Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 27, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-101).

Thesis (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian Seminary, 1987. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-160).

No description available.

Στην Ελλάδα, από την αρχαιότητα έως σήμερα, πολλές περιοχές έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί για μετάλλευση και λατόμευση ώστε να παραχθούν μέταλλα και οικοδομικά υλικά. Η παραγωγή μαρμάρου ήταν συνήθης στην αρχαία Ελλάδα, αλλά σήμερα η πιο κοινή πρακτική είναι η παραγωγή αδρανών υλικών. Παρόλο που η Ευρωπαϊκή νομοθεσία είναι ιδιαίτερα αυστηρή σε ό,τι αφορά την αποκατάσταση των λατομείων (μετά τη χρήση τους), υπάρχουν πολλές περιπτώσεις που λατομεία αφέθηκαν στην τύχη τους μετά την εκμετάλλευση του πετρώματος. Σε τέτοιες περιοχές, ο ρυθμός της φυσικής διαδοχής είναι ιδιαίτερα χαμηλός επειδή ένα λατομείο καταλήγει με βαθμίδες και πρανή, που αποτελούνται από γυμνό βράχο. Ωστόσο, είναι σημαντικό να εφαρμοστούν μέθοδοι αποκατάστασης χρησιμοποιώντας τεχνητή βλάστηση, όπως είναι η υδροσπορά. Μία συνήθης πρακτική είναι η χρήση φυτικών ειδών, τα οποία είναι χαρακτηριστικά της τοπικής χλωρίδας και βλάστησης. Ο σκοπός της αποκατάστασης θα πρέπει να είναι η επανόρθωση της αρχικής ποιότητας του περιβάλλοντος. Στη μη αποκατεστημένη περιοχή, οι φυσιολογικές βιολογικές διαδικασίες είναι σε λήθαργο. Έτσι, θα πρέπει να αποκατασταθεί ώστε να είναι λειτουργικό σε ό,τι αφορά το έδαφος, τους φυτικούς οργανισμούς και την αισθητική του τοπίου. Στο αποκατεστημένο οικοσύστημα, οι φυσικές διαδικασίες απελευθέρωσης θρεπτικών ουσιών, η ανάπτυξη των φυτών και ο κύκλος των θρεπτικών συνεχίζουν σε φυσιολογικούς ρυθμούς. Η περιοχή μελέτης περιλαμβάνει τα πρανή και τις βαθμίδες ενός λατομείου ασβεστόλιθου που βρίσκεται πάνω από τα χωριά Αραχωβίτικα και Δρέπανο Αχαΐας. Η ιδιοκτήτρια εταιρία Α.Ε. ΤΣΙΜΕΝΤΩΝ ΤΙΤΑΝ έχει κάνει αποκατάσταση της περιοχής χρησιμοποιώντας φυτικά είδη, όπως είναι τα Cupressus sempervirens, Quercus ilex, Spartium junceum και Pinus halepensis. Επιπρόσθετα, για το σκοπό αυτό έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί και ξενικά φυτικά είδη, όπως είναι τα Eucalyptus globulus, Cupressus arizonica και Robinia pseudoacacia. Αυτά τα φυτικά είδη είναι ξενικά όχι μόνο στην Ελλάδα, αλλά και σε ολόκληρη τη Μεσογειακή περιοχή. Έτσι, η καλλιέργειά τους στην περιοχή όπου βρίσκεται το λατομείο, θα πρέπει να αποφεύγεται. Ο στόχος αυτής της έρευνας είναι η μελέτη της αποκατάστασης, της φυσικής διαδοχής και της φυτικής ποικιλότητας του λατομείου, χρησιμοποιώντας τη φυτοκοινωνιολογική μέθοδο του Braun-Blanquet. Δειγματοληπτικές επιφάνειες εγκαταστάθηκαν στα πρανή και τις βαθμίδες του λατομείου. Από κάθε επιφάνεια συλλέχθησαν και αναγνωρίστηκαν φυτικά δείγματα, όπως είναι τα Sarcopoterium spinosum, Silene italica subsp. peloponnesiaca, Dittrichia viscosa, Centranthus ruber subsp. ruber και Bituminaria bituminosa. Τα παραπάνω, που ονομάζονται πρόδρομα είδη, αποτελούν τα πρώτα φυτά που εγκαθίστανται σε μία υποβαθμισμένη περιοχή και παίζουν σημαντικό ρόλο στην εγκατάσταση άλλων φυτών. Η χλωρίδα του λατομείου συγκρίνεται με αυτή της περιβάλλουσας περιοχής, η οποία αποτελείται από τυπική μακκία βλάστηση και χαρακτηρίζεται από κυρίαρχα φυτικά είδη της μεσογειακής βλάστησης στο στάδιο «κλίμαξ». Αυτά είναι τα Quercus coccifera, Q. ilex, Arbutus andrachne και Pistacia lentiscus. Επίσης, παρατηρούνται