Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Environmental quality and fertility: the effects of plant density, species richness, and plant diversity on fertility limitation

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Population and Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The relationship between the environment and population has been of concern for centuries, and climate change is making this an even more pressing area of study. In poor rural areas, declining environmental conditions may elicit changes in family-related behaviors. This paper explores this relationship in rural Nepal looking specifically at how plant density, species richness, and plant diversity are related to women’s fertility limitation behavior. Taking advantage of a unique data set with detailed micro-level environmental measures and individual fertility behavior, I link geographically weighted measures of flora at one point in time to women’s later contraceptive use as a way to examine this complex relationship. I find a significant, positive relationship between plant density, species richness, and plant diversity and the timing of contraceptive use. Women in poor environmental conditions are less likely to terminate childbearing, or do so later, and therefore more likely to have larger families.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Households that move out of the study area are tracked and interviewed.

  2. Because I include male methods of contraception (discussed below), this analysis is essentially using couples as the unit of analysis but only controlling for wife’s characteristics. I do not have data on the husbands for women who married after 1996 so I cannot control for both the husband’s and wife’s characteristics. As an alternative, I could have used husband as the unit of analysis, but faced with controlling for either the husband’s or the wife’s characteristics I elected to follow the majority of the literature and include information on the wives.

  3. This sample also excludes 19 women who were missing data on any of the variables included in these analyses.

  4. Limiting the sample to women who had no previous contraceptive use raises the possibility of left censoring. However, when I reduce the sample to include only women under age 25 in 1996, for whom previous contraceptive use rates are extremely low, the substantive conclusions drawn from the analyses do not change. In fact, the estimated effects are even greater than those presented below.

  5. Data were also collected from 54 forest plots in two other areas, the Royal Chitwan National Park and along the Narayani river. However, plots in these areas were spaced (i.e., sampled) differently from those in the Barandabhar Forest and are under very different management protocols—the Royal Chitwan National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984 and is heavily guarded by mounted and armed guards. Because of these differences, I only present the results from analyses using information from the Barandabhar Forest. I did estimate models using information from all forest plots and found similar results to those presented here.

  6. In contrast, diversity or species richness is likely less relevant for grassland plots.

  7. I control for birth cohort as opposed to age because cohort will also control for some of the dramatic social change that as occurred over the data collection period. I did estimate models that include age as a continuous variable and found virtually the same results.

  8. Note, using person-months does not artificially inflate standard errors (Allison 1982, 1984; Petersen 1986, 1991).

  9. Because the 1996 interviews were collected over a period of 6 months, but the prospective data collection began for everyone in February 1997, the “first month” of the prospective data collection could have been as long as 6 months for some respondents. I include a control for whether the person–month was this first, potentially long, month in all of the analysis.

References

  • Acharya, M., & Bennett, L. (1981). The rural women of Nepal: An aggregate analysis and summary of 8 village studies. The Status of Women in Nepal (Vol. II, Part 9). Kathmandu, Nepal: Center for Economic Development and Administration, Tribhuvan University.

  • Aggarwal, R., Netanyahu, S., & Romano, C. (2001). Access to natural resources and the fertility decision of women: The case of South Africa. Environment and Development Economics, 6, 209–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison, P. D. (1982). Discrete-time methods for the analysis of event histories. Sociological Methodology, 13, 61–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison, P. D. (1984). Event history analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axinn, W. G. (1992). Family organization and fertility limitation in Nepal. Demography, 29(4), 503–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axinn, W. G., & Barber, J. S. (2001). Mass education and fertility transition. American Sociological Review, 66(4), 481–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axinn, W. G., Barber, J. S., & Biddlecom, A. E. (2010). Social organization and the transition from direct to indirect consumption. Social Science Research, 39(3), 357–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axinn, W. G., Barber, J. S., & Ghimire, D. J. (1997). The neighborhood history calendar: A data collection method designed for dynamic multilevel modeling. Sociological Methodology, 27, 355–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axinn, W. G., & Ghimire, D. J. (2011). Social organization, population, and land use. American Journal of Sociology, 117(1), 209–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axinn, W. G., & Thornton, A. (1992). The influence of parental resources on the timing of the transition to marriage. Social Science Research, 21, 261–285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Axinn, W. G., & Yabiku, S. (2001). Social change, the social organization of families, and fertility limitation. American Journal of Sociology, 106(5), 1219–1261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banister, J., & Thapa, S. (1981). The population dynamic of Nepal. Papers of the East-West Pop Inst, #78.

