Jordan W. Smith

Continental-scale quantification of landscape values using social media data

Significance In many landscapes across the globe, we are witnessing an ongoing functional shift away from landscapes managed for extractive activities (e.g., agriculture, mining, forestry) and toward landscapes managed for recreation and leisure activities. Understanding the spatial configuration of this functional shift at regional and continental scales will be crucial for the development of effective landscape and rural development policies in coming decades. We present a rigorous comparison between three social media platforms’ suitability for mapping and quantifying landscape values. We also introduce a predictive model capable of quantifying landscape values at a continental scale. The utility of the model is illustrated through the identification of specific landscape features that best explain high densities of ascribed value (i.e., landscape value locations). Individuals, communities, and societies ascribe a diverse array of values to landscapes. These values are shaped by the aesthetic, cultural, and recreational benefits and services provided by those landscapes. However, across the globe, processes such as urbanization, agricultural intensification, and abandonment are threatening landscape integrity, altering the personally meaningful connections people have toward specific places. Existing methods used to study landscape values, such as social surveys, are poorly suited to capture dynamic landscape-scale processes across large geographic extents. Social media data, by comparison, can be used to indirectly measure and identify valuable features of landscapes at a regional, continental, and perhaps even worldwide scale. We evaluate the usefulness of different social media platforms—Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram—and quantify landscape values at a continental scale. We find Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram data can be used to quantify landscape values, with features of Instagram being especially suitable due to its relatively large population of users and its functional ability of allowing users to attach personally meaningful comments and hashtags to their uploaded images. Although Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram have different user profiles, our analysis revealed similar patterns of landscape values across Europe across the three platforms. We also found variables describing accessibility, population density, income, mountainous terrain, or proximity to water explained a significant portion of observed variation across data from the different platforms. Social media data can be used to extend our understanding of how and where individuals ascribe value to landscapes across diverse social, political, and ecological boundaries.

A structural perspective of cross-sector partnerships involving youth sport nonprofit organizations

ABSTRACT Research question: Reductions in public funding for sport and recreation programs have created a vacuum in services that has increasingly been filled by nonprofit organizations. However, nonprofits often lack the organizational capacity to efficiently and sustainably deliver sport and recreation programs to the public. Cross-sector partnerships have been highlighted as an effective strategy to build organizational capacity, yet are currently underutilized by youth sport nonprofit organizations. While previous research has focused on functional characteristics of these partnerships, very few studies have examined their broader structural characteristics. Research methods: This study utilized structured interviews to collect quantitative network data from youth sport nonprofits registered in a large Southeastern US city (n = 32) to understand how cross-sector partnerships have been used to build organizational capacity. Using social network analysis, the study uncovers the size and composition of the network, identifies key external actors and industry sectors, and examines the network’s underlying balance and stability. Results and findings: Results indicate wide variation in the utilization and composition of partnerships, and an unbalanced structure that may influence their functional characteristics. Implications: The discussion provides empirically grounded recommendations to improve these structural characteristics and help youth sport managers effectively utilize cross-sector partnerships.

Climate and visitation to Utah's ‘Mighty 5’ national parks

ABSTRACT The relationship between climate and visitation to managed natural areas has been analyzed at a variety of different spatial scales. We expand upon our existing knowledge on this topic by: (1) determining how a wide range of climate variables affect visitation across a regional tourism system; and (2) identifying which variables affect visitation system-wide and which variables only affect visitation at specific parks. Our analysis focuses on five national parks located in southern Utah (USA) commonly referred to as ‘the Mighty 5’. We found monthly average daily maximum temperatures were the best predictor of system-wide visitation, suggesting average daily maximum temperatures play a more direct role in tourists’ travel decisions relative to other climate variables, including other derivations of temperature. We also found declines in monthly park visitation for three parks (Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef) once average daily maximum temperatures exceed 25 C. For Bryce Canyon and Zion however, monthly visitation continued to increase well above this threshold. The geophysical characteristics of these parks appear to mediate the relationship between average daily maximum temperature and visitation. The commonly found ‘inverted U-shape’ relationship between temperature and visitation should not be seen as a universal maxim. We also found precipitation to be a poor predictor of system-wide visitation, but a significant factor shaping the travel decisions of visitors to Bryce Canyon, the only park to offer snow-based outdoor recreation opportunities. Future research should not disregard the possibility of precipitation being a significant factor shaping visitors’ travel decisions. By conducting our analyses at two distinct scales, we have found there is a difference between the individual climate variables that are regionally-significant drivers of visitation and those that are locally-significant drivers of visitation. Scale matters in analyses of the relationship between climate and visitation.

