Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ecological impacts of climate change and ecological adaptation'
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Serrat, Capdevila Aleix. "Climate Change Impacts in Hydrology: Quantification and Societal Adaptation." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194702.
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The research presented here attempts to bridge science and policy through the quantification of climate change impacts and the analysis of a science-fed participatory process to face a sustainability challenge in the San Pedro Basin (Arizona). Paper 1 presents an assessment of a collaborative development process of a decision support system model between academia and a multi-stakeholder consortium created to solve water sustainability problems in a local watershed. This study analyzes how science-fed multi-stakeholder participatory processes lead to sustainability learning promoting resilience and adaptation. Paper 2 presents an approach to link an ensemble of global climate model outputs with a hydrological model to quantify climate change impacts in the hydrology of a basin, providing a range of uncertainty in the results. Precipitation projections for the current century from different climate models and IPCC scenarios are used to obtain recharge estimates as inputs to a groundwater model. Quantifying changes in the basin's water budget due to changes in recharge, evapotranspiration (ET) rates are assumed to depend only on groundwater levels. Picking on such assumption, Paper 3 explores the effects of a changing climate on ET. Using experimental eddy covariance data from three riparian sites, it analyzes seasonal controls on ET. An approach to quantify evapotranspiration rates and growing season length under warmer climates is proposed. Results indicate that although atmospheric demand will be greater, increasing pan and reference crop evaporation, ET rates at the studied field sites will remain unchanged due to stomatal regulation. However, the length of the growing season will increase, mainly with an earlier leaf-out and at a lesser level by a delayed growing season end. These findings - implying decreased aquifer recharge, increased riparian water use and a lesser water balance - are very relevant for water management in semi-arid regions. Paper 4, in which I am second author, explores the theory relating changes in area-average and pan evaporation. Using the same experimental data as Paper 3, it corroborates a previous theoretical relationship and discusses the validity of Bouchet's hypothesis.
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Eisenhauer, Emily. "Socio-ecological Vulnerability to Climate Change in South Florida." FIU Digital Commons, 2014. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1269.
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Awareness of extreme high tide flooding in coastal communities has been increasing in recent years, reflecting growing concern over accelerated sea level rise. As a low-lying, urban coastal community with high value real estate, Miami often tops the rankings of cities worldwide in terms of vulnerability to sea level rise. Understanding perceptions of these changes and how communities are dealing with the impacts reveals much about vulnerability to climate change and the challenges of adaptation.
This empirical study uses an innovative mixed-methods approach that combines ethnographic observations of high tide flooding, qualitative interviews and analysis of tidal data to reveal coping strategies used by residents and businesses as well as perceptions of sea level rise and climate change, and to assess the relationship between measurable sea levels and perceptions of flooding. I conduct a case study of Miami Beach’s storm water master planning process which included sea level rise projections, one of the first in the nation to do so, that reveals the different and sometimes competing logics of planners, public officials, activists, residents and business interests with regards to climate change adaptation. By taking a deeply contextual account of hazards and adaptation efforts in a local area I demonstrate how this approach can be effective at shedding light on some of the challenges posed by anthropogenic climate change and accelerated rates of sea level rise.
The findings highlight challenges for infrastructure planning in low-lying, urban coastal areas, and for individual risk assessment in the context of rapidly evolving discourse about the threat of sea level rise. Recognition of the trade-offs and limits of incremental adaptation strategies point to transformative approaches, at the same time highlighting equity concerns in adaptation governance and planning. This new impact assessment method contributes to the integration of social and physical science approaches to climate change, resulting in improved understanding of socio-ecological vulnerability to environmental change.
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Clement, Viviane. "From Adaptation to Transformation| A Resilience Perspective on Organizational Responses to Ecological Adversity." Thesis, The George Washington University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10619173.
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How do firms adapt to the intensity of adverse conditions stemming from the natural environment (ecological adversity intensity)? In this dissertation, I develop several lines of inquiry in exploring this question. First, I seek to contribute to generally diverging perspectives on organizational adaptation, which view firms as either inherently constrained or capable of continuous adaptation to fit their environment. To do this, I examine the conditions under which firms are more likely to adapt to different levels of ecological adversity intensity. My findings from a 13-year longitudinal analysis of western U.S. ski resorts’ adaptation to temperature conditions indicate that firms facing moderate ecological adversity intensity appear more likely to engage in higher adaptation levels while those experiencing low and high ecological adversity intensity show a tendency for lower adaptation levels. That is, both diverging perspectives may predict part of firms’ adaptive responses to ecological adversity intensity. My findings also suggest firms may encounter limits to adaptation when facing increasing ecological adversity intensity. I also undertake a post hoc exploration of firm and institutional environment level factors that may moderate the relationship between ecological adversity intensity and firm adaptation. Second, I use an interdisciplinary approach that draws from resilience theory in socioecology to suggest that the existing conceptualization of organizational resilience could be expanded to include transformative change, which may allow firms to mitigate the operational impacts of reaching adaptation limits. Third, I also consider the resilience implications of the interdependency between firms and the broader ecosystems in which they operate. I conclude with potential avenues for future research in this area.
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Bey, Eugenia S. "Cultivating Social-ecological Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Through Green Infrastructure in Long Beach, California." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10839820.
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The geographic variability and uneven distribution of climate-related impacts in urban environments pose serious challenges to achieving social-ecological resilience and environmental justice. There are no generalizable solutions for the anticipated climate challenges facing urban environments, which vary from increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events to flooding, heat waves, droughts, and worsening air quality. Densely populated coastal urban areas, like Long Beach, California, are further exposed to sea level rise, coastal erosion, and saltwater intrusion. In response, ecosystem-based adaptation plans have gained traction in the scientific literature and policy circles as viable, multi-beneficial strategies to build urban resilience to withstand anticipated climate threats. Green infrastructure (GI) offers flexible, place-based solutions and as such, has surged in popularity as an urban planning strategy, reflecting the focus of planners and policy-makers to design and implement location-specific interventions. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this empirical case study analyzes the spatial distribution and projected intensity of climate-related impacts in Long Beach, California. Integrating geospatial data, surveys, and key informant interviews, this study explores citizen perception of climate risk and desirability of GI solutions to increase adaptive capacity across two high risk communities with unevenly distributed biophysical and social vulnerabilities.
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Hagerman, Shannon Marie. "Adapting conservation policy to the impacts of climate change : an integrated examination of ecological and social dimensions of change." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/7903.
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Recognition of the impacts of climate change has prompted re-assessment of existing conservation policy frameworks (here thought of as collections of means and objectives that reflect values, beliefs and expectations of control). The concern is that changing temperature and precipitation regimes will alter an extensive range of biological processes and patterns. These system dynamics are at odds with long-established conservation policies that are predicated on assumptions of stable biodiversity targets (e.g. species or ecosystems), and that seek to protect these targets by means of static protected areas. Efforts to address this challenge have so far originated from the fields of ecology and biogeography and include the core adaptive strategies of expanding protected areas and implementing migration corridors. The purpose of this research was to reach beyond these disciplines to integrate across a set of ecological and social insights to develop a more holistic understanding of challenge of adapting conservation policy to the impacts of climate change. Two overarching questions guided this research: 1) do the impacts of climate change necessitate a different set of means, objectives and expectations than are indicated by current conservation adaptation proposals (i.e. proposals that include new protected areas and migration corridors as the primary adaptive strategy); and 2) if there is evidence that this is so, what are the barriers to implementing a policy framework with new means, objectives and expectations?
Using a combination of case study, expert elicitation, and ethnographic methods, the results of this thesis provide empirical evidence that the impacts of climate change are seen by many experts to implicate the need for changes in conservation policy that include consideration of interventions such facilitating species distributions through disturbance, assisted migration, revised objectives, and triage-like priority setting. Yet simultaneously there is evidence of a public precautionary ambivalence towards these alternative elements of a potentially new policy framework, combined with durable more preservationist (less engineering) conservation values. It is contended that these value-based commitments have in part, shaped the adaptive response so far. Combined, these results highlight that policy adaptation within “science-based” conservation is a tangle of social dynamics, including durable preservationist-type values and related resistance to anticipated difficult trade-offs implicit in a more transformative decision framework.
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Berglund, Åsa. "Coping with climate change : Social ecological resilience to climate change for smallholding farms in Portland, Jamaica. Analysing the implementation of the pineapple variety MD2." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för naturvetenskap och teknik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-77250.
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In Portland Jamaica, smallholding farmers are facing major challenges in terms of economic uncertainty and climate change. This study is analyzing a project which aims at increasing farmers ability to adapt to climate change. The objective of the project is to introduce the pineapple variety MD2 for smallholder farmers in Portland Jamaica. The main objective of this study is to investigate which aspects of the project that could increase or decrease buffering capability in the context of social-ecological resilience. The study is conducted during a minor field study during eight weeks in Portland, Jamaica. Data was collected through observation on farms together with semi-structured interviews with farmers and initiators of the project. The results have been analyzed through the theory of social-ecological resilience (Danhofer et al, 2011). Even though there are many aspects which could influence buffering capability, the study outlines some aspects of the implementation of the pineapple variety MD2 that could increase or decrease farmers buffering capability. Aspects which could increase buffering capability are; generating an alternative income and providing and introducing beneficial farming practices which could limit soil erosion on hillside land. Aspects which are threatening to decrease farmers buffering capability are; lack of knowledge and previous experience of the crop variety, usage of chemical means of control and lack of inputs of organic material.
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Ntombela, Khululiwe Primrose. "Assessing livestock farmers' ecological knowledge and adaptation to climate and environmental change in arid regions of South Africa." University of the Western Cape, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5864.
