Progress in early ecological restoration is a measure which has not been extensively studied in the relatively new body of literature surrounding this field of study. Early restoration is an extremely beneficial area of study due to the increasing number of degraded areas which require immediate attention in order to stabilize soil, or deter exotic species invasion. An early restoration effort was implemented and observed in Natchez Hills, an Environmentally Sensitive Policy Area in the Region of Waterloo from May 2006 to June 2007. Natchez Hills is a maple-beech dominated forest which has been severely degraded by mountain biking, and faces other pressures such as urbanization, fragmentation and invasive species encroachment. The experiment was designed so that different combinations of three understory plants could be tested for their effectiveness at progress in early restoration. The species selected for use in this study were Erythronium americanum Ker. (trout lily), Podophyllum peltatum L. (mayapple) and Caulophyllum thalictroides L. Michx. (blue cohosh). The experiment was designed across four blocks of the forest study site with varying degrees of degradation, with eight 1 m2 plots per block which contained one of the seven combinations of understory plants or the control treatment. In the spring of 2006, E. americanum and P. peltatum were planted at a density of 6 plants m-2, and C. thalictroides was transplanted into the plots at a density of 2 plants m-2. The transplants were monitored on a biweekly basis through the months of May to August in 2006. Invasive species in the plots were controlled by aboveground biomass clipping during the same period. In the spring of 2007, second season survivorship was measured by counting the number of plants which returned to the plots. Erythronium americanum returned at a rate of 92%, P. peltatum at a rate of 97% and C. thalictroides at a rate of 100%. The return rates were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Results showed no significant differences (p<0.05) between the seven experimental treatments. Additionally, return rates examining differences between the experimental blocks (block effect) were also not significantly different (p<0.05). These results indicate, respectively, that combinations do not perform significantly better than solitary plantings of any of the three species, and that these plants can be successfully planted into varying levels of degradation. During the 2007 field season, while measuring transplant return rates, some unexpected results were observed. These included asexual plants returning as sexual plants, bearing flowers and producing fruit (P. peltatum and C. thalictroides), and returning transplants spawning extra clonal individuals within the plots (P. peltatum). These occurrences added an extra layer of progress to the early restoration effort by increasing both reproductive potential and biomass cover within the experimental plots. Overall the restoration effort was deemed to be successful, based on the structural success obtained in this study. However, it should be noted that the field of restoration ecology still seeks a unified answer on what makes a restoration project successful, so determining that progress was achieved by structural means should be taken only within the context of this type of study. This study was helpful in informing the overlooked areas of understory restoration, early-stage restoration and the use of combinations. Though there remains a significant demand for more research in all of these areas, this study has served the purpose of identifying a usable protocol for real world restoration efforts. The three species used can be highly recommended for future restoration within their geographical range, into a range of degradation conditions, in any combination.

In Canada, anticipated climate changes including an increased frequency of hot temperature extremes and intense precipitation events, are projected to affect surface water and groundwater resources with respect to water quality and water quantity. At the watershed scale, examples of these effects include changes to water flows and water availability, runoff and evaporation patterns, and dissolved oxygen and phosphorus concentrations, with potentially negative implications. In Ontario, Conservation Authorities (CAs) play an important role in managing and protecting water resources at the watershed scale, through collaboration with the municipal and provincial governments, stakeholders and community members. The projected effects of climate change on water resources will be felt at the watershed scale and will have an impact on existing activities within CAs. Research suggests that current management practices may not be sufficient to adapt to climate change effects. Therefore, CAs should be involved in climate change adaptation. This research evaluated what capacity Ontario CAs currently have for climate change adaptation, through a case-study comparison of two CAs – the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) and Credit Valley Conservation (CVC). An evaluative framework with indicators of capacity in three environments – the institutional environment (i.e., presence and quality of institutional arrangements), the organizational environment (i.e., organizational resources and organizational dynamics) and the action environment (i.e., community and political support), was developed through a literature review. The evaluative framework was used to assess CA capacity for climate change adaptation through information obtained from open-ended, semi-structured key informant interviews with CA employees, a review of documentation and direct observation. The results of the evaluation revealed that the capacity for climate change adaptation varied considerably between the NBMCA and CVC, particularly in the organizational environment. CVC had strong capacity in terms of resources availability and had already begun to adapt to climate change in its watershed management activities. The NBMCA was challenged with respect to resources availability and had not yet begun to adapt to climate change. Overall, this research highlighted the importance of developing partnerships, communicating, and sharing resources and expertise with other organizations and the local community.

