The dynamic feasibility of resisting (R), accepting (A), or directing (D) ecological change

Conservation Biology
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Ecological transformations are occurring as a result of climate change, challenging traditional approaches to land management decision-making. The resist–accept–direct (RAD) framework helps managers consider how to respond to this challenge. We examined how the feasibility of the choices to resist, accept, and direct shifts in complex and dynamic ways through time. We considered 4 distinct types of social feasibility: regulatory, financial, public, and organizational. Our commentary is grounded in literature review and the examples that exist but necessarily has speculative elements because empirical evidence on this newly emerging management strategy is scarce. We expect that resist strategies will become less feasible over time as managers encounter situations where resisting is ecologically, by regulation, financially, or publicly not feasible. Similarly, we expect that as regulatory frameworks increasingly permit their use, if costs decrease, and if the public accepts them, managers will increasingly view accept and direct strategies as more viable options than they do at present. Exploring multiple types of feasibility over time allows consideration of both social and ecological trajectories of change in tandem. Our theorizing suggested that deepening the time horizon of decision-making allows one to think carefully about when one should adopt different approaches and how to combine them over time.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title The dynamic feasibility of resisting (R), accepting (A), or directing (D) ecological change
Series title Conservation Biology
DOI 10.1111/cobi.14331
Edition Online First
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher Society for Conservation Biology
Contributing office(s) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details