting butterflies' (Deguines et al. 2020); and composting (Nova et al. 2020). Conversely, behaviour opposed to rewilding included pesticide use (Deguines et al. 2020) and 'fencing [being] used to exclude predators such as foxes' (Sweeney et al. 2019). ...
Urbanisation is increasing, while global biodiversity is decreasing. Through ‘urban rewilding’ cities could help tackle this biodiversity crisis, while exploiting the benefits of urban nature for residents. Private residential gardens, which have potential to support significant biodiversity, should be a primary focus. Yet their proportion of vegetated space is decreasing through changes made by residents, negatively impacting biodiversity. Small adaptations to private gardens can turn them into wildlife habitat, but understanding residents’ behaviour is critical to developing intervention strategies for this. This paper presents a scoping review of existing literature on understanding intent-orientated, pro-environmental behaviours with a focus on rewilding in urban gardens. The literature is mapped to assess the state of knowledge; it is then coded, using the ‘COM-B’ model of behaviour, to identify the capability, opportunity and motivation factors forming barriers and facilitators to residents engaging in rewilding activity in their gardens. The results show that all COM-B factors need to be considered to understand urban rewilding behaviour, but that opportunity and motivation factors have more influence, particularly reflective motivation. They indicate that facilitators are more significant than barriers and highlight an important body of work that has implications for practice and policy aimed at influencing urban rewilding.
... For instance, volunteers are categorised as 'high' and 'low' contributors, according to their number of contributions [5]; 'persistent' or 'hardworking', according to their participation patterns [6]; or 'careful annotation' and 'star specialisers' according to the main tasks they are involved in [7]. Further research characterising participation [6,8] reports asymmetrical participation, with a few volunteers making the majority of contributions. ...
... Increasing interest in involving young people in community and citizen science (CCS) largely stems from the potential and emerging evidence for fostering science learning through participation in science [1,8,9]. However, a crucial piece of the puzzle if we are to determine the ways in which young people contribute to biodiversity science is the nature and patterns of their participation, regardless of the learning that occurs. ...
... accessed on 23 April 2021). In addition to the contributions to biodiversity research, CCS projects also have the potential to develop positive behaviour changes that can directly benefit biodiversity locally (e.g., decreased pesticide use) and to engage the public in biodiversity learning [8]. ...
Online community and citizen science (CCS) projects have broadened access to scientific research and enabled different forms of participation in biodiversity research; however, little is known about whether and how such opportunities are taken up by young people (aged 5–19). Furthermore, when they do participate, there is little research on whether their online activity makes a tangible contribution to scientific research. We addressed these knowledge gaps using quantitative analytical approaches and visualisations to investigate 249 youths’ contributions to CCS on the iNaturalist platform, and the potential for the scientific use of their contributions. We found that nearly all the young volunteers’ observations were ‘verifiable’ (included a photo, location, and date/time) and therefore potentially useful to biodiversity research. Furthermore, more than half were designated as ‘Research Grade’, with a community agreed-upon identification, making them more valuable and accessible to biodiversity science researchers. Our findings show that young volunteers with lasting participation on the platform and those aged 16–19 years are more likely to have a higher proportion of Research Grade observations than younger, or more ephemeral participants. This study enhances our understanding of young volunteers’ contributions to biodiversity research, as well as the important role professional scientists and data users can play in helping verify youths’ contributions to make them more accessible for biodiversity research.
... to biodiversity conservation (Deguines et al., 2020;Richardson et al., 2020). CS projects focusing on biodiversity could have the potential to educate the public about biodiversity (Deguines et al., 2018;Peter et al., 2019) and to lead to changes in individual behaviour. ...
... CS projects focusing on biodiversity could have the potential to educate the public about biodiversity (Deguines et al., 2018;Peter et al., 2019) and to lead to changes in individual behaviour. Such behaviour changes can be, for example, changed gardening practices such as decreased pesticide use and increased provision of nectar resources for insects, which can directly benefit biodiversity locally (Deguines et al., 2020), or changes in lifestyle such as reducing consumption, recycling more and picking up trash (Chase & Levine, 2017). CS in general is increasingly regarded as a promising format in environmental and sustainability education (Dickinson et al., 2012;Dunkley, 2017;Merenlender et al., 2016) as well as in science education (Wals et al., 2014). ...
... Aivelo & Huovelin, 2020;Ballard et al., 2017;Brossard et al., 2005;Evans et al., 2005;Overdevest et al., 2004;Trumbull et al., 2000;see also Stepenuck &Green, 2015 andSchuttler et al., 2018 for reviews) or, more specifically, in a biodiversity-related context (e.g. Branchini et al., 2015;Chase & Levine, 2017;Cosquer et al., 2012;Deguines et al., 2020;Jordan et al., 2011;Lewandowski & Oberhauser, 2017;Toomey & Domroese, 2013). A recent systematic review analysed peerreviewed scientific literature with an explicit focus on the individual participant outcomes of BDCS projects (Peter et al., 2019). ...
Citizen science (CS) is regarded as a promising format in environmental and sustainability education as well as in science education. CS projects often assume that participation in the project influences, for example, participants' knowledge or behaviour.
We investigated whether and to what extent biodiversity citizen science (BDCS) projects, from the participants' self‐reported perspective, achieve the following six participant outcomes: (a) content, process and nature of science knowledge, (b) skills of science inquiry, (c) self‐efficacy for science and the environment, (d) interest in science and the environment, (e) motivation for science and the environment and (f) behaviour towards the environment.
For this purpose, we conducted an online survey of 1,160 CS participants across 63 BDCS projects in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Our survey was aimed at adults participating in CS voluntarily.
Survey respondents reported positive changes in all six categories. The most notable result across projects was that self‐reported increases in knowledge, self‐efficacy, interest and motivation were found to be more pronounced when regarding the environment rather than science. Perceived gains in data collection skills were reported to be higher than gains in skills not directly connected to data collection. Reported behaviour changes primarily concerned communication activities, to a lesser degree also gardening activities, and finally more general environmental behaviour.
In addition to these six participant outcomes, respondents mentioned a variety of other positive and negative outcomes, for example, health and well‐being, enjoyment, a sense of satisfaction, an increased connection to people and nature but also a more pessimistic view regarding the future of the environment.
We conclude that BDCS projects could have a high potential for environmental and sustainability education as well as science education. Further research should investigate individual participant outcomes in more depth and should focus on the factors that influence these participant outcomes. Moreover, exploring the perspectives of both project participants and project coordinators would be valuable. In this way, it would be possible to improve the development and design of CS projects. As a result, BDCS projects could more effectively achieve outcomes for the participants, for science and for biodiversity.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
... About a third of the studies refer to open community gardens or similar forms of urban agriculture as a participatory approach. Publicly accessible community gardens are described as valuable educational spaces, as they provide learning experiences about food production and promote inclusivity for users of different age groups and cultural backgrounds (Bendt et al., 2013;Deguines et al., 2020;Feldmann et al., 2021;Weber et al., 2023). ...
... Integrating citizen science approaches in university teaching can bring several benefits, e.g. increased environmental commitment of participants (Deguines et al., 2020;Mitchell et al., 2017). Various tools for plant identification are available. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the conversion of the former coal mining site in Kamp-Lintfort into a public park and learning space for biodiversity. In 2020, an urban green space was established, featuring various aquatic and terrestrial habitats and a high level of biological diversity in the city centre with broad community support.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents secondary data of a literature review on participatory management of biodiversity in urban green spaces, with a focus on the sustainability context, participation approaches, theoretical frameworks and the role of education. The example of Zechenpark Kamp-Lintfort (Germany) shows how urban green space development can meet the challenging demands of inner city development while fostering knowledge generation via citizen science and participatory biodiversity management. The study collected primary data on plant biodiversity using a citizen science approach to raise awareness and create opportunities for human–nature interaction.
Findings
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 is the most important development goal in the context of participatory biodiversity management of urban green spaces. Most of the studies have a place-based focus and integration of local knowledge is the main reason for a participatory approach. The findings show how a green learning space can offer opportunities for digital learning as well as participatory biodiversity management in urban areas. The project lead to an increase in local citizens’ awareness of biodiversity. Based on a literature review, this report identifies challenges and opportunities for establishing a green learning space for biodiversity education. The example illustrates that an urban green space can provide numerous possibilities for citizens and students to get involved and that it can foster the sustainable development of a new urban neighbourhood.
Research limitations/implications
A place-based approach limits generalisability. To overcome this limitation, a literature review was conducted, and the location was compared to two parks with similar site conversion history.
Practical implications
The example of developing an urban green space can inspire universities to take an active role in biodiversity management in urban green spaces, integrating biodiversity into university activities and creating a positive impact in the urban environment.
Social implications
Analysis of studies in the field shows that education deserves a more prominent role in theoretical frameworks.
Originality/value
The study represents an example of transition and citizen-led participatory management of biodiversity from a medium-sized city, transformation processes covering these aspects are underrepresented in literature.
... Peter et al.'s (2021) survey of participants in 63 different citizen science projects across Europe, Australia and New Zealand found that the most pronounced behaviour changes involved adoption of wildlife-friendly gardening practices and increased communication with others about conservation issues. This is in line with the key behavioural outcomes of other pollinator-focused citizen science projects (e.g., Deguines et al., 2020;Lewandowski and Oberhauser, 2017). Additional reported behavioural outcomes included involvement in other conservation activities, signing petitions, or donating to an environmental organisation (Peter et al., 2021). ...
... Given the limited time to engage in the behaviours, respondents presumably answered in terms of intentions rather than actual actions. Deguines et al. (2020) analysed longitudinal data over an eight-year period and found that pro-biodiversity gardening practices increased with sustained participation in a citizenscience butterfly survey. Further work is needed to develop measures for pro-conservation behaviour that are appropriate for pre-post-testing over relatively short periods, alongside collection of longitudinal data, and additional exploration of the factors that may shape adoption of proconservation practices. ...
Biodiversity conservation is fundamentally linked to human values, attitudes, and behaviours. Nature connectedness, the strength of a person's relationship with nature, is an important determinant of pro-nature actions, and therefore vital for counteracting biodiversity loss. Citizen science may improve nature connectedness, though such outcomes are underexplored in comparison to scientific and educational results. Addressing this gap, we studied the experiences of participants in the Big Butterfly Count, a UK mass-participation citizen science activity that aims to raise awareness and gather data on the abundance of widespread butterfly and moth species. Participants completed surveys before and after the three-week Big Butterfly Count period (n = 382), and at six-to seven-week follow up (n = 345). Improvements in nature connectedness, decreased anxiety, and increased tendency to notice nature and butterflies, were found immediately after the count period, with improved wellbeing and nature noticing at follow-up. Stronger emotional responses during the butterfly count were associated with greater increases in nature connectedness and nature noticing. Qualitative data revealed mixed emotions, from sadness and concern about biodiversity loss, to feelings of hope and optimism through taking actions to help butterflies. These findings suggest that citizen science participation prompts people to notice and enjoy nature in ways that enhance their wellbeing and connection with nature, supporting the mutual health of people and the rest of the natural world. The study highlights the potential for nature-based citizen science to benefit conservation beyond the focal species or habitat, by changing how people think, feel and act towards nature more broadly.
... Les programmes de SRP fondés sur la collecte de données de masse visent à l'amélioration des connaissances scientifiques et de la capacité à lire, écrire et comprendre la science (i.e., la littératie scientifique) au niveau individuel et au niveau de la communauté. Indissociablement, c'est aussi la transformation de la relation entre le public et la nature au sens large qui est en jeu (Gabillet 2018, Deguines et al. 2020. Couplés aux objectifs scientifiques de la collecte de données par le grand public, ces aspects transformatifs aux niveaux individuel et collectif contribuent également à orienter les politiques publiques. ...
... Quoi qu'il en soit, les données de SRP, qu'elles soient opportunistes ou protocolées, sont susceptibles d'être utilisées pour répondre , a posteriori, à des questions scientifiques qui n'auraient pas été anticipées (i.e., une forme de sérendipité). Par exemple, les données d'Opération Papillon, concues au départ pour évaluer l'impact des facteurs environnementaux sur les papillons communs, ont permis de mesurer l'effet de la participation à des programmes de SRP sur les comportements des observateurs (Deguines et al., 2020), et le STOC, dont l'objectif est d'étudier la dynamique temporelle des communautés d'oiseaux, a permis de mesure l'efficacité des mesures agri-environnementales de la Politique Agricole Commune (Chiron et al. 2013). ...
