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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
211

Combinatoire bijective des permutations et nombres de Genocchi / Bijective combinatorics of permutations and Genocchi numbers

Bigeni, Ange 24 November 2015 (has links)
Cette thèse a pour contexte la combinatoire énumérative et décrit la construction de plusieurs bijections entre modèles combinatoires connus ou nouveaux de suites d'entiers et polynômes, plus particulièrement celle des nombres de Genocchi (et de leurs extensions, les polynômes de Gandhi) qui interviennent dans diverses branches des mathématiques et dont les propriétés combinatoires sont de ce fait activement étudiées, et celles de polynômes q-eulériens associés aux quatre statistiques fondamentales de MacMahon sur les permutations ainsi qu'à des statistiques analogues. On commence par définir les permutations de Dumont normalisées, un modèle combinatoire des nombres de Genocchi médians normalisés q-étendus, notés ¯cn(q) et définis par Han et Zeng, puis l'on construit une première bijection entre ce modèle et l'ensemble des configurations de Dellac, autre interprétation combinatoire de ¯cn(q) mise en évidence par Feigin dans le contexte de la géométrie des grassmanniennes de carquois. En s'appuyant sur la théorie des fractions continues de Flajolet, on en construit finalement un troisième modèle combinatoire à travers les histoires de Dellac, que l'on relie aux premiers modèles sus-cités au moyen d'une seconde bijection. On s'intéresse ensuite à la classe combinatoire des k-formes irréductibles définies par Hivert et Mallet dans l'étude des k-fonctions de Schur, et qui faisaient l'objet d'une conjecture supposant que les polynômes de Gandhi sont générés par les k-formes irréductibles selon la statistique des k-sites libres. On construit une bijection entre les k-formes irréductibles et les pistolets surjectifs de hauteur k − 1 (connus pour générer les polynômes de Gandhi selon la statistique des points fixes) envoyant les k-sites libres des premières sur les points fixes des seconds, démontrant de ce fait la conjecture. Enfin, on établit une nouvelle identité combinatoire entre deux polynômes q-eulériens définis par des statistiques eulériennes et mahoniennes sur l'ensemble des permutations d'un ensemble fini, au moyen d'une dernière bijection sur les permutations, qui envoie une suite finie de statistiques sur une autre / This work is set in the context of enumerative combinatorics and constructs several statistic-preserving bijections between known or new combinatorial models of sequences of integers or polynomials, espacially the sequence of Genocchi numbers (and their extensions, the Gandhi polynomials) which appear in numerous mathematical theories and whose combinatorial properties are consequently intensively studied, and two sequences of q-Eulerian polynomials associated with the four fundamental statistics on permutations studied by MacMahon, and with analog statistics. First of all, we define normalized Dumont permutations, a combinatorial model of the q-extended normalized median Genocchi numbers ¯cn(q) introduced by Han and Zeng, and we build a bijection between the latter model and the set of Dellac configurations, which have been proved by Feigin to generate ¯cn(q) by using the geometry of quiver Grassmannians. Then, in order to answer a question raised by the theory of continued fractions of Flajolet, we define a new combinatorial model of ¯cn(q), the set of Dellac histories, and we relate them with the previous combinatorial models through a second statistic-preserving bijection. Afterwards, we study the set of irreducible k-shapes defined by Hivert and Mallet in the topic of k-Schur functions, which have been conjectured to generate the Gandhi polynomials with respect to the statistic of free ksites. We construct a statistic-preserving bijection between the irreducible k-shapes and the surjective pistols of height k−1 (well-known combinatorial interpretation of the Gandhi polynomials with respect to the fixed points statistic) mapping the free k-sites to the fixed points, thence proving the conjecture. Finally, we prove a new combinatorial identity between two eulerian polynomials defined on the set of permutations thanks to Eulerian and Mahonian statistics, by constructing a bijection on the permutations, which maps a finite sequence of statistics on another
212

Histórias de vida: saberes e práticas de alfabetizadoras bem sucedidas. / Life histories: successful beginning literacy teachers\' knowledges and practives.

