US-Australia planning visit: Social dimensions of ecosystem service provision from ecological restoration projects

Santa Clara University, Santa Clara CA

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal seeks to create a new intellectual partnership between US- and Australia-based researchers to explore the dynamics of a coupled natural-human system: the restoration of ecosystems to provide ecological services. The foreign collaborators are conservation ecologist Kerrie Wilson (University of Queensland), and environmental economist Marit Kragt (University of Western Australia). Increasingly, societies are calling on ecological restoration not just to reverse the degradation of habitats for flora and fauna, but to yield valuable material and non-material benefits to humans, such as water quality, carbon sequestration, pollination, and recreational opportunities. This work will explore an understudied social dimension of ecological restoration through a series of stakeholder surveys. It aims to elucidate the relationship between what people know, how much they care, and whether they act. This research asks the basic question, "How does what people know influence how they act?" Answering this question is fundamental to understanding what makes for "actionable science," and to developing resilient natural-human systems, shaped by people to meet their needs sustainably. Our pilot study will advance understanding of a major component of the socio-ecological system surrounding habitat restoration, while laying the groundwork for future work that will explore how stakeholders, scientists, land managers, and policymakers interact with ecosystems to determine ecological trajectories. The findings will be directly useful to resource management, especially conservation planners and restoration practitioners. The project will lend international experience to an early-career, female scientist exploring a new scientific direction under the mentorship of the foreign collaborators. An undergraduate student will be trained in research and teaching skills, and the PI?s experience with new methods will enrich coursework at a primarily undergraduate institution.