Human dimensions research topic areas covered by our unit include:

• Quantifying the economic value of goods and services provided by urban ecosystems and how this value may change as landscapes are urbanized.  By quantifying ecosystem service values through market and nonmarket methods, one can begin to assess the ecological costs of urbanization in conjunction with economic growth from development. 

• Examining the impact of population increase and diversification on urban green space.  This problem addresses growing population pressure on natural resources in the South, particularly in urban environments with limited resources.  Very little information exists on the relationships of migrant or immigrant populations to urban ecosystems, yet these groups comprise increasing population proportions in the region.

• Examining the social psychological impacts of landscape change on community identity by assessing sense of place response to landscape change.  Central to this objective is the recognition of cultural services provided by ecosystems, one of which is sense of place.  Rapid changes in rural landscapes can have both physical and emotive consequences for individual and collective identity.  This problem considers the impact of such change on total community well-being and also the differential impacts to specific sub-cultural groups.

• Examining environmental justice implications of minority group access to and interaction with recreation and other natural resources in urban and urbanizing landscapes.  The problem addresses environmental justice issues as they are created when landscapes are urbanized.

• Evaluating the importance of wildland recreation and examine the primary users of urban national forests and public lands in the South.  With urbanization, available private lands for recreation declines, thus putting greater pressure on public lands for recreation.  Understanding how public wild lands are being used and by whom will improve our ability to manage them for recreation while sustaining ecological integrity. 

Specific studies conducted by our unit scientists include:

• Landowner Response to State-Sponsored Wildfire Mitigation Policy and Programs in the Southern Black Belt - This study assessed African American and white private landowner awareness and responsiveness to state-level wildland fire mitigation policies and incentives in the Southern Black Belt region. The study also looked at the association between wildland fire risk for a given geography and social vulnerability for the same area.
• Cultural Dimensions of Landscape Change in the Florida Panhandle - This research project examines the cultural dimension of landscape change in Franklin and Gulf Counties, Florida and examines cultural identity in terms of how people see themselves as individuals and collectives in the places where they live and how landscape change may influence these self-perceptions. Research is conducted in partnership with Florida A&M University.
• Projecting Outdoor Recreation Paticipation and Use – This project, in partnership with the University of Georgia and SRS-4953, is developing regression models to explain and predict at 10-year intervals how the number of outdoor recreation participants and the total days of outdoor recreation by the American public will change, nationally and in the South, over the next 50 years as population, demographics, climate, and the level of urbanization change.
• Integrating Landscape Attributes, Ecosystem Services, and Stakeholder Perceptions and Incentives for Determining Land Use Suitability for Conservation - This research will address the need for information about the ecological and social aspects of the landscape including and surrounding El Yunque National Forest in Northeastern Puerto Rico.  This research is conducted in partnership with the University of Puerto Rico.
• Identifying Places of Social and Environmental Importance in Franklin and Gulf Counties, Florida - This research seek to identify, understand, and map areas of social and environmental importance in Guld and Franklin counties of the Florida Panhandle. This research is conducted through a partnership between SRS-4952 and Auburn University's Center for Forest Sustainability.
• Latinos and Urban Green Space - Increases in the Latino population in the U.S. South have sparked the development of monitoring programs in health, education, and the broader social sciences aimed at understanding the needs of this rapidly growing population. Few studies, however, have looked at the connection that Latinos have with urban green space. To address this issue, a multidisciplinary research team with members from SRS-4952 and the University of Georgia examined Latino involvement with urban green space in Gainesville, Georgia, a small city in the northeastern portion of the state.
• Climate Change and Social Vulnerability in the Southeast U.S. - This research project, conducted jointly between the University of Georgia and SRS-4952, is exploring questions related to climate change and social vulnerability in the southeastern United States.