Landscape perceptions and social representations of Fallopia spp. in France

Résumé En

Choices have to be made to manage invasive species because eradication often is not possible. Both ecological and social factorshave to be considered to improve the efficiency of management plans. We conducted a social study on Fallopia spp., a majorinvasive plant taxon in Europe, including (1) a survey on the perception of a landscape containing Fallopia spp. using aphotoquestionnaire and (2) an analysis of the social representations of Fallopia spp. of managers and users in one highly invadedarea and one less invaded area. The respondents to the photoquestionnaire survey appreciated the esthetics of the landscapes lesswhen tall Fallopia spp. were present. Few people were able to identify and name the plant, and this knowledge negativelyaffected the appreciation of the photos containing Fallopia spp. The central core of the social representation of Fallopia spp. wascomposed of the invasive status of the plant, its density, and its ecological impacts. The peripheral elements of the representationdepended on the people surveyed. The users highlighted the natural aspect whereas the managers identified the need for control.In the invaded area, the managers qualified the species as Bunmanageable,^ whereas the species was qualified as Bforeign^ in theless invaded area. Those results provide insights that have to be included when objectives of management plans of these speciesare selected.