Surface coal mining in Appalachia has contributed to a suite of ecological impacts, both terrestrial and aquatic. Conventional reclamation in Appalachia leads to the development of hay/pasture systems dominated by nonnative grasses and legumes, with soils that are chemically and physically unfavorable to native tree growth. Several studies have shown that more weathered minespoils provide a better growth medium than unweathered spoils in Appalachia. Spoil segregation plots were constructed on Bent Mountain in Pike County, KY, to compare the suitability of three mine spoil types (BROWN weathered sandstone, GRAY unweathered sandstone, and MIXED sandstones and shales). In 2013 (after nine growing seasons) volume of planted trees was 50x higher on BROWN than on GRAY. In addition, natural colonization of unplanted groundcover and tree species was much more extensive on BROWN than GRAY or MIXED. Most water chemical parameters were similar across spoil types; however, water chemistry on all plots appears to have stabilized after nine growing seasons. Finally, rapidly developing forest on BROWN appears to be influencing water budgeting on the site, leading to lower discharge during summer months. These results indicate that BROWN weathered spoils provide a better growth medium than GRAY unweathered spoils for native trees.

Ecological restoration projects provide the opportunity for individuals to reconnect with the natural environment. However, the actions and approaches of some ecological restorationists should be brought into question. The concern is that while restoration projects often feature a great deal of public input, hard engineering and site manipulation, they are still based on human-centered priorities. Several scholars in the emerging field of Buddhism and Ecology have applied Buddhist teachings to studies in ecology to advocate a selfless, interconnected approach between humans and ecosystems. However, there has been no work devoted to interconnectedness between Buddhism and the practice and promise of ecological restoration. In this thesis we follow the path of the Buddha, Bhikkhu Buddhadasa and the practitioners and philosophers of ecological restoration to discover if Buddhadasas’ teachings and interpretations of paţicca-samuppāda (dependent origination) and anattā (no-self) will be able to help restorationists approach ecological restoration in a more interconnected and selfless way.

My main objective is to reveal and illustrate the patterns and processes underlying the practice of ecological restoration in post-colonial landscapes. To focus my analysis, I asked what these patterns are, and how they inhibit or enable the Iwor (Ainu Traditional Living Space) Restoration Project (IRP). The IRP is a state-funded project aimed at improving the well-being of Ainu in Hokkaido, Japan. I used interviews, participant observation and text analyses to elucidate the dynamics at work in and around the project. My findings suggest that colonial and technological practices inhibit good ecological restoration practices in IRP by disengaging people, or more subtly preventing them from engaging with it. Colonially, structural and discursive marginalization maintains economic deprivation through denying progressive conversations about community empowerment. This process also reinforces subjective power relationships of Wajin, the ethnic majority, dominance. Technologically, I observed signs of Borgmann’s (1984) “device paradigm” that are both institutionally (e.g. government agencies) and materially (e.g. infrastructure and tools) driving the IRP toward technological restoration and away from focal restoration. This was particularly apparent in such instances where means and ends were inverted, or the government agencies were inaccessible to the Ainu participants. These patterns in turn make IRP less appealing for Ainu and other local peoples. However, I also found that the room for creativity and attention to human-nature relationships in ecological restoration allow creation of the new space where Ainu can assert their values more strongly. This is the Kotan Iwor where the space embodies both Iwor and iwor, two representations of Wajin and Ainu views of the “Traditional Living Space” respectively. My findings on Kotan Iwor (the traditional settlement restoration site) suggest that there is a significant potential in the ecological restoration practices because of the practice’s inherent capacity to bring people and the landscape together in a creative context. With careful attention to colonial, technological, and other dynamics, good ecological restoration practices have the potential to restore and improve the well-being of indigenous and non-indigenous community members alike. / Graduate

Understanding historic fire regimes to develop benchmarks for emulating historic natural disturbance processes in the interest of conserving biodiversity has been actively pursued for approximately 30 years. Mixed-severity fire regimes are increasingly becoming a recognized component of historic fire regimes. Mixed-severity fire regimes are inherently difficult to classify and characterize given the complexity of the process and the multiple scales at which this complexity is expressed. I utilized a systematic study design to gather fire scar and stand dynamic information in order to describe and classify the historic fire regime. I established the presence of mixed disturbance regime dominated by a mixed-severity fire regime. The historic fire regime was mixed-severity over time dominated by individual high severity fire events occurring at a frequency of 60-130 years with some areas