The Concept of Naturalness | home
Title Page, Abstract, Acknowledgments | Table of Contents | Introduction | Literature Review Part A: Cultural Aspects of Naturalness | Literature Review Part B: Ecological Aspects of Naturalness | Case Study | Conclusions and Recommendations | References Cited
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT
. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
. iv
LIST OF TABLES
.. viii
LIST OF FIGURES
. xi
CHAPTER I:
INTRODUCTION
.. 1
The Concept of Naturalness in Natural Resource Management
. 1
Ecosystem Management: An Approach to Managing
Natural Resources
..
5
Project Overview
. 6
Study Goals and Objectives
.. 6
Selection of Study Methods
.
.
6
Limitations of the Study
.. 8
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
PART A:
CULTURAL ASPECTS OF THE CONCEPTION OF NATURALNESS
.. 10
General Perspectives on Nature and Naturalness
. 10
Nature-Skeptical Perspectives
. 11
Nature-Endorsing Perspectives
15
Nature and Naturalness as Underpinnings of Culture
.. 16
Approaches to Understanding Concepts of Nature
and Naturalness.
.. 19
Concepts of Nature and Naturalness: An Historical Overview
..
. 21
The Philosophical Roots of Attitudes Toward Nature
and Naturalness
21
Historical Shifts in Cultural Perceptions of Nature
and Naturalness
... 23
The Influence of Capitalism
25
The Influence of a Mechanistic Model for Science
. 27
The Influence of the Judaeo-Christian Traditions
32
The Influence of Humanism
36
Modernism and Postmodernism
42
Complex and Contradictory Interpretations of These
Historical Influences
. 45
Overall Trends in Western Science and Culture
. 49
page v
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Contents--Continued
Page
Concepts of Nature and Naturalness in Contemporary Usage
. 51
Ideologies: The Range of Contemporary Perspectives on Nature
52
Generalizing the Broad Range of Ideological Perspectives
.. 56
Contemporary Normative Attitudes
58
PART B:
ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT AND ECOLOGICAL
ASPECTS OF NATURALNESS
. 62
Ecosystem Management: An Ecological Framework
for Managing Natural Resources
. 62
Ecology and the Management of Natural Resources
..
. 62
Origins of Ecosystem Management
..
64
Ecosystem Ecology and Landscape Ecology within the
EM Framework
..
66
Key Concepts and Principles of Ecosystem Management
... 75
Definitions of Ecosystem Management
..
.. 77
Concepts of Naturalness in Ecosystem Management
..
.. 79
Natural Systems and Areas
.... 80
Natural Processes
. 85
Natural Range of Variability
. 91
Natural Disturbance
.. 98
Natural Biological Diversity
.. 110
Naturalness and Native Species
. 116
The Relationship Between Humans and Nature
.. 123
Paradigms for Understanding Naturalness Within
Resource Management
.. 128
The Impact of Differing Ideological Perspectives
. 128
Developing a Resource Management Context for Naturalness
. 131
An Open Question: Perceptions of Naturalness Specific to
Resource Management
.
138
CHAPTER III:
CASE STUDY METHODOLOGY
. 140
Overview of the Delphi Method
. 140
Origin and Development of the Delphi Method
140
General Considerations for Implementing the Delphi Process
. 141
Study Design and Facilitation
... 144
Overall Study Design
.. 144
Recruitment and Response Rates of Participants
. 145
Development and Administration of Questionnaires
. 149
Selection of Methods for Analysis of Data
..
..
154
Selection of Statistics
.. 154
Specific Topics for Analysis
156
page vi
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Contents--Continued
Page
CHAPTER IV:
SUMMARY OF THE CASE STUDY RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
.. 161
Categorizing Initial Individual Participant Input
161
Identifying Key Concepts
. 162
Evaluating the Range of Individual Participant Opinion
. 169
Evaluating Differences Between Subgroups
.. 170
Evaluating Effects of the Delphi Process
174
Summary of Narrative Comments of Participants
. 176
CHAPTER V:
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
.. 179
Conclusions of the Literature Review
.. 179
Conclusions of the Case Study Results
.
. 180
Recommendations
. 186
REFERENCES CITED
.. 190
APPENDICES
Appendix A - Sample Questionnaire Pages
222
Appendix B - Categorizing Initial Participant Input
.
.
225
Appendix C - Identifying Key Concepts
233
Appendix D - Evaluating the Range of Individual Participant Opinion
..
. 268
Appendix E - Evaluating Differences Between the Delphi Subgroups
289
Appendix F - Evaluating the Effects of the Delphi Process
..
..
.. 309
Appendix G - Survey of Narrative Comments of Participants
.
.
. 329
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 Ideological categories used to describe various perspectives on
nature and the relationship between humans and nature
.
.
. 55
2 Kellert's typological categories describing attitudes toward nature
.
. 58
3 White and Pickett's descriptive categories for components of ecological
disturbance
101
4 Examples of proposed continua describing conditions ranging from
predominantly natural to predominantly cultural in character
.. 133
5 Numbers and percentages of participant questionnaire returns..
149
B-1 Summary of thematic analysis of responses to the first-round
questionnaire
.
.
.. 228
C-1 Delphi statements receiving high final mean group ratings, of 3.5
or above
..
.. 236
C-2 Delphi statements with moderate final mean group ratings in the range
of 3.0 to 3.4
240
C-3 Delphi statements with initial subgroup ratings below 3.0, dropped from
further evaluation after the second-round questionnaire
.. 243
C-4 Most frequently occurring themes among Delphi statements submitted
in the first-round questionnaire responses, and frequency of occurrence
at high and moderate levels of final mean group ratings
.. 252
C-5 Themes with occurrence among statements receiving high final
mean group ratings, regardless of initial frequency of occurrence
.. 254
C-6 Facilitator-generated statements addressing the relationship
between humans and the rest of the natural world
. 259
C-7 Facilitator-generated statements addressing the possibility of humans
restoring or creating natural conditions
. 260
C-8 Facilitator-generated statements specifically addressing various other
concepts related to naturalness
..
