Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaves 97-99.

Managers at automotive manufacturers are seeking ways to reduce energy consumption, costs, carbon emissions, and waste from production processes. Researchers and practitioners perceive energy efficiency as the least expensive and most effective way to deal with issues related to climate change, but adoption of energy efficiency measures has been slow among industrial facilities. The topic of this research study was the decision-making process for energy efficiency projects in the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry. Flaws in this decision-making processes are preventing changes that can dramatically reduce energy usage, cost, and pollution. The study was grounded in the theories of energy management, organizational learning, systems thinking, and strategic management. Data is from open-ended question interviews and questionnaires of 21 decision makers in automotive manufacturing companies in the United States about their perception and experiences regarding the decision-making process for energy efficiency projects. The data were coded to identify themes. The findings indicated that organizational leaders with responsibility over energy management should include energy management standards and frameworks such as ISO 50001, Six Sigma DMAIC, and Energy Star as guidelines for selecting energy efficiency projects. Decision makers may find these results useful in improving their decision-making processes for evaluating energy efficiency projects. This research has the potential to promote positive social change in the automotive industry by reducing energy consumption and business costs, and it could benefit communities by reducing pollution through increasing energy efficiency in the automotive manufacturing industries.

Planning a future for the landscapes we live in can be a daunting challenge for many communities in Vermont. Conservation initiatives affect the quality of life for all community members and can be difficult if not impossible to change in the event of poor planning. Through examining stakeholder relationships with land trusts I have explored the complexities of planning processes used by land trusts in Vermont for conservation initiatives The study involved one statewide land trust, the Vermont Land Trust, and two community land trusts, the Stowe Land Trust and the Duxbury Land Trust. I used qualitative methods including document review, observation and interviews to gather data on land trust planning. My study shows how stakeholder relationships shape conservation initiatives, what strategies land trusts use to aid stakeholder involvement, and finally, how stakeholder input affects conservation easements and stewardship. Interviews with multiple internal and external stakeholders for the three land trusts indicate a negative feedback loop within the organizational structure of each land trust I call "management by crisis." My case study examples suggest that stakeholders do not get involved in conservation until there is a threat to the landscape. This makes strategic planning difficult and limits a land trust's ability to link important parcels together for environmental and social benefit. I suggest that management by crisis can be replaced with positive feedback using Community Based Participatory Research. This approach relies on communities initiating projects and being an integral part of the planning process from the beginning of a conservation initiative. By involving stakeholders from the conception of a conservation project, a land trust can better evaluate community needs in relation to social and environmental wellbeing.

We are witnessing a time of unprecedented human impact on the natural environment. Coral reefs, one of the most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems, are at the forefront of enduring these human impacts. Despite widespread recognition of coral reef degradation, counter measures have not reached a scale to offset the threat. The magnitude of this and other environmental issues call for a deeper understanding of the role the private sector can play in sustainable development. In response to environmental pressures and the shortcomings of global-scale governance, private sustainability governance initiatives have developed. In the last decade, these initiatives have flourished, resulting in a diversity of formats including third-party certification, consumer product transparency systems, and industry roundtables. In many industries, these programs compete to define the transformation and evolution of sustainability governance in an industry. This dissertation draws on a case study of the marine cultured-pearl industry to highlight the early adoption dynamics of private sustainability governance initiatives. The marine cultured-pearl industry provides an illuminating case study for the adoption of private governance, based on the potential strength of the positive environmental impact and farm presence in ecologically vulnerable coral reef areas. Yet despite these strengths, no formal sustainability initiatives have developed. This research project explores the early adoption of private governance initiatives through a mixed-methodological, case-study approach. The first study, a quantitative survey of US jewelry consumers, examines the impacts of environmental messages on perceptions of luxury value. The second study assesses the effect of networked legitimacy on producer perceptions in private governance initiatives. The final study investigates the impact of value chain structure on competing private governance initiatives. The research results provide evidence of a strong business case for the development of industry-wide sustainability initiatives and highlights distinctions between the rival private governance initiatives. The US jewelry consumer research shows that consumer messages featuring sustainability standards to protect coral reefs outperform third-party certification on luxury attributes. The marine cultured-pearl producer research highlights the legitimacy advantages of consumer product transparency when compared to third-party certifications. The value chain research indicates that, when compared to third-party certifications, consumer product transparency systems have characteristics that provide an advantage in addressing producer upgrading opportunities. Results from each of the three studies highlight the potential advantages of consumer product transparency systems over third-party certification initiatives in this and other settings. These results helped inform participatory action research to assess alternative pathways for private sustainability governance.