... Wildlife diversity and threatened species may nonetheless be under pressure from rapid urbanisation, especially in remnant habitats proximal to urban areas [1,9,10]. Some species may thrive under urban conditions given Providing background information to change conservation behaviour is often not effective on its own [44,45], but when paired with opportunities to connect people with nature such as via volunteering, citizen science, or immersive educational experiences, it can lead to beneficial behavioural changes [46][47][48]. Another effective driver of behavioural change is the level of personal and collective competence-being part of a wider community or group can effect change and help to achieve goals [42]. ...
... Understanding people's connection to nature and if they encounter wildlife in their yards will also help to determine people's motivations to implement wildlife conservation practices. Attracting visually attractive wildlife to yards, such as birds or butterflies, can be a useful initial motivator to manage household yards for conservation [39,48]. Once a positive attitude has developed, it may then be extended to other animals so that yards can be better managed to support them. ...
Wildlife are increasingly being found in urban habitats, and likely rely on some resources in suburban household yards, which exposes them to the effects of yard management and human and pet activities. We compared the relationships between these potential disturbances and benefits to the number of different types of wildlife sighted by householders, using written surveys. Owing to the inability of many household respondents to identify animals to the species or genus level, each different ‘type’ of animal individually listed was counted to generate the total number of types of wildlife observed by each household. We found that relatively more types of wildlife were observed by residents whose yards provided ease of faunal access under or through fences, had reduced pesticide use, increased levels of anthropogenic noise, and increased presence of pets in yards. The latter two associations likely relate to the increased opportunities to observe wildlife in yards that each creates. We also investigated the use of yards by wildlife and domestic pets in open compared to more vegetated habitats by day and night, using motion-sensor cameras. All animals observed were compared to the activity of introduced brown and black rats (Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus), owing to their wild origins but long commensal history with humans. Camera images indicated that animals’ natural activity periods were maintained in yards. Brown antechinuses (Antechinus stuartii), northern brown bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus), domestic cats (Felis catus) and native birds (species as listed below) each preferred sheltered or vegetated habitats over open habitats, when compared to the introduced rats that showed little habitat preference. However, unlike the other species, the native birds used open areas more than vegetated or sheltered areas when compared within their group only. The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) was observed to use open areas comparatively more than the introduced rats, but used vegetated or sheltered habitats more when compared to self only. The domestic dog (Canis familiaris) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) used open areas more than vegetated or sheltered areas, when compared to the introduced rats, and against themselves. This indicated a level of coping with urban stressors by the native animals, but with a reliance on more vegetated habitats to allow for natural stress-relieving behaviours of escape or hiding. Here, we offer insights into how each of these findings may be used to help educate and motivate increased household responsibility for urban wildlife conservation.
... Third, it constitutes a cost-effective method for expensive expertdriven data collection (Levrel et al. 2010). Fourth, it might increase personal engagement towards biodiversity conservation (Cosquer, Raymond, and Prevot-Julliard 2012;Deguines et al. 2020;Haywood, Parrish, and Dolliver 2016;Johnson et al. 2014;McKinley et al. 2017). Finally, CS could increase participants' scientific knowledge about biodiversity, and public understanding of the research process (Peter, Diekötter, and Kremer 2019a;Deguines et al. 2018;Jordan et al. 2011). ...
... However, literature concerning participant outcomes of biodiversity CS projects is contrasted regarding that point (Peter, Diekötter, and Kremer 2019b). Participation has been shown to promote, in some cases, individual commitment towards pro-biodiversity practices, such as the reduction in the use of pesticides in private gardens (Deguines et al. 2020) or vote intentions towards candidates showing a desire to improve biodiversity state (Prévot et al. 2018). Other studies show little or no change in attitudes towards the environment (Brossard, Lewenstein, and Bonney 2005;Crall et al. 2013). ...
Given the diversity of biodiversity citizen science projects' design and objectives, a major challenge is to better understand the factors influencing their successes. We study an online communication space where participants to a participative biodiversity monitoring program share their data and freely interact. A quantitative analysis of the comments' distribution among participants reveals the multiplicity of epistemic and social roles they endorse: helping collective identification of plants and insects, moderating the respect of the scientific protocol, or maintaining community's life. By building a typology of these comments, we show how this space of discussion favors exchanges and reflections about esthetical, interpersonal, biological and methodological aspects. We argue that the existence of such spaces favors all together the production of high-quality data, science learning, and individual commitment towards environmental issues. Maybe more importantly, they allow citizens to build and strengthen collective epistemic and affective relationships with science.
... Another smaller intervention targeting 55 home gardeners in New Zealand found that including social norms with feedback to gardeners during site visits led to positive behavior change (15). Because gardening is a set of behaviors, many of which require concerted effort, resources, and time, it follows that beyond small wins, such as increasing purchases of native wildflower seeds (16), most interventions striving for bigger change seem to use more personal and sustained involvement with individuals (15,17). Further evaluation work is needed to assess whether and when such extensive efforts are most worthwhile. ...
Conservation of biodiversity is above all else an exercise in human persuasion. Human behavior drives all substantive threats to biodiversity; therefore, influencing it is the only path to mitigating the current extinction crisis. We review the literature across three different axes to highlight current evidence on influencing human behavior for conservation. First, we look at behavioral interventions to mitigate different threats, from pollution and climate change to invasive species and human disturbance. Next, we examine interventions focused on different stakeholders, from voters, investors, and environmental managers to consumers, producers, and extractors. Finally, we review delivery channels, ranging from mass and social media to interventions involving changes to the physical environment or carried out in person. We highlight key gaps, including the lack of scale and robust impact evaluation of most interventions, and the need to prioritize behaviors, overcome the reproducibility crisis, and deal with inequality when designing and implementing behavior change interventions.
... birds (Cannon et al. 2005); butterflies (Fontaine et al. 2016); moths (Bates et al. 2014); ants (Lucky et al. 2014); mammals (Toms and Newson 2006)), but have also been linked to changes in participant behaviour that benefit biodiversity. Hence, involvement in garden butterfly surveys was associated with participants providing more nectar resources and reducing pesticide use (Deguines et al. 2020). Public engagement in such schemes may also have wider benefits for biodiversity by increasing knowledge and nurturing pro-conservation attitudes (Cosquer et al. 2012;Evans et al. 2005), which may be particularly important as opportunities to connect with nature become more difficult to find for an increasingly urbanised population. ...
Residential gardens are a principal component of urban green infrastructure throughout the world and their potential positive contributions to biodiversity are increasingly recognised. But the characteristics of gardens reflect the needs, values and interests of individual households. The present review summarises evidence from studies of garden biodiversity published in the scientific literature, describes major themes and identifies important knowledge gaps. A search of the Web of Science database identified 408 published articles on the biodiversity of residential gardens (1981–2022), with numbers increasing over time and a strong bias towards Europe (32.1%) and North America (23.8%). Plants and invertebrates were most frequently studied, and species diversity was often correlated with garden size and habitat complexity. Botanic composition and vegetation cover were often positively associated with the diversity and abundance of fauna. Non-native plants contributed substantially to garden plant diversity and evidence from some studies indicated benefits to other species linked to their functional attributes. Intensive management including frequent lawn mowing, fertiliser and pesticide application, and a more formal, ‘neater’ garden appearance were often associated with reduced biodiversity. However, results varied amongst studies, for example in relation to the impacts of mowing frequency on lawn diversity. There was a general paucity of experimental evidence on the impacts of different management regimes on garden biodiversity and few replicated experimental tests of recommended ‘wildlife-friendly practices’. Several studies identified the importance of connectivity amongst gardens and with other green infra-structure for species dispersal and ecosystem functioning. Emerging threats to garden biodiversity include their replacement by development, conversion to hard surfaces and declining plot sizes. Managing these challenges and maximising the biodiversity value of residential gardens requires greater engagement from policymakers and planners, and partnerships between public bodies and private households to co-ordinate local initiatives.
... Maund et al. (2020) pointed out a shift towards projects where data is collected in isolation and submitting individual findings online, leaving little or no opportunities for direct social action with other participants nor face-to face training. On the other hand, participation in scientific research through citizen science creates an opportunity for authentic learning experiences where the social aspect of social learning and community-building should not be underestimated (Dickinson et al., 2012;Deguines et al., 2020). ...
We conducted a citizen science project where the participants observed pollinators on sunflowers. Individual or group observations resulted in over 1800 observation sessions with over 5000 pollinators counted, at various locations across Slovenia. The aim of the project was first to use the framework of citizen science as a teaching platform in adult education to educate the participants about pollinators and their importance, and second, to study the pollinators of sunflowers based on the time of the day, weather, and different geographical characteristics. We focused on studying the differences based on the level of urbanization, altitude, and between different regions. The results are consistent with the previous studies of pollinator communities in Slovenia, however, we are aware of the unbalanced dataset resulting from an uneven distribution of observing sites and observation times. This is a common outcome in citizen science projects but can be addressed with careful planning in future studies.
... Further, involvement in citizen-science programs can lead to sustained behavior change among participants. For example, participants in a program to survey backyard butterflies in France planted more nectar-bearing plants for butterflies and reduced the use of pesticides in their own gardens (Deguines et al., 2020). An online survey of 1160 participants of biodiversityfocused citizen-science programs across 12 countries in North America, Europe, Africa and Australia found similar behavioral changes, plus an increased likelihood that participants would discuss biodiversity and environmental problems with others in their sphere of influence (Peter et al., 2021). ...
Abstract Citizen‐science projects focused on ecology and conservation have been growing in popularity in recent years, offering many opportunities for researchers and volunteers alike. Two principal approaches to citizen‐science projects in ecology can be characterized as the data‐first approach and the question‐first approach. Here, we highlight the value of question‐first citizen‐science projects for providing insights into the ecology and management of urban wildlife, using case studies on (1) beneficial insects (pollinators, predators and parasitoids) and (2) possums and gliders in Australian cities and towns. The question‐first approach has many benefits, offering a platform to engage volunteers with the scientific process and the broader context of an ecological or conservation problem, while also connecting them with their local environment. Identifying the questions to be addressed in a citizen‐science project ahead of data collection allows for co‐design and stronger collaboration with volunteers, community groups, local experts, and landscape managers. Question‐first citizen science can also provide valuable ecological data that extend substantially beyond presence‐only records, including presence‐absence data collected via timed surveys and information on animal behavior and interspecific interactions. However, establishing and maintaining question‐first citizen‐science projects can be challenging, requiring the building and maintenance of many relationships and a multidisciplinary approach that goes well beyond the usual activities of an academic researcher. Well‐designed, question‐first citizen science has the capacity to achieve both scientific rigor and meaningful engagement with volunteer participants.
... Far less is known of how participation in citizen science activities may promote individual behavioral change [51,66]. Citizen science has only recently been included in attitudinal and behavioral comparisons among different types of nature-based recreation [48,67,68]. ...
The ongoing and interactive effects of climate change, overharvesting, and habitat loss on fish and fisheries impacts a wide array of stakeholders who rely on access to sustainable fish populations for their health, recreation, well-being, and income. Successful responses to these threats will require the involvement of stakeholders in co-developing solutions. Understanding the socio-psychological characteristics of these diverse stakeholders, including their environmental attitudes and behaviors, can potentially improve management support and effectiveness across and within these groups. Past research has focused on climate impacts and adaptation efforts in commercial fisheries, but less is known about climate-related perceptions and attitudes of recreational fishers and other stakeholders such as citizen scientists. This study investigated how pro-environmental attitudes (PEAs), pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), and climate change concerns vary among fisheries-based recreationists based on activity type (recreational fishing, fish monitoring for citizen science) and specialization level. Among stakeholders, citizen scientists (fish counters) exhibited the strongest PEBs, followed by more specialized recreational fishers. Citizen scientists also had stronger PEAs than recreational fishers and non-fisher/non-citizen scientists, but there were no significant differences in PEAs across specialization levels. Citizen scientists showed greater concern for climate change than recreational fishers and non-fisher/non-citizen scientists. However, respondents overall showed greater concern for “the environment” than for climate change. Our results suggest that both activity type and specialization level are important considerations when developing strategies to promote pro-environmental behaviors and climate concerns and that communication frames centered on healthy ecosystems may be more effective with some stakeholders than those focused solely on climate change. We discuss implications for building public support of climate engagement efforts and sustainable, climate-resilient fisheries.
