Loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) resulting from intensive agriculture practices has impacts on both climate change, through emissions of greenhouse gases, as well as food security because of declines in soil fertility. A possible solution for rapidly restoring and stabilizing SOC is through additions of biochar to soil. Biochar is a carbon-rich material formed by pyrolysis (heating) of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment. A biofuel company, ABRI-Tech, has proposed an economically feasible method of using biochar in Canadian agriculture that involves enriching biochar with urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer and applying small amounts (~1 t/ha) of biochar annually. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the ability of biochar-UAN (Char+) to increase agricultural productivity and SOC in temperate regions. This study presents the results of a growth chamber experiment, two field trials and Century Soil Organic Matter modeling. In the growth chamber experiment, Char+ significantly increased the shoot dry mass (DM) of maize (Zea mays) by 310% in sandy textured soil, 112% in medium soil and no significant difference was observed in fine soil. However, in all soil textures, as well as the Char+ field trial, the maize DM resulting from 1 t/ha Char+ was not significantly different from UAN treatments. The biochar field trials demonstrated that if 1 t/ha of Char+ was applied annually the maize biomass production would not be affected after 6-12 years (6.2-12.4 t biochar/ha), and there may be slight improvement in yields of about 25% after 25 years (24.8 t biochar/ha). Although no significant differences in SOC were found in the field trial, there was a trend of increasing SOC as biochar application rates increased. The Century model predicted that annual addition of 1 or 2 t Char+/ha will increase SOC more than other management practices, including crop rotation, no-till and manure, over a 150 year period. The model predicted that applying 1 t Char+/ha per year to a sandy soil will increase SOC by 10% after 10 years and 17% after 20 years. This research is significant because it shows how an economically feasible method of using biochar can improve the sustainability of agroecosystems and increase terrestrial carbon sequestration in temperate regions.

Recent concerns regarding climate change, environmental degradation, human health and energy security associated with the consumption of energy have raised questions about the sustainability of current energy systems. Increasing energy efficiency is considered a core strategy for ultimately achieving a sustainable energy system by offering a cost-effective method for reducing energy use for organisations. However, the slow execution of energy efficiency solutions is said to be reflective of a much wider debate within energy economics, and lead to what is commonly referred to as the “efficiency gap”. Historically, the debate involves theoretical differences between engineering-economic, or “bottom-up”, models which suggest there is ample room for profitable energy efficiency measures; and, orthodox economic, or “top-down”, models which argue that there are significant costs associated with reducing energy consumption. The result has been a diversity of opinions on the potential for, and costs of, energy efficiency, the nature and significance of associated barriers and the appropriateness of various policies in overcoming these barriers. In reality, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to resolving the debate. Rather, the differences across energy service markets require that the existence of an efficiency gap be assessed within the context of these parameters. This requires understanding the nature and significance of barriers to energy efficiency and their economic and organisational impacts within various contexts. This paper explores a taxonomy of barriers to energy efficiency within one potentially influential sub-sector within the country’s most densely populated and highest energy consuming region – Southern Ontario municipalities. The information was collected in three phases. First, a review of the literature was conducted which helped identify and understand potential barriers to energy efficiency and the instances in which they would merit policy intervention. Secondly, 26 questionnaires from individuals responsible for various aspects of energy management and municipal decision-making were completed to gain further insight into municipal structures, policies, decision-making procedures and perception of barriers. These questionnaires were supplemented with 6 detailed interviews conducted with municipal energy managers, or the equivalent. The results presented in this study confirm the presence of an energy efficiency gap within the participating municipalities and that barriers to cost-effective energy efficiency measures do in fact exist. These barriers are most often associated with a lack of information on obtaining appropriate measures and difficulties accessing available capital required for initial investments. The findings support the claims of “bottom-up” models which indicate that policy intervention may rationally overcome many of these barriers. For example, organisational policy measures such as the implementation of energy reserve funds for individual departments may be implemented at low costs. Other barriers that do not justify policy intervention, such as risk, were considered to be less relevant to the participating municipalities. The case studies suggest that with adequate public and organisational policy intervention, the energy efficiency gap may be reduced within these municipalities, thus increasing overall energy efficiency.

