2.4 billion people worldwide lack access to basic sanitation solutions, with major health and environmental impact as a result. The recently adopted worldwide Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aim to reduce this problem and extend the access to basic sanitation. The sanitation systems have to be safe to manage, and resources such as nutrients within the waste be recovered to a great extent, for the system to be worthwhile. For Burkina Faso, a low-income country in West Africa, achieving the SDGs will be a challenge, especially considering the almost 9 million people that lack access to basic sanitation. One way of achieving this is through Ecological Sanitation (EcoSan), an innovation with the goal of protecting human health and enabling reuse of sanitized human excreta as fertilizer. The overall purpose of this study is to provide sanitation practitioners in Burkina Faso with useful information on how to better carry out EcoSan interventions in the future, within the scope of achieving the SDGs.The study aim is to investigate why and to what extent earlier EcoSan latrines have not been used to their full capacity regarding nutrient recovery to local agriculture. The results are mainly based on a household survey conducted on rural Burkinabe households possessing an EcoSan latrine and supplemented with focus group discussions, key informant interviews and measurements on site. To fulfill the study objective, a material flow analysis was performed which showed that nutrient losses of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium all were likely to exceed 80%, compared to the theoretically calculated values. Additionally, 14 barriers for recovery of nutrients were identified, where the most important ones concern urine collection and storage. Furthermore, results showed that use and reuse practices tended to be higher if initialtraining focused on agricultural aspects rather than hygiene aspects. / 2.4 miljarder människor världen över saknar idag tillgång till grundläggande sanitetslösningar, med stora effekter på människor hälsa och närmiljö som följd. Tillgång till sanitet ska inte bara uppfyllas, enligt de nyligen antagna globala målen för hållbar utveckling (SDG) ska hantering av det mänskliga avfallet ske på ett  säkert sätt samt att näringsresurserna i detta återvinnas. För Burkina Faso beläget i Västafrika och ett av världens fattigaste länder, kommer det bli en stor utmaning att uppnå SDG-målsättningarna, särskilt med tanke på de nästan 9 miljoner invånare som helt saknar tillgång till grundläggande sanitet. Ett sätt att uppnå målsättningarna är genom ekologisk sanitet (EcoSan), ett koncept med målen att skydda människors hälsa samt möjliggöra återanvändning av hygieniserat mänskligt avfall som gödningsmedel i det lokala jordbruket. Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att ge aktörer inom sanitetssektorn i Burkina Faso användbar information om hur EcoSan-interventioner kan genomföras bättre i framtiden inom ramen för SDG. Det närliggande syftet var att undersöka varför och i vilken utsträckning tidigare EcoSan-latriner inte har använts till sin fulla kapacitet när det gäller näringsåtervinning till det lokala jordbruket. Resultaten baseras huvudsakligen på en enkät på Burkinska hushåll som äger en EcoSan och kompletterades med fokusgruppdiskussioner, intervjuer med nyckelpersoner och mätningar. För att uppfylla syftet med projektet genomfördes en materialflödesanalys för att kvantifiera skillnaden mellan teoretisk och praktisk återföring av näringsämnena kväve, fosfor och kalium till jordbruket. Förlusten av samtliga tre näringsämnen överskred 80%. Dessutom identifierades 14 barriärer för återföringen, där de viktigaste rör insamling och lagring av urin. Hushållens återföringspraxis tenderade att bli högre om den initiala undervisningen var mer inriktad mot jordbruksaspekten än på hygienaspekten.

Объектом исследования является экологическое сознание жителей Екатеринбурга. Цель работы − на основе изучения теоретического материала и практического анализа определить состояние экологического сознания жителей города Екатеринбурга для прогноза тенденций и разработки рекомендаций по развитию общественного экологического сознания. Основными методами проведения исследования стали анкетный опрос, полуформализованные интервью, количественный анализ данных с помощью программ SPSS 24.0 и MicrosoftOfficeExcel, контент-анализ. В процессе исследования было проанализировано современное состояние общественного экологического сознания, выявлены основные тенденции и перспективы развития. Результатом работы стала разработка ряда рекомендаций и мероприятий по развитию экологического сознания жителей города Екатеринбурга. / The object of the research is the environmental consciousness of the of citizens of Ekaterinburg. The purpose of the report is to determine the condition of environmental consciousness of the residents of the city of Ekaterinburg based on studying theoretical material and practical analysis. The author made a forecast of trends and developed recommendations about ecological consciousness. The main methods of the research were survey, semi-formalized interviews, quantitative data analysis using SPSS 24.0 and Microsoft OfficeExcel, content analysis. During the research, the current state of public environmental consciousness was analyzed, the main trends and development prospects were identified. The result of the work was the development of a few recommendations and measures for the development of environmental awareness of residents of the city of Ekaterinburg.

