This creative project inspected the design of water conserving landscapes by restoring native vegetation. Water conserving design principles discovered in the background research were applied to the redesign of the Old Fort Boise Park in Parma, Idaho. Important issues that were explored included discussing the need for water conserving landscape designs that result in functional spaces that meet the needs of intended users. The main focus of water conservation was implemented by using native plants that typically require less water than non-native species. The project developed a park master plan that could demonstrate to Idaho residents that native plants, when carefully sited, result in lower maintenance, aesthetically pleasing visual qualities, environmentally sensitive performances and could be integrated into landscapes on private or public properties. Rather than viewing the Idaho native plants as unattractive and dull, this project explored the idea that under cultivation and as part of the site character a carefully designed water conserving naturalized landscape has a beauty unsurpassed by traditional landscapes. The park redesign also employed educational and interpretive systems wherein native plants were highlighted and identified. These educational and interpretive systems could assist park users, especially local residents, in familiarizing themselves with many of the beautiful native species that are common in the surrounding deserts, prairies, hills and mountains. The creative project examined one particular site, while it developed principles and concepts applicable to other sites throughout the Great Basin Region. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Modern information systems strive to provide effective use of resources. Supplied with analysis tools, geographical information systems (GIS) can serve its stakeholders with minimal requirements. In this study, GIS capabilities were employed for Turkish Flora. Data related with the threatened plants that are indigenous to Turkey were gathered from the relevant literature and reshaped into a dataset in which spatial locations were represented in a geographically referenced format. Afterwards, this output was used to investigate the affects of different factors on the distribution patterns of these plants by means of functions of GIS and multivariate analysis. At last, overlay analysis was employed in order to reveal the congruence between official protection reserves, spatial locations of the plants in danger and areas of importance for other elements of wildlife specifically birds. Outcomes of the study is three-fold. First of all, a simple algorithm was established which can be used in the formation of a unified database of widely distributed floristic data in Turkey. Geographically referenced data and the analysis results produced in the study is another value added for Turkish botanics. From another perspective, effectiveness of GIS in handling different types of non-standard data were scrutinized. Overlay analysis of locations of the plants and the protection reserves constituted the managerial aspect of the study by pointing large gaps in the actual protection coverage and proposing candidate regions for official reserve choices of the future. In essence, GIS was deemed to be an effective tool for parties working on non-standard spatial data.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on April 16, 2008). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2009. / Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: Dewey M. Caron, Dept. of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MSc.(Pharmacology)--Faculty of Health Sciences)-University of Pretoria, 2002.

Orientador: Angela Borges Martins / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T02:27:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigues_KarinaFidanza_D.pdf: 4546379 bytes, checksum: b708c32708ae62962fda2a676096bee2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Este trabalho trata da re-avaliação taxonômica do gênero Cambessedesia DC., com chave de identificação para todos os táxons, descrições, sinonímias, relação do material examinado, comentários sobre as afinidades taxonômicas baseados em caracteres morfológicos, a distribuição geográfica, acompanhados de ilustrações e mapas de distribuição para as espécies. Com base no estudo de cerca de 3.000 exsicatas provenientes de 17 herbários nacionais e 17 estrangeiros, associado a diversas observações de campo e a estudos inéditos para o grupo tais como a análise das sementes, tricomas, emergências e estames sob microscopia eletrônica de varredura, 27 espécies são reconhecidas, das quais três são novas. Foram efetuadas as seguintes alterações infragenéricas e infra-específicas: sinonimização de Cambessedesia sect. Cambessedesia e Cambessedesia sect. Pyramia; o epíteto de C. hilariana foi substituído pelo epíteto específico fasciculata, por ser prioritário; C. arenaria e C. tiradentensis foram consideradas sinônimos de C. corymbosa e, C. espora subsp. ilicifolia, sinônimo de C. espora; C. longifolia e C. bahiana foram elevadas ao status específico. Foram designados 13 lectótipos e quatro neótipos. O gênero Cambessedesia é caracterizado por apresentar espécies com folhas frequentemente adicionais axilares reduzidas e dispostas em braquiblastos (algumas vezes assumindo forma de fascículos) ou verticiladas apenas em C. weddellii, flores 5-(6-) meras, pétalas bicolores (predominantemente vermelho-alaranjadas com base amarela), ou monocromáticas (amarelas ou branco-amareladas), estames 10 (-12), (5 apenas em C. semidecandra); anteras com conectivo espessado