φυτικά είδη όπως είναι τα Pyrus amygdaliformis, Phlomis fruticosa, Myrtus communis, Cistus creticus, C. salviifolius και Fraxinus ornus. Η μελέτη της περιβάλλουσας περιοχής εξυπηρετεί ως οικοσύστημα αναφοράς, το οποίο αποτελεί ένα μοντέλο για το σχεδιασμό και την εκτίμηση ενός σχεδίου οικολογικής αποκατάστασης. / In Greece, from ancient times since today lots of areas have been used for mining and quarrying in order to produce minerals and building materials. The production of marble was frequent in ancient Greece, but today the most common practice is the production of cement. Despite the rigidity of European legislation concerning quarry restoration, there are cases that quarries are simply abandoned after use. The rate of natural succession is significantly low because a quarry ends up with quarry faces and platforms consisted of rock, after its excavation. Therefore it is important to apply restoration methods using artificial vegetation, such as hydro-seeding. It is common to use plant species which are not similar to the ones of the surrounding vegetation (introduced). The aim of restoration should be the rehabilitation of the original quality of the environment. In the unrestored ecosystem, normal biological processes are at a standstill. The ecosystem must be restored in order to become normally functional as long as it concerns the soil, the plants and the aesthetics. In the restored ecosystem the natural processes of nutrient release, plant growth and nutrient cycling go on at a normal rate. The study area includes the quarry faces and platforms (floors) of a limestone quarry above Arachovitica and Drepano Achaia, Greece. In order to restore this area, there has been an effort to cover it (by TITAN) using plant species like Cupressus sempervirens, Quercus ilex, Spartium junceum and Pinus halepensis. Besides them, non-native plant species have been planted such as Eucalyptus globulus, Cupressus arizonica and Robinia pseudoacacia. These plant species are alien, not only in Greece but in the entire Mediterranean region. So, their cultivation should be avoided in this particular area where the quarry is situated. The target of this research is the study of restoration, natural succession and plant diversity (at the quarry) using the plant sociological method Braun-Blanquet. Sample plots have been established at the faces and platforms of the quarry. Plant samples were collected from each plot, such as Sarcopoterium spinosum, Silene italica subsp. peloponnesiaca, Dittrichia viscosa, Centranthus ruber subsp. ruber and Bituminaria bituminosa. These plants are called “pioneer” plant species, because they are some of the first plants (in general) that colonise a disturbed area and play an important role in the establishment of other plants. The plant population of the quarry is also compared with the surrounding area which is consisted of natural “maqui” vegetation and it is characterised by the typical dominant plant species of this Mediterranean type of vegetation at a “climax” stage. These are Quercus coccifera, Q. ilex, Arbutus andrachne and Pistacia lentiscus. Additionally, there are several plant species like Pyrus amygdaliformis, Phlomis fruticosa, Myrtus communis, Cistus creticus, C. salviifolius and Fraxinus ornus. The surrounding environment serve as a reference ecosystem which means a model for planning and evaluating an ecological restoration project.

