Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

The Mijikenda sacred natural sites (SNS) contribute towards Kenya’s East African Coastal Forest ecosystem. This ecosystem is highly biodiverse and important to the conservation of many rare and endemic species. The SNS are therefore thought to be very important to biodiversity locally and globally, as well as playing a significant role in the preservation of the local traditional culture. Whilst it is known that the SNS contain coastal forest, there are no accurate estimates on the amount, nor are there assessments of habitat diversity within the sites and no systematic surveys have been done in the past 20 years. In addition, degradation of the sites has been described, but the level of encroachment and amount of forest loss has not been measured. A major driver of the degradation and deforestation of SNS is thought to be cultural change, leading to a decrease in the adherence to traditional practices, and loss of knowledge and respect for local customs. The existing management of the SNS is based on the traditional laws associated with the SNS; enforcement is left to local Kaya Elders, and it follows the assumption that the Mijikenda are a homogenous and culturally static group. As such it is thought that changes in culture and values systems may be undermining the successful conservation of the sites. However, again, whilst changes within the local communities surrounding the SNS have been described, no research has been done on how such changes may have altered the attitudes and values of the local people in this region, or what impact this may have on the preservation of the SNS. The aims of this thesis are to: measure the amount of costal forest within the Mijikenda SNS; to assess if the habitat heterogeneity within the sites; investigate their potential for biodiversity; measure the amount of forest loss within the sites, and the amount of encroachment that they suffer from; understand the current attitudes and values of the local communities towards the SNS, their culture, and conservation; compare current attitudes and values to what would be expected traditionally; investigate the use of resources from the Kayas by the local communities; and, in light of these questions, assess the efficacy of the existing management plan in light of the current landscape in which the SNS are located and any changes in local culture, and associated values. The results show that the Mijikenda SNS contain a substantial proportion (1.4%) of Kenya’s coastal forest. Due to their habitat heterogeneity and habitat features, as well as being some of the only forest habitat within a degraded landscape, they are important to both local and global conservation, including the possibility to maintain viable populations of rare and endemic species. Whilst the rate of forest loss within the SNS was found to be significantly lower than forest loss outside the sites, almost all sites were undergoing encroachment, degradation and forest loss. The local communities were found to be diverse, with different demographics, attitudes, values and behaviours. There has been a significant departure from the traditional culture, including a decrease of participation in traditional practices, a lack of adherence to customary laws, and a loss of traditional knowledge. The SNS were found to be important for resources to the local communities; however, extraction is not being monitored or managed for. In addition, ongoing developments in the region could pose a significant threat to the SNS. This research provides the first set of accurate estimations of coastal forest within the sites, and the range of habitat heterogeneity and potential contribution to biodiversity they make. It also offers the first set of accurate measurements, of the extent of encroachment, and forest loss, that a number of sites on the north coast have undergone. In addition it provides some of the only large-scale social data associated with the Mijikenda SNS. This thesis shows that whilst some of the threats to the sites, and changes in local culture have been observed in the past, none have been accounted for in the current management plans associated with the sites. The management of the SNS needs to be redesigned to account for the changes within the local communities and the surrounding area, as well as addressing the threats that the SNS face. Management should be created on a site-by-site basis, to work with all stakeholders in the area, and must encompass the changes which are happening within the region. In addition, interventions to address conflicts within communities, provide alternative access to resources, and to improve transmission of knowledge, need to be put in place to aid communities in protecting the SNS. Management of the sites must be done jointly by the local people, the government, and NGOs, with the local communities predominantly having autonomy over the protection of the sites and their culture. This research contributes to the understanding of the roles that SNS play in the conservation of biodiversity; and the issues that arise for the conservation of traditionally managed sites of communities undergoing cultural change. It will help to provide information which can be used to address the management of the Mijikenda SNS as well as SNS and community conserved areas around the world.