Social network analysis of wildlife tourism microentrepreneurial network

Social networks are an important element of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs rely on social networks to access ideas, information, and resources to facilitate their entrepreneurial process. Strong and weak ties influence the entrepreneurial process in unique ways. This study utilized social network analysis approach to examine wildlife tourism microentrepreneurship through in-person structured interviews with 37 microentrepreneurs from North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound Region. Specifically, this study examined the extent of network ties, the type of support received from those network ties, and the process of creating and maintaining the business network ties. Weak ties were more prevalent than strong ties. Support was received in terms of marketing and advertising, information sharing, and product sponsorship. Weak ties were established through professional workshops and seminars or while working in the same territory, whereas reciprocity, togetherness, communication, and trust were identified as major factors to maintain weak ties. This study suggests that cognitive social capital factors (e.g. reciprocity, togetherness, and trust) can be highly important toward effective use of social networks, as well as to ensure entrepreneurial success.

Does perception of authenticity attract visitors to agricultural settings

ABSTRACT In the context of social and cultural relativity, there has been ample discussion about the fluidity and complexity of authenticity. This debate, termed ‘dilemma of authenticity’, centres around conflicting stances among tourism theorists, practitioners, marketers, and host communities with regards to how authenticity is perceived and how it influences tourists’ decision-making. This uncertainty has hindered agritourism entrepreneurs who remain unsure of how they may rely on authenticity to attract tourists. This paper examines perceptions of authenticity in working agricultural landscapes through two between-subject experiments to investigate how appealing the self-expressed authentic agricultural elements appear to potential tourists. One experiment was carried out in a controlled laboratory experiment employing Immersive Virtual Environment technology, and the second via a web-based survey using two-dimensional photos. Participants were undergraduate students and Amazon Mechanical Turk Master Workers, respectively. The results suggest that participants identify productive elements of agricultural landscapes as both authentic and appealing, though significantly differing in regards to socio-cultural elements. The triangulation of methods and samples reveal discrepant findings for wooded and riparian areas. This paper brings about novel findings about the perception of authenticity and appeal in agricultural settings.

An Integrative Review of Empirical Research on Perceptions and Behaviors Related to Prescribed Burning and Wildfire in the United States

Social science research from a variety of disciplines has generated a collective understanding of how individuals prepare for, and respond to, the risks associated with prescribed burning and wildfire. We provide a systematic compilation, review, and quantification of dominant trends in this literature by collecting all empirical research conducted within the U.S. that has addressed perceptions and behaviors surrounding various aspects of prescribed burning and wildfire. We reviewed and quantified this literature using four thematic categories covering: (1) the theory and methods that have been used in previous research; (2) the psychosocial aspects of prescribed burning and wildfire that have been studied; (3) the biophysical characteristics of the fires which have been studied; and (4) the types of fire and management approaches that have been examined. Our integrative review builds on previous literature reviews on the subject by offering new insight on the dominant trends, underutilized approaches, and under-studied topics within each thematic category. For example, we found that a select set of theories (e.g., Protection Motivation Theory, Attribution Theory, etc.) and approaches (e.g., mixed-methods) have only been used sparingly in previous research, even though these theories and approaches can produce insightful results that can readily be implemented by fire-management professionals and decision makers. By identifying trends and gaps in the literature across the thematic categories, we were able to answer four questions that address how future research can make the greatest contribution to our understanding of perceptions and behaviors related to prescribed burning and wildfire.

Political ideologies and the objective measurement of climate-related risks to coastal resources

Nearly all research focused on understanding perceptions of climate-related risks to coastal resources has used data collected via mail surveys, online surveys or in-depth qualitative interviews. To compliment previous research, this study focuses on objective perceptions of climate-related risks to coastal resources as measured by respondents’ gaze behavior when viewing images describing or depicting climate-related impacts to coastal resources. We utilize data collected from a survey paired with an eye tracking session to measure perceptions of climate-related risks to coastal resources. We also compare the gaze behavior of liberals and conservatives when viewing an infographic and a digital photograph illustrating climate-related impacts to coastal resources; these included impacts to: 1) abiotic resources; 2) biotic resources; 3) built infrastructure; and 4) recreation opportunities. Survey data indicate liberal participants believed climate-related risks to all four types of impacts were more serious relative to conservative participants. However, eye tracking data revealed both liberal and conservative participants spent an equivalent amount of time viewing the four types of impacts. Consequently, differences in the extent to which liberals and conservatives perceive climate-related risks to coastal resources may be attributable to differences in how the two groups evaluate each of the specific impacts. Eye tracking data also revealed liberal participants noticed impacts to biotic resources faster than conservative participants. Conversely, conservative participants noticed impacts to built infrastructure faster than liberal participants. The practical implications of these findings are noteworthy: climate change communicators should target messages based on the predominant political ideology of their audience or include both biotic and built infrastructure impacts in their messages to capture wider audiences.