Les termites forment un groupe animal important en milieu tropical, où leur richesse spécifique est plus élevée que dans n’importe quel autre écosystème. Ils se nourrissent de matière organique végétale à différent état de décomposition, du bois dur à la matière organique minérale du le sol. Cette diversification du régime alimentaire ne se produit que chez les Termitidae, parfois appelés « termites supérieurs », alors que les autres familles se nourrissent exclusivement de bois ou d’herbe. Les termites humivores sont extrêmement abondants en Amérique du Sud et en Afrique tropicale, mais sont relativement peu étudiés par rapport aux termites xylophages. C’est particulièrement vrai pour le groupe Anoplotermes, qui représente le groupe de termites le moins bien connu. Ce travail vise à faire la lumière sur l’écologie et la diversité de ce groupe strictement humivore, et comprend les sections suivantes : (1) Des échantillonnages standardisés dans sept sites de Guyane Française ont révèle, avec quelques exceptions, que les termites xylophages sont relativement peu spécialisés à un site. Au contraire, les espèces du groupe Anoplotermes, ainsi que les termites humivores en général, sont spécialisés à un type de forêt. Cette spécialisation contribue plus que probablement à la diversification écologique, et donc, à une augmentation de la richesse spécifique des termites humivores. (2) En utilisant les ratios d’isotopiques δ13C et δ15N, nous avons aussi trouvé qu’il existe une spécialisation des espèces le long d’un gradient d’humification chez le groupe Anoplotermes, de l’interface entre le bois pourri et le sol au sol pauvre en matière organique. Donc, au moins deux facteurs favorisent la richesse spécifique du groupe Anoplotermes dans le sol, malgré le manque d’évidence pour une séparation spatiale et temporelle entre les espèces. Cette spécialisation spécifique réduit la compétition interspécifique aux espèces se nourrissant de matière organique au même état de décomposition. (3) Ce mécanisme n’est probablement pas restreint aux espèces du groupe Anoplotermes et le ratio isotopique δ15N varie considérablement entre les termites humivores de manière générale. Les termites humivores comptent des espèces avec des régimes alimentaires différents ne partageant pas toujours les mêmes niches écologiques. Cette diversification du régime alimentaire ne c’est pas produit de manière aléatoire durant l’évolution des termites et les espèces proches tendent à se nourrir du même substrat. (4) Au niveau intraspécifique, il semble que la compétition contraigne la dynamique des colonies. En effet, chez A. banksi, nous avons trouvé que les nids matures sont surdispersés. Les nouveaux nids se trouvent principalement à une certaine distance des nids établis, plus particulièrement dans les trous laissés par les nids morts. Si ce patron est le résultat d’une sélection des sites de nidification, ou plutôt d’une exclusion compétitive reste sujet à discussion, mais met néanmoins en évidence la présence de compétition chez les termites humivores du groupe Anoplotermes. (5) Au vu de la richesse spécifique locale du groupe Anoplotermes, le nombre d’espèces décrites reste remarquablement bas. Après inspection du matériel type, seuls 30 espèces du groupe se sont avérés valides en Amérique du Sud, alors que 80% des espèces que nous avons collectées sont nouvelles pour la science. Cette disproportion entre ce qui est connu et la diversité réelle du groupe, met en évidence le besoin de réaliser des études supplémentaires pour améliorer la connaissance de ce groupe peu connu, le groupe Anoplotermes.

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the level and extent of community participation in the Danga Ecological Sanitation Project carried out in the Zvishavane district of Zimbabwe. The people-centered approach was chosen as a theoretical background. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to gather relevant information. The results indicated that the community was not fully involved in the ecological sanitation project. As a result, the project had a poor performance record. In the course of this study, political interference in community projects carried out in Zimbabwean rural communities, resulting in the failure to reach the intended beneficiaries, was also noted. Full community participation in community projects may ensure that empowerment and ownership take place. Institutional arrangements, which in most cases impede development, need to be readdressed with clear demarcation of decision-making processes.</p>

