Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 361-391).

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The study reviews the biophysical attributes, socio-economic usage and environmental problems of the coastal zone in England and Wales, and evaluates current resource management policies for the coastal environment. This policy assessment reveals some deficiencies in the present fragmentary system of coastal zone management. In the light of these findings, a detailed case study of the Newhaven-Eastbourne sector in East Sussex is presented. After an initial analysis of the historical interplay between physiographic change and human use requirements in the chosen area, a statement of contemporary resource use and management problems is assembled. A detailed analysis of three leading problems serves to show that effective coastal management must focus on broad 'issue areas' rather than on single problems, acknowledging the interdependency between many coastal policy issues. Using a sample three year period, a content analysis of local newspaper coverage identifies a distinct spatial concentration of resource use problems on developed coastal frontage. A social survey of local residents is employed to measure community awareness of coastal problems and the agencies responsible for their resolution. This survey shows a high degree of community self-interest in the perception of problems, and suggests a local authority focus for public concern over coastal issues. A full description of the coastal management system in the study area demonstrates that the national fragmentation of responsibilities is fully replicated at local level, although the local authorities discharge a group of key management functions. The technical and institutional requirements for more effective coastal zone managementare discussed, and the potential of a coastal resource evaluation system and selected operations research techniques are tested with reference to the study area. Finally, the prospects for a reform of existing management arrangements are examined, and three outline models for a revised system are presented.

Student Number : 0313728F - MSc research report - School of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / Human activity is characterised by the use of energy and materials to produce goods and services with wastes as by products. Population growth and development has increased the requirement of materials and energy which means more wastes. Industrial development has lead to a faster conversion of material and energy which means even more wastes. This has caused significant negative environmental impacts that are threatening natural resources and ecological balance from which the required materials are obtained. Developing countries are faced with the difficulty of balancing economic development and environmental protection. A development programme that is based on prioritising economic development at the expense of the environment is not sustainable. The main objective of this research is to investigate the potential of using industrial ecology principles to address the environmental problems of developing countries. This is done by using a case study of Matsapha Industrial Estate in Swaziland. The term industrial ecology is derived from an analogy to biological ecosystems, in which waste from one organism is food to another making the system sustainable because of the closed waste loop. Braden Allenby (1992) defines industrial ecology as: “Industrial Ecology may be defines as the means by which a state of sustainable development is approached and maintained. It consists of a systems view of human economic activity and its interrelationship with fundamental biological, chemical and physical systems with the goal of establishing and maintaining the human species at levels that can be sustained indefinitely, given continued economic, cultural and technological evolution”. Using a cross sectional data set, appropriate environmental performance indicators of the case study area were determined. Three broad categories of environmental performance indicators are used. These are: - Resource Use - Emissions - Management of Community Interactions The investigation of the opportunities of using industrial ecology principles in the case study area is done by setting up scenarios where the principles are applied. The results are then compared with established environmental performance indicators. The industrial ecology principles considered are: - Systems Approach - Industrial Symbiosis - Industrial metabolism - Integrated Approach - Diversity or Flexibility - Shared resources Of the six, five were applied. Industrial metabolism was not applied because of the scope of the research. The research indicates that the use industrial ecology principles do improve the environmental performance of the case study with some economic benefits. The research also revealed that industrial ecology improves the interaction between the three components of industrial ecosystems i.e. the industrial activity, the social and the ecological or environmental component thus establishing the foundation for sustainable development. It is also revealed that industrial ecology provides the means of moving towards closing the waste loop in a way that recognises the importance of balancing the economic objectives of industrial activities and the environmental objectives of the public sector as well as the social responsibility of both the industrial and public sector. The research recommends that industrial ecology principles be used to address the environmental problems of the case study area because of the many benefits that would be realised particularly the achievement of both economic and environmental objectives. The main recommendations of the research for the case study area are: - Identification of the Industrial Estate Manager. The recommended industrial estate manager in the case study area is the existing Matsapha Town Board. It is therefore not an individual but an institution. This institution would be the organising force that will facilitate and coordinate the interaction between the three components of the eco-industrial system. - Resource Recovery in the form of recycling be the eco-industrial theme because of the absence of an anchor industry. - Further research focused on industrial metabolism and use of various wastes as inputs for other industries

