CNH2-L: Social, Ecological, and Institutional Dynamics of Human-Wildlife Relations

这项研究将推进一个综合的社会环境框架，以研究过度丰富的野生动物的紧急挑战，确定社会和环境过程如何塑造人类与野生动物的相互作用，并指导设计改进的野生动物管理策略在郊区和城市环境。随着城市和郊区野生动物数量的增长，人们以新的方式与动物互动。然后，个人和社区必须决定是否以及如何管理这些人口。不同管理方法的可接受性、可行性和成功性将受到这些社区内的社会和环境条件的影响。有关管理的决定将反过来影响野生动物种群的社会和生态影响。该项目将分析在美国东北部城市和郊区形成鹿种群和鹿管理策略的社会环境动态。该研究将产生关于不同社会环境背景下各种鹿管理策略成功的新知识，并支持决策工具的开发，以告知郊区和城市鹿管理。更广泛地说，这项研究将为为什么人类行为和政策在应对某些环境挑战而不是其他挑战时发生变化提供新的理论。此外，本发明还提供了一种方法，该项目将为本科生和研究生创造跨学科的研究和培训机会，并支持课程材料的开发，使用郊区鹿管理的案例研究，以了解综合的社会-野生动物的环境动力学。对某些物种数量增加的级联影响的关注，提出了关于社会和生态影响以及对过度丰富的野生动物的管理的问题，城市和郊区。这项研究将推进一个综合的社会环境框架，以研究围绕马萨诸塞州和纽约郊区和城市地区白尾鹿种群增长的新挑战。本研究解决了三个相关的问题，鹿种群的耦合动态，景观特征和鹿的管理策略：1）如何改变鹿的管理机构，猎人的行为，和景观特征塑造鹿种群？2)在某些情况下，特定的社会和环境过程如何以及为什么会引发鹿管理策略的变化，而在另一些情况下则不会？3)如何合作（或缺乏合作）之间的土地和野生动物管理人员在多个尺度上影响人类和环境的结果鹿管理计划？调查人员将进行综合的混合方法分析，结合鹿种群的航空调查，植被采样，社区调查，对关键参与者的深入访谈，以及基于代理的模型。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。

This research will advance an integrated socio-environmental framework to examine the emergent challenges of overabundant wildlife, determine how social and environmental processes shape human-wildlife interactions, and guide the design of improved wildlife management strategies in suburban and urban environments. As wildlife populations in urban and suburban areas grow, people interact with animals in new ways. Individuals and communities must then decide if and how to manage these populations. The acceptance, feasibility, and success of different management approaches will be influenced by the social and environmental conditions within these communities. Decisions about management will in turn shape the social and ecological impacts of wildlife populations. This project will analyze the socio-environmental dynamics that shape deer populations and deer management strategies in urban and suburban areas of the northeastern United States. The research will generate new knowledge regarding the success of various deer management strategies in different socio-environmental contexts and support the development of decision-making tools to inform suburban and urban deer management. More broadly, this research will inform new theory about why human behavior and policy changes in response to some environmental challenges but not others. In addition, the project will create interdisciplinary research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and support the development of course materials that use a case study of suburban deer management to understand the integrated socio-environmental dynamics of wildlife.Concern over the cascading impacts of increasing populations of certain species has raised questions about the social and ecological impacts and management of overabundant wildlife in urban and suburban areas. This research will advance an integrated socio-environmental framework to examine the emergent challenges surrounding the growth of white-tailed deer populations in suburban and urban areas of Massachusetts and New York. This research addresses three linked questions about the coupled dynamics of deer populations, landscape characteristics, and deer management strategies: 1) How do changes in deer management institutions, hunter behaviors, and landscape characteristics shape deer populations? 2) How and why do particular social and environmental processes trigger changes in deer management strategies in some circumstances but not others? 3) How does collaboration (or a lack of collaboration) among land and wildlife managers at multiple scales influence the human and environmental outcomes of deer management programs? The investigators will undertake an integrated mixed methods analysis combining aerial surveys of deer populations, vegetation sampling, community surveys, in-depth interviews of key actors, and agent-based models.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.