Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Restoration strategie'

The human presence and activities affect the environmental quality of water bodies in different ways. Pressures concern various aspects of the overall environmental quality and their effects are cumulative and synergic. That’s why an integrated approach is needed to understand and assess the importance of each kind of stressors and to define restoration strategies. The research work carried out in the last three years and shown in this thesis concerns impaired river ecosystems and includes, in particular: 1) Integrated study of chemical, hydrological and biological aspects of impaired rivers, especially those affected by multiple alterations in urban environments and, thus, wastewater treatment plant effluent dominated. A case study (Lura stream) is presented. 2) Development of analytical methods for determining organic micropollutants (PAHs, triazines and their main transformation products) in a wide range of surface and wastewater samples (coming from different environments in Italy and Spain) and, consequently, for evaluating the contamination from wastewater treatment plant discharges. 3) Evaluation of the organic micropollutant removal efficiencies of wastewater treatment plants and comparison of the concentrations measured in effluent samples to the environmental quality objectives fixed for surface waters, as most of the receptor flow is made by the discharged effluent itself. 4) Study of the performance of a demonstration scale constructed wetland in removing inorganic and organic contamination from wastewater treatment plant effluents, as a possible strategy for impaired river restoration.

This thesis proposes new algorithms for restoration strategies that provision bandwidth guaranteed recovery for unicast and multicast connections. The primary focus is on online restoration strategies that sequentially do pre-planning of resource for each request using the current network resource state. Online restoration strategies do not require prior knowledge of all the requests like that of offline restoration strategies. Therefore, online restoration strategies are more suitable for on-demand and dynamic traffic engineering control. The proposed new algorithms are compared to known algorithms from literature. Most literature evaluates the performance of the algorithms with two metrics only: total bandwidth requirement and the number of requests accepted in the network. This thesis evaluates the algorithms in one additional dimension: the computational time. This is an important criterion when response times for establishing new connections are stringent. Each algorithm makes trade-off between computational complexity, bandwidth efficiency, and number of accepted requests. Results show that the proposed algorithms provide alternative trade-offs between the three performance metrics when compared to other existing algorithms. The alternatives provide more choice for the network providers and the best algorithm to use depends on the network's requirements. The restoration strategies used for unicast and multicast connections in this thesis are very compatible thus it is possible to integrate the restoration strategies into a single system where they share the same backup resources. Results from simulations show that using an integrated restoration model has significant benefits, which includes lower backup bandwidth requirement than the separate restoration model.

Libertines’ behaviour does not go unnoticed at Charles II’s licentious court. Social figures of the Restoration age, libertines have a strong Hobbist sense of self-preservation which mingles with an inclination towards the pleasures of life, yet, the inability to find a compromise with society causes their social failure. However, the theatrical dimension seems the only one where libertines, as comic characters, can freely perform their credos. The purpose of this study is to offer a metatheatrical reading of libertine characters drawing on some metatheatrical concerns. The libertine’s conscious appropriation of the genre’s tools unmasks, beneath the fictional stage, a real society made of excesses and creates, in a process which often involves the audience, an alternative theatrical reality. Firstly, the character will be analysed on a plot-level in the roles of the ‘trickster’ and the ‘director’. Secondly, the character’s performative use of language and his overpowering wit shows him mastering language with an awareness alien to the other characters. The final chapter explores the idea of dramatic irony in the aged-old metaphor of theatrum mundi through phenomenological lenses. The study will consider the forty-year period from 1660 to 1700, in particular, selected comedies of Dryden, Etherege, Wycherley, Behn and Congreve will be used to provide examples of the aforementioned concepts.

Land areas being used unsustainably are depleted and/or degraded. To prevent this from happening and/or to reverse the effects, we need to restore these environments. However, not all restoration practices are equal, and some do not adhere to rigorous standards of sustainability. In this study, restoration guidelines and opinions from field experts were analysed from an SSD perspective. The focus of this thesis was limestone quarries in northern Europe due to quarries’ impacts to the socio-ecological system and the sensitivity of northern ecosystems. The results were divided into two sub-sections: FSSD comparison to guidelines, which included an SP analysis to principles in guidelines, and interviews. The conclusion was that the SSD approach could enhance these quarry restoration guidelines by incorporating the recommendations formulated from the results and discussion. One recommendation was having the eight SPs as overarching boundaries for success. Incorporating these recommendations would fill the sustainability gaps, aiding in the practitioner's ability to be strategic and have long-term success within sustainable limits.

Faecal incontinence is a major public health issue that has yet to be adequately addressed. The reported prevalence of postpartum faecal incontinence ranges from 3% to 29%, with obstetric trauma being the most common cause of faecal incontinence. Trauma is often attributed to injury of the anal sphincter muscles. New therapies to restore continence are emerging which combine minimally invasive procedures with restoration of functional sphincter muscle. The aim of the research undertaken in this thesis was to evaluate the use of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) microspheres for delivery of muscle precursor cells to regenerate injured skeletal muscle. The objectives were as follows: (a) to test the feasibility of attaching muscle precursor cells to the surface of TIPS microspheres; (b) to characterize the phenotypic status of cells attached to the TIPS microspheres; (c) to demonstrate targeted cell delivery using TIPS microspheres; and (d) to investigate the engraftment of cells delivered via TIPS microspheres into host tissue. Major findings of this thesis indicated that the development of a static–dynamic culture technique successfully attached muscle precursor cells to the surface of TIPS microspheres. The technique produced a uniform distribution of cells across the surface of the TIPS microsphere within 24 hours. Cells attached to TIPS microspheres were phenotypically characterized at a gene and protein level. Muscle precursor cells were demonstrated to show an increase in both mRNA and protein expression of cell contractile apparatus. The delivery technique showed no apparent cell membrane damage upon delivery, with substantial cell migration off the TIPS microspheres for delivery in vitro and in vivo. Preliminary findings of an in vivo delivery study showed localized delivery, migration, integration of cells with host tissue, and evidence of myotube formation. The current research supports further study of muscle precursor cells delivered via TIPS microspheres. The concepts developed in this thesis offer a novel approach to regenerating a skeletal muscle tear for obstetric trauma-induced faecal incontinence.

Includes bibliographical references.
Karoo rangelands exhibit spatial and temporal patterns that have important implications for the livestock industry. Spatially, there are gradients, often abrupt, in ecosystem structure and functioning, while plant composition and productivity are highly variable over time. A predictive understanding of these patterns, and the processes that cause them, is a prerequisite for developing appropriate restoration strategies. This thesis comprises several studies that attempt to relate vegetation patterns and processes to restoration strategies in southern Africa's Succulent- and Nama karoo ecosystems. One hypothesis is that small-scale changes in soil physical and chemical properties are responsible for the fine-scale patterning evident in winter-rainfall Succulent karoo ecosystems. Alternatively, these patterns could be the result of area-selective grazing by livestock. To evaluate these hypotheses, plant and soil data were collected along soil- and grazing gradients radiating from a watering point in a Succulent karoo landscape. Results indicated that properties influencing soil hydrology and nutrient status are important determinants of pattern, and that long-term area-selective grazing can permanently change some of these properties. The hypothesis that the stasis of severely degraded patches in this biosphere is a consequence of poor water infiltration and seed limitation was tested in a restoration experiment. It appeared that natural seed availability is not limiting, but water infiltration has to be improved to initiate the restoration process. Removal of shrub material in long-ungrazed and moribund areas on the outer perimeter of the biosphere, had a positive impact in releasing resources for more seedlings and young growth, but did not alter plant species richness. Stocking rate, composition and management of livestock profoundly influence the dynamics and composition of summer-rainfall Nama karoo vegetation. Proponents of non-selective grazing (NSG) argue that the periodic concentration in high densities of livestock in small areas, followed by long resting periods, improves vegetation composition as a consequence of low grazing selectivity, and enhances vegetation productivity and soil ecosystem processes as a result of intense hoof-action, dunging and urination impacts. Despite its application in farming systems, no studies have yet tested the predictions of NSG. I evaluated the effects of NSG on the soils and vegetation of Nama karoo rangeland in a fully replicated experiment. NSG did not alter the fertile-patch matrix, but improved soil infiltration. Plant compositional and cover changes could not be related to NSG. Rainfall was a much stronger driving force. I also explored the economics of NSG at the farm scale under different rainfall and stocking scenarios. An ecological-economic model predicted that NSG would be a viable option in higher rainfall (>200mm) areas because of the forage buffering capacity which enables the manager to maintain livestock through unpredictable droughts. Restoration strategies for the Succulent Karoo have to focus on the resource-retention capacity of the soils. Livestock can reduce this capacity; low-stocking, flexible farming systems are therefore recommended for these more fragile ecosystems. Livestock in the more resilient Nama Karoo can be managed in a NSG system that can lead to an improvement in ecosystem functioning and maintain productivity in times of drought.

