School of Geography - Theses
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ItemEnvironmental policy and orthodox economics: a case study of Victorian solid waste( 2007)In this thesis I use the idea of 'rational ideologies' to investigate the value and role of orthodox economics in solid waste policy in Victoria, and its relationship with a dominant set of policy ideas that I call industrial ecology. I show that many orthodox economists criticise industrial ecology and prescribe alternative policies based principally on market-based instruments (MBIs) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA) with environmental valuation. They largely ignore the economic underpinnings of industrial ecology. I report on four empirical research projects. Firstly, I investigate the influence of unit-based pricing of domestic garbage in Melbourne on garbage quantities. I find its effects trivial except where rates were set at levels higher than orthodox economic theory would suggest is appropriate. Home owners have reduced garbage for non-economic reasons. Secondly, I compare 37 cost-benefit studies of recycling, revealing enormously varied approaches and results that are often apparently infused by analyst ideology or sponsor interests. Rather than the hard rationality it seems to promise, CBA with environmental externality valuation diverts debate into complexities that are the preserve of experts. The ideological foundations of some orthodox economic interpretations of environmental issues are shown to be weakly supported by theory or logic. Thirdly, I review the history of Victorian solid waste policy since 1970. As an early pollution crisis was overcome, the agenda shifted to waste minimisation. Regulation, corporatist agreements, targets and strategies have helped to level off the quantity of waste to landfill and grow post-consumption recycling into a major industrial operation. Costs have risen substantially but public support remains strong. Industry, local government and environment groups have competed for influence in the policy arena. While waste management has been transformed into a competitive market structure, orthodox economics has played only a small role in the policy history. Where CBAs have not be desultory they have failed to resolve policy disputes. Use of MBIs has been beset by administrative and sunk-cost concerns. Finally, I report on a survey of 46 members of the solid waste policy community on the economics of solid waste. There is a surprisingly high degree of in-principle acceptance of orthodox economics conceptions of the environment, such as CBA, environmental valuation and MBIs. There is more disagreement over resource efficiency,, recycling targets and interpretation of the value of economic tools in practice. Variation in views is linked with professional grouping more than economics education. There is strong support for the economic underpinnings of industrial ecology. I suggest that environmentalists' simultaneous acceptance of orthodox economists' intellectual framework yet rejection of their prescriptions demonstrates the practical weakness of that framework but also represents a latent danger to environmentalism. In concluding, I interpret orthodox economics as a rational ideology that is blind to its ideological content. I argue that this blindness has led to overconfidence, inflexibility and overambition, and that these characteristics have marginalised orthodox economics in Victorian solid waste policy. I argue for analytical plurality and the supremacy of political judgement.
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ItemThe resistance of herbaceous vegetation to erosion: implications for stream form( 2006)Vegetation growing on the banks of a stream channel influences geomorphological processes operating in that channel. A large body of research has investigated the role of vegetation in controlling the erosion of stream channels, but the majority of this research has considered riparian trees and other woody vegetation. Consequently, our understanding of the influence of herbaceous vegetation on channel erosion is limited. The overall aim of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap by establishing the resistance to erosion of herbaceous vegetation in terms of shear stress and the length of time (duration) of exposure to shear stress, then comparing it to the shear stress and duration of exposure that occur in a number of streams in Victoria, Australia. The study focuses on the influence of herbaceous vegetation on the fluvial entrainment of sediment from horizontal surfaces. Horizontal surfaces are a particular subset of geomorphological features that occur in alluvial streams that include bars and benches. The erosion resistance of herbaceous vegetation directly sampled from horizontal surfaces in streams was estimated using a custom-built laboratory flume that generated very high bed shear stresses. The influence of stem length and substrate size on erosion resistance was tested in the flume study: mature herbaceous vegetation with long stems withstood high levels of shear stress for several days of continuous exposure. Erosion resistance was found to be inversely related to substrate size and positively related to stem length. The maximum erosion resistance of herbaceous vegetation in the flume study was greater than values reported in the literature for herbaceous vegetation growing in artificial drainage channels and on hillslopes. The shear stress exerted in stream channels