Bibliography: leaves 103-109. / The Coastal Low is a shallow cyclonic mesoscale weather 'disturbance' which migrates around the southern African subcontinent on a fairly regular basis. It is generated and maintained by the synoptic scale circulations. The movement and surface characteristics have been well documented by a number of authors but few detailed studies have been undertaken on its vertical structure in southern Africa. In addition to this, most of the previous work has been of a meteorological nature. This study has concentrated on a more climatic approach in its investigation of the vertical and· surface features of the Coastal Low as it migrates through the South Western (SW) Cape. The SW Cape is a 'transition region' for the migration of the Coastal Low; situated between the west and south coasts with a distinct local climate due to the complex topography of the region. This fact tends to alter the characteristic features of the Coastal Low system but appears not to prevent the Coastal Low from migrating through the region. The Coastal Low is regarded as being an internal trapped Kelvin wave and corrected surface pressure values best indicate its migration characteristics. However upper air analysis indicates that temperature values (between 950- 900mb) at the level of the inversion, produce one of the best signatures of the Coastal Low's passage. This is related to the strong subsidence from above the 850mb level in the pre-Low period. This strong divergence dynamically compresses the lower layers into low level wind speed maxima on either side of the centre of the system. The Coastal Low appears to have a very complex structure, and two results from this study in the. SW Cape bear particular mention. Firstly the offshore flow at the escarpment level is weakly defined. Secondly also, the longshore spatial extent of the Coastal Low system has been estimated to have an 'inner' diameter of 150-200km and an 'outer' diameter of approximately 1000km.

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Tourism, as a human activity, is not likely to be managed effectively if there was a lack of management focus on the visitors. Visitor management plays a vital role in a tourism destination in terms of increasing visitors' experience and level of enjoyment, as well as modifying their on-site behaviour to be more appropriate. Through a combination of various techniques, visitors are provided with controlled access to experience the tourism resources. In so doing, visitors' understanding and appreciation of the features at a site may be increased through the use of interpretation, while restrictions, regulations and resource alteration methods are used to protect the resources from inappropriate visitor activity. Interpretation, restrictions, regulations and other management-related/administrative information need to be delivered to visitors. Furthermore, persuasive communication is effective to modify visitors' on-site behaviour. Regulations and restrictions are usually law-enforced. Because their persuasive function is of coercive type (the managing agencies have the ability to administer punishment if visitors fall to comply with the regulations), visitors' level of enjoyment and understanding of the features at a site is less likely to be increased. A softer style of persuasive communication with visitors (interpretation, marketing and visitor codes) is therefore necessary in order to advise visitors about the sensitivity of the resources and the appropriate behaviour to conduct during their visit. In other words, the hard and soft approaches of visitor management should be used interdependently. Hence, the understanding of (1) how people's intention to behave in a particular manner is formed, and (2) how to maximise the effectiveness of communication, is necessary in order to plan and implement successful visitor management. The visitor survey was carried out in the calendar year of 1999, and 1,053 visitors participated in the research.T he questionnaire-baseds urvey of visitors was conducted at several locations in the New Forest, and the number of surveys to be carried out was distributed throughout the year of 1999 based on the tourism seasonality of the New Forest. The research findings point out that imposing more regulations is not perceived necessary in the current visitor management in the New Forest. Instead, the sampled visitors would like to know more about the environmental aspects about the site, and the appropriate activities to participate in. Moreover, infori-nation provided through interpretive panels and bulletin boards is thought to be less than adequate by the visitors, and they think the signage in the site is not maintained to a high standard. Give the fact that signage is one of the favoured media, the quality and information contents of signage in the New Forest need to be improved. Moreover, with respect to the interpretation of the New Forest, visitors thought the information relating to the envirom-nental aspects of the site and the appropriate visitor activities to be carried out should be improved in terms of the quantity. The analysis shows that in general, visitors would be willing to alter their behaviour to be more appropriate if they were made aware of such interpretive information. In addition, the majority of the visitors, except for the New Forest District local residents, do not object to be charged for the use of tourism facilities such as car parks, providing the revenue is used for resource protection purpose. In other words, visitors value the significance of the New Forest in terms of being resource rich and being an important site that offers recreational opportunities to them. Thus, they expressed their willingness to contribute financially to help the management and protection of the site. The research findings are expected to provide organisations that are responsible for the management of tourism destinations with information relating to the planning and implementation of effective visitor management approaches, because successful visitor management is a step forward towards the long-ten-n sustainable tourism development.

