Violence is common among small-scale societies and often stems from a combination of exogenous and endogenous factors. We suggest that socialization for violence and revenge as a motivation can encourage costly signaling by warriors and contribute to the creation of atypical burials in archaeological contexts. We characterize mortuary patterns among early irrigation communities in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States/northwest Mexico (Early Agricultural period: 2100 BC-AD 50) to define normative mortuary practices and identify atypical burials. One of the principle roles the performance of mortuary rituals fulfills is to publicly integrate a shared identity or reinforce social differences within a community. This postmortem negotiation of social identities was likely an important component to ease social tensions in early farming communities. However, atypical burials from these sites appear to represent acts of violence upon the corpse at, or after, the death of the individual that fall outside of the normative conformity to prescribed mortuary ritual. We propose that these cases represent perimortem signaling, a form of costly signaling conditioned as basal violent reactions, possibly stemming from socialization for violence.

The main goal of this study was to investigate whether residents of rural areas especially in deprived communities in BC have reasonable geographic access to healthy and affordable food providers (e.g., supermarkets, grocery stores, and farmers’ markets), and if lack of access impacts their weight status. As well, I investigated the extent to which farmers’ markets improve food accessibility in BC’s rural food deserts. In order to identify food deserts, the methodology which has been developed by USDA was modified and adapted to BC’s rural situations. In the first step, using Principal Component Analysis, deprived rural regions were identified based on selected socioeconomic and demographic variables. Then, using ArcGIS Network Analyst extension, the distance based on driving time from the Population Weighted Centroid of each rural region to the closest supermarket or grocery store was calculated on BC road networks. A 15 minute driving time cut-off was set to identify low access areas. Deprived rural regions which were also classified as low access were identified as food deserts. The impact of food accessibility on the weight status of rural British Columbians was investigated using the 2013-14 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). A hierarchical regression model was constructed with weight status of residents as the dependent variable and distance to the closest supermarket or grocery store as the independent target variable. I found that food deserts are more concentrated in the Central Coast, Cariboo, and Peace River regions of the province. In addition, farmers’ markets play no role in providing healthy foods to the residents of food deserts. Lastly, distance from food stores is not significantly associated with the weight status of rural respondents in CCHS data. The findings of this study can be highly beneficial to government officials within different jurisdictions and health practitioners to develop or refine food policies toward providing healthy and affordable food to deprived residents and Aboriginal peoples in rural and remote communities. / Graduate

Decomposition of organic matter is a critical component in global biogeochemical cycling. While decomposition rates have been robustly predicted for mesic systems, modeling decomposition dynamics in drylands has proven to be problematic, reflecting a need to account for processes that may be unique to dryland systems: low and spatially variable vegetation cover, high rates of soil movement, and high levels of radiant energy exposure at the soil surface. Recent empirical evidence suggests that the discrepancies between measured and predicted decomposition rates in drylands may be due to the greater influence of abiotic drivers, such as soil-litter mixing (SLM) and solar radiation, on plant litter decomposition relative to more mesic systems. UV-driven photodegradation may dominate until SLM reaches a threshold, at which point litter is shielded from radiation and microbial processes become predominant. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to examine the influence of SLM and solar radiation on decomposition of foliar and woody plant litter in a dryland ecosystem undergoing woody plant encroachment. A series of four complimentary experiments sought to quantify the effects of these abiotic drivers on decomposition in relation to variables such as vegetation patch type (e.g., beneath a shrub canopy, in a grass patch, on bare ground), radiant energy regime (e.g., full sun vs. shade), geomorphic surface (e.g., sandy, Holocene-age vs. clay-rich, Pleistocene-age soils), seasonality of litter fall (e.g., summer vs. winter), and litter quality (e.g., grass, shrub leaf, woody). Results indicate that interactions between SLM and photodegradation are complex and mediated by variations in ground cover which influence the local radiant energy environment and the movement of soil across the landscape by wind and water. Decomposition rates were significantly influenced by SLM, UV radiation, radiant energy regime, vegetation structure, and initial litter quality. While these results confirmed the importance of SLM and photodegradation as dryland decomposition drivers, they also reinforced the need for additional research to further clarify the relative importance of these processes under field conditions, particularly the interplay between UV radiation and SLM and their relative influence on biotic and abiotic decomposition processes. Given the changes in climate and vegetation projected for drylands, it is critical to further elucidate the influence of these processes on dryland biogeochemical cycling, as their effects may be magnified or dampened under future conditions. A deeper understanding of the processes driving biogeochemical cycling that may be unique to systems undergoing shifts in plant lifeform composition will allow us to better account for the fate of carbon in these globally important ecosystems.

