TY - JOUR

T1 - Application of the theory of planned behavior with agent-based modeling for sustainable management of vegetative filter strips

AU - Kasargodu Anebagilu, Prajna

AU - Dietrich, Jörg

AU - Prado-Stuardo, Lisette

AU - Morales Ulloa, Bruno Andres

AU - Winter, Etti

AU - Arumi, Jose Luis

N1 - Funding Information: In environmental management, the interplay between humans and natural resources is a dynamic system of natural processes and human behavior under institutional and legal boundaries. Environmental management does not only integrate different disciplines but focuses on the interface between humans and nature. The emerging research in socio-hydrology is an example of water resources management (Sivapalan et al., 2012; Di Baldassarre et al., 2015). Coupling human behavior with economic and environmental models is essential in order to develop tailored policies for stakeholders (Jager et al., 2000; Allred and Gary, 2019; Granco et al., 2019; Dessart et al., 2019). In the agricultural sector, there is extensive research on the adoption of technological and environmental innovations and several tools support the evaluation of their impacts on livelihoods and the environment (Berthet et al., 2016; Llewellyn and Brown 2020).Agent-based models (ABM) emulate the internal behavior of agents in a system, their interaction amongst each other as well as their interaction with the environment. Enrico Fermi, a physicist in the 1930s incited upon the concept of ABM whilst trying to transport neutrons through matter (Turrell, 2016). However, the very first economic ABM was developed to analyze agents' preference for the location to live by Schelling (1971). The agents and their environment are represented explicitly in ABM, thus modeling local interactions in a straightforward manner (Izquierdo et al., 2019). Internal conditions for behaviors can also be encoded to express real-world conditions (Matthews et al., 2007). The ability of ABM to be analogs of real behavior makes it suitable to model the heterogeneous and complex structure of socio-environmental and socio-hydrological systems. The agent's behavior is modeled using the knowledge extracted from the context information without the use of training datasets. ABM is considered as a decision support tool, through which in an environment an agent's interaction is simulated, which would be expensive to analyze in the real world (Castilla-Rho et al., 2015).The authors would like to thank Centro de Recursos Hidricos parala Agricultura y Mineros (CRHIAM) Water Center for Agriculture and Mining, ANID/Fondap/15130015 for funding the local survey of the farmers from the Larqui river basin and DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) for funding of the travel of Mr. Morales to Chile. For facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration, the authors are also grateful to the research center TRUST (Transdisciplinary Rural and Urban Spatial Transformation) at Leibniz University Hannover. The authors are also grateful for the improvement in the manuscript brought by the comments of two anonymous reviewers.

PY - 2021/4/15

Y1 - 2021/4/15

N2 - This study proposes an innovative socio-hydrological modeling framework for the development of environmental policies that are tailored to farmers' attitudes and economic interests but also optimize environmental criteria. From a farmers' on-site survey, a behavior model is developed based on a modified Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The dynamics of the social and environmental system is implemented by coupling an agent-based model (ABM) with an agro-hydrological model for vegetative filter strips (VFS). A case study is conducted with farmers from the Larqui river basin, Chile to understand their standpoint on VFS to reduce soil loss in their agricultural fields and protect water bodies. Partial least square structural equation modeling is used to analyze the survey on farmers’ aspiration and attitudes. It showed that the constructs added to TPB (behavioral morality, behavioral willingness, knowledge) had a significant effect on modeling the intention and behavior of farmers to have VFS. Based on the survey, the farmers were categorized into perceptive, proactive, bounded rational and interactive agents. An ABM was developed using the behavioral categorization, related decision rules, and utility functions of agricultural activities including the VFS implementation and management. The results of the ABM corroborate with the survey of the farmers. The survey supports the view that the decision on the width of VFS is not solely dependent on the utility generated and the reduction in soil losses but also on the behavior of farmers. This behavioral sociohydrological modeling framework is capable of supporting policy-makers in developing tailored environmental policies that might improve the acceptance of sustainable agricultural practices by farmers.

AB - This study proposes an innovative socio-hydrological modeling framework for the development of environmental policies that are tailored to farmers' attitudes and economic interests but also optimize environmental criteria. From a farmers' on-site survey, a behavior model is developed based on a modified Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The dynamics of the social and environmental system is implemented by coupling an agent-based model (ABM) with an agro-hydrological model for vegetative filter strips (VFS). A case study is conducted with farmers from the Larqui river basin, Chile to understand their standpoint on VFS to reduce soil loss in their agricultural fields and protect water bodies. Partial least square structural equation modeling is used to analyze the survey on farmers’ aspiration and attitudes. It showed that the constructs added to TPB (behavioral morality, behavioral willingness, knowledge) had a significant effect on modeling the intention and behavior of farmers to have VFS. Based on the survey, the farmers were categorized into perceptive, proactive, bounded rational and interactive agents. An ABM was developed using the behavioral categorization, related decision rules, and utility functions of agricultural activities including the VFS implementation and management. The results of the ABM corroborate with the survey of the farmers. The survey supports the view that the decision on the width of VFS is not solely dependent on the utility generated and the reduction in soil losses but also on the behavior of farmers. This behavioral sociohydrological modeling framework is capable of supporting policy-makers in developing tailored environmental policies that might improve the acceptance of sustainable agricultural practices by farmers.

KW - Agent-based modeling

KW - Farmer survey

KW - NetLogo

KW - Socio-hydrology

KW - Theory of planned behavior

KW - Vegetative filter strip

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100405786&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112014

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112014

M3 - Article

C2 - 33556828

AN - SCOPUS:85100405786

VL - 284

JO - Journal of Environmental Management

JF - Journal of Environmental Management

SN - 0301-4797

M1 - 112014

ER -