Collaborative deer management - ecology data, 2006-2009

This dataset consists of a survey of the vegetational impacts of deer in 20 forests as part of the NERC Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. It is widely accepted, at least in principle, that most kinds of natural resources are best handled collaboratively. Collaborative management avoids conflict and enhances the efficiency with which the resource is managed. However, simply knowing that collaboration is a good idea does not guarantee that collaboration can be achieved. In this project, the researchers have addressed issues of conflict and collaboration in ecological resource management using the example of wild deer in Britain. Deer are an excellent example since they highlight problems around ownership and because they offer both societal benefits and drawbacks. Wild deer are not owned, though the land they occupy is. As deer move around, they usually cross ownership boundaries and thus provoke potential conflicts between neighbouring owners who have differing management goals. Deer themselves are valued and a key component of the natural environment, but their feeding commonly limits or prevents woodland regeneration and can thus be harmful to ecological quality. Deer provide jobs but they also provoke traffic accidents. This study used a variety of methods from across the natural and social sciences, including choice experiments, semi-structured interviews with individuals and focus groups. It also incorporated the use of participatory GIS to map deer distributions and habitat preferences in conjunction with stakeholders. The study confirmed conventional wisdom about the importance of collaboration. However, it also showed that there were many barriers to achieving effective collaboration in practice, such as contrasting objectives, complex governance arrangements, power imbalances and personal relationships. Mechanisms for enhancing collaboration, such as incentives and incorporating deer within broader landscape management objectives, were examined. Though these proposals were worked out for the case of deer, they are likely to be applicable much more widely and should be considered in other cases of disputed or rapidly changing ecological resource management. This dataset consists of a survey of the vegetational impacts of deer in 20 forests. The interview and focus group transcripts, and the choice experiment datasets from this study are available at the UK Data Archive under study number 6545 (see online resources). Further documentation for this study may be found through the RELU Knowledge Portal and the project's ESRC funding award web page (see online resources).

本数据集记录了英国20个森林中鹿群对植被影响的调查，作为NERC乡村经济与土地利用（RELU）项目的一部分。在原则上，人们普遍认同，大多数自然资源最宜通过协作方式进行管理。协作管理能够避免冲突，并提高资源管理的效率。然而，仅仅认识到协作是一种好主意，并不能保证协作能够实现。在本研究中，研究人员以英国野生鹿群为例，探讨了生态资源管理中的冲突与协作问题。鹿群是一个极佳的例子，因为它突显了所有权问题，并因其对社会产生益处和弊端而备受关注。野生鹿群不属于任何个人所有，但它们占据的土地却并非如此。随着鹿群的活动，它们通常会穿越所有权界限，从而引发相邻土地所有者之间因管理目标不同而可能产生的潜在冲突。鹿群本身具有价值，是自然环境的关键组成部分，但它们的觅食活动通常会限制或阻碍林地再生，从而对生态环境质量造成损害。鹿群提供了就业机会，但同时也可能引发交通事故。本研究采用了来自自然科学和社会科学领域的多种方法，包括选择实验、与个人进行的半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论。此外，本研究还结合了参与式地理信息系统（GIS）的使用，以与利益相关者共同绘制鹿群分布和栖息地偏好图。研究证实了关于协作重要性的传统智慧，但同时也表明，在实际操作中实现有效协作存在许多障碍，例如目标差异、复杂的治理安排、权力不均衡以及个人关系等。研究还探讨了增强协作的机制，例如激励措施和将鹿群纳入更广泛的景观管理目标中。虽然这些方案是为鹿群案例制定的，但它们很可能具有更广泛的应用前景，并应在其他存在争议或快速变化的生态资源管理案例中得到考虑。本数据集包括对20个森林中鹿群植被影响的调查。本研究的访谈和焦点小组记录，以及选择实验数据集均可在英国数据档案馆（UK Data Archive）下6545号研究项目中找到（参见在线资源）。关于本研究的进一步文档可通过RELU知识门户和项目ESRC资助奖项网页获取（参见在线资源）。