<p> Nitrogen (N) fixing trees are commonly used to promote forest restoration in disturbed areas because they can quickly recreate forest canopy structure. That structure in turn is hypothesized to attract animal seed dispersers and create enough shade to reduce undesirable species (particularly grasses). Yet N-fixers tend to increase soil N availability, which could facilitate the spread of nitrophilous invasive species. This dissertation evaluates the long-term consequences for understory community composition of establishing three N-fixing tree species (<i>Acacia koa, Sophora chrysophylla</i>, and <i>Morella faya</i>) after exotic grass-fueled fire in the seasonally dry subtropical woodland in Hawaii. To understand the restoration potential of these species, I compared discrete single-species stands of N-fixing trees in burned areas to both an intact native woodland and burned, open sites with no tree cover. Although N-fixing species are often assumed to be ecologically similar, trait variation among N-fixing trees in this system was strong enough to differentiate understory communities among stands of the three N-fixer species. To understand the mechanisms driving differences in understory composition among site types, particularly among N-fixing trees, I characterized the abiotic environment created by these species in terms of light and N availability, both of which were important drivers of understory community composition. High light and N availability were associated with greater exotic species cover and unique exotic species. Surprisingly, N availability was highest and N cycled fastest beneath the relatively slow-growing <i>S. chrysophylla </i> despite having much lower litter-N inputs than the faster-growing <i> A. koa</i> and <i>M. faya</i>. In this study, fast N-cycling was associated with high specific leaf area, high foliar N content and low foliar lignin:N. These traits are consistent with fast leaf economic spectrum traits in the general ecological literature, but this approach has not previously been applied to distinguish among N-fixing trees. Native Hawaiian dry forest understory recovery, particularly that of woody species, was limited throughout the burned area regardless of canopy cover. To determine what limits native shrub recovery, I sampled the seed bank and recorded natural seedling germination. I also planted native seedlings into the understory of all site types and either removed or left intact the invasive grass grasses present in the understory. I found that native shrubs were limited by both seed availability and competition with exotic grasses. Although outplant survival did not vary by N-fixer species identity, differences in the mechanisms by which each N-fixing species limited native seedling survival likely play a role in understory community assembly long-term. When restoration occurs in the context of secondary succession, prioritizing the creation of forest structure using N-fixing trees, particularly open-canopied fast-cycling species, such as <i>S. chrysophylla</i>, could make full community recovery more difficult by promoting rather than suppressing exotic grasses.</p><p>

The input of emerging pollutants into the natural environment is of considerable concern due to their potential implications for the health and development of humans and wildlife. Knowledge of the occurrence and removal (by sewage treatment) of these chemicals is limited and there is a need for these to be investigated if the transport and fate of these chemicals is to be better understood. To develop our understanding, reliable, accurate and precise measurements of these compounds at the very low (often sub-nanogram) concentrations at which they may be found, and may still be toxic, is crucial. However, as a result of the increasing international concern, increasing research attention has led to a large number of analytical techniques described as being suitable for the analysis of these compounds; this fragmentation and lack of collaborative focus is likely to have resulted in a lack of refinement of the techniques employed. In this research, a number of these proposed analytical and sample pre-treatment techniques have been assessed, both by internal experimentation and through inter-calibration with collaborating laboratories, to identify which techniques are best suited to further development for research in this area, and have subsequently been optimised, to examine the removal efficacy of traditional and novel sewage treatment techniques, and to monitor EDC and Pharmaceutical concentrations in several UK rivers. Monitoring of the river Ray, Swindon, UK over a period of three years, using spot-sampling and 24-hour and 7-day integrated sampling, combined with solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed mass spectrometric analyses, showed stable EDC and pharmaceutical levels, typical of comparable rivers throughout the EU, but with a significant reduction in concentrations after the installation of a granular activated charcoal plant at the Rodbourne Sewage Treatment Works (STW) of which the river Ray is a conduit. These results were in agreement with results from analyses biological assays, such as yeast estrogen screening performed independently by another laboratory.

Hundreds of thousands of organizations have chosen to boost their competitive position by demonstrating compliance to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard. In order for these standards to become credible policy options, they must ensure the capacity to build an industrial morality and to institutionalize responsibility. Relying on a series of in-depth interviews with environmental auditors, this dissertation contributes to a deeper empirical understanding of these regulatory instruments by, first, exploring how the adoption of an EMS promotes self-regulatory capacity and contributes toward effective environmental protection, and second, discussing the limitations of its accountability structure and the threats to the credibility of the standard. / This project highlights several misconceptions associated with the role of ISO 14001, and explains why both public and private sectors hold conflicting and inappropriate expectations regarding the certification process. According to the environmental auditors interviewed, the standard has helped thousands of committed organizations to effectively improve their self-regulatory capacity as well as their environmental performance. Yet, organizations with no intrinsic motivation can take advantage of the flexibility granted by the standard and the limitations of the conformity assessment process, to obtain an empty environmental certificate. ISO 14001 is a process standard that can help both 'environmental leaders and laggards', but that cannot differentiate organizations based on their level of environmental performance. Because of that, ISO 14001 is increasingly perceived as a socially unacceptable certification system. This project concludes that ISO 14001 is a double edge regulatory instrument that aims both to foster self-regulatory powers, and to act as a market signaling agent. The problem lies in the fact that these two facets of the standard are actually detrimental to each other, perpetuating a cycle that contributes to the discredit of the standard and of the auditing community. In the future, ISO 14001 needs to adjust its non-prescriptive nature and its accountability mechanism, to the character of the organizations seeking certification. In alternative, a new generation of certification programs is emerging, building upon the ISO 14001 standard with an extra layer of requirements, and with a more meaningful role for the environmental auditor.

Research is needed to ensure proper cotton N fertilization in various production practices without the detrimental effects of excess fertilization on yield and the environment. The objectives were i) to evaluate the effect of residual N on the uptake efficiency of cotton-applied N when following corn in rotation, ii) evaluate the potential for using leaf blade analysis and preset N thresholds to trigger foliar applications of N to cotton grown on clay soils and iii) evaluate the effect of preplant N on early root and shoot growth and N assimilation of cotton grown on a clay soil. Nitrogen rates of 0, 56 and 112 kg N ha^-1 as double labeled 5 atom% ¹⁵N NH₄NO₃^- were applied to cotton grown on Commerce silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, nonacid, thermic Aeric Fluvaquent) following previous corn N rates of 0, 168 and 280 kg N ha^-1. Total dry matter accumulation, total N assimilation and seedcotton yield on the upper third of the plant increased as corn- and cotton-applied N increased. Recovery of labeled N ranged from 40-53% in 1999 and 30-58% in 2000 and was highest following 0 or 168 kg N ha^-1 previous corn-applied N in both years. More plant N assimilation was soil-derived in both years following 280 kg corn-applied N ha^-1. Application of 112 kg N ha^-1 resulted in the most ¹⁵N assimilated but uptake efficiency was the lowest. Seedcotton yields of cotton grown on Sharkey clay (very fine, montmorillonitic, non-acid, thermic, Vertic Haplaquepts) using 44 or 67 kg soil-applied N ha^-1 along with foliar N as needed averaged 622 kg ha^-1 less than the recommended soil-applied rate of 134 kg N ha^-1 although N use efficiency was 34% higher. The lower yield occurred because of fewer bolls on the second and third fruiting positions of upper sympodial branches. Preplant N rate increased dry matter partitioning to shoots with potentially larger N reserves. This provided ample vegetative growth, more branching and production of fruiting sites, and provided adequate assimilate to meet this increased demand. Increased cotton yield appeared to be the result of N accumulation and not greater root growth.