The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of Western Canada is characterized by productive cropland, grasslands, and millions of ‘potholes’ caused by receding glaciers. These potholes fill up with water and form wetlands habitat that is a rich and valuable ecosystem, and is one of the most productive waterfowl habitats in the world. However, the social benefits from wetland ecosystems are not paid to farmers, whose lands support wetlands, leading farmers in the PPR of Canada to drain wetlands. Wetlands habitat in the PPR is also threatened by climate change, due to potentially drier conditions, as well as biofuel policies that are aimed at mitigating climate change (which increase the value of grains relative to wetlands). This research is comprised of four empirical papers that study the optimal level of wetlands retention, as well as the effect of potential future climate change on wetlands. The methods employed include bioeconomic modeling, which maximizes an economic objective (utility of cropping, harvesting ducks) subject to biological constraints (wetlands and waterfowl retention), as well as positive mathematical programming to develop a land use model. In the first paper, a previous bioeconomic model of optimal duck harvest and wetland retention is updated and extended to include the nonmarket value of waterfowl and the ecosystem service and other amenity values of wetlands. Results indicate that wetlands and duck harvests need to be increased relative to historical levels. In the second paper, regression analysis is used to determine the casual effect of climate change on wetlands in the PPR. The model developed in the first paper is then adapted to solve the socially optimal levels of duck harvests and wetlands retention under current climate conditions and various climate change scenarios. Results indicate that the optimal number of wetlands to retain could decrease by as much as 38 percent from the baseline climate. In the third paper, the earlier bioeconomic model is extended to include cropping decisions. Further, the model is solved for disaggregated regions of the PPR. By including cropping decisions, this model can estimate the direct climate effects on wetlands and waterfowl management, as well as land use change due to biofuel policies. The model predicts that climate change will reduce wetlands by 35-56 percent from historic levels, with the majority of this change due to land use change. Wetlands loss is geographically heterogeneous, with losses being the largest in Saskatchewan. Finally, the fourth paper develops a multi-region Positive Mathematical Programming model that calibrates land use in the area to observed acreage in 2006. Policy simulations for both climate effects as well as the effects of biofuel policies determine how climate change will affect land use and wetlands. This model has the advantage of modeling the trade off between all major land uses in the area and is also solved on a region basis. Results indicate that climate change could decrease wetlands in this area by as much as 34 percent; the results are spatially heterogeneous. / Graduate

No description available.

The impacts of oil sands processed materials (OSPM) on phytoplankton and periphyton community growth and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were examined. Estimates of plankton and periphyton community growth, measured as chl a and dry weight, were low and similar in reference and OSPM reclamation wetlands. The use of stable isotope analyses revealed higher δ15N of plankton and periphyton in OSPM wetlands than reference wetlands, possibly due to increased TN concentrations in some OSPM wetlands. In the laboratory, water-soluble fractions (WSF) of two types of OSPM (mature fine tailings, MFT and consolidated tailings, CT) and an amendment material (peat-mineral mixture), potential fill materials in wetland or end pit lake reclamation, were examined for phytoplankton community growth and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. All WSF treatments had higher chl a compared to reference water and maximum growth was observed at a 50:50 ratio of peat:CT or peat:MFT. In general, WSFs of peat had the highest concentration of total nitrogen (TN) whereas WSFs of MFT had the highest total phosphorus (TP; 3x higher). The results suggested that the addition of peat as an amendment to OSPM (particularly for MFT), contributing additional TN, could improve phytoplankton community growth in oil sands reclamation. At higher percentages of MFT WSF, there was increased turbidity due to fine clay particles that likely contributed to reduced phytoplankton growth. Turbidity could be an important factor limiting phytoplankton growth and thus reducing dietary resources and biological detritus (via sedimentation) in the initial development of an end pit lake. The WSFs also promoted the unfavourable growth of filamentous algae, highest at intermediate concentrations of peat and CT WSFs and inhibited in MFT WSFs due to light limitation. Stable N isotopes of plankton and filamentous algae suggests that 15N enrichment of algae could be a useful indicator of nutrient inputs, including OSPM seepage into natural aquatic systems, for oil sands regional monitoring programs.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Arizona, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (pp. 197-199).

Thesis (M.S. - Soil, Water and Environmental Science)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-65).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on January 11, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2007. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Science and Engineering. Bibliography: leaves 189-196.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--College of William and Mary. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2005. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Science and Engineering. Bibliography: leaves 231-246.