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Scientific Benefits of Wilderness

Wilderness is a natural laboratory where scientists can study our natural world. The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute is the wilderness research arm of the federal government, and research conducted by its scientists and partners takes many forms and spans many scientific disciplines.

Social Science

Social science explores aspects of human society, such as our perceptions of the natural world. As an example, research found that local visitors to Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex were significantly more accepting of prescribed fires than non-local visitors, regardless of whether fires were proposed to restore the natural role of fire or to reduce hazardous fuels and potential for fire to escape to non-wilderness lands^[1].

Physical Science

In contrast to social scientists, physical scientists study living and non-living things. One biological research study on the threats to wilderness from invasive species and disease found that 46% of boreal toads at lower elevations with higher temperatures were infected with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a lethal fungus, while only 10% of toads at higher elevations with lower temperatures were infected^[2]. The authors suggest that warming temperatures associated with changes in climate may facilitate the spread of the fungus into previously unaffected areas.

Questions Answered by Science

Through wilderness research, scientists can collect data so they can learn how this natural world and our perceptions of it are changing or may change. For example, what are the natural rates and recurrence intervals of landslides, earthquakes, sea level change, fire or flooding? What are the natural rates of change in air and water quality and plant and animal populations? How do these natural rates of change in wilderness differ from similar changes in our towns and cities? Studies that answer these questions help us understand what we need to do to ensure the future health of our environment, both in wilderness and where we live.

References

1. Knotek, K., Watson, A. E., Borrie, W. T., Whitmore, J. G. & Turner, D. (2008). Recreation Visitor Attitudes Towards Management-Ignited Prescribed Fires in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Montana. Journal of Leisure Research, 40(4), 608-618. Retrieved on September 10, 2009.
2. Muths, E., Pilliod, D.S., & Livo, L.J. (2008). Distribution and Environmental Limitations of an Amphibian Pathogen in the Rocky Mountains, USA. Biological Conservation, 141, 1484-1492. Retrieved on September 10, 2009.