A major problem of mankind is the continuous degradation of the environment. In order to protect the environmental components, it was necessary for the competent authorities to adopt specific legal norms, which could sanction the possible behaviors of the people towards the environment. Legal liability for the environmental law was necessarily established, due to the national ecological situation increasingly affected by the consequences of industrialization and automation, by the irrational exploitation of natural resources. It is necessary to mention certain shortcomings related to the effectiveness of criminal and contraventional law regulations in ensuring the goals of protecting the environment. Thus, examining the new criminal and contraventional law regulations in the chapter Environmental Crimes and Contraventions (ecological), we note certain circumstances that characterize them positively, just same as we note certain circumstances that characterize them negatively. The article tackles the aspects concerning ecological balance, pollution and effects on environmental damage. and refers to the differences in criminal and contravention liability, trying to offer some solutions to the current ecological situation.

No description available.

The aim of this study is to examine the public preferences for urban riparian corridors in arid ‎regions, by testing to what extent people are willing to trade-off unmaintained ecological ‎landscape for aesthetics offered by specific micro and ‎macro environmental factors. Landscape ‎design reflects ecological and aesthetic values, and trade-offs are often made ‎between the two in ‎‎practice. In arid regions, water scarcity means riparian corridors are the ‎richest landscape ‎typology and the only ‎blue-green links for hundreds of miles. Pressure from ‎urbanization and ‎lack of eco-literacy contribute to negative ‎feedback loops which present dire ‎challenges for ‎migrating avifauna and regional wildlife. Regarding natural ‎resources and ‎biodiversity, where ‎multiple deliverable ‎ecosystem services rely on the quality and health of that ‎‎ecosystem, riparian ‎systems with high biomass are more desirable. Although this can be ‎achieved with low or no ‎‎maintenance riparian buffers, these unmaintained ecological landscapes ‎play an intrinsic role in ‎sustaining the ‎global ecosystem services and are important for the survival of the inhabitants ‎‎(avifauna). Ecological ‎landscapes are often subjected to trade-offs with aesthetic ‎landscapes that ‎include micro and ‎macro environmental factors such as manicured landscapes. It is accepted that ‎‎there is a ‎preference for aesthetics in landscape design; however, it is unclear how laypeople ‎prioritize ‎aesthetics ‎over different ecological factors in landscape scenes. This study uses a ‎Discrete Choice ‎Experiment (DCE) to elicit the ‎preferences of current or pretendant residents of ‎Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia for multiple landscape scenes. The method ‎combines ecological ‎landscape characteristics adopted from ‎the QBR index that are found in the study area in Jeddah ‎and aesthetic ‎characteristics, such as micro and macro environmental factors that are commonly ‎suggested in landscape design projects adapted from relevant visual preference studies (Alsaiari, ‎‎2018; Kenwick et al., 2009; Kuper‎ ‎,‎2017; Zhao et al., 2017). ‎DCE is a widely used method to ‎reveal preferences by analyzing the trade-offs people make ‎between ‎alternatives. Participants in ‎this study were exposed to a set of designs, which included ‎various configurations of ‎aesthetic ‎and ecological elements. Participants' choices revealed the influence of their ecological and ‎‎aesthetic values. Results show that minimal design interventions would prevent trading off the ‎ecological unmaintained landscape and that there are four subgroups with distinct homogeneous ‎preferences for the attributes affecting the appeal for the urban riparian corridor in Jeddah City. ‎Finally, results show that even though there are significant differences between subgroups based ‎on preferences, the demographic information is proportionally distributed in a way the means ‎differences diminish between the subgroups. ‎Findings in this study will equip ‎decision-makers ‎with operational definitions relating to riparian ‎landscape design and a method ‎that they can use ‎to minimize losses in ecological value over aesthetic value. This study will help‎ ‎researchers and ‎landscape architects advance visual preference research further into the domain ‎of empirical ‎‎studies.