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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #410656
Research Project: Development of Superior Hops and Resilient Hop Production Systems

Location: Forage Seed and Cereal Research Unit

Title: Free-riding in plant health: A social-ecological systems approach to collective action

Author
item GARCIA-FIGUERA, SARA - Prospero Ag
item LOWDER, SARAH - University Of Georgia
item LUBELL, MARK - University Of California, Davis
item Mahaffee, Walter - Walt
item MCROBERTS, NEIL - University Of California, Davis
item Gent, David - Dave

Submitted to: Annual Review of Phytopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/11/2024
Publication Date: 5/1/2024
Citation: Garcia-Figuera, S., Lowder, S.R., Lubell, M.N., Mahaffee, W.F., McRoberts, N., Gent, D.H. 2024. Free-riding in plant health: A social-ecological systems approach to collective action. Annual Review of Phytopathology. 62:4.1-4.28. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-121423-041950.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-121423-041950

Interpretive Summary: Plant disease epidemics can spread in space and time across boundaries of land ownership and management. Thus, the most effective management of certain diseases may involve cooperation among groups of people. This can create a social dilemma when certain individuals can receive benefits off of the actions of others without contributing, a classic problem that arises in many collective management endeavor across societies. In this review, we discuss how the social-ecological systems framework is a suitable model for approaching collective action problems in plant health. We review and synthesize the various attributes of an ecological system and sociological factors that may influence the likelihood of collective action and the form it may take. We suggest critical research that is needed to enable a fuller understanding and application of the social-ecological systems framework in diverse plant health contexts.

Technical Abstract: Plant disease epidemics often transcend land management boundaries, creating a collective action problem where a group must cooperate in a common effort to maximize individual and group benefits. Drawing upon the social-ecological systems framework and associated design principles, we review attributes of resource systems, resource units, actors, and governance systems relevant for collective action in plant health. We identify a need to better characterize how attributes of epidemics determine the usefulness of collective management, what influences actors’ decisions to participate, what governance systems fit different plant health threats, and how these subsystems interact to lead to plant health outcomes. We emphasize that there is not a single governance structure that will ensure collective action, but rather a continuum of structures that depend on the key system variables identified. An integrated social-ecological systems approach to collective action in plant health should enable institutional designs to better fit specific plant health challenges.