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Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MScChallenges that come with micro-level climate change projections have resulted in the inadequacy of our understanding of local climatic changes and the appropriate adaptation strategies. This has resulted in indigenous communities relying on their local knowledge for local scale climatic changes and suitable adaptation practices. Coping and adapting to climate and its impacts has been occurring since human existence, however, humans are still vulnerable due to the rapid rate that the climate is changing. Adaptation is vital for all global people, especially living in semi-arid or arid regions, as it provides a solution for food shortages and livelihoods. Global livestock farmers have, over many years, accumulated local ecological knowledge; and it is from this knowledge that decisions are made. Local knowledge related to adaptation to climate change and variability has largely not been recognized or documented and it is only lately that it is deemed to be critical in formulating policies to mitigate the harsh effects of the rapidly changing climate. This study was focused on the local knowledge and understanding of climate change and variability (and associated environmental change) with its impacts and adaptation of communal livestock farmers in the semi-arid regions of the Northern Cape Province in South Africa. Two communal areas namely, Leliefontein and Steinkopf in Northern Cape served as study sites. A case study approach, with triangulation of focus group discussions and semistructured interviews, was used. The focus group discussions were aimed at drawing up a seasonal calendar, where 10 livestock farmers from Leliefontein and 14 from Steinkopf participated. The focus group discussions were followed by indepth semi-structured interviews, where a total of 20 livestock farmers from each study site were interviewed. While various other studies highlight the lack of awareness and understanding of climate change among livestock communal farmers, this study found that 90 % and 55 % of the interviewed Steinkopf and Leliefontein livestock farmers had an understanding of the phenomenon. The interviewed farmers referred to the phenomenon of climate change as "seasonal shifts" that they have been experiencing. Findings of the study indicated that intergeneration knowledge transfer and media sources contributed as sources of climate and farming management information. The basic, but wealthy knowledge of farmers informs them of potential climate change impacts and possible adaptation strategies. The study also revealed that even though adaptation measures are being carried out by livestock farmers I n the two study sites, that there are general barriers which include financial, biophysical environment, social and institutional barriers that inhibit effective adaptation. Recommendations from this study were that policies should consider and protect local knowledge; and that the factors that affect successful adaptation strategies of communal livestock farmers should be considered when adaptation programmes are planned.
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Ermold, Friederike. "Climate change time machine : Adaptation to 30 years of warming in the Baltic Sea." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Zooekologi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-271575.
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Earth mean surface temperature has increased by 1 °C since the industrial revolution, and this has already had considerable effects on animal and plant species. Ecological responses to the warming climate – often facilitated via phenotypic plasticity – are ubiquitous. However, even though evolution can occur rapidly there are only few examples of genetic adaptation to climate change. In my thesis, I used a near-natural system to study if and how organisms have adapted to 30 years of warming, and how this has affected competitive species interactions. I investigated Baltic Sea populations of the aquatic snails Galba truncatula and Theodoxus fluviatilis, which had been subjected to cooling water discharge from power plants, resulting in water temperatures 4 to 10 °C higher than in the surrounding sea. G. truncatula had high upper thermal limits and large acclimation potential. This plasticity may have helped the species to survive under the new conditions, allowing evolution through natural selection to take place. I found that the populations of the two thermal origins had diverged in SNP markers associated with warmer temperature, whereas divergence in selectively neutral markers was mainly related to geographical distance. Adaptation occurred from standing genetic variation, emphasizing the importance of genetic diversity and population size in enabling the persistence of populations. Changes in thermal sensitivity of growth and survival were subtle yet significant, and complied with theoretical models of thermal adaptation in ectotherms. At the community level, pre-adaptation to warmer conditions aided the native T. fluviatilis when competing with the alien Potamopyrgus antipodarum. However, interspecific competition limited the snails most in those traits favored under warming, highlighting the challenge of adapting to different selecting forces during global change. The persistence of species and populations under climate change depends on several factors - plasticity allowing for initial survival, evolvability in allowing the genetic changes, and species interactions affecting the new ecological niches. The results of my thesis indicate that persistence under climate change is possible when these factors align, but the relative roles of ecology and plasticity may explain why there are so few observed instances of evolution in response to climate change.
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Sova, Chase. "Decision making, agenda setting, and preference shaping in Ghana's agricultural climate change adaptation policy regime : a political ecological perspective." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:388f23c9-f05e-4b9c-8728-cb6e99466ea6.
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Where power lies and how it is conceived in studies of environmental governance is not often discussed. The development and implementation of agricultural climate change adaptation policies calls on diverse stakeholder groups, each with their own interests and objectives. How debates around policy design and content are resolved is shaped by the power and influence of actors within the adaptation regime. Smallholder farmers are often considered marginalized within the adaption policy development and implementation process in Ghana, and in the developing world more broadly. This study seeks to demonstrate the ways in which smallholder farmers are susceptible to domination by other actors within adaptation policy regimes, and to identify the features of those regimes (institutional and otherwise) that enable one group to wield influence over another. This dissertation seeks to make power the subject of analysis instead of, in the words of Mitchell, "an answer known in advance", providing a more thoroughgoing synthesis of power than previous treatments in environmental governance literature. Drawing on the field of political ecology, I aim to provide an alternative to the predominant view of powerlessness among smallholders as a product of limited capability or adaptive capacity (i.e. power-to) and towards powerlessness as a relational construct (i.e. power-over). To that end, I adopt Steven Lukes' dimensional framework of power-as-domination to illustrate that associating power with 'behaviorist' (i.e. visible decision making and agenda setting) theories alone is to adopt too narrow a view. Instead, a third dimension of power, preference shaping, which examines the way in which certain actors are "denied privileged access to their own reasons for actions" is necessary. I extend Lukes' analytical framework to include three replicable sources of preference shaping: dominant narratives and discourses, prevailing rationalities of governance, and systemic institutional bias. The results suggest that, true to political ecology, the study of adaptation policy in Ghana begins in contradiction: while climate adaptation policy is politically charged and contested at international levels, and it remains surprisingly devoid of politics at the sub-national levels. Adaptation policy development has been effectively 'rendered technical' in Ghana, eroding the need for active participation from non-experts in policy decision making, and leading to the neglect of important underlying political forces (a-politicization) that shape adaptation outcomes through policy implementation. This thesis extends important findings from development theory, particularly the work of Ferguson and Murray Li, in to the adaptation context, builds on an expansive body of power in social science literature, and develops a novel methodology for empirically mapping influence in complex system regimes.
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Blomberg, Charlotte, and Sandra Blomvall. "A Comparison of the Ecological, Social and Economic Sustainability in Adaptation Strategies in The Maldives and Kiribati." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-23848.
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Havsnivån stiger över hela världen på grund av termisk expansion och smältande glaciärer orsakade av den globala uppvärmningen. Maldiverna och Kiribati är några av de lägst liggande atolländerna i världen vilket gör dem särskilt utsatta för den förväntade havsnivåhöjningen. Denna uppsats undersöker vilka skillnader som finns i Maldivernas och Kiribatis klimatanpassningsstrategier vad gäller ekologisk, social och ekonomisk hållbarhet genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av deras respektive National Adaptation Programme of Action- dokument (NAPA). NAPA identifierar och beskriver de mest angelägna anpassningsprojekten i varje land. Genom att identifiera huruvida anpassningsprojekten är hållbara kan mer effektiva strategier implementeras i framtiden. Resultatet visar att flera anpassningsprojekt har misslyckats med att integrera alla tre aspekter av hållbar utveckling, vilket kan ha bidragit till ett ohållbart genomförande av klimatanpassningsåtgärder, medan vissa projekt även visar att det är möjligt att framgångsrikt integrera alla aspekter av hållbar utveckling.Sea levels are rising around the globe due to thermal expansion and melting glaciers caused by global warming. The Maldives and Kiribati are some of the lowest lying atoll countries in the world, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the projected sea level rise. This thesis investigates what differences exist in the adaptation strategies for the Maldives and Kiribati, in terms of ecological, social and economic sustainability, through a qualitative content analysis of their respective National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) documents. The NAPAs identify and describe the most urgent adaptation projects in each country. By identifying whether the adaptation projects are sustainable, more effective strategies can be implemented in the future. The results show that several adaptation projects fail to incorporate all three aspects of sustainable development, which may have contributed to unsustainable implementation of climate change adaptation measures, whereas some projects also show that it is possible to successfully integrate all aspects of sustainable development.
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Hansson, Robin, and Elena Mokeeva. "Securing resilience to climate change impacts in coastal communities through an environmental justice perspective: A case study of Mangunharjo, Semarang, Indonesia." Thesis, KTH, Miljöstrategisk analys (fms), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-175468.
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Climate change impacts have been shown to increase the social, economic and ecological vulnerabilities of poor groups in coastal communities of Asian countries. Mangunharjo village in Semarang city, Indonesia, has been identified as vulnerable to sea level rise, coastal erosion, tidal inundation and flooding, and the well-being of residents is threatened due to loss of livelihoods. In order to secure their future, the community has to enhance its resilience to climate change impacts, however, additional factors are undermining thepotential of a resilient and prosperous village. As resilience theory carried out in practice could negatively affect already marginalized people if trade-offs are not identified, a complementing theory is needed. This study develops a novel joint framework of resilience theory and environmental justice for analyzing the potential of enhancin gthe community’s resilience. It also explores what is needed for the village in order to increase its resilience. The framework revealed to be successful in identifying root problems and highlighted deficiencies in current resilience strategies. Moreover, the incorporation of environmental justice broadened the perspective of what could weaken the resilience ofthe village. Hence, an environmental justice perspective complements resilience theory as it identifies potential trade-offs and analyzes whose resilience is enhanced. The framework is argued to be a useful tool to secure resilience of a social-ecological system of various scales, however, further research is needed onthe optimal linkages of the two theories.
