Long-term perspectives on the evolution of river deltas have provided useful knowledge capable of responding to pending questions related to the ongoing climate and environmental changes. Increasing utilization pressure on delta environments has necessitated increased attention to protect the socio-economic and ecological values. As a result, multiple local initiatives have been designed, aimed at mitigating environmental deterioration and implementing adaptive measures, but many such initiatives have shown limited success. This thesis uses a case study of Save River delta in Mozambique to explore the relation between geomorphological evolution and socio-ecological system dynamics in delta environments. In addition, key environmental variables that concern the society today are highlighted and discussed in a management perspective. The results of the study show the development of Save River delta from the mid-Holocene to the present. The geomorphological settings of the delta suggest a faulted coastline over which subsequent deposition of fluvial sediments has formed a protruding delta front. Between c. 3000 and 1300 years ago, fine-grained sediments accumulated on top of the delta-front in the proximal part of the delta. This type of material was deposited under intertidal conditions and supported the formation of mangrove habitat. The geographical distribution of the mangrove deposit was driven by successive stages of back-barrier swamp formation and sea-level change as the delta evolved. From c. 1300 years ago, the river delta started to receive fluvial sediments from pulses of floods forming an alluvial floodplain. These sediments have accumulated mainly on the fine-grained mangrove wetland deposit. All the geomorphological features have evolved in a shoreward-shifting pattern over time. Centennial to decadal changes observed in the delta have followed a predictable geomorphological pattern, which is also part of the millennial evolution. The mangrove system, the base for the socio-economic system, is consequently strongly affected by the geomorphological development of the area. An increasing sensitivity of socio-ecological systems to environmental stressors, e.g. floods, cyclones and erosion, has motivated multiple initiatives to work towards a sustainable management of delta environments. This thesis highlights the need for interplay between geomorphology and ecology, considering both long- and short-term dynamics of delta environments. Hitherto, management initiatives have been concentrated on fragmented interventions of controlling water flow, which have disrupted the natural dynamics by obstructing the sedimentation-erosion cycle. To change this trend, coastal planners need to consider the significance of natural processes, e.g. cyclones, floods, erosion and accretion, for the long-term ecological and social sustainability of delta environments. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2. Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

This thesis asks what effects concepts of resilience may have on political action and the ongoing ecological crises we see developing throughout the world. Specifically, it addresses disruptions in wild salmon migration, spawning, and fisheries brought about by industrial aquaculture in the so-called Broughton Archipelago in unceded Kwakwaka’wakw territories on the north east coast of Vancouver Island. These disruptions will be looked at as examples of resilience thinking in action. Through this example this thesis will examine the relationship between manifestations of resilience thinking and the emergence of metabolic rifts between nature and society that bring with them ecological crises. This thesis will begin by tracing the genealogy of resilience thinking from its origins in systems ecology to its depoliticizing formation in political-economic development. Through this it will show where resilience has been split from its origins as a socio-ecological concept, into purely social and ecological formations that interact in a zero-sum relationship. As a depoliticizing force, resilience works through the aforementioned cleavage to atomize individuals and distance them from their connections to socio-ecological communities, favouring instead marketized relations that reinforce capitalism, colonialism, and the state form. Following this, this thesis will argue that this cleavage and resilience thinking more broadly also generate sites of metabolic rifts within and between nature and society and are factors in their reproduction and geographic spread. Resilience however need not be a fully depoliticizing force. Taking up from the work of Roberto Esposito on relational community and immunization, this thesis ends with an exploration of how resilience thinking can return to its socio-ecological roots and be used in emancipatory, decolonial, and ecologically sound ways that will help in the reconstituting of the metabolic cycles within and between nature and society disrupted by rifts. Understanding how resilience thinking plays a role in depoliticization and the generation and reproduction of metabolic rifts makes space for turning this mentality on its head. Reconstructing a more holistic socio-ecological form of resilience helps to provide the necessary political tools to challenge underlying structures of domination and exploitation that put our socio-ecosystems at risk. / Graduate

