Across Canada, and in many places around the world, cooperative management arrangements have become commonplace in land and resource governance. The Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park, located in south-central Interior British Columbia, is one such example. An unlogged, undammed watershed, the Stein Valley became the site and subject of protests over proposed logging between the 1970s and 1990s. It lies within the territories of the Nlaka’pamux Nation and, since its park designation in 1995, has been jointly managed by the Lytton First Nation and the Provincial Government through a Cooperative Management Agreement. This thesis traces human-land relations throughout the history of the Stein Valley in order to theorize an expanded conception of co-management. The central goal is to understand how various co-management arrangements are formed, contested, and enacted through particular land-use practices, social and institutional interactions, and socio-ecological relationships. Through a detailed reading of the socio-ecological history of the Stein Valley, drawn from semi-structured interviews and a literature survey, this thesis adds to existing scholarship on B.C. environmental politics. In this project, I locate various co-management practices at work in the Stein Valley region—including but not limited to practices of use, stewardship, and governance compelled by legalistic co-management arrangements. Ultimately, this thesis calls for a closer examination of the myriad of practices and relations embedded within land and resource management regimes. In doing so, it resituates the agency of various actors, and their ecological interactions, in producing, governing, and shaping the socio-ecological landscapes we both inhabit and actively create / Graduate

There is a common acceptance that online technologies have the capacity to transform the way we learn. It appears the call for alternative modes of learning and the effective integration of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) into the regular classroom is no longer peripheral. There is sound evidence that increasingly teachers and schools are embracing the technologies available to them. This study examines the merits, barriers and issues associated with the employment of online technologies in the teaching and learning of second and foreign languages. Data is sourced from the views and opinions of five participants from a ‘brick and mortar’ school, three participants from a virtual school and the perspectives from two outside experts. The findings reveal participants show an overall satisfaction with the usefulness of online technologies. Compatible with the literature, the study shows that there are systemic factors undermining the efforts of individuals to fully utilise the technologies available to them. The overarching epistemology of this research is congruent with an Ecological model. This approach allows for a multi-level perspective of the complexity and disambiguation ICT has thrust upon educators and learners. This paper concludes with a positive view of the usefulness of online technologies and reaffirms what many researchers are claiming; most schools are only at the beginning of their ICT journey.

Two field studies examining direct ecological weed control practices were conducted in Lexington, Kentucky. The first evaluated weed control efficacy and influence on yields of several mulches in two organically-managed bell pepper (Capsicum annum) production systems for two years. Peppers were planted in double rows in flat, bare ground or on black polyethylene-covered raised beds with drip irrigation, and four mulches (straw, compost, wood chips, and undersown white dutch clover (Trifolium repens L.) living mulch) were applied to the two production systems. In both years, polyethylene-covered raised beds produced higher yields than the flat, bare ground system. In the second year, the polyethylene-covered bed system coupled with mulching in-between beds with compost or wood chips after cultivation provided excellent weed control and yields. The second field study evaluated the efficacy of soil solarization and shallow cultivation on the invasive and noxious weed johnsongrass over two years (Sorghum halapense). A soil solarization treatment, using clear plastic stretched over soil for eight weeks, and a cultivated bare fallow treatment, utilizing a tractor pulled cultivator implement equipped with sweep blades, were randomly applied during the summers of 2003 and 2004 to a field infested with johnsongrass. Solarized and cultivated plots in both years were lightly tilled 8 months after completion of the initial treatment period. At the conclusion of the experiment the johnsongrass population was significantly reduced in all treatments and in the control plots compared to the original infestation. These two experiments testing direct weed control practices (mulching, cultivation, solarization) were undertaken in the context of an ecological weed management plan that includes long term strategies to reduce weed infestations such as crop rotation, cover cropping, and fertility management that are essential for organic farmers.

