Stakeholder Perceptions of Socio-Ecological System Improvements: A Place-Based Study of Stream Habitat Enhancements

  • Josh SMITH West Virginia University, United States
  • Paul J KINDER Jr. West Virginia University, United States
  • Steven SELIN West Virginia University, United States
  • Jamie HOFFMANN West Virginia University, United States

Abstract

Aquatic habitat enhancement projects typically occur in degraded socio-ecological systems. A major goal of these projects is to improve the ecosystem services that the streams provide to humans. In this work, we investigated how visitors at West Virginia’s Holly River State Park perceived the impact of an aquatic habitat enhancement project on ecosystem services provided by the Laurel Fork. The 172 surveyed visitors gave their current perceptions of the ecosystem services provided by the stream, as well as how they believed the ecosystem services would change upon completion of the aquatic habitat enhancement project. Results indicate that both anglers and non-anglers thought that the enhancement project would negatively impact the aesthetics and cultural ecosystem services provided by the stream. However, they felt that the provisioning ecosystem services, and recreation opportunities provided by the stream would improve. Our study highlights how important stakeholders’ perceptions are to habitat enhancement success.

References

[1] Aguilar-Fernandez, R., et al. 2020. Exploring linkages between supporting, regulating, and provisioning ecosystem services in rangelands in a tropical agro-forest frontier. Land, 9, 511. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/land9120511
[2] Alam, K. 2011. Public attitudes toward restoration of impaired river ecosystems: does residents’ attachment to place matter? Urban Ecosystems, 14: 635-653. DOI: 10.1007/s11252-011-0176-5
[3] Aronson, J. et al. 2010. Are socioeconomic benefits of restoration adequately quantified? A meta-analysis of recent papers (2000-2008) in Restoration Ecology and 12 other scientific journals. Restoration ecology, 18, 143-154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2009.00638.x
[4] Banerje, S., Benerjee, A., and Palit, D. 2021. Ecosystem services and impact of industrial pollution on urban health: evidence from Durgapur, West Bengal, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 193. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09526-9
[5] Barthelemy, C. and Armani, G. 2015. A comparison of social processes at three sites of the French Rhone River subjected to ecological restoration. Freshwater Biology, 60: 1208-1220. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12531
[6] Beheshti, K.M., et al. 2022. Rapid enhancement of multiple ecosystem services following the restoration of a coastal foundation species. Ecological Applications, 32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2466
[7] Beier, C.M., Caputo, J., Lawrence, G.B., and Sullivan, T.J. 2017. Loss of ecosystem services due to chronic pollution of forests and surface waters in the Adirondack region (USA). Journal of Environmental Management, 191. 19-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.12.069
[8] Bernhardt, E. S., et al. 2005. Synthesizing U.S. river restoration efforts. Science, 308: 636-637. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1109769
[9] Billman, E. J., et al. 2013. Habitat Enhancement and native fish conservation: can enhancement of channel complexity promote the coexistence of native and introduced fishes? Environmental Biology of Fishes, 96: 555-566. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10641-012-0041-2
[10] Bliss, J. C. and Fischer, A. P. 2011. Toward a political ecology of ecosystem restoration. In Egan, D., Hjerpe, E. E., & Abrams, J., (Eds.), Human dimensions of ecology restoration (pp 136). Island Press, Washington D.C. USA.
[11] Brancalion, P., et al. 2019. What makes ecosystem restoration expensive? A systematic cost assessment of projects in Brazil. Biological Conservation, 240. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108274
[12] Buijs, A. E. 2009. Public support for river restoration. A mixed-method study into local residents’ support for and framing of river management and ecological restoration in the Dutch floodplains. Journal of Environmental Management, 90: 2680-2689. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.02.006
[13] Burkhard, B., Petrosillo, I. and Costanza, R. 2010. Ecosystem services – bridging ecology, economy, and social sciences. Ecological Complexity, 7: 257-259. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecocom.2010.07.001
[14] Chowdhury, K. and Behera B. 2021. Economic significance of provisioning ecosystem services of traditional water bodies: empirical evidences from West Bengal, India. Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, 5: 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resenv.2021.100033
[15] Darko, G., et al. 2021. Urbanizing with or without nature: pollution effects of human activities on water quality of major rivers that drain the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 194. DOI: 10.1007/s10661-021-09686-8
[16] Darvill, R. and Lindo, Z. 2015. The inclusion of stakeholders and cultural ecosystem services in land management trade-off decisions using an ecosystem services approach. Landscape Ecology, 31: 533-545. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0260-y