Doutoramento em Biologia e Ecologia das Alterações Globais
É crucial entender o impacto das alterações climáticas nos ecossistemas áridos, pois estas poderão agravar a desertificação e degradação dos solos, comprometendo o funcionamento dos ecossistemas e os serviços a eles associados. Os atributos funcionais ligam as espécies aos processos do ecossistema, fornecendo um entendimento mecanicista da sua resposta ao clima. O principal objectivo desta tese foi modelar a resposta de ecossistemas áridos ao clima com base em atributos funcionais de plantas (AFP), usando um gradiente climático espacial para prever alterações no tempo. Pretendeu-se assim selecionar um indicador baseado em AFP para monitorizar os efeitos do clima, e contribuir para melhorar as estratégias de gestão e restauro de zonas áridas. Embora a maioria das métricas de diversidade funcional requeiram a quantificação dos AFP no campo, não existia consenso sobre qual o melhor método para ser usado à escala global. Comparámos diferentes métodos, e demonstrámos as vantagens do método dos quadrados pontuais na monitorização de fina-escala dos AFP em zonas áridas. Desconhecia-se quais os principais AFP que respondiam à aridez, o que é essencial para o seu uso como indicadores de alterações no ecossistema. Identificámos nove AFP que respondem à aridez. Esta afectou a respectiva média, e reduziu a diversidade funcional. O uso de gradientes climáticos no espaço para prever alterações no tempo, requer a comparação de ambos os padrões, para a respectiva validação. Verificámos que as variações climáticas entre anos afectam os AFP, indicando que as mudanças funcionais são transitórias. Contudo, a diversidade funcional diminuiu em condições climáticas mais limitantes. Assim, face a uma maior aridez, espera-se que os padrões de resposta no tempo convirjam para os verificados no espaço. Os AFP podem responder de forma mais previsível ao clima do que a diversidade de espécies. Desenvolvemos um indicador de diversidade funcional baseado em múltiplos AFP, que diminuiu de forma monotónica não-linear com a aridez, mostrando ter maior capacidade preditora da resposta ao clima do que a diversidade de espécies. Os factores biofísicos locais modulam o efeito do clima na vegetação. Verificámos que os factores topo-edáficos têm um papel chave nos AFP envolvidos na colonização por arbustos. Os factores climáticos pouco influíram, sugerindo que as alterações climáticas não promoverão a colonização por arbustos. Os AFP podem ser uma ferramenta essencial no restauro de zonas áridas. Apresentámos uma visão geral sobre projectos de restauro, mostrando a necessidade de uma melhor integração dos AFP no restauro de zonas áridas. Ao demonstrar que os AFP são indicadores consistentes do impacto do clima nos ecossistemas, contribuímos para melhorar as previsões dos efeitos das alterações climáticas nas zonas áridas, e desenvolvemos um indicador que pode ser usado para mapear áreas em risco de desertificação e degradação do solo, potencialmente a uma escala global.
It is crucial to anticipate the impacts of climate change on drylands, as it may aggravate desertification and land degradation, hampering ecosystems functioning and associated services. Functional traits determine species’ responses to environment, and their influence on ecosystem processes, thus providing a mechanistic tool to monitor ecosystems’ response to climate. The main aim of this thesis was to model the response of Mediterranean dryland ecosystems to climate, based on plant functional traits (PFT), using a spatial climatic gradient to predict changes over time. It aimed at selecting a traitbased indicator to track climate change effects on drylands, and contribute to improve land management and restoration strategies to mitigate land degradation. Although most trait-based metrics require the quantification of PFT in the field, there is no consensus about the best plant-sampling method to do it, to be used at a global scale. By comparing the performance of different methods, we demonstrated the advantages of the point-intercept method to perform fine-scale monitoring of PFT in drylands. Understanding which PFT respond to climate is essential to their use as indicators of ecosystems´ changes. Yet, this is not well established in drylands. We identified nine PFT responding to aridity. It affected PFT means, and reduced functional diversity. Studying climatic gradients in space to infer changes over time, requires a validation between the two. We found that inter-annual climatic fluctuations greatly affected PFT, indicating that functional changes are transitory. Yet, functional diversity was reduced under more limiting climatic conditions. Hence, we hypothesize that if drier conditions prevail in time, changes over time will approach those found along space. PFT are likely to respond in a more predictable way to environment than species diversity. We built a multi-trait functional diversity indicator, which showed a monotonic non-linear decrease with increasing aridity, responding in a more predictable way to climate than species diversity. Local biophysical factors modulate the effect of climate on plant communities. We explored the relative effect of these factors, and found that topo-edaphic factors played a major role shaping PFT associated to shrub encroachment. Climatic factors had a minor influence, suggesting that climate change will not promote shrub encroachment in Mediterranean drylands. PFT may be an important tool to improve dryland restoration. We provide a comprehensive overview of the current restoration practice in Mediterranean drylands, showing the need for a better integration of trait-based ecology into dryland restoration. By showing that PFT are consistent indicators of the impact of climate on dryland ecosystems, this work contributed to improve predictions on the effects of climate change on drylands, and enabled the development of a trait-based indicator which can be used to map areas at risk of desertification and land degradation, potentially at a global scale.

I evaluated the spatial and temporal patterns of the avian communities in the Colorado River delta, Mexico, and their relationship with vegetation type and surface water. I also developed plausible conservation and restoration guidelines for riparian areas and native birds in the region. The study included monthly point counts at 30 transects (240 points) from May 2002 to July 2003, breeding counts at 175 sites (3 times per year) during 2002 and 2003, and habitat measurements at the survey points.The most common species were Mourning Doves, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Brown-headed Cowbirds, but another 64 species were commonly found, including Verdins, Song Sparrows, Yellow-breasted Chats and Abert's Towhees. Surface water was the most important habitat feature related to avian richness and density regardless of vegetation type or land cover (P < 0.005). During summer, species richness was explained by variations in water and the cover of cottonwoods (r2 = 0.56, P < 0.001), and the variation in bird densities was explained by variations in water and the cover of willows (r2 = 0.35, P = 0.003).When comparing native versus saltcedar dominated sites, both with the presence (wet) or absence (dry) of surface water, the diversity of birds was more influenced by the presence of water than by vegetation type. Bird abundance was more influenced by vegetation type, but water also had an important effect, as wet sites had higher bird abundance than dry sites with the same vegetation type, and saltcedar wet areas had similar avian abundance to native dry sites. On all cases, the presence of water was an important factor determining the ecological value, in terms of avian richness, abundance, and diversity, of both native riparian and saltcedar areas. Saltcedar areas with surface water had avian characteristics similar to native riparian sites.The dedication of instream flows and pulse floods, the maintenance of vegetation cover and structural diversity, and an increase of older riparian stands will secure the viability of existing bird populations and will increase the probability of recovery of the species that are still extirpated from the floodplain of the Colorado River in Mexico.

The proposal focuses on phasing scenario and identify how to treat the monument intact, but she fully exploit the current way. These phases are hierarchically established, without continuing into the next stage. Because the mill building to respond flexibly to the specific needs of communities. The concept is based on the gradual additive laminate and function. Layering and arise solely the premises, but also the interconnections, which between them generate more interaction. Each material has its own particular character and its own hierarchy towards other functional masses.

L’introduction de dégradations lors du processus de formation d’images est un phénomène inévitable: les images souffrent de flou et de la présence de bruit. Avec les progrès technologiques et les outils numériques, ces dégradations peuvent être compensées jusqu’à un certain point. Cependant, la qualité des images acquises est insuffisante pour de nombreuses applications. Cette thèse contribue au domaine de la restauration d’images. La thèse est divisée en cinq chapitres, chacun incluant une discussion détaillée sur différents aspects de la restauration d’images. La thèse commence par une présentation générale des systèmes d’imagerie et pointe les dégradations qui peuvent survenir ainsi que leurs origines. Dans certains cas, le flou peut être considéré stationnaire dans tout le champ de vue et est alors simplement modélisé par un produit de convolution. Néanmoins, dans de nombreux cas de figure, le flou est spatialement variable et sa modélisation est plus difficile, un compromis devant être réalisé entre la précision de modélisation et la complexité calculatoire. La première partie de la thèse présente une discussion détaillée sur la modélisation des flous spatialement variables et différentes approximations efficaces permettant de les simuler. Elle décrit ensuite un modèle de formation de l’image générique. Puis, la thèse montre que la restauration d’images peut s’interpréter comme un problème d’inférence bayésienne et ainsi être reformulé en un problème d’optimisation en grande dimension. La deuxième partie de la thèse considère alors la résolution de problèmes d’optimisation génériques, en grande dimension, tels que rencontrés dans de nombreux domaines applicatifs. Une nouvelle classe de méthodes d’optimisation est proposée pour la résolution des problèmes inverses en imagerie. Les algorithmes proposés sont aussi rapides que l’état de l’art (d’après plusieurs comparaisons expérimentales) tout en supprimant la difficulté du réglage de paramètres propres à l’algorithme d’optimisation, ce qui est particulièrement utile pour les utilisateurs. La troisième partie de la thèse traite du problème de la déconvolution aveugle (estimation conjointe d’un flou invariant et d’une image plus nette) et suggère différentes façons de contraindre ce problème d’estimation. Une méthode de déconvolution aveugle adaptée à la restauration d’images astronomiques est développée. Elle se base sur une décomposition de l’image en sources ponctuelles et sources étendues et alterne des étapes de restauration de l’image et d’estimation du flou. Les résultats obtenus en simulation suggèrent que la méthode peut être un bon point de départ pour le développement de traitements dédiés à l’astronomie. La dernière partie de la thèse étend les modèles de flous spatialement variables pour leur mise en oeuvre pratique. Une méthode d’estimation du flou est proposée dans une étape d’étalonnage. Elle est appliquée à un système expérimental, démontrant qu’il est possible d’imposer des contraintes de régularité et d’invariance lors de l’estimation du flou. L’inversion du flou estimé permet ensuite d’améliorer significativement la qualité des images. Les deux étapes d’estimation du flou et de restauration forment les deux briques indispensables pour mettre en oeuvre, à l’avenir, une méthode de restauration aveugle (c’est à dire, sans étalonnage préalable). La thèse se termine par une conclusion ouvrant des perspectives qui pourront être abordées lors de travaux futurs
Degradations of images during the acquisition process is inevitable; images suffer from blur and noise. With advances in technologies and computational tools, the degradations in the images can be avoided or corrected up to a significant level, however, the quality of acquired images is still not adequate for many applications. This calls for the development of more sophisticated digital image restoration tools. This thesis is a contribution to image restoration. The thesis is divided into five chapters, each including a detailed discussion on different aspects of image restoration. It starts with a generic overview of imaging systems, and points out the possible degradations occurring in images with their fundamental causes. In some cases the blur can be considered stationary throughout the field-of-view, and then it can be simply modeled as convolution. However, in many practical cases, the blur varies throughout the field-of-view, and thus modeling the blur is not simple considering the accuracy and the computational effort. The first part of this thesis presents a detailed discussion on modeling of shift-variant blur and its fast approximations, and then it describes a generic image formation model. Subsequently, the thesis shows how an image restoration problem, can be seen as a Bayesian inference problem, and then how it turns into a large-scale numerical optimization problem. Thus, the second part of the thesis considers a generic optimization problem that is applicable to many domains, and then proposes a class of new optimization algorithms for solving inverse problems in imaging. The proposed algorithms are as fast as the state-of-the-art algorithms (verified by several numerical experiments), but without any hassle of parameter tuning, which is a great relief for users. The third part of the thesis presents an in depth discussion on the shift-invariant blind image deblurring problem suggesting different ways to reduce the ill-posedness of the problem, and then proposes a blind image deblurring method using an image decomposition for restoration of astronomical images. The proposed method is based on an alternating estimation approach. The restoration results on synthetic astronomical scenes are promising, suggesting that the proposed method is a good candidate for astronomical applications after certain modifications and improvements. The last part of the thesis extends the ideas of the shift-variant blur model presented in the first part. This part gives a detailed description of a flexible approximation of shift-variant blur with its implementational aspects and computational cost. This part presents a shift-variant image deblurring method with some illustrations on synthetically blurred images, and then it shows how the characteristics of shift-variant blur due to optical aberrations can be exploited for PSF estimation methods. This part describes a PSF calibration method for a simple experimental camera suffering from optical aberration, and then shows results on shift-variant image deblurring of the images captured by the same experimental camera. The results are promising, and suggest that the two steps can be used to achieve shift-variant blind image deblurring, the long-term goal of this thesis. The thesis ends with the conclusions and suggestions for future works in continuation of the current work

