An ecological risk assessment was conducted on the risk to fish of chemical contaminants detected in the habitat of Albula vulpes in South Florida, to evaluate whether contaminants may be a driver of declines in the recreational bonefish fishery. All available contaminant detection data from Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys were compared to federal and state guidelines for aquatic health to identify Contaminants of Potential Ecological Concern (COPECS). For these COPECs, species sensitivity distributions were constructed and compared with recent detections at the 90th centile of exposure. Copper in Biscayne Bay was identified as the highest risk of acute and chronic effects to fish, followed by a risk of chronic effects from both the recently phased-out pesticide endosulfan in Florida Bay, and the pharmaceutical hormone estrone in the Florida Keys.

Groundwater has been very important to the economic development of Southern California, and will continue to be a crucial resource in the 21st century. However, Climate Change threatens to disrupt many of the physical and economic processes that control the flow of water in and out of aquifers. One groundwater manager, the Six Basins Watermaster in eastern Los Angeles and western San Bernardino Counties, has developed a long-term planning document called the Strategic Plan that mostly fails to address the implications of Climate Change, especially for local water supplies. This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of the Six Basin Watermaster’s Strategic Plan as a case-study of how groundwater managers can improve their planning assumptions to better prepare for Climate Change. It begins with a brief history of how Southern California’s environment influenced the development of the institutions that manage the Six Basins’ groundwater, then provides a physical description of the aquifer itself. The current scientific literature on Climate Change’s expected impacts on California water supplies are summarized, and the implications of these impacts for basin management are highlighted. The Strategic Plan’s projects are evaluated and critiqued in light of these insights, including a need for the Strategic Plan to: explicitly consider Climate Change in its planning assumptions, use decision-making frameworks that account for uncertainty, and prepare for more frequent droughts and floods in the future. Climate Change will have important effects on how Southern California’s groundwater is managed, and the Six Basins Strategic Plan should be revised to better account for these impacts.

Atualmente verifica-se uma significativa demanda da sociedade e gestores por informações e ferramentas que permitam colocar em prática o conceito de desenvolvimento sustentável e efetivamente internalizar nas políticas, planos, programas e projetos o reconhecimento da interdependência entre as diversas dimensões, tais como: ambientais, econômicas, sociais e institucionais. De forma crescente a temática da sustentabilidade tem trazido novas variáveis às arenas de discussão e tomada de decisão ao considerar as diversas variáveis dentro de um mesmo plano. Uma das principais motivações para a consideração da interdependência destas dimensões é a fragilidade do modelo de desenvolvimento baseado na utilização de fontes não renováveis de energia, bem como seus impactos no meio sócio-ambiental e reflexos no meio econômico. Neste cenário, o etanol de cana-de-açúcar enquanto fonte renovável de energia surge como potencial substituto ao uso de combustíveis à base de petróleo (notadamente a gasolina), em especial no Brasil, onde o mesmo é uma realidade. Observa-se um otimismo e incentivo quanto às políticas públicas na área energética no que tange esta fonte, em especial com políticas de incentivo ao seu crescimento. No entanto, observam-se também questionamentos da sociedade quanto à real sustentabilidade desta fonte energética, dados os impactos provenientes de sua cultura, produção e uso em larga escala. Estes questionamentos ganham força quando realizados no estado de São Paulo, dada a representatividade da atividade frente ao Brasil e ao mundo. Neste contexto, é evidenciada a importância da construção de ferramentas que possibilitem avaliar de forma integrada a sustentabilidade do etanol de cana-de-açúcar, bem como informar os tomadores de decisão, embasando políticas públicas voltadas para o desenvolvimento sustentável. Estas ferramentas, bem como as políticas embasadas por elas, passam, no estado de São Paulo, obrigatoriamente pela Secretaria do Meio Ambiente SMA/SP. Os indicadores ao capturarem a complexidade do desenvolvimento, sem reduzir a significância de cada um dos componentes do sistema, figuram-se como tais ferramentas. Com o propósito de avaliar os indicadores ambientais produzidos pela SMA/SP à luz dos princípios e critérios de boas práticas na construção e uso de indicadores, o presente estudo busca contribuir para o avanço nas discussões, em especial em termos de métodos de avaliação de indicadores ambientais voltados para a sustentabilidade, tendo como contexto de estudo o etanol de cana-de-açúcar no estado. Este estudo apresentou um método conduzido por meio de entrevistas e uma oficina de especialistas que apontou, como resultado, um conjunto de critérios de referência para análise destes indicadores. Ainda como produto da pesquisa o método construído foi aplicado a um dos principais indicadores utilizados pela SMA, qual seja o IQA - Índice de Qualidade de Água, revelando, por meio de uma análise SWOT, as forças e fraquezas, oportunidades e ameaças deste indicador na discussão da sustentabilidade do etanol. Futuros estudos voltados para o aperfeiçoamento das aplicações são desejáveis para melhoria dos resultados e composição de um sistema adequado de formulação e avaliação dos indicadores para esta atividade. / Currently there is a significant demand of society and managers with information and tools to put into practicing the concept of sustainable development and effectively internalize the policies, plans, programs and interdependence recognition between the various dimensions such as environmental, economic, social and institutional. Increasingly the sustainability issue has brought new variables to discussion and decision making to consider the many variables within the same plane. One of the main motivations for considering the interdependence of these dimensions is the fragility of the development model based on the use of non-renewable energy sources, as well as its impacts on socio-environmental and consequences in the economic area. In this scenario, ethanol from sugar cane as a renewable source of energy emerges as a potential substitute to the use of petroleum-based fuels (in particular gasoline), especially in Brazil, where it is a reality. There is an optimism and encouragement concerning public policies in energy with respect to this source, particularly with policies to encourage its growth. However, there is also society questioning about the real sustainability of this energy source, given the impacts from its cultivation, production and use on a large scale. These questions gain strength when held in São Paulo State, given the representation of activity against Brazil and the world. In this context, it is evident the importance of building tools that will assess the sustainability into an integrated way about ethanol from sugar cane, and inform decision makers, basing public policies for sustainable development. These tools, as well as policies based on them, are in the state of Sao Paulo, necessarily by the Environment Secretary of São Paulo - SMA / SP. The indicators to capture the complexity of development without reducing the significance of each system component appear as such those tools. With the purpose of evaluating the environmental indicators produced by SMA / SP against the principles and good practice criteria in the construction and use of indicators, this study seeks to advance the discussions, particularly in terms of evaluation methods on indicators toward environmental sustainability, within the study context ethanol sugar cane in the state. This study presented a method conducted through interviews and a workshop of experts that pointed out as a result, a set of benchmarks for analysis of these indicators. Even as a research product the built method was applied to one of the main indicators used by the SMA, which is the WQI - Water Quality Index, revealing, through a SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats in this indicator to discuss the sustainability of ethanol. Future studies aimed at improving the applications are desirable for improved performance and composition of a proper system to design and evaluate indicators for this activity.