The Watershed Development Programme has gained growing support among development policy planners since the 1980s in India. This programme is designed to facilitate sustainable rural development by building irrigation capacity of the, otherwise, rainfed agricultural regions. Irrigation capacity is built via the adoption of various soil and water conservation measures, which then facilitate recharge of groundwater tables within an identified micro-watershed (typically consisting of one or two village communities). The recharged groundwater table becomes the natural resource base from which farming households draw water for irrigation by investing in wells or other such assets. The management of micro-watersheds are based on the principles of community based natural resource management. However, the irrigation access (wells) to this common pool resource of groundwater is privately and individually owned which deters effective monitoring of resource use through collective action. This thesis is built on Ostrom's sustainability of socio-ecological systems (SES) framework and uses a three-essay format. Each essay uses econometric techniques in an attempt to identify particular factors that enable self-organizing ability of communities dependent on groundwater-based irrigation system for generating better livelihoods. The fieldwork was conducted in three villages belonging to the semi-arid districts of Ahmednagar and Jalna in the state of Maharashtra. Quantitative and some qualitative data was collected from nearly 670 households through household surveys. The thesis is organised as three core essays and three supporting chapters. Chapter 1 provides a background to WDP in India and sets the context for the research questions. Chapter 2 presents the literature survey and provides the rationale for choosing SES framework over sustainable livelihoods. It also discusses the broader research methodology. At the end, chapter 3 includes a consolidation of inferences drawn from each of the three essays, and identifies their potential applications and future research direction. The three essays address the research questions raised in this thesis. The first essay analyses the role that knowledge of the resource system (micro-watershed) among resource users, plays in modifying individual farmer's irrigation demand (modelled as crop choice). Two watershed communities located on either side of the ridge line of the watershed are compared. The second essay analyses the role that social capital plays in encouraging self-organization in the community. Social capital is modelled as social betweenness scores calculated by applying Social Network Analysis. A comparison between two villages located in two districts belonging to two different rainfall zones is made. The third essay conceptualizes 'water stack' (collection of irrigation access points) that a farming household owns. The relation between the water stack of the households and the resource use norms in the community is analysed. A comparative analysis between all the three villages is made in this essay. Knowledge of the resource system, social capital and continued support from the agricultural extension agency were found to encourage self-organization and enforcement of resource use norms, resulting in good health of the micro-watershed system.

There is a critical need for more studies to identify socio-ecological drivers that affect conservation and management of fire adapted ecosystems, yet studies that identify such variables and explore their interaction in specific systems are not only scarce but limited to only a few systems. Although information on the socio-ecological effects of prescribed fire application exists, there is no integrative framework that simultaneously considers the interplay between social and ecological factors affecting the use of prescribed fires. Fire suppression, together with other human and natural disturbances in grassland systems that are adapted to episodic fire, are the major factors that have contributed to the recruitment of woody species into grasslands worldwide. Even though the ecology of restoring these fire prone systems back to a grassland state is becoming clearer, the major hurdle to reintroducing historic fire at a landscape scale is its social acceptability. To address these deficiencies, I studied the socio-ecological factors influencing the use of prescribed fire in Texas, USA and Chihuahua, Mexico using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine how social and ecological factors affect ecosystem conservation and management of semi-arid grassland systems. For the Texas case study I used quantitative survey data analyzed using logistic regression models and structural equation models. For the Mexico case study I used qualitative interviews gathered using a snowball network sampling approach and coded them based on the analytic themes of land cover change, institutional failure, market drivers, and population dynamics. Results from the Texas case study suggest that risk taking orientation and especially, perceived support from others when implementing prescribed burns, play important roles in determining attitudes towards the use of high-intensity prescribed fires, which are sometimes needed to restore ecosystems. Results from the Texas case study also highlight how membership in Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) influence land manager decisions regarding the use of prescribed fire by reducing concerns over lack of skills, knowledge and resources. Results emphasize the potential for PBAs to reduce risk concerns regarding the application of prescribed fire and are relevant to management of brush encroached areas. Through PBAs, effective landscape-scale solutions to the brush encroachment problem can be achieved in Texas. Results from the Mexico case study show how fire stopped effectively being a driving factor on this system decades ago. Socio-political and ecological changes at the national, and international level produced changes in land use disrupting historical fire patterns and contributing to the ecological deterioration of the area. Droughts combined with poor management practices have depleted the fuel needed to carry a fire. Landowners also face safety and legal concerns but in most cases, even if a landowner decided to implement a prescribed burn, an ecological threshold has been crossed and current fine fuel loads (grass) are insufficient to carry a fire that is sufficiently intense to reduce brush cover and restore grassland and savanna ecosystems. Based on my findings I can conclude that ecologically sound adaptive management and social capital are fundamental components of the livelihoods of landowners and land managers in both case studies. Work and investment that is focused on strengthening this social capital will have the most profound effects in maintaining the integrity of grassland systems at a landscape scale.