Optical networks based on Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology show many clear benefits in terms of high capacity, flexibility and low power consumption. All these benefits make WDM networks the preferred choice for today’s and future transports solutions which are strongly driven by a plethora of emerging online services. In such a scenario, capability to provide high capacity during the service provisioning phase is of course very important, but it is not the only requirement that plays a central role. Traffic dynamicity is another essential aspect to consider because in many scenarios, e.g., in the case of real time multimedia services, the connections are expected to be provisioned and torn down quickly and relatively frequently. High traffic dynamicity may put a strain on the network control and management operations (i.e., the overhead due to control message exchange can grow rapidly) that coordinate any provisioning mechanisms. Furthermore, survivability, in the presence of new failure scenarios that goes beyond the single failure assumption, is still of the utmost importance to minimize the network disruptions and data losses. In other words, protection against any possible future failure scenario where multiple faults may struck simultaneously, asks for highly reliable provisioning solutions. The above consideration have a general validity i.e., can be equally applied to any network segment and not just limited to the core part. So, we also address the problem of service provisioning in the access paradigm. Long reach Passive Optical Networks (PONs) are gaining popularity due to their cost, reach, and bandwidth advantages in the access region. In PON, the design of an efficient bandwidth sharing mechanism between multiple subscribers in the upstream direction is crucial. In addition, Long Reach PONs (LR-PONs) introduces additional challenges in terms of packet delay and network throughput, due to their extended reach. It becomes apparent that effective solutions to the connection provisioning problem in both the core and access optical networks with respect to the considerations made above can ensure a truly optimal end-to-end connectivity while making an efficient usage of resources. The first part of this thesis focuses on a control and management framework specifically designed for concurrent resource optimization in WDM-based optical networks in a highly dynamic traffic scenario. The framework and the proposed provisioning strategies are specifically designed with the objective of: (i) allowing for a reduction of the blocking probability and the control overhead in a Path Computation Element (PCE)-based network architecture, (ii)  optimizing resource utilization for a traffic scenario that require services with diverse survivability requirements which are achieved by means of  dedicated and shared path-protection, and (iii) designing provisioning mechanism that guarantees high connection availability levels in Double Link Failures (DLF) scenarios. The presented results show that the proposed dynamic provisioning approach can significantly improve the network blocking performance while making an efficient use of primary/backup resources whenever protection is required by the provisioned services. Furthermore, the proposed DLF schemes show good performance in terms of minimizing disruption periods, and allowing for enhanced network robustness when specific services require high connection availability levels. In the second part of this thesis, we propose efficient resource provisioning strategies for LR-PON. The objective is to optimize the bandwidth allocation in LR-PONs, in particular to: (i) identify the performance limitations associated with traditional (short reach) TDM-PON based Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) algorithms when employed in long reach scenarios, and (ii) devise efficient DBA algorithms that can mitigate the performance limitations imposed by an extended reach. Our proposed schemes show noticeable performance gains when compared with conventional DBA algorithms for short-reach PON as well as specifically devised approaches for long reach.

QC 20130520

Water is most essential but scarce resource in developing countries. Presently the quality & the availability of the fresh water resources is the most pressing of the many environmental challenges on the national horizon. The stress on water resources is from multiple sources and the impacts can take diverse forms. Geometric increase in population coupled with rapid urbanization, industrialization and agricultural development has resulted in high impact on quality and quantity of water in developing countries. The situation warrants immediate redressal through radically improved water resource and water quality management strategies. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31626

In an attempt to lend legitimacy to the troubled wolf project and to root policies in wolf-affected counties, decision-making was decentralized to stakeholder-based county wildlife management delegations in Sweden in 2009. Drawing from Habermas’ critical theory, this paper suggests that a phenomenon of instrumental rationality is currently circumscribing free and open deliberation in these delegations. Consequently, stakeholders remain fixed in their predetermined positions as wolf-skeptic hunters or pro-wolf conservationists, unable to be swayed by the deliberative process. The aim of this paper is to identify the barriers to deliberation that account for the perseverance of this strategic stakeholder rationality. Three county wildlife delegations are investigated as examples of this. The paper identifies the following four barriers, which are traced to instrumentality: strong sense of accountability, overly purposive atmosphere, overemphasis on decision as final outcome and perceived inability on the part of the delegates to influence decision-making, which is found by and large to still be ruled by scientists. Through these findings, it suggests that such barriers cause delegates to censor their own discursive attempts and to act with strategic rather than with communicative rationality toward the decision-making process. Finally, the paper concludes that the effect of instrumentality in these delegations is currently leading to (1) a crisis of legitimacy for the wolf project, as according to Habermas’ theory and (2) reduced individual freedom under the pursuit of sustainable development, as freedom has been confined to the dimension of the protection and promotion of private interests.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2005.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 74 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-74).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1999.
Title from title page screen, viewed July 20, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Paul J. Baker (chair), Nick G. Maroules, James Palmer, Lemuel Watson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-110) and abstract. Also available in print.

Forest fires in the Alps are increasing both in frequency and size, especially on southern slopes where environmental conditions are more suitable for fire ignition and spread. Post-fire restoration activities are often applied without considering the large heterogeneity and variability of ecological constraints. Fire severity, species composition and site characteristics heavily affect vegetation recovery dynamics. The main objectives of this study were to test the hypothesis that post-fire burned wood management may greatly affect forest recovery and to identify the main environmental variables affecting seedling establishment and survival. We investigated restoration dynamics following high severity crown fire in two forests located in Western (Bourra site - Aosta Valley) and Eastern (Barcis site - Friuli Venezia Giulia) Italian Alps. Fires burnt large area of pine forests (P. sylvestris, P. nigra) located on southern slopes, characterized by harsh conditions (dry environment with high solar radiation exposure). In both sites active restoration strategies were adopted in the following years. These practices consisted in Salvage logging (cut and deadwood removal) followed by plantation or not, and Cut and release (living deadwood on site). Passive management area (remnants of burnt stand trees, where no intervention occurred) was also considered and compared. The recovery processes of vegetation were explored through methods of integrated analysis, using different spatial- and temporal-scale approaches. Field-data measures on regeneration, shelter elements and environmental variables were analyzed at microsite scale. Maps of fire severity were created by means of change-detection techniques on Landsat TM/ETM+ images. A scan through the time of forest recovery was performed associating regeneration and environmental data with Vegetation Indices (VIs) derived from a chronosequence of multispectral images. The evaluation of post-fire recovery dynamics, their relationships with fire severity and restoration activities are analyzed at a landscape scale, combining field-data, VIs, topographic and vegetation parameters extracted from LiDAR data. The influence of post-fire management on microclimate was investigated by means of instrumental measurements of environmental parameters affecting the regeneration dynamics. Measurements of soil temperature and moisture together with estimates of near-ground solar radiation were carried during a whole growing season within areas subjected to different restoration practices. Differences in species composition were found in the study sites among treatments. Regeneration density and diversity were positively associated with deadwood presence. Early establishment of pine seedlings was associated with the presence of standing or lying deadwood. Conversely, Populus tremula, regenerating mostly vegetatively, showed a different behaviour from the other tree species. Ground cover conditions contributed to patterns of seedling occurrence. The strong spatial association of seedlings with deadwood suggests that this latter produces microsites that enhance the establishment of regeneration. The relationship between nurse deadwood elements and regeneration was found to be highly anisotropic, as a consequence of the higher protection from radiation and lower soil moisture loss in the shady sides of the shelter element. Marked differences in incoming solar radiation, soil moisture and temperature were detected among treatments, in particular, salvaged areas resulted strongly associated with severe environmental conditions. Higher fire severity diminishes seed availability reducing the seeders, thus the distance from seed source has emerged as an important constraint for pine regeneration establishment. In relation to different spatio-temporal scales of analysis, this research reports a significant impact of the post-fire management actions on forest recovery. Restoration practices may significantly affect environmental parameters, particularly in stressful conditions,. The presence of burnt wood provides an amelioration of microsite reducing the extreme values, buffering microclimatic fluctuations thus favoring the establishment of regeneration. Standing and lying deadwood, also resulting from active management, should be leaved in situ during restoration activities.
Gli incendi boschivi nelle Alpi presentano negli ultimi decenni un trend di crescita sia in frequenza che per superficie, in particolare sui versanti meridionali dove l’eventuale innesco e la rapida diffusione dell’incendio sono favorite dalle condizioni ambientali. Le attività di ripristino post-incendio vengono condotte spesso senza considerare le peculiarità dell’ambiente montano e la grande eterogeneità e variabilità dei principali parametri ecologico-ambientali. La severità dell’incendio, le caratteristiche del sito e la composizione specifica delle foreste coinvolte influiscono significativamente sulle dinamiche di ricostituzione della vegetazione. Gli obiettivi principali di questo studio consistono nel verificare l'ipotesi che la gestione post-incendio della necromassa legnosa possa significativamente influire sulle dinamiche di ricostituzione della foresta, e di individuare le principali variabili ambientali che condizionano l’insediamento e la sopravvivenza della rinnovazione. Per verificare tali ipotesi, le dinamiche di ricostituzione a seguito di incendi ad alta severità sono state analizzate in due foreste situate una nelle Alpi occidentali (sito di Bourra - Valle d'Aosta) e una in quelle orientali (sito di Barcis - Friuli Venezia Giulia). L’incendio ha interessato, in entrambi i siti, una estesa superficie di pineta (P. sylvestris, P. nigra), soprattutto su versanti aridi esposti a Sud (con elevata esposizione alle radiazioni solari e scarsa disponibilità idrica). In entrambi i casi, negli anni successivi all’incendio, sono stati effettuati interventi (trattamenti) di ricostituzione attiva: “Salvage logging” (taglio ed esbosco del materiale legnoso, talvolta seguito da rimboschimenti localizzati) e “Cut and release” (taglio e rilascio a terra del materiale legnoso). A tali tipologie si sono contrapposte e comparate aree a “Passive management” (ricostituzione passiva, aree in cui non si sono effettuati interventi). Le dinamiche di ricostituzione della vegetazione sono state valutate integrando differenti metodi di analisi applicati a diverse scale sia spaziali che temporali. A scala di microsito si sono rilevati, per ogni semenzale, i principali parametri ambientali e l’eventuale presenza nelle vicinanze di necromassa e/o massi. Applicando tecniche di change-detection a opportuni indici di stato della vegetazione (Vegetation Indices - VIs), derivati da immagini Landsat TM/ETM+ (pre- e post-incendio), si sono definite delle cartografie di severità dell’incendio per ciascun sito. Associando i VIs estratti da una crono-sequenza di immagini multispettrali con i rilievi dei dati ambientali e della rinnovazione, si sono individuate le dinamiche di ricostituzione della vegetazione. Si sono inoltre valutate, a scala di paesaggio, le relazioni fra la severità dell’incendio e i patterns della rinnovazione associati ai diversi trattamenti. A tale scopo, sono stati utilizzati dati topografici e strutturali della vegetazione estratti da dati LiDAR. L’influenza dei trattamenti sui principali parametri microclimatici è stata valutata per mezzo di misure strumentali di campo. In tale campagna di misure si sono monitorate la temperatura e l’umidità del suolo, unitamente alla stima della radiazione solare al suolo. Differenze significative si sono evidenziate nella composizione specifica della rinnovazione tra i trattamenti. Densità di rinnovazione e diversità specifica sono risultate positivamente correlate con la presenza di necromassa legnosa. Un precoce insediamento della rinnovazione di pino si è evidenziato nelle aree ove vi fosse presenza di materiale legnoso a terra o piante morte in piedi. Il pioppo tremolo, specie rinnovatasi prevalentemente per via vegetativa, ha invece evidenziato una dinamica di ricolonizzazione diversa dalle altre specie arboree. Anche le condizioni di copertura del suolo hanno contribuito alla definizione dei patterns di ricostituzione della copertura vegetale. L’evidente associazione spaziale fra semenzali della rinnovazione ed elementi di necromassa conferma l’ipotesi che uest’ultima contribuisca in maniera determinante alla creazione di micrositi idonei all’insediamento della rinnovazione stessa. L’effetto di facilitazione prodotto dalla necromassa legnosa, nei riguardi dell’insediamento dei semenzali, è risultato altamente anisotropo; ciò sembra associato all’ombreggiamento prodotto dallo shelter legnoso sul semenzale, che proteggendo il microsito dall’eccessivo carico radiativo consente anche la conservazione di adeguati livelli di umidità nel terreno. Notevoli differenze di radiazione solare, di umidità e temperatura del suolo sono stati riscontrati tra i trattamenti, in particolare, le aree gestite a salvage logging risultano essere associate a condizioni microclimatiche piuttosto critiche per la rinnovazione. Nelle aree percorse dal fuoco ad alta severità, la disponibilità di seme è diminuita consistentemente a causa della drastica riduzione di piante porta-seme. Ciò ha permesso di individuare la distanza dalle piante porta-seme quale fattore determinante per l’insediamento della rinnovazione di Pinus. In relazione alle diverse scale spazio-temporali di analisi, questa ricerca evidenzia un impatto significativo dei trattamenti nei riguardi delle dinamiche di ricostituzione della vegetazione forestale. La gestione del post-incendio può incidere in maniera significativa sulle condizioni del microclima, in particolare in situazioni ambientali critiche per la rinnovazione (p.es aridità dei versanti). La presenza di necromassa legnosa consente la formazione di micrositi nei quali i valori estremi e le fluttuazioni dei parametri microclimatici si riducono, creando condizioni favorevoli per l’insediamento e la sopravvivenza dei semenzali. Per tale motivo, risulta opportuno il rilascio di piante morte in piedi o di materiale legnoso a terra durante le operazioni di ricostituzione attiva post-incendio.