is often estimated using methods based on cross-sectional average hydraulic conditions. Comparison of cross-sectional mean shear stress and the local shear stress exerted on horizontal surfaces estimated at six study sites in Victoria using high-resolution two-dimensional hydraulic modelling indicated that the erosion of horizontal surfaces is unlikely to be accurately predicted by mean shear stress. It is also possible that mean shear stress will not accurately predict the erosion of other sub-cross-section-scale geomorphological features. The frequency of erosion of horizontal surfaces covered with herbaceous vegetation was estimated at the study sites using erosion prediction analyses that combined the erosion resistance data from the flume study, estimates of local shear stress and exposure duration of horizontal surfaces at the study sites. The exposure duration was estimated by analysing the long-term sub-daily discharge records. The erosion prediction analyses indicated that mature herbaceous vegetation had sufficient resistance to erosion to withstand the shear stress and exposure duration at all study sites, and consequently would not be eroded. Immature herbaceous vegetation, however, would be eroded at all study sites; the frequency of erosion varied and was dependent on the stem length. The erosion prediction analysis method was applied to investigate the variation in the effectiveness of herbaceous vegetation in stabilising horizontal surfaces at the catchment-scale. Although the results were not conclusive, it appears that the influence of herbaceous vegetation is greatest in the upper catchment, which contrasts with previous research that identified a mid-catchment peak in fluvial entrainment of bank material. The duration of exposure to inundation is likely to be the main driver of herbaceous vegetation degradation in the lower catchment, as hydrograph attenuation leads to long duration events that cause oxygen deprivation stress on the herbaceous vegetation. A number of conceptual models of the temporal variation in erosion resistance of horizontal surfaces for different management scenarios were developed. Further data on the influence of vegetation other than herbaceous vegetation on the erosion resistance of horizontal surface are required, but based on the outcomes of the thesis and previous research it is clear that stream restoration designs that aim to increase channel stability with woody vegetation should be carefully considered. It is possible that rather than stabilising the channel, the impact of the maturing woody vegetation on the herbaceous vegetation understorey will lead to a reduction in overall stability.
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ItemMeasuring rural community sustainability: the use of social indicators in an adaptive approach to catchment management( 2005)An understanding of social issues is imperative for effective planning and policy development to foster sustainability. Social sustainability, or well-being, of communities is integral to any assessment of sustainability since it reflects, and impacts upon, ecological and economic sustainability. One area where this has direct implications is the management of natural resources. The catchment, or watershed, has assumed importance as a planning unit for natural resource management (NRM) in Australia. Integrated catchment management (ICM) has widely been adopted for NRM at the catchment scale but is largely confined to biophysical issues. To combat this bias, social issues need to be represented in a format that can be used to assist decision-making. Such feedback can fulfil a range of purposes. In the case of ICM, insight into social conditions can be used to both inform the social context for decision-making and provide feedback on policy and program outcomes, to enable an adaptive approach to catchment management. This thesis was concerned with the development of a system to monitor trends in the social sustainability of rural communities. Several theoretical areas and a multi-staged empirical investigation informed this thesis. In particular, it is ground in the notions of 'community sustainability' and 'social sustainability' that evolved from the discourse on sustainable development; consideration of methodological frameworks for social indicators; and through a case study. The case study draws upon the needs and concerns held by local stakeholders from multiple communities across the Woady Yaloak catchment in rural Victoria, Australia. Through interviews, personal observation and questionnaires, some insight is offered into the social dimensions of community sustainability in a rural context, and a suite of perceptual social indicators were constructed and applied to validate the tool and measure how stakeholders consider the social condition of their communities. A series of social indicators were developed and validated to represent the components of community sustainability in a manageable format that can be quantified. This provides a comprehensive framework of the issues to consider, a mechanism that can be applied to inform the social context for decision-making and the strengths that can be harnessed or the weaknesses that need to be addressed, for planning or policy evaluation, or for sustainability considerations. It is argued that this system of perceptual social indicators is useful to counter the emphasis on objective measures. This system can be used in conjunction with objective measures to provide a broader picture.
