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Language matters in shaping perceptions and guiding behaviour. The term stakeholder is widely used, yet little attention is paid to the possibility that its use may inadvertently perpetuate colonial narratives and reinforce systemic inequities. In this article, we critically examine the limitations of the stakeholder concept and its ambiguity, normativity, and exclusionary implications. We emphasise the importance of using language that gives a voice to marginalised groups, promotes inclusion and equity, and fosters meaningful and reflexive participation in decision-making processes. In critiquing the use of the term and calling for alternative practices, we aim to contribute to the decolonisation of research norms and the creation of more inclusive and equitable societies. Therefore, rather than advocating a single alternative term, we suggest a focus on the people, places, and species affected by decisions, interventions, projects, and issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article responds to Birdsong et al.'s assertion that social identity theory (SIT) can explain group attitudes towards grizzly bears in Montana. It critiques Birdsong et al.'s lack of rigorous use of SIT in their research, highlighting weak theory application and inadequate operationalization of social identity (SI). The article emphasizes the importance of strong theory application, clear conceptualization, operationalization, and interpretation in theory-based research, urging researchers to adhere to these fundamentals. It concludes by stressing the need for empirical rigor and theoretical substantiation in conservation science research, calling for adherence to discipline-specific standards and theoretical structures. [Extracted from the article]

Natural and anthropogenic disturbances may threaten big game migration. Migration corridors span both biophysical and jurisdictional barriers, which create challenges for effective species conservation. Though corridor conservation in the Intermountain West of the United States gained traction with the 2018 Secretarial Order that directed the U.S. Department of the Interior to enhance habitat quality within big game winter ranges and identify priority migration corridors in the western U.S., public support and active policies at sub regional scales remain polarized. We surveyed registered voters in Wyoming, USA, to assess perspectives and preferences to conserve land and habitat for big game migration. We used online focus groups and phone surveys to assess attitudes and opinions specific to support for policies that conserve migrations, the believability of interest groups, and the efficacy of conservation messaging frames. Our results show that Wyoming voters favored policies that benefit both humans and big game, associated higher credibility with state agencies than federal agencies, and found messages that specify human‐centered benefits most compelling. We assessed beliefs across demographics, such as political ideology, but found few significant differences. Our work provides insight into dynamic perspectives and preferences for big game corridor conservation among critically affected public, which can aid future research and engagement to advance big game management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern wildlife agencies increasingly emphasize efforts that facilitate the social feasibility of policy via cooperation and support among affected publics. Values and trust are critical components of policy support. Value similarity is an established concept that maps well to indicators of policy support whereas trustworthiness has received limited research attention, particularly in comparison to the variably defined concept of trust. We present a conceptual model that assesses the relationships among salient value similarity (SVS), trustworthiness (ability and benevolence), and support for wildlife policy in Arkansas, USA. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test our model among a sample of resident waterfowl hunters ≥18 years old (n = 1,596). Respondents rated the value similarity of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC), AGFC's trustworthiness in relation to waterfowl management, and support for waterfowl policy. The measurement model fit observed data well and the structural model indicated good fit between the conceptual model and observed data. Our findings indicate SVS positively influenced perceptions of trustworthiness that, in turn, positively influenced support for waterfowl policy. The significant positive influence SVS and trustworthiness have on policy support suggest important metrics agencies can proactively track and manage among affected publics. Furthermore, knowledge of how value similarity and trustworthiness interact with policy support can help agencies target involvement and engagement processes that improve social feasibility, particularly when a policy does not correspond with current expectations but are intended to benefit the long‐term socioecological sustainability of a resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roles religion and politics play in the climate change arena have received greater attention in the past decade. Nonetheless, the relationship between religion and politics in how they shape climate change views is poorly understood, particularly among American evangelicals. This study uses data from a probability-based mail survey of residents in the political swing state of Florida, USA to examine the relationships between evangelical identity, religiosity, partisan affiliation and three measures of climate-related views: global warming knowledge, belief, and risk perception. Findings from structural equation modeling demonstrate that evangelical identity, mediated by religiosity, exerts significant negative influences on climate measures, even when partisan affiliation is considered. We discuss these results, exploring the nuanced relationships between these variables and the implications they have on the climate change views of a large and influential segment of the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lake Pend Oreille and the Clark Fork River provide essential ecosystem services, including fisheries and hydroelectric power, to residents of Montana, Idaho, and Washington. Although conflicts exist, these services are maintained in concert by