28 research outputs found
Going back-to-the-land in the Anthropocene: a more-than-human journey into anarchist geography
This thesis is a theoretical and empirical journey into the more-than-human worlds of countercultural back-to-the-land farmers: radical environmentalists who migrate to rural places and take up farming as a way of living. It investigates their everyday life and relations to the land as a key dimension of their political radicalism and it interrogates the transformative potential of a back-to-the-land way of living. It does so by examining their lived experience of (post)migration and by paying attention to their affective experiences, encounters and everyday doings with the land and the non-human beings, objects and forces that are enrolled and shape their everyday life.
The thesis is based upon a situated, yet empirically rich, (auto)ethnographic account of the researcherās own back-to-the-land journey from the UK to southern Italy and her experience and practice as a back-to-the-land farmer. On a conceptual level, the thesis brings together more-than-human and anarchist geography to conceptualise the becomings and doings of back-to-the-land farmers in relational and more-than-human terms. More specifically, it draws upon the āmore-than-human turnā in geographical theory to move beyond the human-centric frameworks of a (re)emerging anarchist geography. The thesis develops a distinctive theoretical trajectory that rethinks the subjects and transformative potentiality of anarchist prefigurative politics by foregrounding and attending to the agency of place, non-human beings and infrastructures.
This thesis offers a thick ethnographic account of the affective experiences and contextual dimensions of back-to-the-land migration and everyday living, and it generates novel insights into the back-to-the-land movement. More specifically, it problematises the instrumental rationality that is often associated with radical subjects like back-to-the-land farmers, and it reveals the importance of intimate and radical connections and affective (dis)attachments in their becoming. Moreover, it rethinks the back-to-the-land movement from a lifestyle to a form-of-life, a whole way of living based on values, knowledge, skills and practices of ecological care, (self-)sufficiency and animal autonomy, and it draws attention to two generous infrastructures that it generates
Natural or anthropogenic variability? A long-term pattern of the zooplankton communities in an ever-changing transitional ecosystem
The Venice Lagoon is an important site belonging to the Italian Long-Term Ecological Research Network (LTER). Alongside with the increasing trend of water temperature and the relevant morphological changes, in recent years, the resident zooplankton populations have also continued to cope with the colonization by alien species, particularly the strong competitor Mnemiopsis leidyi. In this work, we compared the dynamics of the lagoon zooplankton over a period of 20 years. The physical and biological signals are analyzed and compared to evaluate the hypothesis that a slow shift in the environmental balance of the site, such as temperature increase, sea level rise (hereafter called āmarinizationā), and competition between species, is contributing to trigger a drift in the internal equilibrium of the resident core zooplankton. Though the copepod community does not seem to have changed its state, some important modifications of structure and assembly mechanisms have already been observed. The extension of the marine influence within the lagoon has compressed the spatial gradients of the habitat and created a greater segregation of the niches available to some typically estuarine taxa and broadened and strengthened the interactions between marine species
Relationship between synoptic circulations and the spatial distributions of rainfall in Zimbabwe
This study examines how the atmospheric circulation patterns in Africa south of the equator govern the spatial distribution of precipitation in Zimbabwe. The moisture circulation patterns are designated by an ample set of eight classified circulation types (CTs). Here it is shown that all wet CTs over Zimbabwe features enhanced cyclonic/convective activity in the southwest Indian Ocean. Therefore, enhanced moisture availability in the southwest Indian Ocean is necessary for rainfall formation in parts of Zimbabwe. The wettest CT in Zimbabwe is characterized by a ridging South Atlantic Ocean high-pressure, south of South Africa, driving an abundance of southeast moisture fluxes, from the southwest Indian Ocean into Zimbabwe. Due to the proximity of Zimbabwe to the Agulhas and Mozambique warm current, the activity of the ridging South Atlantic Ocean anticyclone is a dominant synoptic feature that favors above-average rainfall in Zimbabwe. Also, coupled with a weaker state of the Mascarene high, it is shown that a ridging South Atlantic Ocean high-pressure, south of South Africa, can be favorable for the southwest movement of tropical cyclones into the eastern coastal landmasses resulting in above-average rainfall in Zimbabwe. The driest CT is characterized by the northward track of the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude cyclones leading to enhanced westerly fluxes in the southwest Indian Ocean, limiting moist southeast winds into Zimbabwe
The inevitability of arbuscular mycorrhiza for sustainability in organic agricultureāA critical review
The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are significant fertility-promoting microbes in soils. They enable soil fertility, soil-health and boost crop productivity. There are generalist and specialist groups among AMF in natural soils. Optimized use of specific AMF concerning crops and soils can improve agricultural sustainability. Thus, AMF is becoming an inevitable biological tool for improving crop productivity and soil health. Especially in the context of chemicalized agriculture undermining the sustainability of food security, safety, and human and ecosystem health, alternative agricultural means have become inevitable. Therefore, AMF has become essential in nature-friendly, organic agriculture. Of such farm fields, natural biological activity is enhanced to sustain soil fertility. Crops show increased innate immunity against pests and diseases in many such systems. Moreover, ecosystems remain healthy, and the soil is teeming with life in such farms. The primary goal of the review was a thorough critical analysis of the literature on AMF in organic agriculture to assess its efficiency as an ecotechnological tool in sustainable agricultural productivity. The novelty is that this is the first comprehensive review of literature on AMF concerning all aspects of organic agriculture. A vital systematic approach to the exhaustive literature collected using regular databases on the theme is followed for synthesizing the review. The review revealed the essentiality of utilizing specific mycorrhizal species, individually or in consortia, in diverse environmental settings to ensure sustainable organic crop production. However, for the exact usage of specific AMF in sustainable organic agriculture, extensive exploration of them in traditional pockets of specific crop cultivations of both chemical and organic fields and wild environments is required. Moreover, intensive experimentations are also necessary to assess them individually, in combinations, and associated with diverse beneficial soil bacteria