... The act of participating in a citizen science project can give people new knowledge and skills, for example, about the environmental topic being explored, provide a space for social connections, and generate locally relevant data. It can also encourage people to change their behaviour, for example, recording butterflies encouraged a shift to more sustainable gardening practices (Deguines, et al., 2020). Citizen science has often been described as a democratising movement, a way of bringing diverse voices into the scientific process, amplifying their causes, which benefits society. ...
A 'citizen' is a member of society who undertakes duties and obligations. Authors define Ecological Citizenship (EC) as accessible activities and skills which establish sustainable practice(s) and/or address ecological inequalities. Unsustainable practices (and consequences) are not constrained to individual countries, single industries, or discrete societies. Our life-supporting ecosystems (for example, oceans we eat from and the air we breathe) are impacted by contemporary resource exploitation, pollution, material misuse and inadequate protection. We are (all) citizens of the world, with the natural environment sustaining all life on earth. Our human existence is intertwined with our environment; we live in and are 'citizens' of our environment. EC fosters positive, ecological behaviours involving and benefiting communities through individual and collective action(s). Infamous author Enzio Manzini advocates that designs' contemporary role and purpose is to 'create the conditions' to enact change. We also describe a new network, Ecological Citizens + , funded by UK Research & Innovation, which aims to catalyse sustainable practices in the digital economy, through activities which unite diverse groups of people to address a sustainable digital society. This network unites community-focused approaches including citizen science, activism, collective learning, advocacy, design strategies, manufacturing, environmental science, and engineering practices. We describe the activities that we will develop to co-create tangible outputs that are scalable and actionable. This position paper outlines transdisciplinary approaches in addressing environmental challenges that benefit, communities, industry, academia, and other species. EC draws on previous projects, contemporary literature, and multidisciplinary perspectives. The EC position is 'post sustainability', exploring practices mitigating consequences and 'desiloing' expertise. EC offers; new research topics, supports tangible public roles, all within contemporary sustainable challenges. This position paper offers signposting to enable community and public(s) agency, challenging hegemonies rather than adopting conventional practice(s).
... A good place to start is in your garden or balcony, but even an appropriately designed windowsill can be relevant. Four ingredients are essential for insect survival in the face of climatic extremes: suitable microclimate refugia; access to a water source; sufficient nutrition; absence of pesticides (Deguines et al., 2020). Many urban gardens are sealed-off and neatly organized. ...
Climate warming is considered to be among the most serious of anthropogenic stresses to the environment, because it not only has direct effects on biodiversity, but it also exacerbates the harmful effects of other human‐mediated threats. The associated consequences are potentially severe, particularly in terms of threats to species preservation, as well as in the preservation of an array of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity. Among the most affected groups of animals are insects—central components of many ecosystems—for which climate change has pervasive effects from individuals to communities. In this contribution to the scientists' warning series, we summarize the effect of the gradual global surface temperature increase on insects, in terms of physiology, behavior, phenology, distribution, and species interactions, as well as the effect of increased frequency and duration of extreme events such as hot and cold spells, fires, droughts, and floods on these parameters. We warn that, if no action is taken to better understand and reduce the action of climate change on insects, we will drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems. We discuss perspectives on relevant ways to conserve insects in the face of climate change, and we offer several key recommendations on management approaches that can be adopted, on policies that should be pursued, and on the involvement of the general public in the protection effort.
... Démystifier la science et augmenter la transparence de son fonctionnement sont des enjeux forts de sa relation à la société, et aident à valoriser des problématiques encore peu couvertes par les médias, comme le déclin des insectes. Ainsi, il a été montré que les citoyen•ne•s participant à un projet de science 135 participative autour des Lépidoptères étaient plus susceptibles de prendre des décisions probiodiversité après avoir pris part à l'étude(Deguines et al. 2020).ConclusionL'anthropisation des territoires, directement liée à l'augmentation de la population humaine et à son exode vers les villes, va se poursuivre dans les prochaines décennies (World Urbanization Prospects:The 2018 Revision 2019). Le maintien de réseaux plantes-pollinisateurs en bonne santé face à cette pression est loin d'être certain, et la compréhension de l'influence des types d'occupation du sol sur les propriétés des communautés et réseaux plantes-pollinisateurs est essentielle à une prise de décision informée pour leur conservation. ...
Depuis plusieurs années, on assiste à un déclin important des populations de pollinisateurs sauvages et domestiques qui pose la question du maintien du service de pollinisation, et donc des espèces de plantes à fleur qui en dépendent pour leur reproduction. Ce déclin est multifactoriel mais sa cause principale est la diminution des milieux naturels ou semi-naturels au profit de deux types d’espaces anthropisés principaux ayant des propriétés très différentes : les espaces urbanisés et ceux utilisés pour l’agriculture intensive. Les zones d’agriculture intensive sont souvent des zones de grande utilisation de pesticides, et subissent une forte homogénéisation de la ressource en nectar, ainsi qu’une diminution des zones d’habitat potentielles des pollinisateurs, avec l’arrachage des haies et l’omniprésence du labour. Les espaces urbanisés sont, eux, des zones importantes d’import d’espèces de plantes exotiques, et de changement phénologique de la floraison qui peuvent nuire aux pollinisateurs.De plus, les plantes à fleurs et les pollinisateurs sont reliés par des réseaux d’interaction structurés autour d’un petit groupe d’espèces généralistes qui joue un rôle d’espèce clé. Des études simulant des communautés de plantes et de pollinisateurs ont montré que lorsque l’environnement devient plus anthropisé et donc moins favorable, les pollinisateurs généralistes qui persistent suffisent au départ à maintenir la pollinisation de l’ensemble des espèces de plantes. Cependant, lorsque les facteurs de déclin des pollinisateurs dépassent un certain seuil et que les espèces de pollinisateurs généralistes commencent à disparaitre, un point de basculement va être atteint. Les simulations prédisent alors une disparition simultanée de toutes les espèces encore présentes de pollinisateurs, et donc la disparition du service de pollinisation.L’objectif de la thèse était d’utiliser des observations sur le terrain pour étudier comment les deux types principaux d’anthropisation, urbanisation et agriculture intensive, interagissent et influencent les communautés de plantes et de pollinisateurs et les réseaux qu’ils forment.J’ai commencé par montrer que les réseaux déterminés jusqu’au niveau de l’espèce ont des propriétés comparables à ces mêmes réseaux déterminés au niveau du genre et même de la famille, ce qui m’a permis d’utiliser pour le reste de la thèse le protocole photographique Spipoll pour recenser les interactions plantes-pollinisateurs. Puis, par une étude observationnelle sur 38 sites sélectionnés sur plateau de Saclay le long d’un double gradient urbanisation-agriculture intensive-espaces semi-naturels, j’ai montré que la majorité des pollinisateurs est négativement impactée par l’urbanisation, avec une perte des taxons spécialistes mais aussi de taxons généralistes, et une perte générale de diversité. Cette perte amène à des réseaux moins emboîtés, qui sont ainsi moins résilients face à une perturbation. Cependant, le taxon des Hyménoptères en général apparaît plus résistant à cet effet, et permet d’assurer un service de pollinisation urbain. Mes résultats permettent également de souligner que tous les types d’urbanisation n’ont pas la même influence sur la biodiversité, et l’importance de prendre en compte ces effets pour repenser l’anthropisation des paysages d’une façon raisonnée pour le futur.
... An alternative approach to understanding citizen science data is by directly asking citizen scientists about their data collection activities. Interviews and questionnaires have been used to examine the motivations to participate in citizen science [30][31][32][33][34] , changes in conservation awareness and attitudes from participation [35][36][37][38][39] , and the types of people most likely to participate 32,34,40,41 . Questionnaires have also helped to understand some methodological aspects of data collection, including how citizen scientists interpret survey instructions 23 and study designs that promote continued engagement 42,43 . ...
Citizen scientists play an increasingly important role in biodiversity monitoring. Most of the data, however, are unstructured—collected by diverse methods that are not documented with the data. Insufficient understanding of the data collection processes presents a major barrier to the use of citizen science data in biodiversity research. We developed a questionnaire to ask citizen scientists about their decision-making before, during and after collecting and reporting species observations, using Germany as a case study. We quantified the greatest sources of variability among respondents and assessed whether motivations and experience related to any aspect of data collection. Our questionnaire was answered by almost 900 people, with varying taxonomic foci and expertise. Respondents were most often motivated by improving species knowledge and supporting conservation, but there were no linkages between motivations and data collection methods. By contrast, variables related to experience and knowledge, such as membership of a natural history society, were linked with a greater propensity to conduct planned searches, during which typically all species were reported. Our findings have implications for how citizen science data are analysed in statistical models; highlight the importance of natural history societies and provide pointers to where citizen science projects might be further developed.
... The citizen science program has many advantages, including covering a wide area, thereby saving research costs compared to traditional field survey activities (Tulloch et al., 2013). Therefore, citizen science activities are widely used for monitoring ecology (Encarnação et al., 2021) and biodiversity, such as butterflies (Lewandowski & Oberhauser, 2017;Deguines et al., 2020), as well as insects (Oberhauser & Lebuhn, 2012;Williams et al., 2017). Numerous citizen science activities monitoring the existence of insect pollinators are conducted in European, American, and Asian countries to protect and conserve insects (Zhang et al., 2019;Bloom & Crowder, 2020), which is driven by the earth's declining insect population. ...
Mango cross-pollination can be encouraged through the presence of pollinating insects, which can be investigated and observed through citizen science activities. This study aims to monitor the presence of insect pollinators of mango (Mangifera indica L.) inflorescence through citizen science activities. The data generated in the study can be used as a reference to determine population trends and the biodiversity of mango insect pollinators. A citizen science approach in participatory research was used to collect and identify the data. A total of 68 volunteer participants from two universities in west Java were involved in this study. The participants had to meet the requirements to have contracted ecology courses. Smartphones and insect identification guidelines and databases at https://www.discoverlife.org/ and https://www.inaturalist.org/ were used as a tool in this research. The identified data were submitted via google form (www.bit.ly/csmangga) and the Inaturalist application for publication. It was discovered that mango inflorescence insect pollinators comprised five orders, 26 families, and 39 species. Diptera and Hymenoptera orders are insects that have the biggest role in mango pollination, and Chrysomya sp. is an insect species found in almost all mango cultivars.
... Besides serving in an advisory capacity, community members can readily assume the role of citizen scientist to support data collection and analysis. Citizen science can help meet specific research objectives, help establish baseline conditions, and sustain long-term monitoring in support of disaster response, recovery, and mitigation (Deguines et al. 2020). It can also improve community relations by allowing residents meaningful opportunities to help restore affected areas, which can alleviate persistent issues of research fatigue and concurrently improve public perceptions of value and consideration for ecology and ecologists across the disaster cycle (Clark 2008, Marshall et al. 2012. ...
Ecologists are increasingly becoming interested in disasters, reflecting growing recognition that disasters can present exceptional opportunities to advance fundamental knowledge and appreciation for how ecological research can aid affected communities. Attempts to achieve both objectives can, however, create fractious tensions that result in unfavorable opinions about ecologists and diminish the perceived value of ecological research. Here we outline the merits and perils of "disaster ecology." We first examine how ecologists have engaged in the disaster cycle, focusing on trends in training and education, research funding, and the prevalence of community engagement in ecological research. We illustrate the global asymmetries in educational opportunities, how funding of opportunistic pursuits can engender discord, and how the discipline has not yet widely embraced approaches that foster community engagement. We then provide a prospectus for improving best practices to advance knowledge and support humanitarian missions. Pathways toward improvement and innovation begin with taking steps to increase interdisciplinary coursework and trainings that prepare ecologists to work with first responders and stakeholders. Expanding the base of funding sources and supporting research spanning the disaster cycle would foster broader integration of ecological expertise into decision making. Greater adoption of community-engaged research approaches also would better address community and stakeholder concerns as well as strengthen the discipline by broadening representation and participation.
... Biodiversity has not been much focussed on previous psychological research (Selinske et al., 2018). The term pro-biodiversity behaviour has been applied in this context and will be used in the present study (Deguines, Princé, Prévot, & Fontaine, 2020;Pett, Shwartz, Irvine, Dallimer, & Davies, 2016;Selinske et al., 2018). Similar to the ambiguity of terms concerning pro-environmental behaviour, other terms specific to biodiversity exist, as for instance biodiversity-related behaviour or pro-nature conservation behaviour (Barbett, Stupple, Sweet, Schofield, & Richardson, 2020;Schaaf & Clamote Rodrigues, 2016). ...
