Department of Applied Biology, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Av. De la Universidad S/N, 03202 Elche, Spain.
Faculty of Sustainability, Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Feb 25;705:135876. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135876. Epub 2019 Dec 5.
Nature's contributions to people (NCP) are all the contributions of living nature, both beneficial and detrimental, to the societies' life's quality. Ungulates play this dual role of providers of beneficial and detrimental NCP, as they are responsible of the supply of benefits (e.g. extractive experiences, habitat maintenance) and detriments (e.g. crops damage, traffic collisions). Our aim was to analyze the NCP provided by wild ungulates through examining the scientific priorities and the shepherds' perceptions in peninsular Spain. We reviewed scientific articles of NCP provided by ungulates in Spain and conducted questionnaires regarding NCP to shepherds in farming systems where domestic and wild ungulates cohabit. Then, we compared whether the scientific priorities match with those perceived by shepherds. Both stakeholders highlight more detrimental than beneficial NCP, although there are some mismatches between scientific priorities and shepherds' perceptions. Regarding detrimental NCP, soil alteration, silvicultural damage, human safety or traffic collision were included in scientific literature but not mentioned by shepherds. Contrarywise, shepherds mainly considered grazing competence and damage to animals (i.e. game species and livestock) as important detrimental NCP. Concerning beneficial NCP, whilst hunting was prominent in the publications, shepherds did not conceived it as an important beneficial contribution and considered the regulation of organisms (i.e. scavenging alternative prey) important benefits. These results can have twofold implications. The emphasis on detrimental NCP (studied and perceived) can reinforce the idea that ungulates can threaten humans rather than contribute to societies' wellbeing. The fact that research does not address the interests of shepherds can affect the social tolerance towards ungulates as the damages experienced or perceived by shepherds are not studied. Our results show the relevance of considering local knowledge held by shepherds and their perceptions, something highlighted by the NCP approach.
自然对人类的贡献（NCP）是指所有生物界对人类社会生活质量的有益和有害的贡献。有蹄类动物在提供有益和有害 NCP 方面发挥着双重作用，因为它们负责提供利益（例如，提取体验、栖息地维护）和损害（例如，作物损害、交通事故）。我们的目的是通过分析半岛西班牙的科学重点和牧羊人的认知来分析野生动物提供的 NCP。我们查阅了西班牙有蹄类动物提供的 NCP 科学文献，并对在国内外有蹄类动物共存的农业系统中饲养牛羊的牧羊人进行了 NCP 问卷调查。然后，我们比较了科学重点是否与牧羊人的认知相符。这两个利益相关者都强调了更多的有害 NCP 而不是有益 NCP，尽管科学重点和牧羊人的认知之间存在一些不匹配。在有害 NCP 方面，土壤改变、林业破坏、人类安全或交通事故虽然在科学文献中有所提及，但牧羊人并未提及。相反，牧羊人主要认为放牧能力和对动物（即猎物和牲畜）的损害是重要的有害 NCP。在有益 NCP 方面，尽管狩猎在出版物中很突出，但牧羊人并不认为它是一种重要的有益贡献，而是认为生物调节（例如，作为替代猎物的清道夫）是重要的好处。这些结果可能有两方面的影响。对有害 NCP（研究和感知）的强调可能会强化有蹄类动物会威胁人类而不是为社会福祉做出贡献的观点。研究没有解决牧羊人的利益，这可能会影响社会对有蹄类动物的容忍度，因为牧羊人所经历或感知到的损害没有得到研究。我们的研究结果表明，考虑到牧羊人的当地知识和他们的认知是很重要的，这一点是由 NCP 方法所强调的。
