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This doctoral thesis explores a paradigm of sustainable land use in the oases along the Tarim River of northwest China, where a fragile, semi-arid riparian ecosystem is being deteriorated by excessive land and water use for agriculture, in particular for the growing of cotton. This situation poses a grave threat not only to the natural Tugai vegetation in the area but also to the long-term sustainability of the region.
We explore the hypothesis that the species Apocynum pictum may act as a sustainable crop substitute for the region, thereby replacing the water-demanding and widely distributed cash crop, cotton. This idea is motivated by the former having a lower water demand, as well as a number of other traditional and modern uses. To substantiate this hypothesis, a multidisciplinary research scheme has been designed, permitting the analyses of both the ecological and socio-economic potentials of this plant, its potential benefits relative to cotton and a comprehensive analysis of its productivity, water demand and economic potentials. This analysis is divided into three distinct sections.
Biomass and nutrient analysis: Field investigations were conducted to sample biomass and map the spatial distribution of Apocynum pictum (abbreviated as A. pictum) at five selected sites. At each site, 3-5 plots were randomly selected and the point center quarter method, as outlined by Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg (1974), was applied for biomass sampling. Concurrently, soil profiles were dug at each site so as to obtain soil samples from the various layers and electrical conductivity was measured as a mean of investigating soil salinity. These steps are essential for determining the physical and production basis for alternative land-use considerations.
The results obtained show that the total above-ground biomass ranges from 0.6 t/ha (Qongaral 1) to 1.25 t/ha (Xayar 1), and that the total below-ground biomass of A. pictum is at 11.25 ± 5.41 t/ha. The biomass of A. pictum, relatively moderate when compared to other steppe and desert ecosystems, reflects strains of soil and water conditions for plant growth in desert margins.
Evapotranspiration and water budget: Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key component of water balance and is closely linked to ecosystem productivity. Climate parameters were measured with mobile climate stations to calculate reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) via the Penman-Monteith equation. Diurnal foliar transpiration and conductance were measured with a porometer to calculate canopy resistance. Leaf samples were photographed and analyzed for the leaf area index (LAI) in the study area so as to calculate crop evapotranspiration under standard conditions (ETc) and crop factors (Kc). Finally, the water consumptions of A. pictum and cotton were calculated and compared so as to identify which is better suited for dry environments.
The results show that cotton in this study attained a high yield compared to the world average, and at a rather low ETc. Among the three plants tested, A. pictum required the least amount of water during the vegetation season with 217.2 mm a year, while the Chinese red date came close second with 339 mm and cotton was least water-efficient with 524.7 mm, thus demonstrating the viability of A. pictum as an alternative with significant water-saving potential.
Economic analysis: Purposive sampling was used, with relevant participants in the study being approached by flow population and snowballing or chain sampling methods. The desired information was then obtained via a structured-questionnaire survey. Three natural resource management types of Apocynum were identified and a cost-revenue analysis was carried out for each.
The results show that all three types of institutional arrangements – open access, ranching and farming – are present in our study and at various levels. Apocynum costs 1083.35 Yuan/mu, generates 3267.63 Yuan/mu of revenue from raw materials and brings a profit of 2184 Yuan/mu – the highest among of all three cash crops compared.
We conclude that A. pictum offers opportunities for the restoration of vegetation in riparian ecosystems on salinized sites under the arid conditions of the Tarim Basin, while also serving as a viable land-use alternative to cotton for cash crop agriculture, as it may generate a certain income in the form of tea and fibers, as well as fodder for livestock.
This dissertation consists of three articles that point out new perspectives on private equity and leverage buyouts, and enrich the current state of research through considerable efforts to better understand how private equity is creating value and how macroeconomic conditions affect the debt side:
1. Ilg, Daniel. Long-Run Relationship between Default Rates and Macroeconomic Variables in the US Leveraged Loan Market. The Journal of Fixed Income 24, no. 3 (2015): 64-76; http://www.iijournals.com/doi/abs/10.3905/jfi.2014.24.3.064 oder http://dx.doi.org/10.3905/jfi.2014.24.3.064
2. Ilg, Daniel. Value Creation Drivers in Large Leveraged Buyouts (June 18, 2015); http://ssrn.com/abstract=2621525
3. Ilg, Daniel. Firm-Specific Triggers of LBO Defaults (April 22, 2015); http://ssrn.com/abstract=2619821 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2619821
The first article deals with the influence of macroeconomic changes on the default rates of private equity loans. It identifies significant variables which have strong and significant predictive power on the LBO default rates in the U.S. market.
The second article, deals with the value creation levers which investors use to create value in their portfolio companies. This research casts light on the impact of the holding period, the effects of divesting activities and expectations about the future shape of the economy on the performance of deals.
The third article deals with firm-specific triggers of LBO defaults. Asset liquidation potential as an additional source of cash flow available for servicing debt, the valuation of the investment, the strength of the negotiated covenants, the pressure of the target's refinancing need, and the stage of the fund's life cycle.
Tourism studies have understood tourism as a “Western” phenomenon, which tended to neglect the presence of “non-Western” tourists and to over-generalise the application and universality of their theories. By now, tourism has become a global phenomenon with growing numbers of “emergent tourists”, especially from China. However, its quantitative importance, the touristic performances of this source market, and especially those of Chinese outbound organized mass tourists in western tourism stages continue to be under-researched. Moreover, the analysis of the Chinese outbound tourism phenomena encompasses mostly economic and business driven-studies and reports, which look for homogeneity instead of plurality of voices.
Drawing from all of the above, the aim of this interdisciplinary research is, therefore, to explore and provide further understanding of the tourism performances of Chinese outbound organized mass tourists on German tourism stages. To achieve this, the research draws on the performance approach in tourism research.
The research is based on a phenomenological approach. Part of the study’s field research was conducted largely from 2011 to 2012, both in China and Germany. In China, information was gathered by using open and semi-structured in-depth expert interviews with representatives from the Chinese tourism industry, tourism boards, as well as with tourism academics. In Germany, the ethnographic fieldwork consisted of participant observations, semi-structured interviews and short questionnaires to Chinese outbound tourist members of group package tours organized by Chinese-German travel companies. Furthermore, expert interviews were conducted with German industry representatives, experts and academics in 2013. As far as the analysis of the field research is concerned, the study relies on the GABEK qualitative method of research analysis supported by the WinRelan 32 software.
As part of the discussion, this research argues that the examination of tourism practices and behaviours of Chinese outbound organized mass tourists under the performance metaphor is able to provide further understanding on the previously neglected tourism consumption of “non-Western” tourists. Within the findings, it was possible to identify both modern und post-modern characteristics of the Chinese outbound organized mass market. This concurs with the recent de-differentiation between the typical tourism binaries (everyday-holiday and home-away) found in tourism theory by acknowledging that everyday conventions and habits inform touristic performances of Chinese tourists in Germany. Moreover, the research presents insights that allow to corroborate the future presence of organized mass tourists in the Chinese outbound market, as well as to de-inferiorise and de–homogenise the segment. With regard to German stages, the research highlights the opportunities and challenges Germany´s tourism industry still has ahead of it. Finally, the study presents a number of implications for future practice, which can be useful to plan a long-term strategy for Chinese outbound tourism.