There is concern for the environmental protection of coastal zones throughout the developed and developing world. The major strategy against environmental degradation is the widespread introduction of the Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and Integrated Coastal Managment (ICM) regulatory processes. A great deal of effort is spent introducing, developing and refining the various ICM processes and structures that should reduce the likelihood of man made environmental catastrophe. ICM itself takes a functional view of management. An alternative and broader set of paradigms as presented by Burrell and Morgan (1979) provide a richer illustration of the process. Applying Burrell and Morgan's multi paradigm approach to the analysis of four case studies of environmental degradation on the Tamil Nadu coast in southern India, the regulatory framework is shown not only to be inadequate, but in fact adding complexity and exacerbating the sociological pressures that led to degradation in ways that will not be overcome by recent refinements of the existing process. An attempt has been made to identify the key issues that are crucial to identifying coastal projects that are 'at risk' of environmental degradation in India and a generic conceptual model is proposed. In the light of the results of this research study, a critique of ICM recommendations that have been commissioned by the Indian government's Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has been attempted and these are shown to be inadequate in terms of preventing environmental degratation.

There is a current environment of change and progress within marine protection, reflected internationally by examples such as the Convention of Biological Diversity and nationally by the Marine and Coastal Access Act, 2009. Despite the UK's government agenda in this area, and the draw of people to coastal areas generally, the larger UK public lacks understanding and awareness regarding the marine environment. Combined with these circumstances, the social value of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas (MCPAs) has been largely ignored relative to conservation and economics drivers, with the latter invariably taking precedence in environmental policy making. There is also a need for an appropriate framework or methodology with which to address the above in light of communicating, particularly the nontangible, social values of MCPAs to decision makers. This research investigates the social value of MCPAs in England and Wales through three data collection phases. These include a series of interviews to gain a perspective of social value from MCPA practitioners and the public. The emerging results are then examined in light of their operational value through in-depth case studies. The results led to the development of two assessment tools of social value which can accommodate both tangible and intangible values. The tools included a normative statement of examples demonstrating optimum social value, and a social value zoning tool that allows practitioners to 'map' the social value of their MCPA for evaluative purposes. The final research findings are represented by a conceptual model of social value within MCPAs. The assessment tools and model assist with the clarification of social value within MCPAs and can be used by decision makers to assess and communicate the social value of their site and influence management practice. This work demonstrates social value of MCPAs from several view pointsand develops tools which can be used by MCPA decision makers to evaluate, and further develop social value within these areas.

Catastrophic collapse of volcanic edifices is a relatively common phenomenon in the geological record, representing the largest subaeriallandsliding events on Earth. Subsequent volcanic debris avalanche (VDA) runout lengths often exceed 50 km and inundated areas may be greater than 1,000 km2. The geomechanical processes that occur during emplacement, however, remain poorly understood as emplacement processes must generally be inferred from deposit analysis. Summarizing the literature, this thesis first introduces the general factors that control edifice collapse, mechanisms thought to control avalanche mobility and commonly observed deposit features. The mechanisms which have led to the formation of characteristic deposit features specifically are then reviewed; commonly discussed themes are then used to develop a general emplacement model which summarizes the geomechanical evolution of VDAs. This model is then tested by analyzing orthophotographic images of VDA deposits; common deposit morphologies are observed in each case, suggesting a common deformation sequence may occur during emplacement. To better understand emplacement processes, a distinct element numerical model is then created. Initial unbonded particulate avalanche simulations allow spatial/temporal variations in avalanche body stress, energy and deformation to be considered in relation to the development of characteristic deposit features. A more sophisticated bonded particle model is then utilized to allow the consideration of emerging brittle behaviour. Resulting simulations display the development of characteristic VDA deposit features from initial block sliding and horst and graben development. Evolution to a fully-flowing granular avalanche occurs through the initiation and propagation of faults generated due to stresses in the avalanche body, reflective of the proposed common deformation sequence. Features commonly observed in VDA deposits, such as toreva blocks and surface hummocks, are created in the bonded avalanche simulations. Use of this innovative numerical model therefore allows for new insight into the geomechanical evolution of rock and debris avalanches to be developed.

