Coastal Management Fall 2018

2018 Coastal Opinions

Major Stressors-Habitat Loss

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By: Josh Alessi, Juliet Badillo, Rolando Castro, Addie Clary-Wilson,

      Sierra Harris, Micaela Lerma, Rachel LeeAnn Williams

The effects of habitat destruction such as deforestation in the environment. Jaroslaw Kilian/iStock/GettyImages

Introduction

During the month of September 2018, the Coastal Management class at California State University Channel Islands conducted a survey of public opinions of the coast in Ventura County. The survey was conducted in order to gain a better understanding of the public views of the environment and the coast (Anderson 2018).

Habitat loss and destruction occurs when natural or human-caused events interfere with naturally occuring ecosystems. The most damaging form of habitat destruction is caused by humans due to it occurring on a global scale where the damage is generally irreversible (Hooper 2012). Much of the remaining wildlife habitats have been fragmented or disconnected due to roads and urban development. These fragmented habitats are generally not large enough to support the needs of the wildlife living within it. Lack of gene dispersal, mates, food resources, and sites for migratory species to rest are some of the many consequences of disappearing habitats Today, if habitat loss continues we will see an acceleration in the loss of species (NWF 2018).

Overview of Current Situation

Habitat loss has been dramatically rising over the past couple of decades. From 2001 to 2011 the eleven westernmost states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) lost over 4,300 square miles of “natural lands”, the equivalent of a football field’s worth of habitat every two and a half minutes (Clarke 2016). Of the eleven states, California had the most habitat loss during the decade totaling approximately 784 square miles of land transformed for human use (Clarke 2016). As for the entire nation, the U.S. harvests around 10 million acres (15,625 square miles) of timber each year, though from 1990 to 2010, an average of almost 945,000 acres (1,476 square miles) were reforested each year (Becker 2018). This is relevant because deforestation creates edge effects, and also directly results in habitat loss.

According to a national poll in June 2012 by The Nature Conservancy, many U.S. citizens are not as concerned about habitat loss as other issues like economic collapse and climate change. Habitat loss for fish and wildlife actually ranked last in seriousness in a list of issues that included fiscal concerns (such as economy recession, the federal deficit) and other environmental concerns such as water pollution, and global warming (Nature Conservancy 2012). The results for ranking issues as extremely/very serious were 34% of participants chose loss of habitat for fish and wildlife, 42% chose pollution of lakes, streams and rivers, 65% chose too much government spending, 76% chose the federal budget, and 80% chose the economy and unemployment (Nature Conservancy 2012).

The beach and coast is crucial because it harbors extensive habitat for a wide variety of animal species. A statewide survey by Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) from July 2018 interviewed 1,706 people to discover the views of the public in the upcoming election. According to the survey, 45% of surveyed adults are very concerned about rising sea levels having an impact on flooding and beach erosion, 29% are somewhat concerned, while 14% are not too concerned, and 11% are not concerned at all (Baldassare et al. 2018). A different way to look at it is that 7% of participants in central and northern coast of California are not concerned at; 10% of those in the southern coast are not concerned at all, and 17% of those from inland California are not concerned at all (Baldassare et al. 2018). Overall, it is evident that inland residents value the beach and coastal resources less than coastal residents; this is because inland residents on average, have less experience and attachment with the beach and coastal life. Also, inland residents are more likely to deny that coastal problems can affect them.

Hypothesis 1: Females rank habitat loss as a greater threat to coastal areas than the males do.

Hypothesis 2: The younger generation (those born on 1981 or later) perceives habitat loss as a greater threat to coastal areas than the older generations (those born before 1981).

Relevant Survey Questions

Four of our questions assessment attitudes towards Habitat Loss:

1. Do you know of any “wetlands” (marshes, bogs, swamps, etc.) within 50 miles of your home? (survey question 4)
2. How have California’s wetlands changed over the last 150 years? (survey question 5)
3. If you believe wetlands have changed, by how much have they increased or decreased? (survey question 6)
4. How much of a threat to California’s coastal areas (beaches, oceans, estuaries, etc.) are the following: (please rank these options from 1 thru 4; with 1 = greatest and 4 = lowest threat) (survey question 14)

Results

Overall, the general public feels that there has been a change in our environment, especially to the health of it. The change has been taken notice through our environment’s wetlands. After surveying over 1300 people, 49% knew of any wetlands close to them (50-mile radius), while 36& did not know of any and 16% were unsure. Around 58% of the general public believed that California’s wetlands have decreased and of that 58%, only 32% of the people believed that California’s wetlands have changed only 41-60%. The public has taken notice of the change in our wetlands and have even considered habitat destruction to only be the 2nd greatest threat.