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ItemEnvironmental floods for Victorian regulated rivers( 2005)Dams, whilst critical to society for water supply, impact on the environment and alter flooding patterns downstream of a dam. Floods perform an important role in sustaining many abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem, such as channel maintenance and triggers for fish spawning. Environmental floods are a promising management technique but their release has only been reported from 16 of more than 45,000 large dams worldwide. This thesis is the first review of issues surrounding the implementation of environmental floods from large Victorian dams. The study identifies the large dams in Victoria that (a) have the most altered flood hydrology downstream of the dam, and (b) have the least physical constraints on releasing floods. The extent of flood regime change from 21 dams is quantified using flood statistics. All of the 21 dams reduced the magnitude of natural 1 to 10-year recurrence interval floods and extended the recurrence interval of natural floods. A worldwide review of environmental floods reveals six major limitations to environmental floods and five factors common to all successful environmental flood releases. One of these limitations - capacity of the dam to release an environmental flood is examined in more detail. Twelve Victorian dams have the physical capacity to release a natural one-year recurrence interval flood. Foremost among these are Thomson, Rocklands, Eildon and Upper Yarra dams which have a high impact on floods and potential to release a flood without requiring infrastructure modifications. Implementing an environmental flood in Victoria is a long term process taking up to ten years. Environmental flood design requires that a link between flood change and ecological condition be established. This requires substantial data to be available. Coordination among stakeholders involved in environmental flood planning, particularly optimising the operation of a dam to maximise environmental benefits of a flood release while minimising impacts on other water users, is a key aspect of environmental flood implementation.
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ItemRestructuring in the auto-component industry in Victoria in the 1990s( 2003)The 1990s was a period of restructuring for auto-component firms in Victoria. However, restructuring within the industry was not confined to Australia, but took place internationally and within approximately the same time frame. For students of economic geography this raises questions about the relationship of places between the local and the global and the relationship of processes between economic activities in the different spheres. My aim, then, is to describe and explain the restructuring in the auto-components industry in Victoria in the context of global restructuring. In this, my research is guided by four key questions. What happened in the auto-component industry in the 1990s? What were the factors involved? What was the broader context for understanding restructuring in the auto-component industry in Victoria? How important was this context to understanding local changes? In reviewing various theories of industry restructuring, I find in either the macro or national approaches a problem in conceptualising the relationship between the global and local. A framework developed by Fagan and Le Heron, based on the geography of accumulation, offers a synthesis to overcome this problem. In the thesis I argue that with restructuring of commodity chains in the international automotive industry, the concept of a `national' auto-component industry has given way to a `regional' (inter-national) or `global' concept of industry. Further I show that Australian Government policies and public debates were important factors in the restructuring of the auto-component industry in Victoria, in influencing the structure of that industry and its links with the global industry. Using data collected in a survey of auto-component firms in Victoria, I argue that restructuring favoured particular types of firms and strategies and disadvantaged others. In particular, firms pursuing a globalisation strategy benefited from more liberal trading arrangements. I conclude that globalisation of the auto-component industry is far from complete, and that it represents but one future of several possible futures for auto-component firms in Victoria. Furthermore, the future of the industry depends not only on its new competitiveness, but also on domestic factors, and most importantly, what sort of government assistance the industry will receive in the future.
