ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4926-5491
Current Organisation
Murdoch University
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Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 11-09-2019
DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS201909.0115.V1
Abstract: This data descriptor summarizes the process applied to identify, screen, select and gather data from the content of 142 peer-reviewed papers/sources that report on the sources and impacts of recreational disturbance on coastal avifauna. While populations of resident and migratory coastal avifauna are under threat and diminishing rapidly across the planet, and particularly in association with Asian flyways, many governments are leveraging booming global demand for coastal recreation and tourism in order to deliver economic development to regional communities. The summary data shared via this data description was extracted from papers collected in a systematic literature review that was designed to explore the global literature on the recreational disturbance of coastal avifauna in order to elucidate the state of the global knowledge regarding this issue and to identify management strategies that could be applied at tropical Asian destinations to minimize the impacts of recreational disturbance and thus enhance the ecological sustainability of coastal recreation and tourism across the region. The data shared via the Excel worksheet associated with this data descriptor was extracted from peer-reviewed articles published in English between 1 January 2000 and the 31 December 2018 with the full text of the article available online. These articles were found by searching several online indexing several databases including Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest and Google Scholar.
Publisher: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Date: 05-2018
DOI: 10.20867/THM.24.1.2
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 27-08-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 21-08-2019
DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS201908.0226.V1
Abstract: The first two decades of the 21st-century have seen the emergence of the modern citizen science movement, increased demand for niche eco and wildlife tourism experiences, and the willingness of people to voluntarily share information and photographs online. To varying extents, the rapid growth of these three phenomena has been driven by the availability of portable smart devices, access to the Web 2.0 internet from almost anywhere on the planet, and the development of applications and services, including social media/networking sites (SNSs). In addition, the number of peer-reviewed publications that explore how text and images shared on SNSs can be data-mined for academic research has surged in recent years. This systematic quantitative review has two goals. The first goal is to provide an oversight of how the photographs that ecotourists share online are contributing to wildlife tourism research. The second goal is to promote the emerging photovoice technique as a theoretical context for social research based on the photographs and comments that ecotourists share on SNSs. From the perspectives of community benefits, conservation behaviours, and environmental education, there are many similarities between authentic ecotourism experiences and quality ecological citizen science programs. Much of the literature regarding the theory and practice of citizen science reports on the difficulties of attracting, training, motivating and retaining community members. The synthesis of this review is that crowdsourcing wildlife and tourism data from comments and photographs that ecotourists share on SNSs is a credible method of research that provides a self-replenishing pool of citizen scientists.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 23-10-2020
DOI: 10.3390/F11111128
Abstract: Trees in urban settings are becoming increasingly important as mediators to emerging challenges that transect social, environmental, and economic factors. Trees provide shade absorb and store atmospheric carbon and other pollutants reduce local temperature fluctuations provide essential inner-city fauna habitat assist in reducing over-land stormwater flow provide amenity and provide many more social, environmental, and economic benefits. To secure these benefits, tree canopy cover targets are commonly employed by land managers however, such targets are rarely quantified against the characteristics and limitations of in idual urban centers. Through the generation and interrogation of qualitative and quantitative data, this case study of Perth, Western Australia presents a new conceptual tool that integrates eleven factors found to influence the capacity and opportunity for a city to support urban tree canopy cover. This tool is designed to capture and causally weigh urban tree canopy considerations based on in idual city characteristics, collective values, and identifiable constraints. The output of the tool provides an “optimum” tree canopy cover result (as a percentage of the urban fabric) to better inform canopy cover targets and recommendations for urban tree strategic planning and management. This tool is valuable for urban land managers, city planners, urban designers, and communities in effective planning, management, valuation, and investment regarding urban trees as a sub-set of urban green infrastructure.