Most land use plans and policies, including those concerning growth management, are created in urban hubs (Afshar, 1994; Summer, 2005). My interest in this thesis started by asking the question: What are the criteria that ensure that land use plans and related policies serve rural livelihoods and stewardship under the lens of sustainability and resilience? Being a citizen residing in Niagara Region, I was inspired to find out the criteria to judge plans and policies in rural Niagara as a case study. This thesis uncovers the categories of consideration for rural areas close to urban centres in developed countries, and the context-specific criteria pertaining to rural Niagara. The eight context-specific categories, merged with sustainability and resilience imperatives, are presented as evaluation criteria in a brief form as follows: 1. Plans and policies should provide for building communities’ capacity in participative and collaborative governance including overlap in governance; 2. provide means for reconciling different interests in a way that celebrates diversity and ensures sufficiency and opportunity for all towards intragenerational equity while supporting community solidarity to acknowledge slow variables and feedback signals; 3. provide for the support of viable farming by fostering livelihood sufficiency and preserving resources for future generations within a regional character; 4. provide for strengthening the socio-economic base integrity in ways that also maintain/ rehabilitate the socio-ecological base by reducing threats to its long-term integrity while encouraging diversity and innovation. 5. Plans and policies are to be used as tools to reduce intragenerational and intergenerational inequities in livelihood sufficiency and opportunity through collective responsibility, and innovative solutions to the local poverty problems. 6. Plans and policies should allot specific clauses to alleviate land stressors through institutionalized adoption of the precautionary principle, socio-ecological system integrity and the application of all sustainability imperatives while rewarding voluntary stewardship. 7. Plans and policies should acknowledge and foster multi-functionality in agriculture as one of the means to foster livelihoods, socio-ecological system integrity, and sustainable use of resources through the integration of all sustainability imperatives. Multi-functionality entails fostering diversification, the building of a regional modular character while acknowledging slow variables and system feedbacks through innovative local solutions 8. Plans and policies should cater for Preparedness for the Future by institutionalizing the adoption of precaution and adaptation as one of the means to prepare for uncertainty and applying all sustainability imperatives to seek mutually supportive benefits while nurturing a resilient Niagara character through all resilience imperatives The above eight categories relate to all the sustainability imperatives (listed in appendix C) and all the resilience imperatives (listed in appendix D) in various ways. The research used the technique of triangulation for corroborating evidence. By reviewing a purposeful sample of Niagara government and non-government documents, the presence of the eight categories was confirmed. A sample of articles in a local paper also confirmed the presence of the categories. By counting the number of mentions for each category, the priority order was inferred. In the case of Niagara the top priority is given to “Viable Farming” as concerns grow over the mounting challenges faced by family farms. “Stewardship” is the second priority to enable the rural and farming communities to play the role of land stewards.

Monitoring successful urban stream restorations can provide guidance for best practices for restoration design. My case study was located at Critter Creek, a tributary to the Grand River, in northeast Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where due to high flow and tight meanders, six constructed offline ponds have become connected to the main stream and are now online ponds. This project aimed to evaluate how these online (formerly offline) ponds are affecting the restoration of the stream. The majority of research on this topic has concentrated on ponds specifically constructed for stormwater management or on urban restored streams without ponds. In many restoration plans, offline ponds are proposed to compensate for cut-fill balances and/or for habitat diversity. The relationship of these offline ponds to the function and ecology of the channel has not often been assessed. Benthic macroinvertebrates were used as indicators of restoration as a proxy for water quality. Using a Surber sampler, samples were collected in the reaches of the stream upstream of the inlet and downstream of the outlet of each pond. Comparative samples were taken from waterbodies that provided a restored stream without offline ponds and a reference stream. In the laboratory, all benthic macroinvertebrates were identified to the Family level. Ecology-based metrics (EPT, functional feeding groups, etc.) and an index (Hilsenhoff FBI) were used to characterize the assemblages. The Percent Model Affinity (PMA) Method was used to determine the impairment of the streams and Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to determine if differences existed between the samples taken close to the ponds and those not close to the ponds. Those tests were also conducted to determine differences between Critter Creek and the reference and other restored stream. PMA results from monitoring from previous years indicated that Critter Creek was an impaired stream, and this research shows that the stream is still impaired with PMA values less than 33.23% for 83 of 89 samples. Mann-Whitney tests showed that the location in Critter Creek, whether it be adjacent to an online pond or not, does not have an effect on the benthic assemblages. They also indicate that the composition of the benthic assemblages in Critter Creek has not reached the same stage as those in Laurel Creek, the reference stream, or Clair Creek, the other restored stream. While the habitat and functional requirements of organisms between all three streams is similar, the water quality present in Critter Creek is much lower than in the other two streams. Further monitoring could be completed to determine the trajectory of the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in this restoration. However, given that monitoring for the past 10 years has shown that the ecosystem integrity of Critter Creek is not improving, it is advised that action be taken now to improve the stream restoration. The concepts of urban ecology were addressed in this study and a wider-scope monitoring program could be completed to determine the impact of urbanization on the restoration of Critter Creek.