abstract: ABSTRACT Understanding complex and adaptive socio-ecological systems (SES) to deal with our most challenging and overlapping problems such as global climate change, biodiversity loss, and rising consumption rates requires sustainability theory that is commensurate with these problems’ size and complexity. The received United Nations-based sustainability framework aims to achieve a balance among three pillars—economics, environment, and social equity—for today and for future generations. Yet, despite applying this sustainability framework for over a quarter of a century, the Earth is less sustainable, not more. Theoretical trade-offs between environmental conservation and economic growth have often reinforced business-as-usual practices and educational paradigms, and emphasized economic values over ecological limits. How can the principles of foundational naturalists help clarify, enhance, and advance sustainability discourse? I propose that the principles of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), Rachel Carson (1907-1964), and Edward O. Wilson (1927-), express a worldview that captures and integrates a range and depth of historical, normative, economic, ecological, scientific, and social values for a viable and applicable discourse of sustainability. This analytical study relies on (i.) textual analysis and interpretation of four key naturalists and humanists, (ii.) analysis of secondary sources that illuminate their proto- ecological and sustainability principles, and (iii.) interviews with leading sustainability scholars. Because these thinkers integrate science and ethics, natural history and philosophy, ecology and society, and environmental and economic problems within a holistic worldview, I call them systems naturalists. Their transdisciplinary worldview of one holistic system, with economics subordinated to environmental limits, links important values from the natural sciences and the humanities. The writings and examples of systems naturalists provide more robust historical sustainability principles that can help solve our most challenging SES problems by synthesizing a broad range of knowledge in the sciences, social sciences, and the humanities to inform sustainability paradigm, practices, and pedagogy. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2015

abstract: Avian influenzas are zoonoses, or pathogens borne by wildlife and livestock that can also infect people. In recent decades, and especially since the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in 1996, these diseases have become a significant threat to animal and public health across the world. HPAI H5N1 has caused severe damage to poultry populations, killing, or prompting the culling of, millions of birds in Asia, Africa, and Europe. It has also infected hundreds of people, with a mortality rate of approximately 50%. This dissertation focuses on the ecological and socioeconomic drivers of avian influenza risk, particularly in China, the most populous country to be infected. Among the most significant ecological risk factors are landscapes that serve as “mixing zones” for wild waterfowl and poultry, such as rice paddy, and nearby lakes and wetlands that are important breeding and wintering habitats for wild birds. Poultry outbreaks often involve cross infections between wild and domesticated birds. At the international level, trade in live poultry can spread the disease, especially if the imports are from countries not party to trade agreements with well-developed biosecurity standards. However, these risks can be mitigated in a number of ways. Protected habitats, such as Ramsar wetlands, can segregate wild bird and poultry populations, thereby lowering the chance of interspecies transmission. The industrialization of poultry production, while not without ethical and public health problems, can also be risk-reducing by causing wild-domestic segregation and allowing for the more efficient application of surveillance, vaccination, and other biosecurity measures. Disease surveillance is effective at preventing the spread of avian influenza, including across international borders. Economic modernization in general, as reflected in rising per-capita GDP, appears to mitigate avian influenza risks at both the national and sub-national levels. Poultry vaccination has been effective in many cases, but is an incomplete solution because of the practical difficulties of sustained and widespread implementation. The other popular approach to avian influenza control is culling, which can be highly expensive and raise ethical concerns about large-scale animal slaughter. Therefore, it is more economically efficient, and may even be more ethical, to target the socio-ecological drivers of avian influenza risks, including by implementing the policies discussed here. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2018

