Elite athletes of today use specialized, scientific training methods and the increasing role of science in sports is undeniable. Scientific methods and equipment has even found its way into the practice of everyday exercisers, a testament to the impact of sport science. From the experiential, personal training regimes of the first half of the 20th century to the scientific training theories of the 1970s, the ideas about training and the athletic body shifted. The rationalization process started in endurance sports in the 1940s. It was part of a struggle between two models of training; natural training and rational training. Physiologists wanted to rid training of individual and local variations and create a universal model of rational, scientific training. The rationalization of training and training landscapes is here understood as an aspect of sportification, a theory commonly used to describe similar developments in sports where increasing regimentation, specialization and rationalization are among the main criteria. This dissertation adds the concept of technologies of sportification to explain the role that micro-technologies and practices (such as training logs, training camps and scientific tests) have in the scientization of training. This thesis thus sets out to analyze the role that science has played in training during the 20th century. It is a history about the rationalization of training, but also about larger issues regarding the role of personal, experiential knowledge and scientific knowledge. The main conclusions are that the process of scientization never managed to rid training of components from natural, experiential training, and that the effort by Swedish physiologists to introduce rational training was part of the larger rationalization movement at the time. In the end, training knowledge was a co-production between practitioners and theoreticians, skiers and scientists. / <p>QC 20161114</p> / Rationell träning: vetenskapliggörandet äv träning för längdskidåkning

This thesis The Comparison of the Traditional Material Transport in the Mountain Economy of the Krkonoše and Šumava Mountains introduces the traditional forms of material and goods transport in the Krkonoše Mountains (the Giant Mountains) and the Šumava Mountains (the Bohemian Forest). The way of life in the highland area of Giant Mountains was significantly affected by the Alpine colonization in the second half of the 16th century. The Alpine colonists brought knowledge of logging, mountain economy and transport equipment into the mountains. Inhabitants of the Giant Mountains used water power, skids, later sledge called "rohacky" for bundles of wood. They also used backpacks, textile "loktuse", baskets, wheeled means of transportation and animal skid for the transport of other goods and materials. The comparison shows that the Bohemian Forest unlike the Giant Mountains was populated by gradual colonization of woodmen from the surrounding regions. Various forms of traditional vehicles were applied in this area. Unlike the Giant Mountains there was increasingly developed timber transport on the canals and rivers. The thesis maps the traditional modes of material transport in both regions, highlightes their differences and records their transformation in the present. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / Kevin Blake / With their windswept ridges and wind-rent skies, prairies and plains have often been denigrated as nothing but nothing—empty, meaningless, valueless space. Mountains and forests, oceans and deserts have been praised and protected while vast expanses of undulating grasslands have been plowed under, grazed over, used, abused, maligned. Once the largest ecosystem on the North American continent, wild prairies now persist mainly in overlooked or unwanted fragments. In part, it’s a matter of psychology; some people see plains as visually unpleasing (too big, too boring) or physically alienating (too dry, too exposed). It’s also part economics; prairies seem more productive, more valuable as anything but tangles of grass and sage. But at heart, it’s a matter of sociocultural and individual biases; people seeking bucolic or sublime landscapes find “empty,” treeless skyscapes flat and dull, forgettable. Scientific, social, and especially aesthetic appreciation for plains requires a different perspective—a pause in place—an exploration of the horizon as well as an examination of the minutiae, few people have strived to understand and appreciate undifferentiated, untrammeled space. This research seeks to change that by example, using conscientious, systematic reflection on first-hand experience to explore questions fundamental to phenomenology and geography—how do people experience the world? How do we shape places and how do places shape us?—in the context of plains landscapes. Written and illustrated from the perspective of a newcomer, a scholar, a National Park Service ranger, a walker, a watcher, a person wholly and unabashedly in love with wild places, the creative non-fiction narratives, photoessays, and hand-drawn maps address themes of landscape aesthetics, sense of place, and place-identity by tracing the natural, cultural, and managerial histories of and personal relationships with Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, Kansas’s Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research Station, and Wyoming’s Fossil Butte National Monument. Prosaic and photographic meditations on wildness and wilderness, travel and tourism, preservation and conservation, days and seasons, expectations and acceptance, even dreams and reality intertwine to evoke and illuminate the inspiring aesthetic of spacious places—Zen of the plains.

