Дисертації з теми "Seed resources"

The bottom mussel industry in Northern Ireland is threatened by a number of issues arising due to overfishing and variable settlement success of mussel seed. Investigations on the Skullmartin mussel seed bed showed ~gative impacts of dredging. However, as Skullmartin is a sink: for mussel larvae, fishing ofthe bed is likely to be sustainable as long as the source ofthe larvae is maintained. The biodiversity of Skullmartin was adversely affected by dredging. Species richness and diversity decreased after dredging. However, these effects were short-lived, with species richness recovering once dredging had ceased. The transport ofstarfish from seed. bed to relaying site is a problem facing all bottom mussel growers. The mostefficient method to reduce the transport of starfish is to submerge the contents ofthe hold with freshwater. This led to 100 % mortality of starfish after 12 hours. Desiccation ofstarfish, which is used in the 1'.Torthern Ireland industry, was found to be inefficient as it required 48 hours to cause 100 % mortality, with . large mussel mortality also occurring after this time. As mussel seed is a limited resource it is imperative that it is managed efficiently. Relaying trials found that although meat content and shell length are adversely affected by an increasing relaying density, it is the marketable yield which is most affected, ,with a density of75 tha-l exceeding the carrying capacity of the study site. Spat collectors, were examined as a sustainable source ofmussel seed. Peaks in settlement appeared in the summer and Belfast Lough was found to have a significantly larger settlement than Carlingford Lough due to the larger coverage of licensed mussel relaying plot in Belfast Lough which can directly attribute to the larval supply in the Lough.

Within the Australian wet tropics bioregion, only 900 000 hectares of once continuous rainforest habitat between Townsville and Cooktown now remains. While on the Atherton Tableland, only 4% of the rainforest that once occurred there remains today with remnant vegetation now forming a matrix of rainforest dispersed within agricultural land (sugarcane, banana, orchard crops, townships and pastoral land). Some biologists have suggested that remnants often support both faunal and floral communities that differ significantly from remaining continuous forest. Australian tropical forests possess a relatively high diversity of native small mammal species particularly rodents, which unlike larger mammalian and avian frugivores elsewhere, have been shown to be resilient to the effects of fragmentation, patch isolation and reduction in patch size. While small mammals often become the dominant mammalian frugivores, in terms of their relative abundance, the relationship that exists between habitat diversity and structure, and the impacts of small mammal foraging within fragmented habitat patches in Australia, is still poorly understood. The relationship between foraging behaviour and demography of two small mammal species, Rattus fuscipes and Melomys cervinipes, and food resources in fragmented rainforest sites, were investigated in the current study. Population densities of both species were strongly related with overall density of seed resources in all rainforest fragments. The distribution of both mammal species however, was found to be independent of the distribution of seed resources. Seed utilisation trials indicated that M.cervinipes and R.fuscipes had less impact on seed resources (extent of seed harvesting) than did other rainforest frugivores. Experimental feeding trials demonstrated that in 85% of fruit species tested, rodent feeding increased seed germination by a factor of 3.5 suggesting that in Australian tropical rainforest remnants, small mammals may play a significant role in enhancing germination of large seeded fruits. This study has emphasised the role of small mammals in tropical rainforest systems in north eastern Australia, in particular, the role that they play within isolated forest fragments where larger frugivorous species may be absent.

Within the Australian wet tropics bioregion, only 900 000 hectares of once continuous rainforest habitat between Townsville and Cooktown now remains. While on the Atherton Tableland, only 4% of the rainforest that once occurred there remains today with remnant vegetation now forming a matrix of rainforest dispersed within agricultural land (sugarcane, banana, orchard crops, townships and pastoral land). Some biologists have suggested that remnants often support both faunal and floral communities that differ significantly from remaining continuous forest. Australian tropical forests possess a relatively high diversity of native small mammal species particularly rodents, which unlike larger mammalian and avian frugivores elsewhere, have been shown to be resilient to the effects of fragmentation, patch isolation and reduction in patch size. While small mammals often become the dominant mammalian frugivores, in terms of their relative abundance, the relationship that exists between habitat diversity and structure, and the impacts of small mammal foraging within fragmented habitat patches in Australia, is still poorly understood. The relationship between foraging behaviour and demography of two small mammal species, Rattus fuscipes and Melomys cervinipes, and food resources in fragmented rainforest sites, were investigated in the current study. Population densities of both species were strongly related with overall density of seed resources in all rainforest fragments. The distribution of both mammal species however, was found to be independent of the distribution of seed resources. Seed utilisation trials indicated that M.cervinipes and R.fuscipes had less impact on seed resources (extent of seed harvesting) than did other rainforest frugivores. Experimental feeding trials demonstrated that in 85% of fruit species tested, rodent feeding increased seed germination by a factor of 3.5 suggesting that in Australian tropical rainforest remnants, small mammals may play a significant role in enhancing germination of large seeded fruits. This study has emphasised the role of small mammals in tropical rainforest systems in north eastern Australia, in particular, the role that they play within isolated forest fragments where larger frugivorous species may be absent.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2007.
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Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) cultivars with genetic reduction in seed phytate concentration will be a valuable resource to livestock producers both nutritionally and economically, as well as in the preservation of the environment. However, due to association with reduced seed germination and field emergence potential, low phytate (LP) soybean cultivars are not being advanced to commercialization. Soybean breeders of LP lines must adjust their techniques and resources in order to efficiently select LP germplasm. Reduced seed germination and field emergence potential associated with LP germplasm eliminates many individuals with the desired LP trait during early generation population development, making improvement of agronomic performance among LP lines difficult. Thus, development of resources for improved phenotyping, genotyping, and early generation population development will facilitate the commercialization of LP cultivars.

Discovery of variation for field emergence potential among F2-derived LP families suggests the potential for using a pedigree method for early generation population development in LP germplasm, as it preserves diversity and allows selection for improved field emergence. Integration of markers into a pedigree method will be useful to breeder. An example is BARCSOYSSR_11_1495 with 90-93% selection efficiency in various V99-5089-derived populations. Another resource for improved LP selection is a time-efficient, high-throughput modified iron (Fe) colorimetric phytate assay that does not suffer from inorganic phosphorus (P) concentration interference. Together these tools will provide breeders more accurate selection of LP lines.
Master of Science

Current and emerging threats to trees and forest ecosystems require a re-evaluation of the way forest genetic resources are managed. Governments in the United Kingdom and elsewhere are committed to the restoration, expansion and creation of new woodlands. Tree populations are often adaptively differentiated from one another, so a key question underpinning the success of planting schemes is the choice of seed origin. A long held understanding is that locally sourced seeds will have the best opportunity to tolerate conditions of the planting site (local provenancing). However, the rate at which the environment is changing introduces a great deal of uncertainty into decision making and there is concern that climate change is proceeding at rates faster than those with which locally adapted trees would be able to cope. As such, there are suggestions that seed collected from areas already experiencing the anticipated future conditions will improve the adaptability of forests (predictive provenancing). This thesis investigated outstanding questions relating to the merits of the local provenancing and predictive provenancing approaches, and the practical implementation of seed sourcing policy in British forestry. The validity of existing seed zone boundaries used under local provenancing was analysed for ancient semi-natural Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. forests of Scotland. Vegetation description and analyses of climatic covariates revealed that the existing series of seed zones used to guide selection of planting stock for restoration do not necessarily environmentally match seed sources to planting sites under current conditions. Additional disparity is introduced when edaphic variation (or proxies for this) is considered. To determine whether future adaptation under local provenancing may be restricted by limited pollen flow among populations of native Scots pine in Scotland, the timing of pollen production in five populations was estimated by repeatedly measuring strobilus development on a series of twenty trees over three consecutive springs. Differences in the mean predicted date of pollen production were found, with populations in the warmer west shedding pollen earliest each year, although the timing and differences in timing among populations varied from year to year, with shedding taking place earliest in the warmest of the three years and latest in the coolest year. A theoretical multi-patch, ecological genetic individual-based model (IBM) was developed to investigate the utility of different seed sourcing strategies (local versus non local provenance) and their capacity to help populations adapt to directional climate change. As well as being adapted to climate, which varied in a clinal pattern, individuals also had to be well adapted to the habitat conditions of the planting site in order to survive hard selection at the seedling stage. The model showed that population size of a new planting was reduced when planting stock adapted to the future conditions but not to current conditions was deployed. The differences were most severe when selection acted simultaneously on both the climate-related and the habitat-related phenotype. Finally, a series of in-depth qualitative surveys conducted with members of the domestic forest nursery and seed supply sector in Great Britain found that there are many difficulties associated with seed sourcing and the supply of trees. These problems arise due to a very limited ability to predict demand at the time of seed sowing, and lead to waste when demand is overestimated and importation of planting stock when demand is underestimated. Confidence and competitiveness in the domestic sector could be greatly improved by updating seed sourcing guidelines and by simplifying certain aspects of the process by which forest planting projects are funded.

Flower seed mixes are increasingly used to enhance the biodiversity and amenity values of urban green spaces. Urban or “pictorial” flower seed mixes are often used because they are designed using cultivars and non-native species to provide more colourful and longer-lasting flower displays. Although these seed mixes are effective in providing a high density of large colourful flowers, over an extended season, their value for biodiversity, and in particular the floral rewards they provide for flower-visitors, is largely unknown. The overall aim of my thesis was to assess and improve the value of these new urban habitats as forage resources for flower-visiting insects. My approach was to quantify and compare floral reward provision and insect visitation between meadows grown from three exemplar commercial pictorial flower meadow seed mixes (called Marmalade Annual, Short Annual and Cornfield Annual). I also compared these standard commercial mixes with corresponding ‘nectar-enriched’ formulations, which were designed by increasing the proportional seed weight contribution of selected species predicted to produce high quantities of nectar within each mix. To compare floral rewards and visitation between meadows grown from these seed mixes, I set up a field experiment in Sheffield, UK, using a complete randomised block design with six replicate blocks, each with six 25 m2 plots sown with one of the six seed mix treatments. My first objective was to quantify the floral nectar and pollen rewards provided by each flowering species recorded in the meadows (on the scale of a single flower or inflorescence). My second objective was to use these data to quantify the floral rewards provided per unit area by replicate meadows of different seed mix treatments, testing whether enrichment of seed mixes is an effective method of increasing floral nectar sugar rewards. My third objective was to corroborate/correct my morphology-based flower-visitor identifications using DNA barcoding to screen for misidentifications and morphologically cryptic species. I then used these DNA barcode-based identifications to assess whether there are systematic biases in the structure of flower-visitor networks constructed using molecular taxon identifications compared to traditional morphology-based taxon identifications. My fourth objective was to quantify patterns of insect visitation to meadows, testing whether meadows of different seed mix types attract different flower-visitor assemblages. Meadow floral composition surveys revealed that contamination by unintended horticultural species was widespread across replicate seed mix treatments, with contaminants likely germinating from a seed bank laid down during a failed attempt at this experiment the previous year. Contamination particularly affected Marmalade mixes, mainly because the common contaminant species were often also components of the Short and Cornfield mixes. For example, contaminants contributed on average about a third of nectar sugar mass or pollen volume per unit area in Marmalade mix meadows. Hence, contamination fundamentally undermined the internal validity of seed mix treatments, reducing the ability to directly attribute meadow level patterns in floral rewards or flower-visitors to seed mixes. As result, examination of patterns of floral resource provision and insect visitation were more informative at a species scale. In terms of patterns of insect visitation, Centaurea cyanus received 91% of bumblebee visits, 88% of honeybee visits and 29% of hoverfly visits, whilst T. inodorum received 27% of hoverfly visits. Patterns of bumblebee and honeybee visitation indicated preferential visitation to floral units of Centaurea cyanus. Although this species produced high quantities of nectar sugar mass and pollen volume, this did not differentiate it from other Asteraceae, such as Glebionis segetum, Rudbeckia hirta and Coreopsis tinctoria, which all produced high quantities of both floral rewards. Hence, it is likely that floral traits not measured in this study, such as nectar accessibility (‘nectar-holder depth’) or concentration/volume characteristics (which can affect accessibility due to constraints imposed by feeding morphology), drove patterns of preferential visitation in bumblebees and honeybees to C. cyanus. Given that in the absence of contamination there would have been very few bumblebee or honeybee visitors to Marmalade mix meadows, aesthetically designed pictorial meadows can fail to jointly provide benefits for people and some important flower-visiting insect taxa. DNA barcoding did not change specimen identifications for most morphotaxa. However, splitting and/or lumping processes affected almost one third of morphotaxa, with lumping of morphotaxa the most common type of change. This was in part because males and females from sexually dimorphic species were often separated by morphological identification. These DNA barcode-based changes to visitor taxonomy resulted in consistent minor changes in network size and structure across replicate networks. Lumping of morphotaxa decreased taxon richness, reducing the number of unique links and interaction diversity (the effective number of links). Lumping also increased flower-visitor generality, reducing plant vulnerability and increasing overall network connectance. However, taxonomic changes had no effect on interaction evenness or network specialisation. Thus, for this well-studied fauna, DNA barcode-based flower-visitor networks were systematically biased toward fewer taxa and links, with more generalist visitors and specialist plants. Given that many tropical faunas have more species and are less described than in Britain this pattern may not be replicated in other studies. Further studies in contrasting plant-pollinator communities are required before generalisations can be made about systematic biases between networks constructed using morphological versus molecular data. Overall, meadows grown from annual pictorial flower meadow seed mixes provide abundant floral units per unit area of meadow and are a valuable alternative to traditional horticultural flower beds or amenity grasslands in high profile urban contexts. Nevertheless, care must be taken during design of seed mixes and selection of mixes for planting to ensure that species in the mix provide suitable floral resources for an array of flower-visitors, including bees. This would be aided by the integration of informative measures for candidate species of floral rewards or visitor types and visitation rates during seed mix design.

