Baltijos šalių akcijų rinkų istorija yra trumpa, tuo tarpu akcijų kainų ciklų nagrinėjimui bei galimam vėlesniam prognozavimui reikalinga ilgesnė duomenų imtis. Dėl šios priežasties šiame darbe bus siekiama išsiaiškinti ar šių šalių akcijų rinkos elgesys yra panašus į Skandinavijos šalių akcijų rinkų pokyčius. Panašumams ar skirtumams atskleisti teorinėje dalyje buvo nagrinėjami akcijų rinkos cikliškumo charakteristikos, o taip pat ciklų atsiradimo ir jų koreliacijos sąlygos. Antrojoje dalyje šalių ekonominės situacijos nagrinėjimui pasirinkti tokie rodikliai kaip: infliacijos ir BVP dinamika. O akcijų ciklai buvo identifikuojami pagal modifikuotą NBER metodą. Darbe buvo iškeltos trys hipotezės, kurios buvo nagrinėjamos tre�����iojoje darbo dalyje. Panašumas buvo nagrinėjamas trimis aspektais, kurie yra iškeltų hipotezių pagrindas: akcijų rinkos indekso charakteristikos, indeksų pokyčių koreliacija, ekonominių sąlygų akcijų kainų indeksų pakilimo metu panašumas. Patvirtintos buvo tik antroji ir iš dalies trečioji hipotezės. Vertinant bendrai tris hipotezes, Skandinavijos šalių patirtis netinka Baltijos šalių akcijų rinkos tendencijoms prognozuoti, nes egzistuoja daug skirtumų. / The history of stock markets in Baltic states is short, whereas analysis of stock market cycles requires longer time series data. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to find out whether the behavior of stock market in above mentioned countries is similar to Scandinavian stock market changes. In theoretical chapter of paper work characteristics and conditions of stock market cycles were examined to determine similarities or differences in analyzed countries. Second chapter studies economic background and identifies stock market cycles using NBER method. Three hypotheses were raised based on three aspects of stock market cycles: stock market cycle characteristics, correlations of stock indices’ changes and economic background in light of stock cycles’ peaks. Only second and third hypotheses were proved. Assessing all three hypotheses Scandinavian stock market history is not suitable to make prognosis for stock markets cycles in Baltic states because of lots of differences.

I identified suitable locations for highway wildlife crossing mitigations across the TransCanada Highway (TCH) in the area of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Park (MRGNP), British Columbia. Highways fragment natural landscapes leading to habitat loss, reduced ecosystem connectivity and direct wildlife mortality though motor vehicle collisions. Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) are vulnerable to the effects of habitat and population fragmentation. Highway wildlife crossing mitigations improve ecosystem connectivity by increasing the permeability of transportation corridors to wildlife. I identified high-quality habitat patches using a resource selection function (RSF) based on 1,703 radio telemetry locations from 59 grizzly bears. Least-cost path analysis (LCP) among habitat patches identified 6 linkage zones across the TCH. Electric circuit theory was used to generate current maps that classify linkage zones as high-volume crossing areas or tenuous linkages. Linkage zones occurred where high-quality habitat aligned with physical features conducive to cross-valley wildlife dispersal.

Environmental Education is becoming increasingly important as human populations expand into wildlife habitat, often resulting in human/wildlife conflicts. Meadow Creek British Columbia has experienced a long history of conflicts with grizzly bears resulting in significant bear mortalities. This qualitative research investigates human attitudes and behaviours relating to human/grizzly bear coexistence in this area. Twenty eight participants with diverse values contributed to in-depth interviews and a focus group that revealed perceived barriers and potential solutions to human/grizzly bear coexistence. Results show increased attitudes of tolerance since mid-2000s and that on-going support is needed to enable bears and humans to coexist. This research suggests coexisting with grizzly bears in Meadow Creek may serve to improve the linkage function of this area, making coexistence important to local grizzly populations. This work may be a useful study for communities in areas of high human/bear conflicts or in linkage areas between threatened populations of wildlife.