that experienced lower severity fire events occurring at a frequency of 20 - 40 years. Twenty-one per cent of the current landscape was dominated by high-severity fire, 42% by mixed-severity and 37% had an unknown fire history. I developed a fire regime classification scheme that provides a useful tool for considering fire severity in mixed-severity system with forest species that generate strong establishment cohorts. I was able to combine time-since-fire methods with a systematic study design and this combination provided an excellent tool to explore mixed-severity fire characteristics in a complicated mixed-disturbance forest. I found limited relationships between topographic controls and fire severity. I found a number of significant relationships that fit the broadly held perceptions of how fire severity would affect species relative densities and stand structure attributes. The existing stand origin map and the Vegetation Resource Inventory stand age were largely accurate for high-severity 20th century fires but had decreasing accuracy in older forests and for mixed and unknown fire severity. The accuracy of the Vegetation Resource Inventory leading species accuracy was quantified at only 60%. My results have implications for fire and forest management in south-eastern British Columbia and in other forest systems that had historic mixed-severity fire regimes with tree species that have strong establishment cohorts. / Graduate / 0478 / 0329 / rick.kubian@pc.gc.ca

Forests are the dominant terrestrial ecosystem in Ontario and were once widespread throughout much of eastern North America; in southern Ontario, forest cover has declined from 90% to approximately 17% in the past 200 years. Conversion of the surrounding landscape to urban and agricultural land uses creates edge effects which increase the impact of forest cover loss and threaten ecological integrity. Other impacts on forest ecological integrity include incompatible human activities, a generally inhospitable landscape matrix, and microenvironment changes, including those from chemical pollution and heat island effects. Coupled with direct degradation from human activities like free-riding, the altered forest microenvironment can facilitate increased invasion by opportunistic and competitive plant species, e.g. Alliaria petiolata (Brassicaceae). This tends to be worse in urban areas because of greater visitation that creates soil compaction, trampling, and more vectors to introduce the seeds of invasive species. Active management is often necessary in areas which have been degraded. Ecological restoration represents an important active management tool for urban forest protected area managers. The ecological restoration of the forest understory in altered and threatened habitats represents an important aspect of forest restoration. For this study, I tested the effectiveness of an ecological restoration using a multi-species assemblage approach with three native understory species to restore the herbaceous layer in Natchez Hills, an Environmentally Sensitive Policy Area in Kitchener, Ontario. The ecological restoration site was degraded and this reduced native plant species in the forest understory. The species selected, Caulophyllum giganteum (Farwell) Loconte & W.H. Blackwell (Berberidaceae), Podophyllum peltatum Linnaeus (Berberidaceae) and Maianthemum racemosum subsp. racemosum (Linneaus) Link (Asparagaceae), are widespread throughout eastern North America, and were selected for use in this study because of their persistence and relative abundance in Natchez Hills ESPA. Adult transplants were planted into 2 metre by 2 metre quadrats in different densities and shoot populations were monitored for two field seasons to determine if density played a role in early ecological restoration success. The methodology I designed for the ecological restoration was as practical as possible, given the real world financial and logistical constraints faced by many urban forest managers. Statistical analysis using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance showed aerial shoot density did not have a significant effect on early restoration success rates (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant increase in restored species. Caulophyllum giganteum and Podophyllum peltatum shoot populations increased by over 97% at the ecological restoration site one year after transplanting. Maianthemum racemosum subsp. racemosum shoot populations increased by 51% at the site. For comparison, another study in the same forest reported early ecological restoration rates of 92% to 100% for herbaceous understory species, including C. giganteum and P. peltatum. Other North American studies using transplanted perennial herbaceous material reported average survival rates of 16.6% two years after planting (varying from 1.25% to 51.4% using eight herbaceous species in the Boston area), to 91% one year after restoration (varying from 42.1% to 100% using 19 herbaceous species of the deciduous forest in the Midwest). In instances where protected areas are degraded, active management and ecological restoration are often necessary tools. This ecological restoration demonstrated that the native herbaceous species used in this study are suitable for use in early ecological restorations in maple beech upland forests in the City of Kitchener. Using a practical and cost-effective methodology this ecological restoration experiment showed that it is possible to implement urban restoration of the forest understory in degraded areas, and to achieve success in early ecological restoration using native herbaceous forest understory species.