‎ ‎ / Doctor of Philosophy / Landscape architecture is a profession that entails planning and design outdoor spaces, ‎‎landmarks, and ‎structures to improve the built environment and increasing the quality of ‎‎people's lives by achieving ‎environmental, social, economic, and aesthetic outcomes‎. The ‎profession often reflects ecological and ‎aesthetic values, and trade-offs are often made ‎between ‎the two in ‎practice. These ecological values ‎represent environmental characteristics that are ‎important for the survival of wildlife (protected path ‎and safe habitat) and the overall ecosystem ‎‎(every being has a role that sustain the health of the ‎environment). Culturally, human is ‎accustomed to a slick-and-clean (tamped) looking plant within urban ‎developments (i.e., ‎neighborhoods). An example of the trade-off that often happen in practice between ‎the ‎ecological and aesthetic values is replacing an ecologically unmaintained plants that play ‎important ‎ecological role (i.e., wildlife habitat) with clean tamped plants to increase the value of ‎a real estate. Due ‎to the uncertainty surrounding people's acceptance of the features of these ‎ecological unmaintained ‎plants, especially when it entails introducing ecological riparian ‎landscape attributes within ‎neighborhoods for the first time, this dissertation focuses on both ‎assessing ecological elements ‎preferences within an urban arid region in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ‎and assessing the extent to which ‎advanced analytical methods are capable of providing a better ‎understanding of ecological riparian ‎landscape attributes preference differences among a ‎seemingly homogenous sample of participants. ‎The increasing usage of manipulated images in ‎choice tasks inspired this dissertation. The results of the ‎study demonstrate that among the ‎relatively homogenous sample of participants that was recruited, ‎four significant preference ‎patterns have emerged, which could be used to describe and predict ‎preference for ecological ‎riparian landscape attributes and choice with great accuracy. The dissertation ‎also investigates ‎policy implications that might be beneficial in creating a ‎physical environment that ‎match public ‎preferences. ‎It also offers research implications and recommendations for landscape ‎architects ‎and urban designers on how to employ visual choice experiments, which have been well-‎‎developed in other research field

<p dir="ltr">Coastal ecosystems are critically important habitats for the services they provide on a global and local scale. Maritime forests are found within the southern Atlantic coast, and they serve as a boundary between the ocean and land. These forests stabilize coastlines, recharge groundwater, and provide a protective buffer against storm damage. Southern live oak (<i>Quercus virginiana</i>) was historically the dominant canopy species in maritime forests; however, previous land conversions to loblolly pine (<i>Pinus taeda</i>) plantations have shifted the abundance of loblolly pine to become the dominant canopy tree in maritime forests. Loblolly pines are fast growing, and they regenerate vigorously but they are not well adapted to coastal stressor. In recent decades, outbreaks of southern pine beetle (<i>Dendroctonus frontalis</i>) have provided restoration practitioners an opportunity to clear tracts of pine dominated maritime forest to restore live oak to the canopy. This research project is comprised of two experiments studying the performance of planted <i>Q. virginiana</i> seedlings on maritime forest restoration sites in coastal Georgia. The first experiment evaluated planting density (1-meter, 2-meters, 3-meters), mulch (with or without), and fertilizer (with or without). Overall seedling survival was 99% after four years. The application of fertilizer had an initial positive effect on seedling diameter after the first growing season. The application of mulch increased seedling height in the second to fourth growing seasons, diameter in third and fourth, and crown width in the fourth growing season. Planting density had no consistent effect over the first four years, and no biological significance was observed for foliar nutrient content. The second experiment examined eight different groupings of intra- and interspecific competition between <i>Q. virginiana</i> and <i>P. taeda</i> including: oak or pine alone; oak surrounded by oak, pine, or oak/pine; pine surrounded by pine, oak, or pine/oak at 0.5-m spacing between all seedlings. Two years after outplanting, survival did not vary by treatment. Oak centered competition plots were positively impacted by border tree height and diameter in year one and border height positively affected the center tree height in year two. Pine centered competition plots were positively impacted by border tree height in year one and year two. Oak centered competition plots with a mix of oak and pine on the border had significantly lower osmotic potential than other pine centric treatments after two years. Overall, oak centered treatments had lower osmotic potential than pine centered treatments. Ectomycorrhizal (EMF) species composition changed, and relative abundance increased from the initial planting to two years later but there was no variation between treatments and most EMF species were generalists. These results highlight the importance of mulch and fertilizer to reduce transplant shock and how competing seedlings can train seedlings to allocate photosynthate to shoot growth to help promote aboveground growth.</p>