Monteiro, Maria Iolanda 24 March 2006 (has links)
O trabalho visou o entendimento do sucesso escolar, na área de alfabetização, pelas experiências docentes, investigando os saberes e as práticas relacionados à vida pessoal, escolar e profissional de quatro alfabetizadoras bem sucedidas, que exerceram a profissão nas décadas de 50 a 80, no Estado de São Paulo. Estudou-se o peso da reforma de 1971 e os determinantes advindos das diferentes políticas, anteriores e posteriores, e o provável período em que se iniciou a conformação profissional das educadoras pesquisadas. Pelo estudo de histórias de vida, a investigação caracterizou as diferentes experiências das alfabetizadoras, identificando os saberes e as práticas, que deram sustentação ao trabalho bem sucedido com a alfabetização, e os condicionantes que acompanharam a formação docente. A articulação dos saberes da infância pré-escolar, da vida escolar, da trajetória no curso de formação e da vida profissional com o estudo das características das práticas alfabetizadoras justificou o sucesso escolar. Pela análise dos resultados, concluiu-se que as várias facetas da história de vida das educadoras, com saberes e concepções de ensino, sustentaram o êxito na alfabetização. Apesar das situações bem heterogêneas, o sucesso escolar decorreu da autonomia no trabalho docente para a organização de práticas de ensino, que garantissem a aprendizagem bem sucedida da leitura e escrita, sempre considerando que toda criança apresentava capacidade para aprender, independentemente das condições socioeconômicas, culturais e de aprendizagem. O estudo da história de vida das alfabetizadoras bem sucedidas, envolvendo saberes e práticas importantes e diferentes para configurações de práticas de alfabetização, que garantiram o êxito de todos os alunos, não visou apenas a sistematização de situações pedagógicas que servissem somente como referenciais para organizar o processo de alfabetização de docentes da atualidade, mas também a problematização de aspectos inerentes às ações educativas, no ensino da leitura e escrita, e o resgate de alguns valores que, na época dessas professoras, eram considerados essenciais e que, atualmente, recebem críticas e depreciações. A análise das práticas educativas sinalizou uma diversificação de estratégias de ensino entre as professoras pesquisadas. Apesar dessa diferença, as docentes apresentaram objetivos semelhantes, visando a aprendizagem de todos e rejeitando qualquer forma de discriminação. Verificou-se ainda a criação de rotinas e rituais, durante o desenvolvimento dos conteúdos e das atividades, mas com práticas e aspectos diferenciados. Essa característica confirma a formação de uma ética de trabalho pedagógico. A presente pesquisa oferece, assim, informações para o estudo da alfabetização, enriquecendo a análise dos elementos do trabalho docente, para o êxito escolar, e dos novos dados que possibilitam investigações da temática, também em outras abordagens. / This paper focused on the understanding of academic success in the alphabetizing area by investigating the knowledge and practices related to the personal, academic and professional life of four successful alphabetizers who exercised their profession in the state of Sao Paulo throughout 1950 to 1980. The impact of the 1971 reform was duly studied and so were the direct consequences of the different previous and posterior policies and also the probable period during which started the professional making of the researched teachers. By studying the life histories, the investigation underlined the different experiences of the alphabetizers, identifying the various knowledge and practices which gave support to the successful alphabetizing work, and the decisive factors which accompanied the process of a teacher\'s formation. The articulation of the pre-school childhood knowledge, academic life, personal performance, both scholar and professional, together with the study of the alphabetizing practices characteristics justified the academic success. The results analysis concluded that the various aspects of the teachers\' life history, together with their personal knowledge and teaching concepts, sustained the alphabetizing success obtained. In spite of quite heterogeneous scenarios, the academic success resulted from the autonomy in the work to organize teaching practices which would ensure a successful learning of writing and reading, always considering that every child presented capacity to learn independently of social/economic, cultural and learning conditions. The study of the life histories of the successful alphabetizer teachers, involving important and different knowledge and pratices to build up alphabetizing practices which guaranteed the success of every student, didn\'t focus just the systematizing of pedagogic aspects which would serve solely as references to organize the alphabetizing process of today\'s teachers, but also the intrincacies of those aspects inherent to educative actions, in teaching writing and reading techniques, and the rescue of a few values which were considered essential, back at the time when the researched teachers were active, and nowadays are criticized and depreciated. The analysis of educational practices pointed out a diversification of teaching strategies amongst the researched teachers. In spite of the differences, they presented similar purposes - everyone should learn and any form of discrimination was rejected. It was also verified the creation of routines and rituals while developing the contents and related activities, but with distinguished practices and aspects. This characteristic confirms the making of ethics applied to pedagogical work. So, the present research offers information for the study of alphabetizing while making richer the analysis of the elements pertaining to teaching work to achieve academic success, and of the new data which make possible the investigation of the matter also with other approaches.
213

