published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / abstract / Applied Geosciences / Master / Master of Science

De nombreuses familles de polluants organiques en provenance de différentes sources se retrouvent dans les milieux aquatiques continentaux et littoraux. Ces molécules, dont les lipophiles et les persistantes, sont souvent présentes à l'état de trace dans la fraction dissoute. L'utilisation de compartiments concentrateurs comme les sédiments rend alors plus accessible l'évaluation des concentrations ambiantes du milieu. L'objectif de la thèse a été d'évaluer l'exposition en zones côtières aux différentes familles de contaminants organiques « émergents » incluant les filtres UV, les alkylphénols et les alkylphénols polyéthoxylés, ainsi que « persistants-classiques » incluant les hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques et les polychlorobiphényles dans les sédiments et, éventuellement, dans les eaux. Un important effort de recherche a été accordé à l'étude des variations spatiales et temporelles des contaminants sélectionnés dans les sédiments, permettant ainsi l'acquisition d'un premier jeu de données nationales (libanais) représentatif pour ces familles de contaminants.Trois rivières en Méditerranée orientale et leur environnement côtier ont été pris comme cas d'étude en plus de la côte d'une petite ville et ses sites portuaires qui ont été sélectionnés afin de compléter l'étude en milieu côtier. Un premier aperçu des niveaux de ces contaminants hydrophobes dans les zones côtières recevant des apports typiques de la Méditerranée orientale est ainsi fourni. Les résultats des analyses chimiques ont clairement montré l'impact des rejets des effluents non traités dans les zones côtières via les entrées des rivières et les déversements directs le long de la côte, en absence des activités récréatives (pour les filtres UV) et de rejets industriels (pour les alkylphénols et les alkylphénols polyéthoxylés). Les zones de transition peuvent être à l'origine de la contamination de l'environnement côtier des trois rivières par ces polluants émergents en absence des apports marins. Des concentrations élevées en hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques et en polychlorobiphényles ont été mesurées dans les sédiments prélevés en milieu côtier. Cette contamination a persisté des années après la marée noire qui a envahi la côte Est-Méditerranéenne en 2006. Nos résultats globaux indiquent que les concentrations mesurées dans les sédiments des trois rivières étudiées et du littoral peuvent être classées parmi les niveaux les plus élevés détectés dans le pourtour du bassin méditerranéen et pouvant induire des effets toxiques chez le biota aquatique.Ce travail peut être d'une importance primordiale pour la région Est-Méditerranéenne, et plus particulièrement pour le Liban, un pays qui, malgré d'être parmi les signataires de la convention de Barcelone pour la protection de la mer Méditerranée et qui est, par la suite, impliqué dans la surveillance de la qualité de son milieu marin, souffre jusqu'à présent des rejets de différents types d'effluents non traités le long de ces côtes en absence des stations d'épuration. / Many organic pollutants issued from different sources are present into freshwater and coastal waters. Since these lipophilic contaminants are present at trace levels in water, accumulator compartments such as sediments can be used to assess their concentration in aquatic systems. The objective of the thesis was to assess the exposure in coastal areas to the various families of organic contaminants namely "emerging pollutants" including UV filters, alkylphenols, alkylphenol polyethoxylates, and "persistent pollutants" including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in sediments and water. A major research effort has been given to the investigation spatial and temporal dynamics of the selected pollutants in sediment, allowing the acquisition of a first set of national data (Lebanese).Three rivers and their coastal environment in the eastern Mediterranean have been taken as a case study in addition to the small coastal city that was selected to complete the study in the coastal environment. A first overview of the levels of these hydrophobic contaminants in coastal areas receiving typical eastern Mediterranean inputs is thus provided. The results of chemical analyzes have clearly shown the impact of discharges of untreated effluents into coastal areas via inputs from rivers and direct discharges along the coast, without recreational activities (for UV filters) and industrial effluents discharges (for alkylphenols and alkylphenol polyethoxylates). Transition zones may act like a source of contamination of the three rivers coastal environment in the absence of marine inputs. Elevated concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls were measured in sediments in coastal environments. This contamination has persisted for years after the oil spill that has invaded the Mediterranean coast in 2006. Our overall results indicate that concentrations in sediments of the three studied rivers and the coastline can be classified among the highest levels detected in the Mediterranean basin and may induce toxic effects in aquatic biota.This work may be of paramount importance for the East-Mediterranean region, and particularly for Lebanon, a country which, despite being a signatory to the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea and is, subsequently involved in monitoring the quality of its marine environment, suffers far different types of discharges of untreated effluent along its coast in the absence of wastewater treatment plants.

