8 pages., via online journal., In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science communication and enhance vernal pool conservation efforts. We conducted interviews with town planning board and conservation commission members (n = 9) from two towns in the State of Maine in the northeastern United States. We then mailed a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of planning board members in August and September 2007 with a response rate of 48.4% (n = 320). The majority of survey respondents favored the protection and conservation of vernal pools in their towns. Decision makers were familiar with the term “vernal pool” and demonstrated positive attitudes to vernal pools in general. General appreciation and willingness to conserve vernal pools predicted support for the 2006 revisions to the Natural Resource Protection Act regulating Significant Vernal Pools. However, 48% of respondents were unaware of this law and neither prior knowledge of the law nor workshop attendance predicted support for the vernal pool law. Further, concerns about private property rights and development restrictions predicted disagreement with the vernal pool law. We conclude that science communication must rely on specific frames of reference, be sensitive to cultural values, and occur in an iterative system to link knowledge and action in support of vernal pool conservation.
Shikuku, Kelvin M. (author), Winowiecki, Leigh (author), Twyman, Jennifer (author), Eitzinger, Anton (author), Perez, Juan G. (author), Mwongera, Caroline (author), and Läderach, Peter (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2017-03-08
Published:
Africa
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 169 Document Number: D08757
6 pages, via Online journal, Most agricultural soils are depleted of their soil organic matter (SOM) reserves. A severe loss of SOM content may degrade soil functionality, its capacity for provisioning of essential ecosystem services, and soil health. Therefore, restoration of SOM content in soils of agroecosystems may reverse the degradation trends, enhance ecosystem services (Banwart et al. 2015), and advance Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. (Lal et al. 2018a). Increase in SOM content may also partially replace the use of chemical fertilizers and supplemental irrigation, while restoring the environment.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 147 Document Number: C23508
Notes:
U.S. Information Agency via http://poll.orspub.com/poll/ 1 page., Responses to a national survey in Russia inviting views about whether agriculture should be owned exclusively by the state, mainly by the state, mainly by private entrepreneurs, or exclusively by entrepreneurs.
Retrieved January 6, 2007, Via projo.com. 7 pages., Two-page report describes the journalist's experience in covering a story about rural communities lost years ago to the development of the Scituate Reservoir in Rhode Island. Attached article (5 pages) describes the history of the Reservoir.
Hoover, Herbert (author), West, Peter (author), Wirth, M.E. (author), and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Research Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Research Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Research Service
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
1986
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 68 Document Number: C02728
Notes:
James F. Evans Collection; Contains abstracts, preface, and summary only, Washington, D.C. : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Agricultural Research Service, 1986. 52 p. (ERS Staff Report, no. AGES 860815)