The New Forest National Park is a unique semi-natural landscape which contains many species and habitats which are rare and/or threatened. In order to effectively aid in the conservation of these species, particularly in the face of climate change, there is a requirement to know their habitat requirements and distributions within the New Forest. However, due to limited resources there are gaps in knowledge about this for many of these species. Habitat suitability modelling was carried out to suggest unsurveyed sites of potentially suitable habitat (and consequently higher likelihood of species occurrence) for selected species of high conservation concern (Chamaemelum nobile, Galium constrictum, Gladiolus illyricus, Hipparchia semele, Nemobius sylvestris, Pilularia globulifera, Plebejus argus and Poronia punctata). The performance of several modelling approaches was compared. Of the models based on the use of GIS spatial data, an approach requiring only species presence data (Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA)) was compared to approaches additionally requiring absence or pseudo-absence data (Generalised Linear Models (GLMs) and Generalised Additive Models (GAMs)). An additional approach that did not require GIS data, Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) modelling, was also used to incorporate finer-scale variables not available in GIS format. This relatively new approach to habitat suitability modelling was also used to predict the potential impact of climate change on the suitability of the habitats for the selected species. The evaluation results showed that the presence-absence GLM and GAM models out-performed the presence-only ENFA method, and that the use of pseudo-absences and automated stepwise variable selection proved effective for developing these models. Species with specialist habitat requirements tended to be modelled more accurately than more generalist species. The BBN models also achieved high evaluation values, and were particularly valuable in being able to provide a quantitative assessment of the potential impact of climate change on the selected species. Habitat suitability modelling at the scale of an individual predicted area of the size of the New Forest has so far been rare, as have predictions of climate change on specific species at this scale. However, the results of this research show that this can be a valuable approach to aid in management and conservation of species and their habitats in protected areas.

There is a pressing need to develop means of creating habitats that can contribute to the conservation of species threatened by loss of existing natural and semi-natural habitats. Decommissioned landfill presents excellent opportunities for the creation of a number of habitat types. However, landfills are often sealed with a compacted clay cap which not only creates harsh growing conditions and poor soil quality but also results in an impoverished soil fauna making it a challenging environment in which to effect rapid habitat creation. It is currently unclear to what extent the established principles of hay meadow creation are transferable to clay capped landfill. This thesis considers the creation of a hay meadow community and focuses on three properties that are influential in their development and that can be manipulated in experimental conditions: the soils, vegetation and micro-topography. It also explores methods of accelerating the establishment of a hay meadow community, thus encouraging a rapid green cover to provide shelter on the inhospitable bare soil to encourage seedling recruitment as well as addressing potential conflicts with public acceptability of landscape changes during restoration. Soil was identified as being the key factor in the successful establishment of a hay meadow community and the introduction of micro-topographic undulations as having the potential to increase the botanical diversity. Attempts to accelerate the colonisation of the clay cap through the introduction of earthworms were unsuccessful although a hypothesis to address the potential conflict between science and socio-cultural factors was made. This involves the swift establishment of a green cover across the site through the addition of topsoil and ameliorant, the sowing with fast-growing grass species and the creation of small patches of habitat with sown assemblages of species based on semi-natural counterparts.