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Kossak, Ute [Verfasser]. "How climate change translates into ecological change : Impacts of warming and desalination on prey properties and predator-prey interactions in the Baltic Sea / Ute Kossak." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2008. http://d-nb.info/1019733659/34.
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Thorpe, Natasha. "Contributions of Inuit ecological knowledge to understanding the impacts of climate change on the Bathurst caribou herd in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape2/PQDD_0014/MQ61505.pdf.
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Sievers, Katja. "Predicting ecological impacts of climate change and species introductions on a temperate chalk stream in Southern Britain : a dynamic food web model approach." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 2011. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/19386/.
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To predict the impact of future disturbances such a climate change and introduction of non-native species on ecosystems, it is important to understand how disturbances may affect community composition. This is inherently diffcult since species may be expected to respond differently to disturbances such as elevated temperatures or the introduction of a new species. Furthermore, since the species in an ecosystem are interlinked by energy, nutrient and information transfers, disturbances may be amplified or absorbed, depending on the nature of the disturbance and the resilience of the ecosystem. Some species have a disproportionate effect on ecosystem function and are often referred to as keystone species. By definition the loss of a keystone species causes a catastrophic change in community composition. Therefore, the identification of keystone species could help to target conservation efforts more effciently. A dynamical food web model, representative for a chalk stream (the River Frome, Dorset) was developed and manipulated. Changes in community composition and biodiversity were assessed. For the identification of keystone species each species node was removed in turn. Although impacts were found, particularly after the removal of important prey nodes and top predators, no catastrophic shift was observed and, consequently, no keystone species were identified. Impacts of species introductions were assessed by adding representative model species to the food web. The largest impact was observed after the addition of a small competitor at intermediate trophic level. The addition of a top predator had moderate impact, whereas no negative impact was found after the addition of a larger bodied species at intermediate trophic level. Possible impacts of climate change, specifically elevated temperatures, were assessed by increasing the metabolic rates of the species nodes. No impacts were found, when energy inputs were raised accordingly, but severe impacts, were observed when energy inputs were restricted. In general, the ecosystem was considered fairly resilient to most of the tested disturbances, possibly owing to the high natural variability of the community. The findings of current study suggest that rather than focusing conservation efforts on single species, the focus should be on 'keystone structures' that maintain high ecosystem resilience.
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Wozniak-Brown, Joanna. "Understanding Community Character as a Socio-ecological Framework to Enhance Local-scale Adaptation: An Interdisciplinary Case Study from Rural Northwest Connecticut." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1494437621424657.
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Mosher, Danika. "Past, Current, and Future Potential Distributions of Red Spruce and Fraser Fir Forests in the Southern Appalachians: Interpreting Possible Impacts of Climate Change." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2020. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3851.
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Spruce-Fir forests are relicts from the Pleistocene and can only be found within the Southern Appalachians. Analyzing the relationships between species distribution, climatic parameters, topography, and biotic interactions through ecological niche modeling creates prediction maps for conservation efforts. Maxent, Boosted Regression, and Random Forest were utilized to compare which model and variable combinations best approximate the unique mountain forest environment. Maxent with a bias file produced optimal results and was used to examine distributional changes that may occur in the future and how these changes compare to paleo-environmental distributions. Fraser fir has shown evidence of being influenced by changing climates based on historical data and in future predictions. These findings show areas of decline in 2050 and 2070. When combined with weather, climate, genetics, and ecological studies, this is a useful tool for resource allocation to areas that are predicted to be resilient in the face of climate change.
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Starzec, Patrycja. "Resilient landscape, resilient culture. The role of geographical place-based perspective in sustainable adaptation of urban areas to the climate change." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för fysisk planering, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-1073.
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Cities are defined as the ecological phenomenon of the 21st century since urban form is becoming dominant geographical context for human settlement on Earth. Due to that one of the major tasks of contemporary urban planning policy is adaptation of urban areas to the changing realms. In connection to the adaptation strategies, concept of resilience is gaining much more attention in the current planning discourse as an approach which perceives problem of climate change as the opportunity for better development. New aspect that concept of resilience brings to the planning is a view that social and ecological dimensions are interlinked. According to that, main aim of the thesis is to find an answer for the research question “What is the connection between culture and nature and its role in sustainable adaptation of urban areas to the climate change?” and through the research and analysis develop a theoretical foundation for the strategy of adaptation to the climate change which offers an opportunity for more effective urban growth based on three main pillars of sustainability: Environmental responsibility, Economic viability and Social justice as well as currently distinguished new dimension i.e. Cultural vitality.
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Miller, Courtney A. "Understanding the impacts of current and future environmental variation on central African amphibian biodiversity." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2018. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2542.
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Global climate change is projected to impact multiple levels of biodiversity by imposing strong selection pressures on existing populations, triggering shifts in species distributions, and reorganizing entire communities. The Lower Guineo-Congolian region in central Africa, a reservoir for amphibian diversity, is predicted to be severely affected by future climate change through rising temperatures and greater variability in rainfall. Geospatial modelling can be used to assess how environmental variation shapes patterns of biological variation – from the genomic to the community level – and use these associations to predict patterns of biological change across space and time. The overall goal of this dissertation is to examine potential impacts of climate change on amphibian diversity in central Africa. Geospatial modeling is used to: 1) map the distribution of the amphibian fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in a biodiversity hotspot in Cameroon under current and future climate; 2) assess phenotypic and adaptive genomic variation in a widespread frog species, Phrynobatrachus auritus, in order to predict areas where populations may best adapt under climate change; 3) determine how amphibian community composition may shift with climate change and which areas may experience greatest loss of functional groups. Findings show that most Bd samples belong to a globally hypervirulent lineage. However, areas of highest predicted environmental suitability for Bd are predicted to shrink under warming temperatures. Within P. auritus, most phenotypic and genomic turnover occurred across known ecological gradients and are heavily influenced by seasonal precipitation. Current amphibian beta diversity is greatest throughout the Cameroonian highlands and forest-savanna ecotones flanking the central Congolian lowland forests. Greatest shifts in community composition under climate change are predicted to occur in coastal Cameroon and its eastern border whereas the greatest predicted loss of functional richness was in central Gabon. Overall, this dissertation shows that areas of elevated environmentally-associated phenotypic, genomic, and community turnover are associated with key ecological gradients. Regions predicted to experience high genomic mismatch, large shifts in community composition, and high loss of functional richness resulting from climate change may warrant conservation attention.
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Lilja, Ellen. "The role of nature-based solutions for ecological urban planning in the sustainable city : How is the Green Space Factor system presented in urban planning strategies?" Thesis, Malmö universitet, Malmö högskola, Institutionen för Urbana Studier (US), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-43614.
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The thesis covers the role of the Green Space Factor (GSF) system as a nature-based solution for ecological urban planning in the sustainable city. One main focus for sustainable urban development is the aspect of constructing green spaces and green buildings in order to improve land-use efficiencies and thus minimize negative environmental impacts. Hence, in this study research is made through conducting a qualitative municipal document analysis on how the GSF system is portrayed and implemented in urban planning strategies based on the municipalities of Malmö and Gothenburg. To limit the study, two urban areas are selected for further investigation, the Western harbour in Malmö City and the Freeport in Gothenburg City. The documents included in the study are based on three categories of developing the chosen urban areas: visions, area programs and detailed plans. From the document analysis, several categories or themes were extracted consisting of future goals and vision, actors and trademarks, visionary sustainability, climate change adaptation strategies, sustainable urban development models, green infrastructure, and lastly strategies and design principles of the Western harbour and the Freeport. The results are analysed through the theory of neoliberalised urban climate change adaptation strategies and green fix as crisis management. In order to include the local context of sustainable urban development, environmental policy localization is also included in the analysis of the results. The results from the analysis of the empirical material show that the municipalities of Malmö and Gothenburg have implemented the GSF planning system into the local context of their visions, area programs and detailed plans of both the Western harbour and the Freeport. The GSF system is included in both urban planning strategies through indirect terminologies connected to general sustainable development, such as climate change adaptation, green infrastructure and design principles showcasing the desired sustainability strategies. However, the results present the risk of market-based sustainability trademarking. The study concludes on the mark that it is important for the cities to on one hand implement the GSF system into the overall policies design, and on another hand face sustainable urban development at a variety of spatial scales in order to meet the external requirements originating in the localization of environmental policies.
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Pereira, Laura M. "Private sector adaptive capacity to climate change impacts in the food system : food security implications for South Africa and Brazil." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2012. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ade3811d-584e-4c5d-a734-4a22312eccf7.
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Achieving food security under climate change is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. The challenge becomes even greater when contextualised within our current limited understanding of how the food system functions as a complex, adaptive socio-ecological system, with food security as one of its outcomes. Adding climate change into this already complex and uncertain mix creates a ‘wicked problem’ that must be solved through the development of adaptive food governance. The thesis has 4 key aims: - 1. To move beyond an understanding of food security that is dependent solely on agricultural production, and therefore the reliance of future food security predictions on production data based on climate model inputs.
- 2. To ground the theoretical aspects of complex adaptive systems with empirical data from multi-level case studies.
- 3. To investigate the potential role of the private sector in food system futures.
- 4. To analyse food system dynamics across scales and levels.
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Zouras, Jamie. "Collaborative decision-making in green and blue infrastructure projects : The case of Copenhagen’s Hans Tavsens Park and Korsgade." Thesis, KTH, Urbana och regionala studier, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-278533.
