'The reef is our garden' expanding analysis of ecosystem services in coastal communities

Humans have changed the climate, lands and seas, forests and coasts, in ways that may destabilize earth’s key systems. In response to these declines, ecosystem services are fast becoming the new paradigm and framework that policy-makers, environmental organisations, funding bodies, and researchers use to understand and govern ecosystems for people's wellbeing. However, ecosystem services frameworks face several limitations wrought by their founding disciplines, including a tendency to focus on aggregate wellbeing and thus obscuring issues of access and justice. This thesis aims to expand ecosystem services approaches by drawing on progress in the social sciences. I draw on theory in political ecology, anthropology, and environmental justice to extend how ecosystem services approaches capture diverse priorities for ecosystem services, illuminate issues of access and legitimacy, and understand local notions of justice. I use mixed-methods case studies in developing coastal communities in Papua New Guinea. Specifically, I combine quantitative and qualitative methods (including in-depth interviews, socio-economic surveys, participant observation) to investigate; i) how people ascribe importance to ecosystem services, ii) how customary institutions shape access to ecosystem services and retain or lose legitimacy and; iii) local notions of justice around the use and governance of ecosystem services. I find that people tend to ascribe the most importance to ecosystem services that directly support their livelihoods and material needs. People also express concern about extractive ecosystem services, like fuelwood, that they perceive as destructive. In addition, I found that a range of access mechanisms shape access across ecosystem services value chains. Furthermore, the ways that customary institutions shape access have remained strong for some (i.e. through restricting the reef areas open to women for fishing) and have faded in legitimacy for others (i.e. young men). I also found that social cohesion, with strong relationships between leaders and community members and high participation in community events and decision-making, supported the legitimacy of customary adaptive reef management. Finally, I found similarities in notions of distributive justice across communities; many were concerned about the costs of destructive or over-intensive fishing methods. However, in one place, local concerns about people's needs stopped leaders banning destructive practices. I also found that although people held similar ideals about decision-making, actual practices manifested very differently in each place. Finally, I found that notions of recognitional justice were often expressed as respect and good conduct in the community. Drawing on these findings, I argue that ecosystem services approaches would be enhanced by incorporating a relational definition of power, alongside its current emphasis on 'power over'. Secondly, 'need' is an important avenue of research because it shapes how people value ecosystem services, and also conceptualize justice. Thirdly, throughout my thesis, gender and normative positions around ecosystem services governance emerged as cross-cutting themes that shaped people's interactions with their ecosystems. I thus suggest that a more in-depth engagement with how moral principles manifest empirically is a crucial avenue for future research in ecosystem services

SPACES AND PLACES OF LOWCOUNTRY GEORGIA PLANTATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF WATTLE AND TABBY DAUB SLAVE CABINS ON SAPELO ISLAND, GEORGIA

Plantation landscapes on the Georgia coast were created and maintained by plantation owners and enslaved peoples with influences from the broader Atlantic World. Slave housing and settlements on Sea Island cotton and rice plantations on Sapelo and St. Simon’s Islands are an especially useful way to examine the combination of African, Caribbean, European, and later American influences and material results of tensions between these influences. However, many previous interpretations of enslaved life on the Georgia coast have been based on standing domestic architecture and enslaved people listed in later census records, creating a bias towards a small subset of the enslaved populations. Here I take a contextual approach to explore the lowcountry in the context of the broader Atlantic World; examine the spatial connection between plantation management styles and plantation settlement landscapes; and critically examine slave housing on the coast; and investigate if there is a connection between type of slave housing and settlement landscape organization. I use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to quantify plantation spaces with Thiessen tessellations at five plantations to conclude that the settlement space of the Sapelo Plantation is significantly different than at nearby plantation settlements. Archaeological and geophysical investigations at Bush Camp Field and Behavior settlements within the Sapelo Plantation show a connection between the geometry of settlement space and evidence of place-making with wattle and tabby daub slave cabins that are similar to those identified in Caribbean plantation contexts. Though plantation owners defined the structure and boundaries of certain plantation spaces, enslaved people could manipulate, maintain, and control certain parts of those landscapes. The degree to which enslaved people could engage in reconfigurations of private places and spatial control of settlement spaces is reflected in the rigidity of the plantation landscape

Glass beads as indicators of contact and trade in Southern Africa ca. AD 900 - AD 1250