La question des énergies marines renouvelables dégage des problématiques juridiques complexes qui intéressent le droit tant dans sa dimension internationale, européenne que nationale. L’effervescence des initiatives publiques et privées en ce domaine implique une approche adaptée en vue d’améliorer et de développer les instruments juridiques nécessaires au développement durable des énergies de la mer. Cette approche suppose trois niveaux d’analyse. Au regard du droit international, celle-ci se caractérise par une finalité environnementale qui relève plus globalement de l’intérêt général. En ce sens, la conversion d’énergies marines n’engendre pas d’émission de gaz à effet de serre et son impact sur le milieu marin est généralement minime. Avec le concours des énergies de la mer, les États seront à même de respecter leurs engagements supranationaux, notamment en matière de changements climatiques. De surcroît, le droit de la mer offre une sécurité juridique dans l’utilisation de l’espace maritime en définissant non seulement les droits, mais les obligations des États côtiers. À l’échelle européenne, la sécurité juridique est liée à l’objectif d’une part d’au moins 20 % d’énergie produite à partir de sources renouvelables dans la consommation finale brute d’énergie de l’Union d’ici à 2020 et encouragée par l’initiative des États riverains des mers du Nord en faveur d’un réseau off-shore dans le contexte de l’émergence du marché européen des énergies renouvelables. Au plan national, l’analyse du droit interne met en lumière les meilleures pratiques relatives au développement des énergies marines renouvelables en termes de promotion des investissements et de gestion durable des mers et des océans. / The issue of marine renewable energies raises complex legal problems which interest the Law in its International, European and Domestic dimension. The effervescence of public and private initiatives on the matter requires a tailored approach to improve and develop legal instruments to support development of ocean energies. This approach elicits three levels of analysis. According to the International Law, it is marked by an environmental objective resulting from public interest. In this sense, marine energy conversion does not generate greenhouse gas emissions and its impact on the marine environment is generally minimal. With the help of these renewable energies, States will be able to respect their supranational commitments, particularly regarding climate change. In addition, the Law of the Sea provides legal certainty in the use of ocean space, by defining not only rights but obligations to coastal states. At the European level, legal certainty is connected to the target of at least 20 % share of energy from renewable sources in the Union's gross final consumption of energy by 2020, and is especially encouraged by the North Seas Countries' Offshore Grid Initiative in the context of the Europe's emerging renewable energy market. On a National perspective, the analysis of Comparative Law highlights the best practices related to offshore renewable development in terms of promoting investment and sustainable ocean management.

L’Algérie est un pays producteur et exportateur d’hydrocarbures, mais cette source de revenus qui fait vivre plus de 30 millions d’habitants sera tarie dans moins de 30 ans. Le spectre de l’après-pétrole se manifestera au moment où l’on s’attendra le moins sans qu’aucune mesure n’ait été prise pour y faire face. L’une des solutions de substitution aux hydrocarbures est de développer le secteur du tourisme. C’est un enjeu économique qui assurera des ressources en devises et leurs effets positifs sur la balance des paiements. Sur le plan social, il permettra d’accroître l’emploi sachant qu’il existe un écart important entre la demande et l’offre en matière de travail. C’est également un enjeu environnemental puisqu’il nécessite l’existence de potentialités de qualité pour assurer sa pérennité.C’est dans ce cadre que nous avons inscrit notre recherche pour un développement touristique en Algérie dans sa dimension intégrée, respectueux de l’environnement, en étayant notre travail en prenant pour cas d’étude Alger, la capitale étant la vitrine du pays. Pour ce faire, nous avons établi un état des lieux du tourisme en Algérie et des impacts environnementaux sur les espaces touristiques. Le tourisme n’est pas développé malgré la diversité des potentialités et les multiples stratégies de développement touristique qui se sont succédées. Par ailleurs, sachant que le secteur touristique subit les impacts des autres activités sur l’environnement, nous avons détaillé les sources de dégradation en revenant sur le cas algérois qui montre bien la situation environnementale catastrophique qui prévaut dans le pays. Tout cela a permis de dégager des perspectives / Algeria is a producing and exporting country of hydrocarbons, but this revenue stream which made live more than 30 million inhabitants will be dried up in less than 30 years. The spectre of it after oil will show itself as we shall expect least unless no measure was taken to face it. One of the substitution solutions to hydrocarbons is to develop the sector of the tourism. It is an economic stake which will assure resources in currencies and their positive effects on the balance of payments. On the redundancy plan, it will allow to increase the employment knowing that there is a distance mattering between the demand and the offer regarding work. It is also an environmental stake because it requires the existence of quality potentialities to assure its sustainability.It is in this frame that we registered our research for a tourist development in Algeria in its integrated dimension, environment-friendly, by supporting our work by taking for study case Algiers, the capital being the showcase of the country. To do it, we established a current situation of the tourism in Algeria and the environmental impacts on the tourist spaces. The tourism is not developed in spite of the diversity of the potentialities and the multiple strategies of tourist development which followed one another. Besides, knowing that the tourist sector undergoes the impacts of the other activities on the environment, we detailed the sources of degradation by returning on the case of Algiers which shows well the catastrophic environmental situation which prevails in the country. ll this allowed to clear perspectives for a development integrated of the tourism on the coast of Algiers, which can be adapted to every entity of the algerian coast.