Soil salinity is a serious environmental stress threatening productivity of major crops worldwide. Among the various biotic and abiotic strategies that exist, transgenic technologies provide a promising avenue to reduce yield losses in crops under saline environments. Recently, transgenic technology involving the TMT gene encoding thiol methyltransferase enzyme has been suggested as an effective solution for engineering a chloride detoxification capability into a high value crops to improve tolerance against chloride ion toxicity under saline environments. This proposed mechanism, however, results in the emission of methyl chloride (CH3Cl) from plants, which has deleterious effects on stratospheric ozone. This study was performed to examine the relationship between salt tolerance and chloride volatilizing capacity of transgenic plants containing TMT gene as well as to explore the possibility of generating transgenic rice crop containing TMT gene for salinity tolerance. To achieve these objectives, transgenic tobacco plants containing TMT gene were grown in comparison with wild type tobacco plants under three levels of sodium chloride (NaCl) salinity (0, 100 and 200 mM), three levels of soil water content (40%, 60% and 80% of the field capacity) and their tolerance to NaCl and water stress was studied. Plant growth parameters recorded included plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, stem dry weight, leaf dry weight, root dry weight, plant dry biomass and root/shoot ratio. Similarly, both types of plants were exposed to five levels of NaCl concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM) and three levels of soil water content (40%, 60% and 80% of the field capacity), and the quantity of CH3Cl emitted was recorded. Significant decrease in plants growth parameters of both types of plants were recorded upon exposure to salinity and water stress. Under 100 mM NaCl, however, transgenic plants showed better tolerance to salinity by suffering less reduction in growth parameters compared to wild type plants. Under 200 mM NaCl, growth of both types of plants was completely inhibited. The interactive effects of salinity and water stress were more pronounced in wild type plants than in transgenic plants. Results also showed that all engineered plants acquired an ability to efficiently transform chloride ion to CH3Cl, and the rate of such transformation was higher under greater NaCl and soil water content compared to lower NaCl concentrations and soil water content. In order to explore the possibility of generating a transgenic food crop using TMT gene, a hypothetical transgenic rice crop was grown over 27 million hectares of the saline coastal areas of south and southeast Asia and the possible emission of CH3Cl from such ecosystem was inferred based on the CH3Cl emission data obtained from transgenic tobacco plants. The estimates showed that the possible CH3Cl emission from such ecosystem would be 219.21 Gg which is equivalent to 5.36 % of the global atmospheric emissions of CH3Cl.

