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.
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ItemGoverning agriculture for rural community sustainability: a case study in the Australian dairy industry( 2015)This thesis focuses on the concept of industry governance to examine the processes shaping agricultural change in Australia. It aims to identify how agricultural industry governance can better support rural community sustainability, understood as having social, economic, environmental and equity dimensions. I adopt a conceptual framing of industry governance as a process of collective action involving actors and activity in three spheres: place, industry and state. I use actor-network theory (ANT) to trace how industry governance activity arises from associations between human and non-human actors. This theoretical choice seeks to make research a practice that reveals opportunities for things to be different, rather than one that adds weight to existing explanations of why things are as they are. The research design consists of a single case study in the dairy industry in north-east Victoria, Australia. I analyse the organisational arrangements and processes entailed in industry governance, including processes occurring within one local community – the Mitta Valley. I also examine the social and material practices revealed in a regional-scale industry development project – the Alpine Valleys Dairy Pathways (AVDP) project. Data generated include seventy interviews with dairy farmers, other community members and governance actors, three years of participant observations of the AVDP project and content analysis of relevant documents including news media. Cognisant of the opportunities and risks of my close engagement with research participants' reflection and action, I enacted my research practice as systemic inquiry. People in the Mitta Valley see agriculture, and particularly dairy farming, as highly desirable activities that build on the strengths of their place, and that could help their community sustain itself into the future. However, they have doubts about the feasibility and desirability of continuing the existing agricultural development trajectory toward larger, more intensive farms. I found that the dairy industry, through the industry ‘sustainability’ agenda, is engaging with citizens' and customers' demands for improved environmental management and animal welfare. However, industry governance continues to shape change toward larger, more intensive and more highly-capitalised farms. There is a current focus on promoting more diverse farm business models (or organisation forms), potentially involving separation of land ownership, farm business ownership, and farm management responsibility. Industry and government actors are not examining the potential implications of such changes for rural communities. Understanding governance as collective action, using the conceptual tools of ANT, provides insight as to why this is the case. I identify 'industry growth' as a boundary object that is integral to the establishment of collective action, and that enacts a positive and unproblematic relationship between dairy industry development and community benefit. Governing agriculture for community sustainability requires governance actors representing the interests of communities to be included in industry development planning and action, and to be prepared to question the assumed benefits of 'growth', in the light of the range of processes that communities identify as contributing to their sustainability. This change in governing practices could result in changed emphases within industries' practice change interventions, to shape growth in accordance with communities' collective interests.
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ItemEcological benefits of termite soil interaction and microbial symbiosis in the soil ecosystem in two climatic regions of Australia( 2015)Termite soil interaction is a multidimensional process, the interphase between the surface and subsurface being the most prominent location termitaria and other termite structures usually occupy. Genetic and environmental conditions, including soil type and moisture content, in different climatic regions affect this interaction. There is scant information on termite preferences, foraging behavior within these conditions and impact on soil profile and associated symbiont microorganisms. Foraging activity of termites (Coptotermes frenchi), depth and changes in soil profile with layers of top soil, fine sand, coarse sand and gravel, was studied using a test tank in a laboratory. Termite activities were intensive in only the longest foraging galleries via which they reached and foraged up to the edge of the tank. Wood stakes inserted vertically at three different depth level intervals (0-100, 100-200, and 200-300 mm), visual observations of soil profile samples taken using auger and excavated cross sections of the soil profile all confirmed presence of termite activity, transport and mixing of soil up to the lowest horizon in the otherwise uniform sandy or gravely lower horizons. However, termite activity did not result in complete mixing of soil horizons within the study period. Termites (Coptotermes acinaciformis) were tested for their preference topsoil, fine sand, potting mix and peat, in a laboratory condition at soil moisture contents of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% for 30 days. The experimental apparatus involved termite colonies foraging from nesting jars connected to four sets of standing perspex tubes filled with each soil type and moisture content combination attached to the jar lid on top. Soil type had a significant effect on termite preference whereas soil moisture content did not. At lower moisture levels of 0 and 5%, termites preferred fine sand while topsoil was preferred at 10, 15 and 20%. Soil heterogeneity and textural variability with respect to particle size distribution due to termite activity was investigated in two climatic regions of Australia. Mound and surrounding soils of Coptotermes lacteus in Boola Boola State Forest, Victoria, and Amitermes laurensis and Nasutitermes eucalypti in Gove, Northern Territory were studied. The residual effects on bacteria and fungi counts were also investigated in the former. For C. lacteus and A. laurensis mounds the very fine particles sizes (< 0.045 mm) were significantly higher than that of the surrounding soil while the reverse was true for the 2 - 1 mm particle size ranges. For the Nasutitermes mound, however, they recorded significantly higher 2 - 1 mm particle sizes and significantly lower < 0.045 mm particle size ranges than the surrounding soils. For the other particle size ranges in both sites no significant difference was observed between the mound and surrounding soils except for the 0.5 – 0.2 and 0.20.063 mm ranges in the A. laurensis mound which were significantly higher than surrounding soil. Average moisture content of the surrounding soils was significantly higher than that of the mound surfaces which could have resulted in the higher bacteria and fungi counts (cfu/ml) in the surrounding soils.
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ItemContested place, conflicted knowledge: the everyday landscape of the firefighter( 2014)The everyday landscape can become both unfamiliar and non-negotiable for the firefighter. While we generally conceive of nature and ecology as dynamic, this study points to the dynamic realities of ‘place’, and the way that experience and social learning transform the meaning of place and the management of risk associated with fires. Firefighting is dangerous. Many firefighters who defend their local communities can expect to fight fires in other areas with different terrain and within communities with firefighters they do not know. Underpinning the formal structure of firefighting is the continuing western affirmation of the nature-culture divide. It can be reinforced in firefighter organisations and in local settings by societal expectations that positions bushfire as a separate event rather than an integral part of living in a socio-ecological system. Sixty-eight Australian bushfire firefighters from selected agencies and volunteer brigades in diverse localities contributed to the research. The study comprised 32 semi-structured in-depth individual and group interviews. Stories of fire events and the various roles undertaken were thematically analysed. This research uses a constructivist approach to explore how firefighters experience, understand and undertake their role in response to bushfire in the landscape. The research questions were designed to investigate local knowledge of landscape, community, and sense of place, when firefighters encounter a bushfire. The socio-ecological system is complex and this thesis incorporates an interdisciplinary approach. Framed by environmental sociology, I explore firefighters’ social construction of landscape with a focus on place theory and risk. Fire management imposes a hierarchical command-and-control response to fire and this is the backdrop in which firefighters operate. Fire agencies understand that even experienced firefighters will at times still step outside the ordered structure and make on-the-spot decisions for the fire attack. This is where the individual’s local knowledge can be an asset, but my research indicates it can also be a threat, as the reality of some aspects of ‘local knowing’ may increase response-based risk during a fire. Beginning with the expectation that local knowledge is key to understanding ‘fire in place’; the study has exposed how complex this assumption is in the face of social and ecological shocks. If being adaptive and making flexible on-ground decisions is a critical part of knowing the landscape and trusting experience, it apparently counters expectations associated with centralised and conventional firefighting responses. Notably local knowledge for firefighters means knowledge of the social as much as, and in some instances, more than acknowledging the physical aspects of an area. Firefighters inherently seem to understand a bushfire as part of an integrated socio-ecological system. Most importantly, this thesis has emphasised the importance of bringing place theory to firefighting practice. It is through exploring the linked social and ecological meaning of place that the complex role of local knowledge emerges.