THE IMPACT OF REFUSE ON THE KELP GULL (LARUS DOMINICANUS) IN THE RÍO DE LA PLATA ESTUARY, URUGUAY

Cesar J. Lenzi (5929943) 04 January 2019 (has links)
<p>Modern economic activities, like industry and agriculture, as well as household activities, generate an important amount of refuse. The way we collect, transport, and dispose it will determine the level of environmental contamination. May animals exploit refuse as a food source (i.e., anthropogenic food subsidy) and gulls are the most important group. Refuse subsidizes energetically gull populations, which impacts on their acquisition and allocation of resources, as well as on the environment, with ecological and evolutionary consequences are not well understood. In this dissertation we evaluated potential impacts of refuse on gulls by doing a literature review as well as empirical research on the Kelp Gull (<i>Larus dominicanus</i>) in the Rio de la Plata Estuary in South America. Direct and indirect impacts of refuse on gull species and the environment have been observed during the review process. We have detected positive impacts of refuse on body size, chick growth, fecundity, reproductive success, and population dynamics. However, negative impacts were also found focusing on fecundity, reproductive success, and population dynamics. Indirect negative impacts on other species, water bodies, and airport security were also found. Refuse produces numerous impacts on gulls at the individual, population, and species levels, with indirect negative consequences on ecosystems. There is a need to reduce the access of gulls to sources of refuse to mitigate the existing and potential conflicts with human activities and other species, especially those that are threatened and endangered. During our empirical research we found that refuse was ingested and assimilated by Kelp Gull chicks during the chick rearing period and that the ecological niche width increased with the age of the chick. We propose that parents incorporate isotopically unique food sources to nestling’s diet during their growth, increasing isotopic diversity of nestlings. Additionally, we found that refuse could affect foraging decisions of females during the pre-incubation period, which could positively affect future fecundity and negatively impact reproductive success. We found also that refuse consumption on fecundity and reproductive success of gulls is generally studied at the colony level, using conventional diet techniques, but not much has been done using stable isotopes at the individual level, making comparisons among studies and conclusions difficult to address. We encourage other researchers to continue incorporating the isotopic ecology perspective to study the effect of food subsidies on gulls. Additionally, we found that Kelp Gull on the coast of the Rio de la Plata Estuary ingest plastic debris. We conclude that plastic bags and plastic films might be the most important source of contaminants for the Kelp Gull on the coast of the estuary. Main findings of this dissertation suggests the need for an improvement of waste management practices and a regulation of plastic production and use in Uruguay to reduce plastic ingestion by gulls. Finally, next steps for research are provided in this important area of environmental science and natural resource management.</p>
214