Interest in local food has increased during recent years; however, the necessary infrastructure is not yet in place for farmers to fully access local markets. While consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of buying local food, farmers and producers still face many barriers to success in this market. Despite confirmed public desire and growing enthusiasm for local foods, farmers in Perth County continue to face barriers to fully benefitting from this growing market. This research has been conducted as an investigation of one aspect of sustainable communities - the potential contributions of a more local food system in the Perth County community. Using a qualitative methodological approach, this case study research examined Perth County’s food system, barriers facing producers, the potential contributions of a distribution system and culinary tourism to a healthy food system, and the overall sustainable development of a community. Key informants included farmers and producers, and local distribution companies. A vibrant local food system can make significant contributions to the sustainability of communities and, thus, should continue to be pursued within Perth County. Interviews with 18 area producers discovered that a majority found distribution to be a significant barrier to success. This research examined the potential for a local food distribution system that serves as a mechanism for area farmers to increase the consumption of local food and strengthen culinary tourism in the region Culinary tourism is the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry and can make significant contributions to strengthening a local food system. Initiatives already underway to establish Perth County as a culinary and agri-tourism destination will contribute to and provide incentives for developing a stronger local food system in the region. Considerations of sustainable development must be integral to this food systems work and, therefore, the entire realm of social, economic, and environmental impacts of Perth County agriculture must be considered. Perth County has a relatively healthy food system, yet clearly possesses the potential to create a much more localized one. Based on the findings from this study, it is recommended that a feasibility study on the most appropriate distribution model to serve Perth County producers be undertaken.

Despite enough food production to feed everyone on the planet, there are 850 million people around the world who are food insecure. This includes people in developing and industrialized countries. Food insecurity may not be just “not having enough amounts of food” but “not having food that is appropriate according to culture and religion”. The global agri-food system has restricted access to food and resulted in environmental damage by displacing family farming, and leading to the establishment of industrial monocultures. Canada, being a multicultural society, has immigrants from around the world with different ethno-cultural backgrounds and religions. This study takes a different perspective on food insecurity by linking food to culture and religion and the food system. The study has devised criteria based on sustainable food security criteria developed by Lima (2008). The criteria include physical and economic access to food, religious and cultural adequacy of food and the food system’s environmental and social effects. The criteria were applied to the case study of Waterloo Region by examining existing policies and initiatives to address food insecurity in the Region. The case study analysis explores barriers and opportunities to foster sustainable food security for immigrants in Waterloo Region. The case study includes an embedded case study of South Asian Muslim community of immigrants in Cambridge, Waterloo Region. The analysis of the case study findings reveals that in most cases the current food system of Waterloo Region is largely industrial and contains major gaps in fulfilling the criteria of access, sustainability, social justice, and cultural and spiritual attitudes. This food system only partially meets or even fails to meet the criteria. As evidenced in the case study, current governance arrangements to address the issue of food insecurity result in exclusion of immigrant populations. The issue goes beyond food and emerges in other planning decisions like the allocation of public spaces. Finally, this study recommends broader multicultural policy at the regional government level to include the issues of immigrants.

Conservation biologists often use biological indicators to measure and monitor changes in biological diversity. This study examines butterflies as indicators using a gradient-based study approach. The urban gradient was characterized by Environmentally Sensitive Policy Areas (ESPAs), urban parks, golf courses, residential areas, and industrial areas. This thesis has been divided into two separate chapters. Chapter 1 summarizes an extensive review of existing data on butterfly presence/absence in the Region of Waterloo to determine what species are relatively uncommon or rare in the Region and examine how butterfly presence/absence has changed over the last 80 year. Each butterfly species that occurs in the region was assigned a regional status which resulted in the identification of 46 uncommon and rare species. Chapter 2 examines changes in butterfly abundance and diversity along a gradient of urbanization to determine how different land uses are potential affecting butterfly communities. Transects, 500 meters in length, were established at fifteen sites, each of which represented a land use within the urban gradient identified. Each transect was walked once a week for a total of 28 weeks over two years (2009 and 2010). Overall butterfly richness was observed to be highest within ESPAs, followed by urban parks and industrial areas and lowest within golf courses and residential areas. Shannon diversity scores were compared using a Kruskal Wallis test and indicated that species richness and evenness was significantly different between ESPAs and urban parks and compared to the remaining land uses, while species richness and evenness was not significantly different among residential areas, golf courses, and industrial areas in either 2009 or 2010. Significant differences in species richness and evenness was observed across the same land uses in 2009 and 2010 for all types except residential areas. Overall butterfly abundance was observed to be highest in industrial areas and lowest within golf courses and residential areas, a trend which was observed in both 2009 and 2010. Abundance was observed to be heavily influenced by counts of two non native species- the cabbage white (Pieris rapae) and European Skipper (Thymelicus lineola). ESPAs were identified as 1) supporting the most diverse butterfly community out of the 5 land uses examined and 2) providing habitat for the highest number of rare and uncommon species, indicating that current regional policies in place for protecting rare species are effective. Through an extensive literature review it was concluded that butterflies are effective indicators in temperate regions within a small geographic area such as the Region of Waterloo. Therefore it is expected that the results of this study indicate how other terrestrial taxonomic groups, which are known to show a similar response to urbanized land uses, may be impacted by urbanization in the Region. It is anticipated that the results of this study may be used to guide urban land use planning as it identifies rare and uncommon butterfly species within the region as well as what land uses need habitat enhancement to support more diverse communities.