Full textAbstract:
Worsening climate change impacts, particularly in coastal areas, are forcing urban planners and designers to find new approaches to govern cities. Traditional government approaches are failing to equip cities with effective strategies on how to implement sustainable interventions such as green and blue infrastructure. Adaptive governance has emerged as a way of dealing with the inherent uncertainty and unpredictability of complex social-ecological systems. It is neither top-down nor bottom-up but involves innovative ways of solving problems with emphasis on collaborative decision-making. This research focuses specifically on how collaboration is undertaken in adaptive governance processes by examining The Soul of Nørrebro case study—an integrated urban design and climate adaptation project for Hans Tavsens Park and Korsgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. Through desk study and interviews, the study identifies which stakeholders are involved in collaborative decision-making processes and how stakeholders envision, implement, and contest collaborative decision-making in The Soul of Nørrebro green and blue infrastructure project. This research found that participation from a wide range of local stakeholders and citizens is an integral part of redesigning public space, as it helps create cohesive, just, and ecologically productive environments. However, trade-offs that result in political decisions that are desirable to some and not to others cannot be avoided in the end. While certain setbacks were unavoidable, others that were encountered could have perhaps been prevented through increased transdisciplinary and representative collaboration.
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Buisson, Laetitia. "Poissons des rivières françaises et changement climatique : impacts sur la distribution des espèces et incertitudes des projections." Thesis, Toulouse, INPT, 2009. http://www.theses.fr/2009INPT005A/document.
Full textAbstract:
Les changements climatiques et leurs impacts sur la biodiversité font aujourd'hui l'objet d'une attention croissante de la part de la communauté scientifique et des gestionnaires des écosystèmes naturels. En effet, le climat influence la biologie et l'écologie des espèces animales et végétales, depuis leur physiologie jusqu'à leur répartition. Les modifications climatiques pourraient donc avoir des répercussions importantes sur les espèces et les assemblages. Au sein des écosystèmes aquatiques continentaux, les poissons de rivière sont des organismes incapables de réguler leur température corporelle et soumis à une variabilité hydrologique importante ainsi qu'à de fortes pressions anthropiques. Leur réponse aux modifications du climat actuelles et à venir a pourtant été encore peu abordée. L'objectif de ce travail de thèse est donc d'évaluer les impacts potentiels du changement climatique sur les poissons des rivières françaises, et plus particulièrement sur la distribution des espèces et la structure des assemblages. Des données fournies par l'Office National de l'Eau et des Milieux Aquatiques ainsi qu'une approche de modélisation basée sur les niches écologiques des espèces (i.e., modèles de distribution) ont été utilisées. Différentes sources d'incertitude ont également été testées dans une approche d'ensembles afin de prendre en compte la variabilité entre les impacts projetés et fournir ainsi une évaluation robuste de ces impacts. La première partie de ce travail a consisté en l'identification des principaux déterminants environnementaux qui structurent la répartition spatiale des espèces de poisson au sein des réseaux hydrographiques. Globalement, il apparaît qu'une combinaison de facteurs climatiques et de variables décrivant l'habitat local et la position des habitats au sein des réseaux hydrographiques est importante pour expliquer la distribution actuelle des espèces. De plus, les espèces ont toutes des réponses différentes aux facteurs de l'environnement. Dans un second temps, nous avons mis en évidence que le choix de la méthode statistique de modélisation de la niche écologique est crucial, les patrons actuels et futurs de distribution prédits étant fortement contrastés selon la méthode de modélisation considérée. Cette dernière s'avère même être la principale source d'incertitude dans les projections futures, bien plus encore que les modèles climatiques de circulation générale et les scénarios d'émission de gaz à effet de serre. La variabilité entre les prédictions issues de plusieurs techniques de modélisation peut être prise en compte par une approche de consensus. Un modèle consensuel basé sur la valeur moyenne de l'ensemble de prédictions est capable de prédire correctement la distribution actuelle des espèces et la composition des assemblages. Nous avons donc choisi de retenir cette approche pour évaluer au mieux les impacts potentiels du changement climatique sur les poissons des rivières françaises à la fin du 21ème siècle. Nous avons montré que la majorité des espèces de poisson pourrait être affectée par les futures modifications du climat. Seules quelques espèces d'eau froide (e.g. truite fario, chabot) pourraient restreindre leur distribution aux parties les plus apicales des réseaux hydrographiques. Au contraire, les espèces tolérant des températures plus élevées pourraient coloniser de nouveaux habitats et étendre ainsi leur répartition. Ces modifications de la distribution des espèces pourraient conduire à un réarrangement des assemblages au niveau taxonomique et fonctionnel. Une augmentation de la diversité locale et de la similarité régionale (i.e., homogénéisation) sont ainsi prédites simultanément. L'ensemble de ces résultats apporte donc des éléments sur la compréhension de la distribution des poissons d'eau douce et sur les conséquences du changement climatique qui peuvent être envisagées. Ce travail fournit ainsi une base aux acteurs de la gestion de la biodiversité afin d'initier des mesures de conservation concrètes. De plus, les considérations méthodologiques développées dans cette thèse sont une contribution importante à l'amélioration des projections issues de modèles statistiques de distribution et à la quantification de leur incertitudeClimate change and its impact on biodiversity are receiving increasing attention from scientists and people managing natural ecosystems. Indeed, climate has a major influence on the biology and ecology of fauna and flora, from physiology to distribution. Climate change may thus have major consequences on species and assemblages. Among freshwater ecosystems, stream fish have no physiological ability to regulate their body temperature and they have to cope with streams' hydrological variability and strong anthropogenic pressures. Yet their response to current and future climate change has been poorly studied. The aim of this PhD thesis is to assess the potential impact of climate change on fish in French streams, mainly on species distribution and assemblages' structure. Data provided by the Office National de l'Eau et des Milieux Aquatiques combined with a modelling approach based on species' ecological niche (i.e., distribution models) have been used. Several sources of uncertainty have also been considered in an ensemble modeling framework in order to account for the variability between projected impacts and to provide reliable estimates of such impact. First, we have identified the main environmental factors that determine the spatial distribution of fish species within river networks. Overall, it appears that a combination of both climatic variables and variables describing the local habitat and its position within the river network is important to explain the current species distribution. Moreover, each fish species responded differently to the environmental factors. Second, we have highlighted that the choice of the statistical method used to model the fish ecological niche is crucial given that the current and future patterns of distribution predicted by different statistical methods vary significantly. The statistical method appears to be the main source of uncertainty, resulting in more variability in projections than the global circulation models and greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The variability between predictions from several statistical methods can be taken into account by a consensus approach. Consensual predictions based on the computation of the average of the whole predictions ensemble have achieved accurate predictions of the current species distribution and assemblages' composition. We have therefore selected this approach to assess the potential impacts of climate change on fish in French streams at the end of the 21st century with the highest degree of confidence. We have found that most fish species could be sensitive to the future climate modifications. Only a few cold-water species (i.e., brown trout, bullhead) could restrict their distribution to the most upstream parts of river networks. On the contrary, cool- and warm-water fish species could colonize many newly suitable habitats and expand strongly their distribution. These changes of species distribution could lead to a rearrangement of fish assemblages both at the taxonomic and functional levels. An increase in local diversity together with an increase in regional similarity (i.e., homogenization) are therefore expected. All these results bring new insights for the understanding of stream fish species distribution and expected consequences of climate change. This work thus provides biodiversity managers and conservationists with a basis to take efficient preservation measures. In addition, methodological developments considered in this PhD thesis are an important contribution to the improvements of projections by statistical models of species distribution and to the quantification of their uncertainty
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Toros, Tulu. "Restorative urban design: toward a design method for mitigating human impacts on the natural environment through urban re/development." Diss., Kansas State University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/18809.
Full textAbstract:
Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Environmental Design & Planning Program
Lee R. Skabelund
The Restorative Urban Design (RUD) calls for a new urban design and planning approach targeting environmentally responsible re/development of urbanized areas through ecologically responsive impact mitigations. If implemented in a systematic manner, such re/developments can help move urban areas toward the successful restoration of the natural environment of which they are an inseparable part. The RUD model advocates more rigorous assessment and mitigation of urban impacts by carefully evaluating the environmental performance of urban re/developments within five primary dimensions: Atmosphere (emissions, pollutants, ozone depletion); Hydrosphere (stormwater, domestic water, wastewater); Lithosphere (land use, land cover, food and wastes); Ecology (habitat resilience, biodiversity, population and resources); and Energy (renewability, reduction and efficiency, transportation). The model relies on a scenario-comparison process in order to evaluate and optimize the performance of urban re/development projections through four critical scenarios, which are respectively: 1) Natural Baseline (NBASE); 2) Historic Progression (HPROG); 3) Trajectory Forecast (TFORE); and 4) Restorative Projection (RPROJ). The RUD Case Study illustrates how the principles and strategies of Restorative Urban Design can be applied specifically to a typical (densely developed) urban area, namely River North District in Chicago Metropolitan Area. The case study focuses exclusively on mitigation of a single critical human impact on the natural environment: Anthropogenic CO₂ Emissions. The case study focuses on the design assumptions by which the restorative urban re/development scenarios might exceed beyond the full mitigation of emissions into the global remediation by 2040. The restorative projections illustrate that only a certain portion of emissions can be effectively mitigated onsite (5 to 55%), and that the remainder of projected emissions (45 to 95%) need to be mitigated offsite in order to achieve the necessary sequestration and storage. The restorative research suggests that the mitigation of major human impacts on the natural environment – not only CO₂ emissions but also other major impacts – are likely to require significant urban transformations. Moving beyond the strategies of preservation and/or conservation, the restorative approach asserts that comprehensive environmental restoration is achievable if urban impacts are adequately estimated and then entirely mitigated onsite as well as offsite through a systematic process of urban re/development.
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Longépée, Esméralda. "La résilience des systèmes socio-écologiques des États atolliens dans le contexte du changement climatique : le cas de Kiribati (Pacifique Sud)." Thesis, La Rochelle, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014LAROS007/document.
