This dissertation consists of three separate research projects. Each paper uses a different applied econometric technique to investigate problems related to air quality economics. The first chapter is a general introduction to all three studies. The second chapter explores adopting an environmentally-friendly public transportation system in Europe. The Bayesian econometric methods show that willingness to pay for a new public transportation system is primarily driven by improvements to public goods, such as air quality and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The third chapter uses the red tide-related stated experience and satellite imagery of chlorophyll-a concentration as well as field data of respiratory irritation. This chapter illustrates that ancillary scientific information can be efficiently combined with choice experimental data. The fourth chapter uses panel fixed-effect models to investigate the short-term effect of air pollution on students' cognitive performance in China. It is shown that PM2.5 has a significantly negative impact on students' exam performance. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation consists of three separate research projects. The first chapter is a general introduction to all three chapters. The second chapter assesses residents' support for environmentally-friendly public transportation (EFPT) upgrades across Europe. We develop a novel Bayesian logit model to investigate residents' willingness to pay for local EFPT upgrades. We find evidence that WTP is primarily driven by expected improvements to public goods, such as air quality and greenhouse gas abatement, as opposed to private ridership benefits. WTP distributions are strongly positive in all nations suggesting implicit public support for EFPT in Europe. The third chapter presents a unique opportunity to validate stated experiences by Florida Gulf coast residents with red tide-related air toxins with satellite imagery of chlorophyll-a concentration, as well as field data on respiratory irritation at local beaches. We find that respondents are more likely to choose our proposed new harmful algal blooms forecast system when the chlorophyll-a concentration or respiratory irritation is higher at nearby coastal locations. Moreover, we illustrate that this ancillary scientific information can be efficiently combined with choice experimental data and consider this research a first step in a broader effort to directly link scientific data on environmental conditions with nonmarket economic outcomes. The fourth chapter investigates short-term exposure of air pollution on students' cognitive performance in a high-stakes exam: China's College English Test (CET). We use student fixed effects in the panel-data model to estimate the effect of air pollution on students' test scores. Our findings indicate a statistically significant negative effect of PM2.5 on exam performance and also show PM2.5 is equally harmful to listening and reading section, and maybe even more for writing section. We also find that short-term exposure causes negative cognitive effects, suggesting that temporary preventative measures could be effective in avoiding the negative effects of PM2.5.

This research integrates the theoretical implications of risk perception, the social amplification of risk, and the role of place-specific contexts, in order to explore the various perceptions surrounding Florida red tides. Florida red tides are a naturally-occurring event, yet most scientists agree that they are increasing in frequency, duration, and severity. This has profound implication for public health, the local economy, and the biological community. While many of the negative impacts are not easily controllable at this time, some of the secondary impacts can be mitigated through individuals' responses. Unfortunately, public perceptions and consequent reactions to red tides have not been investigated. This research uses questionnaire surveys, semi-structured interviews, and newspaper content analysis to explore the various perceptions of risk surrounding red tides. Surveys and interviews were conducted along two Florida west coast beaches, Fort De Soto Park and Siesta Key. Results indicate that the underlying foundations of the social amplification of risk framework are applicable to understanding how individuals form perceptions of risk relative to red tide events. There are key differences between the spatial locations of individuals and corresponding perceptions, indicating that place-specific contexts are essential to understanding how individuals receive and interpret risk information. The results also suggest that individuals may be lacking efficient and up-to-date information about red tides and their impacts due to inconsistent public outreach. Overall, particular social and spatial factors appear to be more influential as to whether individuals amplify or attenuate the risks associated with red tides.

