Perceptions and representations of biodiversity in Lausanne, Switzerland: Acknowledging the importance of residential environments

Abstract

While the ecological mechanisms involved in biodiversity loss within urban environments are widely studied, the literature often overlooks its social-ecological drivers. One of these drivers is the relationship between perceptions and representations of ecosystems and species within specific residential contexts. This study therefore aims to address the following questions: how do residents perceive biodiversity in relation to their social representation of nature within specific residential environments? Are there differences in the social representation and perception of greenspace types and species based on residents' demographic attributes (gender and age) and characteristics of their place of residence (district and housing types)? Through a quantitative survey and the analysis of 148 responses from Lausanne residents using textometry, cartography, and inferential statistics, this research demonstrates two main findings. Firstly, it confirms that the perception of species remains limited, which aligns with previous scholarly work. Secondly, it reveals that the social representations of nature and biodiversity can either correlate with or be disconnected from the perceptual process at the ecosystem level, depending on the residents' living environments. The impact of residential environments on biodiversity perception and representations is discussed, along with the implications of iconic biodiversity traps for raising public awareness about biodiversity preservation in cities.