Studies in the fields of invasion and landscape ecology suggest that there is certainly a spatial component to the spread and establishment of exotic plant species. An understanding of how patch dynamics affects the dispersal process is necessary for effective management of invasive or problematic exotic plant species. However, studies that have specifically compared spatial attributes of natural areas with exotic plant species diversities (or abundances) have had disparities in their scale or methodology, and incongruent results. I sought to answer the question of whether landscape and patch variables (or soil texture) can predict the presence of exotic plant species in natural areas, using a case study of the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The objective of this study was to determine whether landscape and patch variables can be used (albeit most effectively with long-term monitoring) as part of a management plan and monitoring priority list for Kitchener and Waterloo’s urban natural areas. I collected vegetation and soil data at 98 edge and core sites in 5 natural areas, ranging in size from 16 – 146 ha. In total, 19 exotic and 39 native herbaceous species, and 11 exotic and 43 native tree and shrub species occurred in the 490 sampling plots at 98 sites. Using Usher’s (1988) index of invasion, the parks cumulatively had 33% invasion of their herbaceous layer and 20% invasion of their shrub/tree layer. I conducted Kruskal-Wallis tests of the non-parametric data (for both species diversities and abundances) and results showed that native herbaceous, tree and shrub species richness was significantly higher than exotic species at core and edge sites at 4 of the 5 parks (Doon had significantly higher numbers of exotic species than native species at its edge sites). No significant relationship was found between soil texture and the presence of exotic herbaceous plants, tree or shrubs at any of the parks. Additionally, no significant relationship was found between any of the spatial attributes measured and exotic plant species diversities, although total park area, # of disjunct core areas, and perimeter: area ratio were the three strongest predictors of exotic plant species abundances. These results indicate that native plant species in Kitchener and Waterloo’s urban natural areas are successfully out competing exotic plant species or, alternatively, that their core areas have become as equivalently invaded as their edges. Longer term and larger scale studies are necessary to substantiate these findings but smaller parks and parks with higher perimeter: area ratios should still be a management focus. Fragmentation of current natural areas and urbanization in close proximity to natural areas should also be minimized or avoided to decrease the risk of new invasions and establishment and exotic plant species.

This paper is an attempt to determine the impacts of Appropriate Housing Improvement Products (AHITs) on poverty alleviation and environmental conservation with special reference to the housing improvement technologies/techniques developed and introduced by the Building and Construction Improvement Program (BACIP) of the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan (AKPBSP) in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. A general methodology was employed in this research based on exploratory and evaluative investigation using both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through a series of open ended interview questionnaires. The use of open ended questionnaires enabled the researcher to collect both quantitative as well as qualitative data from the interview questionnaires. Some additional qualitative data was collected through focus group discussions. The secondary data was collected from various published and unpublished reports and also from the internet. The paper begins with an introduction about the context and the program. The literature review identifies some basic concepts and approaches to poverty, and appropriate technologies, followed by the methodology that was adopted for the study. Chapter four presents the environmental setting of the study area that provides a context for analysis and chapter five present an assessment of the AHITS, with an emphasis on its role in alleviating poverty and environmental conservation in the study area, mostly through the lens of quantitative and qualitative research. Finally, the findings of the study are presented. In conclusion, recommendations are made to upgrade the effectiveness and efficiency of AHITs and to expand the impacts of the program outside its source of origin, covering a larger geographic area. In this way not only the people of the Northern Areas of Pakistan will be able to alleviate poverty in the region but people living in other regions having similar socio-economic and environmental conditions will also be able to reduce their unwanted expenses caused by poor housing conditions.

Growing demand for public involvement in environmental governance combined with recognition that top-down approaches often are not well suited to dealing with local concerns has led to increased use of collaborative approaches. The consensus-seeking partnership is becoming a common tool in the landscape of collaborative water governance. These arrangements typically are used to provide advice on water management to policy makers. Partnership models based on consensus are grounded in a number of assumptions, including cooperation amongst multi-stakeholder participants, fair and high quality decision outcomes, and commitment to implement the results produced during the consensus seeking process. Conflicting research on the consensus model and its use as a collaborative decision-making tool indicates that these assumptions are difficult to achieve. This thesis investigates these assumptions through a study of the outcomes of consensus in collaborative advisory partnerships and the procedures necessary for ensuring success with the consensus partnership model. Data were derived from analysis of documents and interviews with study participants involved in water partnerships in Southern Alberta. The research revealed that a number of conditions are needed in consensus-based approaches to avoid negative outcomes such as lowest common denominator decisions. While the analysis focuses on experiences in Alberta, the lessons learned are broadly transferable and provide practitioners in water management a more accurate representation of the use of consensus in collaborative water partnerships.

