Theory in hospitality, tourism, and leisure studies

2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe

Ecological implications of fine-scale fire patchiness and severity in tropical savannas of northern Australia

Research ArticleUnderstanding fine-scale fire patchiness has significant implications for ecological processes and biodiversity conservation. It can affect local extinction of and recolonisation by relatively immobile fauna and poorly seed-dispersed flora in fire-affected areas. This study assesses fine-scale fire patchiness and severity, and associated implications for biodiversity, in north Australian tropical savanna systems. We used line transects to sample burning patterns of ground layer vegetation in different seasons and vegetation structure types, within the perimeter of 35 fires that occurred between 2009 and 2011. We evaluated two main fire characteristics: patchiness (patch density and mean patch length) and severity (inferred from char and scorch heights, and char and ash proportions). The mean burned area of ground vegetation was 83 % in the early dry season (EDS: May to July) and 93 % in the late dry season (LDS: August to November). LDS fires were less patchy (smaller and fewer unburned patches), and had higher fire severity (higher mean char and scorch heights, and twice the proportion of ash) than EDS fires. Fire patchiness varied among vegetation types, declining under more open canopy structure. The relationship between burned area and fire severity depended on season, being strongly correlated in the EDS and uncorrelated in the LDS. Simulations performed to understand the implications of patchiness on the population dynamics of fire-interval sensitive plant species showed that small amounts of patchiness substantially enhance survival. Our results indicate that the ecological impacts of high frequency fires on firesensitive regional biodiversity elements are likely to be lower than has been predicted from remotely sensed studies that are based on assumptions of homogeneous burninginfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Eight new luminous z = 6 quasars discovered via SED model fitting of VISTA, WISE and Dark Energy Survey Year 1 observations

We present the discovery and spectroscopic confirmation with the ESO NTT and Gemini South telescopes of eight new 6.0 < z < 6.5 quasars with z$_{AB}$ < 21.0. These quasars were photometrically selected without any star-galaxy morphological criteria from 1533 deg$^{2}$ using SED model fitting to photometric data from the Dark Energy Survey (g, r, i, z, Y), the VISTA Hemisphere Survey (J, H, K) and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (W1, W2). The photometric data was fitted with a grid of quasar model SEDs with redshift dependent Lyman-{\alpha} forest absorption and a range of intrinsic reddening as well as a series of low mass cool star models. Candidates were ranked using on a SED-model based $\chi^{2}$-statistic, which is extendable to other future imaging surveys (e.g. LSST, Euclid). Our spectral confirmation success rate is 100% without the need for follow-up photometric observations as used in other studies of this type. Combined with automatic removal of the main types of non-astrophysical contaminants the method allows large data sets to be processed without human intervention and without being over run by spurious false candidates. We also present a robust parametric redshift estimating technique that gives comparable accuracy to MgII and CO based redshift estimators. We find two z $\sim$ 6.2 quasars with HII near zone sizes < 3 proper Mpc which could indicate that these quasars may be young with ages < 10$^6$ - 10$^7$ years or lie in over dense regions of the IGM. The z = 6.5 quasar VDESJ0224-4711 has J$_{AB}$ = 19.75 is the second most luminous quasar known with z > 6.5

Profiling Taiwanese ecotourists using a self-definition approach

Numerous studies have profiled ecotourists but these have been done mainly in the context of North American ecotourists. This study provides one of the few examinations of the rapidly developing Asian ecotourism market in the context of domestic visitation to Taiwan's Taroko National Park. The study uses an innovative self-defined approach to defining an ecotourist. Findings include demographic results, benefits sought, travel motivation, and activities. Comparisons between Taiwanese and North American ecotourists are also made. © 2004 C.H. Tao et al.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Food tourism, policy and sustainability: Behind the popularity of Thai food

Behind the success of Thailand’s food tourism lies national strategies and initiatives promoting the globalisation of Thai food. This chapter analyses government policies related to the food and tourism industries and investigates the evolution of food production and food tourism development in terms of food supply and sustainable food tourism. The economic sustainability of food production and distribution has been the focus of the past 17 years of Thai food policies. Meanwhile, the approach to gastrodiplomacy has successfully created positive images and global awareness of Thainess and increased inbound food tourism to the country. While the sustainability of the food supply chain has not yet been incorporated into food tourism, the potential for gastrodiplomacy to be implemented in the tourism sector is discussed in terms of tourists’ engagement with the different stages of the food supply chain, and how sustainability will in time be achieved through food tourism