Vegetation in the San Cristobal Valley of Barry M. Goldwater Range-East was mapped using a combination of field surveys and aerial imagery interpretation to contribute to ongoing inventory of natural resources for the BMGR-East as well as assist in resource management decisions. Eighteen vegetation associations were identified and mapped through collection of 186 samples to characterize vegetation associations. The most common vegetation association was Larrea tridentata monotype, covering 29% of the area mapped. Larrea tridentata is a widely spread shrub throughout the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave deserts; therefore understanding germination and seedling survival patterns is crucial. Ambrosia dumosa and A. deltoidea exhibit nurse plant-protégé interactions with L. tridentata. Seed density of L. tridentata was studied under Ambrosia species to determine factors controlling germination and seedling density. As expected seed density was greater under Ambrosia canopy than areas with no canopy. Ambrosia species and canopy type did not affect seed density.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The composition and state of soil-stored seed banks on- and off the mesa Tafelberg, in the Nama Karoo rangelands of the Eastem Cape, South Africa, were investigated within the context of a broader restoration ecology project "Restoration of degraded Nama Karoo rangelands: the role of conservation islands'". The premise for this seed bank study was that restoration of degraded semi-arid rangelands is possible through applied management programs based on the methodology and practice of ecological restoration. Broadly acknowledged properties of non-equilibrium environments (e.g. unpredictable climates and varying degrees of disturbance) and soilstored seed banks (e.g. spatial and temporal distributions) formed the basis for investigating. the general environment and the properties.. of existing seed, banks, in the Tafelberg locality. The potential role of hills as refugia for palatable plant species was an under-lying element of the investigation. Following a brief investigation, of historical and contemporary research and policy on rangeland degradation in semi-arid regions of the world, the fundamental need for comprehensive and applied seed bank research in the Nama Karoo is emphasised. Within the framework of the umbrella project, the seed bank study examined local environmental criteria commencing with an investigation into seed bank- and vegetation habitats. Chemical and physical properties of soils from twenty two sites on- and off Tafelberg were described. Substantial soil habitat variation, between the top, the north west slopes and plains and the south east slopes and plains of Tafelberg, was identified. Micro-site variation between open-canopy (interplant spaces) and closed-canopy (under plant cover) microhabitats was found to be significant Primary soil habitat differences were linked to soil organic matter content which was found to be low on the plains relative to the top and slopes; and, low in open-canopy micro-sites relative to closed-canopy sites. Soil texture and nutrient composition on- and off Tafelberg was found to be highly variable with significant differences between the top and the plains as well as between the north west and south east plains. The slopes were found to be intermediate (showing some level of gradient) between the top and the plains. Soil nutrient variation was interpreted as a function of textural and parent-material properties of soils. Anthropogenic factors for accelerated erosion, deposition, leaching and salt-crust formation were also considered. It was concluded that while properties of soils on- and off Tafelberg are inherently related to parent soils, changes to textural and nutrient properties may be occurring and these changes may have been exacerbated by high levels of grazing. An investigation (focusing on small shrubs) of plant phenological response, in relation to rainfall and grazing gradients, identified trends of peak budding- and flowering seasons following rainfall during summer and autumn respectively. A continuum of seeding activity, with peaks in late autumn and early winter, was construed from quarterly data. Flush vegetative growth was noted for most small shrubs during spring, autumn and summer surveys. Since some form of activity related to reproductive output (flush growth, budding, flowering or seeding) was apparent at almost all times of the year, it is argued that high intensity disturbance (including grazing) might impact negatively on plant survival, leading to reduced reproductive input (i.e. seeds) into future generations. Plant communities on the top and plains are described noting significant differences between vegetation on top of Tafelberg (comprising primarily high production, palatable grass and shrub species) and that on the plains (comprising mainly spinescent, ephemeral, toxic and low production species). Given the high grazing pressure on the plains (relative to the less utilised slopes and top of Tafelberg), differences in vegetation composition are discussed in relation to studies elsewhere that describe degraded rangelands. It is concluded firstly that the plains surrounding Tafelberg are degraded, secondty that long term over-utilisation has altered vegetation composition and finally that inter-grazing rest periods of three- or six months alone may not restore vegetation diversity nor desirable plant species to the plains. Results of germination trials (investigating soil-stored seed banks) from two sampling episodes (spring and autumn 1998) revealed that seed banks in soils removed from the plains, slopes and top of Tafelberg followed distribution patterns observed in above-ground vegetation. Species-specific data was not finalised for this thesis since not all seedlings matured and flowered within given time constraints. In order to compare seedling emergence data, plant categories were developed that distinguished ephemerals versus persistent (perennial) species and dicotyledonous species versus grasses and other monocotyledonous plants. Samples from the top and the middle to upper slopes showed a high percentage of palatable and persistent grass and shrub species present in soil-stored seed banks while over twothirds of plants germinating from plains' soil samples were ephemeral species and most of these were both tiny «Scm) and short-lived «3 months). Most of the perennial species germinating from plains' samples were seedlings of Pentzia incana, Chrysocoma ciliata and succulents (mostly Mesembryanthemaceae) but few perennial grasses were present. On the other hand, roughly 94% of seedlings germinating from samples from the top and 63% of seedlings germinating from two slopes of Tafelberg respectively were persistent- grass or shrubby species. Roughly 89% of ephemeral species recorded from slopes' samples germinated from the lowest footslope sites. Seed densities were closely linked to micro-habitats with roughly three-fold differences between open- (lower seed density) and closed-canopy (higher seed density) micro-sites. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that most of the variation in seed density data was explained at the micro-habitat level. Seasonality played a secondary role with significant twoway interaction between the two effects. It is concluded that both factors must be considered when developing restoration programmes that aim to improve both overall plant cover and improved plant species diversity. While the original or "pristine" state of vegetation composition and seed banks on the plains is unknown, concems were raised regarding the apparently degraded state of total above- and below-ground plant diversity on these plains. A likely consequence of habitat degradation is that species with specific soil-, nutrient ratio-, aspect- and altitudinal requirements from the top and slopes of Tafelberg (as well as from nearby plains' refugia) may not be able to establish in degraded habitats on the plains. The identification of pioneer plant species (tolerant of habitat degradation) that allow increased vegetation cover and safe-sites for seedling germination of desirable plant species is recommended. Restoration programmes will need to be coupled with strict grazing management principles that allow seedling germination. establishment and successful reproductive output of desirable plants for future rangeland regeneration. Common and salient features of the soil habitat, plant pbenological response and germination trial studies are brought together in an examination of habitats and related seed bank diversity on- and off Tafelberg. Acknowledging the brevity of this research study, but utilising case studies from elsewhere and integrating both lines of questioning, the conclusion is again reached that the plains surrounding Tafelberg are degraded through decades and probably centuries of grazing by domestic livestock. It is considered crucial that restoration through improvement (or rehabilitation) of habitats and increased seedling safe-sites be considered. Both climate and grazing management appear to play an irrevocably linked role in shaping vegetation composition in rangelands. While rangelands are intrinsiCalfy adapted to surviving extremes of climatic variability found in non-equilibrium regions it is argued that the impacts of grazing, particularly during times of drought and climate change, are slowly reducing the intrinsic "buffer-capacity" of rangelands to withstand these changes and extremes. It seems apparent from research elsewhere that restoration through passive management is slow and probably not economically achievable within a viable time frame. The instifution and promotion of integrated and strategic programmes that identify and address issues of land degradation and land use change in semi-arid rangelands is recommended. The input and endeavours of different authorities, ministries and a broad public participation incentive are encouraged in these proposed programmes in order to ensure broadly-based input into long term sustainability and conservation of the considerable biological diversity of these regions. Seed bank assessment is considered to be a valuable means of indicating restoration potential and ranqeland condition with potential for the identification of both degraded and conservationworthy areas. Finally, some limitations and challenges of this study are examined through a process of firstly identifying alternative approaches to research methodologies and secondly through proposing recommendations for future research projects. While alternative methods could have been applied for the purposes of accomplishing this study it is concluded that, within the given time- and other constraints, the appropriate methods were applied.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die samestelling entoestand van groncbbewaarde saadbanke.op en van die mesa Tafelberg af, in die Nama Karoo weiveld van die Oos-Kaap, Suid-Afrika, is ondersoek binne die konteks van 'n wyer herstelekologieprojek: "Restourasie van oorbeweide Nama Karoo weiveld: die rol van bewannqseilande'". Die uitqanqspunt van hierdie saadbankondersoek was dat dit moontlik is om beskadigde semidroë weiveld te herstel deur middel van toegepaste bestuursprogramme wat gebaseer is op die metodologie en praktyk van ekologiese herstel. Algemeen erkende eienskappe van nieekwilibrium- omgewings (byvoorbeeld onvoorspelbare klimate en wisselende mates van versteuring) en grond-bewaarde saadbanke (byvoorbeeld ruimtelike en temporale verspreidings), het die basis gevorm vir die ondersoek van die algemene omgewing en die eienskappe van bestaande saadbanke in die Tafelberg omgewing. Die potensiële rol van heuwels as skuilplek vir aanvaarbare plantspesies was 'n onder1iggende element van die ondersoek. Na 'n kort ondersoek van historiese ~n kontemporêre navorsing en beleid oor weiveldbeskadiging in semi-droë streke van die wêreld, is die fundamentele behoefte aan omvattende en toegepaste saadbanknavorsing in die Nama Karoo beklemtoon. Binne die raamwerk van die oorkoepelende projek het die saadbankondersoek plaaslike omgewingskriteria bestudeer, beginnende met 'n ondersoek na saadbank- en plantegroeihabitats. Chemiese en fisiese eienskappe van grond vanaf twee en twintig terreine op en van Tafelberg af is beskryf. Omvattende grondhabitatwisseling tussen die kruin, die noordwestelike hange en die vlaktes en die suidoostelike hange en vlaktes van Tafelberg is geïdentifiseer. Mikroterreinwisseling tussen die oop-dak (tussenplantruimtes) en toe-dak (onderplantdekking) -mikrohabitats is as beduidend bevind. Primêre grondhabitatverskille is gekoppel aan die inhoud van die grond se organiese materiaal, wat op die vlaktes as laag bevind is vergeleke met die kruin en hange; en laag bevind is in oop-dak-mikroterreine vergeleke met toe-dak-terreine, Daar is gevind dat die grondtekstuur en voedingstofsamestelling op en van Tafelberg af aansienlik varieer, met beduidende verskille tussen die kruin en die vlaktes, en ook tussen die noordwestelike en suidoostelike vlaktes. Daar is gevind dat die hange intermediêr is (toon 'n mate van gradiënt) tussen die kruin en die vlaktes. Die wisseling in grondvoedingstowwe is vertolk as 'n funksie van teksturele en ouermateriaaleienskappe van grond. Antropogeniese faktore vir versnelde erosie, neerslag, loging en soutkorsvorming is ook oorweeg. Die gevolgtrekking is gemaak dat terwyl die eienskappe van grond op en van Tafelberg af inherent aan ouergrond verwant is, kan veranderinge aan tekstuur en voedingstofeienskappe voorkom, en hierdie veranderinge kon deur hoë vlakke van weiding vererger gewees het. 'n Ondersoek (wat op klein struike gefokus het) van plantfenologiese reaksie met betrekking tot reënval en weidingsgradiënte het tendense van piekbot- en blomseisoene na reënval gedurende die somer en herfs onderskeidelik geïdentifiseer. 'n Kontinuum van saadskietaktiwiteit, met piektye in laat herfs en vroeë winter, is van kwartaallikse data saamgestel. Groeistuwing is vir die meeste klein struike waargeneem gedurende lente-, herfs- en someropnames. Aangesien die een of ander vorm van aktiwiteit met betrekking tot voortplantingsgroei (groeistuwing, bot, blom of saadskiet) op feitlik al die tye van die jaar sigbaar was, word daar geredeneer dat hoëintensiteitversteuring (ook weiding) 'n negatiewe impak op plantoorlewing kan hê, wat sal lei tot verminderde voortplantingsinset (m.a.w. sade) in toekomstige geslagte. Plantgemeenskappe op die kruin en vlaktes word beskryf met beduidende verskille tussen plantegroei op die kruin van Tafelberg (wat hoofsaaklik bestaan uit hoëproduksie, smaaklike gras- en struikspesies) en dié ap die vlaktes (wat bestaan uit hoofsaaklik doringagtige, efemere, toksiese en laeproduksie-spesies). Gegee die hoë weidingsdruk op die vlaktes (vergeleke met die minder benutte hange en kruin van Tafelberg), word verskille in die samestelling van plantegroei bespreek met betrekking tot studies elders wat beskadigde weiveld beskryf. Die gevolgtrekking word eerstens gemaak dat die vlaktes om Tafelberg beskadig is, tweedens dat langtermyn-oorbenutting die samestelling van die plantegroei verander het, en laastens dat interweiding-rusperiodes van drie tot ses maande alleen dalk nie die diversiteit van plantegroei of die verlangde plantspesies op die vlaktes kan herstel nie. Die uitslae van kiemingstoetse (wat ondersoek ingestel het na grond-bewaarde saadbanke) van twee steekproefepisodes (lente en herfs 1'998)het getoon dat saadbanke in grond wat van die vlaktes, hange en kruin van Tafelberg verwyder is, die verspreidingspatrone volg wat in bogrondse plantegroei waargeneem is. Spesie-spesifieke data is nie vir hierdie tesis gefinaliseer nie, aangesien nie alle saailinge binne die gegewe tydsbeperkinge gegroei en geblom het nie. Ten einde saailing-verskyningsdata te vergelyk, is plantkategorieë ontwikkel wat efemere en langdurige (meerjarige) spesies en dikotiele spesies en grassoorte en ander monokotiele plante onderskei. Steekproewe van die kruin en teen die middelste en boonste hange het 'n hoë persentasie van aanvaarbare en standhoudende gras- en struikspesies getoon wat in grond-bewaarde saadbanke teenwoordig is, terwyl meer as twee derdes van plante wat in die vlaktes se grondmonsters ontkiem het, efemere spesies was, en die meeste daarvan was klein «5cm) en met 'n kort leeftyd «3 maande). Die meeste van die meerjarige spesies wat van die vlaktes se steekproewe kom, was saailinge van Pentzia incana, Chrysocoma ciliata en vetplante (hoofsaaklik Mesembryanthemaceae), maar min meerjarige grasse was teenwoordig. Daarenteen was onderskeidelik ongeveer 94% van saailinge wat van monsters van die kruin en 63% van saailinge wat van twee van die hange van Tafelberg ontkiem het, langdurige gras- of struikspesies. Ongeveer 89% van die efemere spesies wat van die hange se steekproewe aangeteken is, het op die laagste voethang-terreine ontkiem. Saaddigthede toon 'n noue verband met mikrohabitats, met ongeveer drievoudige verskille tussen oop- (laer saaddigtheid) en toe-dak (hoër saaddigtheid) -mikroterreine. 'n Multivariaatontleding van variansie (MANOVA) het aangedui dat die meeste van die variasie in saaddigtheidsdata op die mikrohabitat-vlak verduidelik is. Seisoenaliteit het 'n sekondêre rol gespeel, met beduidende tweerigting-interaksie tussen die twee uitwerkings. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat albei faktore oorweeg moet word wanneer herstelprogramme ontwikkel word wat ten doel het om algehele plantbedekking en die diversiteit van verbeterde plantspesies te verhoog. Terwyl die oorspronklike of "ongerepte" toestand van die plantegroei se samestelling en saadbanke op die vlaktes onbekend is, is kommer uitgespreek oor die klaarblyklik beskadigde toestand van die totale bo- en ondergrondse plantdiversiteit op hierdie vlaktes. 'n Waarskynlike gevolg van habitatbeskadiging is dat spesies met spesifieke grond-, voedingstofverhouding-, aspek- en seevlak-vereistes van die kruin en hange van Tafelberg (asook van nabygeleë vlakteskuilings) nie in staat sal wees om in beskadigde habitats op die vlaktes te vestig nie. Die identifikasie van pionierplantspesies (verdraagsaam vir habitatbeskadiging) wat verhoogde plantegroeidekking en veilige terreine vir saailingontkieming van verlangde plantspesies toelaat, word aanbeveel. Herstelprogramme sal gekoppel moet word aan streng weidingsbeginsels wat saailingontkieming, die vestiging en suksesvolle voortplantingsproduksie van gewenste plante vir toekomstige weiveldherstel moontlik maak. Algemene en belangrike eienskappe van die grondhabitat, plantfenologiereaksie en kiemingsproefondersoeke word saamgevoeg in 'n ondersoek van habitats en verwante saadbankdiversiteit op en van Tafelberg af. Met erkenning van die kortstondigheid van hierdie navorsingsondersoek, maar met benutting van gevallestudies van elders en die integrasie van albei vraaglyne, word daarweertot die slotsom gekom dat die vlaktes om Tafelberg beskadig is deur dekades en waarskynlik eeue se beweiding deur mak lewende hawe. Dit word as uiters belangrik beskou dat herstel deur verbetering (of rehabilitasie) van habitats en 'n groter aantal saailing beveiligingsterreine oorweeg moet word. Dit lyk asof klimaat sowel as weidingsbestuur 'n onherroeplik gekoppelde rol speel in die vorming van die samestelling van plantegroei op weiveld. Terwyl weiveld intrinsiek aangepas is by die oorlewing van uiterste klimaatswisseling wat in nie-ekwilibriese streke aangetref word, word daar geredeneer dat die impak van beweiding, veral gedurende droogtetye en klimaatsverandering, stadigaan die intrinsieke "buffervermoë" van weiveld verminder om hierdie veranderinge en uiterstes te weerstaan. Dit blyk uit navorsing elders dat herstel deur passiewe bestuur stadig en waarskynlik nie ekonomies haalbaar is binne 'n lewensvatbare tydsraamwerk nie. Die instelling en bevordering van geïntegreerde en strategiese programme wat kwessies van grondbeskadiging en verandering van grondgebruik in semi-droë gebiede identifiseer en oplos, word aanbeveel. Die insette en pogings van verskillende owerhede en ministeries en deelname deur die breë publiek word aangemoedig in hierdie voorgestelde programme ten einde insette met 'n breë basis in die langtermyn~volhoubaarheid en bewaring van die aansienlike biologiese diversiteit van hierdie streke te verseker. Saadbankbeoordeling word beskou as 'n waardevolle manier om die herstelpotensiaal en weiveldtoestande met die potensiaal vir die identifisering van beskadigde sowel as bewaringswaardige gebiede aan te dui. Laastens word 'n paar beperkings en uitdagings van hierdie studie ondersoek deur 'n proses van eerstens die identifisering van alternatiewe benaderings tot navorsingsmetodologieë, en tweedens deur die voorstel van aanbevelings vir toekomstige navorsingsprojekte. Terwyl alternatiewe metodes toegepas kon gewees het ten einde hierdie studie af te handel, is die gevolgtrekking dat die toepaslike metodes binne die gegewe tyd5- en ander beperkings toegepas is.