ABSTRACT The recent years mark the appearance of many Eco-label schemes in the attempt ofhelping consumer to recognize the products with less harm to the environment, forexample: Euro flower, Nordic swan, Blue Angle, Krav. These labels belong to the thirdparties, which get supports from government with object of achieving sustainabledevelopment. However there is still lacking a clear understanding about theeffectiveness of Eco-label in consumer consumption activities due to the lack ofresearch working on that field. We take this challenge as an opportunity to do the studyof investigating about the role of Eco-label in the process of leading consumers topurchase Eco-products. The research focuses on Swedish university students‘ choice onecological food. A number of Swedish students in Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden are selected as thegroup of respondents for this study. In order to understand the effectiveness of Eco-labelin students‘ food products choice, four key factors are taken into account to invest igate:students‘ awareness on Eco-label, students‘ knowledge on Eco-label &amp; ecological food,students‘ environment motivation, and the availability of ecological food &amp; Eco-labelinformation. The demographic characters including gender and education backgroundsare known as the influence factors among these four factors. The results proved the effectiveness of Eco-label as the guiding instrument for students‘product choice towards ecological food. It provided the evidence that three of these fourfactors above (accept the only one external factors: availability) can encourage students‘attention to Eco-label. In additional, student‘s attention to Eco-label can actually leadtheir purchase behavior on ecological food. With findings and recommendations, thestudy is expected to contribute to the field of ecological consumer behavior marketingresearch. However, the representative of the results is risky because of the limitedcontext and sample of the study.

Situated at seaside, Mi-Tuo area is lack of natural resources since long time ago. In addition our government didn¡¦t put much effort and budget into area development for quite long time, the fishing harbor and seaside are merely regarded as natural resources for Min-Tuo area. The rest is contributed to our local resident¡¦s hard work in this barren and salty land. Yet tourism sector gains dominance in recent years and five-day workweek is adopted by our government, this kind of area poses great potential to develop its own characteristics. Besides tourism sector will certainly bring enormous economical effect to local area. While emphasis shall be put on sustainable development of tourism and natural resources. Besides strength and weakness of internal development as well as external opportunity and threat should be recognized. Therefore the contingency strategy will be timely drafted to maintain sustainable growth in the changing environment. This research aims to study the current tourism sector in Mi-Tuo county and focus on ecological tourism as well as sustainable development for local area under industrial operation environment. After recognizing strength and weakness of internal development and internal opportunity and threat, the feasible marketing strategy is thus drafted with hope of benefiting tourism sector in Mi-Tuo area. To prevent analytical process from falling into subjective judgement, it is suggested to cope with practical research. As a result development of tourism sector in Mi-Tuo will adapt market change. It is further expected that scenery of fishing village, seaside fishing, sunset gazing at turn of century, returning of fishing boat, sleeping in windbrerk, sea wind listening, stars counting, enjoying milkfish feast, and so on will not only become the best recreational place for people, but draft feasible marketing strategy to industrial development environment.

Is the biggest tideland reclamation project in the world (the STRP) sustainable? Since 1991, the STRP which aims at converting mudflats into 401 km2 farmland and industrial complex has been carried out in the southwestern coast of South Korea. I designed a comparative study between two neighboring rural townships with nearly identical social and ecological features except that one is within the project area and no longer has mudflats, and the other is outside of the project area and has retained its mudflats (an important source of clams). This dissertation answers the question above by comparing, sustainable development indicators and quality of life indicators in the two townships. I expected to find that people living in the township within the project area would be more sustainable because they have gone through with the environment versus development controversy in their own villages and many of them participated in person in protests with the national/local environmental movement organizations. This study uses one of the best known consumption-based sustainable development indicators (SDIs) - Personal Ecological Footprint (PEF), combined with the ethnographic data from the two townships (Gyehwa-township and Simwon-township) – to demonstrate that the PEF values of the two townships appear to be the same and the status of quality of life is quite similar. As an explanation of the unexpected result, this study contends that the level of sustainable development of the people in the in-project area (Gyehwa-township) has been more affected by nation-wide economic development trajectory than by a major regional development project (the STRP). The first stage of the STRP - the construction of the dykes - has brought about a significant effect of displacement, which cannot be said to be sustainable. However, the total influence on sustainable development in South Korea by the STRP will be determined by the progress of the second stage - internal development.