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ItemAlternative community states in reservoirs of the Central Highlands region( 2001)The occurrence of nuisance algae within reservoirs of the Central Highlands region is a problem facing Central Highlands Water and the communities they serve. Therefore, there is a need to know how to manage this threat. Management of the causal factors contributing to the development of algal blooms within the Central Highlands region, and Victoria as a whole, has tended to focus on reducing nutrient loads into the system. However, in shallow lakes nutrient control alone is often ineffective in managing the undesirable effects of eutrophication including algal blooms. The main reason for this is thought to be due to existence of alternative clear, macrophyte-dominated and turbid, phytoplankton-dominated stable states in shallow freshwater systems. This thesis presents analyses of two field studies carried out to investigate the alternative stable states hypothesis on shallow reservoirs of the Central Highlands region. First an assessment of spatial variation in chlorophyll a, macrophyte abundance and key growth regulating variables has shown that within reservoir spatial variation that is often assumed to be insignificant, is significant. Such spatial variation can lead to different conclusions being drawn regarding the application of ecological models and processes that may have caused observed patterns. Consequently, an appreciation of the effects of scale is vital to ensure ecological models, such as the theory of alternative stable states, are applied correctly and the outcomes of field experiments are not confounded by spatial variation. Second an investigation of shallow reservoirs of the Central Highlands region revealed that the presence of macrophytes is associated with low algal biomass. Parallels were drawn between study sites and the model of phase changes of shallow lakes undergoing eutrophication (Moss et al., 1996). A majority of reservoirs were characterised as potentially being within the clear, macrophyte-dominated alternative state, either in the unique clear Phase I or transitional Phase n. However, several reservoirs of the Central Highlands region did not bear a resemblance to any of the alternative states (phases) identified in the literature. Accordingly, it can be concluded that reservoirs of the Central Highlands region may support alternative states but that phase changes used to describe communities of the Northern Hemisphere lakes need to be modified to suit Australian conditions. This study emphasises the need to adopt a holistic approach to managing the undesirable effect of eutrophication such as algal blooms. Within the Central Highlands region a holistic approach should include management of the macrophyte communities, water level manipulation and potentially biomanipulation in addition to nutrient control.
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ItemWhat is the value of a hole in the ground?: What is the value of discrete choice contingent valuation?( 2001)The inability of market price systems to reflect the social value associated with environmental conservation presents a barrier to the achievement of overall allocative efficiency. Stated preference valuation techniques such as the contingent valuation method have been found to be useful in capturing and measuring unexpressed preferences for environmental protection and enhancement. When applied correctly, these techniques can alleviate some of the most intractable market failures, such as those which involve pure public goods. This thesis explores the theoretical validity of different approaches to contingent valuation questioning through a survey of Victorian households' attitudes to the dereliction of open gold mine pits in the Victorian countryside. The methodological research involves comparison of discrete and continuous models of contingent valuation questioning, including a wide scale test of a new approach to discrete questioning, referred to as the "dissonance minimising choice" method, which seeks to correct the upward bias of yea-saying suspected in dichotomous choice studies. The results reveal a notable level of community concern about present mining practices in Victoria and a considerable willingness to pay for minesite rehabilitation. The results for the contingent valuation method indicate that survey respondents made robust and rational utility-maximimsing choices. The discrete-choice results were still significantly higher than the results for open ended study, with the performance of the dissonance mimimising choice method rather mixed in comparison with the traditional dichotomous choice approach. i
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ItemSpatial variation in benthic community structure in upland streams: the influence of fine sediment transport( 2000)Physical factors can play an important role in structuring plant and animal communities. Together with spatial variation in their magnitude, differences in species tolerances to these factors are thought to explain considerable variation in the structure of natural assemblages. This thesis examines spatial variation in fine sediment transport in upland streams, and the effects of this on the structure of benthic invertebrate assemblages in this system. I initially surveyed sediment transport rates (3 times) using box type bedload traps and the faunal assemblages (twice) on individual stones at 12 sites on 3 regulated and 3 unregulated streams in the upper reaches of the Acheron and Yarra catchments, which drain from the Great Dividing Range, southeastern Australia. This study region spans a geologic boundary, and includes areas of acid volcanics in the north, and granite and sandstone to the south. Sediment transport rates, which were measured only at low flow ranged from 5+2 to 821+115 g.day' (mean f 1 SE) at each site. Transport rates between the volcanic and granitic/sandstone catchments accounted for most of the variation between sites, and thus differences in transport rates between the two geologies approached 3 orders