  • Barber, J. S. (2001). The intergenerational transmission of age at first birth among married and unmarried men and women. Social Science Research, 30(2), 219–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, J. S., Murphy, S. A., Axinn, W. G., & Maples, J. (2000). Discrete-time multilevel hazard analysis. Sociological Methodology, 30, 201–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. S. (1981). A treaties on the family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, H., & Innes, R. (2013). Income and the environment in Rural India: Is there a poverty trap? American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 95(1), 42–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biddlecom, A. E., Axinn, W. G., & Barber, J. S. (2005). Environmental effects on family size preferences and subsequent reproductive behavior in Nepal. Population and Environment, 26(3), 183–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bilsborrow, R. E., & Okoth-Ogendo, H. W. O. (1992). Population-driven changes in land use in developing countries. Ambio, 21(1), 37–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bista, D. B. (1972). People of Nepal. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boardman, J. D., Downey, L., Jackson, J. S., Merrill, J. B., Saint Onge, J. M., & Williams, D. R. (2008). Proximate industrial activity and psychological distress. Population and Environment, 30, 3–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, J., & Feeney, G. (1998). On the quantum and tempo of fertility. Quantum et tempo du taux de fécondité, 24(2), 271–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boserup, E. (1965). The conditions of agricultural growth: The economics of agrarian change under population pressure. Chicago: Aldine Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brauner-Otto, S. R. (2012). Schools, their spatial distribution and characteristics, and fertility limitation. Rural Sociology, 77(3), 321–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brauner-Otto, S. R. (2013). Attitudes about children and fertility limitation behavior. Population Research and Policy Review, 32(1), 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brauner-Otto, S. R., Axinn, W. G., & Ghimire, D. J. (2007). The spread of health services and fertility transition. Demography, 44(4), 747–770.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster, K. L. (1994a). Neighborhood context and the transition to sexual activity among young black women. Demography, 31, 603–614.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster, K. L. (1994b). Race differences in sexual activity among adolescent women: The role of neighborhood characteristics. American Sociological Review, 59, 408–424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster, K. L., Billy, J. O. G., & Grady, W. R. (1993). Social context and adolescent behavior: The impact of community on the transition to sexual activity. Social Forces, 71, 713–740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bukovinszky, T., van Veen, F. J. F., Jongema, Y., & Dicke, M. (2008). Direct and indirect effects of resource quality on food web structure. Science, 319(5864), 804–807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulatao, R. A., & Lee, R. D. (1983). Determinants of fertility in developing countries. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, M. (1981). Risk and insurance: Perspective on fertility and agrarian change in India and Bangladesh. Population and Development Review, 7(3), 435–474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, M. (1983). Fertility as an adjustment to risk. Population and Development Review, 9(4), 688–702.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J. C. (1982). Theory of fertility decline. London, England: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, E. R. (2005). Placing the environment in migration: Environment, economy, and power in Ghana’s central Region. Environment and Planning A, 37(5), 925–946.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carr, D. L., Lopez, A. C., & Bilsborrow, R. E. (2009). The population, agriculture, and environment nexus in Latin American: Country-level evidence from the latter half of the twentieth century. Population and Environment, 30, 222–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhary, R. P. (1998). Biodiversity in Nepal: Status and conservation. Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh: S. Devi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhary, R. P. (2000). Forest conservation and environmental management in Nepal: A review. Biodiversity and Conservation, 9, 1235–1260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiarucci, A., Wilson, J. B., Anderson, B. J., & De Dominicis, V. (1999). Cover versus biomass as an estimate of species abundance: Does it make a difference to the conclusions? Journal of Vegetation Science, 10(1), 35–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clay, D. C., & Johnson, N. E. (1992). Size of farm or size of family: Which comes first? Population Studies, 46(3), 491–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, M. A., & Neumayer, E. (2004). Examining the impact of demographic factors on air pollution. Population and Environment, 26(1), 5–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, P. A. (1998). Intrahousehold labor allocation responses to environmental goods scarcity: A case study from the hills of Nepal. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 46(4), 807–830.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dangol, D. R., & Maharjan, K. L. (2012). Spatial and temporal dynamics of flora in forest, grassland and common land ecosystems of Western Chitwan, Nepal. Journal of International Development and Cooperation, 18(4), 77–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K. (1945). The world demographic transition. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 237, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K. (1963). The theory of change and response in modern demographic history. Population Index, 29(4), 345–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Sherbinin, A., Carr, D., Cassels, S., & Jiang, L. (2007). Population and environment. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 32, 345–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Sherbinin, A., VanWey, L. K., McSweeney, K., Aggarwal, R., Barbieri, A., Henry, S., et al. (2008). Rural household demographics, livelihoods, and the environment. Global Environmental Change, 18, 38–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demeny, P. (1968). Early fertility decline in Austria-Hungary: A lesson in demographic transition. Daedalus, 97, 502–522.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downey, L. (2006). Using geographic information systems to reconceptualize spatial relationships and ecological context. American Journal of Sociology, 112(2), 567–612.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunlap, R. E. (2010). Climate change and rural sociology: Broadening the research agenda. Rural Sociology, 75(1), 17–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupéré, V., Leventhal, T., & Vitaro, F. (2012). Neighborhood processes, self-efficacy, and adolescent mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 53(2), 183–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, C. A., Puzari, K. C., Kumar, P. S., Dev, U., Sankaran, K. V., Rabindra, R. J., et al. (2007). Sustainable control of Mikania micrantha—Implementing a classical biological control strategy in India using the rust fungus Puccinia spegazzinii. In Proceedings of the 7th international workshop on biological control and management of Chromolaena odorata and Mikania micrantha.

