Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Integrative Biology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 27-34).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-171).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). "June 2006." Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the World Wide Web.

No description available.

Marine unconsolidated sediments constitute the largest ecosystems on earth in terms of spatial coverage, but there are still critical gaps in the science required to support conservation and ecosystem-based management. This is mainly due to the inaccessibility of these ecosystems in wave-exposed environments or deeper waters and the difficulty in observing biota in their three-dimensional sedimentary habitat. Currently, the physical driving processes of intertidal unconsolidated sediment ecosystems are much better understood than those of the subtidal ecosystems. However, these ecosystems are linked through water and sediment movement. This thesis, therefore, considers the continuum of unconsolidated sediment ecosystems across the entire continental shelf (i.e. intertidal to the shelf edge). The aim of this thesis was two-fold; (i) to advance the foundational understanding of biodiversity patterns and driving processes in unconsolidated sediment habitats, and (ii) to apply this knowledge in the development of a systematic conservation plan for marine unconsolidated sediment ecosystems. The South African west coast continental shelf was used as a case study in order to represent Eastern boundary upwelling regions. This study sought to investigate biodiversity patterns in macro-infaunal communities and determine their driving processes for incorporation into habitat classifications and the development of a habitat map. Systematic conservation plans require a map of biodiversity patterns and processes, and quantitative conservation targets to ensure representation of all biodiversity features including habitats.in marine protected areas. This thesis provided these key elements by classifying the unconsolidated sediment habitats and determining habitat-specific evidence-based conservation targets to support conservation of these important ecosystems. The application of these elements was then demonstrated in a systematic conservation plan for the unconsolidated sediment ecosystems of the South African west coast. Diversity patterns were examined using physical and macro-infauna data, ranging from the beach to the shelf edge (0-412 m). These data were analysed to develop two different habitat classifications, namely seascapes derived from geophysical and biophysical data, and biotopes derived from the combination of macro-infaunal and physical data. Multivariate analyses of 13 physical variables identified eight seascapes for the unconsolidated sediment samples from 48 sites on the South African west coast. These were based on depth, slope, sediment type, and upwelling-related processes (i.e. maximum chlorophyll concentration, sediment organic carbon content and austral summer bottom oxygen concentration). Latitude and bottom temperature were not considered major drivers of seascapes on the west coast because latitude closely reflected changes in upwelling-related processes and the temperature range was narrow across the shelf. This study revealed that productivity, a biophysical variable not usually included in geo-physical habitat classifications, played a significant role in the definition of seascapes on the South African west coast. It is therefore recommended that productivity be included in future seascape classifications to improve the utility of these classifications particularly in areas of variable productivity. Seascapes should, however, be tested against biological data to improve the understanding of key physical drivers of communities in unconsolidated sediment ecosystems. Macro-infaunal community distributions were determined along with their physical drivers for the unconsolidated sediments of the South African west coast. A total of 44 828 individuals from 469 taxa were identified from 48 sites representing 46.2 m2 of seafloor. Seven distinct macro-infaunal communities were defined through multivariate analyses and their key characteristic and distinguishing species were identified. These communities reflected five depth zones across the shelf, namely beach, inner shelf (10-42 m), middle shelf (60-142 m), outer shelf (150-357 m) and shelf edge (348-412 m). The processes driving the community structure of these depth zones were postulated to be tides, wave turbulence, seasonal hypoxia, habitat stability and homogeneity, and internal tides and/or shelf break upwelling, with drivers listed in order of increasing influence with depth. The middle shelf was further separated into three distinct communities based on sediment type, sediment organic carbon content and frequency of hypoxia. Variations in water turbulence, sediment grain size, upwelling-related variables and riverine sediment input were identified as the likely primary drivers of macro-infaunal community patterns. This chapter culminated in the development of a biotope classification based on the combination of macro-infaunal communities and their physical habitats (i.e. biotopes). South Africa has developed an expert-derived National Marine and Coastal Habitat (SANMC) Classification System which is used as a biodiversity surrogate in ecosystem assessment and spatial planning. This thesis tested the validity of this classification and the data derived Seascape classification against macro-infauna species abundance and biomass data in an effort to determine how well the different classifications represent macro-infaunal diversity of the west coast. These two classifications were also compared to the Biotope classification which combines macro-infaunal communities with their physical habitats. A canonical analysis of principle coordinates (CAP) was utilised to test the success with which each sample was allocated to the relevant habitat type in each classification. The total allocation success for each classification was used as a measure of effectiveness in terms of representing biodiversity patterns. Both classifications had similar allocation successes of 89-92 percent and 92-94 percent for the Seascape and National Habitat Classification respectively, but either over- or under-classified the macrofauna communities. The Biotope classification had the highest allocation success (98 percent), therefore it is the most accurate reflection of the macrofauna biodiversity patterns on the west coast. A key finding of this study was the increasing accuracy of classifications from physically- to expert- to biologically-derived habitat classifications. In this thesis, the Biotope classification was deemed the best representative of biodiversity patterns and was therefore used to produce the Biotope map for use in spatial assessment and planning. The distinct depth patterns that emerged in both the Seascape and Biotope classifications highlighted the need for further investigation of the relationship between depth and biodiversity. Despite variability in macro-infaunal communities, a general unifying pattern in biodiversity across the shelf was sought. Three relationships between depth and species richness have been described in the literature; namely a unimodal pattern, a positively linear relationship with depth, and no relationship between depth and species richness. These hypotheses were tested on the west coast. Two different species richness metrics were utilised to test the depth-diversity relationship, namely observed species density (spp.0.2m-2) and estimated species richness (spp.site-1). Observed species density increased from the beach to the shelf edge (350 m), then decreased to 412 m. The decline may have been due to difficulty in detecting species at greater depths as a result of sampling challenges. The inclusion of an innovative extrapolative method for estimating species richness (the capture-recapture heterogeneity model) within the Bayesian statistical framework mitigated the effects of species detection heterogeneity and revealed that species richness actually increased continuously across the shelf from beach to shelf edge. Thus the general relationship between depth and species richness is positively linear on the west coast of South Africa The new macro-infauna dataset and biotope map provided the opportunity to develop the first habitat-specific evidence-based conservation targets for unconsolidated sediments of the west coast. Species-Area Relationship (SAR) based conservation targets were developed for the biotopes using a modification of the generally accepted methodology. The accepted methodology has three steps (i) the estimation of total species richness for each habitat using the Bootstrap asymptotic estimator, (ii) the calculation of the slope of the species area curve (i.e. the z-value), and (iii) the calculation of targets representing 80 percent of the species. The inclusion of an innovative extrapolative species richness estimator, the Multi-species Site Occupancy Model (MSOM) provided better species richness estimation than the more conventional bootstrap species richness estimator, even though both are based on species accumulation. The MSOM, applied in the Bayesian statistical framework takes detectability of a species into account.

