In postmodern societies socioeconomic changes characterizing the last decades shifted value orientations and attitudes towards wildlife, diminishing consumptive uses of wildlife, such as recreational hunting or fishing. However, no study has tested yet whether the same forces of modernization also increased non-consumptive uses of wildlife. We adopted multivariate random forests to model the effect of urbanization, average income and higher education over the conjoint incidence of recreational hunters and people who volunteer with animals at the municipal scale, in Tuscany (Central Italy). We also used time series analysis to see if these effects were supported by long term trends in recreational hunting across different areas. Urbanized areas, characterized by higher proportion of residentswith a higher education, are negatively associated with the incidence of recreational hunters, and positively to the incidence of people volunteering with animals. Cluster analysis identi fied two groups of municipalities, characterized by opposite incidences of hunters and volunteers, by a different magnitude of change in recreational hunting and by a different level of urbanization. Although hunting participation declined steadily over the last 15 years, this decline was greater at urbanized municipalities. These differences are likely to produce conflicts about wildlife management, and we believe regional agencies should adopt preemptive measures to mitigate them, such as improved data sharing and staff training about human dimensions of wildlife. Our findings indicate that the cognitive hierarchy can be a valuable theoretical frame to link socioeconomic dynamics to changes in human-wildlife relationships, even for non-consumptive wildlife uses.
Equalization or Reproduction? Long-Term Trends in the Intergenerational Transmission of Advantages in Higher Education in France