While the tourism sector strongly depends on biodiversity, its activities often contribute to biodiversity loss. Biodiversity is essential for human well-being and it has been increasingly argued that a stronger integration of biodiversity issues by tourism businesses is also the self-interest of the sector. While the stronger integration of biodiversity has been examined from various perspectives, one discipline has been largely overlooked in science and practice: psychology. Any integration of biodiversity by individual businesses requires human behaviour. Thus, the objective of this study was to understand the behaviour of owner-managers in the tourism sector, who al-ready behave in favour of biodiversity. Understanding what causes, facilities or challenges their actions can help to better address and motivate other owner-managers in the future. The North Sea coast of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein was chosen as a case study area, since the unique ecosystem of the Wadden Sea and the regional tourism sector are closely inter-linked. To understand the owner-managers’ behaviour the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour was used as a guiding framework. The extended psychological model assumes that behaviour is based on four variables, namely attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and moral norms. Five semi-structured interviews with owner-managers of tourist accommodations were conducted to explore the four components of the extended model.
The results demonstrate that environmental beliefs, life quality and economic beliefs are relevant for the owner-managers’ attitudes related to pro-biodiversity behaviour. The study finds evidence that in addition to subjective norms, which are included in the Theory of Planned Behaviour, subjective descriptive norms may be relevant for owner-managers’ pro-biodiversity behaviour. The owner-managers’ guests, employees as well as other businesses and the neighbourhood com-munity were identified as so-called important referent groups. The perceived norms related to each referent group are outlined in the study. The study identified barriers and facilitators of owner-managers’ pro-biodiversity behaviour. Barriers to their behaviour include financial obstacles, a lack of support and the higher efforts necessary. Their behaviour is facilitated by the sustainable business networks, the available range of information as well as the owners’ self-efficacy. Also moral norms were found to be relevant. In addition to a general feeling of moral responsibility they perceived responsibility towards other people as well as nature. Lastly, the study shows that, although owner-managers behave in favour of biodiversity, other topics may be more important to them.
The study provides an important insight of the beliefs which engaged owner-managers in the tourism sector hold towards pro-biodiversity behaviour. Building on the results of the present study, future research should further aim to gain a more comprehensive understanding of pro-biodiversity behaviour including quantitative approaches.
... In the backyard, in addition to agricultural activity, there is animal husbandry [10], involving protein producers, such as poultry, pigs and cattle [11,12]. Backyard activities also contribute to the improvement of environmental conditions and the reduction of pesticides [13]. Therefore, backyard activities, in addition to constituting a source of food, offer therapeutic well-being, environmental improvement, increased economic income and the development of a more harmonious family relationship. ...
The analysis of the economic problems of the population in Latin America in the face of unemployment and inflation, which have become permanent in these economies, gives rise to the generation of proposals for the solution of social deficiencies, as well as sustainable factors that govern the behavior and culture of production today. The objective was to establish the importance and contribution that backyard activities can have to reach positive socioeconomic and nutritional levels in the rural area of the municipality of Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. An exploratory analysis was carried out, to diagnose the problem, applying interviews to describe the socioeconomic and backyard perspectives, finding that more than 70% of those consulted carry out this activity in relation to livestock and/or agricultural dynamics. Two variables with positive economic effects stand out: self-consumption and commercialization, which are relevant socioeconomic aspects in the relationship between production and family economy, as well as the promotion of self-employment and preservation of family traditions in rural communities.
... For instance, Dresner et al. (2015Dresner et al. ( , pp. 1002Dresner et al. ( -1004 show that stewardship volunteering could be linked to broader environmental actions among participants, including discussing their action for nature with others and a sense of empowerment in public life. Deguines et al. (2020) similarly found that sustained participation in a butterfly citizen science programme was associated with biodiversity-friendly changes in participants' approach to gardening. However, rather than only seeing these as indications of the transformative potential of green volunteering, we must acknowledge how this process may also work in an opposite direction: pre-existing knowledge of and affinity with nature may be an important motivation for joining, as well as a channel through which people 205 tiative (De Vries et al., 2019;Guiney & Oberhauser, 2009). ...
Human actions may be responsible for much destruction of nature, but it can also be a key solution. Around the world countless volunteers take action for nature: through citizen science, through activities such as planting trees, by organizing excursions, you name it. But who are these nature volunteers? What is it they do, and why do they do it? These questions are rarely asked. This thesis aims to answer these questions based on several surveys among large numbers of Dutch green volunteers.
Contributing to nature conservation and a personal connection to nature were found to be key motivations for the volunteers, regardless of their activities. Other diverse motivations also play a role: these include being outside, learning about nature and working together with others. In terms of profile, the high average age and level of education among the respondents is notable.
(Re)connecting humans and nature is urgent and important, how can we stimulate this? Suggestions for nature organisations include further strengthening their support and appreciation of their volunteers. In addition, appealing to diverse motivations can help enthuse a wider public.
... Public participation is the involvement of stakeholders (mostly citizens) in public consultations or scientific inquiries and ranges from information exchanges to active decision-making processes (Ambrose-Oji et al. 2017). Citizen scientists can become involved in management and conservation and often improve their urban ecology knowledge in doing so (Deguines et al. 2018(Deguines et al. , 2020. Citizen science projects target a broad range of taxa (vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) in many marine and terrestrial ecosystems, many of which are normally inaccessible, such as private gardens. ...
Adaptation Pathways is a decision support tool designed to create adaptation policies under different climate change scenarios. This tool has been used successfully in several sectors and contexts such as coastal and river adaptation, urban heat waves, floods and rural livelihoods but its use in natural resource management, has faced several challenges and limitations. In the sector of agroforestry its use has seldom been done or documented and one of the reasons for this may due to some of its specific challenges. In this study, these challenges were addressed when using the Adaptation Pathways for the adaptation planning of three case studies in the semi-arid Alentejo region, a Mediterranean dryland of southern Portugal. This tool was integrated in a participatory approach combined with the Scenario Workshop method, to plan the adaptation of the agriculture and forestry sector of one municipality (Mértola) and two agroforestry farms (221 ha and 1000 ha). The methodology included, for each case study, 20 interviews, two workshops, literature review, expert analysis and the use of indicators of efficacy of adaptation measures, to define tipping points. The adaptation process and the resulting adaptation plans were evaluated by questionnaire and expert review. This combination of methods has supported the choice of effective adaptation measures for the case studies and when combined with several adaptation pathways and a landscape approach it supported the creation of integrated climate change adaptation plans that are now in implementation. We discuss how this combination of methods deals with limitation to Adaptation Pathways identified in the literature, conclude that the method was able to create adaptation plans that are now under implementation and present avenues for future research.
... Improved fidelity can be achieved by developing more user-friendly data entry interfaces, by promoting FBO in large professional networks, such as unions, or by providing more personalized feedback to participants, all of which is under way. We may also hope to see more changes in practices as a result of recent political will to reduce pesticides use or of awareness raising through participatory science (Deguines, Princé, Prévot, & Fontaine, 2020). ...
Agricultural intensification is often recognized as a major driver of the decline of wild biodiversity in farmland. However, few studies have managed to collect relevant data to link the temporal dynamics of farmland biodiversity to the characteristics of intensive agriculture over large geographical areas.
We used 7 years of data from a French citizen science programme, wherein 1,216 farmers monitored biodiversity in 2,382 fields encompassing field crops, meadows, vineyards or orchards, to examine the temporal trends in abundance of five taxonomic groups of invertebrates (solitary bees, earthworms, butterflies, beetles, molluscs) and their links with agronomic practices and surrounding landscape.
We observed significant temporal trends in abundance for many taxonomic groups and in many crop types. Flying taxa (solitary bees and butterflies) were generally declining, while the trends of soil taxa were more variable. Most trends were significantly related to farming practices or landscape features. We observed a negative link between use of synthetic inputs (pesticides, mineral fertilization) and the trend in abundance of flying taxa in field crops, while in meadows organic or mineral fertilization was the main explanatory practice, with contrasting relationships across taxonomic groups. Besides, the trend in abundance of beetles and molluscs was more positive in permanent versus temporary meadows. Finally, in vineyards, the trend in abundance of solitary bees was positively related to the presence of woodland in the landscape, whereas the reverse was true in meadows.
Synthesis and applications. Our results provide further support for the role of citizen science as a promising source of large‐scale spatial and temporal data in farmland, contributing to the identification of agronomic practices that can help mitigate biodiversity decline. Our analyses suggest that reducing chemical inputs may not only reduce the decline in bees and butterflies, but sometimes even promote their regrowth. Increasing organic fertilization may foster bee and beetle abundance in meadows but reduce mollusc abundance, while preventing ploughing of meadows may promote soil invertebrate abundance. Finally, such citizen science programmes engage farmers to undertake monitoring. Whether such group engagement may also contribute to biodiversity conservation by raising farmers’ awareness remains to be addressed.
... Each study, however, assesses different behaviours, and not all studies consider the ecological impact of the behaviours they assess. In addition, a variety of different terms have been used to describe these behaviours, from pro-nature [18], over probiodiversity practices [22], to conservation engagement [23]. For scientific research into pro-nature conservation behaviours, validated and established measurement tools play a key role [24]. ...
Scientists have classed the ongoing decline in biodiversity—caused by humans—as a mass extinction. To mitigate the consequences of this extinction, immediate action is of the utmost importance. However, effective ways of promoting pro-nature conservation behaviours to preserve and enhance biodiversity require better understanding and measurement. Thus, a reliable and valid measurement tool is needed. While there are measurement tools for general pro-environmental behaviours, as of yet, no measure of behaviours that specifically promote biodiversity exists. Here, we present such a tool: the Pro-Nature Conservation Behaviour Scale (ProCoBS), a psychometrically validated questionnaire scale measuring active behaviours that specifically support the conservation of biodiversity. An item pool developed through consultation with wildlife and biodiversity experts was subjected to psychometric scale development analyses. Data from 300 participants were used to develop the 18-item ProCoBS long form, as well as an 8-item short form. A latent variable model with four factors (Individual Engagement, Social Engagement, Planting, and Wildlife) was identified. In a second study, a subset of 250 of the original participants answered the questionnaire again, in addition to related psychological constructs. The data were used to assess test–retest reliability and construct validity. Results showed that the scale and its short form were reliable (full scale: α = 0.893, short form: α = 0.825) and valid. In a third study, a representative sample of 1298 adults in the UK completed the short form. Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated a good fit for all factors, indicating that the ProCoBS is a psychometrically robust measure. The ProCoBS provides the definitive, much needed tool for measuring conservation behaviours. This will enhance research and impact practical work in the conservation domain for a sustainable future. A cross-cultural examination of the scale is still needed.
... For example, this could help disentangle effects and causes of concomitant native and exotic populations temporal trends (Colléony and Shwartz, 2020). This illustrates how valuable citizen science can be to advance our knowledge of biological invasions (Roy et al., 2018), beyond other ecological goals and educational benefits (Deguines et al., 2020McKinley et al., 2017). ...
Garden bird feeding constitutes a massive provision of food that can support bird communities, but there is a growing concern it might favour the establishment of exotic species that could be detrimental to others. How bird species compete with novel species for this anthropogenic food resources needs to be assessed.
Here, we investigated competition in wintering bird communities at garden birdfeeders. We evaluated whether – and how much – bird access to resources is hampered by the presence of putative superior competing species, among which the Rose-ringed parakeet,
the most abundant introduced species across Europe.
Using the nation-wide citizen science scheme BirdLab, in which volunteers record in real-time bird attendance on a pair of birdfeeders during 5-minute sessions, we tested whether i) cumulative bird presence time and richness at birdfeeders, and ii) species probability of presence at birdfeeders, were influenced by three large species (the Eurasian magpie, the Eurasian collared-dove, and the Rose-ringed parakeet). Additionally, we assessed whether the Rose-ringed parakeet occupied resources significantly more than others.
Presence of the Rose-ringed parakeet or the Eurasian collared-dove similarly reduced
community cumulative presence time at birdfeeders, but only the dove reduced community richness. Each of the three large species influenced the presence of at least one of the six smaller species that could be separately modelled, but effects varied in strength and direction. The Rose-ringed parakeet and the Eurasian collared-dove were among the three species monopolising birdfeeders the longest, substantially more than the Eurasian magpie.
Our findings confirm the competitive abilities of the large species studied, but do not
suggest that garden bird feeding may alarmingly favour introduced species with detrimental effects on native species. Given the variability of large species’ effects on small passerines, direct and indirect interactions among all species must be examined to fully understand the ecological net effects at stake.
