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<p> Very little information is available on the Hawaiian Oyster <i> Dendostrea sandvicensis</i> in regards to its biology and physiology. Efforts were made to better understand the active reproductive season of this oyster by studying the population located in He'eia fish pond in Kaneohe Bay, O`ahu. This study focused on the condition index (CI) and gonadal developmental stage trends, measured from monthly oyster tissue samples from January to December 2009. The relationship between CI and temperature was examined. Results suggest CI is not related to temperature. Further analysis defined a positive correlation for CI and temperature during summer but not in winter. Ranges in CI values were higher in summer than in winter. <i>D. sandvicensis </i> experience a tropical reproductive cycle, as trends related to the gonadal stage indicate. January to March is dominated by maturing gonads. From April to October there is a rise and then steady decline of empty gonads indicating an active reproduction season. From November to December a rise in mature gonads indicate readiness for reproduction and recovery. Empty gonads are present through out the year indicating reproduction happens throughout the year, and peaks in beginning of summer.</p>

<p> Terrestrial litterfall is a well-documented subsidy of nutrients and organic matter to adjacent aquatic ecosystems. Nitrogen-fixing plants increase nutrient dynamics via nitrogen (N) - rich litterfall in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and the effects are often more pronounced when areas lacking native N₂-fixers are invaded. This study examined differences in organic matter and nutrient inputs from the invasive, N₂-fixing tree, <i>Prosopis pallida</i>, and the native, non N₂-fixing tree, <i>Thespesia populnea</i>, to determine effects on anchialine ponds on Hawai`i Island's leeward coast. My objectives were to quantify: 1) tree basal area and density surrounding the ponds, 2) quality and quantity of <i>P. pallida</i> and <i>T. populnea</i> litter inputs, 3) inorganic N content of soil surrounding the ponds, 4) leached nutrients from <i>P. pallida</i> and <i>T. populnea</i> leaf litter. These response variables were then compared to water nutrient concentrations (i.e., phosphate, nitrate, ammonium, dissolved organic carbon (C), and total dissolved N and phosphorus (P)) in the ponds of interest. Basal area, density, litterfall mass, total N and C inputs, and leachate values were similar between pond types categorized as <i>P. pallida</i> &ndash; or <i> T. populnea</i> &ndash; dominated. Foliar N concentrations were 28 percent higher in <i>P. pallida</i> &ndash; dominated ponds compared to <i>T. populnea</i> &ndash; dominated ponds, but foliar P concentrations were three times greater in <i>T. populnea</i> ponds than <i>P. pallida</i> ponds. Total P inputs were greater beneath <i>T. populnea</i> ponds and there was a positive correlation between <i>T. populnea</i> size and abundance and pond water phosphate concentrations. These results suggest that the N if influencing water quality in Hawaiian anchialine ponds more than the invasive N₂-fixing species, although high background water nutrient levels may be inhibiting our ability to detect any significant impacts. The transfer of <i>T. populnea</i>'s P-rich litter to pond water appears to have a strong influence on ecosystem functioning.</p>

The purpose of this practicum is to develop a strategy for resource self-sufficiency and nature conservation in the Khumbu region of Nepal. The strategy seeks to ensure the prudent management and conservation of the Park so that not only the flora and fauna but also the indigenous human population may continue to live in harmony with their environment. This study examines the historical perspectives of land use, current management strategies of the Park, a theoretical supply and demand assessment of land and labour resources, and prospective problems and opportunities. The methods used in the study include a literature review, examination of published and unpublished research articles, international journals, internal reports, personal communications with persons knowledgeable in the study area and the author's own observations and experience. This study indicates that the Sherpa's spiritual commitment under a system of social and community control of resource management for sustainable use has been disrupted by internal and external political, social and economic factors. Traditional practices of land resource management are no longer in operation in the villages most affected by tourism. Despite the changes that tourism has brought about, sherpas maintain a strong identification with their culture and religion. National and international aid agencies are offering strong support and technical solutions for the reduction of the fuelwood crisis and environmental degradation. However, a broader perspective is required to solve fuelwood and food shortages; for example, the existing socio-economic realities should be incorporated into project planning. The main problem in achieving sustainable development in the Khumbu region seems to have stemmed from gaps in government legislation and lack of co-ordination between government, aid agencies, and loca1 people. It is recommended that a workable strategy be developed to confront the prevailing problems by increasing productivity of land and labour resources without destroying any aspect of the environment. Àn informed local body should be set up to co-ordinate development and conservation projects and programmes.

The purpose of this study was to spatially represent shrub fuel matrices accurately and at fine resolution for use in physics-based fire behavior simulations. Terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (T-LiDAR) was used to measure shrub fuel beds in laboratory settings before and after fire burned through them. The primary goals of this research were to produce highly descriptive data-sets that correctly identified the locations of biomass within 3-D space without destructive sampling, and to derive attributes for fuel elements within the shrubs. This research was completed in two phases. First, a series of experiments was conducted to test the capacity of a commercially available LiDAR instrument for making detailed measurements of diffuse shrubs. Second, model shrub fuel beds were produced and evaluated for accuracy. The research tested the T-LiDARs ability to characterize physical traits of shrubs within volumes, identified issues associated with misrepresenting the true geometry of scanned samples, developed sampling protocols for scanning shrubs prior to and following combustion experimentation, and built descriptive models of actual shrubs. The findings of this study show that T-LiDAR can be used effectively to estimate volume, structure, and biomass for individual shrubs. T-LiDAR derived models were shown to accurately predict mass of scanned shrubs (Adj. R2: 0.598, P-Value: 0.0012). The models produced show vast improvements from past estimations of physiological characteristics in fuels and fire behavior.