Ecological restoration projects provide the opportunity for individuals to reconnect with the natural environment. However, the actions and approaches of some ecological restorationists should be brought into question. The concern is that while restoration projects often feature a great deal of public input, hard engineering and site manipulation, they are still based on human-centered priorities. Several scholars in the emerging field of Buddhism and Ecology have applied Buddhist teachings to studies in ecology to advocate a selfless, interconnected approach between humans and ecosystems. However, there has been no work devoted to interconnectedness between Buddhism and the practice and promise of ecological restoration. In this thesis we follow the path of the Buddha, Bhikkhu Buddhadasa and the practitioners and philosophers of ecological restoration to discover if Buddhadasas’ teachings and interpretations of paţicca-samuppāda (dependent origination) and anattā (no-self) will be able to help restorationists approach ecological restoration in a more interconnected and selfless way.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:35:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-05-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:46:47Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_re_dr_botfca.pdf: 1831819 bytes, checksum: a75182471af185c74b3c1efcc3b6973f (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / O presente trabalho teve como objetivos (i) Levantar e analisar as pesquisas desenvolvidas em ecologia da restauração, com foco nos pressupostos para o desenvolvimento da restauração ecológica; (ii) Analisar o estado da arte da restauração florestal no Brasil, tendo como foco principal as publicações e ações de restauração de ecossistemas florestais no Bioma Mata Atlântica. Para isso, foi realizada (i) uma investigação teórico-conceitual, análise documental e cronológica com foco na restauração ecológica e na restauração florestal no Brasil, (ii) uma análise comparativa entre o arcabouço bibliográfico existente para a Ecologia da Restauração, em diferentes regiões no mundo e as publicações e ações realizadas no Brasil; (iii) uma análise da evolução histórica da pesquisa em restauração florestal no Brasil, com foco no Bioma Mata Atlântica; (iv) o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia para análise situacional de estudos de caso (projetos e ações em restauração florestal); (v) o levantamento de indicadores de monitoramento e avaliação, para discussão sobre os atributos de ecossistemas restaurados e de características de uma boa restauração ecológica. No Capítulo I foram analisados 617 artigos e 76 textos editoriais, publicados em 14 periódicos de 1980 a 2008. Desses artigos, 26 referiram-se a pesquisas em ecossistemas florestais tropicais. Foi observado aumento crescente de artigos com o tempo, e a maioria das pesquisas se referiu a ecossistemas temperados. Uma análise dos filtros ecológicos enfocados demonstrou que, para ecossistemas tropicais, as ações de restauração estão relacionadas à regeneração natural, interações ecológicas e à manutenção de um pool de espécies mínimo para as comunidades estudadas. O Capítulo II traz uma caracterização e análise cronológica das ações de restauração na Mata Atlântica... / This study aimed to (i) Analyze the research conducted in Restoration Ecology, focusing on the assumptions for the development of ecological restoration, (ii) analyze the state of art of forest restoration in Brazil, focusing mainly on publications and actions to restore forest ecosystems in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. For this, we performed (i) a theoretical-conceptual research, documental and chronological analysis focusing on ecological restoration and forest restoration in Brazil, (ii) a comparative analysis between the existing framework for the literature of Restoration Ecology, in different regions in the world and the publications and actions taken in Brazil; (iii) an analysis of the historical evolution of research on forest restoration in Brazil, focusing on the Atlantic Forest Biome; (iv) the development of a methodology for situational analysis of study cases (projects and activities in forest restoration), (v) the provision of monitoring and evaluation indicators for discussion about the attributes of restored ecosystems and characteristics of a good ecological restoration. In Chapter I we analyzed 617 articles and 76 editorial texts, published in 14 journals from 1980 to 2008. Of these articles, 26 referred to research in tropical forest ecosystems. We observed an increasing number of articles in time, and most researches have referred to temperate ecosystems. An analysis of ecological filters focused shown that for tropical ecosystems, the restoration actions are related to natural regeneration, ecological interactions... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Orientador: Vera Lex Engel / Banca: Fátima Conceição M. Pina-Rodrigues / Banca: Giselda Durigan / Resumo: A avaliação do sucesso da restauração depende do monitoramento de indicadores de trajetórias sucessionais em áreas restauradas, em relação a ecossistemas de referência. A fenologia também pode ser utilizada como um critério de monitoramento nestas áreas, por estar associada aos processos de reprodução, recrutamento e herbivoria nessas comunidades. Estudos fenológicos de espécies plantadas são essenciais para que se conheça seu comportamento em um ambiente diferente do natural. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar se comunidades em processo de reestruturação apresentam funcionamento semelhante a um ecossistema de referência, em relação a alguns aspectos fenológicos. O estudo foi realizado no município de Botucatu, SP, onde foi instalado há 11 anos um experimento de diferentes modelos de restauração com 5 tratamentos e três repetições. O fragmento de referência tem cerca de 303 ha, e situa-se a 100 m do experimento de restauração. Foram observadas quinzenalmente e quantificadas as fenofases: floração, frutificação, brotamento e mudança foliar. Foram selecionados 333 indivíduos no fragmento florestal de 48 espécies. Na área restaurada foram selecionados indivíduos de todas as espécies encontradas em idade reprodutiva e algumas que ainda não a atingiram, somando 363 indivíduos de 46 espécies. Foram computadas as intensidades médias das fenofases por quinzena entre todas as espécies estudadas. Para indicar a porcentagem de indivíduos que estavam manifestando determinada fenofase foi calculado o índice de atividade. Foi calculado também o índice de sazonalidade para cada fenofase em cada tratamento. A atividade da fenofase floração e frutificação foram maiores nos indivíduos da área em restauração o que pode estar relacionada à menor competitividade e maior disponibilidade de radiação solar... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The evaluation of the success of restoration depends on the monitoring indicators of successional trajectories in restored areas, in relation to reference ecosystems. Phenology can also be used as a criterion for monitoring these areas because it is associated to the processes of reproduction, recruitment and herbivory in these communities. Phenological studies of planted species are essential to know whether their behavior in an environment different from natural. The objective was to examine whether communities in the restructuring process have run similar to an ecosystem of reference in relation to some aspects of phenology. The study was conducted in Botucatu, Brazil, where it was installed 11 years ago an experiment with different models catering with 5 treatments and three replications. The fragment in question has about 303 ha and is located 100 m from the restoration experiment. Were observed and quantified fortnightly phenophases flowering, fruiting, budding and leaf changes. We selected 333 individuals in 48 species of forest fragment. In the restored area were selected individuals of all species found in reproductive age and some who have not yet reached, totaling 363 individuals from 46 species. We computed the mean intensities of both clones by half of all species. To indicate the percentage of individuals who were expressing particular phenology index was calculated activity. The index was also calculated for each seasonal phenology in each treatment. The activity of flowering and fruiting phenology were higher in subjects from the area in which restoration may be related to lower competitiveness and greater availability of solar radiation. The melittophily and zoochory syndromes were more frequent, being found in 4 of 5 treatments in restoration of the area and this is the pattern found in the forest fragment. All treatments were most brevideciduous species... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Orientador: Vera Lex Engel / Banca: Giselda Durigan / Banca: Luiz Mauro Barbosa / Banca: Luiz Fernando Duarte de Moraes / Banca: Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues / Resumo: O presente trabalho teve como objetivos (i) Levantar e analisar as pesquisas desenvolvidas em ecologia da restauração, com foco nos pressupostos para o desenvolvimento da restauração ecológica; (ii) Analisar o estado da arte da restauração florestal no Brasil, tendo como foco principal as publicações e ações de restauração de ecossistemas florestais no Bioma Mata Atlântica. Para isso, foi realizada (i) uma investigação teórico-conceitual, análise documental e cronológica com foco na restauração ecológica e na restauração florestal no Brasil, (ii) uma análise comparativa entre o arcabouço bibliográfico existente para a Ecologia da Restauração, em diferentes regiões no mundo e as publicações e ações realizadas no Brasil; (iii) uma análise da evolução histórica da pesquisa em restauração florestal no Brasil, com foco no Bioma Mata Atlântica; (iv) o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia para análise situacional de estudos de caso (projetos e ações em restauração florestal); (v) o levantamento de indicadores de monitoramento e avaliação, para discussão sobre os atributos de ecossistemas restaurados e de características de uma boa restauração ecológica. No Capítulo I foram analisados 617 artigos e 76 textos editoriais, publicados em 14 periódicos de 1980 a 2008. Desses artigos, 26 referiram-se a pesquisas em ecossistemas florestais tropicais. Foi observado aumento crescente de artigos com o tempo, e a maioria das pesquisas se referiu a ecossistemas temperados. Uma análise dos filtros ecológicos enfocados demonstrou que, para ecossistemas tropicais, as ações de restauração estão relacionadas à regeneração natural, interações ecológicas e à manutenção de um pool de espécies mínimo para as comunidades estudadas. O Capítulo II traz uma caracterização e análise cronológica das ações de restauração na Mata Atlântica... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This study aimed to (i) Analyze the research conducted in Restoration Ecology, focusing on the assumptions for the development of ecological restoration, (ii) analyze the state of art of forest restoration in Brazil, focusing mainly on publications and actions to restore forest ecosystems in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. For this, we performed (i) a theoretical-conceptual research, documental and chronological analysis focusing on ecological restoration and forest restoration in Brazil, (ii) a comparative analysis between the existing framework for the literature of Restoration Ecology, in different regions in the world and the publications and actions taken in Brazil; (iii) an analysis of the historical evolution of research on forest restoration in Brazil, focusing on the Atlantic Forest Biome; (iv) the development of a methodology for situational analysis of study cases (projects and activities in forest restoration), (v) the provision of monitoring and evaluation indicators for discussion about the attributes of restored ecosystems and characteristics of a good ecological restoration. In Chapter I we analyzed 617 articles and 76 editorial texts, published in 14 journals from 1980 to 2008. Of these articles, 26 referred to research in tropical forest ecosystems. We observed an increasing number of articles in time, and most researches have referred to temperate ecosystems. An analysis of ecological filters focused shown that for tropical ecosystems, the restoration actions are related to natural regeneration, ecological interactions... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Orientador: Omar Cavassan / Banca: Marco Antonio Batalha / Banca: Veridiana de Lara Weiser / Banca: Giselda Durigan / Banca: Ingrid Koch / Resumo:Os conceitos de ambiente degradado e ambiente perturbado foram inicialmente propostos com base na observação de tais processos em fragmentos de matas. Ambientes perturbados quando sujeitos a agentes, conseguem se restabelecer após a retirada do causador da perturbação. Porém, quando a ação ocorre de forma mais intensa, de modo a eliminar todo o potencial de retorno às condições semelhantes às anteriores, a vegetação é considerada degradada. Questiona-se se as mesmas ações que tornariam uma floresta degradada teriam a mesma consequência em fragmentos de cerrado. O presente estudo tem como finalidade analisar a composição da comunidade regenerativa, ao longo de um ano, em um fragmento de cerrado localizado no Jardim Botânico Municipal de Bauru-SP (JBMB). Busca-se ainda fornecer subsídios à compreensão dos processos ecológicos envolvidos na regeneração natural de áreas de cerrado degradadas e no combate químico como alternativa viável ou não para o controle de plantas invasoras. Além de contribuir para o conhecimento da flora do cerrado da região de Bauru. Para isso, algumas questões foram levantadas. Como ocorre a regeneração natural da vegetação lenhosa de um cerrado degradado? O combate químico às invasoras provocaria mudanças no desenvolvimento de plantas de cerrado? A intervenção no controle de plantas invasoras é desejável? A área de estudo foi desmatada por ação de posseiros, que se instalaram no local em 1997. Em 2007 houve a averbação da área ao Jardim Botânico Municipal de Bauru. Durante este período a área de vegetação nativa foi retirada para a formação de pastagens. Por dois anos o local ficou abandonado, sendo possível observar a regeneração natural da vegetação. Para avaliar o potencial de regeneração natural do cerrado, foi efetuado um levantamento florístico e fitossociológico comparativo... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The concepts degraded environment and disturbed environment were initially proposed based on the observation of such processes in forest fragments. Disturbed environments, when subjected to agents, can reestablish after the removal of the disturbing factor. However, when the action is more intense and there is no potential to return to conditions similar to the previous ones, the vegetation is considered degraded. The question is: Would the actions that make a forest degraded have the same consequence in cerrado fragments? The present study aims to analyze the composition of the regenerative community over one year in a cerrado fragment located in the Municipal Botanical Garden of Bauru City, São Paulo State, Brazil (JBMB); to provide data to understand the ecological processes involved in the natural regeneration of degraded cerrado areas and the chemical combat as a viable alternative or not to control alien plants; and to contribute to the knowledge of the cerrado flora in Bauru region. Thus, some questions were raised. How does natural regeneration of the woody vegetation of a degraded cerrado occur? Would the chemical combat against invasive alien plants change the development of cerrado plants? Is intervention in the control of those plants favorable? The study area was deforested by the action of settlers, who established there in 1997. In 2007 the area was endorsed to the Municipal Botanical Garden of Bauru City (JBMB). During this period, the native vegetation was substituted for pasture. By two years ago the place has been abandoned and the natural vegetation started to regenerate. To evaluate the natural regeneration potential of cerrado, a comparative floristic and phytosociological survey was carried out in three areas inside JBMB. The first area is inserted in a "cerradão" fragment, free of... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre