Community-based approaches are pursued in recognition of the need for place-based responses to environmental change that integrate local understandings of risk and vulnerability. Yet the potential for fair adaptation is intimately linked to how variations in perceptions of environmental change and risk are treated. There is, however, little empirical evidence of the extent and nature of variations in risk perception in and between multiple community settings. Here, we rely on data from 231 semi-structured interviews conducted in nine communities in Western Province, Solomon Islands, to statistically model different perceptions of risk and change within and between communities. Overall, people were found to be less likely to perceive environmental changes in the marine environment than they were for terrestrial systems. The distance to the nearest market town (which may be a proxy for exposure to commercial logging and degree of involvement with the market economy), and gender had the greatest overall statistical effects on perceptions of risk. Yet, we also find that significant environmental change is underreported in communities, while variations in perception are not always easily related to commonly assumed fault lines of vulnerability. The findings suggest that there is an urgent need for methods that engage with the drivers of perceptions as part of community-based approaches. In particular, it is important to explicitly account for place, complexity and diversity of environmental risk perceptions, and we reinforce calls to engage seriously with underlying questions of power, culture, identity and practice that influence adaptive capacity and risk perception.
This paper presents the technical aspects of a new methodology for assessing the susceptibility of society to drought. The
methodology consists of a combination of inference modelling and fuzzy logic applications. Four steps are followed: (1) model
input variables are selected—these variables reflect the main factors influencing susceptibility in a social group, population
or region, (2) fuzzification—the uncertainties of the input variables are made explicit by representing them as ‘fuzzy membership
functions’, (3) inference modelling—the input variables are used to construct a model made up of linguistic rules, and (4)
defuzzification—results from the model in linguistic form are translated into numerical form, also through the use of fuzzy
membership functions. The disadvantages and advantages of this methodology became apparent when it was applied to the assessment
of susceptibility from three disciplinary perspectives: Disadvantages include the difficulty in validating results and the
subjectivity involved with specifying fuzzy membership functions and the rules of the inference model. Advantages of the methodology
are its transparency, because all model assumptions have to be made explicit in the form of inference rules; its flexibility,
in that informal and expert knowledge can be incorporated through ‘fuzzy membership functions’ and through the rules in the
inference model; and its versatility, since numerical data can be converted to linguistic statements and vice versa through
the procedures of ‘fuzzification’ and ‘defuzzification’. 相似文献
Most genetic surveys of captive and endangered populations are carried out with single gene characters bearing no direct relationship to life history or other features for which genetic variation needs to be maintained. Quantitative genetic estimates of heritable variation for life-history traits may be a more direct and appropriate measure of genetic variation for some conservation purposes. Furthermore, recent theoretical and empirical results indicate that genetic variation measured on these two levels may not be concordant. We analyzed heterozygosity at 41 allozyme loci and heritability for body weight in captive cotton-top tamarins ( Saguinus oedipus ) from the Marmoset Research Center of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities in order to compare these two levels of genetic variation. Cotton-top tamarins are a highly endangered species native to Colombia. Many animals currently reside in research facilities and zoological parks. A total of 106 animals were used in the isozyme survey, while data on 364 animals contributed to the quantitative genetic study of body weight. We found a very low average heterozygosity ( H = 1%) for this colony. Body weight was moderately and significantly heritable ( h 2 = 35%). This heritability is within the normal range for natural animal populations. The finding of biologically significant levels of heritability in a population with abnormally low allozyme heterozygosity illustrates the point that low levels of allozyme heterozygosity should not be taken as an indication of overall lack of genetic variation in important quantitative characters such as life-history traits. Genetic variation required for adaptation of species to future environmental challenges can exist despite low levels of enzyme heterozygosity. 相似文献
In the Puget Sound region of the United States a task force of community volunteers using bees monitored environmental pollution. This paper discusses advantages and limitations of public involvement in the assessment of regional environmental problems, particularly with respect to biological monitoring. This approach not only yielded extensive information about pollution levels but also was very cost effective.Work supported by Cooperative Agreement CR-810035-01-0 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.A. 相似文献