Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Natural resource management'

The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, economic and technological factors that influence rates of adoption of innovative stormwater management approaches in municipal organizations in the Great Bay watershed, NH. The scope of this study was to investigate how innovations spread through municipal populations in a specific region and watershed area of the US. The methodology used mixed qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, case studies, and surveys to examine perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that influence the adoption of innovative stormwater management solutions, as well as the governance characteristics of municipalities at different stages of adoption. Major findings include: adopter categories can be relatively easily and quickly categorized into early and late majorities as a preliminary means to identify populations of ready and willing audiences interested in and capable of advancing innovations; early and late adopter classifications followed general diffusion theory, but differed in substantial ways that could influence overall project or program success; and finally that early majority communities have more internal and external capacity to advance innovations as well as higher levels of peer-to-peer trust to offset perceptions related to economic risk that can either advance or stall innovative stormwater management solution adoption. This research offers insights on how to allocate scarce resources to optimally improve water quality through stormwater management solutions, and makes recommendations for how to effectively and efficiently generate greater understanding of complex barriers to adoption that thwart innovation in municipal governance organizations. One significant implication is that agents of change who want to move innovations through a broad municipal population should focus their efforts on working with innovators and early adopters that have status within relevant peer networks and who have capacity to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of innovations.

This thesis employs a network perspective in studying ecosystems and natural resource management. It explores the structural characteristics of social and/or ecological networks and their implications on societies’ and ecosystems’ ability to adapt to change and to cope with disturbances while still maintaining essential functions and structures (i.e. resilience).

Paper I introduces terminology from the network sciences and puts these into the context of ecology and natural resource management. Paper II and III focus on habitat fragmentation and how it affects an agricultural landscape in southern Madagascar. Two ecosystem services were addressed: (1) crop pollination by bees, and (2) seed dispersal by ring-tailed lemurs. It is shown that the fraction of the studied landscape presently covered by both crop pollination and seed dispersal is surprisingly high, but that further removal of the smallest habitat patches in the study area could have a severe negative impact on the landscape’s capacity to support these ecosystem services.

In Papers IV and V, the network approach is used to study social networks and the impact they may have on the management of natural resources. In Paper IV it is found that social networks of low- to moderate link densities (among managers) significantly increase the probability for relatively high and stable utility returns whereas high link densities cause occasional large-scale ecological crises between periods of stable and excessively high utility returns. In Paper V, social networks of a rural fishing community in eastern Africa were analyzed. The results indicate that patterns of communication partly explain the distribution of ecological knowledge among villagers, and that gear type used by small-scale coastal fishermen strongly correlates with their patterns of communication. The results also show that groups most central in the network, and hence potentially most influential, are dominated by one type of fishermen.

Dwindling freshwater resources are one of the largest challenges facing countries worldwide. For regional and local governments the task of managing fresh water resources falls the hardest. Reduced water quantity directly impacts water quality and thus preventing further depletion of freshwater levels is necessary for meeting existing and forth coming water quality regulations. Thus, finding effective ways to better understand water use at the local or regional level and better ways of communicating pressing water management issues with water users is imperative to the longevity of freshwater resources. Environmental communication campaigns are one way of reaching water users. Understanding water users personal relationship with water resources and nature in general can inform environmental campaigns in multiple ways.

This research provides insight into the ways in which environmental campaigns can be framed to effectively reach the target audience. Two methods of assessing stakeholder perceptions of water resources are also explored. First, systems thinking is used to compare the mental models of water managers and members of the development sector in order to find areas of common interest and importance regarding the management of freshwater resources in the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene Corridor of northeast Washington and northern Idaho. Second, a survey is used to evaluate characteristics of water use for residents in Spokane County, Washington.

This dissertation is centered on three primary research questions: (1) How are environmental communication campaigns framed?; (2) How do stakeholder groups who may appear to have very different values for a shared resource perceive a shared that resource?; (3) How do people's perceptions of nature, environmental issues, and their ability to impact those issues influence the way that they use water? Results of this research show that there are key areas of shared interest between water managers and developers suggesting that long-term water management goals do not have to conflict with the goals of local development. This research also suggests that residents who are willing to perform behaviors to reduce their water use are not necessarily doing so, pointing toward further research questions to bridge the gap between willingness and action.

Chapter 1: Impending extinction of salmon, steelhead, and trout (Salmonidae) in California. California contains the southernmost native populations of most Pacific Coast salmon and trout, many of which appear to be rapidly headed toward extinction. A quantitative protocol was developed to determine conservation status of all salmonids native to the state. Results indicate that if present trends continue, 25 (78%) of the 32 taxa native to California will likely be extinct or extirpated within the next century, following the bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), which was extirpated in the 1970s. California's salmonids are adapted to living in a topographically diverse region with a Mediterranean climate, characterized by extreme seasonal and inter-annual variability in streamflow. Consequently, California salmonids have evolved extraordinary life history diversity to persist in the face of stressful conditions that often approach physiological limits. The spatial distributions of California salmonids vary from wide-ranging anadromous forms to endemic inland forms persisting in only a few kilometers of stream. Eighty-one percent of anadromous taxa are threatened with extinction and 73% inland taxa are either threatened or already extinct. Although specific drivers of decline differ across species, major causes of decline are related to increasing competition with humans for water, human degradation of watersheds, and adverse effects of hatchery propagation. Climate change, interacting with the other causes of decline, is increasing the trajectory towards extinction for most populations. Bringing all of California's salmonid fishes back from the brink of extinction may not be possible. If there are bold changes to management policy, however, self-sustaining populations of many species may be possible due to their inherent ability to adapt to changing conditions.