My research is focused on investigating the socio-political processes taking place within Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Tanzania. I draw on a political ecology approach in an investigation of the politics of struggles over natural resources, their management and the benefits that can be derived from this. I bring together theories of policy processes, African politics and scale into an examination of power within two case studies of CBNRM from the wildlife and forestry sectors. I carry out a comparative analysis of these case studies, employing a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups, participatory activities, participant observation and document analysis. My research is clustered around three core themes. Firstly, I trace the process of policy reform that introduced CBNRM in both the forest and wildlife sectors, and examine the differences between the governance systems prescribed in policy as a result of these processes. The contrasts between the two sectors in Tanzanian CBNRM are important and multiple. Different policy pathways were adopted, relating to the distinct political economies of forest and wildlife resources and their politicisation within the context of power devolution for CBNRM. The prescribed governance systems in the two sectors contain important differences in the processes by which local communities can apply to participate in CBNRM, the mechanisms of revenue distribution, and the ways in which power is devolved to the local level. Secondly I examine the implementation of these prescribed governance systems and their performance in reality through an exploration of the configurations of power set out in CBNRM, and the struggles that take place around these in ‘politics of scales’ as actors attempt to benefit from CBNRM. I examine the ways the governance systems have been adopted and adapted from those set out in CBNRM policy. I argue that the distinctions between the prescribed governance systems in the two sectors produce separate contexts of re-configuration into the performed governance systems within the case studies. However, I also argue that while the contexts are specific to each sector, both the case studies revealed the same underlying socio-political process of struggles over power to both manage and benefit from natural resources. These struggles to control and benefit from CBNRM are closely linked to the unequal distribution of benefits that were witnessed in both case studies. Finally I examine the performance of CBNRM as an integration of systems of power set out in policy and hidden, often unacknowledged, local contours of power. I address the themes of how the reality of CBNRM differs from that set out in policy, examine the processes ongoing within the projects that permit and maintain elite capture and unequal distribution of benefits, and investigate the socio-political processes of corruption taking place within devolved environmental management. I argue that the struggles over power, combined with hidden aspects, especially neopatrimonialism, local moral economy and the cultural context of corruption, are central to these unequal outcomes and the capture of benefits by a small group of individuals. My research highlights that power, the politics of its devolution to the local level, the struggles that take place around it, and its subtle, hidden forms, lie at the heart of gaining further understanding of the ways in which policies develop, the unexpected outcomes they produce and the inequalities these often entail.

No description available.

The vegetation of the island of Rangitoto was examined in order to determine the current vegetation pattern and to identify the factors which have influenced the development of this pattern. Information about the order and dates of eruptive events was reviewed to gauge the length of time that the various surfaces of the island have been available as a substrate for the development of a vegetation covering. Available geological information, dating evidence, historical accounts, tree ages, and Maori evidence all point to a single period of eruptive activity, probably only several years in duration, around the mid- to late-1300's (A.D.). The order of eruption was probably production of the ash that covers neighbouring islands, followed by cinder cone building, followed by eruption of the lava flows. The lava flows were found to consist of clinkery aa flows, blocky aa flows, and a flow type referred to as Rangitoto slab flows. These flow types could be partially distinguished from one another, using discriminant analysis, on the basis of the length of the longest fragment on a 5x5m plot and the number of fragments on a lxlm subplot. A new transition sequence of flow types from pahoehoe to aa lavas is proposed for viscous lavas undergoing low rates of shear strain. The vegetation pattern of the lava fields was examine using TWINSPAN and CANOCO analysis of foliage cover percentage information gathered from 125 5x5m plots. It was found to consist of a successional sequence of vegetation arranged in a mosaic. The mosaic was found to relate strictly to the underlying lava flow surface. Large Metrosideros grow in crevices on slab flows and next to large boulders on aa flows. Smaller Metrosideros grow on small slabs on slab flows. Mixed species scrub is found growing on unbroken slab surfaces. The relative rate of colonisation of different types of flows under different climatic conditions was considered. The Metrosideros hybrid swarm was studied using morphometric information. The putative parent species of the swarm were found, using Principal Components Analysis, to be Metrosideros excelsa and Metrosideros robusta. The Rangitoto Metrosideros population was found, using Canonical Variates Analysis, to be the result of hybridisation, followed by introgression towards M. excelsa . The probable F1 hybrids grow in early successional stage vegetation. The major geographical trend is the tendency for backcrossed hybrids to grow on the eastern side of the island, suggesting eastern origins of M. robusta seeds. The impact of browsing animals on the vegetation was studied over five years in exclosures and corresponding control sites. Metrosideros foliage recovered slightly. Griselinia lucida and Cyathodes juniperina seedlings were recruited into the shrub layers in exclosures, but not in control sites. Astelia seedlings also benefitted from the absence of browsing pressure, as did Thelymitra longifolia. The distribution of browsing animal populations in relation to the vegetation pattern was studied using faecal pellet recruitment data gathered by the New Zealand Forest Service in 1984. Both wallabies (Petrogale penicillata penicillata) and possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were found to be distributed principally according to the amount of palatable foliage available to each species in each vegetation type. / Appendices restricted at the request of the author