Global change holds complex consequences for Earth's ecosystems, with global warming simultaneously affecting multiple aspects including individual physiology, population dynamics and ecosystem processes. In a recent study on stream decomposition under global warming, Réveillon, et al. (2022) combined individual-level laboratory assessments of metabolic rates and leaf-litter ingestion with experimentally parameterized consumer-resource models, designed to reveal how stream-detritivore populations respond to combined impacts of warming and declining body size. Their findings of reduced energetic efficiency, weakened detritivore populations and reduced decomposition in warmed streams expand our understanding of how global change mechanistically links changes from the individual to the ecosystem level.

Dissolved oxygen concentrations are declining in the bottom waters of many lakes around the world, posing critical water quality concerns. Throughout my dissertation, I assessed how bottom-water dissolved oxygen may mediate the effects of climate and land use change on water quality in lakes. First, I characterized causes of variation in summer bottom-water temperature and dissolved oxygen. I demonstrated that spring air temperatures may play a greater role than summer air temperatures in shaping summer bottom-water dynamics. I then characterized the effects of declining bottom-water oxygen concentrations across diverse scales of analysis (i.e., using microcosm incubations, whole-ecosystem oxygenation experiments, and data analysis of >600 widespread lakes). I found that low dissolved oxygen concentrations contributed to release of nutrients and organic carbon from lake sediments, potentially altering the role of lakes in global biogeochemical cycles. Importantly, I also found support for a previously-hypothesized Anoxia Begets Anoxia feedback, whereby bottom-water anoxia (i.e., no dissolved oxygen) in a given year promotes increasingly severe occurrences of anoxia in following summers. This finding demonstrates the need for forecasts of future oxygen dynamics in lakes, as management actions to preempt the first occurrence of anoxia will be more effective than actions to restore ecological function after oxygen concentrations have already declined. To build the capacity for such forecasts, I led a systematic review of ecological forecasting literature that characterized the state of the field, emerging best practices, and relative predictability of four ecological variables. Combined, my dissertation provides a mechanistic examination of the effects of climate change on water quality in lakes worldwide, ultimately helping to anticipate, mitigate, and preempt future water quality declines. / Doctor of Philosophy / Changes in climate and land use have caused dissolved oxygen concentrations to decline in many lakes around the world. These declines are concerning because low oxygen concentrations can cause substantial water quality problems. If we could better predict future water quality, we may be able to develop more effective lake management programs. To help meet this need, I analyzed how dissolved oxygen has mediated historical changes in water quality, and how dissolved oxygen may affect water quality in the future. I focused on bottom-water (rather than surface-water) dissolved oxygen, because bottom waters are more likely to experience very low oxygen concentrations that can lead to water quality problems. I started by assessing the drivers of summer bottom-water dissolved oxygen in 615 lakes. Across these lakes, spring air temperatures played a greater role than summer air temperatures in shaping summer bottom-water temperature and dissolved oxygen. I then characterized the effects of declining bottom-water oxygen concentrations using small-scale incubations in the lab, manipulations of oxygen concentrations in a whole reservoir, and data analysis across 656 lakes. I found that low dissolved oxygen conditions led to the release of nutrients and organic carbon from lake sediments, which may worsen water quality. Importantly, I also found support for a feedback effect, whereby low bottom-water dissolved oxygen in one summer perpetuates oxygen declines in following summers. This finding motivates the need for forecasts of future dissolved oxygen concentrations, as management actions to stop the first occurrence of low oxygen concentrations will be more effective than actions to restore water quality after oxygen concentrations have already started to decline. To build capacity for lake oxygen forecasts, I synthesized many published papers that have predicted future ecological states, and I documented proposed best practices in this emerging field. Ultimately, by advancing our understanding of how climate and land use change affect water quality in lakes worldwide, my dissertation research will help to anticipate, mitigate, and preempt future water quality declines.