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CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Piper peltatum (Piperaceae) and Ampelozizyphus amazonicus (Rhamnaceae) are species that have important medicinal features proven, for example, the action against malaria. Both are used as medicinal by the Amazonian peoples, and are obtained exclusively by the practice of extraction. These species are not scientifically well-known, and, due to their potential, studies about methodologies for the conservation of genetic resources and the domestication of these species are necessary. The objectives of this study were to locate and characterize, based on field observation and environmental data base, the natural populations of these species along the Amazon River, and developing strategies for conservation of Ampelozizyphus amazonicus and Piper peltatum germplasm by minimum growth techniques and sub-zero and cryogenic temperatures. For in vitro conservation minimum growth techniques were used. The maintenance of P. peltatum microshoots was evaluated under different temperatures (10 °C, 20 °C and 25 °C) and different salts concentrations in MS medium. Microshoots of P. peltatum and Ampelozizyphus amazonicus were subjected to different concentrations of sucrose, mannitol and sorbitol (1%, 2% and 3%). Microshots of P. peltatum were also subjected to culture media with different concentrations of sucrose, mannitol and sorbitol (1%, 2% and 3%) with or without salicylic acid (SA). Seeds conservation of Piper peltatum were evaluated under sub-zero (-20 °C) and cryogenic (-196 °C) temperatures. For seeds preservation under sub-zero temperatures, the seeds were desiccated for 0h, 24h and 48h and maintained for 0, 90 and 180 days in temperature of -20 °C. For cryopreservation, seeds were immersed in liquid Nitrogen for 24h, and stored with or without other cryoprotectors. Field observation and the data base demonstrate that most of sampling areas visited are under anthropic deforestation. The In vitro maintenance of P. peltatum microshoots was more efficient in the temperature of 20 °C. The use of mannitol for conservation in vitro resulted in high mortality rates of the microshoots of both species. In vitro conservation of P. peltatum in function of sucrose, mannitol e sorbitol and different concentrations of SA, the best results are obtained in the absence of AS. Germination rates were satisfactory when the seeds of Piper peltatum were dried for up to 48 hours and stored for up to 180 days at -20 ° C. The seeds were also tolerant to cryopreservation, regardless of the use of cryoprotectants. It is possible the conservation of the species in vitro for up to 180 days by reducing the growth temperature. The addition of mannitol and sorbitol, for the concentrations tested, are inadequate for in vitro conservation of A. amazonicus microshoots. Sorbitol may be used in P. peltatum conservation in concentrations between 1% and 2% in MS medium. Piper peltatum seeds are tolerant to desiccation and exposure to subzero and cryogenic temperatures, suggesting that Piper peltatum seeds are orthodox.
Ampelozizyphus amazonicus Ducke (Rhamnaceae) e Piper peltatum L. (Piperaceae) são espécies que possuem características medicinais importantes comprovadas cientificamente, dentre essas a ação contra a malária. Ambas são usadas como medicinais pelas populações da Amazônia, que as obtêm exclusivamente pela prática do extrativismo. As espécies são pouco conhecidas sob o ponto de vista científico e devido ao potencial que estas apresentam, são necessários estudos a respeito de metodologias para a conservação dos recursos genéticos e domesticação destas espécies. Este trabalho teve por objetivo localizar populações naturais de Ampelozizyphus amazonicus e Piper peltatum ao longo dos rios Solimões e Amazonas, caracterizar por meio de observações nas áreas de coleta e informações de bases de dados as condições ambientais das populações, e desenvolver estratégias para a conservação de germoplasma por técnicas de crescimento mínimo, temperaturas sub zero e criogênicas. Para a conservação in vitro utilizaram-se técnicas de conservação in vitro por crescimento mínimo. Foi avaliada a manutenção de microestacas de Piper peltatum sob diferentes temperaturas (10 °C, 20 °C e 25 °C) e o cultivo em diferentes concentrações dos sais do meio de cultura MS. Microestacas de Ampelozizyphus amazonicus e Piper peltatum foram submetidas a diferentes concentrações de sacarose, manitol e sorbitol (1%, 2% e 3%). Em outro ensaio microestacas de Piper peltatum foram cultivadas em meio de cultura com diferentes concentrações de sacarose, manitol e sorbitol (1%, 2% e 3%) adicionado ou não de ácido salicílico (AS). Foram realizados ensaios de conservação de sementes de Piper peltatum, estas foram submetidas a conservação por temperaturas sub zero (-20 oC) e criogênicas (-196 oC). Para a conservação de sementes sob temperatura sub zero, inicialmente as sementes foram dessecadas por 0h, 24h e 48h e conservadas por 0, 90 e 180 dias, a -20 °C de temperatura. Para a criopreservação, as sementes foram testadas quanto à tolerância a imersão por 24 horas em Nitrogênio líquido (NL) e quanto ao uso ou não de diferentes tipos de crioprotetores. As observações ambientais realizadas e as informações das bases de dados demonstram que a maior parte das áreas de coleta visitadas está sob ação antrópica de desmatamento. A manutenção in vitro de microestacas de Piper peltatum a 20 °C de temperatura foi a mais eficiente na conservação in vitro sob diferentes temperaturas. O uso do manitol para a conservação in vitro resultou no aumento das taxas de mortalidade das microestacas de ambas as espécies estudadas. Para a conservação in vitro de P. peltatum em função da sacarose, manitol e sorbitol e diferentes concentrações de AS, os melhores resultados das culturas sobreviventes são obtidos na ausência de AS. A conservação de sementes de Piper peltatum apresentou taxa de germinação satisfatória quando dessecadas por até 48 horas e conservadas por até 180 dias à -20 °C de temperatura. As sementes foram tolerantes à criopreservação independentemente do uso de crioprotetores. Conclui-se que é possível a conservação in vitro de P. peltatum por até 180 dias pela redução da temperatura de crescimento. A adição de manitol e sorbitol, nas concentrações testadas, são inadequadas para a conservação in vitro de microestacas de A. amazonicus. O sorbitol pode ser usado na conservação de P. peltatum em intervalo de 1% a 2% da concentração adicionado ao meio de cultura de MS. As sementes de Piper peltatum são tolerantes à dessecação e à exposição às temperaturas sub zero e criogênicas, sugerindo que se trata de semente do tipo ortodoxa.

Kyoto University (京都大学)
0048
新制・課程博士
博士(人間・環境学)
甲第21848号
人博第877号
新制||人||210(附属図書館)
2018||人博||877(吉田南総合図書館)
京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科相関環境学専攻
(主査)教授 市岡 孝朗, 教授 加藤 眞, 教授 瀬戸口 浩彰, 准教授 西川 完途
学位規則第4条第1項該当

Disturbances such as fire and mowing temporarily increase available resources for plants, opening a window of opportunity for establishment. During the recovery of vegetation after disturbance in remnant prairies, seedling establishment is often negligible compared to vegetative regrowth. It is unclear if this is the case in reconstructions. I tested the contribution of seedlings to diversity after disturbance in two, 25-year-old, low diversity reconstructed prairies by removing seedlings, allowing seedlings, and adding seed in 1 m ² plots. Disturbance frequency effects were tested by clipping each treatment zero, one, or multiple times. After two growing seasons, in the wetter field site, seedlings removed plots had the lowest species richness and highest evenness, plots with seedlings from the seed bank were intermediate, and plots with added seed had the highest richness and lowest evenness. In the drier site, only adding seed impacted richness (higher) and evenness (lower). In both sites, the seeds present in the seed bank were over 80% from non-native species. Seedling establishment was quantified along with light, water, and nitrate availability within each seeded plot. In the wetter site, resource levels did not predict seedling numbers, but seedlings were more numerous in more frequently clipped, lighter plots. In the drier site, seedlings were more numerous in less frequently clipped plots which received less light and may have remained moister. Seedling establishment from any source never affected community diversity suggesting that while some seeds establish, reconstructions are primarily maintained by vegetative reproduction. The inconsistent effect of clipping highlights the need for management to adapt to varying precipitation, however, given the non-native dominated seed banks, any management intended to increase seedling establishment could result in increased non-native cover.

Agriculture is the largest consumer of water in the United States. Policies that affect agriculture therefore have the potential to have a large effect on the overall use of water. Crop insurance is one such policy, which was found to significantly increase water use in the state of Texas. Much, but not all of this effect can be explained by an increase in planting density, and results vary widely by crop and by region.

Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn.) is one of the most commonly seeded exotic species in the western United States. Although many degraded Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) plant communities have been seeded with crested wheatgrass during rehabilitation efforts, seed banks of these communities have not been characterized. I sought to characterize and explain the variation among 33 seeded communities in the northeastern Great Basin. Hierarchical clustering and principal components analysis identified four possible seed bank categories in these communities. Seed bank categories varied from high to low crested wheatgrass dominance. The crested wheatgrass-dominated category is a particularly attractive setting to develop management strategies that reduce crested wheatgrass dominance and increase native plant diversity. It is also a common practice to seed crested wheatgrass in mixture with native species after a disturbance to increase diversity. Empirical estimates as to how the density of crested wheatgrass seed and seedlings interfere with native species establishment have not been defined. A greenhouse experiment was established using an addition series design to determine the influence of interference between crested wheatgrass and four important native species. The existence of seed bank categories of Wyoming big sagebrush communities seeded with crested wheatgrass agrees with the hypothesis that seed banks closely resemble floristic composition. In addition, these results support the hypothesis that seed bank composition has a strong influence on succession in these communities, and characterizing seed banks is necessary to develop ecologically based management strategies for seeded Wyoming big sagebrush communities. Interference from crested wheatgrass on many native species suggests that further management practices to enhance diversity in crested wheatgrass-dominated communities are necessary to reduce competition from crested wheatgrass in the seed bank as well as the aboveground vegetation. These results also suggest that the practice of simultaneously seeding native species with crested wheatgrass may likely result in poor native species persistence unless combined seed bank density and seeding rate of crested wheatgrass is sufficiently low.

The coastal zone of Louisiana is changing due to multiple pressures associated with sea-level rise, subsidence, and the inability of sediment or organic accretion to keep pace. The expected increases in sea level and salinity may affect the distribution of the existing plant communities. In addition, these changes in the environment could lead to shifts in plant community composition. During the summer of 2014, I researched how changes in salinity and water levels may change the establishment of vegetation in Louisiana marshes. Randomly selected Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) sites were used to collect vegetation data and soil samples. The collected soil samples from fresh, intermediate, brackish, and saline marsh sites were used in a seed bank study. The seed bank study evaluated the effects of different levels of salinity and flooding on seed germination and species richness. Seed germination was highest in soil samples collected from fresh and intermediate sites when these samples were exposed to low salinity (0.0 ppt) and non-flooded conditions. My study only found 43 seedlings in the 10 ppt treatment of 336 total seed germinations, and only 2 seedlings were found in the 20 ppt salinity treatment. Salinity was the dominant factor governing seed germinations and species richness. I also determined that the parent plants for the species found in my seed bank study were more likely to be found within the study site. However, the species data showed at least one species or genus was not present in either the historical or the field collected data. Therefore, the dispersal distance of some seeds from their parental seed provider could have been several hundred meters.