Citizen science approaches are promising for raising awareness about the sensitivity of pollinators to environmental changes and simultaneously gathering data about their biology. Questions remain, however, about citizens’ ability to gather accurate data. Here, we present a citizen science monitoring approach of cavity-nesting wild bees and wasps in agricultural landscapes across Germany. By using nesting observation blocks (NOBs), which consist of individual wooden boards screwed together, volunteers record the colonisation and development of cavity-nesting Hymenoptera. To do this, they open the NOBs monthly and photograph each board individually. We tested if volunteers can be trained to accurately identify taxa from photographs by offering identification courses and an online quiz. For that purpose, twelve volunteers without taxonomic knowledge identified and counted larvae and cocoons of wild bees and wasps in 4,203 occupied cavities: 92.4% were correctly identified, 4.8% were incorrectly identified, and 2.8% were unidentifiable by experts. These results indicated that volunteers unfamiliar with these taxonomic groups successfully gained a high level of knowledge within one season supported by identification trainings. Using Wald chi-square tests, successful identification was mainly affected by the variability of the taxon. In view of increasing public demand for habitat restoration to halt and counteract declining pollinator populations, the proposed citizen science monitoring approach offers an opportunity for every interested citizen, regardless of their background knowledge, to engage with wild bees and wasps, and gain knowledge about their ecology.
Open Science (OS) aims, in part, to drive greater societal impact of academic research. Government, funder and institutional policies state that it should further democratize research and increase learning and awareness, evidence-based policy-making, the relevance of research to society's problems, and public trust in research. Yet, measuring the societal impact of OS has proven challenging and synthesized evidence of it is lacking. This study fills this gap by systematically scoping the existing evidence of societal impact driven by OS and its various aspects, including Citizen Science (CS), Open Access (OA), Open/FAIR Data (OFD), Open Code/Software and others. Using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews and searches conducted in Web of Science, Scopus and relevant grey literature, we identified 196 studies that contain evidence of societal impact. The majority concern CS, with some focused on OA, and only a few addressing other aspects. Key areas of impact found are education and awareness, climate and environment, and social engagement. We found no literature documenting evidence of the societal impact of OFD and limited evidence of societal impact in terms of policy, health, and trust in academic research. Our findings demonstrate a critical need for additional evidence and suggest practical and policy implications.
Open Science (OS) aims, in part, to drive greater societal impact of academic research. Government, funder and institutional policies state that it should further democratise research and increase learning and awareness, evidence-based policy-making, the relevance of research to society's problems, and public trust in research. Yet, measuring societal impact of OS has proven challenging and synthesised evidence of it is lacking. This study fills this gap by systematically scoping the existing evidence of societal impact driven by OS and its various aspects, including Citizen Science (CS), Open Access (OA), Open/FAIR Data (OFD), Open Code/Software, and others. Using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews and searches conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, and relevant grey literature, we identified 196 studies that contain evidence of societal impact. The majority concern CS, with some focused on OA, and only a few addressing other aspects. Key areas of impact found are education and awareness, climate and environment, and social engagement. We found no literature documenting evidence of the societal impact of OFD and limited evidence of societal impact in terms of policy, health, and trust in academic research. Our findings demonstrate a critical need for additional evidence and suggest practical and policy implications.
University campuses, as small and isolated areas of rapidly growing urban areas, can
provide a unique opportunity for urban biodiversity research, conservation, education, and citizen science by monitoring assemblages of butterflies within their areas. We surveyed butterfly biodiversity in a rapidly developing urban area represented by the Chenggong Campus of Yunnan University in southwestern China using the Pollard walk method. In total, 3625 butterfly individuals belonging to 50 species, 35 genera, and six families were recorded in this survey. The results showed that the families Pieridae and Nymphalidae are the families with the highest species richness on the campus, and that the family Riodinidae contained the fewest species. Pieris rapae was the most common species, and seven species assessed by the IUCN Red List were recorded. Butterfly community structure varied across habitats and seasons on campus, and butterfly diversity was higher in spring and autumn than it was in summer and winter, as well as being higher in road habitats than in scenic habitats. Unavoidable urbanisation activities (construction, green space planning, etc.) may have influenced the composition and diversity of butterflies, and conserving urban butterfly diversity requires a balance between urban planning and habitat diversity. Finally, we encourage universities and research institutions to develop butterfly monitoring platforms for citizen scientists to participate in.
Citizen science (CS) can help to tackle the emerging and worldwide problem of marine litter (ML), from collecting data to engaging different stakeholders. We reviewed what and how the scientific literature is reporting CS on ML to identify possible gaps to be improved. The 92 search results (separate occasions when 48 different CS initiatives were discussed across 85 publication records) revealed an under-representation of studies in developing regions. Most search results focused on the science of ML, whilst information regarding citizen scientists was commonly vague or missing, preventing critical analysis of good practices on this aspect. The studies concentrated on the shoreline and did not harmonize types and sizes of items collected, thus precluding data meta-analyses. The standardisation of CS methods and approaches and the detailed report of aspects related to citizen scientists are essential to support the science we need for the advances in CS efforts to face ML.
Community (or citizen) science, the involvement of volunteers in scientific endeavors, has a long history. Over the past few centuries, the contributions of volunteers to our understanding of patterns and processes in entomology has been inspiring. From the collation of large-scale and long-term data sets, which have been instrumental in underpinning our knowledge of the status and trends of many insect groups, to action, including species management, whether for conservation or control, community scientists have played pivotal roles. Contributions, such as pest monitoring by farmers and species discoveries by amateur naturalists, set foundations for the research engaging entomologists today. The next decades will undoubtedly bring new approaches, tools, and technologies to underpin community science. The potential to increase inclusion within community science is providing exciting opportunities within entomology. An increase in the diversity of community scientists, alongside increasing taxonomic and geographic breadth of initiatives, will bring enormous benefits globally for people and nature.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Entomology, Volume 67 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
The diversity of insects is tremendous and so is the effort needed to assess it in order to better understand insect ecology as well as their role for the functioning of ecosystems. While the interest of academics and naturalists for these species has always existed, it is only recently that such interest started to reach society more generally. From insect taxonomy and distribution to the collection of large range and long scale monitoring data, the involvement of non-academics in research outputs is growing. Is this a sign of scientists not being able to meet expectations or of science getting more and more entrenched in society? We argue for the latter, highlighting the opportunities that such involvement of amateurs in insect science represent for insect conservation.
Apart from the annual garden butterfly-counting weekend, Natuurpunt (the largest nature NGO in Flanders, northern Belgium) also organizes monthly counts of butterflies in gardens since 2007. In this report, we analyse these citizen science data from the period 2007-2019. Volunteers were asked to record the monthly maximum number of individuals per species in their garden. In addition, each garden was described based on butterfly-friendly features such as nectar supply or the presence of unmown areas. The surroundings of the garden were also included in the analysis by looking at the naturalness or degree of urbanization of the surrounding landscape. A total of 1,878 gardens were counted by the volunteers, with some 500 gardens per year in the early years. In recent years that number had dropped to around 100 gardens. A total of 104 different species (282,008 individuals) were reported in the gardens in the period 2007-2019: 51 butterfly species (255,950 individuals) and 53 moth species (26,058 individuals). Here, we only analyse the 20 most common species, which are also most often seen during the garden butterfly counting weekends. The most numerous garden species counted were Small White (37,821 individuals), Peacock (30,969) and Red Admiral (30,237). The average number of species per garden varies greatly among years with about 9 species in 2008 and almost 12 species in 2013. The average number of individuals per garden also varies greatly among years with about 30 individuals in 2008 and more than 50 individuals in 2009, 2010 and 2013. These peaks are mainly caused by invasions by migratory species such as Painted Lady (2009) and Silver Y (2010 and 2013). What are the ingredients for a butterfly-friendly garden? Gardens with the largest number of species and individuals are large, have butterfly bushes (Buddleia spec.) and/or flower beds, have multiple butterfly-friendly features, are located in the countryside, in agricultural areas, in a natural or rural environment and/or in villages. The number of species and individuals reported in the gardens is mainly determined by differences among years (and thus by yearly weather conditions), the garden size and the degree of urbanization and to a lesser extent by the surrounding landscape or the number of butterfly-friendly garden features. When looking at the interaction between the garden and the surrounding landscape, even in small gardens and/or in gardens in an urbanized or less-natural environment, the number of observed species and individuals increases with an increasing number of butterfly-friendly garden features. We discuss the influence of the garden features and variation therein, of the surrounding landscape and the interaction between the two on the number of individuals observed in the different types of gardens and landscapes for the 20 most common species. Finally, we will briefly discuss the challenge Flanders is facing to increase the basic ecological quality in built-up and agricultural areas. To conclude, we give some tips on how garden owners, preferably by collaborating across the borders of individual gardens, can make a difference for the butterfly-friendly design of gardens.
Cities are challenging environments for human life, because of multiple environmental issues driven by urbanization. These can sometimes be mitigated through ecosystem services provided by different functions supported by biodiversity. However, biodiversity in cities is affected by numerous factors, namely habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, as well as pollution, altered climate, and new biotic challenges. To better understand the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, we need to improve our mechanistic knowledge of these relationships. Trait-based ecology is a promising approach for unravelling the causes and consequences of biodiversity filtering on ecosystem processes and underlying services, but large gaps remain unexplored.
Here, we present a series of research directions that are aimed at extending the current knowledge of the relationship between trait-based biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services in cities. These directions are based on: (1) improving urban habitat mapping; (2) considering often neglected urban habitats and ecological niches; (3) integrating multiple urban gradients; (4) using trait-based approaches to improve our mechanistic understanding of the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services; and (5) extending the involvement of citizens.
Pursuing these research directions may support the sustainable management of urban ecosystems and the long-term provision of ecosystem services, ultimately enhancing the well-being of urban populations.
In France, two citizen science schemes focus on birds in gardens: namely the popular French Garden Birdwatch (FGB, "Oiseaux des Jardins" in French) and the innovative BirdLab. Here, we describe both schemes and discuss their interest in regards with conservation and ecological questions that can be addressed. We highlight and discuss differences and synergies between the participation of these two surveys. They are very complementary and we encourage observers to implement both protocols. We suggest that BirdLab could be implemented in other European countries.
Identifying private gardens in the U.K. as key sites of environmental engagement, we look at how a longer-term online citizen science programme facilitated the development of new and personal attachments of nature. These were visible through new or renewed interest in wildlife-friendly gardening practices and attitudinal shifts in a large proportion of its participants. Qualitative and quantitative data, collected via interviews, focus groups, surveys and logging of user behaviours, revealed that cultivating a fascination with species identification was key to both 'helping nature' and wider learning, with the programme creating a space where scientific and non-scientific knowledge could co-exist and reinforce one another. Abstract Citizen science; Environmental communication; Public understanding of science and technology Keywords https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18010207 DOI
Urban areas are often perceived to have lower biodiversity than the wider countryside, but a few small-scale studies suggest that some urban land uses can support substantial pollinator populations. We present a large-scale, well-replicated study of floral resources and pollinators in 360 sites incorporating all major land uses in four British cities. Using a systems approach, we developed Bayesian network models integrating pollinator dispersal and resource switching to estimate city-scale effects of management interventions on plant–pollinator community robustness to species loss. We show that residential gardens and allotments (community gardens) are pollinator ‘hotspots’: gardens due to their extensive area, and allotments due to their high pollinator diversity and leverage on city-scale plant–pollinator community robustness. Household income was positively associated with pollinator abundance in gardens, highlighting the influence of socioeconomic factors. Our results underpin urban planning recommendations to enhance pollinator conservation, using increasing city-scale community robustness as our measure of success.
Human behavior is responsible for many of our greatest environmental challenges. The accumulated effects of many individual and household decisions have major negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem health. Human behavioral science blends psychology and economics to understand how people respond to the context in which they make decisions (eg who presents the information and how it is framed). Behavioral insights have informed new strategies to improve personal health and financial choices. However, less is known about whether and how these insights can encourage choices that are better for the environment. We review 160 experimental interventions that attempt to alter behavior in six domains in which decisions have major environmental impacts: family planning, land management, meat consumption, transportation choices, waste production, and water use. The evidence suggests that social influence and simple adjustments to decision settings can influence pro-environmental decisions. We identify four important gaps in the evidence that provide opportunities for future research. To address these gaps, we encourage collaborations between researchers and practitioners that look at the effects of embedding tests of behavior-change interventions within environmental programs.