Hypothesis 1 was proven to be falsified because when only accounting for females, females ranked it at 2.24, whereas males ranked it as 1.77. That means in reality, males actually perceive habitat destruction as a greater threat to coastal areas according to the semester opinion poll. Hypothesis 2 was also falsified. The younger generation (those born in 1981 or later) does not perceive habitat fragmentation as a greater threat to coastal areas than the older generation. The older generation ranked it as 2.21, and the younger generation ranked it at 2.24, so their rankings are similar.

Interpretation

From the results of the survey it appears that people are familiar with the idea of habitat loss, but they don’t understand the enormity of the situation, or specific details of this concept. People can recognize that our environment is under stress that has motivated destruction, but they are unfamiliar with the actualities of this destruction. For instance, the majority of people are aware that wetlands have been diminishing over time, but despite that, only few people believed that they had decreased as much as they have. California wetlands have decreased 91% over the last century, yet most people thought they had only decreased 41-60% (Anderson 2018). This suggests that even though people are understanding the severity of the situation, they are not being informed with the actual numbers or more current facts about the issue.

People largely ranked habitat destruction as the second greatest threat to California’s coast.  This suggests that the public understands how important it is to preserve the integrity of coastal environments. While the older and younger generations both ranked habitat loss relatively similar, as the second greatest threat, the older generation seemed to rate this issue as a slightly greater threat than the younger generations did. This is surprising because as a society we are becoming more involved with environmental issues as time progresses, which would suggest the younger generations may see this as a bigger threat as it becomes more prominent in our environment. But the fact that the older generation has consistently seen the degradation of our environment and the effect from such leads to this ranking.

Men ranked habitat loss as a greater threat than women did, which also goes against what we might consider typical. Since men are less likely to support environmental products and government spending on environmental issues, it can be assumed that women may be more inclined to see issues of habitat destruction as more prominent, but that was not the case (Polakovic 2012). This may be that men see specifically degradation as a larger threat than other issues, like invasive species or overharvesting, than women do, so these  groups focus on separate issues regarding coastal stressors differently.

Key Takeaway

Within the tri-county area of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles, the general public seem to have a general understanding of habitat destruction, but are typically unaware of the specific degree of the conditions related to habitat destruction. With the vastly growing population, it is vital for current and future generations to understand how habitat destruction is harsh on the environment, and that we must do all that we can do to protect it. Awareness regarding habitat destruction, along with all other environmental related issues today must be expanded to all ages of the public. The more amount of people that are informed of environmental issues, such as the current destruction of natural habitats, the greater the chance important ecosystems will be preserved.

References

Anderson, S. 2018. Public Impressions of Coastal Stressors. Lecture discussion. CSUCI. Camarillo, CA, USA. https://youtu.be/W5UoyDK0IY0

Anderson, S. 2012. Public perceptions of coastal resources in southern California. Urban Coast 3(1): 36-47.

Baldassare, M., D. Bonner, A. Dykman, L. Lopes. 2018. PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and their Government. Public Policy Institute of California. San Francisco, CA, USA.

http://www.ppic.org/wp-content/uploads/ppic-statewide-survey-july-2018.pdf

Downloaded on 24 October 2018.

Becker, A. 2018. Rates of Deforestation & Reforestation in the US. https://education.seattlepi.com/rates-deforestation-reforestation-us-3804.html

Downloaded on 1 November 2018.

Bickerstaff, S., Fay, M., Trimble, M. 2016. Modularization in Developmental Mathematics in Two States: Implementation and Early Outcomes. Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center. Working Paper No. 87.

Clarke, C. 2016. California Leads Western States in Habitat Loss. <https://www.kcet.org/redefine/california-leads-western-states-in-habitat-loss>. Downloaded on 24 October 2018.

Hooper, D. U., E. C. Adair, B. J. Cardinale, J. E. K. Byrnes, B. A. Hungate, K. L. Matulich, A. Gonzalez, J. E. Duffy, L. Gamfeldt, and M. I. O’Connor. 2012. A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change. Nature Publishing Group. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11118

Lumina Foundation. 2015. A stronger nation through climate policy: Ten-year time horizon brings Goal 2025 into sharp focus. Retrieved October 25, 2017 from http://www.luminafoundation.org/ les/publications/A_stronger_nation_ through_climate_policy-2015.pdf

The National Wildlife Federation. 2018. Habitat Loss. <https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Threats-to-Wildlife/Habitat-Loss> . Downloaded on 30 October 2018.

Polakovic, G. 2012. Are women greener than men? Los Angeles Times. URL <http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/13/opinion/la-oe-polakovic-gender-and-the-environment-20120613> Downloaded on 30 October 2018.

Weigel, L., D. Metz. The Nature Conservancy National Survey. The Nature Conservancy. Public Opinion Strategies and Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz, and Associates. https://conservationtools-production.s3.amazonaws.com/library_item_files/1205/1098/TNC_National_Poll.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIQFJLILYGVDR4AMQ&Expires=1540527982&Signature=W0i8uElllWAHY0fNyLL6548PIuY%3D Downloaded on 25 October 2018.