Transportation infrastructure is a major source of stormwater runoff that can alter hydrology and contribute significant loading of nutrients, sediment, and other pollutants to surface waters. These increased loads can contribute to impairment of streams in developed areas and ultimately to Lake Champlain. In this study we selected six watersheds that represent a range of road types (gravel and paved) and road densities (rural, suburban, and urban) present in Chittenden County, one of the most developed areas in Vermont. The location and density of road networks were characterized and quantified for each watershed using GIS analysis. Monitoring stations in each watershed were constructed and instrumented to measure discharge and water quality parameters continuously from spring through early winter. Storm event composite samples and monthly water chemistry grab samples were collected and analyzed for total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chloride, and total suspended sediments. Results from this study show that road type and road density are closely linked with the level of impairment in each watershed. Total phosphorus and total nitrogen from storm event composite samples and monthly grab samples significantly increased along a gradient of increasing road network density. Chloride concentrations increased several orders of magnitude along this same gradient. With the exception of Alder Brook where total suspended sediment (TSS) concentrations tended to be high, there were no significant differences in TSS concentrations between rural and developed watersheds. The elevated storm event TSS concentrations in the rural streams suggest that the unpaved roads in the rural watersheds contribute to stormwater runoff loads and that sediment control, at least in the developed watersheds, might be fairly effective. The overall results from this study show that local roads are a significant source of impairment for streams in the Chittenden County area. Most of these roads are municipal roads that are not under management of the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Thus, local actions will be necessary to reduce runoff and pollutant loading from these roads.

Landscape change affects the distribution of wildlife and represents a conservation concern, especially in Asia, which is experiencing rapid development. In Mongolia, mining, livestock grazing, infrastructure development and climate change represent major drivers of change that will impact habitats and few tools exist to predict how wildlife will respond. I examined the impacts of landscape change on the corsac fox (Vulpes corsac) in a steppe region of Mongolia. The corsac fox occurs widely throughout northern Asia, but has experienced declines in many regions and remains one the least studied canids. I addressed two questions: 1) how do common features of a landscape, such as habitats, topography, herder camps, and roads, shape the distribution of the species? and 2) how will changes in those features affect distribution in the future? I collected locations of foxes from radio-collared animals, scat surveys, and opportunistic sightings in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, then used maximum likelihood methods and model selection techniques to develop a model that predicts occupancy probability. I then applied the model to simulations of landscape change. I collected 1,965 locations and examined 19 candidate models. The model with the most support indicated that occupancy is best described by the additive combination of shrublands, open plains, tall grasslands, and rocky habitat. Models with other covariates (camps, roads, and ruggedness) had little support. A Receiver-Operator-Characteristic plot of model performance had an Area Under the Curve of 77%, indicating that the model predicted occupancy better than expected by chance. Average occupancy across the reserve was 22% under current conditions. Incremental reductions in shrubland, open plains, and tall vegetation resulted in occupancy declines with average occupancy being 7%, 13%, and 14%, respectively, when these habitats were completely absent. The loss of all three habitats due to the desertification of the landscape through climate change resulted in an average occupancy of 7%. The results provide the first model of corsac fox occupancy, which can be used to quantitatively examine distribution and impacts of change in other parts of the species' range. In Ikh Nart, results suggest that climate change poses the greatest threat to the species as it is expected to reduce high quality habitats and confine corsac foxes to areas with high competition from red foxes.