Este trabalho objetivou a quantificação da serapilheira produzida nas florestas de mangue e a análise da sua relação com fatores ambientais na baía de Guanabara. A produção total média bianual variou entre 4,7 e 22,8 t.ha-1.ano-1, com média de 13,4 (± 3,79) t.ha-1.ano-1 em vinte quatro estações distribuídas no estuário. Na baía a salinidade da água intersticial nas estações demonstrou uma relação inversamente proporcional com a produção. A produção da folha abrangeu, em média, 60% da queda total de serapilheira, seguido por propágulos (18,7%) e galhos (13%). As variações temporais foram sazonais, com diferença estatistica significativa entre os meses de maior (verão) e menor (inverno) produção. Os anos de amostragem também apresentaram grandes diferenças na produção de serapilheira, ligada a queda de propágulos, particularmente de Rhizophora mangle, responsáveis em muitos casos pelos picos encontrados. As variáveis estruturais definiram importantes relações nas transversais, com regressão negativa entre a densidade e uma positiva para o DAP médio e a produção de serapilheira. Obteve-se uma correlação positiva entre a variação da produção e a temperatura média do ar, mas com coeficientes baixos. Ao final do estudo foi possível atestar a elevada importância dos manguezais como produtores de detritos na baía realçando seu importante papel dentro do estuário. / This work objectified the quantification of litterfall produced in mangrove forests and the analysis of its relation with environmental factors in Guanabara bay. The biannual average total production varied between 4,7 and 22,8 t.ha-1.year-1, with an average of 13,4 (± 3,79) t.ha-1.year-1 in twenty four stations distributed in the estuary. In this bay, the salinity of interstitial water demonstrated an inversely proportional relation with production. Leaf production comprised, on average, 60% of total litter fall followed by propagule (18,7%) and wood (13%). The temporal variation was seasonal with a maximum in the summer season and minimum in the winter season. The two years of sampling also showed great differences in litterfall production that were linked to the fall of propagules, particularly of Rhizophora mangle, responsible in many cases for the formation of peaks. Structural variables defined important relations for the transects, with negative regression between density and positive for DBH and litterfall production. Litter production was highly variable and negatively correlated with air temperature. In the end of this study, it was possible to attest the importance of mangrove forests as producers of litter in the bay, enhancing its important role for the estuary.

Globally, coral reefs are in severe decline (Jackson et al., 2001) and face potential extinction of 1/3 of reef species by 2050 (Veron, 2011). This decline is the result of the inability of coral communities to recover after disturbance events, often resulting in a shift from coral- to macro-algal dominated regimes. Reef resources managers are in need of tools to assess the condition of these ecosystems prior to, during, and post disturbance, especially in regions of the world where coral cover and diversity are high, yet management resources are scarce. Foraminifera have been widely utilized as bioindicators in both modern and paleoenvironments for more than a century due to their abundance, diverse functional morphology, rapid generation time, global distribution, and rich geologic record (Sen Gupta, 1999; Hallock et al., 2003). The FoRAM Index (FI) was developed as a single metric indicator to assess whether water quality supports coral recruitment and reproduction in Caribbean and Western Atlantic coral reefs (Hallock et al., 2003), yet the FI has not been widely applied to Indo-Pacific coral reefs. This study reports benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Pulau Karangmadjat, Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, and is the first to provide in situ foraminiferal assemblages for the Mentawai region. Results revealed overall low Shannon’s H’ and Fisher’s alpha, and low Buzas and Gibson’s evenness values across 13 sample sites selected from a variety of reef habitat zones. Values for the FI were also calculated and were extremely high across all sites due to the dominance of symbiont-bearing calcarinid taxa, suggesting favorable water quality conditions. Q-mode hierarchical cluster analysis revealed 4 clusters, only one of which corresponded in its entirety to a well defined benthic habitat zone. Overall, a high degree of similarity between foraminiferal assemblages was present for most sites sampled due to the dominance of calcarinids, suggesting prevalence of a macro-algal substrate, and potentially a shift from a coral- to macro-algal dominated regime for this study area. Utilization of indices like the FI, when used in conjunction with non-FI analysis of foraminiferal assemblages, may aid managers in deducing drivers of regime shifts on Indonesian coral reefs, which may ultimately facilitate solutions for reef conservation and recovery following natural and anthropogenic disturbance. Further testing of the applicability of the FI on Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific reefs is needed to in order to test this hypothesis. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Seagrass is a key stone component for the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) ecosystem, and therefore it is an important topic for many studies in the lagoon. This study focuses on the effects of seagrass beds on the hydrodynamics in the IRL. A hydrodynamic model based on the Delft3D modeling system has been developed for the southern IRL including the St. Lucie estuary, Ft. Pierce and St. Lucie Inlets, and adjacent coastal waters. The model is driven by freshwater inputs from the watershed, tides, meteorological forcing, and oceanic boundary forcing. The model has been systematically calibrated through a series of numerical experiments for key parameters, particularly the bottom roughness, and configuration including heat flux formulation and bottom bathymetry. The model skills were evaluated with quantitative metrics (point-to-point correlation, root-mean-square difference, and mean bias) to gauge the agreements between model and data for key variables including temperature, salinity, and currents. A three-year (2013-2015) simulation has been performed, and the results have been validated with available data including observations at HBOI Land-Ocean Biogeochemistry Observatory (LOBO) stations and in situ measurements from various sources. The validated model is then used to investigate the effects of 1) model vertical resolution (total number of model vertical layers), 2) spatial variability of surface winds, and 3) seagrass beds on the simulated hydrodynamics. The study focuses on the vicinity of Ft. Pierce Inlet, where significant seagrass coverage can be found. A series of numerical experiments were performed with a combination of different configurations. Overall, the experiment with 2-dimensional (2-D) winds, ten vertical layers and incorporating seagrass provided the most satisfactory outcomes. Overall, both vertical resolution and spatial variability of surface winds affect significantly the model results. In particular, increasing vertical resolution improves model prediction of temperature, salinity and currents. Similarly, the model with 2-D winds yields more realistic results than the model forced by 0-D winds. The seagrass beds have significant effects on the model results, particularly the tidal and sub-tidal currents. In general, model results show that both tidal and sub-tidal currents are much weaker due to increase bottom friction from seagrass. For tidal currents, the strongest impacts lie in the main channel (inter-coastal waterway) and western part of the lagoon, where strong tidal currents can be found. Inclusion of seagrass in the model also improves the simulation of sub-tidal currents. Seagrass beds also affect model temperature and salinity including strengthening vertical stratification. In general, seagrass effects vary over time, particularly tidal cycle with stronger effects seen in flood and ebb tides, and seasonal cycle with stronger effects in the summer than in winter. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Increasing sea levels have the potential to place important portions of the infrastructure we rely on every day at risk. The transportation infrastructure relies on roads, airports, and seaports to move people, services, and goods around in an ever connected global economy. Any disturbances of the transportation modes have reverberating effects throughout the entire economic spectrum. The effects include delays, alterations of routes, and possible changes in the origin and destinations of services and goods. The purpose of this project is to develop an improved methodology for a sea level rise scenario vulnerability assessment model. This new model uses the groundwater elevation as a limiting factor for soil storage capacity in determining previously underestimated areas of vulnerability. The hope is that early identification of vulnerability will allow planners and government officials an opportunity to identify and either remediate or create alternative solutions for vulnerable land areas before high consequence impacts are felt. / by Thomas Romah. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

A confounding factor for sea level rise (SLR) is that it has a slow, steady creep, which provides a false sense for coastal communities. Stresses caused by SLR at today’s rate are more pronounced in southeastern Florida and as the rate of SLR accelerates, the exposure areas will increase to a point where nearly all the state’s coastal infrastructure will be challenged. The research was conducted to develop a method for measuring the impact of SLR on the City of West Palm Beach (City), assess its impact on the stormwater system, identify vulnerable areas in the City, provide an estimate of long-term costs of improvements, and provide a toolbox or strategies to employ at the appropriate time. The assessment was conducted by importing tidal, groundwater, topographic LiDAR and infrastructure improvements into geographic modeling software and performing analysis based on current data. The data revealed that over $400 million in current dollars might be needed to address stormwater issues arising from SLR before 2100. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection