Public support for restoration: Does including ecosystem services as a goal engage a different set of values and attitudes than biodiversity protection alone?

RESEARCH ARTICLE Public support for restoration: Does including ecosystem services as a goal engage a different set of values and attitudes than biodiversity protection alone? Virginia MatzekID1*, Kerrie A. Wilson2 1 Dept of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, United States of America, 2 Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia * vmatzek@scu.edu Abstract The ecosystem services concept has come into wide use in conservation and natural resource management, partly due to its appeal as an anthropocentric rationale for protecting and restoring nature. Proponents of the ecosystem services concept expect that presenting these arguments alongside biodiversity arguments should lead to a broader base of support for conservation. This raises the question of whether support for activities that ensure eco- system service provision relates to different sets of core values, or environmental attitudes, than support for biodiversity protection. We surveyed adult Australians to evaluate the influ- ence of values and attitudes on willingness to pay for different habitat restoration outcomes. We hypothesized that when restoration is framed with an anthropocentric rationale (such as ecosystem service provision), support for restoration would align more strongly with anthro- pocentric or self-centered values and attitudes. Specifically, we tested if preference for eco- system service benefits over biodiversity attributes, as indicated by willingness to pay in

different restoration scenarios, is more strongly associated with self-enhancing (Egoistic) than self-transcending (Altruistic and Biospheric) values, and more associated with a pro- use attitude towards nature (Utilization) than an anti-use attitude (Preservation). We found that support for habitat restoration is generally based on ecocentric values and attitudes, but that positive associations between pro-environmental behavior and Egoistic values emerge when emphasis is placed on ecosystem service outcomes. Individuals scoring higher on Egoistic/Utilization metrics were also more likely to anticipate disservices from restoration. Attitudes predicted behavioral intention (willingness to pay) better than core values. Our results support the notion that the ecosystem services concept garners nontraditional back- ers and broadens the appeal of ecological restoration. Introduction Ecosystem services, the material and nonmaterial benefits that humans receive from the func- tioning of intact ecosystems, are increasingly seen as a justification for conservation action. In PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245074 January 19, 2021 1 / 15 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Matzek V, Wilson KA (2021) Public support for restoration: Does including ecosystem services as a goal engage a different set of values and attitudes than biodiversity protection alone? PLoS ONE 16(1): e0245074. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0245074 Editor: Jose M. Martı´nez-Paz, Universidad de Murcia, SPAIN

Received: October 18, 2020 Accepted: December 21, 2020 Published: January 19, 2021 Copyright: © 2021 Matzek, Wilson. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are in Zenodo: 10.5281/zenodo.4390446. Funding: The US National Science Foundation awarded grant IIA-1427595 to VM. https://www. nsf.gov KW worked under the auspices of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship during the period of this research. https://www.arc. gov.au/grants/discovery-program/future- fellowships The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.