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  1. Article ; Online: Migrant decision-making in a frontier landscape

    Jonathan Salerno

    Environmental Research Letters, Vol 11, Iss 4, p

    2016  Volume 044019

    Abstract: Across the tropics, rural farmers and livestock keepers use mobility as an adaptive livelihood strategy. Continued migration to and within frontier areas is widely viewed as a driver of environmental decline and biodiversity loss. Recent scholarship ... ...

    Abstract Across the tropics, rural farmers and livestock keepers use mobility as an adaptive livelihood strategy. Continued migration to and within frontier areas is widely viewed as a driver of environmental decline and biodiversity loss. Recent scholarship advances our understanding of migration decision-making in the context of changing climate and environments, and in doing so it highlights the variation in migration responses to primarily economic and environmental factors. Building on these insights, this letter investigates past and future migration decisions in a frontier landscape of Tanzania, East Africa. Combining field observations and household data within a multilevel modeling framework, the letter analyzes the explicit importance of social factors relative to economic and environmental factors in driving decisions to migrate or remain. Results indeed suggest that local community ties and non-local social networks drive both immobility and anticipated migration, respectively. In addition, positive interactions with local protected natural resource areas promote longer-term residence. Findings shed new light on how frontier areas transition to human dominated landscapes. This highlights critical links between migration behavior and the conservation of biodiversity and management of natural resources, as well as how migrants evolve to become integrated into communities.
    Keywords rural mobility ; environmental change ; adaptation ; biodiversity conservation ; natural resource management ; protected areas ; Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering ; TD1-1066 ; Environmental sciences ; GE1-350 ; Science ; Q ; Physics ; QC1-999
    Subject code 333
    Language English
    Publishing date 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher IOP Publishing
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  2. Article ; Online: Cognitive Maps Reveal Diverse Perceptions of How Prescribed Fire Affects Forests and Communities

    Matthew Hamilton / Jonathan Salerno

    Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, Vol

    2020  Volume 3

    Abstract: The potential for prescribed fire to address fuel management and forest restoration goals has received considerable attention. However, many wildfire risk mitigation practitioners and researchers consider prescribed fire to be an underutilized tool for ... ...

    Abstract The potential for prescribed fire to address fuel management and forest restoration goals has received considerable attention. However, many wildfire risk mitigation practitioners and researchers consider prescribed fire to be an underutilized tool for forest and fire management. Prescribed fire can affect a broad range of values (e.g., air quality, wildlife habitat, timber, protection of homes) and these effects, which we term valued outcomes, may result from complex dynamics operating within fire-prone social-ecological systems. Increasing the effective use of prescribed fire requires a better understanding of how these dynamics are perceived by stakeholders, whose support is crucial for forest and fire management initiatives that affect diverse groups of people. We evaluated perceptions of the effects of prescribed fire on valued outcomes using data from 111 cognitive maps elicited from stakeholders in the wildfire-prone Eastern Cascades Ecoregion of central Oregon. As representations of relationships among biological, physical, social, political, and other factors that structure individuals' understanding of a system, cognitive maps are ideal for analyzing perceptions of dynamics in complex social-ecological systems. We found that prescribed fire was perceived to positively affect valued outcomes in individuals' cognitive maps. However, when we aggregated individuals' cognitive maps to evaluate perceptions of prescribed fire at varying stakeholder group sizes, we found that perception of desirable effects declined with group size. Additionally, representatives of fire response and non-governmental organizations tended to perceive prescribed fire more favorably, while private citizens and representatives of private businesses emphasized adverse effects. Finally, we measured how the perceptions of the effects of prescribed fire varied across 15 distinct valued outcomes and found that air quality, aesthetic values, and wildlife habitat were perceived to be most negatively affected by prescribed fire, while ...
    Keywords prescribed fire ; fuel management ; cognitive maps ; risk governance ; oregon ; Forestry ; SD1-669.5 ; Environmental sciences ; GE1-350
    Subject code 690
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-07-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  3. Article ; Online: Wolves are back

    Lawrence C. Hamilton / Joanna E. Lambert / Lydia Anne Lawhon / Jonathan Salerno / Joel Hartter

    Conservation Science and Practice, Vol 2, Iss 7, Pp n/a-n/a (2020)

    Sociopolitical identity and opinions on management of Canis lupus

    2020  

    Abstract: Abstract Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were eliminated from the state of Oregon in the middle of the 20th century. By the early 21st century, wolves had returned to the northeast corner of the state, dispersing from populations reintroduced in Idaho and ... ...