  • Entwisle, B., Casterline, J., & Sayed, H. (1989). Villages as contexts for contraceptive behavior in rural Egypt. American Sociological Review, 54, 1019–1034.

    Google Scholar 

  • Entwisle, B., Rindfuss, R. R., Guilkey, D. K., Chamratrithirong, A., Curran, S. R., & Sawangdee, Y. (1996). Community and contraceptive choice in rural Thailand: A case study of Nang Rong. Demography, 33(1), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Entwisle, B., Rindfuss, R. R., Walsh, S. J., & Page, P. H. (2008). Population growth and its spatial distribution as factors in the deforestation of Nang Rong, Thailand. Geoforum, 39, 879–897.

    Google Scholar 

  • Entwisle, B., Walsh, S. J., Rindfuss, R. R., & VanWey, L. K. (2005). Population and upland crop production in Nang Rong, Thailand. Population and Environment, 26(6), 449–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Filmer, D., & Pritchett, L. H. (2002). Environmental degradation and the demand for children: Searching for the vicious circle in Pakistan. Economic and Development Economics, 7, 123–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fricke, T. E. (1994). Himalayan households: Tamang demography and domestic processes. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghimire, D. J. (2003). The social context of first birth timing in Nepal. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Sociology, The University of Michigan.

  • Ghimire, D. J., & Axinn, W. G. (2010). Community context, land use, and first birth. Rural Sociology, 75(3), 478–513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghimire, D. J., & Hoelter, L. (2007). Land use and first birth timing in an agricultural setting. Population and Environment, 28, 289–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghimire, D. J., & Mohai, P. (2005). Environmentalism and contraceptive use: How people in less developed settings approach environmental issues. Population and Environment, 27(1), 29–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grunewald, R., & Schubert, H. (2007). The definition of a new plant diversity index “H’Dune” for assessing human damage on coastal dunes—Derived from the Shannon Index of entropy H’. Ecological Indicators, 7, 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guilkey, D. K., & Rindfuss, R. R. (1987). Logistic regression multivariate life tables: A communicable approach. Sociological Methods and Research, 16(2), 276–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurung, H. B. (1980). Vignettes of Nepal. Kathmandu: Sajha Prakashan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, J. L. (2011). Pesticide drift and the pursuit of environmental justice. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry, C. S., Merten, M. J., Plunkett, S. W., & Sands, T. (2008). Neighborhood, parenting, and adolescent factors and academic achievement in Latino adolescents from immigrant families. Family Relations, 57(5), 579–590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hummel, D., Adamo, S., de Sherbinin, A., Murphy, L., Aggarwal, R., Zulu, L., et al. (2013). Inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to population–environment research for sustainability aims: A review and appraisal. Population and Environment, 34(4), 481–509.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, L. M. (1998). The association between environmental risk and internal migration flows. Population and Environment, 19(3), 247–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ives, J. D., & Messerli, B. (1989). The Himalayan dilemma: Reconciling development and conservation. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiggins, J. (1994). Changing the boundaries: Women centered perspective on population and the environment. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, S. (2007). Tigers, trees and Tharu: An analysis of community forestry in the buffer zone of the Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Geoforum, 38, 558–575.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, D. B., Urquhard, G., & Schmitt, K. (2009). Globalization and the connection of remote communities: A review of household effects and their biodiversity implications. Ecological Economics, 68, 2897–2909.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmkuhl, J. F. (1994). A classification of subtropical riverine grassland and forest in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Vegetatio, 111, 29–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leopold, A. (1986). Sand County Almanac. New York, NY: Random House Digital, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Dietz, T., Carpenter, S. R., Alberti, M., Folke, C., Moran, E., et al. (2007a). Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science, 317(5844), 1513–1516.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Dietz, T., Carpenter, S. R., Folke, C., Alberti, M., Redman, C. L., et al. (2007b). Coupled human and natural systems. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 36(8), 639–649.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liverman, D. L., Moran, E. F., Rindfuss, R. R., & Stern, P. C. (1998). People and pixels: Linking remote sensing and social science. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd, C. B., Kaufman, C. E., & Hewett, P. (2000). The spread of primary schooling in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for fertility change. Population and Development Review, 26(3), 483–515.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loreau, M. (2010). Linking biodiversity and ecosystems: Towards a unifying ecological theory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 365(1537), 49–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, K. (1999). An evolutionary perspective on human fertility. Population and Environment, 21(2), 223–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malthus, T. [1798 (reprinted 1959)]. Population: The first essay. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

  • Mason, W. M., Wong, G. Y., & Entwisle, B. (1983). Contextual analysis through the multilevel linear model. Sociological Methodology, 14, 72–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Molnar, J. J. (2010). Climate change and societal response: Livelihoods, communities, and the environment. Rural Sociology, 75(1), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mouillot, D., Sylvain, G., Aliaume, C., Verlaque, M., Belsher, T., Troussellier, M., et al. (2005). Ability of taxonomic diversity indices to discriminate coastal lagoon environments based on macrophyte communities. Ecological Indicators, 7, 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, N. (1988). Threatened biotas: “Hot spots” in tropical forests. Environmentalist, 8, 187–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., da Fonseca, G. A. B., & Kent, J. (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403, 853–858.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (1993). Population and land use in developing countries. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill, B. C., MackKellar, F. L., & Lutz, W. (2001). Population and climate change. Laxenburg, Austria: IIASA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patil, G. P., & Taillie, C. (1982). Diversity as a concept and its measurement. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 77(379), 548–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paudyal, A. (2007). Buffer zone resources and community conservation: A case study of Piple buffer zone Village Development Committee, Chitwan National Park. Unpublished Thesis. Kathmandu: Tribhuvan University.

  • Pebley, A. R. (1998). Demography and the environment. Demography, 35(4), 377–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peet, N. B., Watkinson, A. R., Bell, D. J., & Kattel, B. J. (1999). Plant diversity in the threatened sub-tropical grasslands of Nepal. Biological Conservation, 88, 193–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, T. (1986). Estimating fully parametric hazard rate models with time-dependent covariates: Use of maximum likelihood. Sociological Methods and Research, 14, 219–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, T. (1991). The statistical analysis of event histories. Sociological Methods and Research, 19(3), 270–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plunkett, S. W., Abarca-Mortensen, S., Behnke, A. O., & Sands, T. (2007). Neighborhood structural qualities, adolescents’ perceptions of neighborhoods, and Latino youth development. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 29(1), 19–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poffenberger, M. (1980). Patterns of change in the Nepal Himalaya. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poudel, A., Baral, H. S., Ellison, C., Subedi, K., Thomas, S., & Murphy, S. (2005). Mikania micrantha weed invasion in Nepal. A summary report of the first national workshop for stakeholders, held on 25 November 2004 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Himalayan Nature, IUCN-Nepal, and CAB International, UK.

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, C. E., & Wiener, W. (1962). The mathematical theories of communities. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, R. C., & Rawat, J. S. (2009). Monitoring of aquatic macroinvertebrates as bioindicator for assessing the health of wetlands: A case study in the Central Himalayas, India. Ecological Indicators, 9, 118–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, J. (1990). Population matters: People, resources, environment, and immigration. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

    Google Scholar 

  • South, S. J., & Baumer, E. P. (2000). Deciphering community and race effects on adolescent premarital childbearing. Social Forces, 78(4), 1379–1408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straede, S., & Treue, T. (2006). Beyond buffer zone protection: A comparative study of park and buffer zone products’ importance to villagers living inside Royal Chitwan National Park and to villagers living in its buffer zone. Journal of Environmental Management, 78, 251–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suwal, J. V. (2001). Socio-cultural dynamics of first birth intervals in Nepal. Contribution to Nepalese Studies, 28(1), 11–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thibaut, L. M., & Connolly, S. R. (2013). Understanding diversity–stability relationships: Towards a unified model of portfolio effects. Ecology Letters, 16(2), 140–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, K., & Jones, A. (1999). Human population density and prediction of local plant extinction in Britain. Conservation Biology, 13(1), 185–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, E. (1997). Couple childbearing desires, intentions, and births. Demography, 34(3), 343–354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., & Camburn, D. (1987). The influence of the family on premarital sexual attitudes and behavior. Demography, 24, 323–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., & Fricke, T. (1987). Social change and the family: Comparative perspectives from the West, China, and South Asia. Sociological Forum, 2, 746–779.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, A., & Lin, H.-S. (1994). Social change and the family in Taiwan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuladhar, J. M. (1989). The persistence of high fertility in Nepal. New Delhi: Inter-India Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • VanWey, L. K., Guedes, G. R., & D’Antona, Á. O. (2012). Out-migration and land-use change in agricultural frontiers: Insights from Altamira settlement project. Population and Environment, 34(1), 44–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yabiku, S. T. (2006). Land use and marriage timing in Nepal. Population and Environment, 27(5–6), 445–461.

    Google Scholar 

  • York, R., Rosa, E. A., & Dietz, T. (2003). Footprints on the Earth: The environmental consequences of modernity. American Sociological Review, 68(2), 279–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu, E., & Liu, J. (2007). Environmental impacts of divorce. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(51), 20629–20634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zurick, D., & Karan, P. P. (1999). Himalaya: Life on the edge of the world. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Award Number R01HD032912 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. The content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development or the National Institutes of Health. I am thankful to Rebecca Schewe, Amanda Clay Powers, Dirgha Ghimire, and William Axinn for their help with this research and to all of the staff at the Institute for Social and Environmental Research in Chitwan, Nepal, for their data collection efforts.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, McGill University, Room 713, Leacock Building, 855 Sherbrooke St West, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T7, Canada

    Sarah R. Brauner-Otto

Authors
  1. Sarah R. Brauner-Otto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah R. Brauner-Otto.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brauner-Otto, S.R. Environmental quality and fertility: the effects of plant density, species richness, and plant diversity on fertility limitation. Popul Environ 36, 1–31 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-013-0199-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-013-0199-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation