Human perceptions of forest fragmentation: Implications for natural disturbance management

Abstract

To test public perception and preference of forest fragmentation trends under current forest management practices, we solicited preferences for harvest patterns from 63 study participants before and after they were provided with educational material on the subject. In addition, we solicited preferences for harvest systems employing different retention patterns. Participants preferred harvest patterns tending away from small, dispersed harvest blocks (i.e., more fragmented) towards larger, more aggregated harvest blocks (i.e., less fragmented). This preference was more pronounced when participants were provided with information that stressed a less fragmented pattern as being ecologically beneficial. This result suggests that the public is willing to accept larger, more aggregated harvest blocks relative to the status quo, especially if provided with information that stresses benefits of that approach. However, participants clearly preferred a harvest system employing dispersed individual tree retention over other systems employing a more concentrated retention pattern. The combination of these results suggests that public acceptability of larger aggregated harvest blocks may depend on the amount of post-harvest retention involved, and that harvest systems employing dispersed individual tree retention will be preferred by the public. Key words: effects of information, environmental perception, forest fragmentation, forest management, human perception, natural disturbance