    Abstract Abstract Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were eliminated from the state of Oregon in the middle of the 20th century. By the early 21st century, wolves had returned to the northeast corner of the state, dispersing from populations reintroduced in Idaho and Wyoming. On a series of random‐sample telephone surveys (2011–2018), we asked more than 3,000 northeast Oregon residents about their preferences concerning wolf management strategies. One‐third of the respondents said that wolves should be eliminated from this region. Sociopolitical identity dominated other individual characteristics including age, education, years resident, and forestland ownership in predicting wolf‐management views. Political effects appear even stronger when our indicator distinguishes the most conservative, and further intensify when most of the respondent's friends belong to the same party. This strong influence of sociopolitical identity echoes findings from the broader literature on environmental concern, but adds a new and policy‐relevant element to wolf‐attitude research. As wolves expand throughout the west, and new states consider reintroduction, state and federal wildlife managers face deeply rooted opposition. Managers must consider a range of strategies to manage wolves while working with community leaders in wolf‐occupied areas to determine management options.
    Keywords control ; opinion ; oregon ; politics ; predator ; public ; Ecology ; QH540-549.5 ; General. Including nature conservation ; geographical distribution ; QH1-199.5
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-07-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Wiley
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  4. Article ; Online: Using Very-High-Resolution Multispectral Classification to Estimate Savanna Fractional Vegetation Components

    Andrea E. Gaughan / Nicholas E. Kolarik / Forrest R. Stevens / Narcisa G. Pricope / Lin Cassidy / Jonathan Salerno / Karen M. Bailey / Michael Drake / Kyle Woodward / Joel Hartter

    Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 551, p

    2022  Volume 551

    Abstract: Characterizing compositional and structural aspects of vegetation is critical to effectively assessing land function. When priorities are placed on ecological integrity, remotely sensed estimates of fractional vegetation components (FVCs) are useful for ... ...

    Abstract Characterizing compositional and structural aspects of vegetation is critical to effectively assessing land function. When priorities are placed on ecological integrity, remotely sensed estimates of fractional vegetation components (FVCs) are useful for measuring landscape-level habitat structure and function. In this study, we address whether FVC estimates, stratified by dominant vegetation type, vary with different classification approaches applied to very-high-resolution small unoccupied aerial system (UAS)-derived imagery. Using Parrot Sequoia imagery, flown on a DJI Mavic Pro micro-quadcopter, we compare pixel- and segment-based random forest classifiers alongside a vegetation height-threshold model for characterizing the FVC in a southern African dryland savanna. Results show differences in agreement between each classification method, with the most disagreement in shrub-dominated sites. When compared to vegetation classes chosen by visual identification, the pixel-based random forest classifier had the highest overall agreement and was the only classifier not to differ significantly from the hand-delineated FVC estimation. However, when separating out woody biomass components of tree and shrub, the vegetation height-threshold performed better than both random-forest approaches. These findings underscore the utility and challenges represented by very-high-resolution multispectral UAS-derived data (~10 cm ground resolution) and their uses to estimate FVC. Semi-automated approaches statistically differ from by-hand estimation in most cases; however, we present insights for approaches that are applicable across varying vegetation types and structural conditions. Importantly, characterization of savanna land function cannot rely only on a “greenness” measure but also requires a structural vegetation component. Underscoring these insights is that the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation structure on the landscape broadly informs land management, from land allocation, wildlife habitat use, natural resource ...
    Keywords savannas ; vegetation composition ; Africa ; random forest classifier ; vegetation structure ; unoccupied aerial systems ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 710
    Language English
    Publishing date 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher MDPI AG
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  5. Article ; Online: Rapid changes in public perception toward a conservation initiative

