Ecology and Society Paper Now Out from NSF CNH Work

New paper now out from our NSF CNH work...Integrating sense of place into ecosystem restoration: a novel approach to achieve synergistic social-ecological impact

Kelly M. Kibler ¹, Geoffrey S. Cook ², Lisa G. Chambers ², Melinda Donnelly ³, Timothy L. Hawthorne ⁴, Fernando I. Rivera ⁴ and Linda Walters ²

¹Department of Civil, Environmental & Construction Engineering and National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, University of Central Florida, ²Department of Biology and National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, University of Central Florida, ³Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, ⁴Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida

Link to full article: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss4/art25/ Abstract: It is often a challenge to predict the impact of ecosystem restoration because many critical relationships and feedbacks between natural and human systems are poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we introduce a novel framework to characterize restoration dynamics within coupled human-natural systems. Because dynamics surrounding restoration are complex, we investigate the potential for sense of place, i.e., emotional attachment to place, to elucidate relationships between human and natural systems during times of change, such as restoration. Integrating sense of place with ecological metrics, a typology of restoration scenarios that exemplify complex relationships between social and ecological drivers emerges. We propose an identify-visualize-create framework for parsing restoration objectives and curating sense of place around the functional ecosystem state. Achieving coupled human-natural objectives thus requires evaluation of baseline sense of place early in the restoration process and active pursuit of opportunities that build stakeholder attachment over the long term.