Biodiversity can be described as the total variation of life forms, where diversity ranges from gene level up to the ecosystem level. The diversity can be calculated in a number of ways, and this study use one of these methods. In this study empirical food webs have been used and analyzed, where eleven characters are defined and used as parameters to calculate the Euclidean distances between food webs that describe the variation that may exist within classes of terrestrial, marine and freshwater habitats. The class who stood out and showed the greatest diversity at the ecosystem level was the marine food webs, which showed a high value of the average euclidean distance. The other networks were not as distinctive and the average of the euclidean distance in these classes was comparatively low.

Aquaculture is one of the fastest growing animal protein production industries and accounted for 47% of the world’s food fish consumption in 2010. Aquaculture production is expected to increase to compensate for projected shortfalls in seafood supply by capture fisheries. Current assessments and scenarios predicting the outcome of this increased production have limited scope and ability to distinguish alternative courses of action. Using the Global Aquaculture Performance Index (GAPI) as a starting point, I have developed an ecologically comprehensive and quantitative farm level assessment. I selected salmon as the candidate to compare production scenarios due to being economically important, data rich and farmed in a diversity of production systems. In applying the farm-level assessment to conventional net-pen salmon production and four alternative systems, I determined the ecological impact per unit of production to be significantly different. It is possible to produce a greater volume of fish for less ecological impact. While there are benefits and trade-offs in the alternative production systems, the results indicate that projected food fish demands can be met in a more sustainable manner. The Farm Level Aquaculture Performance Index (FLAPI) provides a quantitative, performance-based tool that accounts for all ecological impacts and the resulting assessments can be used to benchmark and guide future development of aquaculture. / Graduate / 0792

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1986. / Bibliography: leaves 119-129. / Photocopy. / viii, 129 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Sandy beaches are a primary focus of recreational and other pressures from growing coastal populations, and are major natural and economic assets for national and international tourism, but have not received adequate research attention prior to this study. Although the limited ecological research to date indicates that the nearshore volumes of sandy beach systems may be as biologically productive as estuaries and wetlands, the management of sandy beaches has not been based on ecological or sustainability principles. In this study, the principles and goals of ecologically sustainable development (ESD) are applied in investigations designed to develop improved ecological and recreational management of metropolitan sandy beach ecosystems, whereby ecological functions are maintained simultaneously with recreational and related uses. The conventional view that sandy beaches are resilient to recreational use, and are more likely to be seriously impacted by other forms of human activity, seems to have precluded serious research investigation of questions such as: what are the responses of both beach biota and human users to environmental variables influencing the system; what are the simultaneous levels, distributions and diversity of beach biota in relation to levels, distributions and categories of beach users; and what ecological impacts are likely from human beach use on biota at points of interaction, temporally and spatially? From the first section of the project, it has been shown that our present understanding of the functions, processes and responses to human disturbances of sandy beach ecosystems is extremely poor, compared with that of rock platforms. New methodologies have been developed in the current study for experimental investigations into aspects of sandy beach ecology and recreational use which have never previously been considered. Relationships between environmental variables and categories of beach use have been quantified, and show promise for use in predictive modelling to guide management. Current approaches to the management of sandy beaches and beach recreation, as aspects of environmental and coastal resource management, were then critically examined. The structures, functions and decision-making procedures of the major spheres of government, and their management agencies, were evaluated and found to provide inherent obstacles to effective ecological and recreational management of ecosystems. Coastal resource and beach management by public agencies were assessed for Durban and Sydney. Comparative analysis has provided information that can be used to develop guidelines for integrated ecologial and recreational management of sandy beach systems. In a synthesis of all of the above findings, a new procedural model has been constructed, for sustainable ecological and recreational management of sandy beach systems. This model is proposed as a framework for future integrated coastal resource research and management. Note: Three published papers have been produced from the research in this study, and have been presented at conferences, being Sinclair-Hannocks and Keane (1992) at the Sydney Sister City Environmental Summit; Sinclair-Hannocks (1993) at the World Leisure and Recreation Association Congress; and Tsang and Sinclair-Hannocks (1993) at the Local Government and Environment Conference.