dorsalmente e eventualmente com pequeno cálcar na base, sem apêndices ventrais; cápsulas com sementes depresso-ovais, densamente ou esparsamente tuberculadas, antirafe na maioria das vezes mais desenvolvida que a rafe. Este gênero é endêmico no Brasil, onde foram detectados três padrões gerais de distribuição geográfica de suas espécies: amplo, endêmico (endêmico na Serra do Espinhaço-MG, endêmico na Chapada Diamantina-BA, endêmico na Chapada dos Veadeiros-GO) e disjunto. Dentre as 27 espécies deste gênero apenas C. fasciculata e C. espora apresentam distribuição geográfica mais ampla. Os dados apresentados no presente trabalho poderão futuramente contribuir para outros estudos filogenéticos em Cambessedesia. / Abstract: A taxonomic re-evaluation of the genus Cambessedesia DC. is conducted, including identification key for all taxa, descriptions, synonymies, list of examined materials, comments about taxonomic affinities based on morphological traits, observations on habitat and distribution, as well as illustrations and distribution maps for all analyzed species. The studies were based on the analysis of 3.000 exsiccatae from 17 national herbaria and 17 herbaria of foreign countries, which was associated with diverse field observations and with inedited scanning electron microscopy examinations of seeds, trichomes, emergencies and stamens. A total of 27 species were identified and two of them were recognized as new The following infrageneric and infraspecific modifications were derived from the taxonomic re-evaluation: Cambessedesia sect. Cambessedesia and Cambessedesia sect. Pyramia are considered synonymies; the epithet C. hilariana was replaced by the epithet fasciculata, because of its priority; C. arenaria and C. tiradentensis were considered synonym of C. corymbosa and C. espora subsp. ilicifolia synonym of C. espora; C. longifolia and C. bahiana were elevated to the specific status. A total of 13 lectotypes and four neotypes were designated. The genus Cambessedesia is characterized by species with opposite leaves, frequently with additional axillary leaves that are small and arranged in brachiblasts, occasionally fasciculate, or verticillate in C. weddellii only. The flowers are 5-(6-) merous with bicolor petals that are red-orange colored and have a yellow base, or that are monochromatic yellow or white-yellowish; stamens 10(-12), 5 in C. semidecandra, and the anther connective is dorsally thickened, often with a calcar at the base, without ventral appendages. The capsules contain oval-depressed seeds that are densely or sparsely tuberculate and, almost always, the anti-raphe is more developed than the raphe. Cambessedesia is endemic to Brazil, where three general patterns of geographic distribution were identified for its species: widely distributed, endemic (Espinhaço Mountains (MG), Chapada Diamantina (BA) and Chapada dos Veadeiros (GO) and disjunct Among the 27 identified species, only C. fasciculata and C. espora are widely distributed. The data in the present work contributes to further understand the systematic of Cambessedesia and are potentially useful for future phylogenetic in this genus. / Doutorado / Biologia Vegetal / Doutor em Biologia Vegetal

The Great Escarpment forms a semi-continuous mountain system 5 000 km long, stretching from Angola in the north-west, south through Namibia, and into western, southern and eastern South Africa, including Lesotho and Swaziland. It is composed of a wide variety of geological suites but is unified in representing the edge of the African plateau and the passive Gondwanan continental margin. The Great Escarpment falls into all major climatic zones on the subcontinent, is a repository of palaeo- and neo-endemics, hosts more than half of southern Africa‟s centres of plant endemism, and has a rich suite of endemic fauna. In addition, the Great Escarpment is believed to be both a refugium and corridor for biological diversity. Despite the biological richness of the Great Escarpment, research to date has been fragmented and many sections of the Great Escarpment have not been studied. The aim of this study is to contribute to research on the Great Escarpment by undertaking a detailed floristic study of the southern Great Escarpment (the Sneeuberg, Nuweveldberge and Roggeveldberge). Together these mountains comprise approximately 1 000 km (one fifth) of the Great Escarpment, and occupy a transition zone between the summer rainfall zone in the east and the winter rainfall zone in the west. They are also the sections of Great Escarpment most closely situated to the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) and would thus be involved in hypothesised migration routes for lineages that also occur further north through the Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) to the East African mountain chain. Detailed fieldwork of the southern Great Escarpment was undertaken over a period of four years in all seasons. Approximately 8 000 specimens were collected. Particular emphasis was placed on areas that may represent refugia, i.e. the highest plateaux and peaks, mesic areas and cliff-lines. An overview of each mountain range, together with their endemic plant species and phytogeography, is provided. Approximately ten new species have been discovered during this study, two of which have been described to date. Numerous endemics only known from their types have also been rediscovered. The Sneeuberg is defined as a new centre of plant endemism on the Great Escarpment (endemism of 2.3%), and the role of the Boschberg and Groot-Bruintjieshoogde (part of the Sneeuberg) as a nexus for floristic migration routes is discussed. The