Temporal and spatial concentrations of several pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are predicted in the Grand River watershed using a novel version of the PhATE (Pharmaceutical Assessment and Transport Evaluation) model code, which is adapted to explicitly consider Canadian conditions. Specific PPCPs and EDCs previously measured in the Grand River watershed in Ontario, Canada, are selected as the target compounds for this study. Due to observed seasonal variability in climate, hydrology, and pharmaceutical loadings at the case study location, predicting seasonal concentrations of each chemical is expected to improve simulation results and the PhATE model is modified accordingly. In this regard, required seasonal hydrological parameters (i.e. flow rate and velocity) are estimated based on site data. Furthermore, chemical loss parameters (i.e. in-stream decay, human loss, and removal efficiency of treatment plants) are extracted from the literature and then calibrated to observed seasonal behaviour. Calibration parameters for the case study include in-stream decay, human loss, and removal efficiency of three different types of treatment plants. Simulated concentrations are validated by comparing them with measured data at two previously sampled locations in the Grand River. In general, the PhATE model, when modified to account for seasonal variability, accurately simulates pharmaceutical concentrations in the Grand River. The validated PhATE model is used in a predictive mode to identify streams and stream segments with high potential risk of being exposed to the selected PPCPs and EDCs in the watershed in different seasons. Results suggest that a portion of the Grand River extending from the effluent of Waterloo and Kitchener wastewater treatment plants down to the municipality of Brantford is likely to be at higher risk, relative to other portions of the watershed. Moreover, the potential for PPCP toxicity to aquatic species is assessed using the maximum simulated concentrations for the Grand River watershed. According to regulatory guidelines developed by the European Union (EU), most of PPCPs are predicted to be at concentrations that require further assessment and/or more stringent regulations and restrictions.

Loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) resulting from intensive agriculture practices has impacts on both climate change, through emissions of greenhouse gases, as well as food security because of declines in soil fertility. A possible solution for rapidly restoring and stabilizing SOC is through additions of biochar to soil. Biochar is a carbon-rich material formed by pyrolysis (heating) of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment. A biofuel company, ABRI-Tech, has proposed an economically feasible method of using biochar in Canadian agriculture that involves enriching biochar with urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer and applying small amounts (~1 t/ha) of biochar annually. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the ability of biochar-UAN (Char+) to increase agricultural productivity and SOC in temperate regions. This study presents the results of a growth chamber experiment, two field trials and Century Soil Organic Matter modeling. In the growth chamber experiment, Char+ significantly increased the shoot dry mass (DM) of maize (Zea mays) by 310% in sandy textured soil, 112% in medium soil and no significant difference was observed in fine soil. However, in all soil textures, as well as the Char+ field trial, the maize DM resulting from 1 t/ha Char+ was not significantly different from UAN treatments. The biochar field trials demonstrated that if 1 t/ha of Char+ was applied annually the maize biomass production would not be affected after 6-12 years (6.2-12.4 t biochar/ha), and there may be slight improvement in yields of about 25% after 25 years (24.8 t biochar/ha). Although no significant differences in SOC were found in the field trial, there was a trend of increasing SOC as biochar application rates increased. The Century model predicted that annual addition of 1 or 2 t Char+/ha will increase SOC more than other management practices, including crop rotation, no-till and manure, over a 150 year period. The model predicted that applying 1 t Char+/ha per year to a sandy soil will increase SOC by 10% after 10 years and 17% after 20 years. This research is significant because it shows how an economically feasible method of using biochar can improve the sustainability of agroecosystems and increase terrestrial carbon sequestration in temperate regions.