Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica

The impact of climate change on farm soils in the tropics is the combined result of short-term soil management decisions and expanding precipitation extremes. This is particularly true for cultivated lands located in steeply sloping areas where bare soil is exposed to extreme rainfall such as the Bi...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vignola, Raffaele, Koellner, T., Scholz, R.W., McDaniels, T.L.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20522
_version_ 1855515720768552960
author Vignola, Raffaele
Koellner, T.
Scholz, R.W.
McDaniels, T.L.
author_browse Koellner, T.
McDaniels, T.L.
Scholz, R.W.
Vignola, Raffaele
author_facet Vignola, Raffaele
Koellner, T.
Scholz, R.W.
McDaniels, T.L.
author_sort Vignola, Raffaele
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The impact of climate change on farm soils in the tropics is the combined result of short-term soil management decisions and expanding precipitation extremes. This is particularly true for cultivated lands located in steeply sloping areas where bare soil is exposed to extreme rainfall such as the Birris watershed in Costa Rica. Farmers in this watershed are affected by increasing degradation of soil regulation services and respond with different level of efforts to conserve their soils. This paper examines influences on farmers’ decisions through a survey involving interviews with a sample of farmers (n = 56) to test hypotheses on how a combination of cognitive variables (beliefs, risk perception, values) and socioeconomic variables shape decisions on soil conservation. Results show that farmers’ awareness of their exposure level to soil erosion combines with other variables to determine their level of soil conservation. Using discriminant analysis, three groups of farmers were identified based on their soil conservation efforts. ANOVA pairwise-comparison among these groups showed significant differences in respect to levels of awareness, perception of risk, and personal beliefs along with territorial exposure and participation in soil conservation programs. Our results help to understand farmers’ complex decision-making on soil conservation and help designing policies to support the provision of soil regulation services especially in areas highly exposed to increasing frequency of extreme precipitation events such as Central America.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace20522
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2010
publishDateRange 2010
publishDateSort 2010
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace205222025-01-24T14:12:01Z Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica Vignola, Raffaele Koellner, T. Scholz, R.W. McDaniels, T.L. forestry research The impact of climate change on farm soils in the tropics is the combined result of short-term soil management decisions and expanding precipitation extremes. This is particularly true for cultivated lands located in steeply sloping areas where bare soil is exposed to extreme rainfall such as the Birris watershed in Costa Rica. Farmers in this watershed are affected by increasing degradation of soil regulation services and respond with different level of efforts to conserve their soils. This paper examines influences on farmers’ decisions through a survey involving interviews with a sample of farmers (n = 56) to test hypotheses on how a combination of cognitive variables (beliefs, risk perception, values) and socioeconomic variables shape decisions on soil conservation. Results show that farmers’ awareness of their exposure level to soil erosion combines with other variables to determine their level of soil conservation. Using discriminant analysis, three groups of farmers were identified based on their soil conservation efforts. ANOVA pairwise-comparison among these groups showed significant differences in respect to levels of awareness, perception of risk, and personal beliefs along with territorial exposure and participation in soil conservation programs. Our results help to understand farmers’ complex decision-making on soil conservation and help designing policies to support the provision of soil regulation services especially in areas highly exposed to increasing frequency of extreme precipitation events such as Central America. 2010 2012-06-04T09:13:26Z 2012-06-04T09:13:26Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20522 en Vignola, R., Koellner, T., Scholz, R.W., McDaniels, T.L. 2010. Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica . Land Use Policy 27 (4) :1132-1142. ISSN: 0264-8377.
spellingShingle forestry
research
Vignola, Raffaele
Koellner, T.
Scholz, R.W.
McDaniels, T.L.
Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica
title Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica
title_full Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica
title_fullStr Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica
title_full_unstemmed Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica
title_short Decision-making by farmers regarding ecosystem services: factors affecting soil conservation efforts in Costa Rica
title_sort decision making by farmers regarding ecosystem services factors affecting soil conservation efforts in costa rica
topic forestry
research
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/20522
work_keys_str_mv AT vignolaraffaele decisionmakingbyfarmersregardingecosystemservicesfactorsaffectingsoilconservationeffortsincostarica
AT koellnert decisionmakingbyfarmersregardingecosystemservicesfactorsaffectingsoilconservationeffortsincostarica
AT scholzrw decisionmakingbyfarmersregardingecosystemservicesfactorsaffectingsoilconservationeffortsincostarica
AT mcdanielstl decisionmakingbyfarmersregardingecosystemservicesfactorsaffectingsoilconservationeffortsincostarica