Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T08:29:46.292Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Coral Reef Collapse and Sense of Place in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

from Part I - Climate Change and Ecological Regime Shifts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2021

Christopher M. Raymond
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Finland
Lynne C. Manzo
Affiliation:
University of Washington, Seattle
Daniel R. Williams
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Colorado
Andrés Di Masso
Affiliation:
Universitat de Barcelona
Timo von Wirth
Affiliation:
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Get access

Summary

Given global social and environmental change, understanding how resulting place change affects people–place bonds is of pressing importance. However, given traditional views of these bonds as static, understanding the fluidity of people’s relationship with place remains nascent. We examine how people’s sense of place relating to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef changed over a four-year period during which the reef suffered climate-change-induced mass coral bleaching. Operationalising sense of place with seven indicators representing place attachment, identity and meanings, we found increases in attachment, identity and two meanings (pride, biodiversity) and decreases in three meanings (lifestyle, aesthetics, scientific value). We suggest that place change heightened the emotional and intangible elements of sense of place, while having a negative effect on the more instrumental meanings. Our results challenge a notion of people–place bonds premised on fixity, stability, and low dimensionality, instead suggesting the need to consider them as dynamic and multidimensional.

Type
Chapter
Information
Changing Senses of Place
Navigating Global Challenges
, pp. 21 - 31
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adger, W. N., Barnett, J., ChapinIII, F. S. and Ellemor, H. (2011) ‘This must be the place: underrepresentation of identity and meaning in climate change decision-making’, Global Environmental Politics, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 125. https://doi.org/10.1162/GLEP_a_00051CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adger, W. N., Barnett, J., Brown, K., Marshall, N. and O’Brien, K. (2013) ‘Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation’, Nature Climate Change, vol. 3, pp. 112117. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1666Google Scholar
Barnett, J., Tschakert, P., Head, L. and Adger, W. N. (2016) ‘A science of loss’, Nature Climate Change, vol. 6, pp. 976978. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3140Google Scholar
Benham, C. (2016) ‘Change, opportunity and grief: understanding the complex social-ecological impacts of liquefied natural gas development in the Australian coastal zone’, Energy Research and Social Science, vol. 14, pp. 6170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.01.006Google Scholar
Biedenweg, K., Scott, R. P. and Scott, T. A. (2017) ‘How does engaging with nature relate to life satisfaction? Demonstrating the link between environment-specific social experiences and life satisfaction’, Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 50, pp. 112124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.02.002Google Scholar
Bryman, A. (2012) Social Research Methods, Oxford, Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Costanza, R., d’Arge, R., de Groot, R., et al. (1997) ‘The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital’, Nature, vol. 387, no. 6630, pp. 253260. https://doi.org/10.1038/387253a0Google Scholar
Cresswell, T. (2015) Place: An Introduction, Oxford, Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1111/nzg.12102Google Scholar
Cunsolo, A. and Ellis, N. R. (2018) ‘Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss’, Nature Climate Change, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 275281. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0092-2Google Scholar
Curnock, M. I., Marshall, N. A., Thiault, L., et al. (2019) ‘Shifts in tourists’ sentiments and climate risk perceptions following mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef’, Nature Climate Change, vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 535541. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0504-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Miglio, L. and Williams, A. (2016) ‘A sense of place, a sense of well-being’, in Eyles, J. and Williams, A. (eds), Sense of Place, Health and Quality of Life, London, Routledge, pp. 1530. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315243474Google Scholar
Devine-Wright, P. (2009) ‘Rethinking NIMBYism: the role of place attachment and place identity in explaining place-protective action’, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, vol. 19, pp. 426441. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.1004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devine-Wright, P. (2013) ‘Think global, act local? The relevance of place attachments and place identities in a climate changed world’, Global Environmental Change, vol. 23, pp. 6169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.08.003Google Scholar
Di Masso, A., Williams, D. R., Raymond, C. M., et al. (2019) ‘Between fixities and flows: navigating place attachments in an increasingly mobile world’, Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 61, pp. 125133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.01.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenton, D. M., Young, M. and Johnson, V. Y. (1998) ‘Re-presenting the Great Barrier Reef to tourists: implications for tourist experience and evaluation of coral reef environments’, Leisure Sciences, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 177192. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490409809512279Google Scholar
Goldberg, J., Marshall, N., Birtles, A., et al. (2016) ‘Climate change, the Great Barrier Reef and the response of Australians’, Palgrave Communications, vol. 2, art. 15046. https://doi.org/10.1057/palcomms.2015.46Google Scholar
Goldberg, J. A., Marshall, N. A., Birtles, A., et al. (2018) ‘On the relationship between attitudes and environmental behaviours of key Great Barrier Reef user groups’, Ecology and Society, vol. 23, no. 2, art. 19. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10048-230219CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (2009) Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009, Townsville, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.Google Scholar
