Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA,
Environ Manage. 2013 Dec;52(6):1415-26. doi: 10.1007/s00267-013-0165-y. Epub 2013 Sep 25.
Environmental regulations frequently mandate the use of "best available" science, but ensuring that it is used in decisions around the use and protection of natural resources is often challenging. In the Western US, this relationship between science and management is at the forefront of post-fire land management decisions. Recent fires, post-fire threats (e.g. flooding, erosion), and the role of fire in ecosystem health combine to make post-fire management highly visible and often controversial. This paper uses post-fire management to present a framework for understanding why disconnects between science and management decisions may occur. We argue that attributes of agencies, such as their political or financial incentives, can limit how effectively science is incorporated into decision-making. At the other end of the spectrum, the lack of synthesis or limited data in science can result in disconnects between science-based analysis of post-fire effects and agency policy and decisions. Disconnects also occur because of the interaction between the attributes of agencies and the attributes of science, such as their different spatial and temporal scales of interest. After offering examples of these disconnects in post-fire treatment, the paper concludes with recommendations to reduce disconnects by improving monitoring, increasing synthesis of scientific findings, and directing social-science research toward identifying and deepening understanding of these disconnects.
环境法规经常要求使用“最佳可得”科学，但确保在自然资源的使用和保护决策中使用科学往往具有挑战性。在美国西部，这种科学与管理之间的关系是火灾后土地管理决策的前沿。最近的火灾、火灾后的威胁（如洪水、侵蚀）以及火灾在生态系统健康中的作用，使得火灾后管理变得非常引人注目，而且常常存在争议。本文以火灾后管理为例，提出了一个理解科学与管理决策之间可能出现脱节的框架。我们认为，机构的属性（如政治或财务激励）会限制科学在决策中的有效融入。另一方面，科学中缺乏综合或有限的数据会导致基于科学的火灾后效应分析与机构政策和决策之间出现脱节。由于机构属性和科学属性之间的相互作用，也会出现脱节，例如它们在不同的空间和时间尺度上的利益。在提出火灾后处理中这些脱节的例子后，本文最后提出了一些建议，通过加强监测、增加科学发现的综合、以及将社会科学研究指向识别和深化对这些脱节的理解，来减少脱节。