This cumulative dissertation is based on the hypothesis that environmental impacts arising from human activities, i.e. exploitation of natural resources, production of goods, use, and disposal, can affect different ecosystems of varying sensitivities due to global production and trade flows. In a holistic environmental assessment it would therefore be ideal to consider the whole life cycle of a product together with the ecosystems affected. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the dominant method for assessing the environmental impacts of a product or service in relation to its functional unit and designed to cover the entire life cycle. However, an LCA model is usually a simplified and abstract picture of the reality applying steady‐state, linear modeling, and respecting spatial and temporal variabilities in natural processes only to a limited extent. This dissertation therefore applies methodologies that go beyond traditional LCA by extending or combining LCA with other interdisciplinary approaches. This cumulative dissertation consists of five research articles that explore the life cycle of three future technologies while taking site‐dependent aspects into account. Since the introduction of future technologies does not depend solely on a positive environmental assessment, the economic dimension of sustainability was also examined where feasible. Articles I and II address the environmental evaluation of wood as a regional resource: first in a conceptual approach based on a systematic literature review and, second, in a case study applying life cycle assessment, comparison of ecosystems, and eco‐design principles. In article III, the benefits of avoiding food waste were investigated for a regional black currant juice production in Germany by applying material flow cost accounting and carbon footprinting. Findings were translated into monetary and ecological metrics to raise awareness and support decision making among juice producers. Articles IV and V set out the challenges of implementing electromobility in public urban transport systems. Due to high investment costs for electric busses and the lack of adequate charging infrastructure available in public spaces, it is imperative to improve the knowledge base for planning and investment decisions. Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing were used in an integrative way to evaluate mobility alternatives for a transport provider in Dresden, while an environmental impact assessment and GIS analysis of existing bus lines revealed routes with a high environmental relief potential if electromobility were to be introduced there. / Die kumulative Dissertation basiert auf der Annahme, dass Umweltauswirkungen durch menschliche Aktivitäten aufgrund globaler Produktion und Handelsströme verschiedene Ökosysteme mit unterschiedlicher Empfindlichkeit beeinflussen können, sei es durch den Abbau natürlicher Ressourcen oder durch die Produktion, Nutzung und Entsorgung von Gütern. Bei einer ganzheitlichen Umweltbewertung wäre es daher ideal, den gesamten Lebenszyklus eines Produkts zusammen mit den betroffenen Ökosystemen zu betrachten. Die Ökobilanz ist die dominierende Methode zur Bewertung der Umweltauswirkungen eines Produkts oder einer Dienstleistung in Bezug auf die funktionelle Einheit und über den gesamten Lebenszyklus. Ein Ökobilanz‐Modell ist in der Regel jedoch nur ein vereinfachtes und abstraktes Bild der Realität, das eine stationäre, lineare Modellierung anwendet und räumliche und zeitliche Variabilität in natürlichen Prozessen nur begrenzt berücksichtigt. Diese Dissertation wendet daher Methoden an, die über die traditionelle Ökobilanz hinausgehen, indem sie diese mit anderen interdisziplinären Ansätzen erweitert oder kombiniert. Die kumulative Dissertation besteht aus fünf Forschungsarbeiten, die den Lebenszyklus von drei Zukunftstechnologien unter Berücksichtigung standortabhängiger Aspekte untersuchen. Da die Einführung von Zukunftstechnologien nicht nur von einer positive Umweltbewertung abhängt, wurde auch die wirtschaftliche Dimension der Nachhaltigkeit untersucht, wo dies sinnvoll und möglich war. Artikel I und II befassen sich mit der Umweltbewertung von Holz als regionaler Ressource, zum einen in einem konzeptionellen Ansatz, der auf einer systematischen Literaturrecherche basiert, und zum anderen in einer Fallstudie, in der die Ökobilanzierung, ein Vergleich von Waldökosystemen und Ökodesign‐Prinzipien parallel angewendet wurden. In Artikel III wurden die Vorteile der Vermeidung von Lebensmittelabfällen für eine regionale Produktion von Johannisbeersaft in Deutschland unter Anwendung der Materialflusskostenanalyse und des Kohlendioxid(CO2)‐Fußabdrucks untersucht. Die Ergebnisse wurden in monetäre und ökologische Kennzahlen umgesetzt, um das Bewusstsein zu schärfen und die Entscheidungsfindung bei den Fruchtsaftherstellern zu unterstützen. In Artikel IV und V werden die Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung der Elektromobilität in öffentlichen Nahverkehrssystemen dargestellt. Aufgrund der hohen Investitionskosten für Elektrobusse und fehlender Ladeinfrastruktur im öffentlichen Raum ist es unerlässlich, die Wissensbasis für Planungs‐ und Investitionsentscheidungen zu verbessern. Die Ökobilanz und die Lebenszykluskostenrechnung wurden zur Bewertung von Mobilitätsalternativen für einen Verkehrsdienstleister in Dresden eingesetzt. Eine zusätzlich durchgeführte lokale Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung bestehender Buslinien ergab ein hohes Umweltentlastungspotenzial, wenn Elektromobilität eingeführt würde.

