Abstract
Environmental management involves the complex interaction between identifying the causes of problems and implementing solutions. Our exploratory study draws on attribution theory to analyze the causal attributions among community members experiencing frequent and intensifying harmful algal blooms in a lake of western New York State. Our interviews (n = 21) revealed that causal attributions were grounded in observation but that scientific observations led to very different causal attributions than direct observations among a subset of the lay public. Some community members also developed causal attributions based on their social relationships. Differences in causal attributions became the basis of widespread intracommunity disagreement, which in turn hampered management efforts. Our work demonstrates the need for meaningful public engagement in water management—engagement that addresses causal beliefs within the community, even if those beliefs may not align with scientific understandings.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armstrong A, Stedman RC, Tucker G (2019) Beyond ‘us and them’: Why do landowners disagree about local water pollution? Soc Nat Resour 32(11):1200–1221. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1620390
Bean, K. 2019. Part 4: Honeoye—the working man’s lake. 2019. Life in the Finger Lakes. 2019. https://www.lifeinthefingerlakes.com/honeoye-the-working-mans-lake/.
Bechlivanidis C, Lagnado DA (2013) “Does the ‘why’ tell us the ‘when’?”. Psychol Sci 24(8):1563–72
Berardo, R, VK Turner, S Rice. 2019. systemic coordination and the problem of seasonal harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. Ecol Soc 24(3). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11046-240324.
Brookes JD, Carey CC (2011) Resilience to blooms. Science 334(6052):46–47. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1207349
Buehner MJ, Humphreys GR (2009) causal binding of actions to their effects. Psychol Sci 20(10):1221–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02435.x
Carolan MS (2006a) Sustainable agriculture, science and the co-production of ‘expert’ knowledge: the value of interactional expertise. Local Environ 11(4):421–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549830600785571
Carolan MS (2006b) Social change and the adoption and adaptation of knowledge claims: whose truth do you trust in regard to sustainable agriculture? Agric Hum Values 23(3):325–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-006-9006-4
Cheng PW (1997) From covariation to causation: a causal power theory. Psychol Rev 104(2):367–405. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.104.2.367
Cheng PW, Novick LR (1992) Covariation in natural causal induction. Psychol Rev 99(2):365
Dupéy LN, Smith JW (2018) An integrative review of empirical research on perceptions and behaviors related to prescribed burning and wildfire in the United States. Environ Manag 61(6):1002–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1031-8
Foulon É, Rousseau AN, Benoy G, North RL (2020) A global scan of how the issue of nutrient loading and harmful algal blooms is being addressed by governments, non-governmental organizations, and volunteers. Water Qual Res J 55(1):1–23. https://doi.org/10.2166/wqrj.2019.013
Hamilton LC, Hartter J, Keim BD, Boag AE, Palace MW, Stevens FR, Ducey MJ (2016) Wildfire, climate, and perceptions in northeast Oregon. Reg Environ Change 16(6):1819–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0914-y
Hewstone M (1990) The ‘ultimate attribution error’? A Review of the Literature on Intergroup Causal Attribution. Eur J Soc Psychol 20(4):311–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420200404
Ho JC, Michalak AM, Pahlevan N (2019) Widespread global increase in intense lake phytoplankton blooms since the 1980s. Nature 574(7780):667–70. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1648-7
Huisman J, Codd GA, Paerl HW, Ibelings BW, Verspagen JMH, Visser PM (2018) Cyanobacterial blooms. Nat Rev Microbiol 16(8):471–83. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0040-1
Kelley HH (1973) The processes of causal attribution. Am Psychol 28(2):107–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034225
Kelley HH, Michela JL (1980) Attribution theory and research. Annu Rev Psychol 31(1):457–501. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ps.31.020180.002325
Kirkpatrick B, Kohler K, Byrne M, Fleming LE, Scheller K, Reich A, Hitchcock G, Kirkpatrick G, Ullmann S, Hoagland P (2014) Human responses to Florida red tides: policy awareness and adherence to local fertilizer ordinances. Sci Total Environ 493(Sept):898–909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.083
Mascolo M (2016) Beyond objectivity and subjectivity: the intersubjective foundations of psychological science. Integr Psychol Behav Sci 50(4):543–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-016-9357-3
McCright AM, Dunlap RE (2011) The politicization of climate change and polarization in the American public’s views of global warming, 2001–2010. Soc Q 52(2):155–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2011.01198.x
