Man-made farm ponds are unique geographic features of the Taoyuan Tableland. Besides irrigation, they provide refuges for wintering birds. The issue at hand is that these features are disappearing and bring with it the loss of this refuge function. It is ecologically significant because one fifth of all the bird species in Taiwan find a home on these ponds. This study aims at characterizing the diversity of bird species associated with these ponds whose likelihood of survival was assessed along the gradient of land development intensities. Such characterization helps establish decision criteria needed for designating certain ponds for habitat preservation and developing their protection strategies. A holistic model was developed by incorporating logistic regression with error back-propagation into the paradigm of artificial neural networks (ANN). The model considers pond shape, size, neighboring farmlands, and developed areas in calculating parameters pertaining to their respective and interactive influences on avian diversity, among them the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’). Results indicate that ponds with regular shape or the ones with larger size possess a strong positive correlation with H’. Farm ponds adjacent to farmland benefited waterside bird diversity. On the other hand, urban development was shown to cause the reduction of farmland and pond numbers, which in turn reduced waterside bird diversity. By running the ANN model with four neurons, the resulting H’ index shows a good-fit prediction of bird diversity against pond size, shape, neighboring farmlands, and neighboring developed areas with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.72, in contrast to the results from a linear regression model (r < 0.28). Analysis of historical pond occurrence to the present showed that ponds with larger size and a long perimeter were less likely to disappear. Smaller (< 0.1 ha) and more curvilinear ponds had a more drastic rate of disappearance. Based on this finding, a logistic regression was constructed to predict pond-loss likelihood in the future and to help identify ponds that should be protected. Overlaying results from ANN and form logistic regression enabled the creation of pond-diversity maps for these simulated scenarios of development intensities with respective to pond-loss trends and the corresponding dynamics of bird diversity.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-235). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2003. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-235). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 125 p. : ill., map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-96).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 73 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73).

This project centers on an office environment and the physical and psychological well-being of the people who work within it. Located at 525 Beresford Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Churchill Park United Church was converted to serve as an office space for a hypothetical publishing firm, Choice Publications. With recent knowledge concerning the health and well-being of employees, the design of workplaces has shifted to comprise a human-centered approach. The purpose of this practicum project was to investigate the evolving nature of the office and to determine its role regarding the identity, well-being, and behavior of individuals in order to better accommodate their needs. Central to the exploration is the study of environmental psychology theories and the introvert-extrovert dichotomy. Research into third place theory and the significance of home act as the primary lenses to evolve conventional office design into a hybrid of new typologies. / October 2015

