PBDEs were found in the raw sinter mix (RSM) used in iron ore sintering. Mass balance calculations after measurement of output samples (ESP dust, sinter product and stack emissions) revealed net reduction of PBDEs during sintering. After PBDD/Fs were detected in stack emissions, PBDEs and PBDD/Fs were investigated using a sinter pot (SP) - a laboratory scale version of the sintering process - under various conditions. Results suggested de novo synthesis of PBDD/Fs occurs within the process, but this was not caused by the PBDE content of RSM. The results from the SP ruled out PBDE formation within the sintering process. Measurement of PBDEs in UK air and soil demonstrated that whilst PBDEs appeared to have decreased since legislative use restrictions, their persistence is highlighted by their continued detection. PBDEs decreased in air and soil with distance from Birmingham City Centre, highlighting the higher density of PBDE sources in urban areas. Australian soils were less contaminated with PBDEs than the UK. Similar spatial patterns were found in both countries, with industry and urbanisation causing increased likelihood of elevated ∑PBDE concentrations primarily from Penta-BDE. Agricultural soil showed an influence of OctaBDE congeners. Sediment cores from Port Jackson, Australia demonstrated that PBDEs were still rising at the end of the 20th Century. Industry was highlighted as a source as cores from the industrialised western side of the harbour were more contaminated than that from the urban north-east.

Arctic streams are vulnerable to climate change due to the strong linkage between cryosphere, hydrology, physicochemical habitat and ecology. Our knowledge on how stream hydroecological dynamics will respond to climate change is largely based on the impact of the reduction in glacial extent in a warmer Arctic, however our knowledge of the response of Arctic streams with low glacial input are poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, three field campaigns to Zackenberg (northeast Greenland) were carried out (2013 – 2015) to investigate snowmelt stream hydroecological patterns and processes. Streams were chosen that were sourced from both small and large snowpacks, representing low and high snowfall conditions. Streams with large snowpacks were found to have low channel stability and high suspended sediment concentration compared to streams with small snowpacks. Channel stability, rather than water temperature, was the most important factor influencing macroinvertebrate community dynamics, where streams with low channel stability had reduced macroinvertebrate density and taxa richness. The results of this research recommend new classifications to Arctic and alpine stream habitat types, and suggest that, as snowfall is predicted to increase in the Arctic, snowmelt-fed streams may experience decreased channel stability, and as such, a decline in macroinvertebrate density and diversity.

Hydroecological relationships in alpine catchments are poorly understood. Glacial icemelt, snowmelt and groundwater sources each produce a distinctive suite of physico-chemical stream habitat characteristics in alpine streams. These spatially and temporally dynamic habitat conditions influence stream benthic community composition. An interdisciplinary approach (hydrology-hydrochemistry-ecology) was adopted to examine hydroecological responses to dynamic alpine water source contributions, involving development and testing of a new conceptual model of alpine stream habitat classification. Fieldwork was undertaken over two summer melt seasons (2002 and 2003) within the Taillon-Gabiétous catchment, French Pyrénées. Hydrochemical separation methods demonstrated differences in meltwater and groundwater contributions to streamflow both spatially and at diurnal, seasonal and inter-annual time-scales. Suspended sediment concentration was lowest when groundwater contributions to streamflow were dominant. Water column temperatures were lowest where snow and ice meltwaters dominated streamflow. Higher Si, Ca\(^2\)\(^+\) and HCO\(_3\)\(^-\) concentrations were found in groundwater sources. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities varied markedly throughout the summer melt season. Total macroinvertebrate abundance, number of macroinvertebrate taxa, number of EPT taxa, and community stability and persistence were higher when groundwater contributions dominated streamflow. Most taxa showed positive relationships with the proportion of groundwater but Rhyacophila were absent where the proportion was >0.5. Hydroecological patterns and processes in this alpine catchment are summarized in conceptual models to present key findings, and as a template for hydroecological research in other alpine glacierized basins.