Examination of empirical research confirmed that climate change is a complex problem of anthropological origin and revealed the need for a management framework to facilitate strategic decisions aimed at mitigating a rise in global temperatures of 2-°C linked to irresponsible and unsustainable business practices. The purpose of this simulation study was to develop a management framework of resilience, robustness, sustainability, and adaptive-capacity (RRSA) for organizations viewed as complex systems to address the current unsustainable state. As such, the evolutionary-RRSA prisoner's dilemma (PD) simulation was developed using an evolutionary game theory approach to agent based modeling and simulation, to generate data. Regression analyses tested the relationships between organizational resilience (x1), robustness (x2), and sustainability (x3) as independent variables, and the dependent variable of adaptive capacity (y) for cooperative and defective strategies. The findings were that complex nonlinear relationships exist between resilience, robustness, sustainability, and adaptive-capacity, which is sensitive to initial conditions and may emerge and evolve from combinations of cooperative and defective decisions within the evolutionary RRSA PD management tool. This study resulted in the RRSA management framework, a cyclical 4-phased approach, which may be used by climate governance leaders, negotiators, and policy-makers to facilitate strategy to move global climate change policy forward by guiding bottom-up consumption and production of GHGs, thereby improving adaptive-capacity, while mitigating an increase in global temperatures of 2-°C, which in turn would improve global socio-economic conditions.

