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The collaborative ecosystem-based management of moose (Alces alces) in Sweden puts a strain on the involved stakeholders. Representatives have to cope with environmental uncertainty and social stress associated with goal conflicts. This article advanced the understanding of representatives' coping strategies in response to perceived challenges and how these coping strategies are associated with social trust, focusing upon salient value similarity. A mixed-method approach, combining a questionnaire survey (n = 624) and interviews (n = 21) among landowners and hunter representatives, was employed. Survey results showed that the presence of emotion-centered coping strategies that involve venting of negative emotions and behavioral disengagement were associated with relatively lower trust, whereas problem-solving centered coping was associated with relatively higher trust. The interviews indicated the importance of appointing group leaders who are skilled at initiating dialogue and working toward decisions and compromises, as this seemed to hinder expressions of emotion-centered coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Norwegian and Swedish representative national samples, and samples from areas with large mammalian carnivores present, we investigated whether well-known predictors for approval of wolves may explain between-country differences. Swedes were in general more positive than Norwegians were, while respondents in large carnivore areas, regardless of nationality, were less positive. The profile of those who approved wolf presence was the same in all samples. The difference between the samples was greater in Sweden, indicating that the relationship between urbanized and rural areas is more polarized in Sweden compared to Norway. We suggest this to be an effect of the fact that Norway’s large carnivore and agriculture policies favor the rural population, and of a higher degree of urbanization in Sweden. We recommend future studies to look into the different power relations between people living in urban and rural areas, comparing countries with different degree of urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

European researchers from both the natural and social sciences show growing interest in studying interactions between society and wildlife. A wealth of theoretical frameworks, concepts, and methods are used, but an integration of perspectives is lacking. This research note summarizes results from two workshops that included 63 delegates from 25 European countries, as well as a follow-up survey of 41 respondents. Two main theoretical approaches to the study of human–wildlife interactions were identified. One approach focuses on the collective societal level relying on theories of governance, social representation, deliberative procedures, and commons theory. The other approach targets individuals or groups, and is based on theories such as the cognitive hierarchy, theory of reasoned action, and theory of planned behavior. Interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to identify the best options for wildlife conservation and management in a more politically integrated Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Fennoscandia, young stands of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestrisL.) are intensively used by moose (Alces alcesL.) during winter. We studied whether forage amounts on high-cut pines in high-stump commercial thinning influenced browsing intensity and damage incidence on retained (i.e. uncut) pine stems. High-cut pines were browsed, but to a lesser extent than retained pines. At a scale corresponding to individual feeding sites (≈40 m2), browsing intensity on retained pines was not influenced by the amount of forage on high-cut pines but was positively related to moose pellet group counts. The incidence of lower-height damage (stem breakage and bark stripping) was positively related to the amount of forage on high-cut pines, whereas higher damage (leader shoot browsing) was not. Overall browsing damage incidence on retained pines was positively related to the density of deciduous trees and negatively related to the amount of forage on retained pines. Our results suggest that although high-stump thinning supplies additional food resources for moose, larger amounts of forage on high-cut pines may increase the risk for bark stripping and stem breakage on retained trees. Further research is needed at larger spatial scales to assess the feasibility of high-stump thinning as a damage mitigation measure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aspen (Populus tremulaL.) and rowan (Sorbus aucupariaL.) are important for biodiversity conservation and aesthetic reasons. Intensified levels of ungulate browsing the last decades have raised concerns over the recruitment of aspen and rowan in boreal forests. Demographic data are vital to understand and quantify how the structure of tree populations are affected over time by browsing and other factors but such data are rare. In a five-year study, we quantified vital demographic rates for co-occurring aspen and rowan using exclosures in a productive forest area in eastern-central Sweden. Mean annual browsing rate on small (<1 m) aspen and rowan stems was 20 vs. 38%, whereas the order in browsing intensity was reversed for stems of medium (1–2 m) size (28 vs. 14%). Browsing had a clear negative effect on transition rate from small to medium size class in both species, but had a much smaller impact on transition rate from medium to large (2–3 m) size class. Residence time for small stems and regeneration rate was much higher in aspen than in rowan, but browsing did not affect these dynamics. Transition to ungulate safe height (>3 m) was reduced with a factor of two in rowan and four in aspen by browsing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Continuous urbanization and associated political influences of urbanites on rural activities stress a need for understanding urban attitudes toward use of natural resources. Our objective was to compare urban and rural residents' attitudes toward hunting, a culturally important rural activity that also is a key wildlife management technique throughout the world to control wildlife populations. Our mail survey (n = 6,818) revealed fewer nonhunters in the urban region of Stockholm (48%) expressed positive attitudes toward hunting than nonhunters in the predominantly rural northern Sweden (70%). Path analyses indicated that experiences with hunting or hunters, and especially consumption of game meat (Stockholm β = 0.25; northern Sweden β = 0.26), were associated with positive attitudes. Our results imply that finding ways to increase the distribution of game meat and associated social interactions to urban nonhunters will help maintain or increase support for hunting and enhance wildlife management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used a structural model to describe social norms that identify an emerging catch-and-release norm. The norm for the entire sample of anglers showed low intensity and consensus, suggesting no general norm. However, a cluster analysis of ratings for keeping all or proportions of fish identified three clusters with different norms toward catch-and-release. The first cluster (25%) supported catch-and-release, the second (23%) was against, and the third (52%) had a mixed norm. Preferences for an individual’s own behavior serve as a personal norm motivating individual actions, and aggregate preferences provide a social standard for each cluster. This analysis helps bridge the divide between the standards and motivational approaches to norms. Those with a personal catch-and-release norm differed in age, technique, species preference, and catch-orientation attitudes. The age effect suggests a cohort influence where the norm spreads as younger anglers replace older anglers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Sweden, there is a longstanding conflict between the use of forests for timber production and game for hunting due to browsing damages on young forests. This study examines the assessments of two stakeholder groups regarding browsing damage by moose. The data originated from a mail survey that involved hunters and forest owners in Sweden. The samples were randomly selected from two national registers of hunters and forest owners, respectively. An ordered logit model was used to account for the assessments of severity of moose browsing damage. The results showed that on average, non-forest owning hunters rated the browsing damage on their main hunting ground lower than non-hunting forest owners rated the browsing damage on their forest estate. The respondents who both hunt and own forest had a rating that was intermediate between the former two groups. The ratings were mainly influenced by level of activity in improving game habitat, quantity of moose meat obtained, level of moose on forest estate and the importance of bagging game as well as forest estate size, hunting ground size, and the stakeholder group that the respondents belong. The findings can help in designing strategies for conflict resolution between forestry and hunting for moose. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to fill the gap in the literature about distributional impacts (who wins and who loses) of implementing new management plans for non-market priced environmental goods and services. The focus is on whether and to what extent, age, gender, presence of large carnivores and income affect willingness-to-pay (WTP) for increasing large carnivore stocks in Sweden. Our results contradict findings from previous studies on large carnivores in the sense that patterns change when different distributional dimensions are analysed together. The results indicate that WTP is independent of the presence of large carnivores, except for the group 'young men'. In general, young men are found to be a disparate group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from 13 European countries, 50 states in the United States, and 6 Canadian provinces/territories were used to examine the relationship of aggregate level variables on female participation in hunting. Overall, 8% of the hunters were female. The analysis showed a strong positive influence of the proportion of male hunters in society on female hunting participation. This key role of males is consistent with previous individual-level studies of female participation. A greater proportion of females hunted in states and countries with larger areas. The influences of the proportion of the population living in rural areas and population density appeared to be largely mediated by the percentage of male hunters. In the United States we found more female hunters in states with lower levels of income and lower levels of female education although this was not the case in Europe. A decline in male participation will be likely to affect female participation as there are fewer males to socialize them into hunting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A successful implementation of a mammalian conservation policy requires knowledge of how people value animals. Little is known about how people value large carnivores. The discussion is therefore dominated by people's perception of wolves. In a mail survey (65% response rate) we asked persons residing in areas with populations of wolves, bears, lynx, and wolverines whether they were willing to pay to reach the national conservation goals for those species. We compared 69 Swedish counties with a representative national sample of Swedes living outside the areas with large carnivores. We found that the behavioral intention willingness to pay (WTP) was negatively related to the presence of wolves, to the urban profile, and to opposition against the European Union Monetary Union. We encourage future studies to compare national surveys with local samples in controversial issues to discover conflicting views among national, regional, and local natural resource management stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High browsing pressure may reduce or halt regeneration of browsing-prone tree species. In this study, exclosures were used to quantify the effects of browsing on vital demographic parameters in European aspen (Populus tremula L.) stands. The experiment focused on stands located in managed forest landscape with densities of 0.85 moose (Alces alces L.)km-2. Other herbivores such as mountain hare (Lepus timidus L.) were present at densities common for this region and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) at low densities. Recruitment and mortality of aspen ramets were recorded before and after the growing season, and over four consecutive years. Seven to 19% of the ramets within browsing reach were browsed annually. No differences were found in recruitment or mortality attributable to browsing per se. Instead, there were large among-stand variability in vital population parameters unrelated to browsing incidence. In general, aspen stands with high ramet density showed higher recruitment rates than stands with low ramet density. There was substantial variability in self-replacement capability unrelated to ecological factors. The results suggest that more attention should be given to finding and managing stands with high capacity for suckering, as these stands may have a disproportionate impact on aspen recruitment at the landscape scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty years ago Philip M. Hauser (1962) argued that classifying all urbanites without regard to their rural origins ignored the cultural effects of rural life on recreation. A population of urbanites who grew up in rural areas should be more likely to participate in hunting, for example, than multigenerational urbanites, because of the rural cultural influences on hunting. This article extends Hauser’s logic to attitudes toward hunting, wildlife, and wolves. Does where a city resident grew up make any difference? Do contacts with the countryside have an influence on the attitudes of urbanites? This article’s data, based on a national survey of Swedes, show that multigenerational urbanites, those who where born in cities of parents who lived in cities have more negative attitudes toward hunting and toward wolves, and feel that wildlife is less important, in comparison to those with rural experience. Urban residents who had more contact with the countryside had more positive attitudes toward hunting, wildlife, and wolves. As fewer urban Swedes have rural origins, support for wildlife, hunting and wolves may be expected to decline. Cultural or management actions that increase urban residents’ contacts with rural areas could, however, help promote or maintain more positive attitudes toward wildlife-related attitude objects such as hunting and wolves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]