Perception is a fundamental function because it allows organisms to be in contact with the environment and adjust to environmental conditions. Humans also possess higher intellectual functions, which allow for elaborate handling of perceptually obtained information. The thesis concerns a distinction between an inferential ("cognitive") mode and a (direct-)perceptual mode of apprehension, and a notion of perceptual skill acquisition as a transition from the inferential to the perceptual mode. The mode distinction and the mode-transition model was formulated by Runeson, Juslin, and Olsson (2000) within the ecological direct-perception framework (Gibson, 1966, 1979). The modes of apprehension were investigated in an experimental paradigm that concerned visual perception of the relative mass of two colliding objects. The relative mass is specified by an optical variable in the collision movement pattern, which observers may pick up while functioning in the perceptual mode. However, novices often rely on other, nonspecifying, optical variables that may constitute cues that are used in the inferential mode (Runeson et al., 2000). Four tentative mode indicators were employed: participants' realism of confidence, introspective mode reports, amplitudes of brain event-related potentials, and response times. Generally, the results did not support the mode-transition model of skill acquisition. Furthermore, results suggested that reliance both on the specifying and nonspecifying variables might have occurred either in the inferential or in the perceptual mode. However, the mode indicators may not have captured mode as intended. For instance, the discriminability of used optical variables, and not the mode of apprehension, may have affected both amplitudes of event-related potentials and mode reports. It is argued that the mode-transition model and the distinction between two modes of apprehension should be further investigated employing other methodologies, and, furthermore, that the mode distinction has a place within an ecological framework.

The ecological consumer has been a significant and central character in the development of green marketing. In an effort to enhance brand equity and increase consumers’ loyalty, companies are relying on environmental claims. From advances in processes, to product design and packaging materials that diminish waste, companies are more and more emphasizing on sustainability. The findings of previous research aiming to link purchasing and environmental concerns to socio-demographic factors have been generally inconclusive and inconsistent (Peattie, 2001). Therefore, the purpose of this study aims to identify if sustainable packaging can be used as a marketing tool to increase brand equity. In addition, the authors intended to identify who is consuming sustainable products and particularly sustainable packaging. The review of previous research concerning this topic led us to express two hypotheses. First, women are more involved by the purchasing process than men. Second, sustainable consumption is seen as a time consuming activity, economically disadvantageous and stressful (Valor, 2008). Through both a quantitative and a qualitative study we analyzed consumers’ behavior and attitude towards sustainable packaging and green consumption in general. The findings of the study allowed us to conclude that the gap between consumers’ attitude and purchasing decision concerning ecological products in general is important. The main reasons are a lack of communication, promotion and availability regarding these products as well as the high-proposed price. Furthermore, the study confirmed that women are much more involved than men in the consumption decision making process in both “classic and green” purchasing.

Syftet med denna undesökning var att ur ett ekologiskt perspektiv undersöka betydelsen av interna och externa resurser för integrationen för nyanlända flyktingar i Fagersta kommun, och om något upplevts särskilt viktigt för integrationen som bidragit till känsla av hopp och framtidstro. Två delstudier genomfördes. En kartläggning gjordes av lagar och regleringar som påverkar flyktingpolitiken samt en dokumentanalys av lokala policy- och styrdokument i Fagersta kommun. Åtta semistrukturerade ntervjuer genomfördes med fyra kvinnliga och fyra manliga flyktingar bosatta i Fagersta. Resultatet, som överensstämmer med tidigare forskning, visade att flyktingar behöver ges möjlighet att vara aktiva i sin egen anpassningsprocess. Slutsatsen är att flyktingar som känner sig delaktiga mår bättre vilket främjar integrationen. / The purpose of this paper was, from an ecological perspective, to study the importance of internal and external resources for the integration process for new refugees coming into the Fagersta community. Also to study whether the refugees benefited from any particular part of the integration process that contributed to an increased personal sense of hope and belief in their future. Two studies were carried out. Firstly, a chart of the laws and regulations affecting the integration politics was undertaken. Secondly, an analysis was made of the local policy and regulation dociments in the Fagersta community. Eight semi structured interviews were carried through with four female and four male refugees that had previously settled in the Fagerta community. The results of these interviews supported earlier studies that confirmed that refugees need the opportunity to be active in their own adjustment process. The conclusion is that refugees that feel they are allowed to, and are able to, participate in their own integration process experience a greater sense of well-being which, in turn, contributes to a more successful integration within their new community.

