School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences - Theses
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ItemMaking the connection between history, agricultural diversity and place: the story of Victorian apples( 2016)Apple growing practices are embedded in a productivist mentality aiming for ever higher efficiency and productivity. And while the climate change impacts are to a large extent known, there is little attention given to the coupling of the social and the ecological effects. I use apple growing as a case study to explore the relationship between place, biodiversity and rural change in Victoria. My research is based on historical research; including an analysis of the Museum Victoria’s collection of wax apple models, and in-depth interviews with orchardists. By drawing on environmental history, social-ecological systems thinking and Bourdieu's theory of practice, I highlight the importance of a systems perspective and inform it by emphasis on the critical role of underlying power structures and individual dispositions, or the habitus, of the growers. These dispositions have been shaped and internalised by the growers’ histories and their physical surroundings. Orchardists have been able to respond to intensifying production requirements by utilizing technologies and scientific nous to keep up with the continuous aim for efficiency. Growers are caught up in a self-reinforcing cycle of satisfying the demand for perfect apples by adopting expensive techno-scientific approaches to enable ever more intensive production. The symbolic violence and amplified biophysical pressure orchardists experience has driven many to despair; resulting in a significant decline in small scale apple growing businesses over the last decade. I offer some suggestions for government policy and support measures and argue that any services or support programs need to be tailored to the appropriate level and need of each orchard business and the individuals who are involved. My analysis shows that those growers, who engage more closely with their biophysical place as well as their history and identity as apple growers in that place are (re-)creating another version of what it means to be an apple grower. In some cases this is resulting in resistance to the vortex of agricultural productivism that has been the basis of their existence for many generations.
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ItemLimits to recruitment of a rare conifer: Wollemia nobilis( 2016)Wollemia nobilis (Wollemi pine, Araucariaceae) is an Australian conifer and one of the world’s rarest trees, with a known population of 83 mature trees and 200-300 seedlings in the wild. Wollemia nobilis is a high-profile threatened species because of its discovery near a major capital city (Sydney) in 1994. My research began with the observation that the W. nobilis population had few individuals between the seedling and canopy tree size classes (i.e., between 2-20 m in height), and questions about potential recruitment limitation in W. nobilis. I found that inter-annual variation in seed production, estimated from photographs of W. nobilis mature tree canopies, was not likely to limit the recruitment of new seedlings (Chapter 2). Through monitoring W. nobilis seedlings in the wild (Chapter 3), I observed that new seedlings germinated each year, but most of these seedlings died soon after germination (65% of seedlings lived less than one year) and (44% of established juveniles survived the entire 16-year monitoring period). However, for the remaining seedlings, survival rates were much higher, although growth rates remained low. Shade-tolerant trees, such as W. nobilis, commonly need increased light to grow rapidly. Tree rings from established W. nobilis suggested rapid growth from early establishment and greenhouse studies showed W. nobilis increased growth with increased light. It is likely that canopy gap creation is required for increased growth of W. nobilis seedlings in the wild. Fire and drought are key threats to the survival of established W. nobilis seedlings. Through ex situ burning experiments I found that W. nobilis could resprout after fire, providing further evidence to challenge to the historical idea that all rainforests are fire sensitive (Chapter 4). Alternatively, W. nobilis was intolerant of prolonged drought, compared with other species from the Araucariaceae family (Chapter 5). To extend my knowledge of W. nobilis recruitment, I then set about establishing a new W. nobilis population (Chapter 6). I planted 191 W. nobilis into a new site, similar to the wild site, but with a greater range of light availabilities. Two years after planting I found that survival, but not growth, was improved at higher light sites. Monitoring is ongoing. The life history of W. nobilis (particularly slow growth) in conjunction with its environment (deeply shaded rainforest) results in infrequent recruitment – similar to many threatened conifers. Wollemia nobilis differs from most threatened conifers in that it is not affected by human and land-use change threats, such as timber harvesting. However, humans can play a role in the protection and recovery of W. nobilis, such as through the active establishment of new W. nobilis populations in the wild. Beyond its scientific value as a relict population, the high profile of W. nobilis and its potential to raise awareness of biodiversity issues provide further impetus for maintaining W. nobilis population persistence in the wild.