<p>Southern Africa harbours one-third of the world&rsquo / s Testudinid species, many of which inhabit arid or semi-arid areas, but ecological information on these species is scant. I studied the habitat, morphology and ecology of Kalahari tent tortoises over 13 months in semi-arid Savanna at Benfontein farm, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. In order to allow continuous monitoring of individuals, I attached radiotransmitters to males and females, split equally between two habitats, sites E (east) and W (west), with apparent differences in vegetation structure. Results of the study were based on data obtained from 27 telemetered tortoises and 161 individuals encountered opportunistically. Female Kalahari tent tortoises were larger than males and the sex ratio did not differ from 1:1. Based on person-hours to capture tortoises, the population appeared to have a low density, with more time required to capture a juvenile (35 hours) than an adult (10-11 hours). The frequency distribution of body size ranges was indicative of recruitment. Relative age, based on annuli counts, suggested that males were younger than females, perhaps because males as the smaller sex are more predation-prone than females. Linear relationships between annuli counts and shell volume indicated that, after reaching sexual maturity, female body size increased faster in volume than did male body size, possibly because a larger volume may enhance female reproductive success. Body condition differed between sites, sexes and among seasons. The hot and dry summer may account for low summer body condition, whereas vegetation differences and size effects, respectively, may account for the low body condition of tortoises in site W and in males. Site E was sandy with grasses, particularly Schmidtia pappophoroides, being the prevalent growth form. This habitat resembled a Savanna vegetation type Schmidtia pappophoroides &ndash / Acacia erioloba described for a neighbouring reserve. Site W was stonier, dominated by shrubs, and was reminiscent of Northern Upper Karoo vegetation (NKu3). Neither site resembled Kimberley Thornveld (SVk4), the designated vegetation type of the area. Differences in substrate and grazing intensity may have contributed to site vegetation differences. Rainfall had an important influence on seasonal vegetation. Short grass abundance correlated with rainfall and annual plants sprouted after spring rain. Refuge use changed according to season and sex. Males selected denser refuges than females did, perhaps because males were smaller and more vulnerable to predation and solar heat. Tortoises selected sparse, short grass as refuges in cool months, probably to maximise basking whilst remaining in protective cover. During hot periods, mammal burrows were preferred to vegetation as refugia. The smaller males spent more time in cover than females, which may be related to predator avoidance or thermoregulation.&nbsp / Females spent more time basking than males, perhaps due to their larger size and to facilitate reproductive processes. Tortoises did not brumate, but through a combination of basking, and orientation relative to the sun in their refuges, managed to attain body temperatures that allowed small bouts of activity. Body temperature for active tortoises was similar among seasons, and was higher for more specialised active behaviours, such as feeding and socialising, than for walking. Increased activity by males in spring could relate to mating behaviour while females were more active in autumn, when they foraged more than males, perhaps due to the high cost of seasonal reproductive requirements. Males displaced further per day than did females, but home range estimates did not differ between sexes. Annual home range estimates varied substantially among individuals: 0.7&ndash / 306 ha for minimum convex polygons and 0.7&ndash / 181 ha for 95% fixed kernel estimates. The ability to&nbsp / cover large areas would assist tortoises in finding resources, e.g., food, in an area where resource distribution may be patchy. Differences among seasonal home ranges and movements probably reflect seasonal climatic change / activity areas shrinking when temperatures were extreme. In order to assess the effects of a semi-arid environment on the morphology of P. oculifer, I compared its morphology to that of its &lsquo / cool-adapted&rsquo / sister taxon Psammobates geometricus, using live and museum specimens. Both P. oculifer and P. geometricus are sexually dimorphic and differences between the two species could indicate environmental or sexual selection effects, or a combination of the two. The shorter bridge length, which allowed more leg space, and wider front feet in P. oculifer cohorts probably represent traits for manoeuvring in a sandy habitat, while wider heads in P. oculifer possibly relate to interspecific differences in diet. The flatter shell in female P. oculifer, relative to P. geometricus, may represent a trade-off between space for reproductive structures, e.g., eggs, and the need to fit into small refuges, e.g., mammal burrows. Male P. oculifer had wider shells, more space around their hind legs, and wider hind feet than P. geometricus males had, all characteristics which may assist males to fight and mate in a sandy environment.</p>

Following three major mining accidents in 2006, the MINER Act of 2006 was enacted by MSHA and required every underground coal mine to install refuge alternatives to help prevent future fatalities of trapped miners in the event of a disaster. The following research was performed in response to NIOSH’s call for the investigation into new refuge alternatives. A 15 psi safe haven polycarbonate wall for use in underground coal mines was designed and modeled using finite element modeling in ANSYS Explicit Dynamics. The successful design was tested multiple times in both half-scale and small scale using a high explosive shock tube to determine the walls resistance to blast pressure. The safe haven wall design was modeled for an actual underground coal mine environment to determine any responses of the wall within a mine. A full scale design was fabricated and installed in an underground coal mine to determine any construction constraints and as a final step in proof of concept for the safe haven design.

Au cours des dernières décennies, d'énormes quantités de haies, de lisières ont été détruites en Europe tandis que le régime des incendies majeurs augmente dans les milieux méditerranéens. La perte de ces milieux de type lisières s'accompagne d'une chute catastrophique de la biodiversité. Notamment par la perte des refuges disponibles pour la faune. Cette thèse s'intéresse à l'importance des abris à différentes échelles et sur différents modèles biologiques. Premièrement, l'influence de la disponibilité en abris au pied des haies sur la biodiversité a été démontrée à l'aide d'inventaires et grâce à une expérimentation sur le terrain. Pour cela, une nouvelle approche d'inventaire qui combine les avantages des inventaires rapides et des techniques non létales a été mise au point. A une échelle intermédiaire, l'impact positif de l'ouverture du milieu forestier sur des populations de reptiles a été mis en évidence. Enfin, un suivi au niveau individuel de tortues d'Hermann a permis de suivre les conséquences de modifications l'habitat suite à un incendie majeur ; il suggère que les habitats brûlés restent favorables sur le long terme. En conclusion, l'importance des abris pour la biodiversité a été démontrée à plusieurs échelles d'espace, de temps et de précision. La conséquence pratique est que les fiches techniques de gestion des haies et des lisières devraient en tenir compte, ce qui n'est pas le cas actuellement.

Graduation date: 1993