PERCEPTION OF ECOLOGICAL RISK TO WATER ENVIRONMENTS

This paper examines lay and expert perceptions of the ecological risks associated with a range of human activities that could adversely affe ct water resource environments. It employs the psychometric paradigm p ioneered in characterizing perceptions of human health risks, which in volves surveys to obtain judgments from subjects about risk items in t erms of several important characteristics of the risks. The paper buil ds on a previous study that introduced ecological risk perception. Thi s second study employs a larger, more diverse sample, a more focused t opic area, and comparisons between lay and expert judgments. The resul ts confirm that a small set of underlying factors explain a great deal of variability in lay judgments about ecological risks. These have be en termed Ecological Impact, Human Benefits, Controllability, and Know ledge. The results are useful in explaining subjects' judgments of the general riskiness of, and need for regulation of, various risk items. The results also indicate several differences and areas of agreement among the lay and expert samples that point to potential key issues in future ecological risk management efforts for water resources.