Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosopy (PhD) / An environmental history approach is used in this thesis as a foundation for the analysis of the social and environmental changes that have occurred from the ancient past to the present within the Paterson Valley in New South Wales, Australia. The study examines the biophysical basis of the valley’s ecological processes and then describes the influence of the activities of Aboriginal peoples and subsequent European colonisation on the landscape. The study makes use of the various methodologies within social and ecological systems to assist with the analysis. It demonstrates the value of concepts such as complex adaptive systems, the adaptive cycle, panarchy and ecosystem health as ways of conceptualising complex transdisciplinary issues to reach conclusions based on temporal and spatial evidence. The complex relationships that the Aboriginal peoples had with the environment are compared with the various and rapid phases of colonial influences and processes. The social dimension of the changes over time is examined particularly with respect to the Indigenous and European institutions and infrastructure that influence the landscape. A significant issue identified in the study was the changing influence of Western institutions on the ecosystem health of the Valley; from local to global. The implications of this on ecosystem health are discussed. The Valley’s landscapes are divided into alluvial and non-alluvial, with the latter receiving the most attention in the study primarily due to its more extant nature whereas the alluvial rainforest has been virtually eliminated through extensive land clearing. The analysis of the non-alluvial landscape shows how important the Indigenous land management practices were in the maintenance of a complex mosaic of vegetation types specifically influenced by fire. The impact of the removal of the Indigenous influences on the landscape and the imposition of European practices and processes have seen a major reduction in the Valley’s ecological complexity. The study identified processes and factors external to the Valley which are increasingly influencing it. Not all of these are detrimental but they result in the Valley’s ecosystem health being more dependent on global events and processes. The study demonstrates the value of the ecosystem health framework for conceptualising the Valley’s ecosystems and the adaptive cycle for analysing and understanding their changes over time. These approaches provide an opportunity to identify pathways for future management of the Valley’s resources.

This research reports on the use of the resilience assessment approach to evaluate the social-ecological systems (SES) at the NWU (Vaal) for a nine month period from March 2013 to November 2013. The research aims to determine the merits of the use of a resilience assessment approach to determine the resilience of the NWU (Vaal) in respect of social-ecological systems. Objectives of the research include the identification of disturbing events to environmental resilience, to construct a conceptual social-ecological systems model of the NWU (Vaal) in order to determine thresholds relevant to resilience and to determine if the resilience assessment approach can be applied at the NWU (Vaal). Data was collected in the form of a literature review, which aided with the construction of a time line for the focal social-ecological system; document reviews, interviews with relevant role players, observation by the researcher and the use of the assessment approach to construct the social-ecological system model. The research findings include identification of possible disturbances and thresholds relevant to resilience of the social-ecological system of the NWU (Vaal). The construction of a social-ecological system model of the NWU (Vaal) aids with proposals to incorporate a stewardship approach which enhance resilience of the focal social-ecological system. / M (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This research reports on the use of the resilience assessment approach to evaluate the social-ecological systems (SES) at the NWU (Vaal) for a nine month period from March 2013 to November 2013. The research aims to determine the merits of the use of a resilience assessment approach to determine the resilience of the NWU (Vaal) in respect of social-ecological systems. Objectives of the research include the identification of disturbing events to environmental resilience, to construct a conceptual social-ecological systems model of the NWU (Vaal) in order to determine thresholds relevant to resilience and to determine if the resilience assessment approach can be applied at the NWU (Vaal). Data was collected in the form of a literature review, which aided with the construction of a time line for the focal social-ecological system; document reviews, interviews with relevant role players, observation by the researcher and the use of the assessment approach to construct the social-ecological system model. The research findings include identification of possible disturbances and thresholds relevant to resilience of the social-ecological system of the NWU (Vaal). The construction of a social-ecological system model of the NWU (Vaal) aids with proposals to incorporate a stewardship approach which enhance resilience of the focal social-ecological system. / M (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