Chapter 2: Floodplain Farm Fields Provide Novel Rearing Habitat for Chinook Salmon. When inundated by floodwaters, river floodplains provide rich food resources and high quality habitat for many species of wildlife. Globally, many rivers have been leveed and floodplain wetlands drained, primarily for flood control and conversion to agriculture. In the Central Valley of California, USA, where less than 5% of floodplain wetland habitats remain, a critical conservation question is how farmlands located on floodplains can be managed to provide increased habitat benefit to fish and wildlife. In this study agricultural fields located on the Sacramento River floodplain were intentionally inundated after the autumn rice harvest to mimic natural floodplain inundation patterns and determine if they could provide shallow-water rearing habitat for imperiled Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Approximately 10,000 juvenile fish were reared on two hectares for six weeks when fields were idle between fall harvest and spring planting. Growth rates of juvenile salmon (average 0.76 mm/day) reared in this surrogate floodplain habitat were among the most rapid ever documented in fresh water in California and survival was high (minimum estimated survival 57%). The apparent compatibility of crop production and fish and wildlife habitat on the same ground demonstrates the ecological and economic benefits of reconciling management of agricultural working landscapes with recovery of native species.

Chapter 3: Managed Inundation of Agricultural Floodplains Produces Record Growth in Juvenile Chinook Salmon. Floodplains are important engines of seasonal productivity in river ecosystems. However, in North America and Europe over 90% of floodplains habitats are no longer hydrologically connected to rivers, representing a significant loss of riverine ecosystem food web productivity. Expanding inundated floodplain area increases the volume of the photic zone, the uppermost portion of the water column, where sunlight is converted to carbohydrates by phytoplankton. Greater extent of shallow floodplain augments overall food availability and provides important aquatic habitats for many species. For example, invertebrates are in greater abundance on floodplains than in adjacent river channels, enhancing foraging success of fish that gain access to these seasonally inundated aquatic habitats. Like many large river valleys globally, the Central Valley of California, USA, (encompassing the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds) has lost the majority of its floodplain habitat, primarily to conversion to agriculture. However, remnant floodplains still exist and are managed as flood bypasses which function in the winter wet season as "pressure relief valves," allowing floodwaters to pass safely around vital infrastructure and urban areas. In the summer dry season, bypasses are actively farmed. Managed inundation of agricultural floodplains may offer a means of regaining some of the ecological benefits of floodplains for native fish and wildlife while continuing to support flood protection and production agriculture, thereby creating a landscape where native species and human uses can coexist. An example of such reconciliation is Yolo Bypass, a farmed floodway where two decades of managed winter inundation of post-harvest rice fields—in the agricultural off-season when farm fields are idle—creates wetland habitat for millions of waterfowl using the critically important Pacific Flyway. Recent studies have shown that managed inundation can also provide suitable floodplain foraging habitat for native fish species such as juvenile Chinook Salmon.

In order to better understand how rice farming practices affect the quality of reconciled winter rearing habitat for juvenile fall run Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), we built and experimentally manipulated nine replicated two-acre rice fields. Fields shared a common layout and water source. Each was randomly assigned to one of three post-harvest farming options generally used in the Yolo Bypass; fallow, leaving standing rice stubble, or tilling to incorporate the stubble into the soil. Each field was stocked with approximately 4,500 juvenile salmon. Weekly sampling for water quality, invertebrate abundance and diversity, and fish growth and survival was conducted for 6 weeks, after which fields were drained and fish counted, measured

Dignity is "an internal state of peace that comes with the recognition and acceptance of the value and vulnerability of all living things" (Hicks, 2011, p. 1). Dignity is a crucial element in effective governance arrangements. This study applies dignity theory, and related theories of natural resource governance and environmental communication, to understand and overcome barriers to effective governance of common pool resources in rural communities. Chapter 1 reviews relevant literature on natural resource governance and develops a theoretical framework for dignity. Chapter 2 applies dignity theory to a contentious comprehensive planning process in a small Maine town in order to understand dignity is constructed and experienced in a collective governance process. Meeting minutes and newspaper articles were coded for themes related to conflict and decision-making. Results showed parts of the planning process ignored dignity considerations. Newspaper articles reported negative or exclusionary events twice as often as positive or inclusive events. Chapter 3 outlines literature relevant to improving capacity of rural communities to adapt to climate change. It then relates a case study from rural Maine in which best practices gleaned from the literature were implemented in creating climate vulnerability assessments and interactive, web-based storm surge mapping tools for use in adaptation planning. Results suggest best practices can enable proactive adaptation without sparking debate over climate science. The survey study described in Chapter 4 examined patterns of beliefs related to climate change and its impacts among people involved in municipal government in a rural Maine county. Results indicate that one-third of respondents were doubtful or unsure about the reality of climate change, but 87% reported observing phenomena related to the warming climate. The web-based survey presented in Chapter 5 examined involvement (perceived relevance and priority) in climate change and other issues affecting rural communities, as well as perceived self- and community efficacy for addressing local problems. Results indicate climate change, per se, is not a high priority, but some climate-related issues do rank highly, suggesting areas for initiating adaptation efforts. Chapter 6 concludes by placing the results of the preceding studies within the context of the dignity framework and presents recommendations for future research.