This study focused on the management of the red sea urchin Loxechinus albus fishery in Chile. The main objective was to design, construct, implement and assess a computer-based simulation model to analyse the biological effects, socio-economic consequences and spatial dynamics resulting from coastal management plans applied to this resource under the system of AMEBR. This was accomplished by using systems dynamics (SD) and geographical information systems (GIS) modelling, in a process of model development, run, optimisation, sensitivity analysis and risk management, and a series of field-based activities carried out at the cove of Quintay. The GIS model developed for allocating sea urchins restocking sites offered a flexible, cost-effective, user-friendly and descriptive technique for support decision-making on management of this species and other benthic resources. Final site selection for restocking was based on the identification, quantification and selection of higher suitability¦availability combinations (site categories). This map showed 16 different suitability¦availability combinations or site categories, ranging from 4¦100 to 8¦100 (suitability points¦availability %). These had an average of 6.44¦69.37 (covering an area of 82.5 Ha overall equivalent to 81.21% of the study area. This site classification demonstrated high heterogeneity between options, and revealed the full variety of alternatives for decision-making. More importantly, the generally high suitability indexes as well as available area emphasised the prospects for restocking sea urchins in this study area. Over and above of the quantitative outcomes obtained from running the GISRM (suitable and available restocking sites) and the BSESM (alternative strategic management plans), the case study-based analysis made it possible to disclose the wider issues related to the red sea urchin coastal management. These results demonstrated the biological inefficiency of traditional size/seasonal restriction-based approach (macro-scenario 1) for sustainable management of the target species. More importantly, final outcomes strongly suggested that a combination of adaptive restocking-based enhancement activities and flexible exploitation constituted a highly attractive approach (macro-scenario 3) for stock management of this fishery in terms of harvestable stock and related incomes. However from the economic analysis, stocking was also found to be economically unfeasible, being a rather cost intensive exercise negatively affected by high natural mortality rates. A single-variable optimisation analysis demonstrated that a higher survival rate is needed to generate sufficient profits to cover major restocking costs and a positive payment, or a cost reduction is essential to make up for the loss. On top to these practical constraints, based on the distinctive modest economic situation prevailing for most Chilean coves and hence their limited capacity to pay for stocking material, unless adequate and constant funding is available to support artisanal associations, they are very unlikely to develop mass release programmes. Given the economic (i.e.: high operating costs) and technical (i.e.: low survival rates) limitations conditioning stocking-based management cost-effectiveness and applicability, wide implementation of mass releases as a major approach for management of the red sea urchin fishery is very unlikely to take place in Chile. This study presents a methodology and offers a tool to design, evaluate and optimise coastal management plans for the red sea urchin in a dynamic, interactive, systematic, integrated and flexible way. The optional strategic management plans proposed on this study may not be applied equally to any AMEBR, as they are the outputs arising from a single cove-specific analysis. Still, the complete methodological framework and analysis procedures developed may be applied to run the BSESM and optimise management of a red sea urchin fishery at any other AMEBR case of study.

This thesis examines the mistaken premise that Arthur Conan Doyle abandoned rational enquiry in order to embrace the supernatural, including spiritualism. It explores how Doyle’s diverse fiction and non-fiction define potentially supernatural phenomena as originating in the natural world. Consequently, for Doyle, the supernatural did not exist. This thesis investigates how Doyle advocated that new undetected natural laws could be investigated by science to establish unusual phenomena, including the existence of fairies and spiritualism. Through a reading of Doyle’s autobiographical, medical, detective, imperial and science fictions this thesis traces his scientific trajectory from gothicised supernatural to spiritualism. It considers how mental illness and addiction can provide heightened perceptions of potentially supernatural visions. It also examines how Doyle’s interpretation of medical realism gothicised sexual transgression that eventually led to him challenging his early creation of a religious schema that incorporated natural selection. At the core of this thesis is a metaphor from ‘Lot No. 249’ that demonstrates Doyle’s belief that the shadows that darken the limits of the natural world could be illuminated by science. This thesis uses Doyle’s metaphor to examine Sherlock Holmes’s role in The Hound of the Baskervilles that provides the detective with a method to investigate unusual phenomena. Doyle’s romance of imperial exploration and scientific medical self-experimentation merge with his interest in unusual phenomena. This enables an examination of Watson’s experience with a deadly drug in ‘The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot’ that can be read as an encounter with a spirit-entity. This thesis continues by examining Doyle’s science fiction stories that include his belief that circumstantial evidence and eye witness testimony should be utilised to sway scientific scepticism. The thesis concludes by noting how the author finally embraced spiritualism through ideas of spiritual salvation amidst a world doomed by their material pleasures, before briefly examining Doyle’s belief that science could still explain unusual phenomena by adapting technology.

Fruit-eating bats play important roles in maintaining ecosystem health by contributing to seed dispersal and pollination. The current research aims to provide fundamental knowledge on the ecology and behaviour of the Queensland tube-nosed fruit bat (Nyctimene robinsoni). A field-based study investigated genetic variation across the currently known distribution range, and described habitat use, roosting ecology, foraging behaviour and dietary spectrum to evaluate the species' role as a seed disperser. Research outcomes contribute to a better understanding of the poorly understood group of Tube-nosed fruit bats, and findings can serve to support their conservation and species management.

Rice not collected by harvesters and natural seeds are important foods for waterfowl. Estimation of abundance of these seeds is necessary for calculating waterfowl habitat conservation needs in the Louisiana Chenier Plain (LCP) and Texas Mid-Coast (TMC). My objectives were to quantify dry mass of rice and other seeds from August-November 2010, and estimate waterbird abundances on farmed and idle ricelands in these regions from December 2010-March 2011. Rice abundance in farmed ricelands ranged from 159.7 kg/ha (CV = 66.6%) to 1,014.0 kg/ha (CV = 8.3%). Natural seed abundance in idle ricelands ranged from 99.7 kg/ha (CV = 32.9%) to 957.4 kg/ha (CV = 17.2%). Greatest waterbird densities occurred in shallowly flooded disked ricelands (mean = 7.35 waterbirds/ha, 90%; CI = 2.37-19.70). Ratoon, disked, and shallowly flooded ricelands are important habitat for non-breeding waterbirds but variable estimates of seed and waterbird abundances warrant continuation of this study.

The title of this thesis is taken from the Book of Common Prayer, specifically from the section 'Of Ceremonies: Why some be Abolished and some Retained'. It takes as its premise the theory that arguments over the way in which worship was conducted were more important than doctrinal matters in the religious tensions which arose before the Civil War, focussing attention upon the diocese of Winchester. The thesis is split into three broad sections. The first section deals with the ceremonies of the church, and is split into two chapters. The first of these chapters is based largely around the physical structure of a church, whilst the second is more concerned with the rites and rubrics as laid down in the Book of Common Prayer. The second section, in three chapters, focusses upon the use of the arts in the early Stuart church. The first of these chapters concentrates on the visual arts, and the way in which they were used, particularly with regard to their hierarchical arrangement. The second turns attention to the aural arts, examining the differences, and similarities, in approach taken at the time. The third examines the idea that there was a specific culture which can be associated with Puritanism. The final section focusses upon the defence of hierarchy within the church. The first chapter in this section examines defences of Episcopal government which were produced by clerics who worked in the diocese. The second chapter looks at attempts to induce greater conformity within the diocese, and places this in the context of national events.

I studied the insect seed predator community on mesquite plants (Prosopis spp.) to investigate patterns of community composition in space and time, attempting to better understand the factors that led to the coexistence of many seed predator species on a single plant. This dissertation begins by testing the controversial species limits of Prosopis section Algarobía because hosts may act as environmental filters to insect seed predators. I found evidence for at least eight North American Prosopis species (section Algarobía). Second, I describe and add to the known natural history of 113 arthropod species among 315,174 individuals I collected from seedpod samples across the United States and Mexico. These samples included 187 trees from eight North American Prosopis species from section Algarobía and three from section Strombocarpa. Third, I examined reproductive timing in Prosopis and show that neighboring trees of the same species reproduce synchronously, whereas closely related species stagger reproduction. I found that photoperiod is the main cue that initiates flowering, but that multiple cues are involved. Thus, synchronous reproduction may act as an equalizing process that facilitates coexistence of seed predators in this system. Fourth, I tested for evidence of spatial and temporal niche partitioning among Prosopis seed predators. I found that the rank abundance of seed predators varies little over space and time, suggesting that this community exists in a homogeneous competitive environment. I also found that although a few species restrict the use of seeds to particular host plants or developmental stages of the pods, there is little evidence of niche partitioning. Finally, I looked for evidence of competition between seed predators and examined a number of factors that may allow for coexistence of these species. I found no evidence of interspecific competition or facilitation, suggesting that species somehow either avoid competition or that present patterns are the product of past competitive interactions. Natural enemies occur too sporadically to allow for apparent competition and I found no relationship between their occurrence or abundance and those of the seed predator species I studied. I found a positive correlation between rank abundance ability and fecundity, inconsistent with expectations of life-history or competitive-colonization trade-offs. Therefore, the only stabilizing process consistent with patterns found in this system is the niche regeneration hypothesis. I found that one seed predator species lays eggs most often away from both interspecific and intraspecific competitors, a pattern consistent with active avoidance as a second equalizing process within this system.

Pre-dispersal seed predation (PDSP, hereafter) significantly reduces plant reproductive output. The negative effects on plant fitness have triggered the development of different strategies to protect the seeds and/or reduce the impact of PDSP. These strategies, in turn, have promoted insect trophic specialization by means of morphological, physiological and behavioral adaptations. The close relationship between specialist insects and their host plants conditions insect community assemblage and population dynamics. Specialization would favour multi-species co-occurrence according to the Competitive Exclusion Principle, as different species cannot use the same limited resources. At the same time, specificity makes these species strongly dependent on a particular trophic resource, so that host plant population dynamics may lead to bottom-up forces influencing insect numbers. In this Thesis, I have studied the consequences of trophic specialization on species assemblage and demography in the most prevalent pre-dispersal predators of oak Quercus spp., chestnuts Castanea sativa and hazelnut Corylus avellana seeds, namely the weevils of the genus Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Using DNA barcoding I could identify larvae infesting the seeds to the species level and hence assess resource partitioning among Curculio spp. in oak-hazelnut mixed forests. These forests were distributed along a latitudinal gradient in which the degree of overlap in the timing of seeding between the two species differed. The results showed that there was a strict host-based segregation, as the species found in hazelnuts was never recorded on oak acorns and vice versa. Contrary to other studies, segregation of seed parasites was not driven by seed size, as the seeds of both plants were large enough to host the larvae of any species. Rather, co-existence was more likely modulated by the combination of time partitioning, and probably by dissimilarities in dispersal-dormancy strategies among weevils. The timing of oogenesis differs among Curculio spp. and does the timing of seeding between oaks and hazelnuts. Early maturing hazelnuts are thus exploited only by Curculio nucum, as its eggs mature earlier too. Such specialization on a patchily distributed host plant conditioned its population genetics, as gene-flow between populations showed restrictions undetected in the other Curculio spp. that fed on the widespread oaks. Regarding the bottom-up effects of food availability on insect numbers we assessed that, as expected, irregular seed crops (masting) conditions weevil population dynamics and certainly help reducing acorn predation in Mediterranean oaks. However, we found that the effects of rainfall stochasticity on the success of weevil emergence from the soil (i.e. rain is needed to soften the soil) contributed to decrease seed predation in a similar magnitude to masting. The present Thesis stresses the need of introducing the time/phenology component (i. e. egg maturation, timing of seeding) to assess the mechanisms underlying host plant-specialist insect associations. Also, it shows that, despite their specificity, other environmental variables apart from food availability condition weevil numbers. This result must be considered in further studies on the significance of oak masting as a strategy to reduce pre-dispersal seed predation. Lastly, the results provide an insight into the potential consequences of Global Change on the communities of these specialist insects linked to oaks. The populations of a narrow specialist like the hazelnut feeding C. nucum will be very vulnerable to forest fragmentation, which will reduce more severely inter-population gene-flow and lead to population bottlenecks. In turn, climate change (e.g. temperature rising, rainfall decrease) could disrupt the matching phenologies of insects and their host plants and reduce insect population size.
La depredación de semillas predispersión (PDSP, de aquí en adelante) reduce significativamente el desempeño reproductivo de las plantas. Los efectos negativos han desencadenado el desarrollo de diferentes estrategias para proteger las semillas y/o reducir el impacto de PDSP. Estas estrategias, han promovido la especialización trófica de insectos a través de adaptaciones morfológicas, fisiológicas y de comportamiento. La estrecha relación entre los insectos especialistas y sus plantas hospedantes condiciona el ensamblaje de las comunidades de insectos y la dinámica poblacional. La especialización favorecería la coexistencia de múltiples especies de acuerdo con el Principio de Exclusión Competitiva, ya que estas no pueden usar los mismos recursos limitados. Al mismo tiempo, la especificidad hace que estas especies dependan fuertemente de un recurso trófico particular, de modo que la dinámica poblacional de plantas hospedadoras puede conllevar a que las fuerzas “bottom-up” influyan en el número de insectos. En esta Tesis, he estudiado las consecuencias de la especialización trófica en el ensamblaje de especies y la demografía en los depredadores pre-dispersión más prevalentes de Quercus spp., castañas Castanea sativa y avellanas Corylus avellana, principalmente los gorgojos del género Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Usando técnicas de secuenciación de ADN pude identificar las larvas que parasitan las semillas a nivel de especie y, por lo tanto, evaluar la segregación de recursos entre especies de Curculio spp. en bosques mixtos de roble y avellana. Estos bosques se distribuyeron a lo largo de un gradiente latitudinal en el cual el grado de superposición de su distribución espacial difería entre las dos especies hospederas. Los resultados mostraron que hubo una estricta segregación basada en el hospedador, ya que la especie encontrada en avellanas nunca se registró en bellotas de roble y viceversa. Contrariamente a otros estudios, la segregación de los parásitos de las semillas no se debió al tamaño de la semilla, ya que las semillas de ambas plantas eran lo suficientemente grandes como para albergar las larvas de cualquier especie. Por el contrario, la coexistencia fue modulado con mayor probabilidad por la combinación de la partición de tiempo, y las diferencias en las estrategias de latencia y dispersión entre los gorgojos. El periodo de oogénesis de Curculio spp difiere con el periodo producción de semillas en robles y avellanas. Las avellanas de maduración temprana son explotadas solo por Curculio nucum, ya que sus huevos también maduran antes. Dicha especialización en una planta hospedera distribuida en forma dispersa condicionó su genética poblacional, ya que el flujo genético entre poblaciones mostró restricciones no detectadas en las otras especies de Curculio spp. que se alimentaban de los robles con distribución continua. Con respecto a los efectos “bottom-up” de la disponibilidad de alimentos sobre el número de insectos, evaluamos que, como era de esperar, la producción irregular de semillas (masting) condicionan la dinámica poblacional de los gorgojos y ciertamente contribuyen a reducir la depredación de las bellotas en los robles del Mediterráneo. Sin embargo, encontramos que los efectos de la estocasticidad de las lluvias sobre el éxito de la emergencia del gorgojo desde el suelo (la lluvia es necesaria para ablandar el suelo) contribuyeron a disminuir la depredación de semillas en una magnitud similar a la del masting. La presente Tesis enfatiza la necesidad de introducir el componente tiempo/fenología (es decir, la maduración del óvulo, el momento producción de semillas) para evaluar los mecanismos que subyacen a las asociaciones de insectos especialistas en plantas hospederas. Además, muestra que, a pesar de su especificidad, otras variables ambientales aparte de la disponibilidad de alimentos condicionan el número de gorgojos. Este resultado debe considerarse en estudios posteriores sobre la importancia de la producción irregular de semillas de roble como una estrategia para reducir la depredación de semillas pre-dispersión. Por último, los resultados proporcionan una idea de las posibles consecuencias del cambio global en las comunidades de estos insectos especializados vinculados a los robles. Las poblaciones de un especialista, como C. nucum que se alimenta de la avellana, será muy vulnerables a la fragmentación de los bosques, lo que reducirá el flujo genético entre las poblaciones y provocará cuellos de botella en la población. A su vez, el cambio climático (por ejemplo, aumento de la temperatura, disminución de las precipitaciones) podría alterar las coincidentes fenologías de los insectos y sus plantas hospederas y reducir el tamaño de la población de insectos.