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Despite the dramatic increase in ecotourism as a sustainable development strategy over the last two decades (Honey 2008; Yunis 2000), theoretical models to interpret and evaluate ecotourism—as well as the broader field of tourism—are lacking (Farrell and Twining-Ward 2003; Weaver and Lawton 2007). Farrell and Twining-Ward (2003) call for a reconceptualization of tourism study that incorporates social-ecological systems (SES) theory. This dissertation responds by assessing ecotourism as an SES in a dryland setting, addressing the question: "What key characteristics of ecotourism increase social-ecological resilience?" The study site is Santa Rosa National Park and surrounding communities in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Higham and Lück (2008) cite sustainability as the "ultimate goal of ecotourism" (Higham and Lück 2008, p 124); however sustainability itself proves to be a difficult concept to measure and evaluate (Cater and Lowman 1994; Dernbach 2002; Weaver 2001a). SES theory recognizes sustainability as a process rather than an end goal and identifies resilience as a key attribute (Berkes, Colding, and Folke 2003). With ecotourism as an economic strategy of nearly every developing country since the early 1990s and an increasing economic strategy in rural areas worldwide (Valaoras, Pistolas, and Sotiropoulou 2002; Honey 2008), this study investigates ecotourism through the lens of social-ecological resilience for increased sustainability. Based on a 12-month survey conducted in Santa Rosa National Park and the surrounding area, this study identifies characteristics of ecotourism that can cause different levels of resilience using indicators of increasing biodiversity, economic diversity and social capital. These relationships are represented by linked and continually changing social and ecological systems, diagramed by Holling‘s adaptive renewal cycle (Berkes, Colding, and Folke 2003; Gunderson and Holling 2002). Three research papers are included as part of this dissertation: 1) Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Parque Nacional Santa Rosa Ecotourism Study: Final Survey Results, Analysis and Recommendations; 2) Ecotourism‘s Contribution to Social-ecological Resilience: A Case Study Analysis of Rural, Dryland Ecotourism in Guanacaste, Costa Rica; and 3) Barrier-free Ecotourism? The Costa Rican Approach. Findings of this study include recommendations for ecotourism programs to increase social-ecological resilience and contribute to the sustainability of linked SESs.

Human societies are reliant on the functioning of the hydrologic cycle. The atmospheric branch of this cycle, often referred to as moisture recycling in the context of land-to-land exchange, refers to water evaporating, traveling through the atmosphere, and falling out as precipitation. Similar to the surface water cycle that uses the watershed as the unit of analysis, it is also possible to consider a ‘watershed of the sky’ for the atmospheric water cycle. Thus, I explore the precipitationshed - defined as the upwind surface of the Earth that provides evaporation that later falls as precipitation in a specific place. The primary contributions of this dissertation are to (a) introduce the precipitationshed concept, (b) provide a quantitative basis for the study of the precipitationshed, and (c) demonstrate its use in the fields of hydrometeorology, land-use change, social-ecological systems, ecosystem services, and environmental governance. In Paper I, the concept of the precipitationshed is introduced and explored for the first time. The quantification of precipitationshed variability is described in Paper II, and the key finding is that the precipitationsheds for multiple regions are persistent in time and space. Moisture recycling is further described as an ecosystem service in Paper III, to integrate the concept into the existing language of environmental sustainability and management. That is, I identify regions where vegetation more strongly regulates the provision of atmospheric water, as well as the regions that more strongly benefit from this regulation. In Paper IV, the precipitationshed is further explored through the lens of urban reliance on moisture recycling. Using a novel method, I quantify the vulnerability of urban areas to social-ecological changes within their precipitationsheds. In Paper V, I argue that successful moisture recycling governance will require flexible, transboundary institutions that are capable of operating within complex social-ecological systems. I conclude that, in the future, the precipitationshed can be a key tool in addressing the complexity of social-ecological systems. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