Sika deer (Cervus nippon) has become an invasive species in many parts of the world. In the south of England large populations appear to be concentrated in landscapes comprising of mosaics of lowland heath, woodlands and grassland. Despite the association between the distribution of Sika deer and that of lowland heath, little is known regarding the extent to which Sika deer utilize lowland heath and their impacts on its plant and animal communities. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the ecological interaction of Sika deer with lowland heath set in a mosaic of other habitats. Specifically, the main three objectives of this thesis were: i) to investigate the different ecological factors affecting the distribution and habitat use by Sika deer; iii) to explore consistency in Sika deer habitat associations as a potential tool to predict the distribution and abundance ofSika deer; iii) to investigate the ecological impacts of the usage of areas of lowland heath by Sika deer upon plant and animal communities oflowland heath. Results showed that Sika deer distribution and habitat use are affected by the availability of habitats, landscape structure and human disturbance at both the landscape and home range scale (i.e. few hundred of hectares and few dozens of hectares respectively). At the landscape scale, Sika deer seemed to use the requirement for safe access to pastures as the main criteria for their habitat selection. At the home range scale, the criteria of choice in the use of resources by Sika deer seemed to be related to a requirement for an appropriate balance of food and cover as the selection of pastures and cover were inversely related to their availability. However, human disturbance, as a form of perceived risk, was also a limiting factor of habitat use at the home range scale. Consistencies in the habitat selection by Sika deer at the landscape scale between areas with similar landscape were detected, which could potentially be used to develop models to predict the distribution and abundance of Sika deer and their subsequent impacts in areas of lowland heath. This study has found a different response of plant and animal communities between dry and wet heath to levels in usage of areas of heath by Sika deer. The existence of a threshold in the local density of Sika deer on areas of heath above which dry lowland heath showed signs of decline in quality has also been identified.

The geochemistry of sediments is a very wide field and several important aspects must be taken into account, including, but not limited to, various methodological questions, the analysis of distribution patterns, determination of origins and the assessment of risks. Therefore, this research project adapted a case study approach and analysed several important aspects of contamination in sediments at a time. In case study 1, the distribution of metals in the sediments was analysed in Bigge and Olpe, two small and fast running watercourses in Germany. The metal/metalloid concentrations showed very different distribution patterns. Mobile elements like zinc showed a very homogenous and predictable pattern, while elements with low mobility stick to the sediment and do not migrate much, leading to areas with different concentrations. In addition, it was found that the local monitoring tools in force, which are largely based on analyses of the water, are not sufficient for a reliable assessment of the environmental quality. Case study 2 aimed both to investigate the contamination profile caused by a closed landfill within the Christchurch Harbour nature reserve and the strengths/weaknesses of a partial extraction scheme based on the industrial standardised process DIN 19730. It was found that this procedure can predict the actual migration in the homogenous marshland structure rather well. In the vicinity of a linear channel, however, no correlation between the mobility and dispersion could be detected; the channel acts as an effective drainage system for both the landfill itself and the intertidal marshland in its sphere of influence. Partial extractions are only limited in their ability to predict the migration of contaminants in the ground directly affected by the channel. The main objective of case study 3 was the determination of metal distribution within the Poole Harbour estuary, both in regard to total and mobile metal concentrations. In addition, it was tested if the chosen methodology is an efficient protocol (fast, yet scientifically defendable) for the assessment of the environmental quality of an area of that size. The concentrations and mobilities of all analysed contaminants in Poole Harbour were greatest in the heavily industrialised secondary embayment Holes Bay. Although Wareham Channel typically showed higher concentrations in the total content analyses compared to Southern Bights, the potential risk associated with metals, calculated based on both total concentrations and mobile fractions, was comparable in both areas. In case study 4 a simplified grain-size based normalisation scheme was tested. The efficiency of this approach, together several other normalisation schemes was evaluated in Wareham Channel, located in the west of Poole Harbour. In such fine-grained environments, neither geochemical analyses based on aluminium, nor granulometric normalisation schemes yielded a substantial improvement. Normalisations based on the much simpler iron-ratio reduced the variance considerably. This approach was then applied to the sediments close to a former weapons facility. Case study 5 investigated the interactions between the die-back of the cord grass Spartina anglica in Poole Harbour and the metal contamination in the sediments. Despite having several evolutionary advantages over other plants in this environment, S. anglica is dying back in the estuary since 1925 and the reasons for this process are insufficiently understood. No obvious impact of the metal contamination on S. anglica growth/ die-back could be detected, although the die-back has influenced, in turn, the metal concentrations in the estuary. The overall cadmium concentrations and potential risk of adverse effects have risen since 1925, but in the zones affected by die-back, cadmium stored in the sediment by S. anglica appears to have been washed out rapidly. Existing patches still retain elevated concentrations and are potentially at risk of further cadmium release, especially if sea level rise, caused by climate change, would accelerate the die-back.