Submitted by Jadson Francisco de Jesus SILVA (jadson@uefs.br) on 2018-03-02T21:49:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Elmo Jos? Carneiro Carvalho - Disserta??o.pdf: 11843086 bytes, checksum: c09d8b9867b5deb817f3f17ab0119c80 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-02T21:49:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elmo Jos? Carneiro Carvalho - Disserta??o.pdf: 11843086 bytes, checksum: c09d8b9867b5deb817f3f17ab0119c80 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-30 / This paper aims to analyze the urban sprawl of Serrinha and its impact on local water resources. From information acquired based on local history and analysis of time series of remote sensing images that allow modeling the evolution of the town. The urbanization process occurs in time and space, and Serrinha the period 1950-1960 follows the significant urban growth that has occurred in the cities of underdeveloped countries, as has already been punctuated by several authors, corroborating a series of environmental problems, including pollution of water resources, a product of significant population growth as a consequence, makes the release of liquid effluents on natural surfaces. Understanding how this process occurs in urban occupation is necessary support to be given guidelines that will assist the government to enable a more efficient planning and may well influence the spatial organization strategies to help alleviate the effects of sprawl. / Este trabalho tem como prop?sito analisar a expans?o urbana de Serrinha e suas repercuss?es sobre os seus recursos h?dricos a partir de informa??es adquiridas com base na hist?ria local e na an?lise de s?ries temporais de imagens de sensores remotos, que permitiram modelar a evolu??o urbana da cidade. O processo de urbaniza??o ocorre no tempo e no espa?o, e Serrinha, no per?odo de 1950-1960, acompanhou o expressivo crescimento urbano ocorrido nas cidades dos pa?ses subdesenvolvidos, conforme j? pontuado por diversos autores, corroborando para uma s?rie de problemas ambientais, dentre eles a polui??o dos recursos h?dricos e a extin??o de alguns de seus corpos, produto de um expressivo crescimento populacional que, como consequ?ncia, realiza o lan?amento de efluentes nas superf?cies l?quidas naturais. Compreender como ocorre o processo de ocupa??o urbana ? suporte necess?rio para que sejam indicadas diretrizes que auxiliem o poder p?blico a viabilizar um planejamento mais eficiente, que poder? tanto influenciar nas estrat?gias de organiza??o espacial como contribuir para atenuar os efeitos do crescimento sem planejamento.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T19:27:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 20 / Nenhuma / A dissertação História e Memória do Ambientalismo no Vale do Rio dos Sinos propõem uma análise histórica de iniciativas de proteção ao meio ambiente que ocorreram na região da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio dos Sinos (Rio Grande do Sul). Essa análise parte dos primórdios do movimento ambientalista brasileiro, retomando o trabalho iniciado por Henrique Luiz Roessler com a fundação da União Protetora da Natureza (1955), e estende-se até o começo dos anos 90, destacando lutas ambientalistas relevantes no Vale do Rio dos Sinos e contemplando aspectos do desenvolvimento do ambientalismo que excedem o espaço geográfico abordado pela pesquisa. A proposta que orientou a construção da pesquisa insere-se na linha da História Ambiental, e mais especificamente, na linha dos estudos históricos voltados para a compreensão dos problemas ambientais contemporâneos. Dentro dessa perspectiva, a pesquisa valorizou práticas culturais que possibilitaram a exposição e discussão pública das demandas ambientalistas no Vale dos Sinos e c / The dissertation História e Memória do Ambientalismo no Vale do Rio dos Sinos (History and Memory of Environmentalism at Rio dos Sinos Vale) pro poses an historical analysis of protection initiative to the environment that happened at Rio dos Sinos Drainage-Basin region (Rio Grande do Sul). This analysis starts from the beginning of Brazilian environmentalist movement, retaking the work started by Henrique Luiz Roessler with the foundation of União Protetora da Natureza (Nature Protector Union) (1955), and extends until early in the 90ths and stands out relevant environmentalist struggles in Vale do Rio dos Sinos and observing aspects of environmentalism that the geographic space approached by the research. The proposal that lead the research construction inserts itself in the line of Environmental History, and more specifically, in the line of historical studies faced to the understanding of contemporary environmental problems. Inside this perspective, the research has prized cultural practices that make po

