Christy Getz

Appreciation, Use, and Management of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in California’s Working Landscapes

Abstract“Working landscapes” is the concept of fostering effective ecosystem stewardship and conservation through active human presence and management and integrating livestock, crop, and timber production with the provision of a broad range of ecosystem services at the landscape scale. Based on a statewide survey of private landowners of “working” forests and rangelands in California, we investigated whether owners who are engaged in commercial livestock or timber production appreciate and manage biodiversity and ecosystem services on their land in different ways than purely residential owners. Both specific uses and management practices, as well as underlying attitudes and motivations toward biodiversity and ecosystem services, were assessed. Correlation analysis showed one bundle of ecosystem goods and services (e.g., livestock, timber, crops, and housing) that is supported by some landowners at the community level. Another closely correlated bundle of biodiversity and ecosystem services includes recreation, hunting/fishing, wildlife habitat, and fire prevention. Producers were more likely to ally with the first bundle and residential owners with the second. The survey further confirmed that cultural ecosystem services and quality-of-life aspects are among the primary amenities that motivate forest and rangeland ownership regardless of ownership type. To live near natural beauty was the most important motive for both landowner groups. Producers were much more active in management for habitat improvement and other environmental goals than residential owners. As the number of production-oriented owners decreases, developing strategies for encouraging environment-positive management by all types of landowners is crucial.

Class Politics and Agricultural Exceptionalism in California's Organic Agriculture Movement

Opposition within the organic agriculture community to a state regulatory initiative intended to close a loophole on the prohibition of stoop labor in California agriculture illuminates critical tensions around the “labor question” underpinning Californias rapidly expanding organic sector. Through an exploration of the contradictions between the political economic realities of organic agriculture, the lived realities of farm workers, and the ideological framework of “agricultural exceptionalism” espoused in the organic community, this article challenges widely held assumptions that organic agriculture embodies a more socially sustainable form of production. We conclude that these tensions must be confronted if any progress is to be made toward the incorporation of social justice into definitions of agro-food system sustainability.

Social Capital, Organic Agriculture, and Sustainable Livelihood Security : Rethinking Agrarian Change in Mexico

This paper explores the relevance of extra local market linkages and local-level social capital to sustainable livelihood outcomes in two agrarian communities on Mexicos Baja Peninsula. Contextualized by the specificity of Mexicos transition from state-directed rural development to neoliberally-guided rural development in the 1990s, findings suggest that market linkages can intersect with pre-existing social capital to both create new and destroy preexisting social capital, thus shaping the direction of development and inequality outcomes. The nature of a communitys social fabric is often a result of long-standing historical legacies. In the communities presented, the quantity and quality of social capital was intricately connected to their history of state-sponsored or market agriculture; the nature of local institutions, with particular emphasis on the formation and evolution of the ejido; and the access to and availability of natural resources, namely land and water, which are both intricately connected to market access options. Moving beyond a simple demonstration that social capital matters, this analysis explores the complex and dynamic interaction between local-level social capital and extralocal market linkages. In doing so, it contributes to the larger debate on how the historical legacy of populist reforms and the social and political institutions created during state populism have nuanced the trajectory of neoliberal development in Mexico.

Management Without Borders? A Survey of Landowner Practices and Attitudes toward Cross-Boundary Cooperation

Ecosystem management requires cross-jurisdictional problem-solving and, when private lands are involved, cross-boundary cooperation from many individual landowners. Fragmented ownership patterns and variation in ownership values, as well as distrust and transaction costs, can limit cooperation. Results from a landowner survey in California were analyzed using an audience segmentation approach. Landowners were grouped into four clusters according to ownership motivations: rural lifestyle, working landscape, natural amenity, and financial investment. All clusters showed willingness to cooperate for all three topics addressed in the survey (pest and disease control, fire hazard reduction, and wildlife conservation), but their degree of willingness differed by cluster, who they were expected to cooperate with, and the natural resource problem addressed. All were more willing to cooperate with neighbors and local groups than with state and federal agencies. Landowners were most willing to cooperate to reduce fire hazard, which is the most direct threat to property and well-being.

Consider the source: The impact of media and authority in outreach to private forest and rangeland owners

Over half of the United States is privately owned. Improving environmental sustainability requires that the scientific and management communities provide effective outreach to the many landowners making decisions about land use and management practices on these lands. We surveyed California forest and rangeland owners in ten counties throughout the state to assess the impact of existing outreach and identify gaps in information distribution and content. Although a number of organizations provide land management advice highly-ranked by landowners, no individual organization currently reaches more than 30% of forest and rangeland owners, and these groups together reach less than 60% of landowners. The lowest ranked advice came from wildlife and land management agencies, whereas the highest ranked advice came from private consultants and advisory organizations. The ecosystem services provided by forests and rangelands are strongly influenced by conservation scale, and this appears to be recognized in current outreach efforts. Owners of large properties (>200 ha) were substantially more likely to have received land management advice than smaller-sized properties, and from a broader group of organizations. As ownerships become increasingly fragmented, outreach focus and methods will need to shift to more effectively target the owners of smaller properties. On the other hand, some major outreach goals, such as conservation of wildlife, ranchland, or agricultural communities, will continue to rely on effective outreach to owners of larger properties.

An analysis of historical trends in classical biological control of arthropods suggests need for a new centralized database in the USA.

Abstract The documentation of biological control agents targeting arthropods in the United States has historically been subject to less regulation relative to weed biological control releases. This study reviews publicly available databases to track environmental releases of biological control agents targeting arthropods in the United States. It then presents available data for the states with the most releases between 1962 and 2005: Hawaii, California and Florida. These data indicate a clear decline in rates of introduction since 1982 or 1994, depending on the source. Existing record-keeping systems offer incomplete or inconsistent data for evaluation because they were designed with limited goals, attempt to capture excessive detail and are thus impractical, or are insufficiently resourced. Existing databases cannot be used to answer meaningful questions regarding non-target effects of introduced control agents. Current databases are inappropriately designed and insufficiently resourced to meet todays research and regulatory needs. We propose and describe a new database system for classical biological control of arthropods.