Progress in early ecological restoration is a measure which has not been extensively studied in the relatively new body of literature surrounding this field of study. Early restoration is an extremely beneficial area of study due to the increasing number of degraded areas which require immediate attention in order to stabilize soil, or deter exotic species invasion. An early restoration effort was implemented and observed in Natchez Hills, an Environmentally Sensitive Policy Area in the Region of Waterloo from May 2006 to June 2007. Natchez Hills is a maple-beech dominated forest which has been severely degraded by mountain biking, and faces other pressures such as urbanization, fragmentation and invasive species encroachment. The experiment was designed so that different combinations of three understory plants could be tested for their effectiveness at progress in early restoration. The species selected for use in this study were Erythronium americanum Ker. (trout lily), Podophyllum peltatum L. (mayapple) and Caulophyllum thalictroides L. Michx. (blue cohosh). The experiment was designed across four blocks of the forest study site with varying degrees of degradation, with eight 1 m2 plots per block which contained one of the seven combinations of understory plants or the control treatment. In the spring of 2006, E. americanum and P. peltatum were planted at a density of 6 plants m-2, and C. thalictroides was transplanted into the plots at a density of 2 plants m-2. The transplants were monitored on a biweekly basis through the months of May to August in 2006. Invasive species in the plots were controlled by aboveground biomass clipping during the same period. In the spring of 2007, second season survivorship was measured by counting the number of plants which returned to the plots. Erythronium americanum returned at a rate of 92%, P. peltatum at a rate of 97% and C. thalictroides at a rate of 100%. The return rates were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Results showed no significant differences (p<0.05) between the seven experimental treatments. Additionally, return rates examining differences between the experimental blocks (block effect) were also not significantly different (p<0.05). These results indicate, respectively, that combinations do not perform significantly better than solitary plantings of any of the three species, and that these plants can be successfully planted into varying levels of degradation. During the 2007 field season, while measuring transplant return rates, some unexpected results were observed. These included asexual plants returning as sexual plants, bearing flowers and producing fruit (P. peltatum and C. thalictroides), and returning transplants spawning extra clonal individuals within the plots (P. peltatum). These occurrences added an extra layer of progress to the early restoration effort by increasing both reproductive potential and biomass cover within the experimental plots. Overall the restoration effort was deemed to be successful, based on the structural success obtained in this study. However, it should be noted that the field of restoration ecology still seeks a unified answer on what makes a restoration project successful, so determining that progress was achieved by structural means should be taken only within the context of this type of study. This study was helpful in informing the overlooked areas of understory restoration, early-stage restoration and the use of combinations. Though there remains a significant demand for more research in all of these areas, this study has served the purpose of identifying a usable protocol for real world restoration efforts. The three species used can be highly recommended for future restoration within their geographical range, into a range of degradation conditions, in any combination.

In Canada, anticipated climate changes including an increased frequency of hot temperature extremes and intense precipitation events, are projected to affect surface water and groundwater resources with respect to water quality and water quantity. At the watershed scale, examples of these effects include changes to water flows and water availability, runoff and evaporation patterns, and dissolved oxygen and phosphorus concentrations, with potentially negative implications. In Ontario, Conservation Authorities (CAs) play an important role in managing and protecting water resources at the watershed scale, through collaboration with the municipal and provincial governments, stakeholders and community members. The projected effects of climate change on water resources will be felt at the watershed scale and will have an impact on existing activities within CAs. Research suggests that current management practices may not be sufficient to adapt to climate change effects. Therefore, CAs should be involved in climate change adaptation. This research evaluated what capacity Ontario CAs currently have for climate change adaptation, through a case-study comparison of two CAs – the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) and Credit Valley Conservation (CVC). An evaluative framework with indicators of capacity in three environments – the institutional environment (i.e., presence and quality of institutional arrangements), the organizational environment (i.e., organizational resources and organizational dynamics) and the action environment (i.e., community and political support), was developed through a literature review. The evaluative framework was used to assess CA capacity for climate change adaptation through information obtained from open-ended, semi-structured key informant interviews with CA employees, a review of documentation and direct observation. The results of the evaluation revealed that the capacity for climate change adaptation varied considerably between the NBMCA and CVC, particularly in the organizational environment. CVC had strong capacity in terms of resources availability and had already begun to adapt to climate change in its watershed management activities. The NBMCA was challenged with respect to resources availability and had not yet begun to adapt to climate change. Overall, this research highlighted the importance of developing partnerships, communicating, and sharing resources and expertise with other organizations and the local community.