Sustainable development includes environmental, social and economic dimension, which has become an accepted concept at all levels of society. There is also a need for these dimensions to integrate with each other. To attain a sustainable development it has to be seen as a whole. The environmental objectives were established by Swedish parliament in 1999; however these objectives are only one of the steps in achieving a sustainable society. Swedish municipality are forced to use the environmental objectives for guidance in planning society. Municipalities have a responsibility to integrate environmental issues into political processes and at the same time contribute to an increase of the awareness about these issues. There is no guidance in the work with the environmental objectives and municipality have to work on the basis of their own environment and conditions. The aim of this essay was to study the work of implementing environmental objectives in one municipality, with the focus on the objectives four and fifteen; towards an ecological sustainable development with support of the environmental work of another municipality. The focus of the work lays on the formulation of environmental objectives four and fifteen in order for them to be achieved without difficulty. One conclusion is that none of the chosen environmental objectives are reached. The theoretical discussion highlights the importance of a communicative work between different participants and also information about the environmental issues on the individual level.       This work was considered to contribute to future research concerning municipalities work with environmental objectives.

Global biodiversity is currently being lost at an unprecedented rate, posing a threat to vital ecosystems and hence the generation of ecosystem services that human society is entirely reliant upon. Within the European Community, the EU has set a target of halting biodiversity loss within the territory by 2010. This goal is intended to be operationalized by the implementation of the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. These directives constitute the framework for the establishment of a coherent ecological network, referred to as the Natura 2000 network. This study examines and analyses the socio-ecological complexities surrounding the designation of Natura 2000 sites in Östhammar municipality, Sweden. The use of a case study-approach to focus on this area is applied in pursuit of identifying and explaining the inherent intricacies in the designation processes and linking them to the broader global context. Throughout Europe, biodiversity exists in a rich variety of grasslands, but only a few studies have been performed to establish appropriate conservation management strategiesrequired for each habitat. This study makes a significant contribution towards shedding light on the Natura 2000 designation process, a phenomenon which has previously been only modestly documented, especially in Sweden. Ecosystem management is discussed and utilized as the theoretical basis for managing ecosystems sustainably, and an important aspect of note is the recognition that the distinction between man and nature needs to be understood as artificial and arbitrary. The study explains how social-ecological factors have had a prominent effect on the designation process of Natura 2000 sites. The main determining factor behind the designation process has been the time-constraints, which have affected the designation of SCIs as well as the interaction between the Uppsala CAD and local stakeholders. The lack of adequate participatory approaches used during this process has heightened the risk of compromising the aim of the network: to achieve Favourable Conservation Status (FCS) for natural habitat types as well as species. / Biodiversiteten världen över minskar i en tidigare aldrig skådad hastighet vilket resulterar i ett hot mot fundamentala ekosystem, samt dess produktion av de ekosystemtjänster som det mänskliga samhället är beroende av. På grund av detta har EU satt upp målet att stoppa förlusten av biodiversitet inom unionens gränser tills 2010. Detta mål skall uppnås genom implementeringen av Habitat- och Fågeldirektivet. Dessa direktiv utgör ramen för etableringen av ett sammanhängande ekologiskt nätverk, det så kallade Natura 2000 nätverket. Denna studie utreder samt analyserar de socio-ekologiska aspekter som omger utpekandet av Natura 2000 områden i Östhammars kommun, i Uppsala län i Sverige. Genom appliceringen av en fallstudie av området söker denna uppsats att identifiera samt förklara inneboende svårigheter i processen av dessa utpekanden, samt att sätta dem i ett globalt sammanhang. Inom Europa existerar biodiversitet bland annat i olika typer av ängar, dock har endast ett fåtal studier tagit sig an uppgiften att formulera anpassade förvaltningsstrategier för dessa habitat. Denna studie bidrar till att sprida ljus över implementeringen av Natura 2000, ett fenomen som tidigare endast studerats i blygsam utsträckning, speciellt i Sverige. Den teoretiska grunden utgörs ekosystemansatsen, som appliceras för att utvärdera ett uthålligtförvaltande av ekosystem. Vidare understryks vikten av att betrakta ekosystem och mänsklig aktivitet som ett och samma system, och att synen på dem som skilda system bör anses artificiell och motsägelsefull. Denna uppsats förklarar hur socio-ekologiska aspekter har påverkat utpekandeprocessen av Natura 2000-områden i Östhammars kommun. De avgörande faktorerna bakom detta är en identifierad tidsbrist, vilket har influerat utpekandet av områden av gemenskapsintresse samt interaktionen mellan Länsstyrelsen i Uppsala och lokala markägare. Bristen på samverkan och information har resulterat i en förhöjd risk av att målet med nätverket inte kommer att nås: att åstadkomma gynnsam bevarandestatus för arter och habitat.