This dissertation aims to advance understanding of the social and ecological dynamics that transform riparian forests and the human and non-human communities that depend on riparian resources. The four articles that comprise this dissertation examine the causes and consequences of social-ecological transformations in the riparian zone of the transboundary San Pedro River watershed, located in the Sonoran Desert borderlands of southern Arizona, USA and northern Sonora, Mexico. The research utilizes an interdisciplinary, mixed methods approach that combines interviews with key informants (including natural resource managers, ranchers, local residents, and political figures), archival research and historical document review, spatial analysis and synthesis of binational datasets, and land use classification and change detection at the watershed scale using methods from remote sensing and geographical information systems.This research is motivated by two objectives. First, I aim to examine how shifts in social and ecological systems have transformed riparian spaces in the transboundary San Pedro River watershed. Second, I intend to assess the consequences of these riparian transformations for the human and ecological communities who depend on riparian resources for survival. Based on these two overarching objectives, there are three interrelated research questions that drive the research and analysis presented in the four chapters of this dissertation: 1) How are social-ecological processes at the watershed scale affecting access to water resources in the riparian zone?; 2) How are shifting relations of access to water and riparian-zone resources influencing and differentiating levels of exposure to hazards over space and across time?; and 3) Following a disturbance event, how are capacity to respond and recover from disturbance and expectations of accountability shifting over space and across time? The findings of this research suggest three broad results. First, social processes of accumulation of land and water resources by the state and industry are creating uneven spatial and temporal experiences of water security and insecurity by shifting the amount, timing, and quality of water resources available and who can physically access the riparian zone to derive benefits from riparian resources. Specifically, the three social processes of resource accumulation that I examine are privatization, expropriation, and conservation. Second, transformations in social-ecological system (SES) dynamics and access to riparian resources differentially impact the production of water insecurity (water quality and water quantity) both between and within communities and economic sectors that depend on riparian resources. Third, the ability for local communities and small-scale agricultural producers to cope with increasing water insecurity and respond to disturbance events is decreasing due to three interrelated causes. The first is limited access of local communities to the wealth and adaptive assets produced from natural resource extraction in the region. The second is the shift at the state and community level toward increasing individuation of responsibility for ensuring livelihood security. And the third is a culture of evasion of accountability to remediate ecological degradation within the transnational mining industry.

At the Rio Conference in 1992, the sustainable development agenda promised a new era for natural resource management, where the wellbeing of human society would be enhanced through a more sustainable use of natural resources. Several decades on, economic growth continues unabated at the expense of natural capital – as evidenced by natural resource depletion, biodiversity loss, climate change and further environmental issues. Why is this happening and what can be done about it? This research examines what socio-economic and governance factors affect sustainability in complex coupled social-ecological systems. Furthermore, it analyses the role of power relations and imbalances between economic and conservation forces with regard to sustainable development. The original contribution to knowledge of this thesis is based on one conceptual and two empirical (Agent-Based) models. These explore, through several case-studies, the potential of different future scenarios in fostering synergies and win-win contexts of ecosystem services and socio-economic indicators. Overall, the research showed the complex and interconnected relationship between the economy and natural systems, and between economic and conservation forces, in coupled social-ecological systems. Addressing complex sustainability issues requires the use of integrative, holistic and interdisciplinary approaches, in addition to considering the particular socio-economic, cultural, political and environmental contexts of the social-ecological system being analysed. The models demonstrated that the current economic system requires an ever-increasing use of natural resources, and that the economy does not protect the natural capital on which it depends. This is based on a disjunction of the economic and conservation elements upon which the sustainable development paradigm is founded. Furthermore, several socio-economic and governance factors appeared to be key for diminishing sustainability in coupled social-ecological systems; namely, the type of economic and production systems, the particular use of monetary debt, technological development, and weak conservation forces (both top-down and bottom-up). However, results also showed alternative scenarios where these same factors could be redirected to enhance social-ecological sustainability. This dual role supports the argument that the current economic system is not inherently (i.e. by definition, per se) unsustainable. Rather, the specific use of economic mechanisms and behaviour of economic entities, as well as their decisions and relationships with the environment, show a tendency to increase unsustainability. Hence, short- and medium-term sustainability can be enhanced by developing mechanisms that start shifting capitalist forces to support environmental conservation; here, the role of Payments for Ecosystem Services will be essential. Enhancing long-term sustainability, however, may require a further paradigm change – where economic and production systems integrate, and fully account for, externalities and the value of natural capital, thus human society is embedded within the wider, and more important, natural environmental system.