Native and introduced grass and shrub species are grown for seed production in the Great Basin region of the United States. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the profitability and risk associated with the production of five different species of grasses and shrubs which are used in rehabilitation following wildfires. Enterprise budgets are constructed for both the establishment and production years. Returns above operating costs are compared to other crops produced in the same region. Production and market risks are discussed. Returns and risks are evaluated using an expected value model which compares risk and return between species, as well as risk and return for seven different crop combinations on a simulated 400-acre farm. All five species evaluated are found to be more profitable than other crops grown in the region. However, there are many production and market factors which must be carefully considered prior to investment in grass and shrub seed production.

To improve current understanding of how genetically improved stocks are spatially and temporally deployed, tree breeders, gene resource managers, and forestry research community can gain insights from an analysis of currently available geospatial data. This analysis can also help and provide the raw material for better understanding of the relationship between gene resource management (GRM) and issues related to climate change and other risks such as the current mountain pine beetle epidemic. GIS links the latest information management concepts and methods to assist GRM achieve higher genetic gain, resilience and conservation goals. According to the Chief Forester's standards for seed use and the target of the Forest Genetics Council of BC, 75% of seed use will be from selected seed sources. This research developed a GIS based method to monitor and assess the spatial temporal variability of seed deployment in one seed planning zone of interior spruce and employed map representations to visualize the spatial cluster dynamics of reforestation plantations in BC. The investigation of deployment areas and stem number of seed stock inform our knowledge of forest recovery in the context of gene resources management. Class A and B⁺ seed use increased dramatically after 1995 in the Prince George Seed Production Zone (SPZ). The A class ratio in PG total seed deployment is 48.1% from 1995 to 2004 with seed orchard 214 being the leading seed source for Sx reforestation in PG at the SPU level. The Sub-boreal spruce zone is the main natural habitat area of Sx, where intensive forest management activity undergoes as the plantation hotspots. Observed changes in genetic class indicate the intensive reforestation with selected seed sources. The applicability of GIS modeling methods is available at different SPZ levels and species scopes. The system construction of an updated GRM criteria and decision making support is noteworthy for BC foresters to more wisely harvest, recover, and manage the forests in a more sustainable manner.

This thesis employs a network perspective in studying ecosystems and natural resource management. It explores the structural characteristics of social and/or ecological networks and their implications on societies’ and ecosystems’ ability to adapt to change and to cope with disturbances while still maintaining essential functions and structures (i.e. resilience).

Paper I introduces terminology from the network sciences and puts these into the context of ecology and natural resource management. Paper II and III focus on habitat fragmentation and how it affects an agricultural landscape in southern Madagascar. Two ecosystem services were addressed: (1) crop pollination by bees, and (2) seed dispersal by ring-tailed lemurs. It is shown that the fraction of the studied landscape presently covered by both crop pollination and seed dispersal is surprisingly high, but that further removal of the smallest habitat patches in the study area could have a severe negative impact on the landscape’s capacity to support these ecosystem services.

In Papers IV and V, the network approach is used to study social networks and the impact they may have on the management of natural resources. In Paper IV it is found that social networks of low- to moderate link densities (among managers) significantly increase the probability for relatively high and stable utility returns whereas high link densities cause occasional large-scale ecological crises between periods of stable and excessively high utility returns. In Paper V, social networks of a rural fishing community in eastern Africa were analyzed. The results indicate that patterns of communication partly explain the distribution of ecological knowledge among villagers, and that gear type used by small-scale coastal fishermen strongly correlates with their patterns of communication. The results also show that groups most central in the network, and hence potentially most influential, are dominated by one type of fishermen.

Chionochloa, a genus of snow tussock grasses native to New Zealand, exhibits pronounced mast seeding. Chionochloa suffers very high levels of pre-dispersal flower and seed predation by three main insects: Eucalyptodiplosis chionochloae, a cecidomyiid midge, which is formally described here; Megacraspedus calamogonus, a gelechiid moth and Diplotoxa similis, a chloropid fly. Seven species of parasitoids that attack these seed predators were discovered. Four species parasitize M. calamogonus (one tachinid fly and three hymenopteran wasps), one parasitizes D. similis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and two parasitize E. chionochloae, (a pteromalid wasp Gastrancistrus sp. and a platygastrid wasp Zelostemma chionochloae, which is given a formal description here). The abundance, predation levels by each of the insect species, and interactions between all the organisms in the community were studied across three elevations at Mount Hutt over three summer seasons. M. calamogonus was most abundant at 450 m altitude during all three seasons. D. similis was most common at 1070 m altitude, while its predation levels peaked in low flowering seasons and decreased in high seasons. E. chionochloae was abundant in all three altitudes and increased its predation levels with increasing flowering intensity. E. chionochloae was confirmed to use prolonged diapause of at least three years. Prolonged diapause was also confirmed in its two parasitoids. Chionochloa plants were manipulated with various treatments to test the effect on diapause in E. chionochloae and its two parasitoids. Treatments included plant warming, root pruning, gibberellic acid sprayed on the plants and combinations of these treatments. All three insects changed their emergence in response to some treatments and therefore it was suggested that combined with risk-spreading diapause, they may use some predicting to emerge from prolonged diapause. E. chionochloae control their diapause following some of the cues that Chionochloa use for flowering, while Z. chionochloae and Gastrancistrus in some cases follow their host’s cues and in others use similar cues as Chionochloa plants. Emergence or diapause predictions differed across elevations and plant species in all three insect seed/flower predators. E. chionochloae had female-biased sex ratios in different populations even after prolonged diapause. There was week evidence that both parasitoid species are female-biased in the first emergence year and male-biased after more than one year in diapause. Therefore it was suggested that diapause is not more costly for females of E. chionochloae and its parasitoid than for males. Females of all three species were not found to be better predictors (i.e, more likely to respond to treatments by not entering extended diapause) than males. The complex interactions of all the organisms in this web are thought to be sensitive to climate, and it was suggested that the global climate change may alter this sensitive system.

Oil seeds are natural sources of fat and protein in diets for lactating cows, and are usually fed whole or crushed. A recently released variety of safflower seed, 'Nutrasaff,' contains high fat (47% crude fat) and low fiber (26% NDF), and has a potential to be effectively used as a fat supplement for lactating dairy cows. Therefore, a lactating dairy cow trial was conducted to assess production performance of dairy cows when fed graded levels of whole Nutrasaff safflower seed (NSS), to determine the optimum level of NSS supplementation in the diet and to identify its impact on milk fat content and milk fatty acid (FA) profiles. Fifteen Holstein dairy cows in midlactation (118 ± 39 days in milk) were assigned into 5 groups of 3 cows each according to previous milk yield. The experimental design was a triple 5 × 5 Latin square with each period lasting 21 d (14 d of treatment adaptation and 7 d of data collection). The animals were fed a basal diet containing 56% forage (69% alfalfa hay and 31% corn silage) and 44% concentrate mix. The diet was supplemented with 0 (control), 1, 2, 3, or 4% (DM basis) whole NSS. The NSS was added to the diet by replacing whole linted-cottonseed. Intake of DM ranged from 26.4 to 27.5 kg/d across all treatments, and did not differ due to NSS inclusion. Yield of milk and ECM averaged 33.7 and 31.6 kg/d, respectively, and they were similar in response to NSS inclusion. Milk fat percentage decreased with increasing NSS inclusion, while milk protein and lactose concentrations did not differ among treatment diets. Milk fat concentration was reduced by 11% when NSS was included at 4% of the dietary DM. Feeding NSS at 1, 2, or 3% resulted in a similar milk fat concentration, and these diets also had similar milk fat percentage compared with the control diet. Concentration of milk urea N decreased by NSS inclusion regardless of level of NSS inclusion, implying that NSS supplementation improved dietary N use for milk production. Digestibilities of DM (P = 0.12) tended to increase when NSS was supplemented at 1, 2, or 3%. Cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) linearly increased as the NSS inclusion increased. Total concentration of n-3 FA increased by feeding NSS at 1 and 2%, whereas total concentration of n-6 FA linearly increased with increasing inclusion level of NSS. This study clearly demonstrates that it is highly possible to use NSS as a means of fat supplementation to lactating dairy cows without negative impact on lactational performance if added less than 3% of dietary DM. The enhanced milk quality with increased cis-9, trans-11 CLA concentration due to the addition of NSS could have positive implications to human health.

This thesis includes two main parts: I. Evaluation of techniques for oil (total lipid) quantification of chia and soybean seeds. This study evaluated ten different methods of seed oil quantification, including some methods that have not been applied to oilseeds before. The main aim of this study was to find one or more techniques that are easy, inexpensive, safe and fast with a small amount of ground seeds. The Soxhlet method was used as a standard to compared between techniques of oil quantification. The oil extraction by the Soxhlet method was evaluated with two solvents petroleum ether and acetone. There is not a statistically significant difference between petroleum ether and acetone solvents. No significant differences for the amount of oil recovered via the Soxhlet method were found between Medium Moisture Content (MMC > 10%) and Low Moisture Content (LMC < 4.0 %). The Folch technique provided higher percentages of oil extraction than Bligh and Dyer and hexane-isopropanol techniques. There is not a statistically significant difference (P =0.0844) between Soxhlet method and Folch method but less than the Soxhlet method. A supercritical fluid extraction (HCH) method provided a lower yield of oil extraction compared with the Soxhlet method for three varieties of bias samples. A Direct Transesterification (DT) method with LMC and MMC provided a statistically significant difference than the Soxhlet method. The DT with LMC produced higher yield than DT with MMC between samples but lower than the Soxhlet method. A Double Direct Transesterification (DDT) following Griffiths protocol provided more accurate results with the stir bar technique than sonication technique. 11 oilseeds bias samples (10 bias samples of soybean and one of chia) covering an oil content range of 15.4 to 32.6% showed, there is a significant difference between the Soxhlet and DDTG method and high oil quantification found with DDTG. A Double Direct Transesterification following Qiao et al. (2015) provided similar oil extraction to the Griffiths et al. (2010) method and also there is a significant difference between the Soxhlet and DDTQ method and higher oil recovered with DDTQ. The Bead Beating Extraction (BBE) protocol showed, there is a statistically significant difference ( P< 0.001) than the Soxhlet method. The BBE provided high oil quantification comparing with the Soxhlet method. The BBE provided the best results since it is the easiest, cheapest and fastest oil quantification method. A Nile red fluorescence technique yield no clear results. II. Characterization of oil and protein in mutant chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds. The objectives of this study were to (1) measure heritability in chia plants of levels of oil and protein content and seed yield and (2) Compare differences between two locations over two years for oil and protein percentages in chia and seeds yield. A population of 180 M3 mutant individual chia plants was harvested and for which forty M4 chia seeds were planted based on seed composition characteristics, with six plants representing each characteristic (high and lower oil, protein, and density and high yield). The forty M4 chia seeds were planted, with two replications for two locations, have been chosen in Kentucky one on Spindletop farm and the other in Quicksand farm. The M5 progeny seeds from plants grown in Spindletop and Quicksand contained significantly (P < 0.05) more protein than did seeds from the M4 parents. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) between locations where Quicksand obtain higher oil content than Spindletop. There was no significant difference between M5 parents seeds and M4 progeny seeds and higher yield kg/ha at Quicksand than Spindletop.

This thesis focuses on upper secondary students’ use of resources in their supporting reasons when arguing socioscientific issues (SSIs). The skills of argumentation have been emphasized in science education during the past decades and SSIs are proven a good context for learners to enhance skills of argumentation and achieve the goal of scientific literacy. Research has shown that supporting reasons from various resources are embedded in students’ argumentation on SSIs, and also that multi-perspective involvement in reasoning is important for the quality of argumentation. To explore the reasons used by students in arguing about SSIs in this thesis, the SEE-SEP model was adopted as an analytical framework. The SEE-SEP model covers the six subject areas of sociology/culture, economy, environment/ecology, science, ethics/morality and policy, which are connected to the three aspects of knowledge, value and personal experience. Two studies covering four SSIs (global warming, GMO, nuclear power and consumption) explore how students construct arguments on one SSI topic chosen by them. In paper I, I investigated students’ use of resources in their informal argumentation and to what extent students made use of knowledge. The results showed that students used value to a larger extent (67%) than knowledge (27%). I also found that the distribution of supporting reasons generated by students varied from the different SSIs. In paper II, I explored students’ use of resources in relation to students’ study background (science majors and social-science majors) and gender. The results showed that social-science majors and females generated more numbers of reasons and also showed a larger amount of multi-disciplinary resources in their supporting reasons. From the findings of this thesis, the SEE-SEP model was established as a suitable model used to analyze students’ resources of supporting reasons while arguing about SSIs. Furthermore, the potential for applying the SEE-SEP model in teachers’ SSI-teaching and students’ SSI-learning is suggested. The implications to research and teaching are also discussed.

This study investigated the role of the seed characteristics, light, nutrient and water requirements of broom (Cytisus scoparius), elder (Sambucus nigra) and mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus) in an attempt to clarify the successional sequence of broom through elder to mahoe in the Hoon Hay Valley, Christchurch, New Zealand. The study took a comparative approach under controlled conditions and aimed to understand the factors and/or processes contributing to the dynamics of this successional pathway.