Chiral signatures were utilised as a means of determining the pathways of PCBs in the environment. Concentrations of HBCD diastereoisomers, enantiomers and degradation products were also determined in top soils from both the UK and Australia. Concentrations of PCBs 28/31, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180 and enantiomer fractions (EFs) of PCB 95 and 136 were determined in air, top soil and grass from an urban site in Birmingham, UK. Samples were taken approximately every 14 days at 5 graduating heights from the ground in summer 2009 (114 days) and spring 2010 (84 days). EFs of PCB 95 in air at 3cm height (average of 0.453 in 2009 and 0.468 in 2010), differed significantly (p<0.05) from the racemic EFs in air at 10, 40, 90, and 130 cm. The EFs of PCB 95 in soil were on average 0.452 in 2009 and 0.447 in 2010 and matched those in air at 3cm particularly in the 2009 campaign. Grass displayed an average EF of 0.468 (2009) and 0.484 (2010); values which were intermediate between those in soil and the racemic EFs in air measured at 10 cm and above. These data imply that at the study site, PCBs volatilise from soil to an extent discernible only at the soil:air interface, and that PCBs in grass arise due to foliar uptake of volatile emissions from soil. Atmospheric concentrations of PCBs increased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing height above the soil surface. This combined with the PCB 95 chiral signature data, suggests that the influence of PCB emissions from soil on airborne concentrations decreases with height while emissions from indoor air increases. HBCD chiral signatures were found to be racemic or near-racemic in all the air, grass and soil samples from the same urban site in Birmingham, UK used for sampling PCBs. Soils from 24 ii sites across the UK were also found to contain near racemic chiral signatures of HBCDs. This indicates that enantioselective microbial degradation is not occurring and the sites were unsuitable for a study like that used for PCBs to determine pathways of HBCDs into plants using chiral signatures. Concentrations of ΣHBCD from soils from the UK (n=24) were found to be 22 ng/g ranging between <0.03 to 420 ng/g. By comparison, the average concentration of ΣHBCD in soils from Australia (n=17) was 0.74 ng/g ranging between <0.0005 to 5.6 ng/g. Degradation products of HBCD, pentabromocyclododecenes (PBCDs) and tetrabromocyclododecadienes (TBCDs) were also semi-quantitatively determined in the soil samples. In the UK soils, PBCDs and TBCDs were determined in 7 and 6 of the soil samples respectively with concentrations ranging from 10-7300 pg/g for ΣPBCDs and 10-1300 pg/g for ΣTBCDs. In the Australian soils only TBCD was detected in soil at concentrations ranging from 2.3 to 450 pg/g ΣTBCDs. A preliminary environmental budget found soil to be the principal sink for HBCD in the UK.

Climate change is a global phenomenon that has led to policy-making in many spheres. Since the early 2000s, when the projected impacts of climate change had increasingly come to the fore, there has been added momentum in tourism studies to researching sustainable tourism and travel behaviour. Using the National Trust as a lens, this study explores the potential contribution climate change policy makes in achieving sustainable heritage tourism. The research shows how such a policy evolved at the National Trust alongside key events and developments the charity has undergone since 1995, its centenary year. Senior policy-makers, managers, volunteer staff and visitors to properties in the West Midlands region were interviewed to understand their views on climate change, wider environmental matters, transport issues, and the charity’s response to tackling climate change. The study found that through mitigation and adaptation strategies, climate change policy does support and inform a sustainable approach to heritage tourism but that dependency on car-borne transport to rural heritage sites remains the ‘Achilles heel’ of sustainable heritage tourism as well as illuminating some of the imbalances between conservation and access.

The Toploje Member chert is a Roadian to Wordian autochthonous– parautochthonous silicified peat preserved within the Lambert Graben, East Antarctica. It preserves a remarkable sample of terrestrial life from high-latitude central Gondwana prior to the Capitanian mass extinction event from both mega- and microfossil evidence that includes cryptic components rarely seen in other fossil assemblages. The peat layer is dominated by glossopterid and cordaitalean gymnosperms and contains sparse herbaceous lycophytes, together with a broad array of dispersed organs of ferns and other gymnosperms. The peat also hosts a wide range of fungal morphotypes, Peronosporomycetes, rare arthropod remains and a diverse coprolite assemblage. The fungal and invertebrate-plant interactions associated with various organs of the Glossopteris plant reveal the cryptic presence of a ‘component community’ of invertebrate herbivores and fungal saprotrophs centred around the Glossopteris organism, and demonstrate that a multitude of ecological interactions were well developed by the Middle Permian in high-latitude forest mires. Comparisons of coal maceral data from co-occurring coal seams with quantitative analyses of the silicified peat constituents reveals that while silicified peats provide an unparalleled sample of the organisms forming these coal deposits, they do not necessarily reflect the constituents that ultimately dominate the coal maceral volume.