of magnitude. The flow diversion weirs on some of the streams were found to negate any differences in sediment transport rates between the two catchment types. Multivariate analysis of macroinvertebrate assemblages clearly distinguished between assemblages from sites in the volcanic and granitic areas. Overlaid on these differences was the effect of flow regulation, in which assemblages at regulated sites in both catchments converged toward one another in terms of overall assemblage structure. The composition of the assemblages at these regulated sites differed from unregulated sites in both catchment types. Notably, although multivariate techniques clearly established the above patterns of difference, commonly measured variables such as species richness, total abundance and the abundance of common taxa showed ambiguous patterns with respect to catchment geology. The multivariate analyses suggest that differences in community structure between granitic and volcanic streams are partly related to the effects of sediment transport. However, I was not able to demonstrate this to be the case. In a field experiment in which sediment transport was excluded across individual patches of the streambed at 6 of the unregulated study sites, no changes were observed in the fauna colonising these patches relative to controls in which sediment transport was maintained at natural levels. This was so in both the volcanic and granite catchments. Nevertheless, multivariate analyses again showed assemblages within the granite and volcanic catchments to differ in a similar fashion as observed in the original survey. In a set of artificial stream channels located adjacent to one of the study streams, changes in the benthic community were monitored in response to short-term and long-term sediment addition. These two experiments considered changes in sediment loads that might occur, in the short term as a result of small spates (a pulse disturbance), and in the long-term as a result of natural variation in sediment loads, or alternatively as a result of human impacts (a press disturbance). In both cases sediment addition caused only minor, but consistent changes in the benthic assemblage. In the case of disturbance caused by spates, it appears that changes in flow are the predominant mechanism disturbing the community during these events. Overall, these communities appear to be resistant to the effects of sediment transport. Presumably this resistance relies on the maintenance of suitable habitat, and thus sedimentation of rocky substrates would probably cause far greater changes than were detected here in response to sediment transport. It is possible that in the granite streams surveyed, the effects of sediment transport are to some degree mediated by the ability of animals to find refuge from sediment induced abrasion, perhaps by seeking shelter on the lee side of rocks, or in dead water zones where scour by sediment transport is minimised. Future research must concentrate on the physiological tolerance to sediment transport of these organisms, and whether behavioural adaptations allow stress to be minimised in heterogeneous stream reaches.
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ItemUrban road traffic noise and health( 2000)Some people say they are annoyed by traffic noise. There is rather a lot of evidence to show that where traffic noise is louder, more people say they are annoyed by it. On the basis of this sort of evidence, there is a consensus that road traffic noise causes annoyance. Traffic noise is also suspected of being dangerous to health: of making people ill; so ill they reach for painkillers or even visit a doctor to get medicine prescribed. The fundamental aim of this thesis is to find out whether this is happening in Melbourne. The available evidence contains anomalies: people seem to be healthy where noise is loudest. Even annoyance studies sometimes detect unexplained peaks of annoyance in quieter places; or a plateau of annoyance in high noise. However, the anomalies display a certain consistency. Traffic noise is orthodoxly measured by loudness. Several studies have found a peak of annoyance at around 60 decibels. The consistency of the anomalies suggests that some other physical characteristic of noise may be responsible for the anomalous responses. This thesis sets out to explore the urban soundscape in an attempt to find such a characteristic, and discovers the pattern of alternation of passby noise and background sound: passby patterns. The orthodox loudness measure is essentially a proxy for the daily average sound energy delivered to the ear by traffic. To define patterns requires taking this measure apart - splitting traffic noise into two sounds: the sound of passbys and the background sound. The definition builds up through the use of point source theory, observations in urban and rural environments, experiments with a typical sedan in isolated locations, and experimentation with techniques for the measurement of background sound generated by roads. The tools applied are ears, stopwatch and sound meter. The result is a set of techniques aimed to measure patterns of passby noise in urban environments. Application of these techniques at 102 randomly selected sites spread over 150km2 of urban environments detects passby patterns in Melbourne. By way of an example, the final stage of this investigation embeds pattern measurements within a small, orthodox study of the annoyance and health responses to traffic noise measured by decibels. The results are consistent with regular or rapidly alternating passby patterns being closely associated with annoyance and ill health. In particular, in relation to people who are sensitive to noise, it should no longer be assumed that peak distress at approximately 60dB(A) is anomalous. It may well be due to high levels of patterning of passby noise. The result requires confirmation, to be sure, but the evidence is sufficiently strong to suggest that traffic noise and patterns of passby noise, or something closely associated with them, are probably associated with health problems in Melbourne.