Master of Science
Division of Biology
John M. Blair
Temperate grasslands are among the most threatened biomes in the world, with the largest historical losses due to conversion to agricultural land. While much of this biome has already been converted, there is concern the last remaining remnants in North America will be converted in response to increasing demand for crops used for ethanol production. Thus, restoring grasslands post-anthropogenic disturbance is increasingly important for conserving grassland biodiversity. Two major challenges for prairie restorations are establishing the many subdominant and rarer species found in native prairie, and offsetting the typical decline in richness and diversity over time as restorations age. Repeated seed addition of targeted species is commonly used to override low and declining plant richness and diversity. While this is generally effective early in restoration (i.e., as communities are establishing), its effectiveness in later stages (i.e., when established communities are often losing diversity) remains unknown. I investigated plant community responses to combinations of resource manipulations and disturbances coupled with a seed addition in a 15-yr old restored grassland to test the hypothesis that spatial resource heterogeneity increases the rate of colonization into established prairie restoration communities. Seeds were added to a long-term restoration experiment involving soil depth manipulations (deep, shallow) crossed with nutrient manipulations (reduced N, ambient N, enriched N). Seedling emergence was generally low and only 8 of the 14 forb species added were detected in the first growing season. I found no effect of increased resource heterogeneity on the abundance or richness of seedlings. There was a significant nutrient effect (p<0.1, α=0.1) on seedling abundance, with higher emergence in the enriched N than the ambient N treatment. I also found unexpected nutrient effects on richness, diversity and Mean C (Mean C = Σ CoCi*Ai, where CoC=Coefficient of Conservatism and A=relative abundance of the ith species). All values, except Mean C, were higher in the enriched N treatment than in either the reduced or ambient N treatments. Mean C was lowest in the enriched N treatment, and highest in the whole-plot control, suggesting that the majority of species contributing to higher richness and diversity in the enriched N treatment were “weedier” species. In a separate experiment, I found no effect of small-scale disturbances (aboveground biomass removal or soil disturbance) on seedling abundance or seedling richness. I did find a marginal effect of disturbance type on seedling richness (p=0.11, α=0.1), with higher seedling richness in the soil disturbance than the aboveground biomass removal treatment. I did not find any disturbance effects on community response variables. These results indicate that recruitment from seed additions into well-established restored communities is relatively low in the first year following a seed addition, regardless of resource availability and heterogeneity. Follow-up studies to determine recruitment rates in subsequent years are needed to elucidate whether recruitment responses are driven more by individual species differences or by environmental mechanisms.

Most countries show a relative decoupling of economic growth from domestic resource use, implying increased resource efficiency. However, international trade facilitates the exchange of products between regions with disparate resource productivity. Hence, for an understanding of resource efficiency from a consumption perspective that takes into account the impacts in the upstream supply chains, there is a need to assess the environmental pressures embodied in trade. We use EXIOBASE3, a new multiregional input-output database, to examine the rate of increase in resource efficiency, and investigate the ways in which international trade contributes to the displacement of pressures on the environment from the consumption of a population. We look at the environmental pressures of energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, material use, water use, and land use. Material use stands out as the only indicator growing in both absolute and relative terms to population and gross domestic product (GDP), while land use is the only indicator showing absolute decoupling from both references. Energy, GHG, and water use show relative decoupling. As a percentage of total global environmental pressure, we calculate the net impact displaced through trade rising from 23% to 32% for material use (1995¿2011), 23% to 26% for water use, 20% to 29% for energy use, 20% to 26% for land use, and 19% to 24% for GHG emissions. The results show a substantial disparity between trade-related impacts for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. At the product group level, we observe the most rapid growth in environmental footprints in clothing and footwear. The analysis points to implications for future policies aiming to achieve environmental targets, while fully considering potential displacement effects through international trade.

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The germination decreasing as a water deficit function is a wide spread occurrence in agricultural systems. This assay was divided in two steps. Firstly, the actions of different osmotic in the simulation of water deficit during germination were tested determining what is the most efficient. The second part was done using mannitol to determine the effect of water deficit in soybean of different sizes. In the first navy bean seeds cv 'IAC-Carioca-80-SH' were germinated at different water deficit potentials (zero; -0.6; -1.2 and 1.8 MPa) of mannitol, CaCl2, KCl and NaCl. In the second soybean seeds cv 'IAC-18' classified in sizes 12 and 13 and 'IAC-22' in 12, 13 and 14 were germinated in mannitol solutions with the same potentials used in the first. Experiment were carried out as completely random with four repetitions per treatment. The treatment evaluation was done by germination, first germination counting , vigour classification, hypocotil and shoot length and by shoot and root dry weight. The results showed that KCl and NaCl solutions had also the toxicity effect on the seeds, and they were not recommended as water deficit simulators. In relation to seed size, in higher water deficits the germination was bigger in larger seeds. Germination was less affected in both experiments then the seedling development in the different water potentials.
A diminuição da germinação em função de deficiência hídrica é ocorrência comum em sistemas agrícolas. Este estudo foi subdividido em duas etapas. Na primeira etapa, procurou-se discutir a ação de diferentes osmóticos na simulação de deficiência hídrica na germinação de sementes determinando-se o osmótico mais eficiente. Posteriormente, utilizou-se o osmótico manitol para determinar o efeito da deficiência hídrica em sementes de soja de diferentes tamanhos. No primeiro estudo, sementes de feijão cv. IAC Carioca-80SH foram germinadas em diferentes potenciais osmóticos (zero; -0,6; -1,2 e 1,8 MPa) obtidos com soluções de manitol, CaCl2, KCl e NaCl. No segundo, sementes de soja cv. IAC-18 e IAC-22 , classificadas em peneiras nos tamanhos 12 e 13, e, 12, 13 e 14, respectivamente, foram germinadas em soluções de manitol de concentrações iguais à primeira etapa. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições por tratamento. Para avaliação dos tratamentos foram quantificadas a germinação, primeira contagem de germinação, classificação de vigor, comprimento de hipocótilo e raiz e massa seca de parte aérea e raiz. Os resultados indicaram que as soluções de KCl e NaCl, além de funcionarem como reguladores osmóticos, manifestaram toxidez às sementes, não sendo recomendadas, portanto, como simuladores de deficiência hídrica. Quanto ao tamanho de sementes, para ambos os cultivares, em potenciais menores ocorre maior germinação das sementes maiores. A germinação foi menor afetada, em ambos os experimentos, que as avaliações de desenvolvimento de plântula, nos diferentes níveis de potencial.

Green national accounts are a complement to the more traditional GDP measure which includes natural capital and the depreciation and regeneration of natural capital. The United Nations have developed an international standard model, the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, for valuing natural resources within the green national accounts. The method is based on forecasts of future streams of expected incomes from the resource. This study aims to find out whether the valuation method used to forecast future incomes from iron ore and timber according to the international standard is consistent with the actual outcomes. In Sweden, previous studies have been made to develop green national accounts from the 1800s onward. By using the United Nations’ current and previous valuation methods and performing calculations on historical resource rents it is possible to evaluate how well the methods can estimate true future values. This study shows that both valuation methods systematically misestimate the future income streams from both resources.
Gröna nationalräkenskaper är ett komplement till det mer traditionella BNP-måttet som även tar hänsyn till bland annat naturkapitalet och dess förslitning. FN har utvecklat en internationell standardmodell för gröna nationalräkenskaper, System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), där en rekommenderad värderingsmetod för naturkapital finns angiven. Värderingsmetoden är baserad på framtida, förväntade, inkomstflöden från naturresursen. Den här studiens syfte är att ta reda på om värderingsmetoden för att förutse framtida intäkter för järnmalm och skog enligt den internationella standarden stämmer överens med de faktiska utfallen. I Sverige har tidigare studier gjorts för att utveckla gröna nationalräkenskaper från 1800-talet och framåt. Genom att använda FN:s nuvarande och tidigare rekommenderade värderingsmetoder för naturresurser och göra beräkningar på historiska vinster från naturresursen kan man se hur väl värderingsmetoderna fungerar i praktiken. Den här studien visar att bägge värderingsmetoderna systematiskt felskattar de framtida intäktsflödena från bägge resurser.

This thesis presents an empirical investigation of the problems of including pictorial digital art in the context of Digital Libraries (DLs). The rational for this work is that digital art material is a significant source of learning and research, provided that it is systematically collected and maintained in structured electronic repositories. The thesis addresses a fundamental question: How to provide description and retrieval services, which are based on the needs of digital art user communities? This raises three research issues. One is the need to combine DL collections into meaningful and functional content. The second is the importance of a user-oriented approach to designing and developing Digital Libraries. The third is the requirement for continuing access to digital art as a record of modern culture. These questions are explored through a needs assessment targeted to Arts & Humanities scholars, digital artists and representatives of the DL community. A data collection methodology is developed, based on the principles of Social Informatics and a case study of evaluation efforts in extant projects. The results from this process demonstrate that the scholarly value of digital art can be established by aggregating material from various repositories into a unified dataset. The results also identify specific documentation and retrieval issues deriving from inclusion of digital art in a DL environment that necessitate further investigation. To this end, a review of sixteen digital art online resources is conducted which reveals ad-hoc collection strategies and metadata deficiencies. The work presents a prototype Digital Library for enhancing the educational outcome of digital art. The application is used as an implementation platform for material aggregation and augmented documentation through the Media Art Notation System (MANS). The summative evaluation findings confirm that the suggested solutions are highly rated by the targeted audiences. The thesis makes a contribution to academic knowledge in situating the representation of digital art within modern society. By critically examining the unique requirements of this material using the resources of social theory, the thesis represents a contemporary and pragmatic perspective on digital media art. In a well-structured Digital Library, the scholarly potential of digital art is much greater than the currently employed ad-hoc context. This work offers a sustained reflection and a roadmap for selecting and consistently applying a strategy that aims to continually improve the quality of digital art provision.

In the restoration of tidal wetland ecosystems, potential drivers of plant community development range from biotic controls (e.g. plant competition, seed dispersal) to abiotic controls (e.g. tidal flooding, salinity levels). How these controls influence the success of tidal wetland restoration are only partly understood, but have important implications for wetland habitat recovery. Specifically, the extent to which the existing native and non-native seed banks in tidally reconnected wetlands interact with these controls is not clear, yet the potential success of passive restoration methods depends upon this understanding. For a 54-year chronosequence of eleven tidal wetland restoration sites in the Lower Columbia River of western Oregon, USA, it was hypothesized that native plant species and soil properties would show trends approaching reference levels within 3 to 20 years post-restoration and that lower elevation wetland areas within restored sites would exhibit a greater native species abundance and similarity to reference sites, compared with restored high elevation wetland areas. Results indicated that plant species richness, soil organic matter, bulk density, pH, and salinity conditions among the restoration sites reached reference wetland ranges within 3-6 years post-tidal reconnection. The mid-low marsh elevation zones (<2.5 m) recovered native plant cover within 3-6 years post-tidal reconnection, while high marsh elevation zones (>2.5 m) remained dominated by nonnative species Phalaris arundinacea and Juncus effusus subsp. effusus. To investigate the mechanisms driving these non-native plant invasions, it was ii hypothesized that native and non-native wetland plant community distributions would be reflective both of their abundance in the seed bank and of their germination tolerance to wetland tidal flooding and salinity conditions. Using a factorial study design of three tidal conditions by three salinity levels, these hypotheses were tested in the greenhouse. Overall, non-native seeds were found to significantly outnumber native seeds in both seed banks. In the greenhouse, P. arundinacea and J. effusus were found to germinate more readily out of the seed bank under freshwater high-marsh flooding (1 hour a day) treatments as compared to oligohaline (3 ppt) mid-low marsh flooding (3-6 hours twice a day) treatments and to brackish salinity (10 ppt) treatments. Dominant native wetland species, Carex lyngbyei and Schoenoplectus lacustris, germination were not found to vary significantly among the treatments (p > 0.10). These results indicate that the salinity and flooding gradients within these restored marshes suppress germination of the non-native species in the low-mid marsh but not in the high marsh, where they are likely able to outcompete the native species due to their dominance in the seed bank. The implications of these results for passive tidal wetland restoration efforts are that both seed bank composition and species-specific tolerances to restored tidal flooding and salinity gradients are key mechanisms driving native and nonnative plant community development and resilience.