Freshwater ecosystems worldwide are degraded by habitat loss, fragmentation and conversion. The practice of ecological river restoration has developed to address degradation, but there has been limited monitoring and assessment of river restoration projects that could be used to improve the science of restoration ecology. I used meta-analysis and studied floodplain ponds restored for juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in southwestern British Columbia, Canada to test ecological and conservation science hypotheses about how restoration projects are planned and assessed. I evaluated the efficacy of the umbrella species concept, which suggests that conservation strategies designed for one species may benefit co-occurring species, using meta-analysis. I empirically assessed the potential for coho to be an umbrella species in restored ponds. I studied the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function (i.e., standing biomass) and explicitly considered the role of habitat complexity in mediating that relationship. I evaluated the influence of habitat at different scales (watershed, pond and micro-habitat) on the abundance and biomass of juvenile coho and other aquatic vertebrates. I used standard meta-analytic techniques to assess the umbrella species concept and found conservation strategies designed for umbrella species generally benefit co-occurring species. For the empirical studies, I sampled vertebrates in 17 restored ponds in three watersheds three times over a year. I sampled benthic invertebrates and algae once and documented habitat (e.g., depth, cover) at the pond and trap scale. Coho abundance and biomass, as well as that of other aquatic species, varied across ponds indicating a gradient in response to restoration. There was a positive relationship between species diversity and standing biomass, although that relationship was not consistent across taxonomic groups or with respect to habitat complexity. There was a relationship between watershed-scale habitat features (e.g., landcover, elevation) and the relative abundance and biomass of species present, however, different species responded similarly to micro-habitat types suggesting that watershed scale factors acted as a filter for community composition. This study demonstrated that valuable insight into restoration can be gained by studying patterns from a broad study of restored systems and that restoration designed around a single species can benefit other species.

There is a need for models to assist in the planning and implementation of solutions to environmental problems. Given the spatial nature of these problems, there is scope for GIS to be used as a tool to meet this need. The issue of land restoration following opencast mineral extraction is considered. Time and cost constraints usually place restrictions on the quantity of detailed field data that can realistically be collected and analysed on restoration sites prior to planting. This research determines the value of a rigorous analysis of a limited set of empirical data as a means to informing the decision making process. The study site selected is located in northwest Leicestershire. Detailed information is collated to describe the site conditions prior to, and subsequent to, mineral extraction. The presence of an adjacent area of undisturbed woodland affords the opportunity for comparison between natural and artificial soil conditions. Using a combination of field techniques, laboratory analysis, and computer-based modelling, an exploration is made of the factors affecting the success or failure of tree planting within restoration projects. Factors affecting the soil moisture regime are found to play a key role in determining the success of schemes for the establishment of woodland on restored sites. A series of maps are developed to illustrate tree growth potential as constrained by soil thickness and soil structure. Four different 'improvement' scenarios are explored to identify potential areas for remedial action. An analysis of the spatial variation in soil properties can assist in designing planting schemes that reflect the requirements of individual tree species and growth potential indices for alder and larch species are proposed. The hypothesis is accepted that the modelling of soil characteristics can provide additional value to the restoration planning process.

The ecological restoration of Peninsula Shale Renosterveld is essential to redress its conservation target shortfall. The ecosystem is Critically Endangered and, along with all other renosterveld types in the Cape lowlands, declared 'totally irreplaceable'. Further to conserving all extant remnants, ecological restoration is required to play a critical part in securing biodiversity and to meeting conservation targets. Remnants of Peninsula Shale Renosterveld are situated either side of the Cape Town city bowl and, despite formal protection, areas of the ecosystem are degraded and require restoration intervention. The body of research addressing restoration in renosterveld is small, yet growing, and seed-based restoration efforts have achieved limited success. This study primarily set out to further understand community recovery through determining the effects of interventions, implemented to mimic ecological drivers, on several seed germination criteria. Thirty-two interventions (comprised of five, crossed factors: burning, tillage, herbicide-application, rodent-exclusion and seeding) were incorporated into a field experiment situated in an area that was most likely ploughed over a century ago and is currently dominated by alien, annual grasses. Additional aspects of the study included determining the physiological status of the seed from 31 harvested species (through viability and germinability tests) towards identifying key restoration species, and, assessing intervention costeffectiveness as a measure of intervention feasibility. The majority of the harvested species exhibited moderate to high levels of viability and germinability and occurred in the middle or upper key-restoration-species index range, indicating their potential for use in future restoration efforts. Seeding contributed considerably to overall community attributes, significantly increasing indigenous seedling density, species richness and canopy cover. Due to the dominance of alien, annual grasses, seeding alone was relatively ineffectual and recruitment was considerably improved when seeding was implemented in conjunction with one or more of the other interventions. These findings indicate that a lack of available seed is not the only barrier to community recovery and that competition exerted by the alien grass component plays a large role in inhibiting seedling recruitment of desirable species. Intervention effectiveness increased with the number of factors per intervention yet, fortuitously, the most effective interventions were not necessarily the most costly. Some interventions resulted in good performances and have the potential to restore self-perpetuating communities with a semblance of ecosystem composition, structure and function. There is a clear and promising way forward incorporating these findings into feasible, implementable, landscape-scale, ecological restoration strategies for Peninsula Shale Renosterveld and potentially other Critically Endangered and 'totally irreplaceable' renosterveld ecosystems.

