Abstract Title
Using Cognitive Anthropology to Create Mental Models of Red Band Trout Ecosystems in Owyhee County, Idaho
Additional Funding Sources
This project was made possible by the NSF Idaho EPSCoR Program and by the National Science Foundation under Award No. OIA-1757324.
Abstract
To address needs for adaptive management within the context of environmental change, scenario-driven participatory processes have been proposed to address the challenges of natural resource decision-making. There are many uncertainties in understanding how ecosystems will respond to environmental change, and using scenario-driven participatory processes that place stakeholders at the center helps to inform how to develop adaptive processes. The purpose of this study is to elucidate and create stakeholder mental models of red band trout ecosystems in the Owyhee region of Idaho to identify local ecological knowledge of uncertainties in the system so that scholars may help predict the future effects of environmental change on the species. We will use cognitive anthropology to create mental models of red band trout ecosystems to aid in statewide efforts to understand the adaptive capacity of red band trout and their ecosystems. By gathering knowledge from stakeholders, we were able to integrate their knowledge into potential adaptive management strategies. The qualitative and mental map data gathered from semi-structured interviews will be used to create a Bayesian Belief Network that will gather data on structured decision-making processes to be integrated into a framework that will create future scenarios for the species.
Using Cognitive Anthropology to Create Mental Models of Red Band Trout Ecosystems in Owyhee County, Idaho
To address needs for adaptive management within the context of environmental change, scenario-driven participatory processes have been proposed to address the challenges of natural resource decision-making. There are many uncertainties in understanding how ecosystems will respond to environmental change, and using scenario-driven participatory processes that place stakeholders at the center helps to inform how to develop adaptive processes. The purpose of this study is to elucidate and create stakeholder mental models of red band trout ecosystems in the Owyhee region of Idaho to identify local ecological knowledge of uncertainties in the system so that scholars may help predict the future effects of environmental change on the species. We will use cognitive anthropology to create mental models of red band trout ecosystems to aid in statewide efforts to understand the adaptive capacity of red band trout and their ecosystems. By gathering knowledge from stakeholders, we were able to integrate their knowledge into potential adaptive management strategies. The qualitative and mental map data gathered from semi-structured interviews will be used to create a Bayesian Belief Network that will gather data on structured decision-making processes to be integrated into a framework that will create future scenarios for the species.