The aesthetics of curating : exhibition-making after the conceptual turn

Aroni, Maria January 2017 (has links)
The thesis examines the evolving realtions of the aesthetic and conceptual aspects in exhibition-making after the 'conceptual turn' that took place in the late-1960s and instigated key transformations in the aesthetic condition of art and contemporary curatorial practice. Drawing on a broadly construed and variously manifested conceptualism pervading the growing field of curating since 1990s, the thesis focuses on investigating the relation between the aestheti and conceptual dimensions of three exhibitions that have had a significant impact on the postconceptual development of curating. In doing so, it aims to construct an alternative genealogy that reaffirms the significance of the aesthetic element, and so to reconstruct curatorial practice from the perspective of an Aesthetics of Curating. This trajectory unfolds a non-unitary Curatorial Aesthetics that emerges and develops together with the conceptual shift offering a revisionist perspective to dominant practices and discourses today that tend to devalue or repress aesthetic modes of production. The driving force of the thesis is neither to affirm aestheticism nor simply reversing the received positions. Instead, the investigation of aesthetics - as the poetics of an exhibition and a philosophical understanding of the experience offered - provides a reading that contests the emphasis placed upon conceptualism in order to revise those relations and established assumptions, and enable us to understand contemporary aspects of curating that have been downgraded. The thesis focuses on three case-studies, which mark important shifts in the conceptual development of curating from 1969 to 2007: When Attitudes Become Form: Works-Processes-Concepts-Situations-Information (Live in Your Head), curated by Harald Szeemann. Kunsthalle Bern (1969); Les Immateriaux, co-curated by Jean-Francois Lotard and Thierry Chaput, Centre George Pompidou, Paris (1985); Documenta 12, under the artistic directorship of Roger Buergel and chief curatorship of Ruth Noack, Kassel (2007). By exploring the different ways in which these exhibitions accommodate, engage with, and define aesthetic experience in relation to their conceptual modes, the study provides an alternative account of Curatorial Aesthetics that attains its transformative potential and political efficacy in the present through the invention of new sensations that incite new modes of thinking and acting.
215

'Exit, loyalty and voice' : the experience of adult learners in the context of de- industrialisation in County Durham

Forster, Mary Josephine January 2018 (has links)
This thesis examines the effects of de-industrialisation on the lives of adult learners attending adult education programmes in the former coal mining and steel working communities of County Durham. It presents the outcomes of a qualitative study of life history stories which are 'person centred'. Focusing on the subjective experiences of learners, both past and present, was an appropriate way in which the learner voice could be heard as well as helping to understand their experiences and views on the effects that de- industrialisation has had on their lives, and if lifelong learning was improving their life chances. The importance of social class and gender in configuring and understanding adult learner experiences are critical factors whilst, at the same time, the collective resources of these working class communities have been systematically undermined. Furthermore, the provision of publically funded adult education has declined dramatically since the 1980s. Through the prism of learners' lives the study explores experiences of employability skills programmes and community adult education programmes on shaping the position, disposition and identity of learners who have experienced a major trauma to their communities, their families and themselves. Ontological insecurity, a product of de-industrialisation, has a critical impact on the lives of these adults. The thesis adopts Hirschman's (1970) framework of 'Exit, Loyalty and Voice', originally used to frame the responses of workers confronting the possibility of job losses in a firm, as a way of understanding the reactions of adult learners to the impact of de-industrialisation on communities. In Hirschman's framework the relationship between exit, loyalty and voice followed a distinctive pattern. Loyalty, for example, was the opposite of voice, as people in a firm stayed silent in order to be saved from job loss. In this study, loyalty to the community has enabled individuals to benefit from support and community provision, which has given them a lifeline for survival and a step on the way to finding a voice. Exit, in the original framework, involved proactive workers getting 'ahead of the curve' by finding alternative employment before others. In this study, employability skills training - as a resource for exit - does not deliver. Instead, it systematically demoralises individuals and undermines their capacity to act. It involves churning learners between welfare and more training programmes and, where and when available, into short-term work. The overall impact has resulted in the social exclusion of these learners from the labour market and from the community - the opposite of agency. It is argued that this is a paradox given that social and economic inclusion was an aim of lifelong learning policies. The thesis challenges the claim of neoliberal ideology that purports to promote the freedom of individuals to determine their own fate. Those attending employability skills programmes are expected to find solutions to structural problems, and are subjected to coercive methods through psychological interventions that are expected to bring about attitudinal behaviour changes to achieve employability. It is argued that this is a paradox given deficient labour market conditions which are beyond the control of the learner. Attention is given to public sector community adult education that once offered liberating models of adult education, but have now been subjected to the logic of neoliberal governmentality. This is creating new 'subjectivities' for educators, who are being coerced to deliver learning for the economy rather than social purpose education. What has emerged is a new role of the employability trainer.
216