    Rebecca Niemiec / Richard E. W. Berl / Mireille Gonzalez / Tara Teel / Jonathan Salerno / Stewart Breck / Cassiopeia Camara / Matthew Collins / Courtney Schultz / Dana Hoag / Kevin Crooks

    Conservation Science and Practice, Vol 4, Iss 4, Pp n/a-n/a (2022)

    2022  

    Abstract: Abstract Rapid, widespread changes in public perceptions and behaviors have the potential to influence conservation outcomes. However, few studies have documented whether and how such shifts occur throughout the span of a conservation initiative. We ... ...

    Abstract Abstract Rapid, widespread changes in public perceptions and behaviors have the potential to influence conservation outcomes. However, few studies have documented whether and how such shifts occur throughout the span of a conservation initiative. We examined the 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves into Colorado, which passed with less support than prior surveys had estimated. We conducted a postelection survey of Colorado residents using the same methods as our preelection survey to compare responses between surveys and to official election results. Reported voting in favor of wolf reintroduction in the postelection survey decreased in comparison to voting intentions shared in the preelection survey, but not enough to reflect the actual vote. While bias from survey methods and/or sampling contributed to differences, we also found evidence that public perception changed. Specifically, beliefs about the potential for negative impacts of wolves increased, while beliefs about the potential for positive impacts of wolves decreased. Our findings highlight the need to conduct longitudinal monitoring of public perception given perceptions may be highly fluid as different entities attempt to sway voters. In addition, to better understand evolving perceptions, survey methods and sampling need to be improved.
    Keywords attitude change ; conservation behavior ; public perspectives ; wolf ; Ecology ; QH540-549.5 ; General. Including nature conservation ; geographical distribution ; QH1-199.5
    Subject code 310 ; 333
    Language English
    Publishing date 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Wiley
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  6. Article ; Online: Operationalizing Vulnerability

    Andrea Elizabeth Gaughan / Forrest Robert Stevens / Narcisa Gabriela Pricope / Joel Hartter / Lin Cassidy / Jonathan Salerno

    Land, Vol 8, Iss 7, p

    Land System Dynamics in a Transfrontier Conservation Area

    2019  Volume 111

    Abstract: Understanding how individuals, communities, and populations vary in their vulnerability requires defining and identifying vulnerability with respect to a condition, and then developing robust methods to reliably measure vulnerability. In this study, we ... ...

    Abstract Understanding how individuals, communities, and populations vary in their vulnerability requires defining and identifying vulnerability with respect to a condition, and then developing robust methods to reliably measure vulnerability. In this study, we illustrate how a conceptual model translated via simulation can guide the real-world implementation of data collection and measurement of a model system. We present a generalizable statistical framework that specifies linkages among interacting social and biophysical components in complex landscapes to examine vulnerability. We use the simulated data to present a case study in which households are vulnerable to conditions of land function, which we define as the provision of goods and services from the surrounding environment. We use an example of a transboundary region of Southern Africa and apply a set of hypothesized, simulated data to illustrate how one might use the framework to assess vulnerability based on empirical data. We define vulnerability as the predisposition of being adversely affected by environmental variation and its impacts on land uses and their outcomes as exposure (E), mediated by sensitivity (S), and mitigated by adaptive capacity (AC). We argue that these are latent, or hidden, characteristics that can be measured through a set of observable indicators. Those indicators and the linkages between latent variables require model specification prior to data collection, critical for applying the type of modeling framework presented. We discuss the strength and directional pathways between land function and vulnerability components, and assess their implications for identifying potential leverage points within the system for the benefit of future policy and management decisions.
    Keywords adaptive capacity ; drylands ; land use ; livelihoods ; Southern Africa ; structural equation model ; Agriculture ; S
    Subject code 333
    Language English
    Publishing date 2019-07-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher MDPI AG
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  7. Article ; Online: Modeling Community-Scale Natural Resource Use in a Transboundary Southern African Landscape

    Kyle D. Woodward / Narcisa G. Pricope / Forrest R. Stevens / Andrea E. Gaughan / Nicholas E. Kolarik / Michael D. Drake / Jonathan Salerno / Lin Cassidy / Joel Hartter / Karen M. Bailey / Henry Maseka Luwaya

    Remote Sensing, Vol 13, Iss 4, p

    Integrating Remote Sensing and Participatory Mapping

    2021  Volume 631

    Abstract: Remote sensing analyses focused on non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection and grazing are current research priorities of land systems science. However, mapping these particular land use patterns in rural heterogeneous landscapes is challenging ... ...