<p>Cape Town is a unique city. It has a global biodiversity hotspot, in the midst of an urban area. Historically, nature conservation practice excluded and marginalized certain groups of people based on their race and class. This has led to peoples&lsquo / disconnection from nature. Rapid biodiversity loss is a major concern for conservators. In the last three decades, there has been a paradigm shift in conservation practice in certain parts of the world. The Cape Flats Nature programme based in Cape Town followed suit and aimed to stimulate a bottom-up participatory approach to conservation and replace the traditional top-down management strategy. The programme was tasked to reconcile the challenges of complex and conflicting relationships between urban poverty, unequal access to resources and biodiversity conservation. This study was aimed at investigating the relationships between conservation management, community partners and urban conservation areas. These relationships are vital for the progression of new conservation practice in places where people live and work. In addition, the transformative aspects of conservation in relation to social inclusion and the shift in conservation approaches was investigated. The study was conducted at five of Cape Town&lsquo / s nature reserves, Edith Stephens Wetland Park, Macassar Dunes, Harmony Flats, Wolfgat and Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserves. Data collection included in depth interviews with key informants from various conservation organizations, the Cape Flats Nature Programme team, the managers of the selected reserves and community partners. Others included observational methods and analysis of secondary data. It was found that relationships between conservators and local communities are not easily created and maintained but relationships regardless of its depth are equally beneficial to communities and the conservators. Balancing social needs with conservation needs is a struggle for conservators but many successes came in cases where this balance was realized. In addition, the transformation of conservators&lsquo / identity has changed community perceptions of conservation practice holistically. Although, many informants feel that transformation continues to remain unequal.</p>

The geographic range of the panmictic American eel (Anguilla rostrata) has contracted in recent years because of the pronounced decline in recruitment of glass eels and elvers to the Laurentian Basin. In consequence, the American eel was assessed in 2006 as a species of special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). The evident sensitivity of American eel status to elver recruitment highlights the importance of understanding both the mechanisms contributing to the delivery of glass eels from the Sargasso Sea to continental waters and mortality following their recruitment to coastal and inland waterways. The potential for variability in environmental quality at localized geographic scales to affect American eel productivity and hence the status of the species and the fisheries it supports is not fully understood. The Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia is an ideal location to examine the relationship between water quality and American eel productivity. Within Nova Scotia there is wide natural variation in freshwater pH, which has been further increased in recent years by the effects of acid precipitation. This variation occurs over a small geographic range of several hundred kilometres that overlaps an area of high elver influx. As low environmental pH is known to adversely affect aquatic ecosystems, it has been identified as a possible threat to elver survival. In this study, the effect of low pH on elver survival was examined in both laboratory and field based trials using wild glass eel/elvers that were captured upon entry to fresh water. Trials examined the mortality rate of elvers at pH levels within the range of 4.0 - 7.0 over a 10 day period. The relationship between elver development and mortality at low pH was also examined through pigmentation analysis. Laboratory and field based studies resulted in zero mortality among elvers in natural and artificial acidic environments with pH levels as low as 4.0., thus indicating that the American eel is fully acid tolerant upon initial migration into fresh water. Sub-lethal effects of acidification were explored by examining the hematological parameters of river resident yellow-phase American eels exposed to varying levels of acidity in the laboratory. The level of acidification proved not to be a factor in determining both hematocrit and blood plasma osmolarity levels, as there were no significant differences in these variables between eels exposed to acidic conditions and those exposed to control neutral pH conditions. These results suggest that through the use of a highly effective mechanism for regulating blood ion concentration, the eel is able to tolerate low pH conditions.

This thesis updates estimates of agricultural water use in Ontario by applying agricultural water use coefficients to Statistics Canada 2001, 2006 and 2011 Agricultural Census Data and evaluates prior methods that have been developed to compile water estimates. This thesis also evaluates the use of crop water budgets as measures of water use by agriculture in Ontario. Furthermore this thesis examines the roles and responsibilities of the Government of Ontario in encouraging improved efficiency in water use in Ontario agriculture by examining changing perceptions of water use in Canada and Ontario, developing consistent definitions of agriculture water use, water conservation and water use efficiency, and using the existing categories of market and non-market failures as diagnostic keys to identifying problems in agricultural water use in the Ontario context.

Many modern artists paint in oil or oil-modified alkyd paints over acrylic grounds. In some cases the oil based paints do not remain adhered to the ground. In a set of composite samples of oil or alkyd paints, over acrylic grounds, naturally aged for nine years, some of the samples delaminated. Samples were analyzed with X-ray fluorescence (XRF), inductively coupled plasma (ICP), Fourier transform infrared - attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pyrolysis gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (PY-GC/MS), laser desorption/ionization mass-spectrometry (LDI-MS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and other methods, in order to find what the delaminating ones have in common. In addition, two examples of severely delaminating paintings were examined, to confirm the results from the laboratory-prepared samples. Results indicate the main cause of delamination is metal soaps in the oil paint and particularly zinc soaps. There is some evidence that metal soaps were more concentrated at the interface between the layers and this disrupted the adhesion. The ground is a minor consideration as well, rougher grounds providing better adhesion than smooth ones. / Thesis (Master, Art Conservation) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-26 16:44:35.814