Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-267). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2000. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A. (Environmental Science)) - Rhodes University, 2005.

Thesis (M. Sc. (Environmental Science))--Rhodes University, 2005.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.E.S.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Environmental Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-112). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: LINK NOT YET AVAILABLE.

Este trabalho é fruto de uma investigação realizada junto Programa Educom.rádio, curso de extensão oferecido pelo Núcleo de Comunicação e Artes da USP a aproximadamente 11 mil professores e alunos de 455 escolas da rede municipal de ensino da cidade de São Paulo, entre 2001 e 2004, tendo como foco a maneira como o conceito e a prática do planejamento foram considerados tanto na elaboração do projeto quanto como conteúdo previsto no cronograma de atividades. Além da descrição das formas sob as quais o tema do planejamento esteve presente ao logo do desenvolvimento do curso, foram analisados especificamente a produção de 169 propostas de planejamento educomunicativo de autoria conjunta de professores, alunos e membros da comunidade que participaram de duas das sete fases do Educom.rádio, respectivamente a 6ª e a 7ª fases. O resultado da pesquisa possibilita afirmar não apenas que o planejamento é um requisito fundamental para garantir o sucesso de qualquer trabalho educomunicativo, como atesta o esforço de coerência epistemológica do próprio do projeto para garantir sua coerência interna, entre o que ensinou e o que praticou, enquanto atividade cultural e educativa. / This paper is the result of a research program conducted with Educom.rádio, extension course offered by the Center for Communication and Arts of USP to approximately 11 thousand students and teachers of 455 schools in the municipal system of education in the city of São Paulo, between 2001 and 2004, focusing how the concept and practice of planning were both in the preparation of the project as content as specified in schedule of activities. Besides the description of the ways in which the subject of planning was right to the development of the course, have been examined specifically the production of 169 proposals for planning educomunication of joint authorship of teachers, students and community members who participated in two of the seven stages the Educom.rádio respectively the 6th and 7th phases. The search result provides not only to say that planning is a prerequisite for the success of any work educomunicating, as evidenced by the effort of the epistemological consistency by design to ensure internal consistency, and what it taught and practiced as cultural and educational activity.

Ph.D. / Wetlands play an integral role in the hydrological cycle and biodiversity. Despite this, wetlands have been neglected in terms of research and monitoring in South Africa. This lack of research has become even more insufficient when it comes to endorheic wetlands. Endorheic wetlands in South Africa are known as pans. Pans are isolated depressions that for through wind erosion are generally shallow and lack an integrated drainage. Water gain is depended on rainfall and surface runoff and water loss is largely due to evaporation. Pans can be either ephemeral in nature or can remain inundated for long periods of time. There are close to 5000 pans in the study area of the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. An estimated 40% of these pans are perennial in nature. The little information on the ecology of pans is all focussed on those systems that are ephemeral. The lack of knowledge is, however, not restricted to the ecology of perennial pans but also the management tools available for these ecosystems. Whereas a variety of methods are available to determine the quantity and quality of water needed to sustain riverine systems (and wetlands connected to rivers), there are no such methods for pans. Especially important is the lack in standardised methods to assess the ecological integrity of perennial pans. This is important as perennial pan ecosystems are increasingly under threat from an increase in coal mining and agricultural activities in Mpumalanga. Coal mining activities have increased in the study area due to both an increase in energy demands and the ease of mining coal deposits in the study area. The lack in standardised methods could be as a direct result of the lack in knowledge of the ecology of the perennial pans. The aim of this study was thus to develop standardised methods for assessing the ecological integrity of perennial pans in Mpumalanga by studying the ecology of the pans. The study thus uses a fundamental approach to reach certain applied goals. To achieve the aim, a total of nine pans were included in the study of which seven were surveyed seasonally for two years and two were sampled on a single occasion. Five of these pans were located in the Mpumalanga Lake District (MLD) and were in a relatively pristine condition. The other four pans were impacted either by agricultural activities, mining activities or both. During these surveys, various components of the ecosystem were studied. These components included the spatial and temporal variations in the abiotic components like the physico-chemical characteristics, habitat quality and quantity, and the sediment characteristics. It also included the spatial and temporal variations in the vegetation communities surrounding the pans and the aquatic invertebrate communities within the pans. The aquatic invertebrate communities were assessed based on a taxonomic approach (diversity) and functional approach (biological traits).

