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Exploring Sense of Place and Environmental Behavior at an Ecoregional Scale in Three Sites

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Abstract

This article reports on three case studies that explore the person-place relationships that occur on an ecoregional scale and whether and how those place connections relate to residents undertaking action on issues about which they report being concerned. The research was conducted in three ecoregions of high priority for conservation: the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), the Klamath-Siskiyou (northern California/southern Oregon in the United States), and the Chesapeake Bay (eastern coast of the United States). Data were collected through surveys (n = 330, n = 248, and n = 320, respectively), interviews (n = 32, n = 29, and n = 21), and ethnographic study. Across the three ecoregions between one-fifth and one-quarter of residents indicated that their place connections occurred at an ecoregional scale. Among those who reported taking action—or when prompted to report at what scale they would take action—respondents indicated a scale of action roughly reflective of the scale at which their place connections occurred.

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Notes

  1. Many high-priority ecoregions are in (or subsume) areas that are the subject of local, national, and international debates for economic, political, social, and resource-related reasons (e.g., the Congo, the Galapagos, the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Indonesia).

  2. Brooks et al. 2006 discuss prioritization schema for ecoregion protection.

  3. In the Chesapeake Bay, selected sites were Baltimore, Maryland; Salisbury, Maryland; St. Mary’s, Maryland; and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In the Klamath/Siskiyou, sites included Crescent City, California; Yreka, California; Medford, Oregon; and Roseburg, Oregon.

  4. The three sites were Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz; Puerto Villamil, Isabela; and Puerto Baquerizo, San Cristobal.

  5. Skipjacks are traditional Chesapeake Bay fishing boats.

  6. In Klamath-Siskiyou and Galapagos, the relationship was significant (χ 2 = 23.501; df = 4; p = .000 and χ 2 = 15.537; df = 4; p = .004, respectively). In the Chesapeake Bay, the relationship approached significance (χ 2 = 8.940; df = 4; p = .063).

  7. See Stedman and Ardoin (2013) for further discussion of localism, cosmopolitanism, and its relation, in particular, to the place-based education movement.

  8. Chesapeake Bay: χ 2 = 6.374; df = 2; p = .041; Klamath-Siskiyou: χ 2 = 11.29; df = 2; p = .004.

  9. Chesapeake Bay: χ 2 = 12.899; df = 2; p = .002; Klamath-Siskiyou: χ 2 = 5.28; df = 2; p = .071.

  10. In Galapagos, the relationship between the scale-of-place index and having heard the area referred to as an ecoregion was not significant (χ 2 = 3.595; df = 2; p = .166).

  11. Education level, consolidated into three categories (primary and intermediate; secondary and technical; and university or more), was examined related to whether respondents had reported taking action. Pearson’s chi-square indicated a significant relationship between education and taking action among residents of all three ecoregions, such that the more formal education a respondent had, the more likely that person was to report having taken action to address concerns related to his/her place. (Galapagos: χ 2 = 18.235; df = 2; p = .000; Klamath-Siskiyou: χ 2 = 17.025; df = 2; p = .000; and Chesapeake Bay: χ 2 = 51.780; df = 2; p = .000).

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Stephen Kellert, William Burch, and Carol Carpenter at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies for research guidance. Thanks to Alison Bowers, Kimberley Marchant, Janel Schuh, and Deborah Wojcik for research and data analysis assistance. Grant support was provided by WWF-US, the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Mountaineers Foundation, Project AWARE, the Switzer Foundation, the Tropical Resources Institute, Morris K. Udall Foundation, the Urban Resources Initiative, the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies. I am grateful to the many interviewees and survey participants who generously shared their time and experiences; without them, this research would not have been possible.

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    Nicole M. Ardoin

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Ardoin, N.M. Exploring Sense of Place and Environmental Behavior at an Ecoregional Scale in Three Sites. Hum Ecol 42, 425–441 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-014-9652-x

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