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Date of Graduation
Spring 2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Department of Integrated Science and Technology
Abstract
This research visualizes, describes, and analyzes the unique spatial and temporal diffusion of agricultural best management practices adopted within the South Fork Shenandoah River Watershed during the twenty year period from 1989 to 2008. The Shenandoah River is a tributary of the Potomac River, which in turn flows directly into the Chesapeake Bay. The findings and research presented here could aid policy makers, conservation technicians, and Soil and Water Conservation District agents to better plan promotions and funding for cost share BMPs. This research identifies motivations and influential forces that are inherent in the BMPs, in the social system, and in the geographic location of the subset of ZIP codes in the Watershed that had intense BMP adoption activity. This analysis of BMP adoption activity in this study area of the Watershed revealed the following possible forces that may have influences the clustering of BMP adoption events in the study area: 1.) geographical and hydrological mechanisms of the location of the study area, 2.) promotion of priority practices by government agencies, 3.) properties of the BMPs that influence their adoptability, and 4.) the dynamics of hierarchical contagion diffusion.
Recommended Citation
Bauer, Megan Renee, "Spatial and temporal diffusion of agricultural best management practice adoption in the South Fork Shenandoah River Watershed." (2011). Masters Theses, 2010-2019. 146.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/146
