This research evaluates the decomposition of leaf litter while in litter traps. More specifically this study asks, ‘Does sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), American basswood (Tilia Americana L.) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) leaf litter collected bi-weekly from litter traps undergo a loss of dry mass and nutrient content (C, N, P, K, Ca and Mg) in comparison to freshly abscised leaf litter?’The objective of the initial experiment was to determine if sugar maple, basswood and beech leaf litter collecting in litter traps, while exposed to in-situ conditions, experienced decomposition. Results indicated that sugar maple, basswood and beech leaf litter experienced early stages of decomposition and identified precipitation, freezing temperatures and microbial activity as possible mechanisms for the observed decomposition. It was found that the dry weight of sugar maple and basswood differed significantly (p < 0.05 and p < 0.10, respectively) post- 14-day experiment period as compared to the initial dry weight. Consequently, three experiments were completed to examine the aforementioned variables. Conclusions were based on measured changes in the mass and nutrient (C, N, P, K, Ca and Mg) content of freshly abscised sugar maple, basswood and beech leaf litter under ex-situ conditions. It was found that the dry weight sugar maple and basswood leaf litter exposed to 30 mm, 60 mm and 100 mm of precipitation differed significantly (p < 0.05) as compared to freshly abscised leaf litter. In general, this research affirmed that precipitation and freezing temperature contribute to a change in mass and nutrient content of leaf litter collecting in litter traps. Furthermore, through measurable production of CO2 and Community Level Physiological Profiling it was determined that microbes are present and active on the leaf surface and contribute to the decomposition of leaf litter in litter traps.

Through appropriate soil and crop residue management, soil can function as a sink for carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) for the mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHG). No research has yet investigated the potential of intercrop agroecosystems to reduce emissions of GHG to the atmosphere. This research evaluates whether maize-soybean intercrop agroecosystems sequester more C and N and emit fewer GHG than maize and soybean sole crop agroecosystems. An experiment was conducted at Balcarce, Argentina using four treatments: a maize sole crop, a soybean sole crop, and two intercrops with either 1:2 or 2:3 rows of maize to soybean. The objectives were to quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (TN) at 0-10, 10-20, 20-40, 40-80 and 80-120 cm depths, rates of decomposition of maize and soybean crop residue after 312 days, crop residue C- and N-input at harvest, and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Significant decreases in SOC were observed with depth in all treatments after 40 cm, and significant decreases in TN were observed with depth in all treatments after 20 cm. Crop residue from maize had the greatest input of C and N to the soil, but the slowest rate of decomposition. Soybean biomass had the least input of C and N to the soil and the fastest rate of decomposition. The 1:2 and 2:3 intercrop agroecosystems had moderate crop residue inputs of C and N and intermediate rates of decomposition. No significant differences in GHG emissions were detected between treatments throughout the growing season. The major influences on GHG emissions were weather events, soil temperature and moisture, and crop residue input. Annual GHG emissions were determined; the CH4 sink in the 1:2 intercrop and the soybean sole crop was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than the 2:3 intercrop and the maize sole crop. Emissions of CO2 were inversely proportionate to N2O, with the greatest C sink in the 1:2 intercrop.

Generation of solid waste is a problem of great environmental significance in the Mexican Federal District. With an estimated daily generation of 12,500 tons waste management is a priority for the district government. Through the launch of a new initiative known as ‘Green Plan’, the government is proposing to implement an integrated waste management system that will not only reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills, increasing reuse and recycling of waste, but also will allow the district government to realize economic gains by charging a fee for collection services and selling energy generated from incinerating waste. Integrated waste management programs have been implemented in the Mexican Federal District in the past. They have failed. This research has examined the most recent initiative in an effort to discover the causes of failure, using a case study approach. In addition to identifying barriers to and opportunities for implementation of an effective integrated waste management system in the Federal District, this research recommends options for the newly proposed waste management system that will achieve the objectives desired by the government, while aiding in the pursuit of sustainable development. The research has revealed that the performance of the Federal District’s Integrated Solid Waste Management Program, or any other program of the sort, is affected mainly by a combination of factors that are under the local government’s control: legal instruments, administrative organization and political conflicts, allocation of resources, education and training, and citizen participation. Strengthening these areas will improve the performance of the program. In comparison to much of the existing waste management literature that aims at identifying opportunities for supporting proposed systems through technological innovation (Chambal, et.al., 2003; Eriksson, et.al., 2005; Hung, et.al., 2007), this research has found that key barriers and opportunities lie in the strengthening of the institutional capacities of the local government. While recommendations of this study have been developed within the specific context of Mexico City, they may offer some more general guidance about how to respond to concerns which are likely to apply to many other large urban municipalities in developing countries. Application of the Gibson principles for sustainability in the context of Sandra Cointreau’s guidelines for sustainable waste management has provided a useful evaluation guide. This research has focused not just on evaluation of a particular waste management system, but also on the geographic and administrative context of the system in order to gain a broader insight into the factors over and above technical standards and mechanisms that affect the performance of the system.