O ensino de segunda língua com foco no professor: História oral de professores surdos de língua de sinais brasileira / Second language teaching with focus on the teacher: Life histories of deaf teachers of Brazilian Sign Language

Leite, Tarcisio de Arantes 23 June 2004 (has links)
A presente pesquisa consiste em um estudo voltado para a melhoria do ensino de língua de sinais brasileira (LSB ou LIBRAS) como segunda língua para alunos ouvintes. Empregando os procedimentos da história oral, foram realizadas entrevistas com professores surdos que, uma vez coletadas, receberam dois tratamentos diferenciados: em primeiro lugar, um tratamento formal, que pudesse resultar em histórias de vida a serem lidas pelo público-alvo da pesquisa pelo seu valor intrínseco; e, em segundo lugar, um tratamento analítico, que pudesse resultar numa análise das concepções de ensino que estão por trás da prática dos professores surdos. No primeiro caso, as entrevistas passaram por um processo de tradução da LSB falada para o português escrito, bem como por uma espécie de “romanceamento" dessa tradução. No segundo caso, as entrevistas foram submetidas a uma análise que visou a identificar e discutir as implicações sociais, políticas e acadêmicas do sistema de conhecimentos, crenças e suposições que os professores surdos carregam sobre o ensino da LSB. Espera-se que, com esses dois focos diferenciados, os frutos deste trabalho possam ser aproveitados como fonte de reflexão tanto pelos profissionais surdos e ouvintes que atuam no campo de ensino da LSB como segunda língua, quanto pela sociedade em geral, que poderá encontrar aqui uma ponte de contato com a experiência de vida surda. / This research is a study focused on the improvement of the teaching of Brazilian Sign Language (LSB or LIBRAS) as a second language for hearing students. Using oral history procedures, interviews were carried out with deaf teachers that, once collected, were approached in two different ways: first, they received a formal treatment which results in life histories to be read by the target audience of this research for their intrinsic value; and, second, they received an analytic treatment which results in an analysis of the concepts of teaching that underlie the deaf teachers' actual practices. In the case of the life histories, the researcher submitted the interviews to a process of translation from spoken LSB to written portuguese, as well as to a process of “novelization" of that translation. In the case of the analysis, the researcher aimed at identifying and discussing the social, political and academic implications of the teachers’ system of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge for the teaching of LSB. It is hoped that through these two distinct focuses, the results of this study may be useful as an object of reflection for deaf and hearing professionals working in the field of teaching LSB as a second language, and also for the general public, which can find in this work a bridge to the life experiences of the deaf.
217

The theatrical and dramatic form of the swordfight in the chronicle plays of Shakespeare

Edelman, Charles. January 1988 (has links) (PDF)
Typescript. Errata slip inserted. Bibliography: leaves 360-385.
218

Monogeneans of the Southern Fiddler Ray, Trygonorrhina Fasciata (Rhinobatidae) in South Australia: an exceptional model to compare parasite life history traits, invasion strategies and host specificity.

