Sabrina Dressel, Camilla Sandström, Göran Ericsson

Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies

From common interest to common management A meta-analysis of attitudes towards large

carnivores across Europe

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/species/carnivores/index_en.htm

Main objects:

Reveal transnational patterns

Social groups

Socio-demographic variables

Time

Return of species

Describe state of research

Defining the scope

Study area: Europe (48 countries)

Time frame: 1950 to 2012

Target species: wolf (Canis lupus), brown bear (Ursus

arctos)

Surveys: quantitative in nature; investigating values /

value orientations / beliefs / attitudes / norms / emotions /

acceptance

Methods

FINAL DATASET

Locating literature

Screening of articles

Preliminary coding guidelines &

design of data setExtraction of data

Adjusted coding guidelines &

design of data setRe-coding of data

Verification of complete dataset by applying the final coding guidelines

Common criticism on Meta-Analyses

file drawer problem / publication bias

Include grey literature

compare apples and oranges

concrete wording

voting method

evaluate differences of surveys

Dataset

105 studies

Conducted between 1976 and 2012

In 24 countries

bear

wolf and bear

wolf

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

21 (20%)

37 (35%)

47 (45%)

Number of surveys

Mixed effect models

Account for non-independence of datapoints from same survey

attitude towards species

attitude towards hunting of wolves/bears

species

social group

year

duration of co-existence

Main results

• Attitudes towards bears were significantly more positive than towards wolves

• There are significant differences in attitudes towards wolves among social groups, with farmers and hunters being less positive than the general public

• Across all surveys there was evidence that participants age had a negative effect on attitudes towards both species, while level of education had a positive effect

• Attitudes towards wolves seem to become less positive with the duration of co-existence, while the support for hunting them increases

• Most surveys were carried out by natural scientists

• The quality of survey methods differed a lot

• The research field is still quiet young in Europe

Main results

Conclusion

Longitudinal researchInclude species related factorsNational and international cooperation

Interdisciplinary research groups

Application of standardized methodsAccessible & reliable results

Dressel, S., Sandström, C., Ericsson, G. (2014).

A Meta-Analysis of Studies on Attitudes toward

Bears and Wolves across Europe 1976-2012.

Conservation Biology

Acknowledgements: Swedish EPA, Swedish Research Council Formas and SLU

Thank you for your attention

sabrina.dressel@slu.se