Trooping fairies,trolls, and talking tigers: the influence of traditional wilderness archetypes on current land use patterns |
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Authors: | Cedric O’Driscoll Worman |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, University of Florida, Box 118525, Gainesville, FL 32611-8525, USA |
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Abstract: | Broadly defined, “wilderness” encompasses all areas outside the cultural sphere, i.e., not under direct, intensive, and purposeful
human control and maintenance. Because of the perceived dangers of wilderness, people are unlikely to settle deeply in wild
areas, especially in their archetypical wilderness. Topographically-defined wilderness archetypes (e.g., mountains) are likely
more resistant to development than the more easily obliterated land cover-defined wilderness archetypes (e.g., forests), which
should lead to divergent landscape patterns. Fairytales and the names of protected areas from Ireland, Germany, and Korea
were examined for evidence of wilderness archetypes. Germany and Korea (but not Ireland) exhibited archetypes (forest and
mountain, respectively). The land use patterns with respect to ruggedness and relative elevation in Germany and Korea were
compared with predictions based on archetype. Korea had a significantly more conservative and stricter decision rule with
regards to development in rugged areas and more predictable elevational transitions from civilization to wilderness, consistent
with a reluctance to develop a mountain wilderness archetype. Korean cities had similar patterns to all of Korea, while non-East
Asian cities hemmed in by mountains (Germany has none) were variable but similar to Germany, implying that the observed differences
are cultural not agricultural. These results indicate the important, but largely unrecognized, influence cultural details
have on land use patterns and by extension conservation challenges, opportunities, and priorities. Specifically, wilderness
archetypes are likely overrepresented in protected and undeveloped areas. Furthermore, wilderness archetype communities (particularly
those topographically defined) likely experience less fragmentation, more restricted development, and less drastic anthropogenic
disturbance. |
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