Studies in the fields of invasion and landscape ecology suggest that there is certainly a spatial component to the spread and establishment of exotic plant species. An understanding of how patch dynamics affects the dispersal process is necessary for effective management of invasive or problematic exotic plant species. However, studies that have specifically compared spatial attributes of natural areas with exotic plant species diversities (or abundances) have had disparities in their scale or methodology, and incongruent results. I sought to answer the question of whether landscape and patch variables (or soil texture) can predict the presence of exotic plant species in natural areas, using a case study of the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The objective of this study was to determine whether landscape and patch variables can be used (albeit most effectively with long-term monitoring) as part of a management plan and monitoring priority list for Kitchener and Waterloo’s urban natural areas. I collected vegetation and soil data at 98 edge and core sites in 5 natural areas, ranging in size from 16 – 146 ha. In total, 19 exotic and 39 native herbaceous species, and 11 exotic and 43 native tree and shrub species occurred in the 490 sampling plots at 98 sites. Using Usher’s (1988) index of invasion, the parks cumulatively had 33% invasion of their herbaceous layer and 20% invasion of their shrub/tree layer. I conducted Kruskal-Wallis tests of the non-parametric data (for both species diversities and abundances) and results showed that native herbaceous, tree and shrub species richness was significantly higher than exotic species at core and edge sites at 4 of the 5 parks (Doon had significantly higher numbers of exotic species than native species at its edge sites). No significant relationship was found between soil texture and the presence of exotic herbaceous plants, tree or shrubs at any of the parks. Additionally, no significant relationship was found between any of the spatial attributes measured and exotic plant species diversities, although total park area, # of disjunct core areas, and perimeter: area ratio were the three strongest predictors of exotic plant species abundances. These results indicate that native plant species in Kitchener and Waterloo’s urban natural areas are successfully out competing exotic plant species or, alternatively, that their core areas have become as equivalently invaded as their edges. Longer term and larger scale studies are necessary to substantiate these findings but smaller parks and parks with higher perimeter: area ratios should still be a management focus. Fragmentation of current natural areas and urbanization in close proximity to natural areas should also be minimized or avoided to decrease the risk of new invasions and establishment and exotic plant species.

This paper is an attempt to determine the impacts of Appropriate Housing Improvement Products (AHITs) on poverty alleviation and environmental conservation with special reference to the housing improvement technologies/techniques developed and introduced by the Building and Construction Improvement Program (BACIP) of the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan (AKPBSP) in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. A general methodology was employed in this research based on exploratory and evaluative investigation using both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through a series of open ended interview questionnaires. The use of open ended questionnaires enabled the researcher to collect both quantitative as well as qualitative data from the interview questionnaires. Some additional qualitative data was collected through focus group discussions. The secondary data was collected from various published and unpublished reports and also from the internet. The paper begins with an introduction about the context and the program. The literature review identifies some basic concepts and approaches to poverty, and appropriate technologies, followed by the methodology that was adopted for the study. Chapter four presents the environmental setting of the study area that provides a context for analysis and chapter five present an assessment of the AHITS, with an emphasis on its role in alleviating poverty and environmental conservation in the study area, mostly through the lens of quantitative and qualitative research. Finally, the findings of the study are presented. In conclusion, recommendations are made to upgrade the effectiveness and efficiency of AHITs and to expand the impacts of the program outside its source of origin, covering a larger geographic area. In this way not only the people of the Northern Areas of Pakistan will be able to alleviate poverty in the region but people living in other regions having similar socio-economic and environmental conditions will also be able to reduce their unwanted expenses caused by poor housing conditions.

Growing demand for public involvement in environmental governance combined with recognition that top-down approaches often are not well suited to dealing with local concerns has led to increased use of collaborative approaches. The consensus-seeking partnership is becoming a common tool in the landscape of collaborative water governance. These arrangements typically are used to provide advice on water management to policy makers. Partnership models based on consensus are grounded in a number of assumptions, including cooperation amongst multi-stakeholder participants, fair and high quality decision outcomes, and commitment to implement the results produced during the consensus seeking process. Conflicting research on the consensus model and its use as a collaborative decision-making tool indicates that these assumptions are difficult to achieve. This thesis investigates these assumptions through a study of the outcomes of consensus in collaborative advisory partnerships and the procedures necessary for ensuring success with the consensus partnership model. Data were derived from analysis of documents and interviews with study participants involved in water partnerships in Southern Alberta. The research revealed that a number of conditions are needed in consensus-based approaches to avoid negative outcomes such as lowest common denominator decisions. While the analysis focuses on experiences in Alberta, the lessons learned are broadly transferable and provide practitioners in water management a more accurate representation of the use of consensus in collaborative water partnerships.