River flow is a major driver of community dynamics in riverine-floodplain ecosystems. Flow-induced disturbance can have large impacts on taxonomic groups at higher trophic levels such as birds. However, our understanding of river flow-avian relationships is constrained by a failure to focus on multiple species’ responses to hydrological variables across large geographical areas. The aims of this thesis are to combine a national-scale dataset of river bird surveys with river flow archives to: (i) understand how hydrological disturbance affects the distribution of river birds, and (ii) evaluate the potential impacts of climate change-induced shifts in river flow on such species’ distributions. Species have complex, but biologically interpretable, associations with hydrological variables. Variation in river flow acts as an environmental filter that influences community assembly processes. Specialist river birds are most vulnerable to climate-induced shifts in river flow and their distributions may shift in response to future changes in river habitat suitability. The success of relating hydrological variables to the distributions of river birds demonstrates that variability in river flow has consequences for ecological structure at high trophic levels and that climate-induced shifts in river flow may represent a previously unidentified mechanism by which climate change mediates range shifts in birds.

This thesis explores the area of urban planning practices examining the rapid urban growth in Riyadh. The research was motivated by the fact that Riyadh continues to suffer from rapid uncontrolled urban growth, with resultant problems in its infrastructure. These problems are associated with the urban planning path failures, both in terms of the discourses and the practices. As result, the urban plan did not help to control the city growth. The research firstly analyses the driving forces that influence urban planning, focusing on three issues as the main reasons for ongoing expansion: planning law, planning structure, and how planning relates to energy discourses in Saudi Arabia. Secondly, it evaluates spatial planning practices revealing four themes for developers and planners to consider: settlement patterns, urban design, land use patterns and transport. Thirdly, by revealing the mechanisms underlying the planning environment it demonstrates how the structures in place affect urban planning practices. Finally, based on the literature review and the findings of the empirical chapters and interviews with those who work in urban planning the thesis offers an understanding of planners’ practices, how they contribute to continued unsustainable growth and, offers policy recommendations for a more sustainable planned future for Riyadh and other cities in Saudi Arabia.

Vegetation is a critical component of Mediterranean palaeolandscape studies, however variable data quality and quantity, a lack of understanding of Mediterranean vegetation processes, and complex environments may preclude important palaeolandscape debates from being answered adequately. Issues of representation and uncertainty, and difficulties comparing palaeoecological data against archaeological records often tend to confound clear conclusions from being drawn. Modelling and simulation studies can alleviate some of these difficulties, however, palaeovegetation models have not been utilized to a great extent in the Mediterranean. To help redress the balance, this thesis established a vegetation modelling framework set in Mediterranean southwest Turkey. The framework developed a bioclimatic model, and employed Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates to model pollen zone boundaries. A final stage converted vegetation modelling output to pollen simulations to compare model output with actual analytical pollen data. The model framework was then employed to investigate three disputed points in Mediterranean palaeoecological history. Firstly whether climate could account for concurrent evidence of high lake stands and steppic vegetation signatures during last glacial period. Different aspects of this scenario were explored, including potential refugia locations for cold and drought intolerant species, and the balance of humidity and aridity across the region that may have allowed glacial advance and high lake levels. The model was secondly employed to analyse the potential for a lag in tree expansion in southwest Turkey at the beginning of the Holocene, and was finally employed to examine the beginning, expansion and end of the enigmatic Beyşehir Occupation Phase.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that riverbank erosion processes altered with increasing distance from a river source. The River Swale, northern England, was monitored at nine sites throughout its 109-km length, from December 1995 – March 1998. Erosion pins, bank-edge surveying, and Photo-Electronic Erosion Pins (PEEPs) were used to determine rates and timings of erosion. The rates were compared against a range of environmental variables based on temperature, river stage, and precipitation at 14-day intervals for erosion pins and 15-minute intervals for PEEPs. This allowed processes of erosion to be inferred. Catchment erosion rates were modelled using quadratic equations, simulating a mid-basin peak of 3.58 m a\(^{-1}\). Rates of erosion were low upstream, 0.07 m a\(^{-1}\), and also downstream, 0.12 m a\(^{-1}\). Subaerial processes, especially frost action, dominated upstream. Fluvial entrainment was most influential mid-catchment. Mass failures were most efficient downstream, but were more frequent mid-catchment. Piping, sapping and cantilever failures did not follow the same trends and were modelled separately. The length of the erosion season increased downstream as the number of active processes increased.