Luxury goods, used in mediaeval long distance trade ca. AD 900-1250, found an important market among the Iron Age peoples of southern Africa. Indirect evidence of this trade can be seen in the form of archaeological collections of glass beads at sites throughout Africa and Southeast Asia. Thousands of beads have been found at Iron Age sites in the eastern Transvaal Lowveld and at inland sites along the Limpopo Valley and in Botswana. Similar looking types of beads, referred to as small seed beads, were also used in the Muslim mercantile networks and maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, and have been found at coeval sites throughout Southeast Asia, particularly at entrepot ports in India, eastern and western Malaysia and Thailand. At the commencement of the Iron Age occupation of southern African sites, glass beads of any kind were very rare. From ca. AD 900-1000, Islamic influences spread southward along the African east coast. This coincided with the marked increase of glass beads found in southern Africa. Their presence is direct evidence of foreign industry, external trade and contact. The beads are widely believed to have originated in India, and to have been distributed through Arab traders in the Indian Ocean. Exports would have included gold, possibly ivory, and other raw materials. Archaeology has much to contribute towards documenting these activities. The identity and location of the bead sources is important to an understanding of early contact and economic and political developments in southern Africa. The trade connection coincided with the beginning of a critical sequence of events in the cultural history of southern Africa, which culminated in the formation of an incipient state at Great Zimbabwe (AD 1250-1450) from precursors at Mapungubwe and related sites. This period corresponds in time with an important episode in Islamic history, when Muslims conquered Egypt and the Fatimids moved their capital eastwards, in AD 969, from Tunisia to al-Qahira (Cairo) next to the well-established cosmopolitan port entrepot of al- Fustat (now old Cairo). Texts, chronicles, glass weights, scribal notes and receipts confirm that it was already a successful industrial centre with a history of glass-making when the Fatimids gained control of Egypt. In this thesis I have addressed two aspects of research to investigate the trade networks associated with internal and foreign contact: (1) the manufacturing origins of the beads, and, (2) who brought them to southern Africa. Glass material from Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Southeast Asia was used for comparison, and as possible source material. Scientific techniques were used to confirm these operations. The beads were described, classified, and sampled selectively for physical and chemical analysis. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used to determine the rare earth elements (REE) composition. The results show that a particular glass, used to make beads in Egypt, is the same as that used to make some of the beads found at sites in the northern and eastern Transvaal. They document the existence of a trade link with the Mediterranean via the Red Sea 1000 years ago. Until now, both the origin of this contact and the extent of indigenous responses were largely unknown. These findings cast a different light on maritime trade along the east coast of Africa from a millennium ago. Bibliography: pages 175-190

Towards sustainable aquaculture in Southeast Asia and Japan : proceedings of the Seminar-Workshop on Aquaculture Development in Southeast Asia, Iloilo City, Philippines, 26-28 July 1994

Documents the presentations at ADSEA '94, the 3rd Seminar-Workshop on Aquaculture Development in Southeast Asia. ADSEA '94 includes reviews of the status of aquaculture development in Southeast Asia and Japan and of the researches conducted by Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) to contribute to this development. Topics on responsible aquaculture, mollusc and seaweed culture, integrated farming, shrimp culture, diseases, and health management, and transgenic fish were also discussed. It also lists the research areas of 20 or so commodities prioritized for research at AQD for 1995-1997

Aquaculture and the Environment

This special publication of the Asian Fisheries Society, Indian Branch (AFSIB) is a result of an international symposium "Environment - Aquaculture Interaction" held on 27 November, 1996 during the course of the Fourth Indian Fisheries Forum organized by the AFSIB from 24 to 28 November, 1996 in Kochi, Kerala State, India. This symposium served as a forum for updating and interacting for ali those involved in research, monitoring, legislative development and the regulatory aspects of aquaculturc activity and environmental quality. Five invited papers were presented, of which four have been edited and published in this volume

Optimizing desiccation as a biofouling control strategy for water-column cultured oysters, Crassostrea virginica, in the Chesapeake Bay