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This thesis contributes to the development of dinoflagellate cysts as indicators of past environmental change in the Northeastern Pacific coastal ocean, and investigates past variations in sea-surface temperature, salinity and primary productivity encoded in dinoflagellate cyst sedimentary records from the Santa Barbara Basin (SBB, southern California) and Effingham Inlet (Vancouver Island, British Columbia) over the last millennium. The dinoflagellate cyst records extracted from the SBB and Effingham Inlet predominantly laminated sediments and analysed at sub-decadal resolutions, constitute some of the most detailed records of cyst-producing dinoflagellate populations in the world. A two year-long sediment trap study from the SBB documents the seasonality in dinoflagellate cyst production for the first time on the Pacific coast of the United States. The study shows that dinoflagellate cyst data can be used as indicators of changes in sea-surface temperature and primary productivity associated with seasonal upwelling in the SBB. In particular, several dinoflagellate cyst taxa such as Brigantedinium spp. and Lingulodinium machaerophorum are identified as indicators of “active upwelling” (typically occurring in spring and early summer) and “relaxed upwelling” conditions (fall and early winter) at the site, respectively. Analysis of a dinoflagellate cyst record from the SBB spanning the last ~260 years at biannual resolution documents the response of cyst-producing dinoflagellates to instrumentally-measured warming during the 20th century, and reveals decadal scale variations in primary productivity at the site that are coherent with phases of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The cyst assemblages are dominated by cysts produced by heterotrophic dinoflagellates (in particular Brigantedinium spp.), but the turn of the 20th century is marked by an abrupt increase in concentrations of L. machaerophorum and Spiniferites ramosus, two cyst taxa of autotrophic affinity. Their increasing abundances during the 20th century are interpreted to reflect warmer conditions and possibly stronger stratification during summer and fall. The dinoflagellate cyst data suggest a warming pulse in the early 1900s and provide further evidence that persistently warmer and/or more stratified conditions were established by the late 1920s. The dinoflagellate cyst record from Effingham Inlet, spanning the last millennium, is characterized by the proportionally equal contribution of cysts produced by autotrophic and heterotrophic dinoflagellates in most samples. The cyst data indicate variations in sea-surface temperature, salinity and primary productivity that are associated with local expressions of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (from the base of the record to ~1230), the Little Ice Age (from ~1230 to ~1900) and warming during the second half of the 20th century. Both dinoflagellate cyst records reveal that since the beginning (in the SBB) and mid-20th century (in Effingham Inlet), autotrophic dinoflagellates contribute to a greater portion of the primary production in the region, whereas heterotrophic dinoflagellates, as indicators of diatom populations, decline. Variability in the dinoflagellate cyst data is coherent at both sites and suggest a reduced expression of decadal scale variability associated with the PDO during the 19th century. / Graduate / 0416 / 0427 / mbringue@uvic.ca

Dans une ferme d'élevage de bar (Dicentrarchus labrax) du sud de la mer du Nord, de fortes mortalités de bar coïncident régulièrement avec l'efflorescence phytoplanctonique printanière. Le rôle du phytoplancton dans ces mortalités a donc été étudié : un suivi saisonnier (février-novembre 2012) a permis de définir les communautés phytoplanctoniques en présence et, la diversité et la toxicité du genre Pseudo-nitzschia. Ainsi, trois espèces potentiellement toxiques ont été identifiées (P. delicatissima, P. pungens, P. fraudulenta) en association avec des concentrations élevées d'acide domoïque (jusqu'à 229 pg. mL-¹). Au cours d'une expérience d'exposition (45 jours), les effets délétères de P. delicatissima sur les juvéniles de bar ont été étudiés. Si un stress d'exposition a été observé via la surproduction de mucus par l'épithélium branchial, cela n'a pas eu d'incidence sur la condition ni la physiologie des poissons. Les mortalités seraient donc davantage liées à un effet de communautés. Cette hypothèse a été testée en utilisant le pouvoir de filtration des moules (Mytilis edulis) en amont des bassins d'élevage. Cela a permis de limiter l'ampleur de l'efflorescence phytoplanctonique printanière. En conséquence, les poissons élevés dans l'eau filtrée avaient de meilleures conditions, croissance et rapport ARN:ADN que ceux élevés dans l'eau de mer non filtrée. Ce travail souligne la nécessité de généraliser le suivi des communautés phytoplanctoniques afin d'identifier les espèces délétères et leur dynamique et de développer des outils de mitigation permettant d'atténuer l'impact des efflorescences phytoplanctoniques sur l'aquaculture. / For several years, mass mortalities of farmed sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) have coincided with phytoplankton spring blooms in the southern North Sea. Since these mortalities could not be explained by classical finfish diseases, phytoplankton noxious effects have been suspected and investigated. A seasonal survey allowed the identification of potentially deleterious phytoplankton species giving particular attention to the Pseudo-nitzschia genus. Three potentially toxic Pseudo-nitzschia species were identified (P. delicatissima, P. pungens, P. fraudulenta) and their presence was related to both domoic acid concentrations and phytoplankton communities. P. delicatissima being dominant over spring and presenting toxic and physical features compatible with fish mortality, a laboratory exposure experiment was carried out. Although gills irritations (mucus overproduction) revealed an exposure stress, no effect on sea bass condition nor on physiological performances was demonstrated. This suggest that phytoplankton community as a whole rather than single species should be involved in fish mortalities. This third hypothesis was tested using mussels (Mytilus edulis) as seawater filters upstream from the rearing tanks to dampen the phytoplankton spring bloom and estimate its impact on fish. Indeed, fish had better condition , growth and RNA:DNA ratio when reared in filtered seawater than in natural seawater. This work highlights the need to develop phytoplankton monitoring in fish farms so as to identify potentially deleterious species and understand their dynamics. It also demonstrates that new mitigation tools should be developed to prevent phytoplankton impacts on farmed fish.