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ItemHolocene sea levels and related environmental changes in Anderson Inlet, Victoria, Australia( 2000)Anderson Inlet in south eastern Australia preserves marine sediments that were deposited facing the Southern Ocean during the Holocene. Data obtained from near surface sediment samples together with topographic data are used to investigate the geomorphology, stratigraphy, Holocene sea level changes and related physical environment in Anderson Inlet, Victoria, Australia. The Holocene strata in the Anderson Inlet area in Victoria can be stratigraphically divided into four units, Unit I, Unit II, Unit HI, and Unit IV. Unit I and Unit IV lack fossils and were deposited in non-marine, probably fluvial, environments. Unit E and Unit IE contain abundant foraminifers with molluscs, ostracods and bryozoans. Foraminiferal analysis suggests that Unit IE was deposited in a partially sheltered marine environment, while the high plankton content and relatively high diversity of benthic species in Unit E indicate that this unit was deposited in an open bay at water depths possibly less than 5 m. The faunal data are integrated with radiocarbon dates to arrive at the following Holocene palaeoenvironmental history in this area: 1. Low alluvial plain stage (10000-7000 yr BP); 2. Open bay environment stage (7000-5500 yr BP); 3. Partially sheltered marine environment stage (5500-4500 yr BP); 4. Alluvial plain and coastal lagoon environment stage (since about 4500 yr BP). Contrary to interpretations made elsewhere in south eastern Australia, evidence exists for multiple higher Holocene sea levels in this area. Evidence for two higher Holocene sea level events with one lower sea level event in between has been identified. The timing of these Holocene sea level fluctuations correlates with the deglaciation history of Antarctica and climatic changes inferred from the geological record of mountain glaciers and fossil plants. The evidence suggests that the Anderson Inlet area has been strongly influenced by cold water regimes from the Southern Ocean during the middle Holocene and that marked environmental changes have occurred in the area during the Holocene, associated with the sea level fluctuations. During the last interglacial when sea level was 6.55 m higher than present, the Anderson Inlet area was an open marine environment consisting of several smaller embayments. The shoreline during this time followed the coastal cliffs and bluffs. During the first higher Holocene sea level stage (ca.7000-6000 yr B.P.), sea level was 1.8 m higher than present, the area was also an open marine embayment. During the second higher Holocene sea level stage (ca.5500-4500 yr B.P.) when sea level was 0.5 m higher than present, a minor sand spit developed which partially restricted the marine * embayment. It is inferred that the higher sea levels are likely to have been eustatic events associated with the deglaciation of Antarctica during the Holocene. The modem barrier system of Anderson Inlet is made up of a complex of sand dunes built up in response to the Holocene sea level fluctuations, especially during regressive events since the middle Holocene. The sand dune system of Anderson Inlet is very similar to other coastal barrier systems in south eastern Australia that have built up during the Holocene.