This thesis examines the feasibility of fostering “sustainable foodscapes” in urban communities. A review of the literature on the topics of sustainability, resilience, sustainable food security, and healthy communities is used to determine to the definition of “sustainable foodscapes.” This thesis uses a framework of socio-ecological restoration to consider how communities might adopt sustainable foodscapes. A case study is conducted in the city of Waterloo, Ontario to test the criteria of sustainable foodscapes and explore some of the practical opportunities and barriers to developing sustainable foodscapes in an urban community. The methods for the case study include semi-structured interviews. Interview results indicate that a variety of sustainable foodscapes such as community gardening, individual gardening, and foraging are used in Waterloo already, and survey results suggest that various members of the community are open to the adoption of these foodscapes. The case study results reveal that diverse community members view sustainable foodscapes as an important contribution to community health, less for the purpose of ecological sustainability than for their usefulness as a way of promoting community interaction, social learning, and fostering a sense of place. Ways to conduct a socio-ecological restoration for sustainable foodscapes in Waterloo could include increasing areas for the purposes of foraging to occur in an ecologically benign manner, such as on marginal or private land; creating municipal policies and Official Plans that provide support for community gardens, and fostering more accepting attitudes towards sustainable foodscapes by providing increased opportunities for education and participation among community members.

The water soft path (WSP) has been formulated as a progressive paradigm in water management. The WSP has four main principles: water should be viewed as a service; ecological sustainability is of utmost importance; water quantity and quality should be conserved; and planning should be done from the future backwards, not projected from the present. It may be possible to use conservation-based water pricing programs, especially at the residential level, in order to incrementally implement the WSP. Moreover, the implementation of residential seasonal water rates has been suggested as a method to curb peak demand in municipal water systems, thereby deferring infrastructure expansion. The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question: what are the barriers to implementing residential seasonal water rates in the Region of Waterloo? This question is addressed using a variety of data sources, with the majority of the information coming from academic and non-academic literature, and from interviews with water professionals and local councillors. The results provide a descriptive case study concerning the barriers to implementing seasonal water rates in one particular region of southwestern Ontario, but the conclusions can be generalized to describe some of the barriers to the implementation of seasonal water rates in Ontario. Results suggest that some barriers are more severe than others, and that the more serious ones may be addressed by: expounding the potential for seasonal water rates to curb peak demand; carefully designing a rate study to be administered with non-price programs; and implementing the designed rate structure as a pilot study. It is suggested that the implementation of seasonal water rates can be used as an incremental step towards the adoption of WSP principles, but not without first envisioning a desirable future.

As Canada employs a federated system of government, there are separate environmental assessment (EA) processes. In Ontario, Canada, there is a streamlined, pre-approved, self-assessed process (i.e., the Minister of the Environment’s approval is not required) for “classes” of projects. These Class EA projects are routine, with known impacts, being predictable and mitigable, in a southern Ontarian environment. However, it is assumed that Class EA protocol developed in the southern Ontarian context is directly transferable to northern Ontario. A case-based approach, using the Victor Mine electricity transmission line project, was employed to critically examine whether the Class EA template developed in southern Ontario, could be effectively applied to the western James Bay region of northern Ontario. Specifically, the two assumptions (and corollaries) of Class EAs of predictability (corollaries: the environment is similar in all locations where Class EAs are applied; and the environment is well understood) and mitigability (corollary: all negative effects are mitigable) were examined. Primary (semi-directive interviews) and secondary (literature search) data were used to inform a themed analysis. Results indicate that the northern environment is unique: biophysically, the western James Bay area is Ontario’s only salt water coastal region, and contains one of the largest wetland regions in the world; and socio-economically, no southern Ontarian region can claim that one third of their total regional economy is related to subsistence pursuits. In addition, the northern environment is dynamic, disproportionately changing over time with respect to climate change and post-glacial isostatic adjustment. Moreover, not all negative effects are mitigable (i.e., the effects the existing electrical transmission line has had on waterfowl harvesting). Thus, the Class EA template is not transferable to the northern Ontarian context. Similarly, in other northern regions of the world where glacial isostatic adjustment is a reality and these regions uniqueness must be recognized and be reflected in the EA process, if a process exists.