The vegetation of the island of Rangitoto was examined in order to determine the current vegetation pattern and to identify the factors which have influenced the development of this pattern. Information about the order and dates of eruptive events was reviewed to gauge the length of time that the various surfaces of the island have been available as a substrate for the development of a vegetation covering. Available geological information, dating evidence, historical accounts, tree ages, and Maori evidence all point to a single period of eruptive activity, probably only several years in duration, around the mid- to late-1300's (A.D.). The order of eruption was probably production of the ash that covers neighbouring islands, followed by cinder cone building, followed by eruption of the lava flows. The lava flows were found to consist of clinkery aa flows, blocky aa flows, and a flow type referred to as Rangitoto slab flows. These flow types could be partially distinguished from one another, using discriminant analysis, on the basis of the length of the longest fragment on a 5x5m plot and the number of fragments on a lxlm subplot. A new transition sequence of flow types from pahoehoe to aa lavas is proposed for viscous lavas undergoing low rates of shear strain. The vegetation pattern of the lava fields was examine using TWINSPAN and CANOCO analysis of foliage cover percentage information gathered from 125 5x5m plots. It was found to consist of a successional sequence of vegetation arranged in a mosaic. The mosaic was found to relate strictly to the underlying lava flow surface. Large Metrosideros grow in crevices on slab flows and next to large boulders on aa flows. Smaller Metrosideros grow on small slabs on slab flows. Mixed species scrub is found growing on unbroken slab surfaces. The relative rate of colonisation of different types of flows under different climatic conditions was considered. The Metrosideros hybrid swarm was studied using morphometric information. The putative parent species of the swarm were found, using Principal Components Analysis, to be Metrosideros excelsa and Metrosideros robusta. The Rangitoto Metrosideros population was found, using Canonical Variates Analysis, to be the result of hybridisation, followed by introgression towards M. excelsa . The probable F1 hybrids grow in early successional stage vegetation. The major geographical trend is the tendency for backcrossed hybrids to grow on the eastern side of the island, suggesting eastern origins of M. robusta seeds. The impact of browsing animals on the vegetation was studied over five years in exclosures and corresponding control sites. Metrosideros foliage recovered slightly. Griselinia lucida and Cyathodes juniperina seedlings were recruited into the shrub layers in exclosures, but not in control sites. Astelia seedlings also benefitted from the absence of browsing pressure, as did Thelymitra longifolia. The distribution of browsing animal populations in relation to the vegetation pattern was studied using faecal pellet recruitment data gathered by the New Zealand Forest Service in 1984. Both wallabies (Petrogale penicillata penicillata) and possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were found to be distributed principally according to the amount of palatable foliage available to each species in each vegetation type. / Appendices restricted at the request of the author

The vegetation of the island of Rangitoto was examined in order to determine the current vegetation pattern and to identify the factors which have influenced the development of this pattern. Information about the order and dates of eruptive events was reviewed to gauge the length of time that the various surfaces of the island have been available as a substrate for the development of a vegetation covering. Available geological information, dating evidence, historical accounts, tree ages, and Maori evidence all point to a single period of eruptive activity, probably only several years in duration, around the mid- to late-1300's (A.D.). The order of eruption was probably production of the ash that covers neighbouring islands, followed by cinder cone building, followed by eruption of the lava flows. The lava flows were found to consist of clinkery aa flows, blocky aa flows, and a flow type referred to as Rangitoto slab flows. These flow types could be partially distinguished from one another, using discriminant analysis, on the basis of the length of the longest fragment on a 5x5m plot and the number of fragments on a lxlm subplot. A new transition sequence of flow types from pahoehoe to aa lavas is proposed for viscous lavas undergoing low rates of shear strain. The vegetation pattern of the lava fields was examine using TWINSPAN and CANOCO analysis of foliage cover percentage information gathered from 125 5x5m plots. It was found to consist of a successional sequence of vegetation arranged in a mosaic. The mosaic was found to relate strictly to the underlying lava flow surface. Large Metrosideros grow in crevices on slab flows and next to large boulders on aa flows. Smaller Metrosideros grow on small slabs on slab flows. Mixed species scrub is found growing on unbroken slab surfaces. The relative rate of colonisation of different types of flows under different climatic conditions was considered. The Metrosideros hybrid swarm was studied using morphometric information. The putative parent species of the swarm were found, using Principal Components Analysis, to be Metrosideros excelsa and Metrosideros robusta. The Rangitoto Metrosideros population was found, using Canonical Variates Analysis, to be the result of hybridisation, followed by introgression towards M. excelsa . The probable F1 hybrids grow in early successional stage vegetation. The major geographical trend is the tendency for backcrossed hybrids to grow on the eastern side of the island, suggesting eastern origins of M. robusta seeds. The impact of browsing animals on the vegetation was studied over five years in exclosures and corresponding control sites. Metrosideros foliage recovered slightly. Griselinia lucida and Cyathodes juniperina seedlings were recruited into the shrub layers in exclosures, but not in control sites. Astelia seedlings also benefitted from the absence of browsing pressure, as did Thelymitra longifolia. The distribution of browsing animal populations in relation to the vegetation pattern was studied using faecal pellet recruitment data gathered by the New Zealand Forest Service in 1984. Both wallabies (Petrogale penicillata penicillata) and possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were found to be distributed principally according to the amount of palatable foliage available to each species in each vegetation type. / Appendices restricted at the request of the author

The vegetation of the island of Rangitoto was examined in order to determine the current vegetation pattern and to identify the factors which have influenced the development of this pattern. Information about the order and dates of eruptive events was reviewed to gauge the length of time that the various surfaces of the island have been available as a substrate for the development of a vegetation covering. Available geological information, dating evidence, historical accounts, tree ages, and Maori evidence all point to a single period of eruptive activity, probably only several years in duration, around the mid- to late-1300's (A.D.). The order of eruption was probably production of the ash that covers neighbouring islands, followed by cinder cone building, followed by eruption of the lava flows. The lava flows were found to consist of clinkery aa flows, blocky aa flows, and a flow type referred to as Rangitoto slab flows. These flow types could be partially distinguished from one another, using discriminant analysis, on the basis of the length of the longest fragment on a 5x5m plot and the number of fragments on a lxlm subplot. A new transition sequence of flow types from pahoehoe to aa lavas is proposed for viscous lavas undergoing low rates of shear strain. The vegetation pattern of the lava fields was examine using TWINSPAN and CANOCO analysis of foliage cover percentage information gathered from 125 5x5m plots. It was found to consist of a successional sequence of vegetation arranged in a mosaic. The mosaic was found to relate strictly to the underlying lava flow surface. Large Metrosideros grow in crevices on slab flows and next to large boulders on aa flows. Smaller Metrosideros grow on small slabs on slab flows. Mixed species scrub is found growing on unbroken slab surfaces. The relative rate of colonisation of different types of flows under different climatic conditions was considered. The Metrosideros hybrid swarm was studied using morphometric information. The putative parent species of the swarm were found, using Principal Components Analysis, to be Metrosideros excelsa and Metrosideros robusta. The Rangitoto Metrosideros population was found, using Canonical Variates Analysis, to be the result of hybridisation, followed by introgression towards M. excelsa . The probable F1 hybrids grow in early successional stage vegetation. The major geographical trend is the tendency for backcrossed hybrids to grow on the eastern side of the island, suggesting eastern origins of M. robusta seeds. The impact of browsing animals on the vegetation was studied over five years in exclosures and corresponding control sites. Metrosideros foliage recovered slightly. Griselinia lucida and Cyathodes juniperina seedlings were recruited into the shrub layers in exclosures, but not in control sites. Astelia seedlings also benefitted from the absence of browsing pressure, as did Thelymitra longifolia. The distribution of browsing animal populations in relation to the vegetation pattern was studied using faecal pellet recruitment data gathered by the New Zealand Forest Service in 1984. Both wallabies (Petrogale penicillata penicillata) and possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were found to be distributed principally according to the amount of palatable foliage available to each species in each vegetation type. / Appendices restricted at the request of the author

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.