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (2014) Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2014, Townsville, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.Google Scholar
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (2019) Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2019, Townsville, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.Google Scholar
Gurney, G. G., Blythe, J., Adams, H. et al. (2017) ‘Redefining community based on place attachment in a connected world’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 114, no. 38. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1712125114Google Scholar
Hughes, T. P., Kerry, J. T., Álvarez-Noriega, M., et al. (2017) ‘Global warming and recurrent mass bleaching of corals’, Nature, vol. 543, no. 7645, pp. 373377. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21707Google Scholar
Hughes, T. P., Kerry, J. T., Baird, A. H., et al. (2018) ‘Global warming transforms coral reef assemblages’, Nature, vol. 556, pp. 492496. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0041-2Google Scholar
Klain, S. C., Satterfield, T. A. and Chan, K. M. A. (2014) ‘What matters and why? Ecosystem services and their bundled qualities’, Ecological Economics, vol. 107, pp. 310320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.09.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, S., De Freitas, D. M. and Hicks, C. C. (2013) ‘Sense of place as a determinant of people’s attitudes towards the environment: implications for natural resources management and planning in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia’, Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 117, pp. 226234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.11.035CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manzo, L. C. and Perkins, D. D. (2006) ‘Finding common ground: the importance of place attachment to community participation and planning’, Journal of Planning Literature, vol. 20, pp. 335350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412205286160CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, N. A., Park, S. E., Adger, W. A., et al. (2012) ‘Transformational capacity and the influence of place and identity’, Environmental Research Letters, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 19. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/3/034022Google Scholar
Marshall, N. A., Bohensky, E., Curnock, M., et al. (2016) ‘Advances in monitoring the human dimension of natural resource systems: an example from the Great Barrier Reef’, Environmental Research Letters, vol. 11, no. 11, pp. 117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/11/114020Google Scholar
Marshall, N. A., Barnes, M. L., Birtles, A., et al. (2018) ‘Measuring what matters in the Great Barrier Reef’, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 271277. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/11/114020Google Scholar
Marshall, N. A., Adger, W. N., Benham, C., et al. (2019) ‘Reef grief: investigating the relationship between place meanings and place change on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia’, Sustainability Science, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 579587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-019-00666-zGoogle Scholar
Massey, D. B. (1994) Space, Place, and Gender, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Masterson, V. A., Stedman, R. C., Engvist, J., et al. (2017) ‘The contribution of sense of place to social-ecological systems research: a review and research agenda’, Ecology and Society, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 4963. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08872-220149CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellin, C., Matthews, S., Anthony, K. R. N., et al. (2019) ‘Spatial resilience of the Great Barrier Reef under cumulative disturbance impacts’, Global Change Biology, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 115. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14625Google Scholar
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis, Washington, DC, Island Press.Google Scholar
Negi, C. S. (2010) ‘Traditional culture and biodiversity conservation: examples from Uttarakhand, Central Himalaya’, Mountain Research and Development, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 259265. https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-09-00040.1Google Scholar
Pike, K., Johnson, D., Fletcher, S. and Wright, P. (2011) ‘Seeking spirituality: respecting the social value of coastal recreational resources in England and Wales’, Journal of Coastal Research, vol. 10061, pp. 194204. https://doi.org/10.2112/SI61-001.14Google Scholar
Raymond, C., Kytta, M. and Stedman, R. (2017) ‘Sense of place: fast and slow – the potential contributions of affordance theory to sense of place’, Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 8, no. 1674, pp. 114. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01674Google Scholar
Stedman, R. C. (2002) ‘Toward a social psychology of place predicting behaviour from place-based cognitions, attitude, and identity’, Environment and Behaviour, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 561581. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916502034005001Google Scholar
Stedman, R. C. (2008) ‘What do we “mean” by meanings? Implications of place meanings for managers and practitioners’, in Kruger, L., Hall, T. and Stiefel, M. (eds), Understanding Concepts of Place in Recreation Research and Management, Portland, Pacific Northwest Research Station, PNW-GTR-744, pp. 6182. https://doi.org/10.2737/PNW-GTR-744Google Scholar
Stedman, R. C. (2016) ‘Subjectivity and social-ecological systems: a rigidity trap (and sense of place as a way out)’, Sustainability Science, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 891901. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-016-0388-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thiault, L., Curnock, M. I., Gurney, G. G., et al. (2020) ‘Convergence of stakeholders’ environmental threat perceptions following mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef’, Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13591Google Scholar
Tuan, Y.-F. (1977) Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Wynveen, C. J., Kyle, G. T. and Sutton, S. G. (2010) ‘Place meanings ascribed to marine settings: the case of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park’, Leisure Sciences, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 270287. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490401003712705Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×