Submitted by Rodrigo Bernardes Freire null (rodrigobfreire@hotmail.com) on 2018-01-10T00:08:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PRIORIZAÇÃO DE ÁREAS PARA RESTAURAÇÃO ECOLÓGICA NA UGRHI 22 - PONTAL DO PARANAPANEMA, SÃO PAULO, BRASIL..pdf: 14384914 bytes, checksum: 32af02c1ae8e5e28e1490053a6884452 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Claudia Adriana Spindola null (claudia@fct.unesp.br) on 2018-01-10T11:59:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 freire_rb_me_prud.pdf: 14384914 bytes, checksum: 32af02c1ae8e5e28e1490053a6884452 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-10T11:59:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 freire_rb_me_prud.pdf: 14384914 bytes, checksum: 32af02c1ae8e5e28e1490053a6884452 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-02 / Este trabalho buscou identificar áreas para restauração ecológica dentro dos limites da UGRHI 22, localizada no Pontal do Paranapanema, na região oeste do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Essa região possui baixos índices de cobertura vegetal nativa, e, diante desse cenário que pode ocasionar desequilíbrio ambiental com prejuízo às atividades humanas e também devido às obrigações previstas em leis, faz-se necessário a definição de áreas nas quais as ações de restauração ecológica devem acontecer com prioridade. Para tanto, utilizou-se a metodologia de Combinação Linear Ponderada, em que as variáveis escolhidas são combinadas, atribuindo-se pesos para cada uma delas de forma a se obter o resultado final. Foram utilizados como fontes de informação e análise os dados de Fragilidade Natural à Erosão, Vulnerabilidade Natural dos Aquíferos à Poluição, Áreas de Preservação Permanente, Inventário Florestal, Conectividade do Estado de São Paulo, Unidades de Conservação e Áreas declaradas como prioritárias por outros instrumentos e definição dos pesos para as variáveis utilizadas foi feita a partir de uma matriz AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). Num primeiro momento, os dados foram combinados, gerando uma hierarquização em cinco classes, e partir dessa, foram destacadas as áreas com extensão superior a 5 hectares e que estivesse na classe de maior prioridade. Os resultados mostraram que há áreas prioritárias por toda extensão da UGRHI 22, com destaque para as APPs de forma geral e para as UPHs Baixo Paranapanema Margem Direita, Tributários do Rio Paraná e Santo Anastácio. Concluiu-se que os dados gerados representam adequadamente as áreas prioritárias na área da UGRHI e pela necessidade de implantação de projetos de restauração ecológica nos locais indicados. / This work aimed to identify areas for ecological restoration into the of UGRHI 22, located in Pontal do Paranapanema, in the western of the São Paulo State, Brazil. This region has low indices of native vegetation cover and, in face of this scenario that can cause environmental imbalance and affect human activities and also due to legal obligations, it is necessary to define areas in which ecological restorations actions must take place prioritarily. To achieve the results, the Weighted Linear Combination methodology was used, which means that the chosen variables are combined, and weights were assigned for each one of that. The definition of these weights was made by the application of and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) matrix and the data used as sources of information and to the analysis in this work were: Natural Fragility to Erosion, Natural Pollution Aquifer Vulnerability, Permanent Protection Area, Forest Inventory, Connectivity from the São Paulo State, Conservation Units and Areas that were declared as priority by other instruments. At first, the data were combined in order to generate a five classes hierarchy map, and then, the areas within the highest priority class and with extension larger than 5 hectares were selected. The final results showed that are priority areas throughout the extension of the UGRHI 22, with emphasis on the Permanent Protected Areas and the UPHs Right Margin of Lower Paranapanema, Tributaries of Parana River and Santo Anastacio. It was concluded that the results properly represent the priority areas in the UGRHI and the need to implement restoration projects in these places.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T11:52:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-07-31Bitstream added on 2015-03-03T12:07:00Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000814300.pdf: 1727702 bytes, checksum: 2af51217b45e61ff89b9a5fd76f0b585 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A constante pressão sofrida pelas áreas de vegetação nativa, causada pela ação antrópica, requerem estudos que visem aperfeiçoar as técnicas de conservação e a restauração ambiental. Desta forma torna-se importante o estudo do banco de sementes do solo de áreas mineradas, para possibilitar maior compreensão da composição do solo, seu potencial para a regeneração natural, sucessão ecológica e possível impacto da atividade sobre o solo. Portanto, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo conhecer a composição florística do banco de sementes do solo (na serrapilheira e a cinco cm de profundidade) de uma área minerada (região coberta por Capim Gordura) e de