Community-based efforts are essential to address urban social-ecological challenges. Here, we focus on French community gardens. Through participant observation and semistructured interviews, this study seeks to provide empirical evidence on:
(1) what motivates volunteer gardeners in French community gardens to undertake this activity, (2) what practices take place in the gardens, and (3) which individual and collective processes are associated with gardeners' experiences in the gardens. Through these questions, we aim to understand how these initiatives relate to environmental stewardship. Our results show that environmental, social, and self-motivations are the drivers behind gardeners' participation in the gardens. It seems that involvement in the gardens provides opportunities to fulfill those needs and/or motives through different interrelated processes between the individual with him/herself, the human collective, and nature such as: contemplating nature and benefiting from sensory experiences, having access to environmental education, experiencing individual and collective organization, renewing social-ecological relationships, and facing local challenges. We note that French community gardens provide arenas for new experiences of nature. In addition, even if gardens' biophysical features and gardening practices allow a series of processes that provide social and ecological benefits and outcomes, these gardens refer to environmental stewardship practices by cultivating relational values. These values provide opportunities for innovative ways of creative conservation, reflecting how care for ourselves extends to care for others, for places, and for nature.
Citizen science programs monitoring ecosystems and natural resources are promoted for their potential to foster environmental awareness and stewardship. We surveyed volunteers in natural resource monitoring programs to determine whether they perceived changes in their environmental attitudes and decision-making. The majority of participants perceived changes in their attitude toward the resource being monitored, but not in their decision-making toward the resource they monitored or toward the environment more broadly. While the resources volunteers monitored in this study were diverse, program volunteers themselves were not. Participants were largely white, older, affluent, well-educated, held strong preexisting environmental attitudes, and were involved in other conservation, research, or management efforts. While engaging this narrow range of self-selected volunteers has the potential to reinforce existing pro-environmental attitudes through strengthening social networks, citizen science programs can increase their potential to promote attitude and behavioral change by making a concerted effort to engage a more diverse “citizenry.”
Despite decades of awareness about the biodiversity crisis, it remains a wicked problem. Besides preservation and restoration strategies, one approach has focused on increasing public concern about biodiversity issues by emphasizing opportunities for people to experience natural environments. In this essay, we endeavor to complicate the understanding of these experiences of nature (EoN). Because EoN are embedded in social and cultural contexts, transformative or new EoN are emerging in combination with societal changes in work, home, and technology. Policies that acknowledge and accept a diversity of culturally-situated EoN, including negative EoN, could help people reconnect with the complexity and dynamics of biodiversity. A new conceptualization of EoN that encompasses diverse experiences and reflects the sociocultural context could help to stimulate a broader transformation in the relationship between society and nature, one that better integrates the two spheres. Such a transformation is necessary to more effectively address the biodiversity crisis.
We investigated the interacting impacts of urban landscape and gardening practices on the species richness and total abundance of communities of common butterfly communities across France, using data from a nationwide monitoring scheme. We show that urbanization has a strong negative impact on butterfly richness and abundance but that at a local scale, such impact could be mitigated by gardening practices favoring nectar offer. We found few interactions among these landscape and local scale effects, indicating that butterfly-friendly gardening practices are efficient whatever the level of surrounding urbanization. We further highlight that species being the most negatively affected by urbanization are the most sensitive to gardening practices: Garden management can thus partly counterbalance the deleterious effect of urbanization for butterfly communities. This holds a strong message for park managers and private gardeners, as gardens may act as potential refuge for butterflies when the overall landscape is largely unsuitable.
Recent scholarship in conservation biology has pointed to the existence of a ‘research-implementation’ gap and has proposed various solutions for overcoming it. Some of these solutions, such as evidence-based conservation, are based on the assumption that the gap exists primarily because of a communication problem in getting reliable and needed technical information to decision makers. First, we identify conceptual weaknesses with this framing, supporting our arguments with decades of research in other fields of study. We then reconceptualise the gap as a series of crucial, productive spaces in which shared interests, value conflicts and complex relations between scientists and publics can interact. Whereas synonyms for ‘gap’ include words such as ‘chasm’, ‘rift’, or ‘breach’, the word ‘space’ is connected with words such as ‘arena’, ‘capacity’, and ‘place’ and points to who and what already exists in a specific context. Finally, we offer ways forward for applying this new understanding in practice. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Urban ecology research is changing how we view the biological value and ecological importance of cities. Lagging behind this revised image of the city are natural resource management agencies' urban conservation programs that historically have invested in education and outreach rather than programs designed to achieve high-priority species conservation results. This essay synthesizes research on urban bee species diversity and abundance to suggest how urban conservation can be repositioned to better align with a newly unfolding image of urban landscapes. We argue that pollinators put high-priority and high-impact urban conservation within reach. In a rapidly urbanizing world, transforming how environmental managers view the city can improve citizen engagement while exploring more sustainable practices of urbanization. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The butterfly fauna of lowland Northern California has exhibited a marked decline in recent years that previous studies have attributed in part to altered climatic conditions and changes in land use. Here, we ask if a shift in insecticide use towards neonicotinoids is associated with butterfly declines at four sites in the region that have been monitored for four decades. A negative association between butterfly populations and increasing neonicotinoid application is detectable while controlling for land use and other factors, and appears to be more severe for smaller-bodied species. These results suggest that neonicotinoids could influence non-target insect populations occurring in proximity to application locations, and highlights the need for mechanistic work to complement long-term observational data.
Land-use intensification and resulting habitat loss are put forward as the main causes of flower visitor decline. However, the impact of urbanization, the prime driver of land-use intensification in Europe, is poorly studied. In particular, our understanding of whether and how it affects the composition and functioning of flower visitor assemblages is scant, yet required to cope with increasing urbanization worldwide. Here, we use a nation-wide dataset of plant–flower visitor (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera) interactions sampled by citizen scientists following a standardized protocol to assess macroecological changes in richness and composition of flower visitor communities with urbanization. We measured the community composition by quantifying the relative occurrence of generalist and specialist flower visitors based on their specialisation on flowering plant families. We show that urbanization is associated with reduced flower visitor richness and a shift in community composition toward generalist insects, indicating a modification of the functional composition of communities. These results suggest that urbanization affects not only the richness of flower visitor assemblages but may also cause their large-scale functional homogenization. Future research should focus on designing measures to reconcile urban development with flower visitor conservation.
There has been widespread concern that neonicotinoid pesticides may be adversely impacting wild and managed bees for some years, but recently attention has shifted to examining broader effects they may be having on biodiversity. For example in the Netherlands, declines in insectivorous birds are positively associated with levels of neonicotinoid pollution in surface water. In England, the total abundance of widespread butterfly species declined by 58% on farmed land between 2000 and 2009 despite both a doubling in conservation spending in the UK, and predictions that climate change should benefit most species. Here we build models of the UK population indices from 1985 to 2012 for 17 widespread butterfly species that commonly occur at farmland sites. Of the factors we tested, three correlated significantly with butterfly populations. Summer temperature and the index for a species the previous year are both positively associated with butterfly indices. By contrast, the number of hectares of farmland where neonicotinoid pesticides are used is negatively associated with butterfly indices. Indices for 15 of the 17 species show negative associations with neonicotinoid usage. The declines in butterflies have largely occurred in England, where neonicotinoid usage is at its highest. In Scotland, where neonicotinoid usage is comparatively low, butterfly numbers are stable. Further research is needed urgently to show whether there is a causal link between neonicotinoid usage and the decline of widespread butterflies or whether it simply represents a proxy for other environmental factors associated with intensive agriculture.
The goal of this report is to help government agencies and other organizations involved in natural resource management, environmental protection, and policymaking related to both to make informed decisions about investing in citizen science. In this report, we explore the current use of citizen science in natural resource and environmental science and decisionmaking in the United States and describe the investments organizations might make to benefit from citizen science.
We find that:
• Many people are interested in participating in citizen science.
• Citizen science already contributes to natural resource and environmental science, natural resource
management, and environmental protection and policymaking.
• Citizen science is a rigorous process of scientific discovery, indistinguishable from conventional science
apart from the participation of volunteers, and should be treated as such in its design, implementation,
and evaluation. When properly designed and used, citizen science can help an organization meet its
needs for sound science.
• Citizen science can contribute to natural resource and environmental organizations’ goals for public
input and engagement.
• Many types of projects can benefit from citizen science. When planning to utilize citizen science, organizations
need to match their needs and goals for science and public input and engagement to the
strengths of particular citizen science projects and the ways in which the public can participate.
Depending on the organization’s needs and goals, citizen science can efficiently generate high-quality
data or help solve problems while fostering public input and engagement.
• Organizational leadership is needed to provide realistic expectations for citizen science, including its
limitations as well as its benefits. Leadership is also sometimes needed to lessen administrative hurdles
and to create a safe space for learning from project inefficiencies and failures.
Citizen science requires strategic investments. Beyond project-specific investments, organizations should consider developing or modifying policies and technologies designed to facilitate the field of citizen science as a whole.
Research dealing with various aspects of* the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985,
1987) is reviewed, and some unresolved issues are discussed. In broad terms, the theory is
found to be well supported by empirical evidence. Intentions to perform behaviors of different
kinds can be predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the behavior, subjective
norms, and perceived behavioral control; and these intentions, together with perceptions of
behavioral control, account for considerable variance in actual behavior. Attitudes, subjective
norms, and perceived behavioral control are shown to be related to appropriate sets of salient
behavioral, normative, and control beliefs about the behavior, but the exact nature of these
relations is still uncertain. Expectancy value formulations are found to be only partly
successful in dealing with these relations. Optimal rescaling of expectancy and value
measures is offered as a means of dealing with measurement limitations. Finally, inclusion of
past behavior in the prediction equation is shown to provide a means of testing the theory*s
sufficiency, another issue that remains unresolved. The limited available evidence concerning
this question shows that the theory is predicting behavior quite well in comparison to the
ceiling imposed by behavioral reliability.
Accurate species identification is fundamental to biodiversity science, but the natural history skills re-quired for this are neglected in formal education at all levels. In this paper we describe how the web application ispotnature.org and its sister site ispot.org.za (collectively, " iSpot ") are helping to solve this problem by combining learning technology with crowdsourcing to connect beginners with experts. Over 94% of observations submitted to iSpot receive a determination. External checking of a sample of 3,287 iSpot records verified > 92% of them. To mid 2014, iSpot crowdsourced the identification of 30,000 taxa (>80% at species level) in > 390,000 observations with a global community numbering > 42,000 registered participants. More than half the observations on ispotnature.org were named within an hour of submission. iSpot uses a unique, 9-dimensional reputation system to motivate and reward participants and to verify determinations. Taxon-specific reputation points are earned when a participant proposes an identification that achieves agreement from other participants, weighted by the agreers' own reputation scores for the taxon. This system is able to discriminate effectively between competing determinations when two or more are proposed for the same observation. In 57% of such cases the reputation system improved the accuracy of the determination, while in the remainder it either improved precision (e.g. by
Human computation is a computing approach that draws upon human cognitive abilities to solve computational tasks for which there are so far no satisfactory fully automated solutions even when using the most advanced computing technologies available. Human computation for citizen science projects consists in designing systems that allow large crowds of volunteers to contribute to scientific research by executing human computation tasks. Examples of successful projects are Galaxy Zoo and FoldIt. A key feature of this kind of project is its capacity to engage volunteers. An important requirement for the proposal and evaluation of new engagement strategies is having a clear understanding of the typical engagement of the volunteers; however, even though several projects of this kind have already been completed, little is known about this issue. In this paper, we investigate the engagement pattern of the volunteers in their interactions in human computation for citizen science projects, how they differ among themselves in terms of engagement, and how those volunteer engagement features should be taken into account for establishing the engagement encouragement strategies that should be brought into play in a given project. To this end, we define four quantitative engagement metrics to measure different aspects of volunteer engagement, and use data mining algorithms to identify the different volunteer profiles in terms of the engagement metrics. Our study is based on data collected from two projects: Galaxy Zoo and The Milky Way Project. The results show that the volunteers in such projects can be grouped into five distinct engagement profiles that we label as follows: hardworking, spasmodic, persistent, lasting, and moderate. The analysis of these profiles provides a deeper understanding of the nature of volunteers’ engagement in human computation for citizen science projects.
