Cody Cox
Wayde Morse, Christopher Anderson, and
Luke Marzen
Auburn University
Background
• Shift in natural resource management
philosophy from expert driven to collaborative
approach
• Need for research on participatory decision
making
• Need to capture and incorporate spatial data
on stakeholder management preferences for
comparison with other spatial data
Introduction to PPGIS
• Public Participation
Geographic Information
Systems (PPGIS)
• Developed in 1996
• Captures local values,
knowledge, and
preferences
• Used to spatially
identify important
places for stakeholders
Project Objectives
• Determine whether a
representative sample of
the general public can
spatially conceptualize and
identify places of ecosystem
service provisioning for
specific services
• Assess the spatial accuracy
of these PPGIS results to
understand how this
information can be used to
inform decision making
• Identify threats to places of
ecosystem service
provisioning from water
pollution
Study Area
• Mobile Bay, AL
(Baldwin and Mobile
counties)
• 4,600 square miles
• Mixed urban and rural
landscape
• Variety of terrestrial
and aquatic
ecosystems
Citronelle
Bay Minette
Mobile
Co.
Mobile
Baldwin
Co.
Fairhope
Bayou La Batre
Mobile
Bay
Dauphin Island
Orange Beach
Gulf Shores
Survey Methodology
• Dillman method:
1. Pre-notice letter
2. Survey packet
3. Reminder postcard
4. Reminder letter
• 988 survey packets
sent to randomly
selected residents
• 274 received (27.7%
response rate)
Questionnaire
6 parts
1. Bay knowledge and length
of residence
2. Participation in outdoor
recreation activities
3. Opinions on a range of
wildlife, water, and
development issues
4. Satisfaction with a range
of regional characteristics
5. A PPGIS mapping activity
6. Demographic information
PPGIS Implementation
• Participants used colorcoded 0.25 inch stickers
to identify places on a
map of the study area
that they think are
important for a range of
natural resource
management topics,
including places that
provide watershed
services
Mapping Components
PPGIS Mapping Exercise
• Example completed map
• 87 possible points
• 24 x 36 in.
• True color aerial imagery
• Scale: 1:150,000
PPGIS Mapping Results
• Results from 242
respondents (88% of
survey respondents)
• 11,391 points
• Mean: 47.07 points per
respondent
Ecosystem Service Choice
Rationale
• Ecosystem services are any benefits that
humans derive from ecosystems
• Services provided by watersheds
• General enough to be understood by public
• Spatially explicit
• Provided by large portions of study area
• Regularly impact residents of the Mobile Bay
region
Watershed Services
Image courtesy of NOAA
Water Quality Protection
Flood Protection
Storm Protection
Fish Nursery
Watershed Service Results
Watershed
service
Number of
dots used
Percent of dots
used
Hotspot area
Fish
Nursery
679
56.1%
85.04 mi2
Storm Protection
578
47.8%
82.14 mi2
Flood Protection
319
26.4%
8.78 mi2
Water Quality
Protection
452
37.4%
36.00 mi2
Kernel Density Analysis:
Fish Nursery
Kernel Density Analysis:
Storm Protection
Kernel Density Analysis:
Flood Protection
Kernel Density Analysis:
Water Quality Protection
Accuracy Assessment:
Fish Nursery
Total Area Providing
Service
462.55 km2
Percent of PPGIS Points
in Total Accurate Area
52.58%
Percent of Total
Accurate Area in
Hotspot
25.90%
Percent of Hotspot
Identifying Accurate
Land Cover
54.37%
Accuracy Assessment:
Storm Protection
Total Area Providing
Service
556.17 km2
Percent of PPGIS
Points in Total
Accurate Area
41.00%
Percent of Total
Accurate Area in
Hotspot
7.74%
Percent of Hotspot
Identifying Accurate
Land Cover
20.34%
Accuracy Assessment:
Flood Protection
Total Area Providing
Service
5,633.45 km2
Percent of PPGIS
Points in Total
Accurate Area
78.37%
Percent of Total
Accurate Area in
Hotspot
0.30%
Percent of Hotspot
Identifying Accurate
Land Cover
74.43%
Accuracy Assessment:
Water Quality Protection
Total Area Providing
Service
5,633.45 km2
Percent of PPGIS
Points in Total
Accurate Area
73.45%
Percent of Total
Accurate Area in
Hotspot
1.49%
Percent of Hotspot
Identifying Accurate
Land Cover
89.88%
Water Pollution
664 points identified
Hotspot area: 80.98 mi2
Water Pollution Perceptions
• PPGIS hotspots located
around listed polluted
streams
• Except for Dog River,
which should be further
investigated by
managers
Water Pollution Threats
Area of overlap: 1.54 mi2
Area of overlap: 1.54 mi2
Management Implications
• PPGIS is a useful tool for natural resource
management
• Highlights places with strong stakeholder support for
protection
• Helps identify knowledge gaps for outreach
education efforts
• PPGIS should be used in conjunction with other data
to create a more well-rounded decision; it does not
replace them
• Data from this study are being used by the Mobile
Bay National Estuary Program
Acknowledgements
• Funding for this project was generously
provided by
• Mobile Bay National
Estuary Program
• U.S. Forest Service