emergent sociocultural services created by a multi-institutional, transboundary collaboration. This has been enabled by an innovative Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license settlement agreement among a multitude of stakeholders. The consensus-based agreement promotes connections among people, projects, waterways, and fish populations. Collaborative management efforts allow stakeholders to address controversial issues, such as invasive fish suppression. We demonstrate how reciprocal cultural ecosystem services and services to ecosystems can enable ecosystem-scale restoration that addresses invasive species, habitat protection, and water quality management. Continued ecosystem management success relies on sustaining the relationship-building and shared knowledge services that have emerged over the past 25 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Waterfowl hunter numbers and waterfowl populations were closely correlated until the past 2 decades when hunter numbers declined despite near‐record breeding population estimates for ducks in North America. As a result, efforts to recruit, retain, and reactivate (R3) waterfowl hunters have been promoted by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan community because hunters are a key source of funding for wetland‐wildlife habitat conservation and management. Increasing access and opportunity for hunting appears to be the primary R3 strategy in North America. We suggest that hunt quality is an equal, if not more important, facet of waterfowl hunter R3 that is substantially overlooked and undervalued by current R3 initiatives. We contend that providing abundant access and opportunity to hunt waterfowl alone, especially if it jeopardizes hunting quality, is inadequate. We urge the R3 community to integrate principles and methods used within the human dimensions field to focus on the relationships between quality, motivation, and satisfaction across various audiences and market segments. Such an approach will help R3 initiatives establish an empirical evidence base to develop strategies specifically focused on identifying key hunt quality or opportunity factors. © 2020 The Wildlife Society. We comment on how waterfowl hunting opportunity and quality may influence waterfowl hunter recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3). We suggest that hunt quality is an equal, if not more important facet of waterfowl hunter R3 as opportunity or access, but it is substantially overlooked and undervalued by current R3 initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the relationships among psychological constructs such as values and motivations that influence proenvironmental behavior provides public land management agencies with guidance on how to minimize stakeholder impacts on the environment. A rich body of research has demonstrated that values form a tripartite structure underlying environmental concern, encompassing biospheric, egoistic, and altruistic values; however, recent work has suggested hedonic values are also an instrumental basis for environmental concern. Few studies have tested this proposition. We contend that hedonic values are instrumental in explaining the psychological processes that gird individual decisions, particularly in nature-based settings where stakeholder decisions are compelled by leisure pursuits. Our results indicate that place-based motivations, particularly escape from the pressures of everyday life, can help close the prominent value–action gap and explain why outdoor recreationists engage in minimum-impact activities specified in the U.S. Leave No Trace educational outreach program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex socio-environmental challenges require interdisciplinary, team-based research capacity. Graduate students are fundamental to building such capacity, yet formal opportunities for graduate students to develop these capacities and skills are uncommon. This paper presents an assessment of the Graduate Pursuit (GP) program, a formal interdisciplinary team science graduate research and training program administered by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Quantitative and qualitative assessment of the program's first cohort revealed that participants became significantly more comfortable with interdisciplinary research and team science approaches, increased their capacity to work across disciplines, and were enabled to produce tangible research outcomes. Qualitative analysis of four themes—(1) discipline, specialization, and shared purpose, (2) interpersonal skills and personality, (3) communication and teamwork, and (4) perceived costs and benefits—encompass participants' positive and negative experiences and support findings from past assessments. The findings also identify challenges and benefits related to individual personality traits and team personality orientation, the importance of perceiving a sense of autonomy and independence, and the benefit of graduate training programs independent of the university and graduate program environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of gender on involvement in high-risk recreation have received limited research attention despite mounting evidence suggesting the learned interactions between people and places likely vary for men and women. The purpose of this study was to provide insights into how gender influenced the motivation-involvement relationship among whitewater recreationists on a Wild and Scenic River in California. Our results revealed the motivations of Risk, Escape, Learning, and Achievement/Stimulation positively influenced involvement in rafting activities. Although gender did not influence all dimensions of involvement, we found that identity expression varied between subgroups. Specifically, men were more likely to ascribe meaning to rafting than women because this activity allowed them to affirm and express their individual character. The implications emanating from this study advance theoretical understanding of the factors that influence enduring involvement and inform natural resource management decisions about maintaining the desired benefits of activities sought by nature-based recreationists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norm research continually informs our understanding of the relationships between societies and natural resources. This research note presents an operationalization of