Landscape is about the relationship between people and place and in 2000 was defined by the European Landscape Commission (ELC) as "an area as perceived by people whose character is the result of natural and human actions and interactions”. In the 70s the reason for studying the landscape was because of the necessity of attributing a value to it. Nowadays the motivations behind managing, conserving and enhancing the landscape is because the landscape is the place where people belong to and, consciously or not, recognise themselves. In addition, people identify different landscapes on the basis of the particular combinations of the elements in the landscape. As a consequence a landscape can be distinguished from another on the basis of its character which, according to the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) guidance for England and Scotland (C. Swanwick and Land Use Consultant, 2002), is defined as “a distinct, recognisable and consistent pattern of elements in the landscape that makes one landscape different from the other rather than better or worse”. This definition was the starting point of a PhD research project aimed at developing and implementing a methodology able to identify and quantify the character of the Scottish landscape through the application of GIS and statistics. The reason for doing this research was to provide the landscape architects and practitioners with a tool that could help them to define the landscape character types in a more consistent, objective, and scientifically robust way. One of the objectives of the research was to identify the spatial patterns formed by the landscape elements by taking into account the influence of the spatial location. The first law of geography, which states that "everything is related to everything else but near things are more related than distant ones" (W Tobler, 1970), was transposed in the assumption of the presence of spatial autocorrelation amongst the data which contributes to form spatial patterns within the data. Since landscape comprises of many elements, data were also multivariate, thus the analysis required a method of calculation able to deal simultaneously with multivariate and spatial autocorrelation issues. MULTISPATI-PCA, a spatially constrained Principal Component Analysis, was the statistical technique applied for the analysis of the data whose results showed that it was possible to detect the spatial structure of the data and that each spatial pattern corresponded to a distinct landscape. Despite their importance in forming the character of the landscape, aesthetic and perceptual aspects were not inlcuded in MULTISPATI-PCA analysis. It was preferred to test the technique only on data that were quantifiable in a more objective way. Perhaps taking into account the human perception of the landscape can be the starting point for future investigation.

The objective of this study was to deploy a conceptual framework developed by M. Forbes using a geographic information system (GIS) approach to assess the functionality of wetlands in the Galveston Bay Area of Texas. This study utilized geospatial datasets which included National Wetland Inventory maps (NWI), LiDAR data, National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery and USGS National Land Cover data to assess the capacity of wetlands to store surface water and remove pollutants, including nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, and organic compounds. The use of LiDAR to characterize the hydrogeomorphic characteristics of wetlands is a key contribution of this study to the science of wetland functional assessment. LiDAR data was used to estimate volumes for the 7,370 wetlands and delineate catchments for over 4,000 wetlands, located outside the 100-yr floodplain, within a 2,075 square mile area around Galveston Bay. Results from this study suggest that coastal prairie freshwater wetlands typically have a moderate capacity to store surface water from precipitation events, remove ammonium, and retain phosphorus and heavy metals and tend to have a high capacity for removing nitrate and retainremove organic compounds. The results serve as a valuable survey instrument for increasing the understanding of coastal prairie freshwater wetlands and support a cumulative estimate of the water quality and water storage functions on a regional scale.