The research intention is to identify the characteristics of an ecologically sustainable contemporary Catholic primary school and the conditions that support the development of such a school community. The literature review showed there is a clear mandate from the Catholic Church to consider ecological conversion as integral to its evangelising mission, a mission that is at the heart of Catholic education, including the school. An extensive body of educational literature, including philosophy of education and curriculum frameworks, identified environmental awareness and responsibility as mandatory outcomes for all students. The literature study defined and described ecological conversion, sustainable education, environmental education and related conceptual understandings. The literature study also provided examples of strategies to guide the strategic implementation of these understandings within the total learning program of a school. From examples found in the literature, a framework, Steps in Becoming an Environmentally Active Catholic Primary School, incorporating the specifically Catholic religious dimension, was developed by the researcher to provide benchmarks and indicators against which a school’s progress in journeying towards ecological sustainability could be evaluated. This qualitative, constructionist study incorporated some elements of Grounded Theory in gathering and analysing data from within two Australian Catholic primary case study schools recognised for their commitment and good practice in sustainable education. From the analysis of the data gathered through interviews, focus groups and participant observation, the distinctive characteristics of the two schools were identified and their stage of development evaluated against the framework Steps in Becoming an Environmentally Active Catholic Primary School. In addition, the factors that had supported school development and the factors that were barriers to that development were named. From the study, conclusions about the nature of an ecologically sustainable Catholic primary school were drawn and recommendations made about how best to support the development of such a school.

Macroalgal blooms are increasing world-wide and have negative effects on benthic invertebrates and sediments. These include loss of species diversity and development of hostile sediment environments. This thesis considers ecological effects of Ulva lactuca L., and its mechanical removal on benthic invertebrates and sediments in Avon-Heathcote Estuary, New Zealand. Benthic communities comprised 34 species from 12 groups recorded from seven sites during seasonal general surveys. Dominant groups at each site were Gastropoda and Bivalvia. The most abundant species were Austrovenus stutchburyi, Micrelenchus tenebrosus and Amphibola crenata. Community composition varied significantly between sites, and there were significant site-specific differences in abundances of most species between winter and summer. U. lactuca had the greatest seasonal variation. Several species correlated with U. lactuca biomass, and the strength of correlation for different species varied between sites. There were seasonal changes in sediment physico-chemical variables between sites with greatest change in the silt/clay fraction. The sediment variables silt/clay fraction, dissolved oxygen and temperature correlated with seasonal changes of patterns in benthic community assemblages. A similar study was carried out by Bressington in 2003. In both studies, Bivalvia and Gastropoda were the most abundant groups, with Gastropoda having a higher, and Bivalvia a lower, proportion in the present study compared with 2003. Summer communities were significantly different between the two studies. Compared with 2003 there were higher percentages of sediment pore water and volatile solids present in 2005. Experimental removal of U. lactuca was conducted by mechanical broom at two sites: an open, exposed central sand flat, and McCormacks Bay, a shallow, sheltered mud flat. Removing U. lactuca had several immediate effects. These included a significant decrease in abundance of mobile epifauna (Micrelenchus tenebrosus and Zeacumantus subcarinatus) and an increase in abundance of infauna, including Arthritica bifurca and Austrovenus stutchburyi. There was no effect of U. lactuca removal on Austrovenus stutchburyi condition and 46 days following removal, invertebrate abundances approached pre-removal levels at each site. U. lactuca removal also caused short-term increases in dissolved oxygen and temperature of pore water. The greatest visual impact of removing U. lactuca was to sediments in McCormacks Bay from trampling. It was concluded that the variables having the greatest effect on seasonal species distribution and abundance at each site were temperature and sediment grain size. Differences between the present study and the study in 2003 were due to differences in sampling procedure mainly due to the two different quadrat sizes. Greater accuracy in representing long-term changes in ecosystems would be achieved by using standard sampling protocols. Removal of U. lactuca by mechanical broom was effective and had low impact on benthic invertebrates and physico-chemical variables, but it should be used only in sandy habitats because of severe disturbance to soft-sediment environments. Options for management and control of U. lactuca in Avon-Heathcote Estuary are discussed.