The diffuse runoff of agricultural nutrients, also called agricultural nonpoint source pollution (NPS), is a widespread threat to freshwater resources. Despite decades of research into the processes of eutrophication and agricultural nutrient management, social, economic, and political barriers have slowed progress towards improving water quality. A critical challenge to managing agricultural NPS pollution is motivating landowners to act against their individual farm production incentives in response to distant ecological impacts. The complexity of governing the social-ecological system requires improved understanding of how policy shapes farmer behavior to improve the state of water quality. This dissertation contributes both theoretically and empirically to NPS pollution governance by examining the impacts of water quality policy design on farmer nutrient management decision making and behavior. In the first study, I theoretically contextualize the issue of agricultural NPS pollution in the broader discussion of environmental public goods dilemmas to suggest that an increased focus on the link between policy and behavior can improve sustainable resource management. I propose two empirical approaches to study the policy-behavior link in environmental public goods dilemmas: 1) explicit incorporation of social psychological and behavioral variables and 2) utilization of actor mental models, or perceptions of the world that guide decision making, to identify behavioral drivers and outcomes. In the second and third studies, I then use these approaches to examine how water quality policies for agricultural NPS collectively change farmer behavior to reduce nutrient emissions. The second chapter uses a quantitative, survey-based approach to examine the relationship between mandatory policy design and behavior change in New Zealand. I find that a shift to mandatory policy is not immediately associated with increased adoption of nutrient management practices, but the mandatory policy design is important for potential future behavior change and long-term policy support. In the third study, I combine qualitative methodology with network analysis of qualitative data to examine a spectrum of agricultural NPS pollution policies in Vermont, USA and Taupo and Rotorua, New Zealand. I use farmer mental models to examine behavior change within each of the regions, the perceived drivers of behavior change and perceived outcomes of the policy. In this study, farmers across all three regions cite mandatory water policy as a key behavioral driver, but in each region, policy design interacts with the social-ecological context to produce distinct patterns of behaviors and perceived outcomes. Taken together, this dissertation demonstrates that agricultural NPS pollution policy design must consider the interactions between policy and other social-ecological behavioral drivers in order to achieve long term water quality improvements.

Following a wildfire, land management agencies act quickly to protect ecosystem services. We don't currently understand how post-wildfire managers make trade-off decisions in these tight timelines, or if these decisions reflect current science. Using Brunson’s (2014) social-ecological systems multi-scalar model, surveys assessed manager opinions about post-wildfire projects, perceptions of stakeholder opinions, and ability or willingness to consider new science results. Public surveys asked local citizens their opinions about post-wildfire projects. Manager perceptions were measured through semi-structured phone interviews (n = 8) and a structured online survey (n = 256). Public surveys were mailed to 1,000 (971 deliverable, n = 152 usable) residents in rural and urban Great Basin and Mojave Desert ZIP codes. We found coarse- and fine-scale social and political opinions were associated with all post-wildfire management decisions, often creating perceived barriers to project implementation. Conversely, local citizens were more supportive of projects than managers perceived them to be. While the majority of managers and citizens supported the concept of incorporating experimental research, managers were less able to consider more specific research incorporation into actual projects. Ecologically, biological soil crusts (BSC) are emerging as an important fine-scale component of semi-arid restorations. However, even when BSCs are assessed prior to a restoration plan, it is unclear how or if this knowledge has any impact. BSCs were evaluated both socially and ecologically: all manager surveys contained questions specifically related to BSC, and a pilot greenhouse study assessed a) if seed drilling simulations on different stages of BSC may affect restoration plant establishment and b) if BSC excluded the invasive species Bromus tectorum. Similar to other new science results, managers were unlikely to be able/willing to consider BSC status in post-wildfire projects. However, our results suggest the possibility that, even when lightly burned, seeding strategy may influence native plant establishment. In ideal greenhouse conditions, B. tectorum was able to establish readily on both burned and unburned BSC.