<p> The San Bernardino National Forest (SBNF) has experienced periods of high, concentrated bark beetle epidemics in the late 1990&rsquo;s and into the 2000&rsquo;s. This increased activity has caused huge amounts of forest loss, resulting from disease introduced by bark beetles. Using remote sensing techniques and Landsat Thematic Mapper 5 (TM5) imagery, the spread of bark beetle diseased trees is mapped over a period from 1998 to 2008. Acreage of two attack stages (red and gray) were calculated from a level sliced classification method developed on data training sites. In each image using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is the driver of forest health classifications. The results of the analysis are classification maps for each year, red acreage estimated for each study year, and gray attack acreage estimated for each study year. Additionally, for the period of 2001&ndash;2004, acreage was compared to those reported by the USDA with a thirteen percent lower mortality total in comparison to USDA federal land and a thirty-two percent lower total mortality (federal and non-federal) land in the SBNF.</p>

<p> Loss and degradation of grassland habitat are driving forces that contribute to widespread declines of grassland birds in the United States. Many studies have evaluated habitat needs for the conservation of grassland birds, but the relative contribution of public lands in representing and maintaining avian biodiversity remains poorly understood. Having a better understanding of the role that publicly managed grasslands play in the conservation of grassland bird habitat is important for assessing the value of the investment the American public makes in these lands, therefore I investigated spatial relations among variations in amounts and distributions of publicly owned and managed grassland habitat and avian species richness. My study focused on two ecoregions, the Northwestern Great Plains and the High Plains, which comprise a substantial portion of the U.S. Great Plains, the continental Central Flyway for migratory bird species. The Great Plains provide critical nesting habitat for grassland birds, however federally owned and managed grasslands are unequally distributed between the two ecoregions, with the Northwestern Great Plains having a greater proportion of federally owned grasslands. I found that, overall, the quantity, size, and connectivity of grasslands were greater in the Northwestern Great Plains, and the region hosted slightly more of the 13 species I studied than did in the High Plains. Both ecoregions, however, sustained roughly half of their respective public lands as grassland. Areas of higher species richness were more widespread in the Northwestern Great Plains ecoregion and were associated with BLM, FWS, and NPS holdings. In the High Plains ecoregion, areas of higher species richness were limited to the northwest within FWS, USFS, and DOD holdings. Areas managed for biodiversity in both ecoregions were not necessarily associated with higher species richness. For example, some areas with the greatest species richness in the High Plains ecoregion were managed for multiple uses, but the onus for conservation of grassland birds need not fall entirely on the federal government. Non-public (privately held) grasslands in the landscapes surrounding public lands can add value to public grasslands by helping to offset habitat fragmentation and small patch size. My analyses found this particularly evident in the High Plains ecoregion, and it speaks to the importance of grassland bird habitat conservation being a joint effort among federal agencies and private landowners.</p>

It appears difficult to explain the spatial organization of a major urban centre without referring to its transportation system just as travel demand analysis and transport planning cannot be dissociated from the understanding of urban structure. Moreover, in economics, transportation is seen as a demand resulting from economic activities while in geography, human interactions are considered as an organizing factor rather than a product of such activities. Consequently we are interested by a modelling framework which can conciliate both realities often analysed separately. Several fundamental hindrances are therefore encountered. Transportation system analysis must initially be integrated within its own components of demand and supply. As for the urban structure, we must seek a representation suited to apprehend the spatial distribution and the evolution of several interdependent activities. Unification also requires definitions of common or at least consistent principles, standardized formulations and an adjustment of temporal scales. This attempt of integration does not imply starting over but rather using all theoretical frameworks, approaches and models concerned by urban structure and transportation. This comprehensive exercise leads to a formulation of a space-time model of a urban region. An empirical application to the Montreal metropolitain area unveils the analytical possibilities, the necessary adjustment and the limitations of this modelling.

This MA thesis is a contemporary look at rural municipal planning and management in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, Upper New York State. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin, since 1972, has been subject to binational agreements and federal and state legislation for the protection and development of its coastal resources. Many were enacted because state and local institutional arrangements for planning and regulating land and water uses for coastal areas were judged inadequate. A number of elements contribute to institutional complexity and affect municipal planning and management capacity. The International Joint Commission (IJC) proposes an ecosystem approach as part of the decision-making process both lake-wide and locally to address many of these concerns. The IJC is mandated by both federal governments, through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, to investigate binational concerns throughout the basin. The present research uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess definitional clarity of the ecosystem approach and the capacity of local governments to facilitate usage of this approach in the planning and management of its coastal resources. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

