Keywords

Conservation planning, local comprehensive plan, conservation policy, diffusion

Abstract

This study examined the quality of Florida county government conservation planning. To assess conservation planning quality, a theoretical model of conservation planning as prescribed by the conservation science literature was first developed. A plan evaluation coding protocol was applied to local comprehensive plan Conservation Elements to determine the extent to which county-level conservation planning met the theoretical model. A high degree of variability in conservation planning quality was found. Highest quality conservation planning occurred in the Gulf coast counties of southwest Florida. Lowest conservation planning quality occurred in the Florida Panhandle counties. The quality of conservation planning of coastal counties was significantly higher than that of inland counties. Significant regional differences were also found, where conservation planning quality in South Florida counties was significantly higher than conservation planning quality in Panhandle counties. Geographic differences in conservation planning quality were likely attributable to significant differences in socioeconomic variables among counties, including differences in education, wealth, and urbanization. Multiple regression analysis using an information theoretic approach was employed to develop a predictive model of conservation planning quality of Florida local governments. The two most plausible predictors in the model were education level of the public and total resources. Local and global spatial autocorrelation analysis were next applied to county conservation planning scores to investigate spatial patterns of conservation planning quality, which were found to be related to the policy process of diffusion. Lastly, current local government conservation planning policy was analyzed for effectiveness and policy recommendations were made. Improving the iii effectiveness of local conservation planning will require changes in statutory provisions of the state Florida Forever and Growth Management statutes. It will also require a greater commitment on the part of the state of Florida to protect the state’s biological resources over the long term

Notes

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Graduation Date

2013

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Noss, Reed

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Biology

Degree Program

Conservation Biology; Applied Conservation Biology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0005041

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005041

Language

English

Release Date

December 2013

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

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Included in

Biology Commons

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