Oyster aquaculture is flourishing in the US and internationally, delivering wide-ranging benefits to coastal communities, economies, and ecosystems. While the oyster aquaculture industry has grown substantially, a number of ongoing challenges limit industry growth. The issue of biofouling is paramount among these impediments to industry growth and farmers employ a range of techniques for biofouling control, including chemical immersion, physical methods, paints or coatings, and biological control methods. Desiccation, or the periodic aerial exposure of oysters and cages, is a popular biofouling control strategy and previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of 24 consecutive hours of desiccation at a weekly frequency (compared to 24 hours bi-weekly, monthly, or seasonally), but this treatment has yielded a growth penalty in addition to biofouling control. The optimal interval (duration) of desiccation has not been thoroughly investigated and shorter intervals applied at a weekly frequency may yield different results. Therefore, this dissertation set out to investigate the effects of multiple weekly desiccation intervals (0-, 4-, 8-, and 24-hours) on eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) production and biofouling control. In Chapter 2, I examined responses of the biofouling community and oysters to three weekly desiccation intervals (0-, 8-, and 24-hours) at three commercial oyster farms in the Chesapeake Bay over 4 months. In Chapter 3, I conducted longer term (7 month) monitoring of the response of the biofouling community and oysters to four weekly desiccation intervals (0-, 4-, 8-, and 24-hours) at a single site in the Choptank River. In Chapter 4, I examined molecular (heat shock protein expression) and physiological (filtering rate, gametogenic stage, glycogen content) responses of oysters to four weekly desiccation intervals (0-, 4-, 8-, and 24-hours) in the Choptank River over 3 months. Results indicate broad-scale effectiveness of all desiccation treatments in reducing total biofouling coverage, although species- and site-specific responses were observed. Oyster growth was inconsistently affected by desiccation treatment, but reduced growth was observed in the 8- and 24-hour treatments in two of the three years of field investigations, perhaps influenced by reduced time spent in the water feeding and a delay in the onset of filtering post-desiccation. However, the timing of the greatest reduction in growth rates with desiccation suggests that concomitant stress of desiccation plus gametogenesis may have elevated the oysters’ stress response (reduced growth). Indeed, gametogenic stage and glycogen content were influenced by desiccation interval and oysters in the 24-hour treatment were the most likely to spawn. A high-level stress response via the upregulation of heat shock proteins (HSPs) was absent in oysters from the 8- and 24-hour treatments, indicating depressed HSP expression (and cellular protection) among the most stressed oysters. Future research into the importance of environmental factors during desiccation (air temperature, wind, humidity, etc.) could yield useful information to allow oyster farmers to target desiccation during optimal conditions, potentially limiting oyster exposure time in order to minimize oyster stress. Fouling reduction was significant in all treatments (4-, 8-, and 24-hour) and most consistent in the longer (8- and 24-hour) treatments. Therefore, a tradeoff is present between biofouling control and yield. Farmers prioritizing minimal biofouling may opt to desiccate for 8 or 24 hours weekly, while farmers seeking to maximize growth rates and minimize oyster stress may opt to desiccate for 4 hours weekly. Individual farmers must consider their own preferences regarding suitability of this husbandry technique, but results suggest that desiccation is an effective approach to biofouling control and can be applied with minimal stress to the oysters

Setting up and running a small-scale business producing high-value foods

Whether you want to start a new business, or improve or diversify an existing operation, this unique text collects for the first time essential information on the demand for high-value foods, their production, marketing and quality management. Aiming to raise awareness of opportunities in high-value foods and ingredients in ACP countries, the handbook also highlights routes to access different types of value chains for these products. Clearly laid out, with helpful summaries and ‘tips for success’, this comprehensive publication presents numerous real-life case studies to inspire entrepreneurs to improve their production and profitability

What Works in Conservation 2021

This book provides an assessment of the effectiveness of 2526 conservation interventions based on summarized scientific evidence. The 2021 edition contains substantial new material on bat conservation, terrestrial mammal conservation and marine and freshwater mammals, thus completing the evidence for all mammal species categories. Other chapters cover practical global conservation of primates, amphibians, bats, birds, forests, peatlands, subtidal benthic invertebrates, shrublands and heathlands, as well as the conservation of European farmland biodiversity and some aspects of enhancing natural pest control, enhancing soil fertility, management of captive animals and control of freshwater invasive species. It contains key results from the summarized evidence for each conservation intervention and an assessment of the effectiveness of each by international expert panels. The accompanying website www.conservationevidence.com describes each of the studies individually, and provides full references. This is the sixth author-approved edition of What Works in Conservation, which is revised on an annual basis

A Risk Benefit Analysis of Mariculture as a means to Reduce the Impacts of Terrestrial Production of Food and Energy

The Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum (SARF) and WWF-UK commissioned this study to investigate whether the pressure on land and freshwater for future food and energy resources, and impacts on the climate, related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, may be reduced through expansion of global mariculture. The study has undertaken a high level assessment of the ‘environmental footprint’ of global mariculture and terrestrial-based food and energy production systems through the collation and assessment of available Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) for key food products (beef, pork, chicken, freshwater finfish, marine finfish, shellfish and crustacean species) and biomass (terrestrial and algal) for energy production. The outputs of the footprint comparison were then used to assess the risks and benefits of increasing global mariculture, through the development of projected future scenarios in which mariculture contributes differing proportions of projected future food requirements. The analysis also qualitatively considered the socio-economic and wider environmental risks and benefits (e.g. in relation to ecosystem services) of global mariculture expansion, where expansion may occur geographically and whether future technological developments may help mitigate against identified impacts. The study identifies the key uncertainties and limitations of the risk/benefit analysis and makes prioritised recommendations on how these limitations can be addressed and the analysis developed for more regional or site-specific assessments