CADIC   02618
CENTRO AUSTRAL DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The introduction and expansion of North American beavers (Castor canadensis) throughout the Tierra del Fuego (TDF) archipelago has greatly altered regional hydrology, riparian vegetation, food webs, and other ecological processes. Although there is binati
Autor/es:
ANNA SANTO; MICHAEL G. SORICE; CHRISTOPHER B. ANDERSON
Lugar:
Charleston
Reunión:
Congreso; 21st International Symposium on Society and Resource Management.; 2015
Resumen:
The introduction and expansion of North American beavers (Castor canadensis) throughout the Tierra del Fuego (TDF) archipelago has greatly altered regional hydrology, riparian vegetation, food webs, and other ecological processes. Although there is binational (Chile, Argentina) government support for eradicating the beaver, a successful eradication would require the participation of over 200 private landowners. Landowners have diverse beliefs about the impacts of beavers, and how they change ecosystem service benefits that they received from their land. Decisions about land management are grounded in peoples' understanding of how ecosystems function and produce ecosystem services. Better understanding landowners' decision-making processes could help resource managers coordinate successful collaborative and large-scale conservation efforts. We employed a mental models approach to understand landowners´ internally-held perceptions of how desired ecosystem services are produced. Specifically, our objectives were to 1) characterize mental models of riparian ecosystem function for a representative group of landowners on TDF's main island, 2) assess the degree of similarities and differences in mental models to determine the culturally salient beliefs, and 3) assess how estancieros perceive invasive beavers changing ecosystem function and resulting benefits for landowners. Using semi-structured interviews, we constructed landowner mental models by asking interview participants to delineate a cause-effect model discussing how the benefits they receive from water and riparian areas on their land are produced. We qualitatively coded each interview and created the associated influence diagrams. We then aggregated individual models to identify commonly held cultural beliefs. Based on 40 randomly-selected landowners, we found moderate levels of overlap suggesting some shared understanding of riparian ecosystem services. Nearly all estancieros identified several salient provisioning ecosystem service benefits, including: drinking water availability, forage for their livestock, and ability to generate hydropower. However, participants also identified diverse cultural, supporting, and regulating benefits. Additional salient and culturally-relevant ecosystem services were: aesthetic beauty, contribution to overall "ecosystem" health, recreational opportunities, and the ability to maintain rural ranching culture. Estancieros exhibited diverse opinions about how beavers cause change in riparian ecosystems, with some disagreement about whether beavers increased or decreased ecosystem services. For example, estancieros expressed divided opinions about whether beavers increased or decreased water availability, forage availability, recreational and ecotourism opportunities, and landscape beauty. Regional natural resource managers can use these mental models to inform future conservation efforts, including the planned beaver eradication. The models identify salient provisioning ecosystem services that are important to this group of production-oriented landowners, and any actions compromising these benefits would likely be met with widespread discontent. Promoting an understanding or awareness of less salient benefits might shift some estanciero management priorities or strategies. Future research could use the mental models approach to understand and address knowledge gaps or disagreements between landowners and regional resource managers.