Esta tese visa a construção de uma biografia histórica do engenheiro agrônomo e ambientalista José Lutzenberger (1926-2002). O objetivo é compreender de que maneira a trajetória de Lutzenberger se articula com a construção de uma ética ecológica, em meio às lutas que ele protagonizou ao longo de trinta e um anos de militância ambiental. O fio condutor da narrativa é a ética ecológica, pois foi o elemento central em seu trabalho, que orientava sua própria visão de como o mundo deveria ser se a humanidade adotasse uma postura que priorizasse a ecologia. Utilizou-se, entre outros acervos, principalmente documentação do Arquivo Privado de José Lutzenberger (APJL): correspondência, recortes de jornais e revistas, iconografia, obras de Lutzenberger e de terceiros, documentos pessoais e oficiais, textos de depoimentos, conferências e de entrevistas, charges, textos técnicos. Também fizemos uso de fontes orais. A tese está estruturada em oito capítulos, de acordo com as lutas e posições ocupadas por Lutzenberger, ao longo de sua trajetória, enfocando as principais campanhas ambientalistas em que se envolveu, o cargo de Secretário de Meio Ambiente no governo Collor, sua atuação como empresário de “tecnologias suaves”, seu trabalho com educação ambiental e agricultura ecológica. O trabalho também analisa as redes de relações tecidas pelo personagem e a abordagem teórica em que se embasou para criar sua ética ecológica, de caráter ecocêntrico. Foi possível avançar no entendimento do arcabouço intelectual de Lutzenberger, bem como na dinâmica de sua militância, oferecendo uma sistematização dos princípios do que chamamos a Ética Lutzenbergeriana, ou Ética do convívio ecossustentável. / This dissertation aims at constructing a historical biography of José Lutzenberger, agronomist and environmental engineer (1926-2002). This biography aids in observing how his trajectory is articulated with the construction of an ecological ethics amidst his protagonism in 31 years of environmental militancy. Ecological ethics conduces this narrative as this was the central element in his work, guiding his own view of how the world should be if Humanity adopted a posture that prioritized Ecology. The main documental source was his private archive (Arquivo Privado de José Lutzenberger - APJL). Other sources used were correspondence, news clippings, iconography, works by Lutzenberger and others, personal and official documents, textual testimonials, conferences and interviews, editorial cartoons, and technical texts. Oral sources have also been used. The 8-chapter structure of this dissertation delineates the positions occupied by Lutzenberger and his trajectory of fight, with focus on the main environmentalist campaigns with which he was involved, as well as his position as Secretary of the Environment during the Collor administration, his business in "soft technology", his work with ecological agriculture and environmental education. This study also presents analysis of the networks created around him, as well as the theoretical bases he used to create the ecological ethics with its eco-centric character. Advances in the understanding of Lutzenberger's intellectual outlines and of the dynamics of his militancy in this work offer a systematization of principles named the Lutzenbergerian Ethics, or the Ethics of Eco-sustainable Life.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:43:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alfredo Henrique Macelloni.pdf: 1822872 bytes, checksum: 2e9220d0f6e3197a8dea7c7117359d84 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-11 / Promoting the sensitization and the construction of the environmental consciousness in the History classes was the goal of this study; it was trying to go deeper into the knowledge that already exists in the relations among History, Landscape, Landscape Painting and Environment. This paper approached the knowledge about environmental history [defended by Worster] to the historical scholar knowledge, with the intention of propitiating learning opportunities for a study inserted in the everyday coastal life. This approximation was done through artistic works from the historical, social, cultural and environmental point of view. It tried to verify the understanding about the environment coming from the students of the first year in high-school, with ages between 14 to 15 years old in the city of Bertioga-SP. Passing by a process of intervention in the History classes, where the researcher was also the teacher who is guided by the principles of the art / education proposed by Ana Mae Barbosa, some reproductions of paintings from the artist Benedito Calixto were used. What interested in Benedito Calixto&#8223;s works was the thematic linked to the paintings of landscapes (natural and marine), in special the creations of the beginning of the twentieth century. After the intervention adjusted to the teaching of research-action expressed by Thiollent, the students dedicated themselves to the development of their artistic skills when they created visual poetic forms, based on photographs, for, this way, show in an artistic way the interaction between the man ant the environment. Some of these photographs served as a disclosure to the process of environmental degradation and the decrease in quality of life, other photographs were used as a way to value the natural beauty that are still preserved. With this, it was verified through questionnaires that appeared new comprehension in what was understood about the environment. For the analysis of the investigation in a qualitative order, the method Bardin was used, that, when classified categories using unities of register, it permitted a safer interpretation and made it easier the decisions during the intervention. This way, it