    Abstract Remote sensing analyses focused on non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection and grazing are current research priorities of land systems science. However, mapping these particular land use patterns in rural heterogeneous landscapes is challenging because their potential signatures on the landscape cannot be positively identified without fine-scale land use data for validation. Using field-mapped resource areas and household survey data from participatory mapping research, we combined various Landsat-derived indices with ancillary data associated with human habitation to model the intensity of grazing and NTFP collection activities at 100-m spatial resolution. The study area is situated centrally within a transboundary southern African landscape that encompasses community-based organization (CBO) areas across three countries. We conducted four iterations of pixel-based random forest models, modifying the variable set to determine which of the covariates are most informative, using the best fit predictions to summarize and compare resource use intensity by resource type and across communities. Pixels within georeferenced, field-mapped resource areas were used as training data. All models had overall accuracies above 60% but those using proxies for human habitation were more robust, with overall accuracies above 90%. The contribution of Landsat data as utilized in our modeling framework was negligible, and further research must be conducted to extract greater value from Landsat or other optical remote sensing platforms to map these land use patterns at moderate resolution. We conclude that similar population proxy covariates should be included in future studies attempting to characterize communal resource use when traditional spectral signatures do not adequately capture resource use intensity alone. This study provides insights into modeling resource use activity when leveraging both remotely sensed data and proxies for human habitation in heterogeneous, spectrally mixed rural land areas.
    Keywords remote sensing ; participatory mapping ; NTFP ; grazing ; random forest ; natural resources ; Science ; Q
    Subject code 333
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-02-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher MDPI AG
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  8. Article: Comparison of measured multi-decadal rainfall variability with farmers’ perceptions of and responses to seasonal changes in western Uganda

    Diem, Jeremy E / Joel Hartter / Jonathan Salerno / Elvira McIntyre / A. Stuart Grandy

    Regional environmental change. 2017 Apr., v. 17, no. 4

    2017  

    Abstract: Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are not only dealing with decreased production from land degradation, but are also impacted heavily by climate variability. Farmers perceive decreased rainfall or shortened rainy seasons throughout SSA; ... ...

    Abstract Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are not only dealing with decreased production from land degradation, but are also impacted heavily by climate variability. Farmers perceive decreased rainfall or shortened rainy seasons throughout SSA; however, the link between perceptions and climate variability is complex, especially in areas with increasing land degradation. Moreover, little is known about climate variability and farmers’ perceptions in central equatorial Africa. The purpose of this study is to quantify interannual rainfall variability from 1983 to 2014 in western Uganda and to relate the rainfall variability and associated changes in soil moisture to perceptions and coping strategies of local farmers. Surveys of 308 farming households and 14 group interviews were conducted near Kibale National Park, and daily satellite-based rainfall data for the region were extracted from the African Rainfall Climatology version 2 database. Results indicate a decrease in the long rains by approximately 3 weeks throughout much of the region; thus, soil-water deficits have intensified. Farmers perceived later onsets of both the short rains and long rains, while also reporting decreasing soil fertility and crop yields. Therefore, farmers’ perceptions of rainfall variability in the Kibale region may reflect more the decrease in soil fertility than the shortened rainy seasons and decreased soil moisture. Expanding croplands has been the farmers’ most prevalent coping strategy to decreased yields; however, nearly all the unfarmed land in western Uganda is now in protected areas. Consequently, western Uganda is facing a crisis at the nexus of population growth, land use change, and climate change.
    Keywords climate ; climate change ; climatology ; conservation areas ; coping strategies ; crop yield ; cropland ; databases ; farmers ; households ; interviews ; land degradation ; land use change ; meteorological data ; national parks ; population growth ; rain ; satellites ; seasonal variation ; soil fertility ; soil water ; surveys ; wet season ; Uganda
    Language English
    Dates of publication 2017-04
    Size p. 1127-1140.
    Publishing place Springer Berlin Heidelberg
    Document type Article
    ZDB-ID 1464515-4
    ISSN 1436-3798
    ISSN 1436-3798
    DOI 10.1007/s10113-016-0943-1
    Database NAL-Catalogue (AGRICOLA)

