Assessing community vulnerability: A study of the mountain pine beetle outbreak in British Columbia, Canada

Published Date
Global Environmental Change
August–October 2007, Vol.17(3):460–471, doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.01.003

• Author 

• John R. Parkins ^,
 
• Norah A. MacKendrick

Social Science Research Group, Canadian Forest Service, 5320–122 Street NW, Edmonton, Alta., Canada T6H 3S5

Received 9 March 2006. Revised 19 December 2006. Accepted 3 January 2007. Available online 29 August 2007.

Abstract

Arguing that community-based assessments of vulnerability to climate change are congruent with the scale at which policy action takes place, this paper presents an assessment of vulnerability conducted in forest-based communities surrounded by a catastrophic outbreak of forest disease. Our assessment includes measures of several dimensions of vulnerability, developed using an interdisciplinary and participatory research process. We find that for some communities vulnerability represents a high level of economic risk, while for others risk is exacerbated by institutional limitations. We also find that community perceptions of risk and bio-physical assessments differ widely for communities anticipating future outbreaks of disease.

Keywords

Community vulnerability

Adaptation

Community capacity

Risk perception

Mountain pine beetle

---

Fig. 1.

 Table 1

Table 1.

 Table 2

Table 2.

• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 780 435 7373; fax: +1 780 435 7359.

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378007000039