Full textAbstract:
La menace représentée par le changement climatique, et en particulier l’élévation du niveau de la mer, sur les pays entièrement composés d’atolls est largement médiatisée. La République de Kiribati est un pays atollien situé dans l’océan Pacifique, peuplé par 100 000 habitants. Au cours des derniers siècles, les communautés atolliennes de Kiribati ont développé un système de gestion des ressources naturelles qui a assuré leur survie. Depuis quelques décennies, la mondialisation est cause de mutations rapides, en particulier dans le mode de vie et dans la relation des communautés atolliennes à leur environnement naturel. Étant donné le caractère fortement intégré du système sociétal et de l’écosystème dans les atolls, cette thèse aborde la question de l’avenir des pays atolliens dans le contexte du changement climatique par l’étude de la résilience de leurs systèmes socio-écologiques. La résilience d’un système correspond à sa capacité à absorber des perturbations et à se réorganiser tandis qu’il subit des changements tout en conservant la même fonction, structure, identité et les mêmes rétroactions. Cette thèse postule qu’une estimation de la résilience des systèmes socio-écologiques aux perturbations d’origine météo-marine nécessite au préalable une analyse de leur résilience générale. De telles estimations s’appuient sur des modèles conceptuels réalisés à partir de résultats d’entretiens et d’enquêtes menés à Kiribati, et sur l’analyse d’images aériennes. L’avenir des pays atolliens est discuté en envisageant différents scénarios : l’adaptation, la transformation, la migration et l’effondrementThe threats to states entirely composed of atolls from climate change and associated sea-level rise have been widely publicized. The Republic of Kiribati is an atoll country situated in Pacific Ocean settled by 100,000 inhabitants. Over the past centuries, the atoll communities of Kiribati have developed natural resource management systems that have enabled their survival. Over the past decades, globalization has caused rapid changes, especially regarding lifestyles and relationships of atoll communities to their natural environment. Given the highly integrated nature of the societal system and the ecosystem in the atolls, this thesis addresses the question of the future of atoll countries in the context of climate change by studying the resilience of their social-ecological systems. Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks. This thesis postulated that an assessment of social-ecological resilience of climate- and marine-related disturbances required a preliminary analysis of their general resilience. Such assessments are based on conceptual models made from interviews and surveys and from the analysis of aerial imagery. The future of atoll countries is discussed considering different scenario: adaptation, transformation, migration and collapse
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Préau, Clémentine. "Identification et modélisation des habitats d'espèces à enjeux et évolution de leur aire de répartition avec le changement climatique." Thesis, Poitiers, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019POIT2316.
Full textAbstract:
La chute de la biodiversité actuelle est le résultat des changements globaux et notamment du changement climatique. Elle contribue à amplifier les effets des changements globaux sur les écosystèmes. Bien que l’évaluation des impacts du changement climatique sur la distribution des espèces soit largement étudiée à de larges échelles, l’évaluation à l’échelle nationale, régionale ou même départementale est moins systématique bien qu’elle soit la plus appropriée pour être prise en compte dans les stratégies de conservation. Afin d’évaluer la vulnérabilité d’espèces emblématiques des zones humides au changement climatique, nous avons construit des scénarios de distribution en utilisant des approches basées sur la modélisation de niche écologique. Nous nous sommes intéressés aux amphibiens, organismes ectothermes présentant un mode de vie à la fois aquatique et terrestre et de faibles capacités de dispersion, qui sont fortement menacés par les activités humaines et le changement climatique. Nous avons évalué les impacts potentiels du changement climatique sur la distribution du sonneur à ventre jaune Bombina variegata, du triton crêté Triturus cristatus, de la rainette arboricole Hyla arborea, et de la rainette méridionale Hyla meridionalis, en estimant les interactions entre la présence des espèces et les facteurs environnementaux et en évaluant les effets des changements climatique et d’occupation du sol sur la distribution potentielle des espèces à l’échelle régionale. Puis, nous nous sommes intéressés aux effets de scénarios de changement climatique sur la distribution potentielle et la connectivité des habitats favorables chez le triton marbré Triturus marmoratus et T. cristatus à l’échelle du département de la Vienne. Enfin, nous avons évalué la capacité de T. marmoratus à suivre un potentiel déplacement des zones favorables dû au changement climatique, dans un contexte de changements d’occupation du sol à l’échelle nationale. Dans un second temps, nous nous sommes intéressés à une autre espèce emblématique des milieux humides et des cours d’eau, l’écrevisse à pattes blanches Austropotamobius pallipes. Ainsi, nous avons modélisé l’impact du changement climatique sur la distribution de l’espèce en prenant en compte explicitement la distribution d’une espèce invasive et compétitive, l’écrevisse signal Pacifastacus leniusculus. Les projections pour les conditions futures ont été réalisées à partir de scénarios de réchauffement climatique basés sur des grandes trajectoires de forçage radiatifs nommées RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways).Nos études ont permis de mettre en évidence que le changement climatique risque d’entrainer une contraction des aires de répartition ainsi qu’un potentiel déplacement des aires favorables de la plupart aux espèces étudiées, avec un impact plus ou moins important selon l’espèce et le scénario de changement climatique considéré. Par ailleurs, nous avons montré l’importance de l’occupation du sol pour l’atténuation des effets du changement climatique sur la distribution des espèces. Suite à la prise en compte des incertitudes et des limites relatives aux différentes études, les résultats des travaux présentés pourront être utiles à la conservation, à la gestion et à l’évaluation des espèces étudiées, et être reproduits pour d’autres espèces de zones humidesThe current decline in biodiversity is the result of global changes, including climate change. It contributes to amplifying the effects of global changes on ecosystems. Although the assessment of the impacts of climate change on species distribution is widely studied at large scales, assessment at the national, regional or even departmental scale is less systematic although it is the most appropriate to be accounted in conservation strategies. In order to assess the vulnerability of emblematic wetland species to climate change, we have constructed distribution scenarios using approaches based on ecological niche modelling. We focused on amphibians, ectothermic organisms with both aquatic and terrestrial stages and low dispersal abilities, which are highly threatened by human activities and climate change. We assessed the potential impacts of climate change on the distribution of the yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegata, the great crested newt Triturus cristatus, the tree frog Hyla arborea, and the Mediterranean tree frog Hyla meridionalis, by estimating the interactions between species presence and environmental factors and by assessing the effects of climate and land use changes on the potential distribution of species at the regional scale. Then, we focused on the effects of climate change scenarios on the potential distribution and connectivity of suitable habitats of the marbled newt Triturus marmoratus and of T. cristatus across the administrative department of Vienne. Finally, we assessed the ability of T. marmoratus to follow a potential shift of suitable areas due to climate change, in a context of land use change at the national scale. We then studied another emblematic species of wetlands and rivers, the white-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes. We modelled the impact of climate change on its distribution by explicitly accounting for the distribution of an invasive and competitive species, the signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus. Projections for future conditions were forecasted using global warming scenarios based on radiative forcing trajectories called RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways).Our studies have shown that climate change is likely to lead to a contraction of ranges and a potential shift in the suitable areas for most of the studied species, with a more or less significant impact depending on the considered species and the climate change scenario. In addition, we have shown the importance of land use in mitigating the effects of climate change on species distribution. Following consideration of uncertainties and limitations, the results of the presented work may be useful for the conservation, management and assessment of the studied species, and may be replicated for other wetland species
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Thorn, Jessica Paula Rose. "Ecosystem services, biodiversity and human wellbeing along climatic gradients in smallholder agro-ecosystems in the Terai Plains of Nepal and northern Ghana." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3319dafc-5b0c-436a-b653-a623fc3e8de4.
Full textAbstract:
Increasingly unpredictable, extreme and erratic rainfall with higher temperatures threatens to undermine the adaptive capacity of food systems and ecological resilience of smallholder landscapes. Despite growing concern, land managers still lack quantitative techniques to collect empirical data about the potential impact of climatic variability and change. This thesis aims to assess how ecosystem services and function and how this links with biodiversity and human wellbeing in smallholder agro-ecosystems in a changing climate. To this end, rather than relying on scenarios or probabilistic modelling, space was used as a proxy for time to compare states in disparate climatic conditions. Furthermore, an integrated methodological framework to assess ecosystem services at the field and landscape level was developed and operationalised, the results of which can be modelled with measures of wellbeing. Various multidisciplinary analytical tools were utilised, including ecological and socio-economic surveys, biological assessments, participatory open enquiry, and documenting ethnobotanical knowledge. The study was located within monsoon rice farms in the Terai Plains of Nepal, and dry season vegetable farms in Northern Ghana. Sites were selected that are climatically and culturally diverse to enable comparative analysis, with application to broad areas of adaptive planning. The linkages that bring about biophysical and human changes are complex and operate through social, political, economic and demographic drivers, making attribution extremely challenging. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that within hotter and drier conditions in Ghana long-tongued pollinators and granivores, important for decomposition processes and pollination services, are more abundant in farms. Results further indicated that in cooler and drier conditions in Nepal, the taxonomic diversity of indigenous and close relative plant species growing in and around farms, important for the provisioning of ecosystem services, decreases. All other things equal, in both Nepal and Ghana findings indicate that overall human wellbeing may be adversely effected in hotter conditions, with a potentially significantly lower yields, fewer months of the year in which food is available, higher exposure to natural hazards and crop loss, unemployment, and psychological anxiety. Yet, surveys indicate smallholders continue to maintain a fair diversity of species in and around farms, which may allow them to secure basic necessities from provisioning ecosystem services. Moreover, farmers may employ adaptive strategies such as pooling labour and food sharing more frequently, and may have greater access to communication, technology, and infrastructure. Novel methodological and empirical contributions of this research offer predictive insights that could inform innovations in climate-smart agricultural practice and planning.