Comprendre les décisions prises par les organismes pour s’approvisionner en nourriture est essentiel pour anticiper leurs réactions aux changements de l’environnement. Les oiseaux marins en reproduction partent s’alimenter en mer depuis leur colonie. L’utilisation de GPS miniatures révèle qu’ils effectuent des trajets de dizaines jusqu’à des milliers de kilomètres en quête de proies pour lesquelles nous disposons de très peu d’informations. Les stratégies comportementales qu’ils utilisent pour augmenter leurs chances de rencontrer des proies dans l’environnement marin, et les implications que cela peut avoir vis-à-vis des activités humaines de pêche qui semblent attirer de nombreux oiseaux sont encore très partiellement comprises. Cette thèse propose de réexaminer ces questions en trois chapitres, à travers des simulations théoriques, l’analyse empirique de trajets enregistrés par GPS sur diverses espèces et populations d’oiseaux marins, et le croisement des trajets simultanés d’oiseaux et de bateaux de pêche. Premièrement, les simulations théoriques de marches aléatoires montrent qu’on ne peut pas se servir des phases de ligne droite dans un trajet pour conclure si les oiseaux anticipent où sont leurs proies, ce qui vient nuancer les conclusions de nombreuses études précédentes. L’analyse des biais dans les directions suivies par les oiseaux permet en revanche de comprendre les informations qu’ils utilisent pour décider où s’approvisionner. Deuxièmement, les stratégies de fidélité spatiale individuelle sont comparées entre espèces, populations et contextes écologiques à l’aide de modèles statistiques multivariés (GLMM). De nombreux oiseaux marins font en effet preuve de fidélité individuelle dans la direction qu’ils prennent pour s’approvisionner depuis la colonie, suggérant l’utilisation de mémoire. Nous montrons que c’est également le cas de nombreuses populations et espèces d’oiseaux marins tropicaux, qui restent fidèles à une direction pendant plusieurs jours successifs. Ces résultats sont surprenants et difficiles à expliquer car la plupart des espèces étudiées ciblent des proies très dynamiques et disponibles à un endroit de façon très éphémère. Cela suggère que la mémoire pourrait être plus fréquemment utilisée par les oiseaux marins que ce que l’on supposait, au moins à large échelle spatiale. Finalement, nos analyses sur les réponses des albatros aux bateaux de pêche suggèrent que les albatros modulent leurs réponses en fonction de l’espèce et des contraintes énergétiques, et que les rencontres de bateaux ont peu d’influence sur les stratégies suivies par les individus lors de leur trajet suivant. Ainsi le comportement d’attraction aux bateaux de pêche pourrait être un phénomène local (à l’échelle du rayon de perception) et largement opportuniste. Globalement, nos résultats empiriques ancrés dans un socle théorique solide suggèrent que l’approvisionnement des oiseaux marins ne peut pas se résumer à rencontrer des ressources rares et imprévisibles, et semble pouvoir impliquer des processus de sélection des ressources rencontrées et/ou de choix entre utilisation de mémoire individuelle ou d’information publique. Les ressources anthropiques à ce titre pourraient ne constituer que des ressources parmi d’autres. De nombreux outils d’analyses utilisés ici sont facilement transférables à d’autres oiseaux marins ou d’autres prédateurs à place centrale. Élargir les comparaisons à d’autres organismes est en effet nécessaire pour mieux comprendre les variations complexes mises en évidence ici dans la plasticité comportementale et leurs conséquences vis-à-vis des changements environnementaux. / It is essential to understand how animals make foraging decisions to acquire food in order to better anticipate their responses to environmental changes. Breeding seabirds make central-place foraging trips at sea, from their colony. The deployment of small GPS devices on them reveals that they travel for tens to thousands of kilometers, in search of prey for which very little information is known. The behavioural strategies they use to increase their chances to encounter prey, and the implications of these strategies with regards to human fishing activities remain open questions. This thesis offers to examine these questions in three chapters, through theoretical simulations, empirical analyses of foraging trips of various species and populations of seabirds, and the spatiotemporal matching of seabirds and fishing vessels movements. First, our random walk simulations indicate that straight-line phases within path are not sufficient to conclude that seabirds anticipate where to find their prey, contrary to previous conclusions proposed in the literature. However it is possible and easy to analyze biases in the directions individuals follow when they forage, to infer which sources of information they use to decide where to forage. Second, we compare individual fidelity strategies between species, populations and/or ecological contexts through the use of multivariate statistical models (GLMM). Many seabirds display individual fidelity in the direction they forage from the colony, suggesting they rely on memory. Our results show that this is also the case in different species and populations of tropical seabirds, where individuals can remain faithful to a foraging direction for several consecutive days. These results are surprising and difficult to explain as the species we studied are targeting prey whose distribution is supposedly very stochastic and ephemeral. It suggests that the use of memory might be much more widespread in foraging seabirds than anticipated, at least for decisions at large spatial scales. Finally, our analyses on the responses of albatrosses to fishing boats suggest that their responses can be modulated according to species and energetic constraints, and that encounters of fishing boats during a foraging trip have little influence on the strategy used by individuals on their next foraging trip. The attraction of albatrosses to boats might be mainly a local process (at the scale of the perception range) and may be largely opportunistic. Overall, our empirical results anchored in a solid theoretical framework suggest that seabird’s foraging cannot be summarized as encountering rare and unpredictable resources, but might imply resource selection processes after resources are encountered, and/or a decision as to rely either on memory or public information. With that regard, anthropic resources may only be one type of resources among others for seabirds. Many of the analytical tools used here could be transferred to other seabirds and other central place foragers. Indeed, a wider comparative approach is necessary to understand the complex variations in behavioural plasticity observed here, and their consequences regarding future environmental changes.

This study is a test of a methodology to predict changes in elevation and shoreline position of coastal wetlands in Trinity Bay, Texas, in response to projected sea level rise. The study combines numerical modeling and a geographic information system. A smoothing technique is used on a United States Geographical Survey (USGS) digital elevation model to obtain elevation profiles that more accurately represent the gently sloping wetlands surface. The numerical model estimates the expected elevation change by raster cell based on input parameters of predicted sea level rise, mineral and organic sedimentation rates, and sediment autocompaction rates. A GIS is used to display predicted elevation changes and changes in shoreline position as a result of four projected sea level rise scenarios over the next 100 years. Results demonstrate that this numerical model and methodology are promising as a technique of modeling predicted elevation change and shoreline migration in wetlands. The approach has potential utility in coastal management applications.

Wildfires destroy large tracts of veld and forest land every year in South Africa. These fires can be devastating, resulting in loss of human lives, the destruction of property and the loss of income, for example the forest fire in the Sabie district in Mpumalanga in 2007 which destroyed about 7% of South Africa’s forested areas. There are frequently legal disputes with respect to the origin of wildfires, the extent of the fire and the land cover destroyed by the fires. The forensic capabilities of remote sensing in detecting and analysing post-wildfire characteristics have become an important contribution towards solving such legal disputes and in understanding wildfire characteristics. These post fire products can be used as evidence in court cases. Most of the time those court cases came up a few years after the fire event. By then, little or no evidence can be found on the terrain where the fire was. Remote sensing archives provide a reliable source of data that can be used to analyse these events after these long intervals. The objective of this project is to highlight the methods used to generate these post-wildfire analysis products. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

Wildfires destroy large tracts of veld and forest land every year in South Africa. These fires can be devastating, resulting in loss of human lives, the destruction of property and the loss of income, for example the forest fire in the Sabie district in Mpumalanga in 2007 which destroyed about 7% of South Africa’s forested areas. There are frequently legal disputes with respect to the origin of wildfires, the extent of the fire and the land cover destroyed by the fires. The forensic capabilities of remote sensing in detecting and analysing post-wildfire characteristics have become an important contribution towards solving such legal disputes and in understanding wildfire characteristics. These post fire products can be used as evidence in court cases. Most of the time those court cases came up a few years after the fire event. By then, little or no evidence can be found on the terrain where the fire was. Remote sensing archives provide a reliable source of data that can be used to analyse these events after these long intervals. The objective of this project is to highlight the methods used to generate these post-wildfire analysis products. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)