Texas white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) breeding operations frequently release captive-reared deer in anticipation of increasing the genetic quality of their deer herd. There is little understanding of how well captive-reared deer acclimate following release. My goal was to determine survival, distribution, and fawn survival of captive-reared white-tailed deer following spring and fall releases. Thus, 223 deer (120 F, 103 M) were released in spring and fall liberations from fall 2013–spring 2015 into a 2,631-ha high-fenced pasture. Deer were released by age cohorts ranging from 1.5–≥3.5 years of age for does and 1.5–3.5 years of age for bucks. During spring 2014 (n = 18) and 2015 (n = 18) 36 does were fitted with Vaginal Implant Transmitters, which resulted in the capture of 29 fawns. In 2014, fawn survival was estimated 60%, whereas 2015 fawn survival was 21%. Adult survival was measured for 127 (70 F, 57 M) radio-collared deer for 1-year following liberation. Survival of does and bucks across all releases was 90% and 75%, respectively. A selection index was used to determine the preferred distance of 54 (29 F, 25 M) captive-reared white-tailed deer distributed following release. Does stayed close to the corresponding breeding pen (75% of locations ≤ 1 km from pens), while bucks (40% of locations ≤ 1 km from pens) of all age cohorts covered a larger expanse of area compared to does. In conclusion, captive-reared white-tailed deer were capable of surviving liberation from pens, but accommodations such as maintaining a high density of water and supplemental feed will aid in survival. Philopatric nature of does was evident in the lack of distribution following release. High density of does around the breeding pens during fawning may explain the decrease in fawn survival. Distributing release sites across the property could promote a more even distribution of does.

The current landscape of small farms is approaching a major shift as more and more small farms are poised to come onto open marketplace around urban areas. A different farming business model called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has been utilized as new way for farmers to potentially earn above average revenue. However, small farmers still feel dissatisfied with their overall farm income, but when implementing the CSA business model the producers do feel that the CSA enhances their overall income satisfaction. Three essays were developed to examine this predicament. The first essay examined possible economic pricing models that a CSA is espoused to operating under, a multiproduct club good and monopoly. Utilizing these theories and data collected from prior research, I postulate that the CSA business model is not operating at the Pareto equilibrium because producers seem worse off and the shareholders are better off. The solution to this equilibrium problem seems to be two fold. One is that the producer is acting inefficiently and needs better control of their production and distribution. Second, the true cost of the product is not being communicate as espoused by CSA business model concept. Increasing efficiencies and fully communicating all costs to the shareholders are needed so that the correct consumers’ willingness to pay can be revealed and the Pareto optimal be achieved.

The second essay constructs and illustrates a mathematical model implemented by the gardening by the square foot method and expands it so that it can be applied by the CSA farmer. Comparing this planting method to other CSA row cropping models, the needed square footage for growing the need harvest can be reduced by 80%. Although the land needed is drastically decreased using this cropping method, labor costs have not been evaluated and field studies still need to be conducted. Also, this technique now segregates the shareholders production area from other production areas on the farm. This not only allows a CSA producer to better detail their specific production cost per shareholder but also has the advantage of allowing for more exclusion required to exert more monopoly or club good power, thus possibly correcting the dissatisfaction of producers’ personal income as described in essay one.

The third essay discusses the results of a survey, e-mailed to 673 producers listed on the USDA CSA website. The results of this survey were compared to previous CSA producer surveys and shows that not much has changed in the demographics of the CSA operations across the U.S. Using survey and census data, a linear regression econometric model was developed to explain full share pricing at CSAs. Five variable coefficients were found to have large impacts on full share prices. The variable of CSA farmers participating in other marketplaces had a negative impact of $294.62. When farmers used prices of other CSAs in their pricing, share prices were $120.82 higher. The preparation of the CSA harvest for distribution was found to have a negative effect on the price with a coefficient of $232.83. The factor of the management and labor of the family and shared risk coefficients were positive $226.45 and $169.65, respectively. Finally the weeks of harvest was positive with a coefficient of $12.38. All these variables were found to be significant at the 1% or 5% significance level. However, many other non-monetary attributes espoused in the literature as reasons for a producer choosing the CSA business model, did not have any discernable impact on pricing. More research is needed to clarify the value of these non-market items.