Glennon, Vanessa January 2008 (has links)
Trygonorrhina fasciata (Rhinobatidae) specimens naturally infected by three monogenean species were captured and maintained in marine aquaria to promote a continuous parasite load. Monogenean eggs recovered from aquaria provided larvae for descriptions and life history experiments. I describe the adult, larva and post-larval development of a new species of hexabothriid, Branchotenthes octohamatus, from the gills. This is the first monogenean larva described with only eight hooklets. This character may be useful to help resolve problematic relationships within the Hexabothriidae and offers insight into more general hypotheses about relationships within the Monogenea. I also redescribe the adult of Calicotyle australis (Monocotylidae) from the cloaca and describe the larva. The number and arrangement of larval ciliated epidermal cells and sensilla was revealed using silver nitrate. I redescribe Pseudoleptobothrium aptychotremae (Microbothriidae) adults from the skin of T. fasciata, representing a new host and locality record. Larval anatomy and post-larval development are also documented. The presence of six needle-like spicules in the larval haptor is confirmed, supporting an earlier theory that spicules are ancestral vestiges. My studies revealed three different egg hatching, host finding strategies and larval ‘types’. Branchotenthes octohamatus has a ‘sit-and-wait’ strategy, entirely dependent on mechanical disturbance to stimulate eggs to hatch. Larvae are unciliated, cannot swim, lack pigmented eyespots and show no photo-response but may survive for more than two days after hatching at 22ºC. In contrast, eggs of C. australis hatch spontaneously with a strong diurnal rhythm in the first few hours of daylight when exposed to a LD12:12 illumination regime. Larvae are ciliated and can swim, have pigmented eyespots, are photo-positive and can remain active and survive for up to 24 h after hatching at 22ºC. Eggs of P. aptychotremae may have a ‘bet-hedging’ strategy. Some eggs hatch spontaneously and rhythmically in an LD12:12 regime during the last few hours of daylight but their low hatching success rate suggests that other eggs may require a different cue provided by the host. Larvae are ciliated, can swim, lack pigmented eyespots, show no photo-response and remain active for only a few hours at 22ºC. Experiments using the fluorescent dye, 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate N-succinimidyl ester (CFSE) revealed B. octohamatus on gills of T. fasciata within 30 min of exposure to the host. This provides strong evidence that larvae invade the gills directly via the host’s inhalant respiratory current and do not migrate after initial attachment elsewhere. Five rhinobatid species (Aptychotrema vincentiana, T. fasciata, Trygonorrhina sp. A, A. rostrata and Rhinobatos typus), with overlapping distributions spanning west, south and east Australian coastal waters were surveyed for monogeneans at four locations between Fremantle, Western Australia and Stradbroke Island, Queensland. Genetic homogeneity, using the mitochrondrial gene Cytochrome b (cytb) and the nuclear marker, Elongation factor-1 alpha (EF1a), was observed for all Branchotenthes and Calicotyle specimens irrespective of collection locality or rhinobatid species. Genetic homogeneity was observed for Pseudoleptobothrium specimens collected in western and southern Australia. However, local genetic heterogeneity was apparent among Pseudoleptobothrium specimens collected from two sympatric host species in New South Wales. Analyses revealed a highly divergent clade, indicating a morphologically cryptic, ancestral species. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1323070 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2008
219

Troubling Discourses in Teacher Education: Reading Knowledge, Reflection, and Inclusion Through Excessive Moments