This dissertation uses the constructivist grounded theory methods of Charmaz (2011) to explore: 1) the unique characteristics of landscape-scale collaboration; 2) implications for collaborative capacity-building strategies; and 3) the relationship between conflict, landscape-scale collaboration, and conflict resolution. The study was conducted through the US Forest Service's Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP). In the 1980s and 1990s, national forest management conflicts brought the forest industry to a standstill, with many jobs lost. In addition, historic fire suppression practices have made our national forests highly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire. Many have strong opinions about what should be done and how. The proposed substantive theory suggests landscape-scale collaboration can serve as a conflict prevention, problem solving, or conflict resolution venue and offer opportunities for remarkable efficiencies in forest restoration as well as profoundly restorative transformation in ecological, social, economic, personal, and spiritual dimensions. It identifies unique characteristics of collaboration at this scale; suggests that realizing benefits depends on collaborative capacities at the collaborator, constituent organization, collaborative stakeholder group, and sponsoring organization levels, and on mastering nine challenges; and suggests eight implications for collaborative capacity building strategies. The study contributes to forest restoration, reduced loss of life and livelihood, and economic recovery by contributing to CFLRP effectiveness. It contributes to the field of conflict resolution by: illuminating the collaboration / conflict resolution relationship; a particular application of collaboration; related sources of conflict; and conflict resolution strategies. It advances new directions of study for conflict resolution scholars--i.e., how to help agencies and groups strengthen their collaborative capacities.

Research problem: This research focused on the following problem statement: What management strategies can be developed and used to advance effective social justice practice in schools? Research aims: Arising from the problem question, the research aims were firstly to determine theoretically, the nature of social justice (Chapter Two) and secondly to identify and analyse theoretically, the determinants that contribute to social justice practices (Chapter Three). This was done by means of a comprehensive literature review. The third aim was to qualitatively analyse effective social justice praxis in selected schools in the North-West and Western Cape Provinces (Chapter Four and Five). From the analysis and literature review, management strategies for effective social justice practice in schools (Chapter Six) were developed as part of the empirical investigation. Research methodology: The empirical investigation realised the third aim, to analyse qualitatively effective social justice praxis in selected schools by means of individual and focus group interviews which were based on the philosophical paradigm of a constructivist-grounded theory and a hermeneutic, phenomenological methodology that enabled me to listen and be part of the discursive portrayals of the participant-principals’ effective social justice praxis. The qualitative data collection and methodology entailed considerations with regard to ethical conduct between myself and the role-players, i.e. the researcher, the Ethics Committee (NWU Faculty of Education Sciences), the role of departmental officials, the role of participant principals, and documentation used. Attention was paid to determine the target population, participant and sample selection from the North-West and Western Cape provinces in accordance with predetermined criteria. These criteria were, inter alia, that these principals would: have a proven track record to demonstrate an understanding of the concept of justice and social justice; would adhere to and implement legal determinants of social justice praxis with regard to the constitutional values and human rights; provide proven evidence of social justice praxis as equality, human dignity and freedom; implement political imperatives such as the Manifesto on Values, Education for All; acknowledge the need for fair distribution and educational transformation; provide a moral basis for recognition, identity formation and social justice praxis; apply a deliberative democratic praxis; promote accountability, school achievement, and as prospective and transformative leaders believe in and practice an embracing social justice. The researcher prepared the necessary documentation, the interview protocol and interview schedule to enter the field, as well as entering the field of research (principals at schools and district offices) to conduct and record the interviews which she afterwards transcribed. The method of qualitative data analysis included three phases: Phase I that considered the first hearing-reading, Atlas.ti™ dry-run and initial code-lists; Phase II, the translation processes, and Phase III, the abstraction and crystallisation processes. The criteria for soundness were established in the account of authentic validity and credibility of the study. The collected qualitative data was analysed by means of the Atlas.ti™ software programme as a result of which seven themes and three sub-themes for each theme emerged. These themes were the principal and social justice praxis, learners, education in general, constitutional values, educational partners, the government and political establishments, and social justice: its ontology and praxis. Development of management strategies: Education is about understanding and this study presented those management strategies that culminated in answers to the fundamental question: “What management strategies can be developed and used to advance effective social justice practice in schools?” The development of management strategies are the result of the literature review and the empirical investigation. The strategy development process consisted of a three-phase strategy framework: strategy planning (aims and objectives), strategy implementation (action plan and persons), and strategy evaluation. From this process, seven aims were developed in accordance with the seven identified themes: the principal, the learners, education in general, Constitutional values, partners in education, government, political and union matters, and the ontology and praxis of social justice. These management strategies include inter alia: • Optimising the school principal’s virtues of responsibility, authenticity and presence as gemeinschaft (community) relationships to ensure effective social justice praxis (§5.2). • Inculcate a disciplined school environment for learners to embrace human diversity and dignity, democracy, and Ubuntu-principles (§5.3) to optimise effective social justice praxis. • Influence education in general - system and structures - to optimise effective social justice praxis (§5.4). • Foster constitutional values and human rights as effective social justice praxis (§5.5). • Establish a social justice culture amongst educational partners who are essential to school development and governance to optimise effective social justice praxis (§5.6). • Convince government and union officials and influence political matters to serve the best interest of the child (§5.7) to ensure social justice praxis. • Actualise management strategies for social justice praxis that epitomise compassion, love, care and human rights in a participative and respectful environment (§5.8). • These management strategies were described as techniques or aims, objectives and action steps to provide answers to the questions where and how, which determined on which level or levels these strategies were to be performed. Main findings: • At a conceptual and a theoretical level: Conceptually and theoretically this study established, for the first time, specific determinants of social justice praxis (Chapters Two and Three) and its management. This contribution is found in the syntheses that followed each conceptual discussion of justice (§2.2.7) and social justice (§2.3.4), as well as the syntheses and evaluation of these determinants (§3.2-§3.4) for social justice praxis. These determinants may be regarded as an attempt at purified, cleansed theorising with respect to social justice praxis. This study found that social justice does exist in the hearts of the principals who took part in this study and that social justice belongs to all learners, to all of humanity, whoever they are or whatever their circumstances may be. Social justice is, essentially, embodied and lived love-in-practice towards all. However, the effectiveness of social justice praxis is usually determined by pragmatic circumstances that dictate the scale and scope of its efficacy. This study found that social justice praxis in schools should deviate from a mere legalistic or juridical notion because it progressed beyond the conceptual boundaries and theoretical limits of juristic thinking towards an attempt at linking social justice praxis to a humanising pedagogy. As a consequence, social justice in this research cuts across all man-made barriers: it has become a prospective notion that reflects its restorative and transformational nature and role. • At a strategic level: Strategically, this research found that the possibility of various cycles of action research in schools as well as in higher education institutions exists. The seven themes could be viewed in isolation, but if regarded, as found in this research, as seven levels that build upon each other and whose strengths or weaknesses are interdependent, it becomes self-evident that social justice forms the basis of cohesive and holistic social justice praxis. The seven strategies (§5.2-§5.8) developed in this research may, in future, inform research and praxis in schools and higher learning institutions in order to confirm or refute the theory presented herewith. • At policy-making level: This study has implications for policy design and management development, not only at basic education level, but also at national level. This study found that social justice specifically, has neither adequately, nor officially been addressed in relevant policies. If policy amendments were to be made and management strategies for social justice praxis in schools become an essential part of national policy, it will have implications at the level of further professional development of school principals, such as the current ACE School Leadership Programme. In addition, teachers’ in-service professional development will have to include these management strategies in the offering of short courses. Furthermore curriculum changes will have to follow to incorporate pre-service or initial training programmes of Higher Education institutions that offer teacher training programmes which may have a snowball effect at provincial and school curricula levels. Another important finding of this research is that, in future, the binding agent amongst schools may yet prove to be social justice and not geo-social and/or socio-economic markers, as is the case at present. In this manner social justice may become a lived curriculum that will permeate the entire education system in South Africa, but more so, will permeate the school culture of every school. Recommendations: A management strategy for effective social justice praxis in schools should be developed at national level but specifically to schools should be tailor-made for each school, because social justice praxis becomes visible in the acts of individual men and women, girls and boys, who regard the other as equally well as the self and therefore the following recommendations are important: • Continuous professional development of principals and teachers. • The right to education and its praxis to ensure the best interest of the child should be incorporated in the Life Orientation curriculum. • Have a collective vision of schools that truly strive, cherish and inculcate a pedagogy of social justice praxis to ensure that education is life-generating, life engendering, causing life or life awakening (onderwys is lewe wek). • Fairness as a moral construct should be visible in institutions where values of fairness, equality and social justice permeate the institution and provide a moral and structural frame for judgements based on the principle of fiduciary trust. • Schools should become community hubs as centrifugal force that embraces views on African culture, Ubuntu principles and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. • Create district-wide power teams that will train teachers in positive conduct as well as assist and provide interventions. • Principals and teachers have to take responsibility and agency for social justice pedagogy.
Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Orientadores: Antonio Carlos Moretti, Luis Gustavo Barioni
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Matemática Estatística e Computação Científica
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Resumo: O Brasil e um dos primeiros países em desenvolvimento a se comprometer com metas de redução das emissões de gases de efeito estufa (GEE). As metas estabelecidas requerem uma redução entre 36,1% a 38,9% relativos as emissões estimadas para 2020. Focando na regiao central do Cerrado, responsavel por cerca de 35% da producao total de carne bovina do Brasil, este estudo estima as emissoes totais de GEE de 2006 a 2030. O estudo tambem identifica o custo efetivo do potencial de reducao das emissoes. A analise foi feito por meio da construcao de um modelo de programacao linear, batizado de "EAGGLE" (Analise Econômica dos Gases de Efeito Estufa das Emissoes da Pecuária), que representa um sistema de producao de gado de corte a pasto, com e sem suplementação, e confinamento. Um segundo modelo foi desenvolvido para estimar os estoques de carbono no solo sob pastagens com diferentes níveis de produtividade. Neste modelo e simulado o efeito da degradação, manutenção, recuperação, e dinâmica de mudança de uso da terra nos estoques de carbono. Os resultados mostraram que, no cenário de referencia, a regiao vai emitir cerca de 1,2 Gt de CO2 entre 2010 a 2020, o que equivale a 8% das emissoes liquidas totais do pais. Um conjunto de tecnologias de mitigação de GEE, foram analisados através da construcao de Curvas de Custo de Abatimento Marginal (CCAM). Os resultados indicam que ate 2030, a regiao e capaz de reduzir as emissoes em 24,3 Mt de CO2 equivalente por ano (CO2e/yr), utilizando tecnologias com custo efetivo negativo, enquanto que o potencial de reducao total apresentado pelas CCAM e 24.7MtCO2e.yr-1. Uma analise de sensibilidade foi feita para avaliar o potencial de mitigação da recuperação de pastagens em função de variações na demanda por carne. Ao contrario do que poderia se esperar, os resultados mostraram que, se as projeções de demanda diminuírem em 10%, 20% ou 30 %, ate 2030, as emissoes totais para o período aumentam em 1%, 4% e 5%, em GWP, respectivamente. Em contrapartida, considerando que as projeções de demanda cresçam em 10%, 20%, ou 30%, ate 2030, haverá uma reducao de 2%, 3 % e 4% do total das emissoes de GEE, respectivamente. Isto sugere que a recuperação de pastagens e capaz de compensar as emissoes diretas de CH4 e N2O pelo gado brasileiro, devido ao aumentando das taxas de seqüestro de carbono do solo
Abstract: Brazil is one of the first major developing countries to commit to a national emissions target that requires a reduction of between 36.1% and 38.9% relative to baseline emissions by 2020. Focusing on the Cerrado core (Central Brazilian Savanna), responsible for about 35% of the country's beef production, this study estimates the region GHG emissions from 2006 to 2030. This work also investigates the cost-effectiveness of the GHG abatement potential. The analysis was made by means of a construction of linear programing (LP) model, coined EAGGLE (Economic Analysis of Greenhouse Gases for Livestock Emissions). The LP model represents a beef production system under grazing and feedlot finishing. A second model was developed to estimate the C stocks under pastures soils with different dry-matter productivity. In this model it is simulated the effects of degradation, maintenance, restoration end the land use change dynamics over the C stocks. As a baseline, the region is going to emit 1.2 Gt from 2010 to 2020, the equivalent of 8% of the country's total liquid emissions. A set of mitigation measures, applicable to Brazil, were analyzed by constructing a marginal abatement cost curve (MACC). The results show that by 2030 the region could reduce emissions by 24.3 MtCO2e.yr-1 with negative costs; while total abatement potential shown by the MACC is 24.7MtCO2e.yr-1. Pasture restoration, involving avoided deforestation, offers the largest contribution to these results. Sensitivity analysis is used to evaluate the abatement potential of pasture restoration against variations in beef demand. Counterintuitively, the results showed, if demand projections decreases by 10%, 20% or 30% until 2030, the total liquid emissions for the period increases 1%, 4%, and 5%, in GWP, respectively. Whereas increasing demand projections by 10%, 20%, and 30% until 2030, there will be a reduction of 2%, 3% and 4% in total liquid GHG emissions for the period. This suggests that PR is able to offset the cattle direct emissions of CH4 and N2O by boosting carbon soil sequestration rates
Mestrado
Matematica Aplicada
Mestre em Matemática Aplicada