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Ng, Kee-Shyong, and 黃繼雄. "Ecological Adaptation and Design Strategies of Er-Chong Floodway under Climate Change Impact." Thesis, 2011. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/55697957789464505890.
Full textAbstract:
碩士國立臺灣大學
園藝學研究所
99
By the impact of climate change and the regional urbanization, quality of life in urban increasingly highly valued by the people, the city''s planner and designer must make the best adjustment programs in order to have sufficient preparation to minimize the city''s disaster. Global warming cause the rising of sea levels, heavy rain in urban lead to make many low-lying coastal areas will face submerged crisis, in addition, the city''s storm also caused to flooding of low lying urban areas. Therefore, wetlands is an important green infrastructure that to be a buffer zone to reduce the flooded crisis. This thesis investigated the I-Chong flood diversion in Taipei (re)turned to wetland, through the wetlands conservation and restoration, wise use and creation of wetlands ecological corridor by using the new trend concept of planning and design. Finally, community-based natural resource management, a new management model, combined with local self-evidence for operation and maintenance and management, through community participation in the public and resource users to promote the sustainable development of wetlands, the concrete practice of the wetland environment and social function.
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(9833060), Rolf Schlagloth. "Modelling koala road-kill blackspots." Thesis, 2018. https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Modelling_koala_road-kill_blackspots/13446800.
Full textAbstract:
Loss and fragmentation of habitat are considered the biggest threats to the long term survival of the koala. However, several other threats are also known to exert additional stress. Many of these are the consequence of loss of habitat which causes koalas to move long distances on the ground. Fragmentation also causes koalas to cross roads more often, which in turn can lead to collisions with vehicles (Caneris & Jones, 2004; Dique et al., 2003; Lunney et al., 2007); by forcing koalas to spent more time on the ground, they may also increase the risk of being attacked by dogs (Caneris & Jones, 2004; Lunney et al., 2007). These risks increase with the decrease in habitat availability (Cork, Clark, & Mazur, 2000). Even though mortality caused by dogs and road accidents are localised events, (Martin & Handasyde, 1999) they are of significant concern because they are contributing factors to population declines (Lunney et al., 2014; Santika, McAlpine, Lunney, Wilson, & Rhodes, 2014).
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Bennett, Nathan. "The capacity to adapt, conserve and thrive?: marine protected area communities and social-ecological change in coastal Thailand." Thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/4728.
Full textAbstract:
Three complicated and interrelated issues are marine conservation, local development, and climate change. To seek insight into the challenges posed by these issues in a particular context, this dissertation focuses on seven communities near marine protected areas (MPAs) on the Andaman Coast of Thailand. The central question was “How can conservation outcomes and community livelihoods and adaptive capacity be enhanced in communities near MPAs on the Andaman Coast of Thailand in consideration of a changing climate?” The objectives were to explore local perceptions of social and environmental change and vulnerability, community opinions of Thailand’s National Marine Parks (NMPs), and the adaptive capacity of coastal communities. Literatures on resilience, adaptive capacity, vulnerability, conservation impacts, sustainable livelihoods, and governance and management frame the research. Fieldwork included Photovoice, interviews, and household surveys. Four stand-alone manuscripts are included in the dissertation: a) “A picture of change: Using Photovoice to explore social and environmental change in coastal communities on the Andaman Coast of Thailand”; b) “Vulnerability to multiple stressors in coastal communities: A study of the Andaman Coast of Thailand”; c) “Why local people do not support conservation: Community perceptions of marine protected area livelihood impacts, governance and management in Thailand”; and, d) “The capacity to adapt?: Communities in a changing climate, environment and economy on the northern Andaman Coast of Thailand”. Broadly, the dissertation offers relevant insights into the complex social-ecological changes being experienced by heterogeneous communities and the multi-faceted and multi-scalar actions required to address increasing challenges. Specifically, it a) demonstrates that Photovoice is an effective method for examining social and environmental change and providing input into community adaptation, conservation, and development processes, b) explores the social-economic and biophysical stressors that contribute to household vulnerability and suggests that multiple stressors, particularly economics and climate change, need to be considered in adaptation planning, c) recommends significant improvements to current NMP governance and management to engender local support for marine conservation, and d) illustrates that communities on the Andaman coast of Thailand are coping with environmental and fisheries declines, reacting to climate change and adapting variably to alternative livelihoods and proposes interventions for improving adaptive capacity.Graduate
0366
njbennet@uvic.ca
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(9808472), Maryanne Jones. "A comparative study of water quality, benthic flora and phytoplankton in four newly developing estuaries of the Australian-Pacific zone and implications for 'sea-change' development." Thesis, 2012. https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/A_comparative_study_of_water_quality_benthic_flora_and_phytoplankton_in_four_newly_developing_estuaries_of_the_Australian-Pacific_zone_and_implications_for_sea-change_development/13459223.
Full textAbstract:
"This study was undertaken to increase knowledge of estuarine processes in tropical, macrotidal coasts. It was also done to understand the implications for managing 'sea-change' development in a little known area of the Australian-Pacific zone. The study area is the Capricorn Coast: a newly expanding site that interfaces with the Great Barrier Reef lagoon and lies adjacent to the Fitzroy: the largest Australian river flowing into the Pacific" -- Abstract.
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(9905028), Rebecca E. Nixon. "Adaptation to social-ecological change on the Swat and Kabul Rivers of Pakistan." Thesis, 2021.
Find full textAbstract:
Social-ecological change
has driven smallholder farmers throughout the world to employ a diverse array
of adaptation strategies. Social, economic, and cultural factors along with
environmental changes have been widely studied as determinants of adaptation decision-making.
Increasingly, scholars are also examining the role of values in these
decisions. Many have posited that adaptation to social-ecological change will
necessitate tradeoffs of these values; however, little empirical work has been
done to identify and examine these tradeoffs. In response to this gap, we first
identify how farmers and fishers adapted to multiple social-ecological
stressors in northwestern Pakistan. Second, we investigate how
social-ecological factors, perceived changes, and perceived costs influence
adaptation decision-making and adaptive capacity. Third, we examine the role of and tradeoffs
between values in adaptation decision-making.
Based on our findings, we posit that in addition to the identification
of values, it is also necessary to examine values as they relate to one
another, change over time, and are embedded in multi-scalar processes. This
will allow us to more fully understand the factors that influence adaptation
decisions and support more equitable strategies that align with stakeholders’
diverse values.
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Lettrari, Heike. "The mountain pine beetle, climate change, and scientists : understanding science's responses to rapid ecological change in Western Canada." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/8213.
Full textAbstract:
Today, climate change and rapid ecological change are impacting our ecosystems and landscapes in numerous, often surprising ways. These changes result in social, cultural, ecological, and economic shifts, as exemplified in the climate-exacerbated mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in British Columbia. Recently, scientific communities have boosted calls for “usable science.” By interviewing leading MPB scientists, I ask, “How are scientists and their institutions responding to rapid ecological change?” Numerous factors shape MPB science—institutional support, funding, and values—and these factors enable and constrain effective relationships and ultimately, useful science, in response to the outbreak. Results suggest that while science and scientific institutions change slowly, and while relationships between MPB science and policy are characterized as tenuous, there are signs that crossing institutional boundaries (such as the TRIA Network) contributes to producing science that is more effective for responding to rapid ecological change.Graduate
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Pandey, Rishikesh. "Human ecological implications of climate change in the Himalaya: investigating opportunities for adaptation in the Kaligandaki Basin, Nepal." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2440/99095.
Full textAbstract:
Climate change and associated impacts are pressing issues for the twenty-first century. The climatic impacts and associated adaptation responses are altering complex interrelationships between people and the environment. Although the problems generated by such change are global, the intensity of impacts varies spatially. This research examines the implications of climate change on the local social-ecological systems of the Kaligandaki Basin, Nepal; it maps the adaptation efforts of communities; and assesses food and livelihood (in) security and vulnerability of the social-ecosystems to inform adaptation policy and practice.
The study applies a geographical approach to explain human-environmental interrelationships by drawing from both social and natural scientific methodologies inherent to the discipline. The concepts of human ecology and social-ecology, climatic and environmental change, vulnerability and adaptation, are explored and applied in the research. The Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) is integrated with the Drivers-Pressure-State of Change-Impacts-Response (DPSIR) analysis framework to explain the complex local human-environmental interactions with climate change. Case studies are drawn from three different ecological zones: the Tarai, the Middle-Mountains and the Trans-Himalaya to inform a comparative analysis in the Kaligandaki Basin. Climate change in the Kaligandaki Basin is assessed by analysing both meteorological data for the past 40 years and social perceptions of change in the last decade. Primary data on impacts and adaptation responses were collected through face-to-face interviews with household heads from 360 households, 24 focus group discussions, 7 historical timeline calendars, 75 key informant interviews, and 9 crop calendar sketches. The findings suggest that the social-ecological systems of the Himalaya are highly sensitive to both climatic and non-climatic stressors. Climate sensitive livelihood capitals are increasingly exposed to climate change, as both scientific and social analyses indicate increased temperatures and more extreme weather events. The changes and variability in the climate system have negatively impacted all social-ecological systems, particularly in the Middle-Mountains. Consequently, many local communities are trapped in a situation of multiple livelihood constraints associated with ecological, economic, social and political environments. To respond to those constraints and reduce the negative implications of change, people are trying to adopt adaptation strategies, mostly at the individual household or community levels. The studied communities demonstrate significant adaptation knowledge; however, such knowledge is not sufficiently translated into adaptation actions. Many households are losing hope of agricultural adaptation due to climate change impacts and unfavourable political-economic environments. Cash income is now the preferred option for many, and young adults are leaving communities and the country in search of paid employment. The poor quality of livelihood capitals; increasing climate change impacts; and poor adoption of adaptation strategies together have significant negative implications for local food and livelihood security. The research has important implications for policy that aims to integrate disaster management, agricultural development, livelihood diversification, and community empowerment in relation to climate change adaptation in Nepal. The research supports theoretical discussions on the value of undertaking complex social-ecological analyses to generate knowledge that is both holistic and directly applicable for local adaptation planning and practice. By applying similar approaches in other contexts, especially in the developing world, the issues inhibiting broader development processes could be integrated with an understanding of climate change impacts for targeted, comprehensive adaptation policy outcomes.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2016.