Agricultural landscapes provide our society with many benefits. While food production is the primary role of these landscapes, sociocultural and ecological benefits are also provided. However, the full scope of benefits that we obtain from agricultural landscapes are not always taken into account, and with the intensification of agricultural activities, more complex multifunctional landscapes are converted into simpler and less-functional landscapes. I used a heterogeneous agricultural landscape, the Champlain Valley of Vermont, as a case study to examine the interactions between landscape structure and the provision of landscape functions and services. I analyzed sociocultural and production functions indices obtained via standardized landowner surveys, and ecological function indices collected in the field for 51 plots. Plots were clustered into landscape composition categories (forest, mixed and agriculture), and configuration categories (simple and complex). I identified a tradeoff between the production and ecological function in agricultural landscapes. When a rural landscape was managed for intensive agricultural production, ecological benefits decreased. Landscapes with diversified land use/land cover and heterogeneously distributed elements returned the greatest number of benefits. Agricultural areas that comprise between 30 and 45% of the landscape can prevent the loss of ecological benefits while retaining high production. I evaluated the importance of treed habitats in agricultural landscapes in maintaining biodiversity. I related landscape metrics to ecological function indices obtained from fine-grained land use/land cover maps. Metrics obtained from fine-grained maps more accurately predicted the abundance of edge tolerant birds than those obtained from coarse grained maps. I also explored the importance of small treed landscape elements for common breeding birds and evaluated the convenience of monitoring nests comparing temperature loggers to direct observations. More heterogeneous landscapes, rich in small treed elements, supported a greater density of nests. Nests located on small treed elements in agricultural landscapes were as successful as nests located in large landscape elements. These analyses deepen our knowledge about the relationship between landscape structure and function, facilitating the evaluation of the functionality of heterogeneous agricultural landscapes.

Quantifying effectiveness of soil management practices on surface and subsurface water quality at the field scale is becoming increasingly important in the Lake Champlain Basin and other agricultural watersheds. During 2012 and 2013, field plots (22.9 x 45.7 m) were established at the Lake Alice Wildlife Area in Chazy, NY to begin a long-term water quality monitoring study. Plots were established in a cool season grass field (1 ha) leased and managed by the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY. The soil type transitions from an excessively drained outwash soil on the upslope to a very poorly drained silty clay series at the toeslope. Tile drainage lines were installed in each plot and drained to concrete manholes at the corner of each plot where water was sampled and measured. Plots were randomly assigned to a tile-drained (TD) or naturally-drained treatment (UD). Tile outlets were plugged in the UD treatment to enable natural drainage conditions. Surface runoff water was collected at the lower boundary of each plot by shallow PVC-lined trenches that outlet to the manholes. Continuous water flow from each hydrologic pathway was measured in 5-gallon buckets with v-notch weirs and pressure transducers. Total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus SRP), unreactive phosphorus (UP) and sediment (TSS) loads were estimated by multiplying the mean hourly runoff volume by the respective sample concentration for each hydrologic pathway. Data were collected April 21, 2014 through June 30, 2015. Loading rates were unable to be calculated from February 22, 2015 through April 9, 2015 due to freeze/thaw cycles preventing accurate water flow data collection. Event-based loading for TP, SRP, UP, TSS, and water yield were calculated in addition to cumulative losses over the study duration. No significant differences in cumulative TP exports were found between treatments (UD = 230.9 g ha-1; TD = 233.9 g ha-1). Approximately 55% more SRP and 158% more TSS was exported by UD (130.8 g ha-1; 168.8 kg ha-1) than TD (84.2 g ha-1; 65.5 kg ha-1). Unreactive P exports from TD (149.7 g ha-1) were 50% greater than UD (100.1 g ha-1). Two runoff events dominated the treatment response. An intense rain storm on May 16, 2014 generated the greatest sediment losses in both treatments during an individual event, contributing 65 and 67% of the cumulative losses from TD and UD, respectively. This event was also responsible for 40% of UP losses from TD. A 3 d rain/snowmelt event beginning on December 24, 2014 resulted in 61 and 84% of all SRP losses for TD and UD, respectively. The results of this study indicate that tile drainage may not have a negative impact on water quality relative to a naturally drained field. However, additional years of data are needed to develop more robust conclusions as different management strategies and weather conditions could result in different outcomes.