seu entorno (Mata Atlântica, Cerrado, Canga e populações de Eucalipto) e avaliar a contribuição em sementes do entorno na área minerada pela companhia Vale no município de Sabará, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Os pontos de coleta foram definidos através de uma Amostragem Aleatória e Sistemática (AAS), totalizando quatro pontos para cada tipo de composição vegetal. Em cada ponto de coleta foram realizadas duas repetições igualmente espaçadas a 20 metros, sempre no sentido Leste-Oeste. Em cada repetição foi coletado a serrapilheira e o solo com o uso de um gabarito vazado de 25cm x 25cm x 5cm . A serrapilheira foi coletada manualmente e o solo foi coletado após a penetração do gabarito até atingir cinco cm de profundidade. Todas as amostras coletadas foram armazenadas em sacos plásticos de 100 litros e identificadas. Após a coleta as amostras foram mantidas em salas climatizadas a 20°C e, em seguida, transferidas para vasilhas plásticas e mantidas em viveiro. No viveiro as amostras foram protegidas com telas de 50% de sombreamento. As amostras foram monitoradas diariamente e a cada quinze dias foi realizado a contagem das ... / The constant pressure under native vegetation, caused by human activities, requires studies aimed at the improving of conservation techniques and environmental restoration. Therefore, it is important to study the soil seed bank composition in mined areas, enabling greater understanding of soil composition, its potential for natural regeneration, ecological succession and possible impacts of this activity on the ground. This study aimed to identify the floristic composition of the soil seed bank (in the litter and at five cm deep) of a mined area (area covered by fat grass) and its surroundings (Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Canga and populations of Eucalyptus) and evaluate the contribution of the surrounding seeds in the mined area by Vale company in the city of Sabará, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The collection points were defined by a Random and Systematics Sampling (RSS), totaling four points for each type of vegetation composition. In each collection point were performed two repetitions equally spaced at 20 meters, always in the East-West direction. In each repetition was collected litter and soil using a gauging device of 25cm x 25cm x 5cm. Litter was collected manually and the soil was collected after penetration feedback up to five cm deep. All collected samples were stored in plastic bags of 100 liters and identified. After collection the samples were kept in climatized rooms at 20 ° C and then transferred to plastic pots and maintained in the nursery. In the nursery the samples were protected with 50% shading screens. Samples were monitored daily and in each 15 days was conducted the count of emerged seedlings and species identification. It is concluded that the soil seed bank (litter and soil at 5 cm deep) showed 885 emerged seedlings, distributed in 55 species and 22 families, ...

Orientador: André Henrique Rosa / Resumo: As florestas nativas são muito exploradas devido à crescente demanda de madeira e seus derivados para suprir o mercado consumidor, deixando evidente a importância das florestas plantadas como recurso para suprir a demanda comercial. O Pinus é uma espécie que se destaca devido a sua adaptabilidade aos mais diversos ambientes brasileiros. As indústrias beneficiadoras da matéria-prima para geração de madeira se caracterizam por gerar grande quantidade de resíduos denominados de "serragem", muitas vezes sem destinação. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi de gerar biochar através do processo de pirólise em diferentes temperaturas: 300º, 400º, 500º e 600ºC utilizando serragem de pinus spp. e avaliar sua incorporação ao solo na forma de substrato para germinação e desenvolvimento de mudas. Os biochar foram caracterizados quanto ao rendimento por pirólise e determinados seus teores de cinzas e carbono fixo segundo a norma ABNT NBR 8112/86. Todos os dados analisados desde a granulometria, caracterização físico-química, análises de germinação e o índice de qualidade de mudas através da metodologia de DICKSON, foram submetidos à analise estatísticas por teste de confrontamento de médias Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. Pode-se concluir que houve diferença significativa nos tratamentos que foram incorporados biochar, comprovando estatisticamente que o BC400, BC500 e BC600 obtiveram os melhores resultados o que também foi confirmado pelo índice de qualidade de mudas (IQD); não houve diferença entre... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Native forests are overexploited due to growing demand for wood and its derivatives to meet the consumer market, making it clear the importance of planted forests as a resource to meet the commercial demand. The pine is a species that stands out because of its adaptability to the most diverse Brazilian environments. The beneficiary industries of the raw material for the generation of wood are characterized by generating large amounts of waste called "sawdust", often without destination. The objective of this research was to generate biochar through pyrolysis process at different temperatures: 300, 400th, 500th and 600 ° C using spp pine sawdust. and evaluate its incorporation into the soil as substrate for germination and seedling development. The biochar were characterized in terms of yield determined by pyrolysis and their ash content and fixed carbon according to ABNT NBR 8112/86. All data from the analyzed particle, physicochemical characterization, analysis germination and seedling quality index through Dickson method, were subjected to statistical analysis by means confronting Tukey test at 5% probability. It can be concluded that there was significant difference in treatments which were incorporated into biochar, proving that statistically BC400, BC500 and BC600 obtained the best results which was also confirmed by the changes of quality index (DCI)... (Complete abstract electronic access below) / Mestre