Reading success has been linked to high school completion, future job success, and future generations of children who can read. Unfortunately, children who are unable to read on grade level by the end of first grade are at a great disadvantage and unlikely to catch up later. Without the ability to read and comprehend text, all aspects of schooling become progressively more difficult and the challenge of poor reading ability can be so difficult to overcome that many poor readers will not complete high school. For these reasons, it is important to identify early experiences in a child's family environment that predict the early skills that are necessary for later reading and reading comprehension. The child's family environment includes the quality of both the general home setting and specific kinds of parent-child interactions. The skills necessary for reading success include vocabulary, phonological skills, and other early literacy skills, but broader cognitive and regulatory skills may also be necessary. Because children from low-income families are at higher risk for reading problems, this study examines extant data on early environments, early development, and second-grade reading from a sample of 117 children from low-income families who participated in a longitudinal study from the child's infancy to second grade. Early family environments and children's early cognitive and other skills that are measured at 36 months and just prior to kindergarten entry at 54 months, were analyzed in relation to their second-grade vocabulary, reading ability, and reading comprehension. The results of this analysis of extant longitudinal data help identify early predictors of reading success for children at risk for reading problems.

The Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (Altamont) near Livermore, California is the oldest and largest wind farm in the United States. It is known as a location of high avian mortality, especially for diurnal raptors such as the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Using the avian monitoring data collected at Altamont for over thirteen years (1998-2003, 2005- 2011), records were analyzed of 134 golden eagle deaths caused by wind turbine collisions. All wind turbines present during the same temporal range were characterized according to turbine variables, and geographic placement characteristics. Values of turbines that killed golden eagles were compared to values of turbnes that did not. It was discovered that turbines that have killed golden eagles (kill turbines) share characteristics that are significantly different from those that have not. Kill turbines are more often situated on lattice structure towers, have larger rotor blade-swept areas, placed in less dense turbine arrays, are further away from the next nearest turbine and are less often placed on top of ridgelines compared to nonkill turbines. Finally, kill turbines are more often situated at the end of a turbine row than are nonkill turbines. The differences between kill and nonkill turbine model, hill slope, tower height, generating capacity, array diversity, row count of turbines and placement in a hill saddle were found to be not significant. These findings support in part, earlier turbine studies at Altamont, but do not concur with all previous findings. The methods used in this study can be applied to any bird species at Altamont and at any wind resource area throughout the world. As the wind industry continues to grow, techniques used in studies such as this are an important tool that can be used to direct wildlife conservation policies.

Geologic hazards map of Tennessee published in 1977 by the Tennessee Department of Conservation, Division of Geology. Compiled by Robert A. Miller, assisted by Preston D. Sitterly. The preparation of this report was financed in part through a comprehensive planning grant form the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The lower half includes an explanation of various geographic hazards and how to identify those areas on the map. A list of selected references is also included. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1018/thumbnail.jpg

Navigation Map of Cherokee Reservoir Holston River published in 1955 by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Maps and Surveys Branch. Sheet 1 of a series of 4 maps covering Cherokee Reservoir. This sheet covers mile 52.3 to mile 62.8. The Index to all 4 maps can be found on the lower right quadrant. The legend denotes several information items pertaining to lake levels, direction of flow, bridges, and other points of interest. Physical copy resides in the Government Information, Law and Maps Department of East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library. Scale: 1" = .5 mile. Datum is mean sea level. / https://dc.etsu.edu/rare-maps/1027/thumbnail.jpg

As the effects of climate change become increasingly damaging and costly, a public and political consensus is building for planning that will protect private property and public infrastructure. Climate-related planning has primarily focused on mitigation, assessing vulnerability, and building adaptive capacity. Adaptation has not gained substantial ground in the area of implementation. The uncertainty associated with climate change projection and variability has emerged as a dominant barrier to adaptation. However, as knowledge accrues, the global and national science communities have been developing more detailed, fine-scale climate projections. Regional climate assessments are available for the sub-national climate regions in the U.S., and have been created based on the measurement of many components of climate, often referred to as indicators. This thesis evaluates the use of those and other indicators as adaptation decision support tools. Findings suggest that indicators can be effectively integrated into a step-wise, risk-based adaptation planning process to overcome barriers to adaptation, many of which contain concern over climate change uncertainty at their core. The combination of climate science data and information about the local experience of climate change are found to be key to the effective use of indicators in adaptation, as is the direct integration of indicators into the policy-making process. Ideally, these indicators can be used to inform trigger points for phases in a flexible adaptation approach, but more work is needed to develop methods for managing the risks and costs associated with adaptation.