Publisher: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
Date: 30-09-2021
Abstract: C ing is a popular activity in the contemporary nature-based tourism domain and rapidly gaining momentum as a key recreational activity in Sri Lanka’s national parks (NPs). Recreational uses such as c ing in natural areas can induce significant and often localised resource impacts that can affect soil, vegetation, wildlife and water, with the severity of such impacts varying according to the intensity of use. Hence, monitoring of the biophysical conditions of c sites has become an important component in the reserve management agenda in many places, especially in developed countries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the biophysical impacts associated with the recreation ecology of c ing in Sri Lanka. Ten c sites from three dry zone NPs were selected to assess biophysical impacts of c ing activities. Field measurements were based on the fixed radial transect method. Gathered data included the total area of the c site, erosion potential measured as the area of exposed soil (devoid of vegetation or organic litter), number of exposed roots and human damage to trees, number of fireplaces/ fire scars on the ground, visual counts of litter, soil compaction measured by penetrometer, loss of woody debris. This study reports significant levels of environmental degradation related to all the indictors of biophysical impacts at both high and low use c sites. There was no evidence for any difference in the level of environmental degradation associated with high and low use c sites. The loss of natural values associated with c sites negatively impacted visitors’ nature-based experience. These findings highlight the importance of managing biophysical impacts in c sites to provide a high-quality visitor experience, while sustainably managing tourism activities in NPs.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-08-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 10-09-2020
DOI: 10.3390/SU12187439
Abstract: Discussion around anthropogenic climate change has occurred for over 100 years. However, in recent decades, these discussions have intensified due to increased confidence in scientific research highlighting adverse effects, increased knowledge breadth in climate science, and heightened public and political awareness and engagement on the topic. Climate change is now acknowledged as one of the biggest challenges and threats to modern lifestyles. Nature-based solutions (NBS), as a mediator and mitigator to adverse climate change effects, is an emerging area of expanding research collateral and practitioner literacy. To highlight current NBS knowledge, existing knowledge gaps, and research trends, a Quantitative Systematic Literature Review (QSLR) was undertaken (n = 54). This QSLR reveals the short temporal span of articles relating to NBS as a response to climate change, with most articles being of a research style format. NBS research focus areas were found to be dominated by ecological and infrastructure approaches to climate change mitigation, and ecological and technical positions were found to be most topical across the current climate change literature. Multiple knowledge gaps were identified by the review, namely the lack of broader conceptual approaches and knowledge acquisition regarding climate change responses via NBS, as well as the psychological relationship humans share with NBS and climate change, adverse or otherwise. These knowledge gaps highlight where future research inquiry may be directed to increase the value and completion of this research area. It is hoped that this QSLR will assist in increasing the profile of NBS in the multidisciplinary and complex response to anthropogenic climate change, as well as contribute to the growth in investment and implementation of NBS assets for a rigid and resilient global future.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1002/GEO2.30
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-11-2018
DOI: 10.3390/DATA3040051
Abstract: This data descriptor summarizes the process applied and data gathered from the contents of 87 peer-reviewed papers/sources reporting on the contribution of public green infrastructure (PGI), in the form of public parks and urban nature spaces, in the context of city liveability and general human health and well-being. These papers were collected in a systematic literature review that informed the design of a questionnaire-based survey of PGI users in Perth, Western Australia. The survey explored visitor satisfaction with the amenities and facilities of the PGI space, and perceptions of the importance of such spaces for city liveability. Papers were sourced by searching over 15,000 databases, including all the major English language academic publishing houses, using the ProQuest Summon® service. Only English language peer-reviewed papers/editorial thought pieces/book chapters that were published since 2000 with the full text available online were considered for this review. The primary search, conducted in December 2016, identified 71 papers, and a supplementary search undertaken in June 2018 identified a further 16 papers that had become discoverable online after the completion of the initial search.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 29-07-2020
DOI: 10.3390/LAND9080252
Abstract: Demand for resources and changing structures of human settlements arising from population growth are impacting via the twin crises of anthropogenic climate change and declining human health. Informed by documentary research, this article explores how Urban Resilience Theory (URT) and Human-Nature Connection Theory (HNCT) can inform urban development that leverages urban green infrastructure (UGI) to mitigate and meditate these two crises. The findings of this article are that UGI can be the foundation for action to reduce the severity and impact of those crises and progress inclusive and sustainable community planning and urban development. In summary, the URT promotes improvement in policy and planning frameworks, risk reduction techniques, adaptation strategies, disaster recovery mechanisms, environmentally sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel energy, the building of social capital, and integration of ecologically sustainable UGI. Further, the HNCT advocates pro-environmental behaviors to increase the amount and accessibility of quality remnant and restored UGI to realize the human health benefits provided by nature, while simultaneously enhancing the ecological ersity and health of indigenous ecosystems. The synthesis of this article postulates that realizing the combined potential of URT and HNCT is essential to deliver healthy urban settlements that accommodate projected urban population growth towards the end of the 21st-century.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-12-2018