was possible to find out that the experiences of art / education developed with the students made it possible the enrichment of the history classes and offered conditions that helped the construction of the environmental consciousness of the students involved. / Promover a sensibilização e a construção da consciência ambiental nas aulas de História foi a finalidade deste estudo, procurando aprofundar o conhecimento do que já existe nas relações entre História, Paisagem, Pintura de Paisagem e Meio Ambiente. Aproximou os conhecimentos da história ambiental [defendidos por Worster] ao saber histórico escolar, com a intenção de propiciar oportunidades de aprendizagem para um estudo inserido no cotidiano da vida litorânea. Essa aproximação se deu por meio de obras artísticas do ponto de vista histórico, social, cultural e ambiental. Procurou verificar o entendimento sobre meio ambiente por parte dos alunos do 1º ano do ensino médio, com idades entre 14 e 15 anos, de uma escola pública estadual da cidade de Bertioga-SP. Passando por um processo de intervenção nas aulas de História, onde o pesquisador é também o professor e norteado pelos princípios da arte/educação propostos por Ana Mae Barbosa, foram utilizadas algumas reproduções de pinturas do artista Benedito Calixto. O que interessou das suas obras foi as temáticas ligadas à pintura de paisagens (natural e marinhas), em especial as criações do começo do século XX. Depois da intervenção, ajustada aos ensinamentos da pesquisa-ação explicitados por Thiollent, os alunos se dedicaram ao desenvolvimento de suas habilidades artísticas ao criarem formas poéticas visuais, a partir de fotografias, para, então, revelar de forma artística as interações do homem com seu meio. Umas serviram como denúncia dos processos de degradação ambiental e diminuição da qualidade de vida, outras como formas de valorizar as belezas naturais que ainda estão conservadas. Com isso, verificou-se, através de questionários, que surgiram novas compreensões do que se entendia por meio ambiente. Para a análise das investigações, de ordem qualitativa, utilizou-se o método de Bardin, que, ao classificar categorias utilizando unidades de registro, permitiu uma interpretação mais segura e facilitou as decisões durante a intervenção. Desse modo, foi possível constatar que as experiências de arte/educação desenvolvidas com os alunos possibilitaram o enriquecimento das aulas de História e ofereceram condições que auxiliaram a construção da consciência ambiental dos educandos envolvidos.

O presente trabalho discute sobre os referenciais conceituais e metodológicos que subsidiam o Trabalho de Campo denominado Expedição pelo riacho do Ipiranga com a intenção de promover reflexões acerca das relações existentes entre história, ciências naturais e ambiente, através do Jardim Botânico de São Paulo e do Museu Paulista circunscritos na microbacia hidrográfica do Ipiranga. Apresentamos primeiramente a origem da proposta didática e os outros contextos em que o trabalho já foi aplicado mostrando que, embora todos possuam o mesmo recorte, por ser um instrumento educativo, a sua construção é permanente, depende do contexto e dos atores que estão envolvidos. Dentre esses distintos momentos, optamos por focar na disciplina História das ciências no Brasil, situada no programa de pós-graduação da Faculdade de Educação (USP) e, por meio de entrevistas, trouxemos o olhar dos alunos sobre a Expedição para compreender de que modo eles apreendem a prática em campo. Consideramos que as apreensões dos alunos se relacionam a construção de uma visão mais crítica acerca das ciências e da historicidade dos espaços percorridos. Esse sentido vai de encontro com uma historiografia além da ciência europeia que, desenvolvida dentro de um processo de ensino que se propõe a construir relações contextualizadas sobre as ciências, nesse caso a disciplina, pode proporcionar olhares holísticos a respeito da História das ciências no Brasil. Através dessa perspectiva, a Expedição e a construção do nosso estudo são subsidiados situando as instituições científicas ao papel que os jardins botânicos e os museus desempenharam na constituição da historia natural. Essa articulação é desenvolvida a partir da História das ciências, história ambiental e educação ambiental crítica. Utilizamos como figura principal da nossa narrativa o botânico Frederico Carlos Hoehne que ligado aos pressupostos políticos, científicos e sociais da época possuía aspirações conservacionistas, estéticas, educacionais e nacionalistas para o JBSP, por exemplo. Em conjunto a isso também discutimos novos significados para as águas paulistanas que, assim como as áreas verdes percorridas na Expedição, foram manuseadas e usadas de acordo com as premissas de um determinado tempo e espaço. Sob esse enfoque percebemos o intenso processo de urbanização de São Paulo ocultando drasticamente seus córregos, riachos e rios, transformações pautadas principalmente no discurso científico que começa a se situar em outro patamar social a partir da Revolução Científica e Tecnológica no século XVIII. Essa articulação teórica (levantamento bibliográfico e documentação histórica) e prática (saídas de campo e entrevistas com os alunos) permitiu entender a complexidade dos ambientes, a importância de estudos históricos