The work in this dissertation represents an attempt to investigate multiple temporal and spatial scales of inquiry relating to the variability of marine resources throughout the Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem (Gulf LME). This effort was undertaken over two spatial extents within the greater Gulf LME using two different time-series of fisheries monitoring data. Case studies demonstrating simple frameworks and best practices are presented with the aim of aiding researchers seeking to reduce errors and biases in scientific decision making. Two of the studies focused on three years of groundfish survey data collected across the West Florida Shelf (WFS), an ecosystem that occupies the eastern portion of the Gulf LME and which spans the entire latitudinal extent of the state of Florida. A third study was related to the entire area covered by the Gulf LME, and explored a 30-year dataset containing over 100 long-term monitoring time-series of indicators representing (1) fisheries resource status and structure, (2) human use patterns and resource extractions, and (3) large- and small-scale environmental and climatological characteristics. Finally, a fourth project involved testing the reliability of a popular new clustering algorithm in ecology using data simulation techniques. The work in Chapter Two, focused on the WFS, describes a quantitatively defensible technique to define daytime and nighttime groundfish assemblages, based on the nautical twilight starting and ending times at a sampling station. It also describes the differences between these two unique diel communities, the indicator species that comprise them, and environmental drivers that organize them at daily and inter-annual time scales. Finally, the differential responses in the diel, and inter-annual communities were used to provide evidence for a large-scale event that began to show an environmental signal in 2010 and subsided in 2011 and beyond. The event was manifested in the organization of the benthic fishes beginning weakly in 2010, peaking in 2011, and fully dissipating by 2012. The biotic effects of the event appeared to disproportionately affect the nighttime assemblage of fishes sampled on the WFS. Chapter Three explores the same WFS ecosystem, using the same fisheries-independent dataset, but also includes explicit modeling of the spatial variability captured by the sampling program undertaking the annual monitoring effort. The results also provided evidence of a disturbance that largely affected the nighttime fish community, and which was operating at spatial scales of variability that were larger than the extent of the shelf system itself. Like the previous study, the timing of this event is coincident with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the subsequent sub-marine dispersal of pollutants, and the cessation of spillage. Furthermore, the spatial models uncovered the influence of known spatial-abiotic gradients within the Gulf LME related to (1) depth, (2) temperature, and (3) salinity on the organization of daytime groundfish communities. Finally, the models developed also described which non-spatially structured abiotic variables were important to the observed beta-diversity. The ultimate results were the decomposition of the biotic response, within years and divided by diel classification, into the (1) pure-spatial, (2) pure-abiotic, (3) spatial-abiotic, and (4) unexplained fractions of variation. This study, along with that in Chapter Two, also highlighted the relative importance of the nighttime fish community to the assessment of the structure and function of the WFS, and the challenges associated with adequately sampling it, both in space and time. Because one focus of this dissertation was to develop low-decision frameworks and mathematically defensible alternatives to some common methods in fisheries ecology, Chapter Five employs a clustering technique to identify regime states that relies on hypothesis testing and the use of resemblance profiles as decision criteria. This clustering method avoids some of the arbitrary nature of common clustering solutions seen in ecology, however, it had never been rigorously subjected to numerical data simulation studies. Therefore, a formal investigation of the functional limits of the clustering method was undertaken prior to its use on real fisheries monitoring data, and is presented in Chapter Four. The results of this study are a set of recommendations for researchers seeking to utilize the new method, and the advice is applied in a case study in Chapter Five. Chapter Five presents the ecosystem-level fisheries indicator selection heuristic (EL-FISH) framework for examining long-term time-series data based on ecological monitoring for resources management. The focus of this study is the Gulf LME, encompassing the period of 1980-2011, and it specifically sought to determine to what extent the natural and anthropogenic induced environmental variability, including fishing extractions, affected the structure, function, and status of marine fisheries resources. The methods encompassed by EL-FISH, and the resulting ecosystem model that accounted for ~73% of the variability in biotic resources, allowed for (1) the identification and description of three fisheries resource regime state phase shifts in time, (2) the determination of the effects of fishing and environmental pressures on resources, and (3) providing context and evidence for trade-offs to be considered by managers and stakeholders when addressing fisheries management concerns. The EL-FISH method is fully transferrable and readily adapts to any set of continuous monitoring data.

M.Ed. / This study, entitled "Stakeholders Perceptions about their Educational Contributions of GNP in Mozambique" focused on stakeholders of Nhambita buffer zone in the Province of Sofala. My interest in conducting such an investigation stemmed from the fact that when started this research I was working at the center for sustainable development of natural resources (CDS-RN) in Chimoio. — Manica Province and had Gorongosa National Park (GNP) as our pilot project. I realized that there were different stakeholders involved with the Park as well as the communities around it and not that much was done to improve their quality of life. Therefore, there was a need to conduct an inquiry which could lead to identifying the real reason underpinning the stakeholders not to do much and to afterwards draw some conclusions to modify the methodologies in order to change stakeholders' perceptions. In this regard, I conducted interviews and questionnaires in the community and with some stakeholders at Nhambita community, followed by data analysis of research data representing the stakeholders, community members, GNP and also to empower all participants. Hopefully, an educational programme would result from the consensus among all interested parties in the process with the objective of improving the citizen's life.