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The black bear (Ursus americanus) has returned to Kentucky and is now part of a reproducing population in the southeastern Cumberland Mountain region. The broad objective of this project was to examine the interactions between people and bears, with the ultimate goal of improving bear management in a way that addresses stakeholder concerns. Using interviews of regional stakeholders, participant observation, and media reports collected between summer 2003 and fall 2006, I investigated how the presence of black bears in Harlan and Letcher counties in Kentucky has had an impact on area residents. I complemented this information with observations of bear behavior and an analysis of bear capture and handling data collected within the study period. Artificial provisioning of bears was widespread and >60% of black bears captured were confirmed to use anthropogenic foods at least some of the time. I found a significant difference (P<0.0001) in the apparent physical condition of confirmed anthropogenic feeding bears and bears whose feeding behavior was unknown, and similar differences in physical condition between bears captured along traplines in Harlan and Letcher counties when compared to bears captured along traplines in Bell County (P<0.01). Mean litter size was 3.25 ± 0.11 (SE), significantly above average for eastern North America (P<0.05) although cub survival remains unknown. All documented mortality of adult bears was human-caused. Anthropogenic food sources may affect bear behavior, survival, reproduction, and physiology, as well as bring bears into close contact with humans. Artificial provisioning is currently an important part of bear-human interaction in eastern Kentucky, both facilitating bear tourism as well as precipitating nuisance problems. Cessation of provisioning could have important consequences for the developing tourism industry in the region and for the bears themselves. Both the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and many local people have an interest in conserving bears, but problems have arisen due to differing conceptions of appropriate or desirable management. A better understanding of the human dynamics and cooperation taking place in this situation could provide much-needed information both in Kentucky and in other localities where stakeholders are debating how to co-exist with wildlife.

In 1975, the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed the grizzly bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Following the listing, a recovery plan was drafted in which the Bitterroot Ecosystem of central Idaho and extreme western Montana was one of six proposed grizzly bear recovery areas. It was the only one of the six, however, which did not contain a resident population of grizzlies. The Fish and Wildlife Service eventually accepted a proposal submitted by a coalition of environmental and timber industry groups. The coalition proposed to reestablish a population of grizzlies in the Bitterroot by translocating 25 bears over five years from existing populations in the US and Canada. The proposal, however, included significant concessions, including reduced protection for the reintroduced grizzlies and management of the grizzly population by a Citizen Management Committee. A large contingent of regional and national environmental groups quickly rose up in vociferous objection to the proposal exposing a significant rift within the environmental movement. These environmentalists objected to the very idea of Citizen Management and also claimed that the proposed recovery area was too small to ensure recovery. Drawing on interviews and document analyses, this dissertation employs an environmental pragmatist approach to examine the intra-environmentalist disputes that flared up throughout the Bitterroot grizzly recovery debates. The dissertation focuses on the relationship between environmental ideologies, science, and conservation advocacy, with an eye toward examining how environmentalists crafted and defended rival proposals for grizzly recovery. Through this interpretive lens, the dissertation aims to explain the existence and persistence of this intra-environmentalism rift as well as explore its ramifications for environmentalism in the region. While no wholly unified environmental movement can ever be possible or is even necessarily desirable unwavering commitments to unreachable ideals on the part of many environmentalists are hindering the growth, flexibility and efficacy of conservation in the region. The main contribution of this dissertation will be to provide an empirical case study that defends the environmental pragmatist assertion that hostile and unnecessary divisiveness within the environmental movement ultimately obstructs the development of a more successful environmentalism.

The Asiatic black bear, or 'moon bear', has inhabited Japan since pre-historic times, and is the largest animal to have roamed Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu since mega-fauna became extinct on the Japanese archipelago after the last glacial period. Despite this, the bear features only rarely in the folklore, literature and arts of Japan's mainstream culture. This relative cultural invisibility in the lowland agrarian-based culture of Japan contrasts markedly with its cultural significance in many upland regions where subsistence lifestyles based on hunting, gathering and beliefs centred on the mountain deity (yama no kami) have persisted until recently. However, in recent decades the bear has been propelled from its position of relative cultural obscurity into the forefront of mainstream society's attention. As more and more of the bear's habitat is destroyed or degraded through forestry and development, the bear is increasingly encroaching onto human territory in its search for food, leading to pestilence and bear attacks. This thesis examines the nature of the contemporary human-bear relationship in Japan, dominated by human-bear conflict, or the so-called 'bear problem'. To better understand the contemporary response to the bear, the thesis explores the historical relationship of the Japanese with both the bear and its habitat, the forested uplands. The thesis further seeks to understand how cultural, historical, social and geographic factors influence a society's response to wildlife conflict and what can be learnt from the Japanese example which can be applied to the understanding of human society's response to wildlife conflict elsewhere.