Within Indiana, 75% of forestlands are owned by family forest owners (FFOs), which highlights the need for engaging FFOs to adopt invasive plant management practices. Social psychology research suggests that people are resistant to change when such change is perceived to be costly, risky and uncertain, and when the effects of change are psychologically distant in space or time. Our study incorporates these insights into a mixed-methods approach to understand how family forest owners (FFOs) conceptualize and respond to invasive plant-related risks. Interviews were conducted with FFOs who partake in cooperative invasive plant management programs, as well as those who prefer to work alone. These interviews were transcribed and coded for key differences in management preferences of cooperative and non-cooperative FFO management. We also utilized 1,422 mail survey questionnaires, which were georeferenced by zip code, to identify the socioeconomic, geographic, and ecological drivers of invasive plant management by FFOs in Indiana. The survey questionnaires contained information about FFOs’ demographics, knowledge of invasive plants, perceptions of invasion risk, and previous land and invasive plant management experiences. Cluster analyses and multiple logistic regressions were used to assess various factors’ influences on a FFO’s decision to manage invasive plants.
Results/Conclusions
Through interviews, we identify potential psychological differences between cooperative landowners and non-cooperative landowners and discuss strategies for incorporating the dimensions of psychological distance in communicating with landowners and targeting them for cooperative programs. We find that FFOs who take management actions tend to perceive invasion as sufficiently distant psychologically so they can construe invasion in high-level terms, which link it to superordinate goals (why one should care about and reduce invasion). At the same time, FFOs need to be able to perceive invasion control as sufficiently proximal psychologically so that they can construe invasion control in lower-level terms, which link it to subordinate means (how feasible it is to control invasion on one’s own property or with others, what specific actions to take). Finalized maps can be used to identify clusters of landowners who are more inclined to manage invasive plants individually versus cooperatively, as well as highlight the importance of presence of local organizations sharing information on invasive species, proximity to natural parks, presence of agricultural activities, percent forest cover, and predicted invasion risk. Such knowledge can be used to inform broad-scale planning and policy efforts to further improve FFO participation in invasive plant management in Indiana.