DOI: 10.3390/DATA3040069
Abstract: This Data Descriptor shares the dataset generated by a visitor satisfaction survey of users of a mixed-use public green infrastructure (PGI) space in Perth, Western Australia, that incorporates remnant and reintroduced urban nature (UN). Conducted in the Austral summer of 2016–2017, the survey (n = 393) utilized the technique of Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to elucidate perceptions of PGI users regarding performance of the amenity and facilities at the study site. There is a growing body of research that reports the innate, inbuilt affinity of humans to natural systems and living things. As humankind has grown exponentially over the past 50 years, humanity, as a species, is living an increasingly urbanized lifestyle, resulting in spreading urban footprints and increased population densities that are causing humans to become increasingly disconnected from nature. These conflicting phenomena are driving research to understand the contribution that PGI and UN can make to enhancing the quality of life of urban residents. With diminishing opportunities to acquire or create new PGI spaces within ever-more-densely populated urban centers, understanding, efficiently managing, and continuously improving existing PGI spaces is crucial to access the benefits and services that PGI and UN provide. The IPA technique can provide the data necessary to inform an evidenced-based approach to managing and resourcing PGI and UN spaces.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-12-2018
DOI: 10.3390/LAND7040159
Abstract: The widely applied Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) provides relatively simple and straightforward techniques to assess how well the attributes of a good or service perform in meeting the expectations of consumers, clients, users, and visitors. Surprisingly, IPA has rarely been applied to inform the management of urban public green infrastructure (PGI) or urban nature (UN) spaces. This case study explores the visitor satisfaction levels of people using a PGI space that incorporates UN, close to the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. With diminishing opportunities to acquire new PGI spaces within ever more densely populated urban centers, understanding, efficiently managing, and continuously improving existing spaces is crucial to accessing the benefits and services that PGI and UN provide for humankind. An intercept survey conducted within the Lake Claremont PGI space utilized a self-report questionnaire to gather qualitative and quantitative data (n = 393). This case study demonstrates how the IPA tool can assist urban planners and land managers to collect information about the attributes of quality PGI and UN spaces to monitor levels of service, to increase overall efficiency of site management, to inform future management decisions, and to optimize the allocation of scarce resources. The satisfaction of PGI users was analyzed using the IPA tool to determine where performance and/or resourcing of PGI attributes were not congruent with the expectations of PGI users (generally in the form of over-servicing or under-servicing). The IPA demonstrated that a majority of PGI users perceived the study site to be high performing and were satisfied with many of the assessed attributes. The survey identified the potential for some improvement of the amenity and/or infrastructure installations at the site, as well as directing attention towards a more effective utilization of scarce resources. Optimizing the management of PGI spaces will enhance opportunities for in iduals to obtain the physiological, psychological, and emotional benefits that arise from experiencing quality urban PGI spaces. This case study promotes the important contribution that high-quality PGI spaces, which include remnant and restored UN spaces, make to the development of resilient and sustainable urban centers.
Publisher: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.20867/THM.26.2.5
Abstract: Purpose – This paper demonstrates that the recommendations regarding visitor satisfaction and revisit intention reported in the international literature apply to the management of ecolodges in Sri Lanka. Design/Methodology/Approach – Data from 362 self-report questionnaires completed by visitors between January 2014 and January 2015 were analysed by structural modelling using SPSS and AMOS to confirm the significance that reported direct and indirect relationships of the latent factors ecolodge attributes, tourist motives, visitor satisfaction, and revisit intention have for Sri Lankan ecolodges. Findings – Responses of visitors to Sri Lankan ecolodges were like those of ecolodge visitors in other countries. Ecolodge attributes had a strong direct influence on both international tourist motives to visit Sri Lanka and visitor satisfaction. Further, travel motives and satisfaction have a substantial direct influence on tourist intentions to revisit in idual ecolodges and hence Sri Lanka more broadly. Originality of the research – Having confirmed that the factors which influence satisfaction and revisit intention of visitors to Sri Lankan ecolodges are consistent with the research findings from other countries, this is the first study to demonstrate that recommendations from the international ecolodge literature are applicable to and can inform the management and sustainability of ecolodges in Sri Lanka.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-08-2019
DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS201908.0232.V1
Abstract: This data descriptor summarizes the process applied and data gathered from 50 publications apers reporting on the use of photography generated by tourists, tour operators and members of the public, with a particular focus on the crowdsourcing of photographs through online platforms and social networking sites (SNSs) as a method of research for wildlife conservation and ecotourism. The papers were collected in a systematic literature review to inform a pilot study of the feasibility of using SNSs to crowdsource georeferenced photographs of endangered Bornean Pygmy Elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) taken by ecotourists along the Lower Kinabatangan River region of Sabah, Malaysia. Papers were sourced using the Murdoch University Findit online-search tool to search over 100 databases, including Proquest, Scopus and Web of Science. The criteria for a paper to be included in the review (and shared via the dataset attached to this this data descriptor) were that it was peer-reviewed, published in English, between 1997 and the 31 December 2017, had the full text accessible online and reported on a study or studies that utilized photographs that tourists, tour operators and/or members of the public generated and shared via SNSs or online platforms.