Much of the recent changes in North American climate have occurred during the winter months, and as result, overwintering birds represent important sentinels of anthropogenic climate change. While there is mounting evidence that bird populations are responding to a warming climate (e.g., poleward shifts) questions remain as to whether these species-specific responses are resulting in community-wide changes. Here, we test the hypothesis that a changing winter climate should favor the formation of winter bird communities dominated by warm-adapted species. To do this, we quantified changes in community composition using a functional index – the Community Temperature Index (CTI) – which measures the balance between low- and high-temperature dwelling species in a community. Using data from Project FeederWatch, an international citizen science program, we quantified spatiotemporal changes in winter bird communities (n = 38 bird species) across eastern North America and tested the influence of changes in winter minimum temperature over a 22-year period. We implemented a jackknife analysis to identify those species most influential in driving changes at the community level and the population dynamics (e.g., extinction or colonization) responsible for these community changes. Since 1990, we found that the winter bird community structure has changed with communities increasingly composed of warm-adapted species. This reshuffling of winter bird communities was strongest in southerly latitudes and driven primarily by local increases in abundance and regional patterns of colonization by southerly birds. CTI tracked patterns of changing winter temperature at different temporal scales ranging from 1 to 35 years. We conclude that a shifting winter climate has provided an opportunity for smaller, southerly distributed species to colonize new regions and promote the formation of unique winter bird assemblages throughout eastern North America.
Public involvement is one of the keys to achieving biodiversity conservation goals. Increasing public involvement in conservation activities requires investigation into what makes people more aware of nature, especially in an ordinary and local context, in their everyday lives. Among the initiatives developed to increase the public's awareness of conservation issues and individual environmental practices, citizen-science programs are based on an invitation to observe and survey nature. In our study, we examined the consequences of participation in a participative citizen-science program that takes place in an everyday-life context on individuals' knowledge and beliefs about biodiversity. This program, the French Garden Butterflies Watch, is addressed to the non-scientifically literate public and is run by the French National Museum of Natural History (MNHN). We examined the ways increased knowledge or strengthened beliefs or ideas about biodiversity can foster pro-conservation attitudes and behavior. We explored how repeated interactions with nature influence the development of knowledge in this area, and how these repeated observations of biodiversity become integrated into complex cognitive processes over time and space. We showed that repeated observations of nature can increase individual knowledge and beliefs. Our results brought out three important conclusions: (1) conservation issues must be integrated into a wider network of social relationships; (2) observing everyday nature often makes people consider its functional and evolutionary characteristics; and (3) scientific knowledge seems necessary to help people to develop their own position on ecosystems.
Environmental problems have their origins in human behavior, and as a result, any solution to environmental issues will require changes in behavior. While many disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences offer important perspectives on the behaviors linked with environmental problems, the study of the individual brings a focus on cognitive, social, and motivational processes that provides insights into effective ways to promote change. Psychological research on proenvironmental behavior dates back nearly 40 years, and within this rich body of empirical research are a number of well-established findings. Strategies such as prompts, commitments, feedback, social norms, incentives, and convenience have all been shown to effectively promote proenvironmental behavior – at least in some contexts, for some behaviors, and for some individuals. This article begins with a brief overview of these research findings, and then proceeds to examine the less-explored question about when various strategies work. The article concludes with recommendations for selecting an appropriate strategy for promoting behavior change, along with fruitful areas for future research.
Maximum likelihood or restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimates of the
parameters in linear mixed-effects models can be determined using the lmer
function in the lme4 package for R. As for most model-fitting functions in R,
the model is described in an lmer call by a formula, in this case including
both fixed- and random-effects terms. The formula and data together determine a
numerical representation of the model from which the profiled deviance or the
profiled REML criterion can be evaluated as a function of some of the model
parameters. The appropriate criterion is optimized, using one of the
constrained optimization functions in R, to provide the parameter estimates. We
describe the structure of the model, the steps in evaluating the profiled
deviance or REML criterion, and the structure of classes or types that
represents such a model. Sufficient detail is included to allow specialization
of these structures by users who wish to write functions to fit specialized
linear mixed models, such as models incorporating pedigrees or smoothing
splines, that are not easily expressible in the formula language used by lmer.
"Human activities, such as mining, forestry, and agriculture, strongly influence processes in natural systems. Because conservation has focused on managing and protecting wildlands, research has focused on understanding the indirect influence of these human activities on wildlands. Although a conservation focus on wildlands is critically important, the concept of residential area as an ecosystem is relatively new, and little is known about the potential of such areas to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. As urban sprawl increases, it becomes urgent to construct a method to research and improve the impacts of management strategies for residential landscapes. If the cumulative activities of individual property owners could help conserve biodiversity, then residential matrix management could become a critical piece of the conservation puzzle. Citizen science is a method of integrating public outreach and scientific data collection locally, regionally, and across large geographic scales. By involving citizen participants directly in monitoring and active management of residential lands, citizen science can generate powerful matrix management efforts, defying the tyranny of small decisions and leading to positive, cumulative, and measurable impacts on biodiversity."
Citizen science can make major contributions to informal science education by targeting participants' attitudes and knowledge about science while changing human behavior towards the environment. We examined how training associated with an invasive species citizen science program affected participants in these areas. We found no changes in science literacy or overall attitudes between tests administered just before and after a one-day training program, matching results from other studies. However, we found improvements in science literacy and knowledge using context-specific measures and in self-reported intention to engage in pro-environmental activities. While we noted modest change in knowledge and attitudes, we found comparison and interpretation of these data difficult in the absence of other studies using similar measures. We suggest that alternative survey instruments are needed and should be calibrated appropriately to the pre-existing attitudes, behavior, and levels of knowledge in these relatively sophisticated target groups.
There is a vigorous debate about the capacity of conservation biology, as a scientific discipline, to effectively contribute to actions that preserve and restore biodiversity. Various factors may be responsible for the current great divide that exists between conservation research and action. Part of the problem may be a lack of involvement by conservation scientists in actually conducting or helping implement concrete conservation actions, yet scientists' involvement can be decisive for successful implementation, as illustrated here by the rapid recovery of an endangered hoopoe population in the Swiss Alps after researchers decided to implement the corrective measures they were proposing themselves. We argue that a conceptual paradigm shift should take place in the academic conservation discipline toward more commitment on the part of researchers to turn conservation science into conservation action. Practical implementation should be regarded as an integrated part of scientific conservation activity, as it actually constitutes the ultimate assessment of the effectiveness of the recommended conservation guidelines, and should be rewarded as such.
Citizen science, the involvement of volunteers in research, has increased the scale of ecological field studies with continent-wide, centralized monitoring efforts and, more rarely, tapping of volunteers to conduct large, coordinated, field experiments. The unique benefit for the field of ecology lies in understanding processes occurring at broad geographic scales and on private lands, which are impossible to sample extensively with traditional field research models. Citizen science produces large, longitudinal data sets, whose potential for error and bias is poorly understood. Because it does not usually aim to uncover mechanisms underlying ecological patterns, citizen science is best viewed as complementary to more localized, hypothesis-driven research. In the process of addressing the impacts of current, global “experiments” altering habitat and climate, large-scale citizen science has led to new, quantitative approaches to emerging questions about the distribution and abundance of organisms across space and time.
Urban sprawl is one of the greatest global changes with major negative impacts on biodiversity. Recent policies have acknowledged the value of urban green areas in counterbalancing such impacts. However, these policies are largely focused on public green areas, ignoring the role and potential of private green areas for urban ecological value. This paper aims at evaluating the importance of private gardens for habitat availability and connectivity in Paris, France, using the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) as model species. We hypothesize that public green areas contribute more to habitat availability than private gardens because of their large area, and that private gardens contribute more to connectivity than public green areas because of their scattered locations in the city. Using data on common pipistrelle activity and information on vegetation and building height, we quantify the respective contribution of public green areas and private gardens in the bat habitat availability and connectivity. Our results show that despite the low proportion of private green areas in Paris (36% of the total green areas), they still contributed up to 47.9% of bat habitat availability and decrease the resistance of the city matrix by 57%. The distribution in the city matrix and vegetation composition of those areas appeared especially beneficial for bat habitat availability and connectivity. The study demonstrates the importance of private gardens in the ecological value of cities in complementing public green areas. Our results confirm the need to develop more inclusive urban conservation strategies that include both public and private stakeholders.
New agendas for conservation are regularly proposed based on the ground that existing strategies are overly pessimistic, restricted to biodiversity hotspots, and inappropriate to halt biodiversity loss. However, little empirical evidence supports such claims. Here we review the 12971 papers published in the leading conservation journals during the last 15 years to assess what conservation actually does. Although conservation research is affected by specific bias, conservation is playing a major role in providing empirical evidence of human impacts on biodiversity. Encouraging biodiversity comebacks are also published and a wide range of conservation tools, beyond the development of protected areas in wilderness areas, are promoted. We argue that finding new routes to conservation is neither necessary nor sufficient to halt biodiversity loss.
This study examines individual commitment to biodiversity during adulthood. We studied the interrelations between everyday experiences of nature, knowledge about biodiversity, connectedness with nature, and implementation of specific pro-biodiversity practices, through a survey covering 473 adults in Paris surroundings (France). More specifically, we showed that people involved in experiences of nature in which attentiveness to biodiversity is explicit (citizen science, nature watch association, environmental association) have more knowledge about biodiversity and conservation than both people involved in experiences of nature in which attention to biodiversity remains implicit (community garden, allotment, community-supported agriculture), and people without such kinds of experience of nature. However, we found that people experiencing nature as part of a daily routine, whatever the type of experience, were more connected to nature and more likely to implement active pro-biodiversity practices. With this interdisciplinary study that links conservation biology and conservation psychology, we help understand more precisely the levels of commitment of urban and sub-urban adults toward biodiversity conservation.
A contribution by Wilson and colleagues (2017) pointed out a lack of basic knowledge on bee diversity in the general public, this despite massive worldwide support to protect these charismatic organisms. Such discrepancy may hinder conservation efforts. Promoting knowledge on pollinator diversity in the general public is challenging given the thousands of species involved and the difficulty of identification. We argue an efficient way to tackle this issue is through citizen science monitoring programs providing standard protocols to quantify the tremendous diversity of pollinators and ways to share and discuss observations. We found quantitative evidence that such scheme leads to markedly heightened entomological knowledge, confirming the assumed but rarely tested value of citizen science for public education, even regarding challenging topic such as insect diversity. We emphasize citizen science as a powerful tool for policy makers and biologists to outreach the general public about biodiversity, contributing to better conservation outcomes.
As part of the current wave of environmental awareness, inhabitants in the heart of the Paris agglomeration are increasingly being made aware of pro-biodiversity gardening techniques. But can certain practices such as keeping spontaneous vegetation in one’s garden be reconciled with the type of relationship inhabitants have with—and more specifically their representations of—this space? Inhabitants develop a multifaceted relationship with their gardens in which nature (in its broadest sense), visual order and aesthetics occupy a central role. The functions and usages attributed to the garden condition gardening practices whereby inhabitant-gardeners demand regular upkeep of these spaces so as to keep nature “in order”. Within these multidimensional relationships, we categorise those respondents who base their interest in gardens around a specific focus on the living world as “biophiles”. Gardens in the heart of the Parisian agglomeration may therefore appear to be spaces that favour interaction between inhabitants and certain entities that they perceive from the living world. Also, these individuals have a less orderly and controlled conception of vegetation in their gardens than the other people interviewed. “Biophiles” are therefore more tolerant of spontaneous vegetation than other individuals because this laissez-faire attitude fits both with their relationship to their garden and their own aesthetic representation of this space. This means that domestic gardens can support a specific relationship with ordinary biodiversity underpinned by gardening practices that are more in phase with living matter.
In Europe, butterflies have declined over the last decades mainly because of the increasing urbanization and the agricultural intensification occurred in lowlands areas. Drivers of butterfly decline were identified in changes of both local scale habitat characteristics and landscape-scale land-use coverage. Thus, to counteract the negative trend of butterfly populations, management actions that simultaneously have an effect on local and landscape scale environments are needed. The present research was performed in northern Italy, in a human-dominated area of about 170 km2. From April to September 2014 and 2015, we surveyed butterflies in 494 50-m sections, grouped into 44 line transects. First, using a multi-scale GAMM, we analysed the simultaneous effect of local (nectar index, crop type, presence of woodlands and hedgerows and degree of shelter) and landscape (fractional cover in 500-m buffer of arable lands, meadows, woodlands and artificial surfaces) variables on butterfly richness and abundance. We evaluated the contribution of local and landscape variables by a variation partitioning approach. Second, we performed a GAMM to investigate the effect of specific management practices adopted in meadows, hedgerows and field margins on butterfly communities. Our results showed that the evaluation of the effect of local scale characteristics on butterfly communities definitely cannot disregard the landscape context. We thus suggest maintaining urban and agricultural areas alternated by a mosaic of nectar-rich land-covers, such as meadows and alfalfa, forest patches and hedgerows. Our study also allowed to formulate management guidelines of specific habitats. Accordingly, meadows should be managed by reducing the number of cuts, while wide herbaceous margins, characterised by a high grass layer rich in dicots, should be maintained in arable lands. To avoid a barrier effect and to guarantee the presence of a well-developed shrub layer, which provides high nectar resources, it is also necessary to avoid an excessive growth in hedgerows height. Results evidence that the adoption of these management guidelines and of a proper landscape planning strategy, can lead to play an important role in butterfly conservation even within human dominated areas.