[17] De Groot, R. S., et al. 2013. Benefits of investing in ecosystem restoration. Conservation Biology, 27: 1286-1293. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12158
[18] Dewulf, A., et al. 2005. Integrated management of natural resources: dealing with ambiguous issues, multiple actors and diverging frames. Water Science & Technology, 52: 115-124. DOI:https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2005.0159
[19] Ding, F., et al. 2021. Response of palladium in receiving water bodies to rainfall-runoff. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28. 1-12. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-11543-z
[20] Dou, Y., et al. 2021. Influence of human interventions on local perceptions of cultural ecosystem services provided by coastal landscapes: Case study of the Huiwen wetland, southern China, Ecosystem Services, 50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2021.101311
[21] English, D. B. K., Kocis, S. M., Zamoch, S. J. and Arnold, J. R. 2002. Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring process: research method documentation (Gen Tech Report SRS-57). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Available at: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs057.pdf
[22] English, D. B. K., White, E. M., Bowker, J. M. and Winter, S. A. 2020. A review of the Forest Service’s National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) program. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 49: 64-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/age.2019.27
[23] Gleick, P. H. 2003. Global freshwater resources: soft-path solutions for the 21st century. Science, 302: 1524-1528. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1089967
[24] Gray, N. J., et al. 2017. Human dimensions of large-scale marine protected areas: advancing research and practice. Coastal Management, 45: 407-415. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08920753.2017.1373448
[25] Hein, L., van Koppen, K., de Groot, R. S. and van Ireland, E. C. 2006. Spatial scales, stakeholders and the valuation of ecosystem services. Ecological Economics, 57: 209-228. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.04.005
[26] Hunt, L., Sutton, S. G. and Arlinghaus, R. 2013. Illustrating the critical role of human dimensions research for understanding and managing recreational fisheries with a socio-ecological system framework. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 20: 111-124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2400.2012.00870.x
[27] Jones, L., et al. 2020. A place-based participatory mapping approach for assessing cultural ecosystem services in urban green space. People and Nature, 2: 123-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10057
[28] Karabulut, A., et al. 2015. Mapping water provisioning services to support the ecosystem-water-food-energy nexus in the Danube river basin. Ecosystem Service, 17: 278-292. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.08.002
[29] Kondolf, G. M. and Yang, C. N. 2008. Planning river restoration projects: social and cultural dimensions. In Darby, S. & Sear, D. (Eds), River restoration: managing the uncertainty in restoring physical habitat (pp. 43-60). John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, UK.
[30] Li, P., Omani, N., Chaubey, I. and Wei, X. 2017. Evaluation of draught implications on ecosystem services: freshwater provisioning and food provisioning in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14: 496-519. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14050496
[31] Liu, Q., et al. 2020. More meaningful, more restorative? Linking local landscape characteristics and place attachment to restorative perceptions of urban park visitors. Landscape and Urban Planning, 197: 103763. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103763
[32] Louhi, P., Vehanen, T., Huusko, A., Mäki-Petäys, A., Muotka, T. 2016. Long-term monitoring reveals the success of salmonid habitat restoration. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 73. DOI: 10.1139/cjfas-2015-0546
[33] Marttila, M., Kyllonen, K. and Karjalainen, T. P. 2016. Social success of in-stream habitat improvement: from fisheries enhancement to the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. Ecology and Society, 21, 4. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08118-210104
[34] Maynard, C. M. 2013. How public participation in river management improvements is affected by scale. Area, 45: 230-238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.09.024
[35] Metcalf, E. C., Mohr, J. J., Yung, L., Metcalf, P. and Craig, D. 2015. The role of trust in restoration success: public engagement and temporal and spatial scale in a complex social-ecological system. Restoration Ecology, 23: 315-324. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/rec.12188
[36] Naiman, R.J., Magnuson, J. J., McKnight, D. M., Stanford, J. A. and Karr, R. J. 1995. Freshwater ecosystems and management: a national initiative. Science, 270: 584-585. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.270.5236.584
[37] Naiman, R. J. 2013. Socio-ecological complexity and the restoration of river ecosystems. Inland Waters, 3, 391-410. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5268/IW-3.4.667
[38] Oteros-Rozas, E., et al. 2014. Socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem services in a transhumance social-ecological network. Regional Environmental Change, 14: 1269-1289. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-013-0571-y