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Stanley, Conrad B. J. "The Ecological Economics of Resilience: Designing a Safe-Fail Civilization." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/5896.
Full textAbstract:
There is mounting evidence that sustainable scale thresholds are now being exceeded worldwide and environmental resource shocks (e.g. climate change, water and oil shortages) may be inevitable in some regions of the world in the near future. These could result in severe economic breakdowns, welfare loss, and in the worst-case, the collapse of modern civilization. Therefore, a pre-eminent challenge of our times is to determine how to design a resilient (safe-fail) economy – one that can endure, adapt to and successfully recover from breakdowns when they occur. Surprisingly, while ecological economic theory relies heavily on natural science concepts such as thermodynamics, insufficient attention has been paid to the important ecological concept of resilience, particularly as it applies to economic design. The three major policy goals of current ecological economic theory (sustainable scale, just distribution and efficient allocation) focus instead on preventing environmental resource shocks and breakdowns, but given their unpredictability prevention may not always be possible.
How resilience can inform the blossoming field of ecological economics is thus explored in this theoretical, transdisciplinary paper. Drawing on literature as diverse as archaeology and disaster planning, it develops six key principles of economic resilience and applies them to analyze the resilience of key societal systems including our money, electricity, water, transportation, information/communication and emergency response systems. Overall, economic resilience appears to be a unique concern that is not readily subsumed under any of the three existing ecological economic policy pillars. In fact, efforts to build in resilience have the potential to both complement and at times contradict the other three goals, especially efficiency. The need to further study these possible tradeoffs provides strong justification for adding a fourth distinct policy pillar, namely “Resilient Design”, to core ecological economic theory. Indeed, ecological economist’s longstanding criticism of economic growth meshes readily with the Resilience Alliance’s own figure-8 adaptive cycle theory critiquing the resilience costs of growth, providing significant opportunities for the future collaboration of these two fields in broadening global system theory.
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Schulze, Jule. "Social-ecological modeling for policy analysis in transformative land systems - Supporting evaluation and communication for sustainability." Doctoral thesis, 2016. https://repositorium.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-2016111615159.
Full textAbstract:
The increasing demand for food and fiber, the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as for environmental protection impose severe challenges on land
systems worldwide. Solutions to support the transformation towards a sustainable development of land systems are needed. One response to the multiple challenges is the introduction of policy options aimed at steering land use activities towards a bundle of societal goals. However, it is difficult to empirically foresee the effectiveness and unintended consequences of policy options prior to their deployment. A second response is environmental education because human consumption behavior, among other factors, strongly influences natural ecosystems. However, it is a non-trivial task to develop effective communication strategies for complex topics such as sustainable land management. In both cases, modeling can help to overcome the different obstacles along the way. In this thesis, dynamic process-based social-ecological models at the individual scale
are developed and analyzed to study effectiveness and unintended side effects of policy options, which promote agricultural management strategies and were intentionally designed to cope with multiple societal challenges. Two case studies of political intervention are investigated: the promotion of perennial woody crops in European agricultural landscapes for a sustainable bioeconomy and governmental supplementary feeding programs to cope with climate risks in pastoral systems in drylands. These two case studies are complemented by the development of a serious online game on sustainable land management in general that bridges the gap between land use modeling and environmental education. Simulation results of this thesis provide insights into (i) the performance of the politically promoted agricultural management strategies in meeting various intended goals
such as poverty alleviation or the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services, (ii) the emergence of unintended (environmental and social) side effects such as land use conflicts, land degradation or cost explosion and (iii) the mitigation of such side effects by appropriately adjusting the design of the policy options. These insights are enabled by representing temporal as well as spatial variability in the developed models. Furthermore, different mechanistic approaches of transferability analyses based on stylized landscapes are developed and applied. They enable to check whether and in what respect policy impacts actually differ substantially between regional contexts, to identify what regional factors steer the impact and to derive indicators for grouping regions of similar policy impacts. Finally, based on a conducted survey-based evaluation and experiences from various applications, the value of the developed serious game for
environmental education is revealed and discussed.Altogether, this thesis contributes to model-based decision support for steering transformation towards the sustainable development of land systems in an appropriate way. This is done by developing appropriate social-ecological modeling approaches, by performing
specific policy impact analyses in two transformative agricultural systems using
these models and by providing a model-based communication tool for environmental education.
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Johnstone, James. "Vulnerability of a Run-of-River Irrigation Scheme to Extreme Hydrological Conditions - A Case Study of the Bwanje Valley Irrigation Scheme, Malawi." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10214/3008.
Full textAbstract:
Irrigation plays an extremely important role in agriculture but climate change is predicted to modify climate patterns with potentially devastating consequences for irrigation. Potential impacts and adaptations are known, but not how implementation strategies may be implemented at the individual irrigation scheme level.
Using a case study approach and qualitative research methods this thesis describes the Bwanje Valley Irrigation Scheme (BVIS), Malawi in order to explain how water is managed. Subsequently, historical adaptations are described in order to draw conclusions concerning the vulnerability of the BVIS under normal and extreme hydrological conditions.
The BVIS is vulnerable in all conditions because it utilizes a common pool resource. As water supply decreases, irrigation water management becomes less and less equitable which makes the system extremely sensitive to changes in water supply. Capacity to adapt to climate change is limited to funding provided by external agencies which currently limit adaptations to reactive changes
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KELLER, EMILY MARGARET. "RE-CONSTRUCTING CLIMATE CHANGE: DISCOURSES OF THE EMERGING MOVEMENT FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1974/7586.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines the discourses surrounding the subject of climate change, with particular emphasis on the discourse(s) of the emerging social movement for climate justice. Positioned within the social constructivist and critical research paradigms, the methodology involves a Foucauldian-inspired discourse analysis in which discourse is defined as a historically-situated, materially-embodied, and power-imbued set of statements and rules that comprise a unique and coherent representation of the world. A review of the climate change-related literature reveals four primary discourses on the phenomenon of rising greenhouse gas emissions: early scientific, climate modernization, climate change denial, and climate justice. The statements and rules of these four discourses, as well as the theoretical trends and sociopolitical, economic, and ecological factors affecting their historical development are described. A deeper analysis using 26 primary documents representing every major climate justice organization reveals that rather than a single coherent discourse, the climate justice movement encompasses four individual sub-discourses: global, peasant-oriented, Indigenous, and civil rights. Focussed on climate-related inequities in developing countries of the Southern Hemisphere, the global discourse constructs climate change as a problem of the structures and logic of the globalized capitalist economy. The peasant-oriented discourse emphasizes inequities to peasant farmers, and represents climate change as largely the result of industrialized agriculture and food systems. With specific concern for the wellbeing of Indigenous communities, the Indigenous discourse locates the cause of climate change in the “violation of the sacred” and the loss of harmony with Mother Earth. The United States-based civil rights discourse primarily emphasizes the rights and interests of African American communities and constructs climate change as a problem of externalized ecological costs and failure to incent a “green” economy. The relations of power between the four climate justice sub-discourses and the prevailing climate modernization discourse are tentatively explored on the basis of three indicators of strength (internal coherence, material foundations, and adaptive capacity), on which basis several questions related to discursive resistance are proposed as possible avenues of future research.Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-11 09:45:29.397
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(9179345), Youmi Oh. "QUANTIFYING CARBON FLUXES AND ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE CHANGES ACROSS GLOBAL TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS." Thesis, 2020.
Find full textAbstract:
This thesis is a collection of three research articles to quantify carbon fluxes and isotopic signature changes across global terrestrial ecosystems. Chapter 2, the first article of this thesis, focuses on the importance of an under-estimated methane soil sink for contemporary and future methane budgets in the pan-Arctic region. Methane emissions from organic-rich soils in the Arctic have been extensively studied due to their potential to increase the atmospheric methane burden as permafrost thaws. However, this methane source might have been overestimated without considering high affinity methanotrophs (HAM, methane oxidizing bacteria) recently identified in Arctic mineral soils. From this study, we find that HAM dynamics double the upland methane sink (~5.5 TgCH4yr-1) north of 50°N in simulations from 2000 to 2016 by integrating the dynamics of HAM and methanogens into a biogeochemistry model that includes permafrost soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. The increase is equivalent to at least half of the difference in net methane emissions estimated between process-based models and observation-based inversions, and the revised estimates better match site-level and regional observations. The new model projects double wetland methane emissions between 2017-2100 due to more accessible permafrost carbon. However, most of the increase in wetland emissions is offset by a concordant increase in the upland sink, leading to only an 18% increase in net methane emission (from 29 to 35 TgCH4yr-1). The projected net methane emissions may decrease further due to different physiological responses between HAM and methanogens in response to increasing temperature. This article was published in Nature Climate Change in March 2020.