Monitoring ecological restoration at the community scale provides insight into how the population dynamics and community interactions are progressing through time in comparison to a restoration’s goals and reference conditions. This study monitored the early post-restoration dynamics of a sand plain located in the Carolinian Canada ecozone called Lake Erie Farms. The restoration consisted of restoring three habitats via sculptured seeding: a mesic forest, oak woodland, and sand barren. The hypothesis of this study is that the restoration efforts have established population dynamics and community interactions consistent with successional patterns expected from comparative literature. Community ecology, directed succession, and alternative stable states are the underlying theories that provided a conceptual and theoretical lens from which to study the objectives and hypothesis. To gain insight into the community dynamics at Lake Erie Farms the vegetation abundance, seed abundance and viability of the seedbank, seed viability of the 6 most dominant species (3 most dominant native species & 3 most dominant weedy species), and soil moisture & pH were monitored. The analysis was conducted using a RMANOVA of a nested design (P > 0.001, 0.01 and 0.05) to compare the variables in relation to the site (i.e. the sum of all the quadrats), the restoration treatment nested within the site, the field nested within the site, the transect nested within the restoration treatment and the quadrat nested within the restoration treatment. The significant findings of this study include: i) the restoration treatments are producing similar results as those expected from the literature, though there is evidence of the sculptured seeding treatment accelerating the successional stage at Lake Erie Farms compared to abandoned agricultural fields in similar ecosystems because of the presence of later-successional species; ii) the control areas are less diverse than each of the restoration units (P>0.05); and iii) the soil moisture among the treatments is beginning to diverge into the desired restoration units.

Tropical agroforestry systems are perceived to have the capacity to be resilient to future changes in climate. This study quantifies the response of two tropical agroforestry tree seedlings; Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp and Cedrela odorata L. to increases in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) (800 ppm), temperature (+2°C daytime and +3°C nighttime) and the combined conditions. As well, this study analyzes the microbial community structure and nutrient concentration in response to elevated concentrations of CO2 on tropical silvopastoral soil, conventional pastoral soil and a regenerated forest soil. Both tree species demonstrated very individual responses to the different climate scenerios. While no significant CO2 fertilizer effect was observed in either species the combined treatment demonstrated a significant increase in seedling height for both species. The response of G. sepium to the combined treatment was similar to its response to the temperature treatment which could be a result of achieving the optimal range in temperature for growth. As well, an increase in C:N ratio from G. sepium seedling leaves under the combined treatment indicates the possibility of the nutrient concentration diminishing thereby reducing the role of this species as a provider of high nutrient biomass. The soil microbial community showed very little change in response to elevated concentrations of CO2 and differences in community structure between sites were also negligible. Soil nutrient concentration maintained the best balance over the course of both twelve week incubations for the regenerated forest site followed by the silvopastoral site and lastly the conventional pasture site. The response of soil nutrient concentration to elevated concentrations of CO2 was negligible reflecting the response of the soil microbial community.

Water is essential to sustaining aquatic environments and is also a resource upon which many human-sectors depend. During times of reduced supply, competition or conflict may arise regarding its distribution due to its importance to local economies and its life giving benefits. The Ontario Low Water Response (OLWR) Plan is designed to deal with how water might be allocated under situations of reduced supply. When forced with data from the Coupled Global Climate Model 1 (CGCM1), the Guelph All Weather Storm Event Runoff (GAWSER) hydrologic model projects scenarios of reduced flows for the Grand River watershed, an area within the Province of Ontario. A level III declaration, which marks the highest stage of water emergency has never before been declared in the Province of Ontario, meaning there is uncertainty regarding how OLWR might operate. Using one scenario of climate change, this study explores the resiliency of the OLWR mechanism to operate under the demands of a changing climate and a growing population through interviews. Results show that the mechanism is not resilient enough to operate under conditions of reduced flow due to ambiguity in the mechanism and the tendency for humans to trump environmental uses of water, leading to detrimental effects on the fishery. Recommendations from this study suggest that ambiguities in the mechanism be revisited and clarified with a shift towards a proactive approach in order for environmental integrity to be upheld under scenarios of reduced flow.

Water is essential to sustaining aquatic environments and is also a resource upon which many human-sectors depend. During times of reduced supply, competition or conflict may arise regarding its distribution due to its importance to local economies and its life giving benefits. The Ontario Low Water Response (OLWR) Plan is designed to deal with how water might be allocated under situations of reduced supply. When forced with data from the Coupled Global Climate Model 1 (CGCM1), the Guelph All Weather Storm Event Runoff (GAWSER) hydrologic model projects scenarios of reduced flows for the Grand River watershed, an area within the Province of Ontario. A level III declaration, which marks the highest stage of water emergency has never before been declared in the Province of Ontario, meaning there is uncertainty regarding how OLWR might operate. Using one scenario of climate change, this study explores the resiliency of the OLWR mechanism to operate under the demands of a changing climate and a growing population through interviews. Results show that the mechanism is not resilient enough to operate under conditions of reduced flow due to ambiguity in the mechanism and the tendency for humans to trump environmental uses of water, leading to detrimental effects on the fishery. Recommendations from this study suggest that ambiguities in the mechanism be revisited and clarified with a shift towards a proactive approach in order for environmental integrity to be upheld under scenarios of reduced flow.