University of Maryland, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, College Park, MD, United States.
University of Florida, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, Gainesville, FL, United States.
J Environ Manage. 2023 Nov 1;345:118877. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118877. Epub 2023 Sep 12.
Urbanization and land use change are leading causes of declines in pollinator abundance and diversity. However, researchers in different regions of the world have found that some pollinators can thrive in urban landscapes, depending on land use practices, environmental conditions, and species traits. Residential landscapes constitute a significant portion of urban green space and thus, residents' adoption of landscape practices to promote pollinators can play a central role in addressing the global pollinator challenge. Yet, although residents' willingness and intention appear strong, adoption of pollinator-friendly gardening remains low. The present study - guided by the Diffusion of Innovations theory - aimed to build empirical understanding by surveying 1598 [State] residents on their experiences and perceptions related to pollinator-friendly gardening to determine the most salient barriers and opportunities to engagement. Key findings suggest making the practice more widely observable and reducing perceived complexity in learning to do the practice are critical to promoting adoption. This demonstrates, in practical terms, that: (1) targeted efforts to build residents' actionable knowledge about pollinator-friendly gardening may significantly reduce uncertainty and boost the likelihood of adoption; and (2) examples of active pollinator gardens need to be more widely showcased and popularized (e.g., through experiential or virtual demonstrations). We also found most residents living in homeowner associations (HOAs) believed HOA policies on pollinator-friendly gardening were restrictive or the residents were unsure whether they are allowed to practice pollinator-friendly gardening. Given these perceptions strongly associated with residents' low intent to engage in pollinator-friendly gardening, a major opportunity exists to diffuse the practice and increase adoption by working with HOAs and community leaders to become promoters of - rather than barriers to - pollinator-friendly gardening.
城市化和土地利用变化是导致传粉媒介数量和多样性减少的主要原因。然而，世界不同地区的研究人员发现，一些传粉媒介可以在城市景观中茁壮成长，这取决于土地利用方式、环境条件和物种特征。居住景观构成了城市绿地的重要组成部分，因此，居民采用景观实践来促进传粉媒介的发展，可以在解决全球传粉媒介挑战方面发挥核心作用。然而，尽管居民的意愿和意图似乎很强烈，但对传粉友好型园艺的采用仍然很低。本研究以创新扩散理论为指导，通过对 1598 名[州]居民进行调查，了解他们在传粉友好型园艺方面的经验和看法，以确定参与的最突出障碍和机会，从而构建实证理解。研究结果表明，使该实践更广泛地被观察到，并降低学习实践的感知复杂性，对于促进采用至关重要。这从实际角度证明：（1）有针对性地努力增强居民对传粉友好型园艺的可操作性知识，可能会显著降低不确定性，并提高采用的可能性；（2）需要更广泛地展示和推广活跃的传粉花园范例（例如，通过体验式或虚拟演示）。我们还发现，大多数居住在房主协会（HOA）的居民认为，HOA 的传粉友好型园艺政策具有限制性，或者居民不确定他们是否被允许进行传粉友好型园艺。鉴于这些看法与居民参与传粉友好型园艺的低意愿密切相关，因此存在一个主要的机会，可以通过与 HOA 和社区领袖合作，将该实践扩散出去，并增加采用率，使他们成为传粉友好型园艺的推动者，而不是障碍。