Smyth, Rosanna Sharon 13 December 2007 (has links)
While sorting through my experiences as a student teacher, my research question has shifted from “How can teacher education be improved?” to “How is teacher education represented?” I am interested in the juxtaposition of these two inquiries, and use them not to suggest pedagogical rules, but to draw attention to the kinds of spaces such a juxtaposition opens up. The shift in my research question is influenced by the discursive turn—the movement from social justice theories to poststructuralist theories, from theories based on experience to theories based on discourse. Questions of representation are the focus not only of poststructuralist theories but also of psychoanalytic theories, or theories of the unconscious, and both theories acknowledge that representations of reality are excessive: they contain more and less than that which they represent (Orner et al., 2005). The concept of excess enables me to make sense of moments in my teacher education program that could not be contained by dominant educational discourses of knowledge, reflection, and inclusion. The excessiveness of a teaching strategy called the Six Thinking Hats troubles the theory/practice binary in discourses of knowledge. The excessiveness of an assignment about philosophies of teaching, and a class discussion in response to the film Submission trouble the enlightenment/ignorance binary in discourses of reflection. And, the excessiveness of my attempt to question curricular content troubles the normal/exceptional binary in discourses of inclusion. I use excessive moments from my teacher education program to question existing discourses, and to suggest that we need to change the stories we tell ourselves about education (King, 2003). Our current educational discourses perpetuate histories of violence that we have inherited, and I suggest that social justice, poststructuralist, and psychoanalytic theories will enable us to more effectively heal from these inherited histories. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2007-12-04 16:19:40.676 / This work was funded in part by a Canadian Graduate Scholarship granted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (766-2006-0775).
220

Effects of sheep, kangaroos and rabbits on the regeneration of trees and shrubs in the chenopod shrublands, South Australia

Palisetty, Raghunadh January 2007 (has links)
After European settlement, Australian rangelands especially in South Australia underwent significant changes because of the main land use of pastoralism. Many studies have revealed that the plant communities are negatively effected by herbivory mainly by sheep. The main aim of this study is to separate the different effects of sheep, rabbits and kangaroos. This was examined by survey supported by experimental and modelling research. A 32,000 km² area previously surveyed by Tiver and Andrew (1997) in eastern South Australia was re-surveyed to monitor populations of perennial plant species at sites of various intensity of grazing by sheep, rabbits and kangaroos (goats populations are low in the study area), the most important vertebrate herbivores. Plant population data were collected in both sheep paddocks and historically ungrazed by sheep (road reserves) by using the Random Walk method and analyzed using Generalized Linear Modelling (GLM) to separate the effects of sheep and rabbits on plant regeneration and their regeneration in response to grazing. These data were also compared to similar data collected by Tiver and Andrew in 1992 (1997) to ascertain if the reduction in rabbit numbers through introduction of RCV had allowed increased regeneration. Regeneration of many species inside paddocks were negatively affected and species in roadside reserves neither did not significantly increase from 1992 to 2004. However, some species showed increase of populations in spite of sheep grazing, with some species being less susceptible than others. This research also indicates kangaroo grazing impact on some plant species. Reduction in rabbit numbers following the 1995 release of calicivirus has not been effective in restoring regeneration. Another experiment was conducted at Middleback Field Station near Whyalla to identify herbivore grazing pressure on the arid zone plant species Acacia aneura using unfenced, sheep fenced and rabbit fenced grazing exclosures. This experiment was set up with seedlings in exclosures, ten replicates of each treatment, at plots four different distances from the watering point to identify the survivorship of seedlings. Data were collected by recording canopy volumes of seedling over an 18 month period and analyzed by Residual Maximal Likelihood (REML). Seedlings both near and far from the watering point were severely effected by large herbivores, either sheep, kangaroos or both, and in a separate experiment kangaroo grazing effects on the seedling were also identified. Seedlings browsed by the rabbits were recovered better than the seedlings grazed by the large herbivores. Decreasing kangaroo activities has been noticed when the rabbit movements increased. Computer modelling was conducted to predict the future plant population structure over 500 years using a matrix population model developed by Tiver et al. (2006) and using data collected in the survey as a starting point. Extinction probabilities of populations of Acacia aneura near watering points, far from watering points and under pulse grazing scenarios were compared. Sheep grazing was found to cause eventual extinction of populations in all parts of sheep paddocks. Together, the results indicate that sheep are the major herbivore suppressing regeneration of perennial plant species. Kangaroo and rabbits have an identifiable but lesser effect. The results have implications for conservation and pastoral management. To achieve ecological sustainability of arid lands a land-use system including a network of reserves ungrazed by sheep and with control of both rabbit and kangaroo numbers will be required.

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