This thesis examines the motif of the desert island in anglophone post-war popular culture as it coincides with the destabilisation of modern conceptions of identity. The extent to which desert island narratives either reify or challenge normative societal ideals is charted through the analysis of a range of texts across media: novels, radio, advertising, magazine cartoons, television, films and video games. Each text is placed into the context of a dialectic between discipline, the coercive method of state control theorised by Michel Foucault, and seduction, the technique of market dominance described by Zygmunt Bauman. Semiotic, psychoanalytic and spatial approaches are also used in close readings. The relationship of ‘home’ to ‘the Other’ was transformed by the advent of affordable international travel and communication; the thesis considers desert island texts since 1942, from the period since our planet has been opened up to tourism and global capitalism. This post-war timeframe maps onto the development of a self that is increasingly understood as fragmented, reflexive and alienated. A chronological approach is used in order to chart the ways in which desert island texts reflect this trend during what Bauman calls the liquid modern era. Power structures are examined but, rather than taking an overtly postcolonial stance, the thesis explores relationships between the ‘mainland’ and the castaway. The desert island is a useful site for exploring such concerns precisely because its desertedness, (presumed) Otherness and distance from ‘home’ allow it to function as an analogy of both the subject and the Other, and as an altered reflection of ostensibly normative continental life. Desert islands are often revealed to be inhabited; if the desert island represents a fantasy of agency in self-creation then the appearance of the Other represents the anxiety that that fantasy intends to dispel or seeks to embrace.

Water is a vital resource for species inhabiting arid and semi-arid regions and can shape the biotic communities that we observe. Because water is considered a limiting resource for many species in desert environments, there is the potential for competitive interactions between species to occur at or around water sources. For this dissertation I tested hypotheses related to resource competition among different species of wildlife in the Great Basin and Mojave Deserts of western Utah. Chapter one evaluated the influence of feral horses (Equus caballus) on patterns of water use by communities of native birds and mammals. Chapter two determined if feral horses competed with pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) for access to water. In chapters one and two, we found evidence that horses compete with native wildlife for water. In chapter one, horses were associated with decreased richness and diversity of native species at water sources. Native species also had fewer visits and spent less time at water sources frequented by horses. In chapter two, we found that pronghorn and mule deer used water sources less often where horse activity was high. There were also significant differences in temporal activity for pronghorn, but not mule deer, at horse-occupied sites versus sites where horses were absent or uncommon. Our results indicated that horses spatially and temporally displaced other species at water sources providing evidence of a negative influence on how communities of native wildlife access a limited resource in an arid environment. Chapter three assessed whether dominant carnivores (coyote (Canis latrans) and bobcat (Lynx rufus)) negatively influenced the spatial use of water sources by the subordinate kit fox (Vulpes macrotis). Our results did not reveal strong negative associations between kit fox visits to water sources and visits by dominant carnivores; in fact, dominant carnivores contributed very little to the use of water by kit foxes. Instead, kit fox visits were more closely associated with habitat features at water sources. Our findings indicate that dominant carnivores are not the primary driver of use of water sources by subordinate carnivores. Chapter four evaluated whether a simulated loss of water due to climate change/increased human use would differentially affect desert bats based on flight morphology and maneuverability. When we experimentally reduced surface area of water sources, larger, less-maneuverable bats experienced a 69% decrease in drinking success and increased competition with smaller, maneuverable bats. Anticipated reductions in the sizes of water sources due to climate change may lead to species with less maneuverability being unable to access water efficiently and facing increased competition from more agile bats.