Wildlife Protection and Habitat Management
The management of wildlife populations and their habitats are interdisciplinary fields that encompass many scientific disciplines that also impact the lives of people. Therefore, these are truly applied sciences where human dimensions play an important role.This book highlights the importance of conducting rigorous studies to design and implement the effective management and restoration of wild populations and their habitats. A new paradigm in conservation is developing that goes beyond the boundaries of protected areas to achieve the goal of sustainable development. The 16 papers in this book, including reviews and a project report, cover a broad range of topics, exploring a diversity of subjects that are representative of current practices and novel applications.We would like to thank both the MDPI publishers and editorial staff for their support and help during the process of editing this book, in addition to the authors for their contributions
Proceedings of the 2017 Littoral conference āChange, Naturalness and Peopleā
The 2017 Littoral conference was held 5-7 September 2017, hosted by Liverpool Hope University on behalf of the European Union Coastal Community (EUCC). This issue collects selected proceedings from the conference highlighting the conference's diversity and scope. The papers showcase current challenges faced in the coastal environment and the research being conducted to better understand them
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A review of the population and conservation status of British mammals
This report presents the first comprehensive review of the status of British mammal populations for over 20 years. The population size, range size, temporal trends and future prospects of Britainās 58 terrestrial mammals are assessed.
The review presents the most up-to-date assessment of population size and status for the 58 terrestrial mammals in Britain. The report highlights an urgent requirement for more research to assess population densities in key habitats, and to assess the percentage of potentially suitable habitat where a given species actually occurs: at present, uncertainty levels are unacceptably high
Understanding conservation conflicts surrounding predation and game shooting interests
Many predatory species cause negative impacts on human interests by threatening game, livestock or human safety. These impacts can create conflicts where stakeholders differ over wildlife management and when one party is perceived to exert their interests at the expense of the other. Finding effective methods to mitigate conservation conflicts requires an interdisciplinary perspective that investigates (i) the reality of the apparent impacts, (ii) the efficacy of any methods intended to remedy them and (iii) the perceptions, motivations and objectives of key stakeholders.
In this thesis, I investigated a conservation conflict in the U.K. surrounding predators and game management. I did so with specific reference to the common buzzard Buteo buteo, a species that, due to predation of released pheasants Phasianus colchicus, is both subject to illegal persecution and on- going controversy concerning the licenced selective removal of āproblem individualsā.
I first review the literature to assess the ecological evidence that certain āproblem individualsā can be both disproportionately responsible in impacts upon human interests and more likely to reoffend. I show that while there is evidence for these animals across many different taxa, the benefits of their removal can sometimes be short-lived. I highlight possible indirect impacts of selective management and identify it as a potential compromise between different stakeholder groups.
Next, I evaluate the performance of Bayesian stable isotope mixing models (BSIMMs) in quantifying the diets of wild animals. By comparing indirect and direct observations of buzzard foraging, I demonstrate that, with the correct selection of trophic discrimination factors, stable isotope analyses can provide a reliable picture of dietary composition that mirrors direct observations.
I then apply these mixing models to evaluate the ecological basis of selective removal of āproblem buzzardsā. The results suggest that the consumption by buzzards of released pheasants is not limited to release pens where gamekeepers perceive buzzard predation to be a problem. However, I then show that stable isotope analysis of blood sampled from two of the four buzzards caught inside pens indicates frequent consumption of released pheasants, relative to the rest of the buzzard population. These results suggest that, while some pheasant consumption may go undetected, selecting only buzzards inside pens for removal is likely to target āproblem birdsā.
I then investigate buzzard foraging and breeding ecology on land managed for pheasant shooting. I find that buzzards nest at higher density in areas with greater abundances of pheasants and rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus. However, records of provisioning from nest cameras showed that only rabbits were caught in proportion to their abundance and only rabbit provisioning rate was associated with buzzard productivity. I suggest that the positive relationship between buzzard and pheasant abundance, although seemingly unconnected to pheasant predation, might influence how gamekeepers perceive buzzard impact.
Next, I conduct semi-structured interviews on the subject of predator control with 20 gamekeepers across the south of England, to explore the underlying beliefs, norms and information sources that motivate their behaviour. From these interviews, I identify a number of separate, but interconnected, motivations that influence predator control including professional norms, potential penalties, and interpretations of what is ānaturalā. The influences of these motivations are discussed in detail and a conceptual model, incorporating the theory of planned behaviour, is developed.
Finally, the key contributions of this thesis are drawn together and discussed in their wider context. Taken together, the results of this thesis illustrate how predator management occurs simultaneously within social and ecological contexts that incorporate the individual attributes of both predators and people. The results of this thesis have direct implications for the management of predators, the representation of stakeholder perspectives and the design of conflict mitigation measures.University of Exeter PhD scholarshi