Submitted by KEILA CÁSSIA SANTOS ARAÚJO null (keilacaraujo@hotmail.com) on 2016-06-01T18:21:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 KEILA_TESE_DEFINITIVA_PDF.pdf: 42830949 bytes, checksum: 2119cf312f3fac7a768974d4a27c0220 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-06-02T16:19:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 araujo_kcs_dr_rcla.pdf: 42841455 bytes, checksum: a3909dde61766e2dcbd3e6588af62c6f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T16:19:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 araujo_kcs_dr_rcla.pdf: 42841455 bytes, checksum: a3909dde61766e2dcbd3e6588af62c6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-15 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em assentamentos rurais da reforma agrária paulista, localizados no município de Teodoro Sampaio, na porção oeste do estado de São Paulo, região denominada Pontal do Paranapanema. Essa região possui características peculiares, especialmente, devido ao histórico de devastação de florestas, grilagem, concentração de terras e luta de movimentos sociais do campo. Atualmente, a região conta com poucos fragmentos florestais, o pouco que restou da Grande Reserva do Pontal, que se constituem no Parque Estadual Morro do Diabo, extensas áreas de monocultura da agroindústria canavieira e com muitos assentamentos rurais. Partindo dessa realidade, objetivou-se compreender e analisar a multifuncionalidade da paisagem rural, nas áreas dos assentamentos rurais, no entorno da unidade de conservação Parque Estadual Morro do Diabo e da usina de cana Alcídia. Para a coleta de dados, foram utilizadas abordagens quantitativas e qualitativas, utilizando-se da aplicação de questionários semiestruturados e de entrevistas, dentre outras ferramentas e técnicas metodológicas. Os questionários foram formados por blocos fechados, com questões relacionadas às expressões da multifuncionalidade concernentes à preservação dos recursos naturais e da paisagem rural, à reprodução socioeconômica das famílias, à segurança alimentar e à manutenção do tecido social. Buscou-se compreender, por meio de entrevistas, as percepções e interpretações dos assentados e de outros entrevistados do IPÊ e ITESP a respeito das transformações e impactos na paisagem ao longo de suas vivências, conhecimento e utilização de práticas agrícolas sustentáveis no local, assistência técnica e extensão rural, as relações dos assentados com a unidade de conservação e a usina de cana-de-açúcar, o entendimento sobre as funções e serviços ecossistêmicos provenientes do PEMD, modos de valoração da paisagem, mudanças e permanências no local e ainda questões referentes ao processo de luta pela conquista da terra. Os resultados foram apresentados em gráficos, seguidos das falas dos agricultores e demais entrevistados com os relatos sobre a percepção destes relacionados à paisagem rural. Verificou-se que os assentamentos rurais abrangem as quatro expressões da multifuncionalidade, no tocante à preservação dos recursos naturais, segurança alimentar, reprodução socioeconômica e manutenção do tecido social. No entanto, essas expressões se apresentaram de maneira diferenciada nas áreas avaliadas, sendo mais evidentes e efetivas no entorno do Parque Estadual Morro do Diabo. / The research was conducted in rural settlements of São Paulo agrarian reform, in the municipality of Teodoro Sampaio, in the western portion of the state of São Paulo, Pontal do Paranapanema region called. This region has unique characteristics, especially due to the historical devastation of forests, land grabbing, land concentration and struggle of social movements. Currently, the region has few forest fragments, what little was left of the Grande Reserva do Pontal, which constitute State Park Morro do Diabo, large areas of monoculture of sugar cane industry and many rural settlements. Based on this reality, the objective was to understand and analyze the multifunctionality of the countryside in the areas of rural settlements in the vicinity of the protected area Morro do Diabo State Park and usine of cane Alcídia. To collect data quantitative and qualitative approaches were used, using the application of semi-structured questionnaires and interviews, among other technical research and methodological techniques. Questionnaires were formed by closed blocks with issues related to expressions of multifunctionality concerning the conservation of natural resources and the countryside, socioeconomic reproduction of families, food security and maintaining the social fabric. He sought to understand through interviews perceptions and interpretations of the settlers and others interviewed the IPE and ITESP, about the changes and impacts on the landscape along their experiences, knowledge and use of sustainable agricultural practices in place, technical assistance and rural extension the relations of the settlers to the conservation unit and the sugar cane plant, the understanding of the ecosystem functions and services from PEMD, valuation modes of landscape changes and stays in place and still issues about the process of struggle for land. The results were presented in graphs, followed by speeches of farmers and other respondents to the reports on the perception of these related to the countryside. It was found that the rural settlements cover the four expressions of multifunctionality, concerning the preservation of natural resources, food security, socio-economic reproduction and maintenance of the social fabric. However, these expressions are presented differently in the evaluated areas, being more evident and effective in the vicinity of Morro do Diabo State Park.