The notion of an environmental crisis or catastrophe conjures connotations of rupture, emergency, and impermanence: an intermediary moment of chaos in which the normal order of things collapses in on itself only to be brought back to life—or “recovered”—after the crisis is finished. It is by definition an event out of the ordinary, which in turn is idealised as the realm of routine, repetition, and the reproduction of the social order. But how might such crises permeate the body, home, and other ecologies of everyday life? And how might these ecologies be marshalled and transformed in a time of unfolding change? California is currently caught in a cascade of intersecting environmental crises, erupting most spectacularly with the state’s “historic” drought, which lasted from 2011 to 2017 and peaked in 2014/2015. Alongside the drought and its second order ramifications like wild fires and dust storms, the local manifestations of a changing climate are converging to generate among Californians a sense of near-constant crisis that is both powerful and widespread. Based on thirteen months' fieldwork from June 2014 to July 2015 in the arid lands of Central and Southern California, this thesis examines everyday lived experiences of space and time amidst this scene of instability and uncertainty. Each chapter tracks from a different vantage point the ways in which people are experimenting with the material, practical, and symbolic elements of “the ordinary” in response to the discontinuities introduced into daily life by forces beyond their control. It is my assertion that these ongoing and open-ended practices are poorly captured by the concept of “recovery”—a recurrent figure in the anthropology of disaster—which strongly suggests a telos of return to some or another pre-disaster way of life. The central argument of the thesis, then, is that these processes of experimentation must be understood in an analytical framework that embraces rather than disavows the mutual absorption of the ordinary and the event. As such, the thesis examines the improvisational as well as the habitual aspects of everyday life, whilst also directing attention to the generative as well as destructive dimensions of environmental crisis. Sure enough, environmental crises can incite shock and trauma in those that live through them. At their most extreme, they may also reduce life to a state of bare survival. Yet my interlocutors also took great pride in their collective capacities not only to “weather the storm” but also to invent new modes of self-sufficiency in response to their altered physical circumstances. In doing so, they all drew heavily upon images of California’s past in order to make sense of their present and chart paths for future action. As such, the thesis will contribute to anthropologies of disaster, the ordinary, and historical imagination and practice in the contemporary United States.

abstract: Megafauna species worldwide have undergone dramatic declines since the end of the Pleistocene, twelve thousand years ago. In response, there have been numerous calls to increase conservation attention to these ecologically important species. However, introduced megafauna continue to be treated as pests. This thesis evaluates the extent of this conservation paradox in relation to changing megafauna diversity from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene and finds that introductions have provided refuge for a substantial number threatened and endangered megafaunal species and has restored generic diversity levels per continent to levels closer to the Pleistocene than the Holocene. Furthermore, this thesis describes a previously unstudied behavior of wild burros (Equus asinus), an introduced megafauna whose pre-domestic ancestors are Critically Endangered. Wild burros dig wells to access groundwater and in doing so substantially increase water availability on several scales, create sites that are visited by numerous species and are comparable to natural water sources in terms of species richness, and provide germination nurseries for important riparian pioneer plant species. My results suggest that relaxing concepts of nativity in an age of extinction will provide new understandings of ecological function and can help focus attention on broader conservation goals. / Dissertation/Thesis / Appendix C / Appendix F / Masters Thesis Biology 2017

In recent years, efforts to transform food environments have played a key role in urban revitalization strategies. On one hand, concerns over urban food deserts have spurred efforts to attract supermarkets to places where access to healthy food is difficult for lower income residents. On the other, the creation of new spaces of consumption, such as trendy restaurants and food retail, has helped cities rebrand low-income communities as cultural destinations of leisure and tourism. In cities around the US, these processes often overlap, converting poorer neighborhoods into places more desirable for the middle-class. My dissertation research examines the social and historical forces that have given rise to these twin processes in Miami’s poorest neighborhood, Overtown, a historically Black community on the cusp of rapidly encroaching gentrification. My project incorporates a mix of methods from urban geography, anthropology, and the emerging geohumanities, including geospatial mapping, historical analysis, participatory observation, and in-depth interviews. In triangulating these methods, I first unearth Overtown’s vibrant food environment during Jim Crow segregation and then trace its decline through urban renewal, expressway construction, and public divestment, focusing particularly on the dismantling of Black food businesses. I also investigate the spatial politics of recent urban agriculture projects and community redevelopment practices, the latter of which aim to remake Overtown as a cultural dining and entertainment district in the image of its former heydays. This research is theoretically informed by and contributes to work on urban foodscapes, urban geographies of race, and African American foodways. Based on my empirical findings, I argue that redevelopment practices in Overtown are undermining networks of social and economic interdependency in the existing foodscape, effectively reproducing the spatial and racial urbicide once delivered by more overt forms of racism. By linking place-based racial histories to the production of inequitable urban food systems, this research reveals the underlying geographies of struggle and dispossession that have shaped the production of both food deserts and gentrifying foodie districts.

