Behavioral Psychology Applications In Managing Forest Ecosystems - Volume II

The integration of behavioral psychology into forest ecosystem management has gained increasing attention as environmental challenges such as climate change, land-use change, and urban expansion intensify across both natural and urban forest systems. While traditional forest management has largely focused on ecological and technical dimensions, recent advances emphasize that human behavior plays a decisive role in determining the success or failure of conservation and governance strategies. The first volume of this Research Topic has contributed to this emerging field by empirically examining the behavioral foundations of participatory forest management. Published studies have particularly highlighted the importance of behavioral intentions, socio-demographic characteristics, and psychological drivers in shaping individuals’ willingness to engage in forest management planning and governance processes. These findings reinforce the critical role of human-centered approaches in designing effective and inclusive forest policies.Building on these contributions, it is evident that forest management should be conceptualized as a socio-ecological system in which individual cognition, social norms, and institutional contexts interact dynamically. Behavioral theories offer powerful lenses to explain how attitudes, intentions, knowledge, forest-related emotions, and normative influences translate into pro-environmental actions within forest contexts. However, despite these advances, several critical gaps remain. First, there is still limited understanding of how behavioral mechanisms operate across different cultural, ecological, and governance contexts. Second, the translation of behavioral insights into scalable policy interventions and real-world management practices remains underexplored. Third, emerging areas such as intra-household dynamics, intergenerational learning, and urban forest behavior require further empirical attention.The second volume of this Research Topic therefore aims to move beyond identifying behavioral determinants toward advancing theory-driven, context-sensitive, and policy-relevant applications of behavioral psychology in forest ecosystem management. We particularly encourage contributions that:• Examine multi-level behavioral processes (individual, household, community, institutional) • Integrate psychological models with governance and policy frameworks • Investigate cross-cultural and comparative dimensions of forest-related behaviors • Explore urban forest contexts as arenas for behavioral change and social learning • Develop and evaluate behavioral interventions for sustainable forest management • Address the scalability and real-world implementation of behavior-based strategies By consolidating empirical evidence and advancing interdisciplinary dialogue, this volume seeks to strengthen the role of behavioral science in shaping resilient, participatory, and sustainable forest management systems Topic editors: Sahar Erfanian, Rahim Maleknia, Natalia Korcz Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81646/behavioral-psychology-applications-in-managing-forest-ecosystems---volume-ii