Publisher: University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.20867/THM.25.1.8
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 18-12-2018
DOI: 10.3390/LAND7040161
Abstract: Consistent with the Land Urbanism and Green Infrastructure theme of this special issue of Land, the primary goal of this review is to provide a plain language overview of recent literature that reports on the psychological, physiological, general well-being, and wider societal benefits that humans receive as a result of experiencing public green infrastructure (PGI) and nature in urbanized landscapes. This enhanced well-being and the wider societal benefits that accrue to urban dwellers as a result of interacting with quality PGI contributes to the concept known as city or urban livability. The quantitative analysis and theoretical synthesis reported in this review can inform decision makers, stakeholders, and other PGI and urban nature (UN) researchers of the benefits that urban populations receive from experiencing quality PGI spaces and UN and the contribution those spaces make to the livability of urban areas. With diminishing opportunities for the acquisition of new public open space to increase PGI and re-establish UN near urban centers, the efficient management and continuous improvement of existing PGI and UN is essential to promote and foster opportunities for human-to-nature contact and the known benefits therein derived. In addition to identifying an increased research interest and publication of articles that report on the contribution of PGI spaces to urban livability over the past decade, the review identifies and reports on the seven focus areas of PGI-livability research and the six attributes of PGI spaces that the current literatures report as contributing to the livability of urbanized landscapes. After providing a quantitative analysis for the reporting of those research areas and PGI attributes and summarizing key findings reported in the literature regarding the contribution that PGI spaces make to urban livability, this review also identifies knowledge gaps in the published literature and puts forward recommendations for further research in this rapidly expanding multidisciplinary field of research and policy development.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-01-2018
DOI: 10.1002/JTR.2180
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2021
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 08-12-2020
Abstract: Vegetation tr ling that arises from off-trail excursions by people walking for recreation can negatively impact the structure of understory plants in natural spaces that are an essential element of urban green infrastructure in a modern city. In addition to reducing the esthetic quality and environmental values of urban remnant and replanted native vegetation, such tr ling reduces the habitat that supports wildlife populations within the urban fabric. This case study draws upon several disparate methods for measuring vegetation structure and tr ling impacts to produce a hybrid method that community-based citizen scientists (and land managers and other researchers) could use to simply, rapidly, and reproducibly monitor how tr ling associated with urban recreation trails impacts the structure of understory vegetation. Applying the novel hybrid method provided evidence that tr ling had reduced the vegetation structure adjacent to a recreational walking trail in an urban woodland remnant in Perth, Western Australia. The hybrid method also detected ecological variability at the local ecosystem-scale at a second similar woodland remnant in Perth. The hybrid s ling method utilized in this case study provides an effective, efficient, and reproducible data collection method that can be applied to recreation ecology research into aspects of tr ling associated with trail infrastructure.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 24-11-2019
DOI: 10.20944/PREPRINTS201911.0296.V1
Abstract: This pilot study explores the potential of using a citizen science approach for sourcing volunteered geographic information via social media to research wildlife tourism interactions with endangered Borneo Pygmy Elephants on the lower Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Malaysia. Such information is critical if the lower Kinabatangan region is to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through a sustainable tourism industry based around viewing the pygmy elephants. Guests and guides from the Sukau Rainforest Lodge were encouraged to become close-range remote sensors by sharing geotagged photographs of pygmy elephant sightings on Flickr. A ten week on-ground trail generated 247 photographs shared by 17 in idual contributors with approximately two-thirds (65%) of photographs being georeferenced for the time and location of the elephant sighting. Plotting those sighting to explore the vegetation matrix (i.e. remnant forest or oil palm plantation) showed almost three-quarter (73%) of the sightings occurred within 1 km of an oil palm plantation. Of greater concern is that one in two sightings (50%) along the river occurred within the 500 m of an oil palm planation, which is inside the riparian buffer that the Sabah Government recommended for conservation of the elephants in their Lower Kinabatangan range. This study therefore demonstrates proof of concept for this research method and its further application at the nexus of wildlife conservation and sustainable ecotourism research.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 31-12-2019
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to postulate that the technique of Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) is currently underutilised in visitor management studies reported in the peer-reviewed marine wildlife tourism (MWT) research literature. Further, this paper provides insight into how IPA could inform future research and management of tourism experiences at marine wildlife destinations. This paper synthesises learning gained from the natural area tourism and recreation literature that report the application of IPA in MWT and insights from a recent study at the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury, Western Australia. Although currently underutilized in MWT research, IPA is a relatively straightforward, easy to interpret, and, if correctly applied, a powerful tool that managers and researchers can employ to investigate and enhance visitor satisfaction in the short-term and for longer-term sustainability of the industry through visitor-informed tourism management. Having identified the opportunity to enhance visitor experiences, site management and target species welfare through increased IPA research, this review provides a plain language introduction to the application of IPA and direct access to comprehensible academic discourses and exemplars for the technique. Moreover, in light of increasing tourism demand, IPA can assist in determining management options for the future.
No related grants have been discovered for Greg D. Simpson.