Nuweveldberge is shown to have low endemism despite a floristic tally similar to the Sneeuberg, while the Roggeveldberge are confirmed to be the most endemic-rich section of the southern Great Escarpment. The field data collected was augmented by available data in taxonomic revisions, and floras for the Sneeuberg, Nuweveldberge and Roggeveldberge were compiled. In order to floristically compare the southern Great Escarpment with other sections of the Great Escarpment and the CFR, a database of some 12 000 taxa was created using available floristic data for the CFR, DAC and Great WinterbergAmatolas, together with the data collated for the Sneeuberg, Nuweveldberge and Roggeveldberge. These data were analysed using phenetic methods and Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE). The results indicate stronger linkages in the east, particularly between the Sneeuberg and Nuweveldberge, and between the Sneeuberg and the Great WinterbergAmatolas. The relationship of the Roggeveldberge with the rest of the southern Great Escarpment remains ambiguous. In order to refine notions of connectivity and migration routes, 19 well-sampled phylogenies were assessed for sister-taxon disjunctions to explore CFRGreat Escarpment connections. Palaeo-connectivity between the CFR and southern Great Escarpment is most strongly supported for the south-eastern (SE) connection, and less so for the north-western (NW) and Matjiesfontein connections. There is support for the current (or recent) use of these three connections from numerous species that occur on both sides of the connections. Results of these analyses indicate that the southern Great Escarpment is a palaeo-corridor, the functioning of which has been broken by the aridification of the Nuweveldberge since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Floristic connectivity is strongest in the east, from the Nuweveldberge to the DAC, and is less so in the west between the Nuweveldberge and the Roggeveldberge a finding attributed to the transition from a reliable winter rainfall regime on the Roggeveldberge to an unpredictable moisture regime on the Nuweveldberge. The mountains of the southern Great Escarpment are thus a series of refugia from a previous moister, cooler climate and are a corridor between the eastern and western components of the Great Escarpment. The SE connection is the primary link between the CFR and the eastern Great Escarpment Afromontane region in southern Africa. The implications of this research are that accurate conservation assessments and Red Data listings for many of the previously poorly-known endemics can now be made, and appropriate conservation measures implemented. Climate change remains the primary threat to these endemics and montane taxa in general, while degradation of wetlands is the primary threat to the water catchment service provided by the southern Great Escarpment. Future detailed research on the Great WinterbergAmatolas and Stormberg and a comprehensive flora of the HantamRoggeveldberge will further enhance our understanding of the floristics of the southern Great Escarpment, and provide the necessary data for comprehensive GIS-based models of proposed climate change scenarios for local, regional and national conservation planning.

Gazania is a small genus of the subtribe Gorteriinae, tribe Arctoteae, that is endemic to southern Africa. The genus was last revised in 1959 by Roessler, who noted that delimitation of the species of Gazania can be “extraordinarily difficult”. Morphometric data was collected to test the reality of the 16 species as delimited by Roessler, who based species boundaries on morphological characters. Only six taxa were found to be morphologically distinct, while the remaining samples showed no species cohesion. DNA sequence data from two nuclear spacer regions (ITS and ETS) and four chloroplast noncoding regions (the trnL and rpS16 introns, and the psbA-trnH and trnL-F spacers) of 43 samples were utilised to create a species level phylogeny and to investigate correlations between genetically delimited units and morphologically defined taxa. DNA sequence data reveal that seven species (as delimited by Roessler) are morphologically and genetically distinct. The remaining nine of Roessler’s species fall into a morphologically and genetically overlapping continuum that forms an ochlospecies. Phylogeographic methods (based on an expanded ITS and ETS DNA sequence data set from 169 samples) were employed to further resolve the limits of species, with special focus on the clades within the ochlospecies. These genetically defined clades were correlated with their geographical distributions, and in combination with molecular dating techniques, used to elucidate the recent climatic or environmental factors that may have shaped the phylogeographic structure of the genus. Phylogeographic patterns and molecular dating reveals that the genus Gazania is an example of a South African endemic clade that has undergone episodic cladogenesis in response to fluctuating climatic conditions over the last seven million years. The ochlospecies within Gazania is a result of repeated cycles of climate driven isolation in refugia and subsequent expansion and hybridization events during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Comparisons with phylogeographic studies on other organisms reveal a common pattern indicative of the presence and evolutionary importance of an ancestral refugium in the arid Richtersveld / Namib region of southern Africa.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc (Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Plant Science / unrestricted