Due to the intense suppression of native vegetation in nascent areas of the State of Sergipe, one can notice a significant environmental degradation. Thus, it becomes necessary the adoption of practices aimed at the restoration of the vegetation and these can be carried through artificial regeneration with direct seeding or planting seedlings. Therefore, the study was carried to evaluate the development of native species in the Piauitinga watershed in Salgado-SE, with the artificial regeneration methods (direct sowing and planting seedlings), using the native forest species Anadenanthera macrocarpa (Benth.) Bren, Ceiba speciosa (A. St. Hill), Hymenaea stigonocarpa (Mart.) Hayne, Psidium guajava L. and Tabebuia aurea (Manso) Benth. & Hook. Initially, were held the physical and physiological quality of the seeds analysis in laboratory and subsequently a field experiment was established in a randomized block delimitation (RBD) in a factorial design with four replications, in an area previously occupied by pasture, located in Salgado-SE. The sowing was carried in holes (30x30x30cm), with spacing of 1,5 m x 1,5 m with 9 plants for species in every block and the planting of seedlings occurred similarly, totaling 90 plants per block, occupying an area of 0,1024 hectares. Were evaluated the percentage of emergence and seedling survival in the field, the initial development of seedlings and Relative Growth Rate (RGR) until 300 days after implantation. The species that showed better rates of emergence and survival was H. stigonocarpa with 74,44% and 48,89% respectively. Any plant of A. macrocarpa survived. In the of characteristics evaluation of growth in the field in relation to tillage, there was greater growth in height for P. guajava (25,84 cm) and diameter, T. aurea (6,51 mm). In planting seedlings, the more growth on the height was in the C. speciosa (93,26 cm) and the specie T. aurea presented greater increment in diameter (20,92 mm). There was statistical difference in the RGR of plants for planting two strategies. The species T. aurea, C. speciosa and H. stigonocarpa characteristics presented viable for use by direct seeding and planting seedlings in the recuperation of degraded areas of nascent. The strategy of planting that had higher averages for the parameters evaluated was the planting of seedlings in recuperation of the area studied.
Devido à intensa supressão da vegetação nativa em áreas de nascentes do Estado de Sergipe, pode-se notar um significativo quadro de degradação ambiental. Dessa forma, torna-se necessária a adoção de práticas que visem à recomposição da vegetação e estas podem ser realizadas através da regeneração artificial, com a semeadura direta ou plantio de mudas. Diante o exposto, o trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar o desenvolvimento de espécies florestais nativas em área de nascente na bacia hidrográfica do rio Piauitinga, no município de Salgado-SE, com relação aos métodos de regeneração artificial (semeadura direta e plantio de mudas), utilizando-se as espécies florestais nativas Anadenanthera macrocarpa (Benth.) Bren, Ceiba speciosa (A. St. Hill), Hymenaea stigonocarpa (Mart.) Hayne, Psidium guajava L. e Tabebuia aurea (Manso) Benth. & Hook. Análises da morfometria, determinação da umidade e qualidade fisiológica das sementes foram previamente realizadas em laboratório. O experimento em campo foi implantado em Delineamento em Blocos Casualizados (DBC), em esquema fatorial com quatro repetições, em uma área anteriormente ocupada por pastagem, localizada no município de Salgado-SE. A semeadura direta e o plantio de mudas foram realizados em covas (30x30x30cm), com espaçamento de 1,5m x 1,5m, contendo 9 plantas por espécie em cada bloco, totalizando 90 plantas por bloco, ocupando uma extensão de 0,1024 hectares. Foram avaliadas as porcentagens de emergência e sobrevivência das plântulas em campo, desenvolvimento inicial das mudas e Taxa de Crescimento Relativo (TCR) até os 300 dias após a implantação. A espécie que apresentou melhores índices de emergência e sobrevivência foi H. stigonocarpa com 74,44% e 48,89%, respectivamente. Na semeadura direta, nenhuma planta de A. macrocarpa sobreviveu. Na avaliação das características de crescimento em campo em relação à semeadura direta, observou-se maior crescimento em altura para P. guajava (25,84cm) e para diâmetro, T. aurea (6,51mm). No plantio de mudas, o maior crescimento em altura foi na C. speciosa (93,26cm) e a espécie T. aurea apresentou maior incremento em diâmetro (20,92mm). Houve diferença estatística na TCR das plantas, para as duas estratégias de plantio. As espécies T. aurea, C. speciosa e H. stigonocarpa apresentaram características viáveis para serem utilizadas por meio da semeadura direta e plantio de mudas em projetos de recuperação em áreas de nascentes degradadas. A estratégia de plantio que apresentou maiores médias em relação aos parâmetros avaliados foi o plantio de mudas, na recuperação da área estudada.

Adopté par l’article 2 de la loi n°2016-1087 de reconquête de la biodiversité, de la nature et des paysages du 8 aout 2016, le principe de solidarité écologique appelle « à prendre en compte, dans toute prise de décision publique ayant une incidence notable sur l’environnement des territoires concernés, les interactions des écosystèmes, des êtres vivants et des milieux naturels ou aménagés ». Ce principe général du droit de l’environnement inscrit à l’article L110-1 du code de l’environnement est destiné à conserver les interactions écosystémiques et les processus écologiques ainsi qu’à améliorer la gestion environnementale des territoires. La dualité de son objet en fait un principe d’une grande richesse, qui devrait concerner de nombreuses décisions. Divers fondements supranationaux, au sein de la jurisprudence et dans les textes internationaux et européens peuvent ainsi lui être attribués. Dans un contexte d’interdépendance écologique, l’évolution de la dimension internationale et européenne du principe reste essentielle pour juger de ses effets au regard de la conservation de la biodiversité. Au niveau du droit interne, son ancrage au cœur de l’équilibre de l’environnement lui apporte un rayonnement particulier. Il conforte le droit à un environnement équilibré et prolonge les principes constitutionnels de prévention et de développement durable. Face à la crise d’extinction mondiale de la biodiversité menaçant notre survie, le principe de solidarité écologique se présente comme cette ultime chance de la conserver. Deux grands ensembles de dispositifs permettent de mesurer la dynamique du principe de solidarité écologique : la trame verte et bleue et la gestion intégrée de la mer et du littoral. Ils constituent une base pour concevoir la solidarité écologique et représentent ainsi le commencement d’un droit nouveau. Le principe de solidarité écologique appelle à les renforcer et, de manière plus générale, à faire évoluer l’ensemble des décisions concernées par le principe
Adopted by article 2 from act nr 2016-1087 concerning the reconquest of biodiversity, nature and landscape of August 8th 2016, the principle of ecological solidarity calls “for taking into consideration the interactions of ecosystems, living creatures and natural or developed environments in all public decisions having a notable impact on the environment of the territories concerned”.This general principle of environmental law inscribed in article L110 1 of the environmental code is designed to preserve the interactions of ecosystems and ecological processes as well as to improve the environmental management of the territories. The duality of its objective renders it a highly valuable principle which should be applied to numerous decisions. Various supranational foundations, within jurisprudence and in international and European laws, can thus be assigned to it. In the context of ecological interdependence the evolution of the international and European dimension of the principle remains essential in order to see the benefits concerning the safeguarding of biodiversity. It is greatly enhanced, as regards internal law, by the fact that it is at the very center of the environment's equilibrium. It justifies the right to a balanced environment and extends the constitutional principles of prevention and sustainable development. Confronted with the crisis of world-wide biodiversity extinction that threatens our survival, the principle of ecological solidarity emerges as the last chance to preserve it. Two major groups of systems allow us to measure the dynamics of the principle of ecological solidarity: the green and the blue line belt network and the Ocean and coastline Governance Framework. They constitute a basis on which to develop ecological solidarity and represent the beginnings of new legislation. The principle of ecological solidarity requires them to be reinforced and more generally to advance all decisions concerned by the principle