Microbial communities inhabit many environmental niches including the nutrient-rich gut systems of animals, where they are involved in a number of important processes. Insect gut microbiota may assist the host with several functions including synthesis of nutritional components lacking from the host diet and digestion of lignocellulosic materials. It is generally believed that the diet of the host plays an important role in the structure of the gut microbiome. Numerous studies have focused on insects feeding on lignocellulosic diets such as termites, as well as medically and agriculturally important insect species. Few studies have researched the gut microbiota of adult dung beetles. Most scarab beetle species feed on the liquid component of wet dung, whereas Pachysoma spp. may feed on lignocellulosic materials within their diet of dry dung, plant detritus or both. This feeding behaviour makes Pachysoma an ideal candidate for studying the role that diet has on gut microbiome assembly. Plant detritus feeding P. endroedyi and the dry dung feeding P. striatum were collected from Namaqualand, South Africa. The mid- and hindgut of each individual were dissected and mDNA extracted using a phenol-chloroform method. Amplicon sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and the fungal ITS region was used to determine inter- and intra-specific differences in microbial community structures. Shotgun sequencing of the entire gut metagenome was carried out on mDNA extracted from whole gut samples. Shotgun sequencing was used for both taxonomic and functional annotation of the Pachysoma gut microbiomes. Both amplicon and shotgun sequencing detected substantial differences in bacterial and fungal diversity between the two Pachysoma species. Amplicon sequencing showed the number of bacterial phyla ranged from 6-11 and 4-7 (total 14 phyla) for P. endroedyi and P. striatum, respectively. Furthermore, a minimal core microbiome was detected with only 2.57% of the bacterial OTUs shared between the two Pachysoma species studied. Large intraspecific variations were also noted within both Pachysoma species. Fungal communities could not be detected in the gut of P. endroedyi, while only two fungal phyla were detected P. striatum gut samples. Metagenome shotgun sequencing detected a greater bacterial diversity (total of 39 phyla) than the 16S rRNA gene amplicon study, although large differences were noted between the two species. Furthermore, shotgun sequencing demonstrated that fungal communities were present in the guts of both Pachysoma species. Archaea, viruses and other eukaryotic microorganisms were also present in the gut metagenomes of both Pachysoma species. The functional capacity of the Pachysoma spp. gut microbiomes was analysed using shotgun sequencing. Both species had the genetic capacity to degrade cellulose and hemicellulose but not lignin, supporting the suggestion that P. striatum feeds on plant material in the dry dung. Furthermore, the functional capacity of the microbiomes of both Pachysoma species were comparable, suggesting the ability for both species to feed on either dry dung or plant detritus. The similarity of the functional profiles of the two Pachysoma species suggests the existence of a functional rather than phylogenetic core microbiome This primary study has successfully characterised the phylogenetic and functional profiles of the gut microbiomes of two Pachysoma species feeding on different substrates. However, it is still unclear if diet is the primary driver in gut microbiome assembly. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / National Research Foundation (NRF) / Genetics / PhD / Unrestricted

Durch Messungen von spektraler optischer Dicke, Sonnenaureole und Himmelshelligkeit in Kombination mit den Programmen CIRATRA und BILANZ werden die optischen Eigenschaften von Sahara-Wüstenaerosol und dessen klimatische Wirkung unter Berücksichtigung der Nichtsphärizität der Aerosolpartikel untersucht. / By combining measurements of spectral optical thickness, solar aureole and sky brightness with the programs CIRATRA and BILANZ the optical porperties of Saharan desert aerosol and its climatic effects are investigated, including a consideration of the Nonsphericity of the aerosol particles.