1. Sabrina Dressel, Camilla Sandström, Göran Ericsson Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies

2. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/species/carnivores/index_en.htm

3. Main objects:  Reveal transnational patterns  Social groups  Socio-demographic variables  Time  Return of species  Describe state of research

4. Defining the scope Study area: Europe (48 countries) Time frame: 1950 to 2012 Target species: wolf (Canis lupus), brown bear (Ursus arctos) Surveys: quantitative in nature; investigating values / value orientations / beliefs / attitudes / norms / emotions / acceptance Methods

5. FINAL DATASET Locating literature Screening of articles Preliminary coding guidelines & design of data set Extraction of data Adjusted coding guidelines & design of data set Re-coding of data Verification of complete dataset by applying the final coding guidelines

6. Common criticism on Meta-Analyses  file drawer problem / publication bias  Include grey literature  compare apples and oranges  concrete wording  voting method  evaluate differences of surveys

7. Dataset  105 studies  Conducted between 1976 and 2012  In 24 countries

8. Mixed effect models  Account for non-independence of datapoints from same survey attitude towards species attitude towards hunting of wolves/bears  species  social group  year  duration of co-existence

9. Main results Attitudes towards bears were significantly more positive than towards wolves There are significant differences in attitudes towards wolves among social groups, with farmers and hunters being less positive than the general public Across all surveys there was evidence that participants age had a negative effect on attitudes towards both species, while level of education had a positive effect

10. Attitudes towards wolves seem to become less positive with the duration of co-existence, while the support for hunting them increases Most surveys were carried out by natural scientists The quality of survey methods differed a lot The research field is still quiet young in Europe Main results

11. Conclusion  Longitudinal research  Include species related factors  National and international cooperation  Interdisciplinary research groups  Application of standardized methods  Accessible & reliable results

12. Dressel, S., Sandström, C., Ericsson, G. (2014). A Meta-Analysis of Studies on Attitudes toward Bears and Wolves across Europe 1976-2012. Conservation Biology Acknowledgements: Swedish EPA, Swedish Research Council Formas and SLU

13. Thank you for your attention sabrina.dressel@slu.se