Citizen science-the partnering of scientists with members of the public to do research-is increasingly utilized in environmental research, having been credited with enabling studies that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive while promoting scientific literacy and empowering and engaging participants in conservation. Although the value of citizen-generated data for scientific purposes is increasingly accepted, and there is a growing recognition of the role of citizen science in developing science literacy, there has been little investigation of its link to conservation outcomes-particularly in terms of volunteers' further engagement in conservation. This paper reviews the literature on the relationship between participation in citizen science and conservation attitude and behavior changes, and looks at the relevance of theoretical models to shed light on possible drivers of such changes. We discuss two citizen science projects in the New York metropolitan area-the Great Pollinator Project and the Earthwatch Coyote Project-as illustrations of the impact of citizen science on attitudes and behaviors as perceived by participants. We offer recommendations for further research on facilitating conservation outcomes through citizen science.
Nature-based citizen science projects can educate their volunteers about conservation issues and encourage them to engage in conservation actions. Theory and previous research suggest that knowledge of issues and action strategies, as well as social factors can influence the decision to take action on a given issue. To determine the extent to which volunteers are receiving information and support through their citizen science projects that could increase their engagement in conservation, we surveyed participants from butterfly citizen science projects across the United States. We asked volunteers if they received information on butterfly conservation threats and action strategies, if they were actively encouraged to engage in conservation, if their project provided a sense of connection and community that supported engagement in conservation, and how their engagement in 12 different conservation actions, ranging from planting host plants to contacting the media about butterfly conservation, has changed since joining citizen science. 79% of our respondents reported that they have received information on butterfly conservation from their citizen science project, and 55% felt that their project actively encouraged them to engage in conservation. 95% of respondents reported that they had increased their involvement in butterfly conservation. Notably, volunteers who received information on conservation and who were encouraged to engage in conservation by their citizen science project were more likely to have increased their engagement in conservation. Connection to other volunteers was also linked to increased conservation action. We make recommendations for how citizen science projects can improve their programming to increase conservation engagement.
Despite the wealth of information which exists concerning environmental behavior, it is not known which variable or variables appear to be most influential in motivating individuals to take responsible environmental action. A meta-analysis of environmental behavior research was undertaken in an attempt to determine this. An exhaustive search of the empirically based environmental behavior research conducted over the past decade yielded a substantial number of studies representative of a broad academic base. The characteristics and findings of these studies served as the data for the meta-analysis. As a result of the meta-analysis, the following variables were found to be associated with responsible environmental behavior: knowledge of issues, knowledge of action strategies, locus of control, attitudes, verbal commitment, and an individual's sense of responsibility. A model of predictors of environmental behavior is proposed.
Western Australia (WA) is experiencing severe water shortages associated with a drying climate. Suburban gardens in and around WA's capital city of Perth however, continue to be dominated by water dependent European style gardens featuring green lawns and introduced species. One area in metropolitan Perth going against this norm is the local government district of Fremantle. Residents within this city council have shown widespread adoption of native gardens: a seemingly obvious means of reducing water use and increasing local biodiversity. In an endeavour to understand the differences in garden design preferences, the aim of this research was to explore cultural and psychological drivers of native gardening within the city of Fremantle. Twelve in-depth, face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with Fremantle homeowners. Participants had converted their garden from a traditional European design in favour of an aesthetic based on native species. Drivers such as knowledge, functionality, and social norms emerged, and interestingly resembled the same sorts of drivers previously identified as driving European style gardening practices in Australia. We account for the tension of same drivers yet different design due to differences in social and cultural values. Specifically, the dominant worldview in Fremantle is pro-environmental and this driver appears to shape the social context in which gardening decisions are made, making for a more accepting setting for residents to adopt alternative garden designs. Findings from this research are of value to water and environmental policy makers, urban local governments, and environmental educators.
Urban gardens may support bees by providing resources in otherwise resource-poor environments. However, it is unclear whether urban, backyard gardens with native plants will support more bees than gardens without native plants. We examined backyard gardens in northwestern Ohio to ask: 1) Does bee diversity, abundance, and community composition differ in backyard gardens with and without native plants? 2) What characteristics of backyard gardens and land cover in the surrounding landscape correlate with changes in the bee community? 3) Do bees in backyard gardens respond more strongly to local or landscape factors? We sampled bees with pan trapping, netting, and direct observation. We examined vegetation characteristics and land cover in 500 m, 1 km, and 2 km buffers surrounding each garden. Abundance of all bees, native bees, and cavity-nesting bees (but not ground-nesting bees) was greater in native plant gardens but only richness of cavity-nesting bees differed in gardens with and without native plants. Bee community composition differed in gardens with and without native plants. Overall, bee richness and abundance were positively correlated with local characteristics of backyard gardens, such as increased floral abundance, taller vegetation, more cover by woody plants, less cover by grass, and larger vegetable gardens. Differences in the amount of forest, open space, and wetlands surrounding gardens influenced abundance of cavity- and ground-nesting bees, but at different spatial scales. Thus, presence of native plants, and local and landscape characteristics might play important roles in maintaining bee diversity within urban areas.
Human populations are increasing and becoming predominantly urban. Resulting land cover changes reduce, perforate, isolate, and degrade bird habitat on local and global scales. I review: 1) urbanization of the Earth, and 2) published studies of bird responses to human settlement, and then: 3) suggest how and why birds respond to settlement. In a slight majority of studies, bird density increased, but richness and evenness decreased in response to urbanization. The most consistent effects of increasing settlement were increases in non-native species of birds, increases in birds able to nest on buildings (esp. swifts and swallows), increases in nest predation, and decreases in interior- and ground-nesting species. Effects of urbanization on hawks, owls, and cavity nesters were less consistent, in part being dependent on the surrounding habitat. The factors favoring species in urbanizing areas appear simpler than those reducing species. Increased availability of food was primary among factors benefiting species; predator reduction, reduced human persecution, and habitat enhancement were less important. Decreased habitat availability, reduced patch size, increased edge, increased non-native vegetation, decreased vegetative complexity, and increased nest predation were commonly associated with bird declines in response to human settlement. Urban planners and policy makers can profoundly affect how and where cities grow. Avian ecologists can help inform these important decisions by: 1) quantifying how the pattern of settlement affects birds and 2) understanding how bird populations and resulting communities change along entire gradients of urbanization.
Because environmental degradation has the potential to negatively affect mental and social well-being, environmental sustainability is highly relevant to psychologists, who have a tradition of interventions designed to change behavior. Although many psychologists are already using psychological knowledge and tools to protect environmental resources, their efforts are neither widely known nor extensively utilized in applied conservation settings. Here, we describe some barriers to effective conservation interventions adopted by psychologists and conservation professionals alike, and provide suggestions to both disciplines for more productive engagement. We also present an illustrative example of psychological science applied to promote environmental conservation in a zoological park setting. Our aim is to raise awareness of the possibilities for such collaboration and to urge conservation professionals and psychologists to work together in order to proactively address pressing environmental challenges.
Residential landscapes with private gardens are major land covers in cities and their sustainable management is paramount for achieving a resilient urban future. Here we focus on the value of residential ecosystems for biodiversity conservation and explore the social and ecological factors that influence wildlife-friendly garden management. Using a stratified sampling design across the UK city of Leeds, this interdisciplinary study develops and applies a mixed method approach, including questionnaires, interviews and ecological surveys across multiple spatial scales. We quantify wildlife-friendly gardening using two measures: (i) the number of wildlife-friendly features within gardens (the wildlife resources index, WRI); and (ii) the frequency of winter bird feeding. Wildlife-friendly gardening is influenced by a combination of garden characteristics and management intensity, householder demographics, wider environmental activity and landscape context. Residents reveal a range of motivations for wildlife-friendly gardening, notably personal well-being and a moral responsibility to nature. Respondents expressed a duty to maintain neighbourhood standards, revealing that social norms are a considerable barrier to uptake of wildlife-friendly activities, but also provide an opportunity where neighbour mimicry results in diffusion of wildlife-friendly practices. Community-driven initiatives that engage, educate and empower residents are better placed to encourage wildlife-friendly gardening than top-down financial incentives.
To provide practitioners with useful information about how to promote proenvironmental behavior (PEB), a meta-analysis was performed on 87 published reports containing 253 experimental treatments that measured an observed, not self-reported, behavioral outcome. Most studies combined multiple treatments, and this confounding precluded definitive conclusions about which individual treatments are most effective. Treatments that included cognitive dissonance, goal setting, social modeling, and prompts provided the overall largest effect sizes (Hedge’s g > 0.60). Further analyses indicated that different treatments have been more effective for certain behaviors. Although average effect sizes are based on small numbers of studies, effective combinations of treatments and behaviors are making it easy to recycle, setting goals for conserving gasoline, and modeling home energy conservation. The results also reveal several gaps in the literature that should guide further research, including both treatments and PEB that have not been tested.
Can enhancement of garden habitat for native birds have conservation benefits, or are garden bird assemblages determined by landscape and environmental characteristics? The relative roles of vegetation structure, floristics and other garden attributes, and environmental and landscape controls, on the abundance and richness of bird species in 214 back or front gardens in 10 suburbs of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, are addressed to answer this question. Birds were counted in each garden and the resources they utilized noted. Vascular plant species and other attributes of the garden were noted, along with rainfall, altitude, distance from natural vegetation, distance from the city and garden size. Garden floristics and bird assemblages were ordinated, and garden groups characterized by particular assemblages of birds identified. General linear modelling was used to determine the combinations of independent variables that best predicted the richness of birds and the abundance of individual bird species and groups of species. The models for bird richness, bird species and groups of bird species were highly individualistic. Although native birds showed a preference for native plants, they also utilized many exotic plants. Exotic birds largely utilized exotic plants. Variation in garden characteristics does substantially affect the nature of garden bird assemblages in Hobart, with weaker environmental and landscape influences. The fact that gardens can be designed and managed to favour particular species and species assemblages gives gardeners a potentially substantial role in the conservation of urban native avifauna.
This article develops a conceptual framework for advancing theories of environ- mentally significant individual behavior and reports on the attempts of the author's research group and others to develop such a theory. It discusses defini- tions of environmentally significant behavior; classifies the behaviors and their causes; assesses theories of environmentalism, focusing especially on value-belief-norm theory; evaluates the relationship between environmental concern and behavior; and summarizes evidence on the factors that determine environmentally significant behaviors and that can effectively alter them. The article concludes by presenting some major propositions supported by available research and some principles for guiding future research and informing the design of behavioral programs for environmental protection. Recent developments in theory and research give hope for building the under- standing needed to effectively alter human behaviors that contribute to environ- mental problems. This article develops a conceptual framework for the theory of environmentally significant individual behavior, reports on developments toward such a theory, and addresses five issues critical to building a theory that can inform efforts to promote proenvironmental behavior.
Gardening is a popular pastime in the United States, worth investigating because of its potential for important effects on the individual as well as on the ecosystem. The present study was designed to investigate motivations for gardening and their relationship to attitudes toward nature and to gardening practices. Understanding such motivations may inform attempts to promote more sustainable gardening practices. One hundred twenty-six visitors to a garden center completed a survey about benefits from gardening, uses of their yard and concerns underlying their gardening practices. Results suggested that appreciation for nature was a significant motivation for gardening, but that social concerns and uses were also important. Both nature uses and social uses of the yard were associated with satisfaction. In general, respondents did not make a strong connection between their own private yards and the natural environment. Using the yard to appreciate nature, though, was associated with ecological considerations and concerns. A concern with practical issues like cost and ease of maintenance was negatively correlated with using the yard to appreciate nature, and was unconnected with satisfaction. Implications for encouraging sustainable gardening practices are discussed.