.. 262
C-9 Facilitator-generated statements addressing the importance of focusing
on ecosystem process and composition
.. 263
C-10 Facilitator-generated statements addressing the issues of native species
and native human cultures
. 264
C-11 Facilitator-generated statements addressing the problem of ambiguity in
defining naturalness
. 265
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List of Tables--Continued
Table Page
D-1 Summary of the range of individual ratings received for each Delphi
statement in response to each questionnaire round
.. 270
D-2 Standard deviations of Delphi statement whole-group ratings
273
D-3 Collapsed scale scores for questionnaire 2; LRM subgroup
277
D-4 Collapsed scale scores for questionnaire 2; ESR subgroup
278
D-5 Collapsed scale scores for questionnaire 2; PDI subgroup
.. 279
D-6 Collapsed scale scores for questionnaire 3; whole Delphi group
281
D-7 Collapsed scale scores for questionnaire 4; whole Delphi group
282
D-8 Trend categories used in conjunction with collapsed scale
analysis tables
.. 283
D-9 Summary of collapsed scale analysis for trends of agreement and
disagreement among individual responses to the second-round
questionnaire
. 284
D-10 Summary of collapsed scale analysis for trends of agreement and
disagreement among individual responses to the third-round
questionnaire
. 285
D-11 Summary of collapsed scale analysis for trends of agreement and
disagreement among individual responses to the fourth-round
questionnaire
. 286
E-1 Summary of ANOVA results, comparing subgroup ratings for the
third and fourth-round questionnaires
.. 300
E-2 ANOVA results, comparison of subgroup ratings for Delphi statements
originating from LRM subgroup members, third-round questionnaire
300
E-3 ANOVA results, comparison of subgroup ratings for Delphi statements
originating from LRM subgroup members, fourth-round questionnaire
.. 301
E-4 ANOVA results, comparison of subgroup ratings for Delphi statements
originating from ESR subgroup members, third-round questionnaire
. 301
E-5 ANOVA results, comparison of subgroup ratings for Delphi statements
originating from ESR subgroup members, fourth-round questionnaire
.. 302
E-6 ANOVA results, comparison of subgroup ratings for Delphi statements
originating from PDI subgroup members, third-round questionnaire
.. 302
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List of Tables--Continued
Table Page
E-7 ANOVA results, comparison of subgroup ratings for Delphi statements
originating from PDI subgroup members, fourth-round questionnaire
.
.. 303
E-8 Text of Delphi statements showing significant difference among
subgroup ratings
.. 303
E-9 Summary of results from Sheffé method of post-hoc analysis,
comparing pairs of subgroup ratings from the third and fourth-round
questionnaires
.. 304
F-1 Comparison of mean ratings for all statements evaluated in the third
and fourth-round questionnaires
311
F-2 Magnitude and sign-value of change in mean ratings between
questionnaire rounds
.. 312
F-3 Magnitude of net change in mean ratings, in terms of absolute value
of net change between second-round questionnaire mean and
final mean group ratings
.. 314
F-4 Summary of t-tests results, comparing mean subgroup and mean group
ratings between the second and third questionnaire rounds, and mean
group ratings between the third and fourth questionnaire rounds
..
. 315
F-5 Results of t-test comparison of mean subgroup group ratings assigned
in the second-round questionnaire with mean whole-group ratings
assigned in the third-round questionnaire
316
F-6 Results of t-test comparison of initial mean whole-group ratings assigned
in the third-round questionnaire with final mean whole-group ratings
assigned in the fourth-round questionnaire
. 317
F-7 Summary of changes in standard deviations between questionnaire
rounds
. 319
F-8 Comparison of Delphi group and control group mean ratings
. 324
F-9 Summary of t-test comparison of Delphi group and control group
mean ratings
. 324
F-10 Results of t-test comparison of Delphi group and control group ratings
for Delphi statements on the fourth-round questionnaire
.. 325
F-11 Comparison of Delphi group and control group ratings for
facilitator-generated statements on the fourth-round questionnaire
326
G-1 Participant summary comments from the final (fourth-round)
questionnaire
. 333
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
E-1 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements in the third-round
questionnaire
. 290
E-2 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements in the fourth-round
questionnaire
. 290
E-3 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements originating from the
LRM subgroup, third-round questionnaire
293
E-4 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements originating from the
LRM subgroup, fourth-round questionnaire
. 293
E-5 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements originating from the
ESR subgroup, third-round questionnaire
295
E-6 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements originating from the
ESR subgroup, fourth-round questionnaire
. 295
E-7 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements originating from the
PDI subgroup, third-round questionnaire
. 297
E-8 Subgroup mean ratings for Delphi statements originating from the
PDI subgroup, fourth-round questionnaire
.. 297
F-1 Net change in Delphi group mean ratings for all Delphi statements
carried into the third-round questionnaire
321
F-2 Change in standard deviations for individual Delphi statements
between the second and third-round questionnaires
. 321
F-3 Change in standard deviations for individual Delphi statements
between the third and fourth-round questionnaires
322
F-4 Net change in standard deviations for all Delphi statements evaluated
in the third and fourth-round questionnaires
..
. 322
F-5 Comparison of Delphi group and control group mean ratings for
Delphi statements in the fourth-round questionnaire
. 327
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