abstract: Land transformation under conditions of rapid urbanization has significantly altered the structure and functioning of Earth's systems. Land fragmentation, a characteristic of land transformation, is recognized as a primary driving force in the loss of biological diversity worldwide. However, little is known about its implications in complex urban settings where interaction with social dynamics is intense. This research asks: How do patterns of land cover and land fragmentation vary over time and space, and what are the socio-ecological drivers and consequences of land transformation in a rapidly growing city? Using Metropolitan Phoenix as a case study, the research links pattern and process relationships between land cover, land fragmentation, and socio-ecological systems in the region. It examines population growth, water provision and institutions as major drivers of land transformation, and the changes in bird biodiversity that result from land transformation. How to manage socio-ecological systems is one of the biggest challenges of moving towards sustainability. This research project provides a deeper understanding of how land transformation affects socio-ecological dynamics in an urban setting. It uses a series of indices to evaluate land cover and fragmentation patterns over the past twenty years, including land patch numbers, contagion, shapes, and diversities. It then generates empirical evidence on the linkages between land cover patterns and ecosystem properties by exploring the drivers and impacts of land cover change. An interdisciplinary approach that integrates social, ecological, and spatial analysis is applied in this research. Findings of the research provide a documented dataset that can help researchers study the relationship between human activities and biotic processes in an urban setting, and contribute to sustainable urban development. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Sustainability 2013

Global change is substantially led by greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (Ruddiman, 2013). In Brazil, the largest emission rates come from the forestry &amp; land-use change sector, which historically accounts for more than half of Brazil’s emissions (SEEG, 2016a). Within the Legal Amazon, deforestation is the main driver of land-use change (TerraClass, 2014). Furthermore, Amazon-based settlements, established by Brazil’s Land Reform, play an important role in this process, as 28.6% of all Amazon deforestation stemmed from this type of land property in 2016 alone (Azevedo et al, 2016). Even though public policies aim at curbing this source of land-clearing, they often fail to achieve this goal. Hence, this thesis will analyse why policies do not efficiently prevent clear-cutting in Amazon-based settlements. This analysis is done through a multilevel comparison between political priorities and local perceptions on deforestation. The inquiry relies on text analysis to assess the Land Reform as a land-use policy and the Forest Code as a deforestation policy. It further summarizes the impressions of local family farmers collected in the fieldwork. Then it compares both results to understand why policies fail to fully curb deforestation. The main conclusion is that policies fail because they are erratic, they do not sufficiently take into account the social aspects of deforestation and they do not promote resilience in local communities. The geographical scope of the case-study is western Pará state, in which 30.8% of all deforestation occur in Amazon-based settlements (Ibidem). It is in Pará where the case-study takes place, namely the PAS Project carried out by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute. The main contribution of this thesis is to adopt a socio-ecological systems approach to compare policy priorities to local case-study results and to emphasize the interlinkages between income-generation and land-clearing.

This research analyses attitudes to urban green spaces within the framework of compact city development models, using Uppsala as a case study and investigating the tension between growth and preservation. Compact city literature strongly promotes the importance of green space within urban environments for both social and ecological wellbeing and highlights what becomes an increasing requirement for this as populations within urban areas are densified, which is a concomitant goal of compact city models. Yet in Uppsala, a contradiction appears whereby the municipality has firmly embraced a compact city model of development yet urban green areas are still being developed. This thesis first provides an environmental history of development and planning within Uppsala, highlighting the socio-ecological forces that co-create urban environments. An examination of the comprehensive planning policy documents over the last thirty years is performed which aligns the plans of Uppsala Municipality with the key features of the compact city model. Interviews were also conducted with three relevant actors from the municipality and the discourse was analysed. A combined analysis of the plans and the interviews results in an understanding and interpretation of the approach of the municipality to urban green spaces along with the creation of narratives around development and planning that look to explain Uppsala’s decisions around urban green spaces. The conclusions are that growth appears to take precedence over preservation of green space, both discursively and practically, and that the balance is towards the socio-economic in defining development. This is discussed in relation to ideas of hegemony, neoliberalism, andsustainable development.