Molotch H, Freudenburg W, Paulsen KE (2000) History Repeats Itself, but How? City Character, Urban Tradition, and the Accomplishment of Place. Am Soc Rev 65(6):791–823. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657514
Moscovici S (1984) The phenomenon of social representations. In: Farr Robert, Moscovici Serge eds Social Represnetations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/Paris
New York State Department of Conservation (NYSDEC). 2018. Harmful Algal Bloom Action Plan Honeoye Lake. Available at https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/113733.html
New York State Department of Conservation (NYSDEC) (2019) Total maximum daily load for total phosphorus: Honeoye Lake. Ontario County, New York, NY, https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/water_pdf/tmdlhoneoyeaug2019.pdf
Nikolic M, Lagnado DA (2015) There aren’t plenty more fish in the sea: a causal network approach.”. Br J Psychol 106(4):564–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12113
Oglesby RT, Schaffner WR (1978) Phosphorus loadings to lakes and some of their responses. Part 2. Regression models of summer phytoplankton standing crops, winter total P, and transparency of New York lakes with known phosphorus loadings. Limnol Oceanogr 23:135–145
Paerl HW, Huisman J (2008) Climate: blooms like it hot. Science 320(5872):57–58. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1155398
Paerl HW, Havens KE, Hall NS et al. (2019) Mitigating a global expansion of toxic cyanobacterial blooms: confounding effects and challenges posed by climate change. Mar Freshw Res 71(5):579–92. https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18392
QSR International (2015) NVIVO (Version 11), https://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo-qualitative-data-analysis-software/home
Rollason E, Bracken LJ, Hardy RJ, Large ARG (2018) Evaluating the success of public participation in integrated catchment management. J Environ Manag 228(Dec):267–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.09.024
Sabatier PA, Hunter S (1989) The incorporation of causal perceptions into models of elite belief systems. West Polit Q 42(3):229–61
Schindler DW, Vallentyne JR (2008) The Algal Bowl: Overfertilization of the World’s Freshwaters and Estruaries. University of Alberta Press, Edmonton
Sloman SA, Lagnado D (2015) Causality in thought. Annu Rev Psychol 66(1):223–47. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015135
Stedman RC, Ingalls M (2014) Topophilia, biophilia and greening in the red zone. In: Tidball KeithG, Krasny MarianneE eds Greening in the Red Zone. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, p 129–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9947-1_10
Steyvers M, Tenenbaum JB, Wagenmakers E, Blum B (2003) Inferring causal networks from observations and interventions. Cogn Sci 27(3):453–89. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog2703_6
Tomlinson EC, Mryer RC (2009) The role of causal attribution dimensions in trust repair. Acad Manag Rev 34(1):85–104. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.35713291
U.S. Census Bureau (2020a) “ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates.” Table DP05. 2018 American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. Accessed 9 Feb 2020
U.S. Census Bureau (2020b) “Selected housing characteristics” American Community Survey. Table DP04. Accessed 9 Feb 2020
U.S. EPA. 2019. Climate change and harmful algal blooms. Accessed 11 Aug 2021. https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/climate-change-and-harmful-algal-blooms
Weiner B (1986) An Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion. Springer Verlag, New York, NY
White PA (2014) Singular clues to causality and their use in human causal judgment. Cogn Sci 38(1):38–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12075
White PA (2008) Beliefs about interactions between factors in the natural environment: a causal network study. Appl Cogn Psychol 22(4):559–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1381
Zimmerman C (2007) The development of scientific thinking skills in elementary and middle school. Dev Rev 27(2):172–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2006.12.001
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for their thoughtful suggestions. This work was supported by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. The authors are grateful to the people of Honeoye Lake for their participation and valuable insights.
Funding
This work was supported by Cornell University’s David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethical approval
All procedures conducted in this study were approved by the Cornell University Institutional Review Board.
Consent to participate
Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Armstrong, A., Stedman, R.C., Sweet, S. et al. What Causes Harmful Algal Blooms? A Case Study of Causal Attributions and Conflict in a Lakeshore Community. Environmental Management 69, 588–599 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01581-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-021-01581-9