[39] Palmer, M. A. and Filoso, S. 2009. Restoration of ecosystem services for environmental markets. Science, 325: 575-576. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1172976
[40] Palmer, M. A., Hondula, K. L. and Koch, B. J. 2014. Ecological restoration of streams and rivers: shifting strategies and shifting goals. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 45: 247-269. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091935
[41] Petrosillo, I., Aretano, R. and Zurlini, G. 2015. Socioecological systems. Encyclopedia of Ecology, 4: 419-425. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.09518-X
[42] Pope K. L., et al. 2016. Fishing for ecosystem services. Journal of Environmental Management, 183: 408-417. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.04.024
[43] Pullanikkatil, D., Mograbi, P., Palamuleni, L., Ruhiiga, T., and Shackleton, C. 2020. Unsustainable trade-offs: provisioning ecosystem services in rapidly changing Likangala River catchment in southern Malawi. Environment, Development and Sustainability. 22. DOI: 10.1007/s10668-018-0240-x
[44] Rodriguez, J. G. 2015. Cultural Services in Aquatic Ecosystems. Chicaro, L., Muller, F., & Fohrer, N., (Eds.), Ecosystem Services and River Basin Ecohydrology (pp 22). Springer Netherlands.
[45] Sanchez, G. M., et al. 2014. Development of a socio-ecological environmental justice model for watershed-based management. Journal of Hydrology, 518: 162-177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.08.014
[46] Satz, D., et al. 2013. The challenges of incorporating cultural ecosystem services into environmental assessment. AMBIO, 42: 675-684. DOI: 10.1007/s13280-013-0386-6
[47] Saunders, M.I., et al. 2020. Bright spots in coastal marine ecosystem restoration. Current Biology, 30. R1500-R1510. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.056
[48] Schaich, H., Bieling, C. and Plieninger, T. 2010. Linking ecosystem services with cultural landscape research. Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 19: 269-277. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.19.4.9
[49] Scholte, S. S. K., Todorova, M. and van Teeffelen, A. J. A. 2016. Public support for wetland restoration: what is the link with ecosystem service values? Wetlands, 36: 467-481. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-016-0755-6
[50] Shield, L. D., Gopalakrishnan, C. and Chan-Halbrendt, C. 2009. Aligning stakeholders’ preferences with public trust in managing in-stream flow: the case of Hawaii. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 25: 657-679. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620903299015
[51] Sparks, E. L., Biber, P., Cebrian, J. and Sheehan, K. L. 2012. Cost-effectiveness of two-small scale salt marsh restoration designs. Ecological Engineering, 53: 250-256. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.12.053
[52] Stewart, G. B., Bayliss, H. R., Showler, D. A., Sutherland, W. J. and Pullin, A. S. 2009. Effectiveness of engineering in-stream structure mitigation measures to increase salmonid abundance: a systematic review. Ecological Application, 19: 931-941. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/07-1311.1
[53] Strayer, D. L. and Dudgeon, D. 2010. Freshwater biodiversity conservation: recent progress and future challenges. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 29: 344-358. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1899/08-171.1
[54] Takyi, S.A. and Seidel, A.D. 2017. Adaptive management in sustainable park planning and management: case study of the city of Vancouver Parks. Journal of Urban Ecology, 3. 1-15. DOI: 10.1093/jue/juw009
[55] Teoh, S. H. S., Sun, H., Pienkowski, T. and Carrasco, L. R. 2018. A global meta-analysis of the economic values of provisioning and cultural ecosystem services. Science of the Total Environment, 649: 1293-1298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.422
[56] Tunstall, S. M., Penning-Rowsell, E. C., Tapsell, S. M. and Eden, S. E. 2000. River restoration: public attitudes and expectations. Water and Environment Journal, 14: 373-370. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-6593.2000.tb00274.x
[57] van Marwijk, R. B. M., et al. 2011. Public perceptions of the attractiveness of restored nature. Restoration Ecology, 20: 773-780. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2011.00813.x
[58] Westoby, R., Becken, S. and Laria, A.P. 2020. Perspectives on the human dimensions of coral restoration. Regional Environmental Change, 20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01694-7
[59] Wortley, L., Hero, J. M. and Howes, M. 2013. Evaluating ecological restoration success: a review of the literature. Restoration Ecology, 21:537-543. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12028
[60] Yurui, L. et al. 2021. Towards the progress of ecological restoration and economic development in China's Loess Plateau and strategy for more sustainable development. Science of the Total Environmental, 756. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143676
Published
2022-03-04
How to Cite
SMITH, Josh et al. Stakeholder Perceptions of Socio-Ecological System Improvements: A Place-Based Study of Stream Habitat Enhancements. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, [S.l.], v. 13, n. 1, p. 5-18, mar. 2022. ISSN 2068-7729. Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jemt/article/view/6804>. Date accessed: 29 mar. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.14505/jemt.v13.1(57).01.