Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2022 Feb 10;17(2):e0263447. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263447. eCollection 2022.
Bird-window collisions are a major source of human-caused avian mortality for which many mitigation and prevention options are available. However, because very little research has characterized human perspectives related to this issue, there is limited understanding about the most effective ways to engage the public in collision reduction efforts. To address this research need, we: (1) evaluated how two stakeholder groups, homeowners and conservation practitioners, prioritize potential benefits and obstacles related to bird-window collision management, (2) compared priorities between these groups, and (3) evaluated potential conflicts and collective strength of opinions within groups. We addressed these objectives by merging the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) survey approaches. Specifically, survey respondents made pairwise comparisons between strengths and weaknesses (respectively, direct outcomes and barriers related to management, such as fewer collisions and increased costs) and opportunities and threats (indirect outcomes and barriers, such as increased bird populations and fewer resources for other building-related expenses). Both homeowners and conservation practitioners ranked strengths and opportunities higher than weaknesses and threats, indicating they have an overall positive perception toward reducing bird-window collisions. However, key obstacles that were identified included costs of management and a lack of policy and guidelines to require or guide management. These results suggest that substantial advances can be made to reduce bird-window collisions because both homeowners and conservation practitioners had positive views, suggesting their receptivity toward collision management measures. However, because of more neutral views and conflicting responses within the homeowner group, results also highlight the importance of targeting homeowners with education materials that provide information about bird-window collisions and solutions that reduce them. Because bird-window collisions are a human-caused phenomenon, such information about human perspectives and priorities will be crucial to addressing this threat and thus benefitting bird populations.
鸟撞是人为导致鸟类死亡的一个主要原因，有许多缓解和预防措施可用。然而，由于很少有研究描述与这个问题相关的人类观点，因此对于如何最有效地让公众参与减少碰撞的努力，我们的理解非常有限。为了解决这个研究需求，我们：（1）评估了两个利益相关者群体，即房主和保护从业者，如何优先考虑与鸟撞管理相关的潜在利益和障碍；（2）比较了这两个群体之间的优先级；（3）评估了群体内部的潜在冲突和集体意见的强度。我们通过合并 SWOT（优势、劣势、机会和威胁）和层次分析法（AHP）调查方法来解决这些目标。具体来说，调查受访者在优势和劣势（分别为管理的直接结果和障碍，如减少碰撞和增加成本）以及机会和威胁（间接结果和障碍，如增加的鸟类数量和用于其他与建筑相关的费用减少）之间进行了成对比较。房主和保护从业者都将优势和机会排在劣势和威胁之前，这表明他们对减少鸟撞总体上持积极态度。然而，确定的关键障碍包括管理成本以及缺乏政策和指导方针来要求或指导管理。这些结果表明，通过减少鸟撞，可以取得实质性进展，因为房主和保护从业者都有积极的看法，这表明他们对碰撞管理措施的接受程度。然而，由于房主群体内部存在更中立的观点和相互冲突的回应，结果也强调了针对房主提供有关鸟撞和减少它们的解决方案的教育材料的重要性。由于鸟撞是人为造成的现象，因此有关人类观点和优先事项的信息对于应对这一威胁从而使鸟类受益至关重要。