The thesis being hereby presented is concerned with the problematics of family strategies´ aplications in peasants´ families in the village of Vítkov, dated 1700-1850. The work itself is based upon analysis of evidence- and insurance resources, that means mostly registry and cadastral books, urbars and census of subjects. Methodologically, this work proceeds from historical demography and its connection with micro-history and genealogy. Transfers of peasants´s grounds and application of their rights of hertitage become the main subject of research. Secondly, this thesis focuses on peasants life partners choices, families´ maritial strategies and migration. In addition, there are ways of employment drafted for those rural families´ members who had no claim to taking over a paternal ground, thusly achieving to give evidence of how different the family strategies in two contiguous parts of South Bohemia would once have been. The substantial asset of this thesis supposed is to confirm the benefits of joining both historical demography and genealogy whist studying Czech rural areas including possible use of specialised genealogical software.

abstract: After a power system blackout, system restoration is the most important task for the operators. Most power systems rely on an off&ndashline; restoration plan and the experience of operators to select scenarios for the black start path. Using an off&ndashline; designed restoration plan based on past experience may not be the most reliable approach under changing network configurations and loading levels. Hence, an objective restoration path selection procedure, including the option to check constraints, may be more responsive in providing directed guidance to the operators to identify the optimal transmission path to deliver power to other power plants or to pick up load as needed. After the system is subjected to a blackout, parallel restoration is an efficient way to speed up the restoration process. For a large scale power system, this system sectionalizing problem is quite complicated when considering black&ndashstart; constraints, generation/load balance constraints and voltage constraints. This dissertation presents an ordered binary decision diagram (OBDD) &ndashbased; system sectionalizing method, by which the splitting points can be quickly found. The simulation results on the IEEE 39 and 118&ndashbus; system show that the method can successfully split the system into subsystems satisfying black&ndashstart; constraints, generation/load balance constraints and voltage constraints. A power transfer distribution factor (PTDF)&ndashbased; approach will be described in this dissertation to check constraints while restoring the system. Two types of restoration performance indices are utilized considering all possible restoration paths, which are then ranked according to their expected performance characteristics as reflected by the restoration performance index. PTDFs and weighting factors are used to determine the ordered list of restoration paths, which can enable the load to be picked up by lightly loaded lines or relieve stress on heavily loaded lines. A transmission path agent can then be formulated by performing the automatic path selection under different system operating conditions. The proposed restoration strategy is tested on the IEEE&ndash39; bus system and on the Western region of the Entergy system. The testing results reveal that the proposed strategy can be used in real time.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering 2010

Innovative methodology is developed for Back to the Future (BTF) restoration policy analysis to aid long-term strategic planning of ecosystem-based restoration in marine ecosystems. Mass-balance and dynamic ecosystem simulation models (Ecopath with Ecosim: EwE) are developed to represent the marine system of northern British Columbia as it appeared in 1750, 1900, 1950 and 2000 AD. Time series statistics are assembled for biomass and catch, incorporating local ecological knowledge (LEK) from community interviews and new estimates of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishery catch. The dynamic behaviour of the historic models is fitted to agree with this time series information, when driven by historic catch rates and climate anomalies. Each historic period is evaluated in an optimal policy analysis for its potential to supply sustainable harvest benefits. Harvest benefits are quantified using socioeconomic and ecological indicators, including novel measures such as the Q-90 biodiversity statistic. Candidate goals for restoration are drafted based on these historic ecosystems. A new conceptual goal for ecosystem-based restoration is introduced, the optimal restorable biomass (ORB) that represents an optimized form of the historic ecosystems. It is structured to maximize sustainable harvest benefits, and to achieve a compromise between exploitation and the maintenance of historic abundance and biodiversity. Finally, restoration plans are drafted using a novel addition to Ecosim’s policy search routine, the specific biomass objective function, which determines the pattern of fishing effort required to restore the depleted present-day ecosystem into one resembling a more productive ORB state. Cost-benefit analysis indicates that northern BC ecosystem restoration to an ORB state based on the 1950 ecosystem can deliver a rate of economic return, in terms of increased fisheries yields, that is superior to bank interest. The effect of fleet structure is paramount; reducing bycatch will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the fleet as a restoration tool. Restoration plans that sacrifice immediate fisheries profits tend to restore more biodiversity in a given amount of time, but a convex relationship between profit and biodiversity suggests there is an optimal rate of restoration.
Science, Faculty of
Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Graduate

博士
國立中山大學
電機工程學系
87
With the rapid growth of load demand, the distribution system is becoming more and more complicated in Taiwan, and the operational efficiency and the service quality deteriorated in recent years. Distribution engineers have to resolve the problem by applying new technologies to enhance the operations. Feeder reconfiguration is a very important and usable way to reduce distribution feeder losses and improve system security. By changing the open/close statuses of the feeder switches, load currents can be transferred from feeder to feeder. During a fault, switches are used for fault isolation and service restoration. There are numerous number of switches in the distribution system, and the number of possible switching operations is tremendous. Feeder reconfiguration thus becomes a complex decision-making process for dispatchers to follow. Feeder automation is a possible tool to reduce operational cost and improve system reliability. With the progress of monitoring and control functions in the distribution automation systems, real-time fault identification and isolation are becoming possible. To enhance the performance of a feeder automation system, a fast and efficient real-time switching strategy is desirable. This dissertation presents the switching strategy for distribution system operations and service restoration. To perform the optimal switching for distribution systems, three methodologiesof feeder switching were developed. The first method uses switching indices to solve the feeder reconfiguration problem for loss reduction and service restoration. The second method usesthe boundary area of the looped network with the performance index ranking based approach to find the optimal network. The third method uses the fuzzy formulation and the searching technique to find the best candidate of switching operations for the three-phase distribution system. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed methodologies, practical Taipower distribution systems and IEEE standard systems were used for tests. From the tests, it can be seen that the proposed strategies are very effective in both operational and planning areas.

Beaudry Provincial Park, in southern Manitoba, features tall grass prairie, oak savannah and riverbottom forest communities. The Assiniboine River has carved three peninsulas which form the core of the hardwood forest and its associated shrub and herbaceous community. The forest was historically impacted by logging, farming and cottaging. Since the park's establishment Dutch elm disease, deer browse, flood control and sub-urban encroachment have had an increasing influence. Future impacts may come from invasive plants, predatory insects as well as the warming and drying conditions associated with climate change. The riverbottom forest community was extensively sampled in 1975 and 1977. This practicum's comparison in 1999 suggests that the proportion of flood and shade-adapted plants is decreasing. Specialized plants that were linked to the flood cycle are being replaced by generalists species with a resistance to deer browse. Older shade and flood tolerant trees are not being effectively replaced by their off-spring. Forest clearings remain open long after logging. If, as is common in park management, 'nature' is left to take its course then this forest will increasingly lose its distinctiveness and diversity. Alternately, a more active intervention in forest management may maintain some of the diversity. n experimental restoration programme is recommended. The value of such an approach can extend beyond this forest to provide a learning and demonstration site for prairie riverbottom forest restoration approaches generally. Public access to and involvement with this forest can lead to improved understanding of and support for targeted restoration and management initiatives.

Global climate change will negatively impact major components of the world’s biodiversity over the next century, and there is an increasing need for strategies and tools to guide species conservation and management. This issue is particularly relevant to species and provenance choices in ecological restoration where diverse strategies have been proposed to ensure future climate resilience. This thesis focuses on the Eucalyptus tree flora of the island of Tasmania, Australia, assessing the likely change in species modelled suitable habitat, and strategies for identifying suitable species and provenances for restoration tree plantings. This is a topical issue as the long-standing ‘local-is-best’ paradigm in ecological restoration is being increasingly questioned in the face of global climate change. Habitat suitability models were used to determine whether a eucalypt species susceptibility to future climate change (based on 2020, 2050 and 2080 projections) can be predicted by evolutionary history, habitat type or distribution pattern. A large extent of the modelled current climate habitat will be lost by the end of this century and 63% of records will be outside of modelled suitable habitat. Species from subalpine habitats were most at risk of maladaptation under future climate change. Susceptibility was not linked to evolutionary history or distribution pattern. Despite the loss of suitable climate habitat, many of the current conservation reserves still maintained populations of species that will not be at risk of climate maladaptation by 2080. To assist in guiding species choice for our target restoration region (the Midlands), we used the same climate projections to model the suitability of regionally local and non-local species through space and time. We identified one non-local and ten regionally local candidate species that would not be maladapted to the future climate habitat of the Midlands. The predicted decrease in the suitability of most local species in the future was compensated by the northern expansion of predicted suitable habitat for a regionally local and non-local species well outside their current distribution range. A framework was subsequently developed to identify provenances of targeted restoration species likely to be best adapted to the future climates of restoration sites to test and implement climate-adjusted provenancing. This framework accounted for inbreeding risk through habitat fragmentation and was translated into software (Provenancing Using Climate Analogues [PUCA]). This software matched current and future climate predictions for restoration sites to known provenances of the target species that are already growing in analogous climates for 2020, 2050 and 2080 projections. I demonstrate the application of PUCA and identified key outstanding assumptions which need empirical validation. Experimental trials were established to test the assumptions of the PUCA model and identify the climate components which have shaped adaptive variation among the provenances of a key restoration species E. ovata. A germination trial showed that provenance home-site climate effects did not affect seed germination characteristics. A glasshouse and a common garden field trial were established using range-wide collections of open-pollinated seed from 45 provenances (collected from 312 individuals), to study how home-site climate affects seedling functional traits and early field performance. Two orthogonal climate vectors (representing aridity and frost gradients) were shown to shape adaptive variation among provenances in seedling functional traits. Predicted changes in these vectors from contemporary to 2080 were spatially mapped as an alternative approach to predict (i) the adaptive limits of the species, (ii) the change in the climate selective surface, and (iii) provenance transfer functions. Only two-year performance data was available for the field trial, and this revealed little evidence of maladaptation of provenances from homes-sites spanning the selective gradient. The demonstration that provenances from future analogous environments have a broad transfer function and can be successfully established in restoration plantings is important for long-lived trees, as future-adapted individuals must establish under current climate regimes.