L'étalonnage radiométrique des capteurs de télédétection optique avec vérité terrain est la méthode qui peut garantir la meilleure précision avec un coût le moins cher. Néanmoins, la bibliographie nous a montré que cette méthode est contrôlée, entre autres, par le problème de la variabilité spatio-temporelle de l'uniformité radiométrique des sites. Dans la littérature, nous avons recensé plusieurs sites test utilisés pour l'étalonnage direct et indirect des capteurs satellitaires et aéroportés. Nous avons montré que chacun de ces sites a ses propres caractéristiques et son uniformité dépend de la variation de son humidité, sa couleur et sa brillance, sa rugosité, sa topographie, son climat, sa taille, etc. Le but de cette thèse est de réaliser une étude d'uniformité des sites Newell County en Alberta (Canada), Lunar Lake Playa et Railroad Valley Playa au Nevada (États Unis). Les objectifs qui ont été soulignés sont la caractérisation spatiale, temporelle et spectrale et la détermination d'une taille appropriée pour chacun des trois sites. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Abstract Not Available.

This research study investigates the role of geographic factors in development initiatives in the Lake Victoria Region of Uganda. The empirical component of the study is based on two informational activities. First, almost 300 development initiatives identified through an extensive review of public documents are evaluated by means of on-site investigations and consultations with research contacts. Second, and in order to document the perceptions or opinions of those for whom development initiatives are (purportedly) undertaken, responses to interviews with community elders are part of the thesis data base. The central findings of the research are that the failure of development initiatives to date can be traced in part to lack of regard for geographic factors in development programs and projects. The study concludes with suggestions on how to better incorporate geographic factors into the design and implementation of development policies, principles and practices that are required to attain sustainable development in the Lake Victoria Region of Uganda.

Abstract Not Available.

The objectives of this thesis are to: (1) examine the nature and attributes of impact assessment and urban planning as processes; (2) determine the utility of integrating impact assessment (IA) with urban planning; (3) investigate the extent to which the larger municipalities in Ontario have achieved integration of impact assessment and urban planning; (4) provide an inventory of the characteristics exhibited by those municipalities in Ontario using impact assessment in their urban planning process; (5) suggest avenues that can be explored by future research within the impact assessment/urban planning domain. For the purpose of empirically investigating the extent to which the integration of IA and urban planning exists across the province, a questionnaire was sent to the urban planning departments of Ontario's thirty-three largest municipalities. In addition, the survey was supplemented by case studies of two municipalities (Ottawa and Oakville) that use impact assessment in their urban planning processes. The key research finding is that although the potential utility and support for integrating impact assessment with urban planning is high, the level of integration actually achieved across the province tends to be limited either to development initiatives that are contiguous with environmentally sensitive areas, or that involve contentious issues with a high public profile. In general, therefore, while the advantages of integration are as yet largely unrealized across the province, the portents of change are becoming evident in municipalities such as Ottawa, Metropolitan Toronto and North York where the mandate of impact assessment has been enlarged to include either policies or private initiatives, or both.

Quel role jouent les associations locales dans la vie communautaire francophone de l'Est ontarien? Comment la vie associative "en francais" a-t-elle evolue au cours des dernieres decennies? Quel est l'impact du milieu sur la dynamique communautaire de la minorite francophone? Tenter de repondre a ces questions, c'est ouvrir une piste dans l'exploration du fait francophone en Ontario, sans pretendre pour autant saisir toute la complexite des relations sociales et spatiales qui lui sont propres. Deux approches guident la conception de cette recherche. Une premiere partie est fondee sur des donnees objectives, a savoir le niveau de participation a la vie associative locale et son evolution. Elle est basee sur un choix d'associations francophones traditionnelles actives en Ontario, et permet une vision dynamique de l'implication individuelle des Franco-Ontariens a l'echelle des communautes locales. La seconde partie, subjective, rapporte les resultats d'entrevues menees aupres des dirigeants des dites associations. Cette aspect du travail est destine a rendre compte des opinions et de la perception qu'ont les "leaders" de la vie communautaire. La dynamique communautaire, examinee a la fois en tant qu'espace participatif et espace vecu, varie selon le milieu dans lequel elle evolue. En distinguant differents milieux en fonction de leur concentration linguistique (milieu majoritaire, paritaire, minoritaire) et de leur position dans la hierarchie urbaine regionale (municipalite centrale d'une grande ville, banlieue, petite ville en milieu rural), on peut degager certains effets de milieu et certaines convergences qui caracterisent la vie associative de cette partie de l'Ontario.