para se olhar a natureza e resgatar a historicidade das ciências no país através de espaços importantes para a cidade paulista até os dias de hoje. Assim como as particularidades das vivências de cada aluno, situando a Expedição como uma proposta que valoriza as singularidades de cada experiência, não desejando que os envolvidos entendam o campo de maneira única e formatada. / The present work discusses the conceptual and methodological references that subsidize the fieldwork called The Ipiranga creek expedition with the intention of promoting reflections about the relationships between history, natural science and environment, through the Botanical Garden of São Paulo and the Paulista Museum circumscribed by the Ipiranga River micro watershed. Firstly, we present the origin of the didactic proposal and other contexts in which the work has been carried out showing that, even though all of them present the same views, its construction is permanent due to the fact that it is an educational tool and it depends on its context and the authors involved. Throughout these distinct moments, we have chosen to focus on the history of science in Brazil subject which integrates the College of Education postgraduate program (USP) and, by carrying out interviews, we brought about the students views on the Expedition to understand the ways in which they had learnt their practice in the field. We consider that the students insecurities are related to the creation of a more critical view on the sciences and the historicity of the areas explored. This meets a historiography which goes beyond the European science that was developed in the teaching process aimed at creating contextualized science relationships. In this case the subject can provide holistic views on the history of science in Brazil. From this perspective, the Expedition and the planning of our study are both subsidized taking into account the scientific institutions and the role that the botanical gardens and the museums have played on the natural history constitution. This articulation is developed from science history, environmental history and critical environmental education. We choose the botanist Frederico Carlos Hoehne as the main figure of our narrative. He was linked to political, scientific and social assumptions from his time and had conservationist, aesthetic, educational and nationalist aspirations for JBSP, for example. Other than this, we also discuss new meanings to the waters in São Paulo, like the green areas explored throughout the Expedition which were handled and used according to the assumptions of that specific time and space. From this perspective we realize the intense process of urbanization in São Paulo, dramatically hiding its streams, creeks and rivers, transformations mainly based on the scientific speech that begins to take place at a different social level from the Scientific and Technological Revolution in the eighteenth century. This theoretical articulation (literature and historical documentation) and practice (fieldwork and students interviews) allowed me to understand the complexity of the environments, the importance of the historical studies in order to see the nature and rescue the historicity of science through important spaces in the city of São Paulo until today. The particularities of each students experience were also taken into account, assessing the Expedition as a proposal that values the singularities of each experience, preventing the students involved from having a single and narrow view of the field.

Penser, représenter et étudier la nature a constitué un axe majeur du projet éducatif de l’école de la Troisième République. Pour comprendre les enjeux autour des façons de penser et d’éduquer à la nature, il est nécessaire de garder à l’esprit que la géographie, les sciences, l’histoire, l’agronomie et la littérature ont déversé une foule de savoirs et soulevé autant de questions, aux réponses parfois indisciplinées. L’essentiel pourtant n’est pas dans la recherche des contradictions que le discours a immanquablement générées. Non, il est à trouver dans le cap que les fondateurs ont tracé : éduquer et instruire. A notre sens, l’un des leviers pour atteindre ce double objectif a consisté à rendre l’enseignement le plus attractif possible. On s’en doute, les pédagogues n’ont pas été à court d’idées mais l’étude de la nature a plus que d’autres, servi à enchanter l’école républicaine. Pas toujours, pas partout évidemment : le succès et l’essor de l’Education nouvelle ne peuvent se comprendre si l’on oublie que beaucoup d’écoles dirigées par des maîtres consciencieux rechignèrent à rompre avec les méthodes et les contenus pédagogiques classiques. Cet arrachement à la tradition, l’Education nouvelle l’incarne parfaitement. Porté par le souffle de la rénovation pédagogique, ce mouvement progressiste a emboîté le pas des réformateurs de l’école traditionnelle pour faire de la nature le pivot de son enseignement… Au milieu des finalités de l’éducation à la nature à l’école, la dimension enchanteresse de la nature fut absolument centrale. Toute la littérature scolaire a participé à cette entreprise de fabrication d’une nature capable de dire la grandeur de la nation, apte à concurrencer les interprétations théologiques du monde et susceptible