[EN] New European policies established in the Blueprint (EC, 2012) propose the use of water accounting for the allocation and reservation of water resources. This course correction contrasts with the calculation of water balances that has been used since the last century in Spain for this purpose. According to the European Commission (EC, 2015) the difference between the two approaches is the inclusion of the economic component. This argument is indisputable, but it would also add that both "asset accounts" and the physical supply and use tables require a type of information that had not been considered until now. In view of this new challenge, the use of hydrological and water resources management models is essential. This thesis aims to implement a methodology for the transition between water balances and water accounting considering the special characteristics of the Mediterranean basin (with a high degree of regulation and the use of unconventional resources). In the same line, it raises the need for the definition of an indicator to assess the performance of a water resources system taking into consideration the origin of the water resources as a measure of the degree of stress suffered by the systems. This thesis is presented by publications and seeks to address the methodologies and indicators used to date in the planning and management of water resources. First, the state of the art is analyzed in the first publication of the thesis, as detailed in Annex 1. The second publication, analyzes the key elements for formulating water balances that will determine, to a large extent, results obtained, as detailed in Annex 2. The third publication, in Annex 3, tries to explain how in those basins where the use of water resources is close, or even higher, to their availability, the use of balances based solely on variables such as rainfall and temperature are not sufficient. And due to the high regulation of water resources they should also include the results of water management models. This approach contrasts with the proposals made by the countries of northern Europe focused mainly on hydrological models. In order to address the water accounting approach a pilot case located in the Andalusian Mediterranean basins was analysed. This work is presented in the fourth publication, reproduced in Annex 4. This initial analysis has served to highlight the need to develop a complementary software that allows unify the results of hydrological and water management models for calculating water accounts. The development of this software, which has been called AQUACCOUNTS, and its application to a general case with all the detail required in water resources planning has been published in the fifth article presented in Annex 5, taking the Júcar River Basin as a case study. From these results, a classification of water exploitation systems was carried out according to their degree of stress. These results were compared with the ones in Annex 2 which proposes the use of the indicator of exploitable water resources and which has been obtained with the traditional water balances approach. Finally, Annex 6 includes the last publication of this thesis focused on the effects of climate change in the Po River Basin (Italy) by using water accounting. This work has served to identify those key elements within the simulation models and opens the door to improve them within the approach proposed by the SEEA-W. This thesis aims to collaborate with those responsible for European policies in water resource planning for the application of those methodologies and tools appropriate to each territory.
[ES] Las nuevas políticas europeas establecidas en el Blueprint (EC, 2012) proponen el uso de la contabilidad del agua para la asignación y reserva de los recursos. Esta corrección del rumbo (cambio de paradigma) contrasta con el cálculo de balances que se ha venido utilizando desde el siglo pasado en España para dicho fin. Según la Comisión Europea (EC, 2015) la diferencia entre ambos planteamientos se halla en la inclusión de la componente económica. Este argumento es indiscutible, pero habría que añadir además que tanto las "asset accounts" como las tablas físicas de uso y suministro requieren un tipo de información que hasta ahora no se había considerado. A la vista de este nuevo reto, el uso de los modelos hidrológicos y de gestión de los recursos hídricos se hace imprescindible. Con esta tesis se pretende llevar a cabo una metodología que permita la transición entre los balances hídricos y las cuentas del agua teniendo en cuenta las especiales características de las cuencas mediterráneas (con un elevado grado de regulación y el uso de recursos no convencionales). En esta misma línea se plantea la definición de un indicador que trate de discutir el comportamiento conjunto de un sistema de recursos hídricos y que tenga en consideración el origen de los recursos empleados como medida del grado de estrés de los sistemas. Esta tesis se presenta por compendio de publicaciones y trata de abordar las metodologías e indicadores utilizados hasta la fecha en la planificación y gestión de los recursos hídricos. En primer lugar se analiza el estado del arte que constituye la primera publicación de la tesis, tal y como se detalla en el Anexo 1. La segunda publicación, analiza los elementos clave para la formulación de balances que determinarán, en gran medida, los resultados obtenidos, tal y como se detalla en el Anexo 2. La tercera publicación, en el Anexo 3, trata de explicar cómo en las cuencas donde el aprovechamiento de los recursos es cercano o incluso superior a su disponibilidad, el uso de los balances basados únicamente en variables como la precipitación y la temperatura no son suficientes, sino que debido a la alta regulación de los recursos debe recurrirse además a los modelos de gestión. Este planteamiento contrasta con las propuestas planteadas por los países del norte de Europa centrados principalmente en los modelos hidrológicos. Para abordar el tema se ha partido de un caso piloto localizado en las cuencas mediterráneas andaluzas. Este trabajo se presenta en la cuarta publicación, que se reproduce en el Anexo 4. A partir de este análisis inicial, se vio la necesidad de desarrollar un software complementario que permitiese unificar tanto la información de partida como los resultados de los modelos hidrológicos y de gestión para el cálculo de la contabilidad del agua. El desarrollo de este software, que ha sido denominado AQUACCOUNTS, y su aplicación a un caso general con todo el detalle requerido en planificación se ha publicado en el quinto artículo que se presenta en el Anexo 5, siendo la Demarcación Hidrográfica del Júcar el caso de estudio. A partir de los resultados obtenidos se ha llevado a cabo una clasificación de los sistemas de explotación según su grado de desarrollo comparándose con los resultados obtenidos en el Anexo 2 que propone el uso del indicador de recursos explotables y que se ha obtenido con las metodologías tradicionales de balances. Por último, el Anexo 6 recoge la última publicación de esta tesis en la que se analizan los efectos del cambio climático en la cuenca del río Po (Italia) mediante el uso de la contabilidad del agua. Este trabajo ha servido para identificar aquellos elementos clave dentro de los modelos de simulación y abre las puertas a una mejora de los mismos dentro del enfoque planteado por el SEEA-W. Esta tesis pretende colaborar con los responsables de las políticas europeas en materia de planificación para la apl
[CAT] Les noves polítiques europees establides en el Blueprint (EC, 2012) proposen l'ús de la comptabilitat de l'aigua per a l'assignació i reserva dels recursos hídrics. Esta correcció del rumb (o canvi de paradigma) contrasta amb el càlcul de balanços que s'ha utilitzat des del segle passat a Espanya per a aquesta finalitat. Segons la Comissió Europea (EC, 2015) la diferència entre ambdós plantejaments es troba en la inclusió de la component econòmica. Este argument és indiscutible, però caldria afegir a més que tant les "asset accounts" com les taules físiques d'ús i subministrament requerixen un tipus d'informació que fins ara no s'havia considerat. A la vista d'este nou repte, l'ús dels models hidrològics i de gestió dels recursos hídrics es fa imprescindible. Amb esta tesi es pretén dur a terme una metodologia que permeta la transició entre els balanços hídrics i els comptes de l'aigua tenint en compte les especials característiques de les conques mediterrànies (amb un elevat grau de regulació i l'ús de recursos no convencionals). En esta mateixa línia es planteja la definició d'un indicador que tracte de discutir el comportament conjunt d'un sistema de recursos hídrics i que tinga en consideració l'origen dels recursos empleats com a mesura del grau d'estrés dels sistemes. Esta tesi es presenta per compendi de publicacions i tracta d'abordar les metodologies i indicadors utilitzats fins a la data en la planificació i gestió dels recursos hídrics. En primer lloc s'analitza l'estat de l'art que constituïx la primera publicació de la tesi, tal com es detalla en l'Annex 1. La segona publicació, analitza els elements clau per a la formulació de balanços que determinaran, en gran manera, els resultats obtinguts, tal com es detalla en l'Annex 2. La tercera publicació, en l'Annex 3, tracta d'explicar com en les conques on l'aprofitament dels recursos és pròxim o inclús superior a la seua disponibilitat, l'ús dels balanços basats únicament en variables com la precipitació i la temperatura no són suficients, sinó que a causa de l'alta regulació dels recursos ha de recórrer-se a més als models de gestió. Este plantejament contrasta amb les propostes plantejades pels països del nord d'Europa centrats principalment en el models hidrològics. Per a abordar el tema s'ha partit d'un cas pilot localitzat en les conques mediterrànies andaluses. Este treball es presenta en la quarta publicació, que es reproduïx en l'Annex 4. A partir d'aquest anàlisi inicial, es va veure la necessitat de desenrotllar una ferramenta complementaria que permetera unificar tant la informació de partida com els resultats dels models hidrològics i de gestió per al càlcul de la comptabilitat de l'aigua. El desenrotllament d'esta ferramenta, que ha sigut denominat AQUACCOUNTS, i la seua aplicació a un cas general amb tot el detall requerit en planificació s'ha publicat en el quint article que es presenta en l'Annex 5, sent la Demarcació Hidrogràfica del Xúquer el cas d'estudi. A partir dels resultats obtinguts s'ha dut a terme una classificació dels sistemes d'explotació segons el seu grau de desenrotllament comparant-se amb els resultats obtinguts en l'Annex 2 que proposa l'ús de l'indicador de recursos explotables i que s'ha obtingut amb les metodologies tradicionals de balanços. Finalment, l'Annex 6 arreplega l'última publicació d'esta tesi en què s'analitzen els efectes del canvi climàtic en la conca del riu Po (Itàlia) per mitjà de l'ús de la comptabilitat de l'aigua. Este treball ha servit per a identificar aquells elements clau dins dels models de simulació i obri les portes a una millora dels mateixos dins de l'enfocament plantejat pel SEEA-W. Esta tesi pretén col·laborar amb els responsables de les polítiques europees en matèria de planificació per a l'aplicació d'aquelles metodologies i ferramentes més adequades a cada territori.
Pedro Monzonís, M. (2016). Assessment of water exploitation indexes based on water accounting [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/71677
TESIS

L’existence de fluides géologiques riches en hydrogène (H2) doit nécessairement faire l’objet de travaux d’exploration afin de statuer sur le potentiel énergétique de cette éventuelle ressource décarbonée. Depuis plus d’un siècle de nombreuses exhalations naturelles d’H2 ont été mis en évidence. Or à ce jour il n’existe aucun guide d’exploration basé sur une méthodologie et sur des indicateurs robustes. La détection d’occurrence gazeuse en surface correspond bien évidemment à l’approche la plus efficace et la plus rapide à mettre en œuvre pour identifier des flux. Il n’en reste pas moins qu’un flux ne constitue pas une ressource pour autant, puisqu’à ce jour, l’homme n’exploite que les stocks de ressources énergétiques fossiles. Il sera donc important de développer un guide d’exploration non pas orienté uniquement sur une problématique de surface, mais aussi sur des considérations géologiques profondes intégrant le système hydrogène dans son entier de la source au piège ou à la fuite dans l’atmosphère.Au cours de ce travail de thèse nous proposons d’utiliser le cadre géologique du piémont nord Pyrénéen pour élaborer un guide d’exploration. La compilation des données bibliographiques a révélé un contexte prometteur pour un système H2 du fait d’un lien entre sources profondes, chemins de migration crustale, dynamique de circulation de fluides, et pièges sédimentaires. En effet le nord-ouest des Pyrénées et plus particulièrement le Bassin Mauléon est caractérisé par la présence i) d’un corps mantellique (<10 km) où les conditions pression-température sont favorables à la serpentinisation ; ii) d’accidents structuraux majeurs tels que le Chevauchement Frontal Nord Pyrénéens (CFNP) constituant des drains collecteurs de grande ampleur, iii) des gradients hydrauliques, conjugués à des gradients de température et de pressions qui permettent la mise en mouvement des fluides ; iv) des formations sédimentaires imperméables ou de couvertures comme les évaporites ou les argiles consitutant des pièges pour accumuler l’H2.Suite à cette étude préalable, nous avons mis en place une campagne d’analyses des gaz du sol (H2, CO2, 222Rn, O2, CH4) à l’échelle régionales. Cette campagne d’analyse réalisée sur plus de 7500 km2 a très vite permis de mettre en évidence une zone à très fortes anomalies en H2, CO2, et 222Rn sur le pourtour du Bassin de Mauléon. Cette découverte nous a permis de resserrer rapidement le maillage de prospection sur la partie nord du bassin de Mauléon. Une campagne d’analyses géochimiques et géophysiques a été réalisée à Sauveterre-de-Béarn afin de déterminer l’origine et le parcours des gaz à l’origine de cette anomalie. Sur la base de l'analyse des gaz du sol et des levés électromagnétiques, nous avons confirmé l'existence d'une faille drainant les fluides profonds. De plus, l’étude des données historiques des forages entrepris dans la région il y a plus de 50 ans, conjugué à une mise en perspective des dernières connaissances géologiques et géophysiques de la région, nous a permis de mettre en évidence des zones où l’H2 pourrait s’accumuler.Enfin une partie expérimentale de broyage de quartz et de roches de la région a été menée afin d’explorer de nouveaux mécanismes de production d’H2 le long des failles. Nous avons mis en évidence une très forte influence du rapport eau/roche (W/R) et du pH sur la production d’H2. Ces découvertes apportent un éclairage nouveau sur les mécanismes mécano-radicalaires de production d’H2 où la spéciation des sites des surface des minéraux sont des paramètres clés contrôlant la production d’H2. Nous révélons pour la première fois que le broyage du quartz en présence de solutions carbonatés induit la formation d’espèces carboxylates (formate, acétate, oxalate). En plus de produire de l’H2, les mécanismes mécano-radicalaires permettent donc de produire des espèces réduites du carbones pouvant constituer une source d’énergie pour les écosystèmes microbiens lithotrophe de subsurface
The existence of geological fluids rich in hydrogen (H2) rise the question about the energy potential of this carbon-free resource. For more than a century and throughout the world, numerous natural H2 seepages have been discovered. However, to date there is no exploration approach based on robust methodologies and pathfinders. The detection of H2 seepages at the surface is known to be the most ecient and straight forward approach to identify H2 flows. However, a gas flow does not necessarily constitute a resource, since to date, mankind only exploit reservoirs of fossil energy resources. Therefore, it is important to develop an exploration guide that is not only focusing on surface gas monitoring, but also considering a deep geological approach integrating the entire hydrogen system from source to trap or leakage into the atmosphere. Here, we propose to use the geological framework of the North Pyrenean foothills as a case study to develop this exploration guide. A literature review of the area revealed a promising geological setting for a H2 system due to a strong link between putative deep H2 sources, crustal-scale migration pathways, fluid circulation dynamics, and sedimentary traps. Indeed, the northwestern Pyrenees and particularly the Maul´eon Basin is characterised by the presence of i) an ultramafic mantle body located less than 10 km depth and under pressure-temperature conditions favourable to serpentinisation ; ii) major faults such as the North Pyrenean Frontal Thrust (NPFT) constituting large-scale flow convergence and drainage, iii) hydraulic gradients due to the presence of strong reliefs, combined with temperature and pressure gradients that trigger fluids ; iv) impermeable sedimentary formations or caprocks such as evaporites or claystones overlying porous reservoir rocks that can constitute traps for accumulating H2.Following this preliminary geological survey, we set up a soil gas exploration campaign (H2, CO2, 222Rn, O2, CH4) at the regional scale. These field measurments, carried out over more than 7,500 km2, revealed several hotspots with very high H2, CO2 and 222Rn concentrations anomalies around the Maul´eon Basin. This discovery allowed us to refine the mesh of the prospecting grid to the northern part of the Maul´eon Basin around the locality of Sauveterre-de-Béarn. Geochemical and geophysical measurements were carried out at Sauveterre-de-B´earn to determine the source and migration path of the gases at the origin of this anomaly. Based on soil gas analysis and electromagnetic surveys, we confirmed the existence of a fault draining deep fluids. In addition, the study of historical data from drilling carried out in the region more than fifty years ago, combined with the latest geological and geophysical knowledge of the region, enabled us to highlight zones where H2 could accumulate.Finally, an experimental part of comminution of quartz and rocks from the region was carried out in order to explore the reaction mechanisms of H2 production in active fault zones. We reveal the very strong influence of the water/rock ratio (W/R) and pH on H2 production. These findings shed new light on the mechano-radical mechanisms of H2 production where the efficiency of grinding as well as the speciation of mineral surface sites are key parameters controlling H2 production. We reveal for the first time that grinding of quartz in the presence of carbonate solutions induces the formation of carboxylate species (formate, acetate, oxalate). In addition to producing H2, the mechano-radical mechanisms thus allow the production of reduced carbon species that can constitute an energy source for subsurface lithotrophic microbial ecosystems

O presente estudo teve como objetivos caracterizar a composição da regeneração natural, da chuva e do banco de sementes presentes sob a copa de três espécies de início de sucessão - Centrolobium tomentosum Guill. ex Benth. (Fabaceae), Cordia myxa L. (Boraginaceae) e Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) -, bem como avaliar as possíveis diferenças entre as comunidades que se formaram sob estas espécies. Tal estudo foi desenvolvido em uma área de mata restaurada, localizada no entorno da represa de abastecimento público do município de Iracemápolis (SP). Para tanto, foram marcados 15 indivíduos de cada espécie, sob os quais foram instalados dois coletores de sementes (1 m2 cada), de onde se coletou todos os propágulos depositados por um período de um ano, em coletas mensais. Sob cada um destes 45 indivíduos foi retirada uma amostra de solo (0,5 m x 0,5 m x 0,05 m), que foi posta a pleno sol, por oito semanas, para a avaliação da composição do banco de sementes. A regeneração natural foi avaliada na área de projeção das copas, em uma parcela circular de 2,5 m de raio, na qual se amostraram todos os indivíduos de espécies arbustivo-arbóreas de 0,3 m a 2,0 m de altura. A chuva de sementes sob M. azedarach apresentou-se com maior densidade e sob C. myxa com maior riqueza (p < 0,05). Igualmente, a maior densidade de emergentes do banco de sementes foi observada nas amostras sob M. azedarach e a maior riqueza foi observada sob C. myxa. Quanto à regeneração natural, as comunidades sob as três espécies diferenciaram-se em relação à diversidade de espécies, maior sob os indivíduos de M. azedarach, e à estrutura da comunidade, que se apresentou mais alta sob C. myxa (p < 0,05). A maior parte dos indivíduos e espécies amostradas, tanto na chuva quanto no banco e na regeneração natural, pertencem aos estágios iniciais da sucessão secundária, sendo que muitas, dentre as mais abundantes, são exóticas. As três espécies formam nichos de regeneração, permitindo a germinação e desenvolvimento de plântulas sob elas, influenciando, cada uma, na estrutura e composição das comunidades e contribuindo para a manutenção da diversidade. Por fim, alguns resultados obtidos através deste estudo são importantes para planejamento do monitoramento da área, o qual é fundamental para o emprego de medidas de intervenção, bem como para o entendimento da evolução da floresta que se forma.
The present study describes the composition of natural regeneration, seed rain and seed bank under three early species - Centrolobium tomentosum Guill. ex Benth. (Fabaceae), Cordia myxa L. (Boraginaceae) e Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) – and evaluatuation of the possible differences among understory regeneration. The study area, a restored area, is located at the margins of city water reservatory at Iracemápolis (SP). For the study, 15 individuals were selected and under their crown the seed rain was monthly sampled through of the material deposited in 90 1 m x 1 m traps (two by individual). The seed bank was evaluated by 45 soil samples removed from 0,5 m x 0,5 m plots and 5 cm depth, placed under full sun for a period of eight weeks. The natural regeneration was evaluated in circular plots (17 m2), under projection of the crown , where all individuals of timber species, between 0,3 m and 2,0 m tall, were counted and identified. The seed rain under M. azedarach showed higher mean density and under C. myxa higher mean number of species (p < 0,05). Identically, the higher density of seedlings was found in soil samples under M. azedarach and higher number of species under C. myxa. For natural regeneration, the communities showed differences in species diversity, being higher under individuals of M. azedarach, and structure, under individuals of C. myxa was found higher number of seedlings (p < 0,05). The majority of individuals and species sampled is from early secondary succession species, and those species, most of them are exotics. The three species create microsites, allowing the seed germination and growth of seedling under their crowns, acting on community structure and contributing for the maintenance of diversity. Some results obtained in this study are important for projection of monitoring of this restored area, which is fundamental for intervention actions, as well as to the understanding of evolution of the forest under formation.

[eng] Plant reproductive success depends on the effectiveness of the mutualistic interaction and the context in which it occurs. This thesis investigates and quantifies plant fitness with a particular group of animal mutualists, opportunistic vertebrates, in the context of oceanic islands. Compared to mainland systems, oceanic islands are generally characterized by simpler mutualistic networks, largely as a result of depauperate animal faunas. Because of this, plant species are likely to include new, even novel flower–pollinator and fruit-dispersal interactions after island colonization. In the Canary Islands, passerine birds and lacertid lizards are frequent floral visitors and fruit consumers of native flora, but their effectiveness and relative importance in reproductive success has remained almost unknown. In addition, islands are particularly vulnerable to alien species like rats, honeybees, and goats, which are all successful invaders in the Canary Islands. These interact with native plant species and their potential detrimental effects on plant fitness deserve our attention, in order to preserve this endemic flora. Our main goal was to gain further insights into the role of vertebrates in plant reproductive success in the archipelago, and the evolution of the bird pollination syndrome in the Macaronesian islands in general. For this, we selected the endemic plant species Echium simplex and Canarina canariensis, both interacting with native mutualists and alien antagonists. Chapters 1 and 2 assess the breeding system, identify nocturnal and diurnal flower visitors and compare the pollination effectiveness of different animal guilds (vertebrates vs. insects, and diurnal vs. nocturnal insects) along different inflorescence sections in Echium simplex. It is a self-compatible species, but its reproductive success is enhanced by animal pollinators. Bees and beetles were the most common insect visitors, while the African blue tit and the Canarian chiffchaff were the most prevalent vertebrates visiting flowers. Flying diurnal insects increased fruit set whereas small flower dwellers (mostly beetles) decreased both fruit and seed set; by contrast, vertebrates had a negligible effect on reproductive success. We additionally found that plant reproductive structures are heavily damaged by feral goats, which threaten the conservation of this Canarian endemic species. Chapter 3 studies the pollination of Canarina canariensis in remnants of the former thermosclerophyllous woodland, evaluating how two widespread alien invasive species, the honeybee and the black rat, affect its reproductive success. The Canarian chiffchaff was the most frequent visitor in the early flowering season, whereas the honeybee predominated in the flowers during mid and late flowering periods. Birds increased fruit set, whilst insects had a negligible effect. Besides contributing little to plant reproduction, honeybees might interfere with bird pollination by depleting flowers of nectar. Rats consumed about 10% of the flowers and reduced fruit set to one third. Both alien species can threaten C. canariensis reproduction and hence population sustainability in the thermosclerophyllous vegetation. Chapter 4 investigates the relative effectiveness of two vertebrate groups (birds and lizards) at different stages (pollination and seed dispersal) of the reproductive cycle of Canarina canariensis in the thermosclerophyllous habitat. We built three stochastic models (namely ‘pollination’, ‘dispersal’ and ‘pollination + dispersal’) that simulated seedling recruitment. The dispersal stage contributed more than the pollination stage through the recruitment process. Moreover, birds and lizards exhibited a functional complementarity, with birds contributing most in the pollination model and lizards in the dispersal model.
[spa] El éxito reproductivo de las plantas depende de la eficacia de la interacción mutualista y del contexto en el que ocurre. Esta tesis investiga y cuantifica el “fitness” (éxito biológico) de la planta con un grupo particular de animales mutualistas, los vertebrados oportunistas, en un contexto particular, en islas oceánicas. Comparadas con los sistemas continentales, las islas oceánicas generalmente se caracterizan por redes mutualistas más simples, en gran medida como resultado de su fauna depauperada. A consecuencia de esto, las especies de plantas son proclives a incluir nuevas interacciones de flor-polinizador y fruto-dispersor después de su colonización. En las Islas Canarias, las aves paseriformes y los lagartos (F. Lacertidae) son visitantes florales y consumidores de frutos frecuentes de la flora nativa, pero su eficacia e importancia relativa en el éxito reproductivo es casi desconocida. Por otro lado, las islas son particularmente vulnerables a las especies exóticas. Ratas, abejas de la miel y cabras son invasores exitosos en las Canarias que interaccionan con especies nativas de plantas, muchas de ellas endémicas, y cuyos potenciales efectos perjudiciales en el “fitness” de las plantas merece nuestra atención con el fin de preservar esta flora endémica. Con el principal objetivo de aportar más conocimiento en el papel de los vertebrados en el éxito reproductivo de las plantas en el archipiélago canario, y en la evolución del síndrome de polinización por aves en las islas Macaronésicas, seleccionamos los endemismos Echium simplex y Canarina canariensis, ambos interaccionando con mutualistas nativos, y también con antagonistas exóticos. Los capítulos 1 y 2 evalúan el sistema reproductivo, identifican los visitantes florales diurnos y nocturnos, y comparan la eficacia de polinización de diferentes gremios de animales (vertebrados vs insectos, insectos diurnos vs insectos nocturnos) a lo largo de diferentes secciones de la inflorescencia de E. simplex. La planta es auto-compatible, pero su éxito reproductivo es claramente favorecido por animales polinizadores. Las abejas y los escarabajos fueron los insectos visitantes más comunes, mientras que el herrerillo y el mosquitero canarios fueron los vertebrados predominantes. Los insectos voladores diurnos aumentaron el cuajado de frutos, mientras que los pequeños habitantes de las flores (en su mayoría escarabajos) disminuyeron tanto el cuajado de frutos como de semillas; en cambio, los vertebrados tuvieron un efecto insignificante en el éxito reproductivo. Adicionalmente, encontramos que las estructuras reproductivas son considerablemente dañadas por cabras asilvestradas, lo cual amenaza la supervivencia de esta especie endémica canaria El capítulo 3 estudia la polinización de C. canariensis en fragmentos del antiguo bosque termoesclerófilo, evaluando cómo dos especies exóticas invasoras ampliamente distribuidas, la abeja de la miel y la rata, afectan a su éxito reproductivo. El mosquitero canario fue el visitante más frecuente al principio de la temporada de floración, mientras que la abeja de la miel predominó a mitad y al final de la misma. Las aves aumentaron el cuajado de frutos, mientras que los insectos tuvieron un efecto insignificante. Además de contribuir poco a la reproducción de la planta, la abeja de la miel podría interferir con la polinización por las aves al agotar el néctar de las flores. Las ratas consumieron alrededor del 10% de las flores y redujeron el cuajado de frutos a un tercio. Ambas especies exóticas pueden amenazar la reproducción de C. canariensis y, por tanto, el futuro de la sostenibilidad de la población en la vegetación termoesclerófila. El capítulo 4 investiga la eficacia relativa de diferentes gremios de vertebrados (aves vs lagartos) en dos etapas diferentes (polinización y dispersión de semillas) del ciclo reproductivo de C. canariensis en el hábitat termoesclerófilo. Construimos tres modelos estocásticos (específicamente, 'polinización', 'dispersión', y 'polinización + dispersión') que simulaban el reclutamiento de plántulas. La etapa de la dispersión contribuyó en mayor medida que la etapa de la polinización a lo largo del proceso de reclutamiento. Además, aves y lagartos mostraron una complementariedad funcional, contribuyendo más las aves en el modelo de polinización, mientras que los lagartos influyeron más en el modelo de dispersión.
[cat] L'èxit reproductiu de les plantes depèn de l'efectivitat de la interacció mutualista i del context d'aquesta. Aquesta tesi investiga i quantifica la fitness de les plantes amb un determinat grup de mutualistes animals, els vertebrats oportunistes, dins d'un context en particular, les illes oceàniques. En comparació amb els sistemes peninsulars, les illes oceàniques generalment es caracteritzen per xarxes mutualistes més simples, degut en gran mesura a una fauna animal empobrida. Degut a això, és més probable que les espècies de plantes presentin noves interaccions flor–pol·linitzador i dispersió de fruits després de la colonització de l'illa. A les Illes Canàries, els aucells passeriformes i els sargantanes de la familia dels lacèrtids són visitants freqüents de les flors i consumidors de fruits de la flora nativa, però la seva efectivitat i la importància relativa del seu èxit reproductiu són encara desconeguts. D'altra banda, les illes són particularment vulnerables a les espècies alienes. A les Illes Canàries les rates, les abelles de la mel i les cabres són invasors d'èxit que interactuen amb les espècies natives de plantes i els seus efectes detrimentals a la fitness de les plantes mereix la nostra atenció per a preservar aquesta flora endèmica. Amb l'objectiu principal d'aportar una visió més profunda del paper dels vertebrats en l'èxit reproductiu de les plantes de l'arxipèlag, i de l'evolució del síndrome de l'aucell pol·linitzador a les illes Macaronèsiques, hem seleccionat les endèmiques Echium simplex i Canarina canariensis, de cara a la interacció d'ambdues amb els mutualistes natius i els antagonistes aliens. Els capítols 1 i 2 avaluen el sistema reproductiu d’Echium simplex, identificant els visitants nocturns i diürns de les flors i comparen l'efectivitat de la pol·linització dels diferents gremis d'animals (vertebrats vs insectes, i insectes diürns vs nocturns) juntament amb seccions d'inflorescència de la planta. Aquesta espècie és auto- compatible però el seu èxit reproductiu millora amb els pol·linitzadors animals. Les abelles i escarabats varen ser els visitants insectes més comuns, mentre que la mallerenga africana i el mosquiter canari foren els visitants de flors vertebrats més prevalents. Els insectes voladors diürns incrementaren el quallat del fruit, mentre que els habitants de les flors més petites (principalment escarabats) reduïren el quallat del fruit i de les llavors; en contraposició, els vertebrats tingueren un efecte negligible en l'èxit reproductiu. A més, es va confirmar que les cabres ferals fereixen les estructures reproductives de les plantes, la qual cosa amenaça el manteniment d'aquesta espècie endèmica canària El capítol 3 estudia la pol·linització de Canarina canariensis als vestigis del bosc termescleròfil, avaluant com dues espècies invasores alienes esteses, l'abella de mel i la rata negra, afecta al seu èxit reproductiu. El mosquiter canari va ser el visitant més freqüent al inici de l'estació de floració mentre que l'abella de mel va ser predominant durant els mitjans i darrers períodes de floració. Els aucells incrementaren el quallat del fruit mentre que els insectes tingueren un efecte negligible. A més de contribuir poc a la reproducció de les plantes, les abelles de la mel podrien interferir en la pol·linització dels aucells, buidant les flors del seu nèctar. Les rates consumiren devers el 10% de les flores i reduïren el quallat del fruit a una tercera part. Ambdues espècies alienes poden amenaçar la reproducció de C. canariensis i per tant el sosteniment de la població a la vegetació termoescleròfila. El capítol 4 investiga l'efectivitat relativa de grups vertebrats diferents (aucells and sargantanes) a dos nivells diferents (és a dir, pol·linització i dispersió de llavors) del cicle reproductiu de Canarina canariensis a l'hàbitat termoescleròfil. Hem construït tres models estocàstics (principalment els models de 'pol·linització', 'dispersió' i 'pol·linització + dispersió') que simularen el reclutament de plàntules. L'etapa de dispersió va contribuir més que l'etapa de pol·linització en el procés de reclutament. A més, els aucells i les sargantanes exhibiren una complementarietat funcional, amb els aucells contribuint més al model de pol·linització i les sargantanes al de dispersió.