Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Engineering and the Built Environment, Burwood Campus, Victoria, Australia.
Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2017 Jul 15;590-591:440-451. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.179. Epub 2017 Mar 11.
Biodiversity is a global asset of inestimable value which is threatened by human activities. Biodiversity exists within ecosystems, which enjoy differing levels of conservation. The ways in which humans regard ecosystems can play an important role in identifying strategies to change human behaviour, thereby achieving conservation goals. We investigated how preference, scenic attractiveness, perceptions of biodiversity and conservation value varied between five terrestrial ecosystems in Victoria, Australia (503 respondents). We document, for the first time, distinct ecosystem preferences, with people favouring wet forest, followed by dry forest, arid woodland/shrubland, heathland and then grassland. The ecological worldview of the respondent (i.e., the set of beliefs that guide the way a person interacts with the natural world), their familiarity with the habitat and perceived scenic attractiveness influenced the conservation value assigned by the members of the public to each ecosystem. The conservation and biodiversity value assigned to each ecosystem was higher where people were familiar with the ecosystem, considered it attractive, and held an ecocentric worldview. These aspects may correlate with public attitudes and represent key elements which could be used to engender higher levels of support for less appreciated ecosystems. Enhanced support may then underpin better conservation outcomes.
生物多样性是一项具有不可估量价值的全球资产，正受到人类活动的威胁。生物多样性存在于生态系统中，这些生态系统具有不同程度的保护。人类对生态系统的看法可以在确定改变人类行为的策略方面发挥重要作用，从而实现保护目标。我们调查了澳大利亚维多利亚州的五种陆地生态系统（503 名受访者）之间的偏好、景观吸引力、生物多样性和保护价值的差异。我们首次记录了明显的生态系统偏好，人们喜欢湿地森林，其次是干燥森林、干旱林地/灌木林、石南荒地和草原。受访者的生态世界观（即指导一个人与自然世界互动的一套信念）、他们对栖息地的熟悉程度和感知的景观吸引力影响了公众对每个生态系统赋予的保护价值。人们越熟悉生态系统，认为它有吸引力，持有生态中心主义世界观，那么对每个生态系统的保护和生物多样性价值的评价就越高。这些方面可能与公众态度相关，代表了可以用来激发对评价较低的生态系统更高支持的关键要素。增强的支持可能会为更好的保护结果提供支持。