abstract: ABSTRACT The February 2008 study of a Snowflake, Arizona site measured changes in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, extractable phosphorus, and soil moisture, to determine what affect One-seed Juniper (Juniperus monosperma) trees have on surrounding soil, thus affecting native grass growth. Increasing juniper densities in grasslands also decrease populations of some grassland bird species. Measurements were taken each meter along a twelve meter line transect, moving from juniper trees, through a bare soil area and into a grassland. Non-linear relationships were examined, in regard to distance from the tree and juniper root mass. Relationships were examined to determine any affect of the juniper tree on soil characteristics along the transect. Organic carbon decreased as distance increased from the trees (F=4.25, df=46, p=0.020). Soil moisture increased with distance from the trees (F=5.42, df=46, p=0.008), and juniper root mass, of roots less than 1 mm diameter, significantly decreased with distance away from the trees (F=11.29, df=46, p=0.0001). Total nitrogen and extractable phosphorus did not significantly change with distance from the tree, or presence of juniper roots. This data is important as grassland restoration projects rely on the availability of soil nutrients and water for reestablishment of native grass species. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Applied Biological Sciences 2010

Foggy and hazy weather conditions considerably effect visibility distance which impacts speed, flow of traffic, travel time delay and increases the risk accidents. Bad weather condition is considered a cause of road accidents, since it the poor conditions can effect drivers field of vision. In addition, fog, haze and mist can have negative influences on visual applications in the open air since they decrease visibility by lowering the contrast and whitening the visible color palette. The poor visibility in these images leads to some failures in recognition and detection of the outdoor object systems and also in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). In this thesis, we propose an image visibility restoration algorithm under foggy weather in intelligent transportation systems. Various camera based Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS), which can be improved by applying the visibility restoration algorithm, have been applied in this field of study to enhance vehicle safety by displaying the image from a frontal camera to driver after visibility enhancement. To remove fog, automatic methods have been proposed which are categorized into two approaches based on the number of input images: 1) methods which are using polarizing filters, 2) methods which are using captured images from different fog densities. In both of these approaches multiple images are required which have to be taken from exactly the same point of view. While these applications can generate good results, their requirements make them impractical, particularly in real time applications, such as intelligent transportation systems. Therefore, in this thesis we introduce a high-performance visibility restoration algorithm only using a single foggy image which applies a recursive filtering to preserve the edge of images and videos in real time and also compute depth map of the scene to restore image. The applied edge preserving filtering is based on a domain transform in which 1-Dimensional edge-preserving filtering is performed by preserving the geodesic distance between points on the curves that is adaptable with wrapping the input signal. The proposed algorithm can be applied in intelligent transportation system applications, such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The main features of the proposed algorithm are its speed, which plays a main role in real time applications, since 1-Dimensional operations are used in the applied filtering leads to remarkable speedups in comparison with classical median filters and robust bilateral lfilters. Potential of memory saving is considered as another one advantage of the proposed model and also the parameters of applied edge-preserving filtering do not effect on its computational cost. It is the first edge-preserving filter for color images with arbitrary scales in real time. The proposed algorithm is also able to handle both color and gray-level images and achieves the restored image without the presence of artifacts in comparison with other state-of-the-art algorithms.