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Laurence A. Clement / Contemporary design of the urban environment focuses increasingly upon the quality of space found within the public right-of-way. Landscape architects and urban planners are beginning to ask new questions that deviate from the conventional streetscape designs of the latter half of the 20th century. Under the mantra “complete the streets,” communities all across America are calling for a paradigm shift towards multimodal, pedestrian-scaled urban rights-of-way. At the same time, existing stormwater and combined sewer infrastructure is nearing the end of its productive lifespan in cities all across the country and world. The direct costs associated with repairing this infrastructure combined with the indirect costs of poor water quality and a greater frequency and intensity of flooding events downstream present a strong argument for developing new, innovative ideas about how to best design the stormwater infrastructure of tomorrow. The reintegration of ecological processes into the urban fabric will act as a catalyst for the appreciation of genius loci (spirit of the place) and user meaning while mitigating downstream flooding, increasing water quality, and extending the lifespan of existing stormwater infrastructure. By studying the hierarchical categorization of urban rights-of-way according to increased levels of user orientation, this research project aims to clearly articulate a new theoretical framework for expanding upon the current discourse surrounding “complete streets” and “green streets” theory. In the long-term, it is both economically and socially profitable for cities to use ecological processes to reclaim auto-oriented, urban rights-of-way as valuable public space for the health, safety, and welfare of all their users.

Master of Science / Division of Biology / John M. Blair / Temperate grasslands are among the most threatened biomes in the world, with the largest historical losses due to conversion to agricultural land. While much of this biome has already been converted, there is concern the last remaining remnants in North America will be converted in response to increasing demand for crops used for ethanol production. Thus, restoring grasslands post-anthropogenic disturbance is increasingly important for conserving grassland biodiversity. Two major challenges for prairie restorations are establishing the many subdominant and rarer species found in native prairie, and offsetting the typical decline in richness and diversity over time as restorations age. Repeated seed addition of targeted species is commonly used to override low and declining plant richness and diversity. While this is generally effective early in restoration (i.e., as communities are establishing), its effectiveness in later stages (i.e., when established communities are often losing diversity) remains unknown. I investigated plant community responses to combinations of resource manipulations and disturbances coupled with a seed addition in a 15-yr old restored grassland to test the hypothesis that spatial resource heterogeneity increases the rate of colonization into established prairie restoration communities. Seeds were added to a long-term restoration experiment involving soil depth manipulations (deep, shallow) crossed with nutrient manipulations (reduced N, ambient N, enriched N). Seedling emergence was generally low and only 8 of the 14 forb species added were detected in the first growing season. I found no effect of increased resource heterogeneity on the abundance or richness of seedlings. There was a significant nutrient effect (p<0.1, α=0.1) on seedling abundance, with higher emergence in the enriched N than the ambient N treatment. I also found unexpected nutrient effects on richness, diversity and Mean C (Mean C = Σ CoCi*Ai, where CoC=Coefficient of Conservatism and A=relative abundance of the ith species). All values, except Mean C, were higher in the enriched N treatment than in either the reduced or ambient N treatments. Mean C was lowest in the enriched N treatment, and highest in the whole-plot control, suggesting that the majority of species contributing to higher richness and diversity in the enriched N treatment were “weedier” species. In a separate experiment, I found no effect of small-scale disturbances (aboveground biomass removal or soil disturbance) on seedling abundance or seedling richness. I did find a marginal effect of disturbance type on seedling richness (p=0.11, α=0.1), with higher seedling richness in the soil disturbance than the aboveground biomass removal treatment. I did not find any disturbance effects on community response variables. These results indicate that recruitment from seed additions into well-established restored communities is relatively low in the first year following a seed addition, regardless of resource availability and heterogeneity. Follow-up studies to determine recruitment rates in subsequent years are needed to elucidate whether recruitment responses are driven more by individual species differences or by environmental mechanisms.