Abstract
This paper examines how residents of Southern Appalachia observe changes in their natural environment, the values that they assign to plants and animals in that environment, and their understandings and explanations of environmental change. We use semi-structured interviews and participant observation to determine that multigenerational residents and newcomers to the region are observing and noting change in different components of the environment and that they have different determinations of both the causes and likely consequences of that change. While multigenerational residents focus their observation and commentary on staple crops and culturally-important species, newcomers to the area concentrate on species related to recreational pursuits, giving each group insights into different aspects of environmental change. These findings are translated into recommendations for more inclusive and effective environmental and conservation planning.
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Notes
Interviewees volunteered species names in response to questions about whether they had observed environmental change over their lifetimes. When species were mentioned by name, interviewers followed up with questions seeking detail on the nature of observed changes, as well as causes and consequences of change.
Parenthetical designation includes a code for the interviewee’s county of residence – here, Macon – and their informant number.
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This work was funded by the National Science Foundation of the United States and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche of France.
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Welch-Devine, M., Burke, B.J., Steacy, C. et al. Environmental Change in Southern Appalachia: Local Ecological Knowledge across Residential Groups. Ambio 51, 280–290 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01559-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01559-1