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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to analyze landowner perceptions of an ecosystem management program proposed by The Nature Conservancy. This creation of this program, The Forest Bank, is an attempt to protect the unique ecological and biological resources of the Clinch River Valley of Southwest Virginia. This study analyzed the attitudes and characteristics of landowners that contribute to their decision to enroll in such a program. Data were collected by a 8-page mail questionnaire sent to 2000 landowners in a five-county area of Southwest Virginia. The final sample size resulting from this effort was 816 landowner surveys, representing an overall response rate of 45%. Two separate analyses were undertaken with respect to this data, each representing a unique and informative approach to landowners and The Forest Bank. The first analysis summarizes how landowners perceived the individual components of the program, their level of interest in enrollment, and what types of landowners would be most likely to express interest in such a program. Twenty-three percent of landowners expressed interest in enrolling in The Forest Bank at some time. In general, those interested in enrollment perceived the individual components of the program differently than those who were not interested in enrolling. Landowners who expressed enrollment interest were more likely to be younger, more affluent, more educated than those who did not express interest in enrollment. The second analysis employed a structural equation model in order to determine what attitudes and motivations influence attitudes toward an ecosystem management program such as The Forest Bank. Variables such as attitudes toward property rights, environmental attitudes, trust in sources of information, and level of community attachment were included in this model. Results indicate that while attitudes toward property rights and the environment were not as important as previous literature suggested, landowner reasons for owning land were key indicators in determining attitudes toward The Forest Bank. Results from this study provide valuable information to managers and researchers concerning landowner attitudes toward ecosystem management and their level of interest in enrolling in an ecosystem management program. This information will help managers better understand how landowners perceive individual components of these types of programs, as well as determining the types of landowners who would be interested in enrolling. These findings can then be used to tailor programs that are more consistent with landowner objectives, and to better understand the complex attitudes and characteristics of private forest / Master of Science

In the Florida Everglades, sawgrass has been displaced by cattail, predominantly resulting from phosphate enrichment. It has been found that phosphate transporters and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi play an important role in phosphate uptake in the plants. This study aimed to reveal the symbiosis between AM fungi and sawgrass and cattail and identify the phosphate transporters, especially AM-specific phosphate transporters in these two species. AM colonization was only found in sawgrass roots, not cattail, at low phosphate concentrations in lab and field samples by trypan blue staining. AM fungi could increase sawgrass growth and had little effect on cattail growth. Four phosphate transporters were identified in sawgrass. CjPT1, CjPT2 and CjPT3 were expressed in roots and shoots independent of AM fungi and phosphate availability, while CjPT4 appeared to be an AM regulated phosphate transporter gene and its expression was induced by AM fungi. / by Li Lin. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Pixel based and object based vegetation community classification methods were performed using 30 meter spatial resolution Landsat satellite imagery of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), a remnant of the northern Everglades. Supervised classification procedures using maximum likelihood and parallelepiped algorithms were used to produce thematic maps with the following vegetation communities : wet prairie, sawgrass, cattail, tree island, brush, aquatic/open water. Spectral data, as well as NDVI, texture and principal component data were used to produce vegetation community classification maps. The accuracy levels of the thematic maps produced were calculated and compared to one another. The pixel based approach using the parallelepiped classification algorithm on the spectral and NDVI dataset had the highest accuracy level. A generalized form of this classification using only three vegetation communities (all wet prairie, tree island/brush and aquatic/open water) was compared to a previously published classification which used 1987 SPOT imagery in order to extract information on possible vegetation community transitions that are occurring within the Refuge. Results of the study indicate that 30 meter spatial resolution may be useful for understanding broad vegetation community trends but not species level trends. Pixel based procedures provide a more accurate classification than object based procedures for this landscape when using 30 meter imagery. Lastly, since 1987 there may be a trend of tree island/brush communities replacing wet prairie communities in the northern part of the Refuge and a transition to wet prairie communities in place of tree island/brush communities in the southern portion of the Refuge. / by Dorianne M. Barone. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.