de faire oublier les malheurs du temps. Acharnée à former des petits républicains volontaires, l’école a également promu, avec la nature, des méthodes actives. Jardins, promenades, voyages, leçons sur le vif, géographie de terrain dessinent une école moderne, davantage en phase avec les besoins des enfants. C’est autour de ce double mouvement de construction de représentations : l’enchantement de l’école d’un côté, et une nature enchantée de l’autre, que nous avons articulé l’essentiel de notre réflexion. En gardant à l’esprit qu’il y a eu là un processus de fabrique d’une nature dont l’image – et non sa matérialité - se reflète encore dans la mémoire collective. / Thinking, representing and studying nature has been a major component of the educational project of Third Republic Schools. To understand the issues surrounding ways of thinking and educating people about nature, it is necessary to keep in mind that geography, science, history, agronomy and literature have brought out a wealth of knowledge and raised as many questions, sometimes with unruly answers. However, the essential thing is not in the search for the contradictions that the discourse has inevitably generated. No, it is to be found in the course that the founders have set: to educate and instruct. In our opinion, one of the levers to achieve this dual objective has been to make education as attractive as possible. As we can imagine, pedagogues were not short of ideas, but the study of nature has more than others served to enchant the republican school. Not always, not everywhere, of course: the success and development of new education cannot be understood if we forget that many schools run by conscientious teachers were reluctant to break with traditional teaching methods and content. This tearing away from tradition is perfectly embodied in the new Education. Carried by the wind of pedagogical renovation, this progressive movement followed in the footsteps of the reformers of the traditional school to make nature the pivot of its teaching... In the midst of the aims of nature education at school, the enchanting dimension of nature was absolutely central. All school literature has participated in this process of manufacturing a nature capable of expressing the greatness of the nation, capable of competing with the theological interpretations of the world and capable of making people forget the misfortunes of time. Hard at work training young volunteer Republicans, the school has also promoted, with nature, active methods. Gardens, walks, trips, lessons, geography of the field draw a modern school, more in tune with the needs of children. It is around this double movement of building representations: the enchantment of the school on the one hand, and an enchanted nature on the other, that we have organized the essential of our reflection. Bearing in mind that there has been a manufacturing process of a nature whose image - and not its materiality - is still reflected in the collective memory.

This research investigated carbon dynamics, water dynamics and peat formation at Wellington Plain peatland in the Victorian Alps. The properties of bog peat and dried peat were measured, and the ensuing results are outlined below. The carbon chemistries of both bog peat and dried peat displayed changes with depth consistent with an increase in the extent of decomposition of the organic material. Representative changes in the alkyl:O-alkyl ratio down the profile were 0.14 to 0.96 for bog peat and 0.28 to 1.07 for dried peat. Laboratory incubations on the influence of chemistry, particle size, water content and sample preparation indicated that, in the absence of confounding factors, peat chemistry was the most important factor in determining the size of the mineralisable carbon pool. Water content was the most important factor in determining the rate of carbon mineralization. In the field, both bog peat and dried peat emitted an average of 2 g CO2/m2/d from the surface. Carbon mineralisation was related to both soil temperature and soil water content, and this relationship was used to model peat mineralisation under a range of possible future climate scenarios. Below the surface, however, I measured lower rates of decomposition in the dried peat than in the bog peat. The water-holding capacity of peat was measured in the laboratory, as was the rate of water movement through peat. Specific yield decreased down the profile in both bog peat (0.88 to 0.45 cm3/cm3) and dried peat (0.36 to 0.11 cm3/cm3). Hydraulic conductivity also decreased down the profile in both peats: 5.1x10-4 to 3.0x10-6 m/s in bog peat, and 1.0x10-4 to 7.0x10-6 m/s in dried peat. Relationships between the hydrologic properties of peat and its physical and chemical properties were identified. In the field, fluctuations in the watertable were monitored in concert with rainfall. These laboratory and field measurements enabled me to develop models of the hydrology of bog peat and dried peat. Radioisotope dating indicated that both bog peat and dried peat began forming around 3300 years ago. The bog peat appeared to have drained to form dried peat between 131 and 139 years ago. Since that time, erosion appeared to have contributed more to the loss of organic material from dried peat than carbon mineralisation had.