Erosion, a surface process, can be quantified over long-term (assumed to be the natural erosion rate of the landscape) and contemporary (modern) timeframes. My research used the rare cosmogenic isotope 10Be in sand and cobbles collected from rivers in southeastern Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio de Janeiro states) and southwestern China (Yunnan province) to quantify long-term, background rates of erosion and sediment supply. These measurements will also increase number of such measurements in tropical and subtropical climates. I assessed the relationship between landscape parameters (topographic and climatic) and background erosion rates in order to understand factors related to erosion. My data from so far unsampled states in Brazil shows that background erosion rates range between 13 and 90 m/Myr. I found that mean basin slope (R2=0.73) and mean annual precipitation (R2=0.57) are strongly correlated to erosion rates. Steep, escarpment-draining basins in Brazil erode faster than lower gradient basins draining the highlands. Comparing the isotopic concentration of river sand and cobbles, my data show that these grain sizes are sourced from different parts of the landscape. I compiled all published Brazilian cosmogenic 10Be data, and compared them to erosion rates from similar tectonic settings. While the erosion rates in Brazil are relatively low, they are similar to those in southeastern North America, but faster than rates measured on escarpments in southern Africa. In China, I tested the human effects on denudation by comparing long-term erosion rates derived from in-situ 10Be concentration and the modern sediment yield of 22 watersheds in Yunnan. Background erosion rates range between 17 and 386 m/Myr; long term sediment yields based on these erosion rates range from 79 to 893 tons km-2 yr-1. Modern sediment yields range from 90 to 2,879 tons km-2 yr-1 (data from Schmidt et al., 2011). In most watersheds, the modern sediment yield is 2-3X higher than long-term rates, likely the effect of a long history of land use in Yunnan. I found a statistically significant, positive relationship between erosion rates and both area (R2 = 0.60) and mean basin slope (R2 = 0.42). There is a negative but strong relationship between erosion rates and precipitation in my dataset (R2 = 0.60). I sampled some places where 10Be samples had been collected before to test the methodological assumption of time-invariant 10Be concentration. Concentrations generally agree on samples taken 6 months apart and in samples from the active channel and from floodplains, but not in samples collected a decade and centuries apart.

National parks have famously been called "America's best idea" and preserve the nation's natural and cultural resources for the enjoyment of all. One of the current working priorities of the National Park Service (NPS) is enhancing the relevancy and engagement of the national parks with diverse audiences, especially for underserved groups. To address this priority, transportation is needed to provide access to national parks, but transportation may not be equally accessible to all groups in society. Understanding the effects of transportation on visitation to the national parks by racial/ethnic groups is essential for the NPS to improve the accessibility of transportation systems and encourage greater visitation by racial/ethnic minority groups. Moreover, transportation can be more than a means of access, it can also be a form of recreation itself, providing opportunities for visitors to experience and appreciate parks and related areas. But, differences in desirability of transportation recreation opportunities across recreation settings and among racial/ethnic groups are rarely addressed. The intent of this dissertation is three-fold: 1) identify transportation related barriers impacting visitation to national parks by racial/ethnic groups, and the effects of transportation on the visiting national parks, 2) identify the differences in indicators of the transportation recreation opportunity spectrum among racial/ethnic visitors and across recreation settings, 3) measure spatial accessibility of national parks and the effects of spatial accessibility and other factors on visitation to national parks among racial/ethnic groups. The first phase of research is designed to identify barriers to visiting national parks that are related to marginality, subculture, and discrimination hypotheses, and examine the effects of transportation incentives on visitation among racial/ethnic groups. Study results found that racial/ethnic minority groups visited national parks less frequently than Whites. Hispanics were more likely to perceive transportation-related barriers to visiting national parks than Whites. Moreover, providing transportation incentives can increase visitation by Hispanics significantly. The second phase of research developed indicators for a transportation recreation opportunity spectrum (T-ROS), and examined the differences in desirability for T-ROS indicators among alternative transportation modes, different types of recreation settings, and different racial/ethnic groups. Study results identified the important indicators for transportation service in different types of recreation areas, which can help inform transportation planning and management for the NPS. The final phase of research examined the spatial accessibility of national parks from different geographic locations by incorporating geospatial analytics, assessed the spatial accessibility of different types of national parks among racial/ethnic groups, and estimated the effects of spatial accessibility on visitation to national parks. Results showed that Hispanics and Blacks had higher accessibility to national parks than Whites within short distance radii, however, Blacks and Hispanics were more likely to perceive distance as a barrier to visiting national parks than Whites. Study results can help the NPS understand the spatial structure of national parks, provide visual information for visitors about proximate national parks and recreation opportunities, and identified effective management strategies for enhancing visitation of racial/ethnic minority groups from different geographic areas.