descriptive beliefs within the return potential model (RPM) framework. We observed significant differences between a traditional RPM measure of approval and a descriptive measure of commonness in the context of boaters’ aquatic invasive species mitigation behaviors. These results provide empirical evidence of two normative belief dimensions manifesting with different structure and characteristics within the same natural resources setting. The implications of these results are twofold: (1) they demonstrate the utility and added value of an RPM that conceptualizes and operationalizes multiple normative belief dimensions and (2) provide researchers and managers with a methodology that is complementary to established methods but improves the comprehensiveness of applied norm research within natural resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquatic invasive species (AIS) management often requires a human-centered focus that entails communicating with resource-users about needed mitigation behaviors. Messaging is a common communication practice to this end, and evaluating how messaging influences user behavior is an essential component. To test the effects of messaging on AIS mitigation behavioral intentions, 1,338 participants were randomly assigned to one of four message framing conditions: standard, regulation, descriptive, and injunctive. Overall, a significant effect of message framing was observed, with regulation-framed messages garnering significantly higher intentions. Further analysis revealed a significant main effect of messaging among participants reporting low frequencies of past behaviors. Similar results were found among participants reporting stronger perceived barriers to AIS mitigation behaviors. We discuss these results in relation to other message framing studies, their managerial implications, and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity conservation is contingent upon managing human behaviour and, at times, changing behaviour. This is particularly relevant to the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products, both flora and fauna. Driven by dynamics of consumer demand and illicit supply, mitigation of illegal trade requires a fuller appreciation of human behaviour and methods to change it. In various sectors, social influence, behavioural insights, social marketing and human-centred approaches trend towards mainstream practice and policy application. However, in the context of conservation and wildlife trafficking, these approaches and their usefulness are not well-articulated nor application widespread. Here, we provide a practical overview of relevant behaviour change methods and frameworks. We discuss their usefulness and potential application to mitigating the illegal wildlife trade, in general and consumer demand, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents insights on the call for a more comprehensive integration of social and natural sciences in conservation. Topics discussed include the structures and processes of inter- and transdisciplinary frameworks from fields adjacent to conservation and the synergistic relationship between structures and processes which creates the hospitable environment required for the integration and dispels the ad hoc approach to inclusion.

The article provides information on a study which examined the effect of floral resource availability on pan trap effectiveness, by analyzing the effect of floral removal on pan trap effectiveness and comparing pan trap data between years with low and high floral abundance. The study site Marvin Klemme Research Range (MKRR) was used to evaluate pan trap effectiveness at sites with and without floral resource removal via herbicide applications. An inverse relationship between pan trap effectiveness and floral resource availability was suggested by study data. In addition, previous studies suggesting pan traps undersample bee species richness when floral resources are abundant are supported.

Simple Summary: Raptors are affected by interactions with humans, primarily in the form of persecution and habitat disturbance. Here, we quantify and characterize empirical literature on human–raptor interactions, inclusive of sociocultural, ecological, natural history, and conservation perspectives. We focus on species, geography, and human-caused mortality to understand the scope of research and directions for future raptor conservation research. Although raptor conservation is intrinsically the study of human behavior and social systems, we found ecological research that focuses on the effects humans have on raptors encompasses the majority of human–raptor interaction research. We stress the need to focus on the causes of human–raptor interactions and suggest that the combination of social, ecological, and management-relevant approaches is best to examine problems and identify solutions. Global raptor conservation relies on humans to establish and improve interaction and coexistence. Human–wildlife interaction research is well-established, but tends to focus on large-bodied, terrestrial mammals. The scope and characteristics of research that explores human–raptor interactions are relatively unknown. As an initial step toward quantifying and characterizing the state of applied, cross-disciplinary literature on human–raptor interactions, we use established systematic map (scoping reviews) protocols to catalog literature and describe trends, identify gaps and biases, and critically reflect on the scope of research. We focus on the peer-reviewed (refereed) literature germane to human–raptor interaction, conflict, tolerance, acceptance, persecution and coexistence. Based on 383 papers retrieved that fit our criteria, we identified trends, biases, and gaps. These include a majority of research taking place within North America and Europe; disproportionately few interdisciplinary and social research studies; interactions focused on indirect anthropogenic mortality; and vague calls for human behavior changes, with few concrete steps suggested, when management objectives are discussed. Overall, we note a predominant focus on the study of ecological effects from human–raptor interactions rather than sociocultural causes, and suggest (as others have in various conservation contexts) the imperative of human behavioral, cultural, and political inquiry to conserve raptor species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]