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  9. Article ; Online: Public perspectives and media reporting of wolf reintroduction in Colorado

    Rebecca Niemiec / Richard E.W. Berl / Mireille Gonzalez / Tara Teel / Cassiopeia Camara / Matthew Collins / Jonathan Salerno / Kevin Crooks / Courtney Schultz / Stewart Breck / Dana Hoag

    PeerJ, Vol 8, p e

    2020  Volume 9074

    Abstract: In the state of Colorado, a citizen ballot initiative to reintroduce gray wolves (Canis Lupus) is eliciting polarization and conflict among multiple stakeholder and interest groups. Given this complex social landscape, we examined the social context ... ...

    Abstract In the state of Colorado, a citizen ballot initiative to reintroduce gray wolves (Canis Lupus) is eliciting polarization and conflict among multiple stakeholder and interest groups. Given this complex social landscape, we examined the social context surrounding wolf reintroduction in Colorado as of 2019. We used an online survey of 734 Coloradans representative in terms of age and gender, and we sampled from different regions across the state, to examine public beliefs and attitudes related to wolf reintroduction and various wolf management options. We also conducted a content analysis of media coverage on potential wolf reintroduction in 10 major daily Colorado newspapers from January 2019, when the signature-gathering effort for the wolf reintroduction initiative began, through the end of January 2020, when the initiative was officially added to the ballot. Our findings suggest a high degree of social tolerance or desire for wolf reintroduction in Colorado across geographies, stakeholder groups, and demographics. However, we also find that a portion of the public believes that wolves would negatively impact their livelihoods, primarily because of concerns over the safety of people and pets, loss of hunting opportunities, and potential wolf predation on livestock. These concerns—particularly those related to livestock losses—are strongly reflected in the media. We find that media coverage has focused only on a few of the many perceived positive and negative impacts of wolf reintroduction identified among the public. Our findings highlight the need to account for this diversity of perspectives in future decisions and to conduct public outreach regarding likely impacts of wolf reintroduction.
    Keywords Beliefs ; Wolves ; Wolf reintroduction ; Public attitudes ; Content analysis ; News media ; Medicine ; R ; Biology (General) ; QH301-705.5
    Subject code 333
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-05-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher PeerJ Inc.
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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  10. Article ; Online: Remarkable rates of lightning strike mortality in Malawi.

    Monique Borgerhoff Mulder / Lameck Msalu / Tim Caro / Jonathan Salerno

    PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 1, p e

    2012  Volume 29281

    Abstract: Livingstone's second mission site on the shore of Lake Malawi suffers very high rates of consequential lightning strikes. Comprehensive interviewing of victims and their relatives in seven Traditional Authorities in Nkhata Bay District, Malawi revealed ... ...

    Abstract Livingstone's second mission site on the shore of Lake Malawi suffers very high rates of consequential lightning strikes. Comprehensive interviewing of victims and their relatives in seven Traditional Authorities in Nkhata Bay District, Malawi revealed that the annual rate of consequential strikes was 419/million, more than six times higher than that in other developing countries; the rate of deaths from lightning was 84/million/year, 5.4 times greater than the highest ever recorded. These remarkable figures reveal that lightning constitutes a significant stochastic source of mortality with potential life history consequences, but it should not deflect attention away from the more prominent causes of mortality in this rural area.
    Keywords Medicine ; R ; Science ; Q
    Language English
    Publishing date 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z
    Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
    Document type Article ; Online
    Database BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (life sciences selection)

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