The overarching goal of this investigation is to determine how an existing building of spatial and programmatic rigidity can serve as a framework for designing a more integrated center for personal and community development. This project is an exploration of what a building can evolve into after its "shelf-life" has expired, with the aid of a reconsidered architectural vision. Formulated within criteria individual to its context, it is intended to be an investigation of possibility and the testing of a nascent potential, not an attempt to serve as a prescriptive, panacea solution. It is an examination of a creative vision in the development of a more responsive and expressive community space. Through this exploration, the architectural experience as derived from a subject-object perspective will be investigated and considered, as well as the art of placemaking in crafting a design strategy that is responsive to its immediate context, reconsidering the ability of architecture to generate meaning and experience outside of its prototypically considered building-envelope boundaries. By focusing on the potential to for personal and community-based growth and development, three avenues of program will be explored: Education, Experience, and Expression. Serving as an intersection point between cultural production and cultural consumption, the transmission of this cultural capital has the ability to gestate a deeper sense of identity amongst the embedded community.

碩士
臺北醫學大學
醫務管理學系
92
Due to the fast development of the transmission channels of media, if a hospital has some crisis occurred and being reported by the media, the results may affect the image, operation, even the survival of that hospital. Therefore, when a hospital face a crisis, it needs to have proper responses to endure the shock of the crisis, even to get over it. The purpose of this study was to explore the related factors associated with the choices of image restoration strategies adopted by hospitals during crisis. This study employed conceptual model of Benoit and Brinson by dividing image restoration strategies into five types: denial, evasion of responsibility, reduction of offensiveness, mortification, and corrective action. Structured questionnaire were sent to the superintendents of 490 district on higher hospitals in Taiwan. In the end, 152 hospitals returned the questionnaires, and the response rate was 31.0%. The findings indicated that when hospitals faced crisis, the preferable strategies were the corrective action, reduction of offensiveness, and evasion of responsibility. The denial strategy was the least favorable. The results of the study also showed that the willing of adopting on image restoration strategies wasn’t influenced by hospital ownership, hospital type, or years of hospital establishment. In addition, the related factors of image restoration strategy also hadn’t different influence by the willing of strategy’s choice in hospital. For example, the corrective action, reduction of offensiveness, and evasion of responsibility were affected consequentially by types of crisis, the reality of evidence, the damage, the performance management, and experience, but these as a whole were only affected by experience, the responsible attribution in the public, and the media report. The findings of the study should provide some suggestions to hospitals when they decide to adopt image restoration strategies during crisis.

碩士
世新大學
傳播管理學研究所(含碩專班)
102
In this study we investigate the importance of image and importance of performer’s image and performer’s image crises and image restoration. This research based on event of Makiyo drunken assault. The study is based on Smith, Bolton and Wagner’s (1999) equity theory and incorporates Coombs (1999) crisis response strategy and Benoit’s (1997) image restoration strategy, to explore the content and the impact of message broadcasted by print media. The message is about the first instance of the event happened during February 2 and April 26, 2012, reported by four major print media – China Times, United Daily News, Liberty News and Apple Daily News. By using content analysis to provide descriptive explanation, this research explores the impact of media’s efficacy on the whole process of this event through the mediation of three perceived equity – distributive, procedural and interactive, the introduction of crisis response and image restoration strategies. The re-introduction of a new image restoration strategy for importance of image 、importance of performer’s image、performer’s image crises and image restoration. The major finding of this research is the key to crisis response and image restoration is the response to the media, that is, “what should be said to the media when crisis happens” is the major factor that affects perceived equity of the general public. The positive impact of image restoration on perceived equity works through two psychological and substantive processes: 1) when crisis communication happens, facing message communication mistakes, the first step is to improve the psychological perceived equity – procedural and interactive, to generate synergy on the media’s efficacy, and 2) if message communication fails, then to improve the substantive perceived equity – distributive, to increase the media’s efficacy.

Since wetlands provide many important ecosystem services, there is much interest in protecting existing wetlands and restoring degraded wetlands. Yet, degraded wetlands and restoration sites are often vulnerable to plant invasions that can hinder restoration success. Invasive plants typically reduce biodiversity and alter important ecosystem functions and services. This dissertation examines the ecological impact and management of invasive plant species during wetland restoration with a focus on three important drivers of plant community change in wetland ecosystems: disturbance, plant strategies, and environmental filters.

The investigations included in this research were conducted in a tropical dry wetland (Palo Verde Marsh, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica) and a temperate piedmont riparian forest (Sandy Creek, Duke Forest Stream and Wetland Assessment and Management Park, Durham, North Carolina). In these experiments, the primary species of interest are Typha domingensis Pers. (cattail; Typhaceae), Ligustrum sinense Lour. (Chinese privet; Oleaceae), Arundinaria gigantea (Walter) Muhl. (giant cane; Poaceae), and Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus (Japanese stiltgrass; Poaceae).

The expansion of Typha into wetlands historically not dominated by cattail typically occurs in response to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Management approaches that reduce Typha dominance, increase diversity, and restore or maintain wetland ecosystem services are of interest worldwide. The objective of the first phase of the research was to investigate a unique Typha removal method that is used in one of the most dynamic and ecologically important wetlands in Central America (Palo Verde Marsh, Palo Verde National Park, Costa Rica; a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance). Palo Verde Marsh is a tropical dry wetland with distinct and extreme wet and dry seasons; it is flooded during the wet season and has no standing water for much of the dry season. Palo Verde Marsh has historically provided important habitat for very large populations of migratory birds. However, a cattail (T. domingensis) expansion in the 1980s greatly altered the plant community and reduced avian habitat. Since then, Typha has been managed using fangueo (a Spanish word, pronounced as "fahn-gay-yo" in English). During fangueo, Typha is crushed and locally removed by a tractor with metal paddle wheels. I applied a Typha removal treatment at three levels (control, fangueo, and fangueo with fencing to exclude cattle grazing) at Palo Verde Marsh. Fangueo was applied at the beginning of the dry season resulting in a large reduction in Typha dominance (decreased aboveground biomass, ramet density, ramet height), an increase in open areas with no vegetation, and a 98 and 5-fold increase in avian density and richness, respectively. Importantly, fangueo had no apparent long-term impact on any of the soil properties measured (including bulk density). Interestingly, low soil and foliar N:P values indicate that Palo Verde Marsh and other wetlands in the region may be nitrogen limited. The fangueo process is an effective method for restricting Typha expansion and increasing plant and avian diversity. I present a model that illustrates the impact of Typha management and seasonal flooding on the plant and avian community. The technique might be adopted or modified for the restoration and management of Typha and other invasive emergent plants in other wetlands.

The second objective of this research was to better quantify the impact of the distinct and extreme anaerobic/aerobic annual cycle on the plant community in Palo Verde Marsh. Since the impact of seasonal flooding on the plant community in seasonal wetlands is often most evident after disturbance, I created gaps in the wetland vegetation via the mechanical removal of emergent vegetation and then measured plant community change using surveys of the wet and dry season standing vegetation, the seed bank, and in situ seedling recruitment. As expected, seasonal flooding acted as an environmental filter and resulted in distinct dry and wet season assemblages. The dominant plant life forms present after vegetation removal differed between seasons with emergents dominating during the dry season and floating-rooted, free-floating, and submerged species more dominant during the wet season. I identified common species that are characteristic of both seasonal assemblages and used indicator species analyses to identify species that are only likely to be found during the wet season. I also characterized the seed bank at this site; like most seasonal wetlands, plant species' resilience in this wetland were dependent upon a large and diverse seed bank which allowed many species to revegetate after disturbance and the extreme wet/dry conditions which acted like environmental filters.

In addition to the experiments conducted in Palo Verde Marsh, this dissertation also presents the results from an experiment in a temperate riparian restoration site in the North Carolina Piedmont (Sandy Creek, Duke Forest Stream and Wetland Assessment and Management Park, Durham, NC). Since riparian restoration efforts in the southeastern U.S. are often hindered by invasive non-native plants, there is much interest in approaches that can be used to reduce the impact of invasive non-native plant populations at the local level (e.g., a restoration site). In addition to the impact of non-native species-specific removal efforts, there is also much interest in the identification and assessment of native competitive-dominant plant species that can be used during riparian restoration to support important ecosystem functions and reduce non-native invasibility. Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet) is a very common invasive non-native shrub in the region. Arundinaria gigantea (giant cane) is a native bamboo species that used to be very abundant in riparian and wetland ecosystems in the region. The objectives of this phase of the research were to: (1) measure the plant community response to removal of mature L. sinense individuals; and (2) quantify planted A. gigantea clonal expansion in the presence of other plants, particularly common non-native invasive species. Due to its potential for rapid growth and expansion, it was hypothesized that A. gigantea would be able to compete with common non-native species and reduce non-native invasibility. In a three-year split-plot experimental design, I applied a Privet-Presence treatment at two levels (Privet Present, Privet Removed) and a Cane-Planting treatment also at two levels (Cane, No Cane). The privet removal treatment resulted in 100% mortality of mature privet individuals. After privet removal, L. sinense seedlings recruited into these plots but growth has been very slow and these L. sinense individuals are not yet dominant. The privet canopy allows minimal understory plant recruitment and growth and privet removal resulted in an increase in species richness and diversity in the first year. However, in these Privet-Removed plots, a non-native invasive annual grass (Microstegium vimineum) invaded, became the most dominant species, and reduced species richness and diversity. In Privet-Removed plots, A. gigantea clonal expansion (i.e., ramet density, genet area, ramet diameter, and ramet height) was small in the first year but increased in the second and third years. Importantly, in Privet-Removed plots where A. gigantea was planted, M. vimineum cover was lower and species richness and diversity were greater; planting A. gigantea appears to have facilitated the establishment of other species and, in the process, increased diversity.

Our results emphasize several general conclusions that are applicable to other restoration efforts in other ecosystems with other plant species. First, during ecological restoration, invasive non-native plant removal alone will typically not restore native plant communities. Non-native invasive plant populations are typically very resilient to removal. Hence, long-term reductions in non-native invasibility will often require additional management efforts. For example, in the tropics my research showed the effectiveness of Fangueo for reducing Typha monocultures and increasing native plant and bird diversity. Another approach for improving ecosystems functions and reducing non-native invasibility after invasive plant removal is to carefully select and plant native species with competitive-dominant traits that will be able to compete with invading non-native species and resist invasion. Although this seemingly simple approach is often used by restoration practitioners, the results are rarely monitored and surprisingly few studies are designed to explicitly identify and investigate the performance of these important native competitive-dominant species.

Dissertation