In Chapter 3, the second article of this thesis, I develop and validate the first biogeochemistry model to simulate carbon isotopic signatures (δ13C) of methane emitted from global wetlands, and examined the importance of the wetland carbon isotope map for studying the global methane cycle. I incorporated a carbon isotope-enabled module into an extant biogeochemistry model to mechanistically simulate the spatial and temporal variability of global wetland δ13C-CH4. The new model explicitly considers isotopic fractionation during methane production, oxidation, and transport processes. I estimate a mean global wetland δ13C-CH4 of -60.78‰ with its seasonal and inter-annual variability. I find that the new model matches field chamber observations 35% better in terms of root mean square estimates compared to an empirical static wetland δ13C-CH4 map. The model also reasonably reproduces the regional heterogeneity of wetland δ13C-CH4 in Alaska, consistent with vertical profiles of δ13C-CH4 from NOAA aircraft measurements. Furthermore, I show that the latitudinal gradient of atmospheric δ13C-CH4 simulated by a chemical transport model using the new wetland δ13C-CH4 map reproduces the observed latitudinal gradient based on NOAA/INSTAAR global flask-air measurements. I believe this study is the first process-based biogeochemistry model to map the global distribution of wetland δ13C-CH4, which will significantly help atmospheric chemistry transport models partition global methane emissions. This article is in preparation for submission to Nature Geoscience.
Chapter 4 of this thesis, the third article, investigates the importance of leaf carbon allocation for seasonal leaf carbon isotopic signature changes and water use efficiency in temperate forests. Temperate deciduous trees remobilize stored carbon early in the growing season to produce new leaves and xylem vessels. The use of remobilized carbon for building leaf tissue dampens the link between environmental stomatal response and inferred intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) using leaf carbon isotopic signatures (δ13C). So far, few studies consider carbon allocation processes in interpreting leaf δ13C signals. To understand effects of carbon allocation on δ13C and iWUE estimates, we analyzed and modeled the seasonal leaf δ13C of four temperate deciduous species (Acer saccharum, Liriodendron tulipifera, Sassafras albidum, and Quercus alba) and compared the iWUE estimates from different methods, species, and drought conditions. At the start of the growing season, leaf δ13C values were more enriched, due to remobilized carbon during leaf-out. The bias towards enriched leaf δ13C values explains the higher iWUE from leaf isotopic methods compared with iWUE from leaf gas exchange measurements. I further showed that the discrepancy of iWUE estimates between methods may be species-specific and drought sensitive. The use of δ13C of plant tissues as a proxy for stomatal response to environmental processes, through iWUE, is complicated due to carbon allocation and care must be taken when interpreting estimates to avoid proxy bias. This article is in review for publication in New Phytologist.
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Ligtermoet, Emma. "People, place and practice on the margins in a changing climate: Sustaining freshwater customary harvesting in coastal floodplain country of the Alligator Rivers Region, Northern Territory of Australia." Phd thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/164233.
Full textAbstract:
Human-environment interactions will be profoundly affected by
anthropogenic climate change. Coastal communities, dependent on
freshwater ecosystems for their livelihoods and cultural
practices, are likely to be seriously impacted by rising sea
level. For communities already subject to marginalising forces of
remoteness, poverty or the legacies of colonisation, climate
change impacts will likely compound existing stressors. The
freshwater floodplains of the Alligator Rivers Region in the
Northern Territory, spanning Kakadu National Park and part of
West Arnhem Land, represent such a place. This area is at risk
from sea level rise, particularly saltwater intrusion, while also
home to Aboriginal Australians continuing to practice customary
or subsistence harvesting based on freshwater resources.
In seeking to support sustainable adaptation to climate change in
this context, this thesis examines Indigenous people’s
experiences, in living memory, of responding to past and
persisting social-ecological change. A place-based, contextual
framing approach was used to examine vulnerability and adaptive
capacity. Through semi-structured interviews, trips on country,
cultural resource mapping and archival work, contemporary
patterns of freshwater resource use and Aboriginal people’s
perceptions of changes to their freshwater hunting, fishing and
gathering activities (collectively termed ‘harvesting’) were
examined. Qualitative models were used to conceptualise factors
influencing an individual’s ability to engage in freshwater
customary harvesting and the determinants shaping adaptive
capacity for customary harvesting.
The social-ecological drivers of change in freshwater harvesting
practices raised by respondents included: existing threats from
introduced animals and plants, altered floodplain fire regimes
and the ‘bust then boom’ in saltwater crocodile population
following recovery from commercial hunting. These all had
implications for sustaining customary harvesting practices
including restricting access and the transmission of knowledge.
Impacts driven by the introduced cane toad, invasive para grass
and saltwater crocodile population change, represent examples of
solastalgia, particularly for women’s harvesting practices. In
addition to environmental conditions, determinants of adaptive
capacity of customary harvesting included; mobility on country-
particularly supported through on country livelihoods and
outstations, social networks facilitating access and knowledge
sharing, health and well-being and inter-generational knowledge
transmission. Past experience of saltwater intrusion facilitated
by feral water buffalo in Kakadu was examined through the lens of
social learning, as a historical analogue for future sea level
rise. These experiences were shown to influence contemporary
perceptions of risk and adaptive preferences for future sea level
rise. Customary harvesting was also found to offer unique
opportunities to improve remote Indigenous development outcomes
across diverse sectors.
To build adaptive capacity supporting freshwater customary
harvesting practices in this context it will be essential to;
understand historical trajectories of social-ecological change,
recognise the potential for diversity within groups- including a
gendered analysis of adaptive capacity, address existing
social-ecological stressors and foster knowledge collaborations
for supporting knowledge transmission, the co-production of
knowledge and sustaining social networks. Facilitating a social
learning environment will be particularly crucial in supporting
local autonomy, leadership and experimental learning, and is
particularly beneficial in jointly managed protected area
contexts. Most importantly, incorporating local Indigenous
knowledge, values, perceptions of change and risk into
locally-developed adaptation strategies will be essential in
developing more culturally relevant and thus sustainable,
adaptation pathways.
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Ferreira, Filipe André Sousa. "Sobreviver ao antropoceno: análise crítica às estratégias europeia e portuguesa de adaptação às alterações climáticas." Master's thesis, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10071/22250.
Full textAbstract:
As alterações climáticas imperam e o funcionamento do Sistema Terra encontra-se hoje de tal modo
alterado que a literatura indica que estamos a viver no Antropoceno. Nesta recente época geológica, a
ação antropogénica é o vetor predominante de uma mudança global sem precedentes, onde as estáveis
condições ecológicas de outrora deixaram de estar acessíveis em virtude da contínua transformação do
Sistema Terra. Este estado não analógico insta à reflexão e à mudança. Atentamos que, para que o
planeta continue a sustentar vida (humana e não humana), compete às sociedades adaptarem-se a este
complexo cenário planetário. Para tal, consideramos que a atual conduta institucional e antigos conceitos
ontológicos e paradigmáticos devem ser repensados e a gestão e planificação de ações de adaptação,
priorizadas. A investigação desenvolvida evidencia que uma abordagem adaptativa e ecologicamente
reflexiva permite estabelecer uma conexão com as imprevisíveis flutuações do Sistema Terra,
considerando o valor do não humano e as interações entre os sistemas sócio-ecológicos. Em função dos
pressupostos desta abordagem, procuramos escrutinar a eficácia das atuais práticas de adaptação,
executando uma análise crítica às estratégias de adaptação às alterações climáticas da União Europeia e
de Portugal. Incidimos, principalmente, sobre a sua flexibilidade e dinâmica de resposta para avaliar o
seu funcionamento e posicionamento sob o panorama do Antropoceno. Deste modo, concluímos que as
estratégias refletem inadequadamente a atual realidade planetária, limitando-se a fornecer uma visão
estática da problemática ecológica e perpetuando uma trajetória de business-as-usual, numa época que
reivindica uma rutura do status quo.Climate change prevails, and the functioning of the Earth System is now so altered that literature suggests that we are living in the Anthropocene. In this recent geological epoch, anthropogenic action is the predominant driver of unprecedented global change, where formerly stable ecological conditions are no longer attainable as a result of the continuous transformation of the Earth System. This nonanalogue state invites reflection and change. We argue that for the planet to continue to sustain (human and non-human) life, it falls on societies to adapt to this complex planetary scenario. To this end, we find that current institutional conduct and antiquated ontological and paradigmatic concepts must be rethought, and the management and planning of adaptation actions, prioritized. The developed research emphasizes that an adaptive and ecologically reflexive approach, allows the establishment of a connection with the unpredictable Earth System fluctuations, while regarding the non-human value and the interactions between the social-ecological systems. Following the premises of this approach, we seek to scrutinize the effectiveness of current adaptation practices, conducting a critical analysis of both the European Union and Portugal's climate change adaptation strategies. We focus primarily on their flexibility and their dynamic responsiveness to assess their performance and positioning under the Anthropocene panorama. Accordingly, we conclude that the strategies inappropriately reflect the current planetary reality, merely providing a static view of the ecological issues while perpetuating a businessas-usual path in an epoch that demands a rupture from the status quo.
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Neill, Andrew R. (Andrew Rhodes). "Overstory density and disturbance impacts on the resilience of coniferous forests of western Oregon." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/28768.
Full textAbstract:
A trait based approach was used to assess impacts of overstory density and thinning on understory vegetation components related to wildlife habitat. The relationship between overstory basal area and understory vegetation for species grouped by traits, such as production of flowers, fleshy-fruit and palatable leaves, was characterized in thinned and unthinned stands at seven Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forests in western Oregon six years following harvests. The ranges of overstory densities within thinned and unthinned stands represent gradients of resource availability and thinning disturbance. Lower overstory densities and thinnings were associated with improved ecosystem functions, specifically the provision of wildlife habitat, as evident by higher cover of flowering and fleshy-fruit and palatable leaf producing species. Greater cover of drought, fire and heat tolerant species in low density stands and after thinnings suggested that these ecosystem functions are more likely to be maintained under climate change conditions, indicating higher resilience. The response of specific functions and response types reflect the traits characteristic for each species group and the impact of these traits on sensitivity to resource availability and disturbances. Thus, the correlation between grouping criteria and the main gradients created by management activities can provide an indication of the expected vegetation response, and therefore the impact of management practices on resilience.Graduation date: 2012