Thesis (M.E.S.)--The Evergreen State College, 2008. / Title from title screen (viewed 10/21/2009). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-72).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1991. / Includes mounted photographs. Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-119). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Simon Fraser University, 1976. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-93).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Terry Maple, Committee Chair ; M. Jackson Marr, Committee Member ; Rebecca Snyder, Committee Member ; Marc Weissburg, Committee Member ; Paul Corballis, Committee Member ; Roger Bakeman, Committee Member.

Understanding how populations and communities will respond to global changes is a major focus of modern ecology, and demographic studies are crucial for understanding the dynamic of wild populations and their responses to change. Here, I first conducted an analytically robust literature to demonstrate that seabird mortality in global fisheries (bycatch) tends to be biased by sex and age, mainly related to differential at-sea distributions, underpinning the population level effect bycatch on the most threatened group of birds. Next I performed a comprehensive longitudinal study, to address effects of fisheries, environmental variability and climate oscillation on population dynamics of northern (NGP, Macronectes halli) and southern giant petrel (SGP, M. giganteus) at Bird Island, South Georgia. I showed that annual survival and breeding success of NGP and SGP was influenced mainly by climatic oscillation and oceanographic conditions, including fisheries, and that the responses varied by sex and age. Giant petrels survived and reproduced better in warmer years, contrasting with the negative effects of warmer conditions on a range of marine land-based vertebrates in the same ecosystem. Differential accessibility to food resources during chick-rearing due to allochrony have contributed for the NGP breeding success and delayed reproductive senescence compared to SGP, supporting empirical evidence for role of allochrony on their divergent population trajectories. Finally, the findings in this thesis sheds a new light on how phenological mismatch can influence demographic process and on the role of environmental conditions on reproductive senescence, which are among the poorest understood processes in population ecology.

Title: Giant monopole resonances in deformed nuclei Author: Daniel Božík Department: Institute of particle and nuclear physics Supervisor: prof. RNDr. Jan Kvasil, DrSc., ÚČJF, MFF UK Abstract: The study of giant monopole resonances is important, because of its di- rect connection to the incompressibility of the nuclear matter, and its importance has risen with new experimental data obtained in recent years from the experi- ments TAMU and RCNP. The current work brings a study of the giant monopole resonances for chains of spherical (Pb, Sn, Zr) as well as deformed (Sm, Mo, Cd) isotopes. The calculations were carried out within the HFB + SRPA method, which was developed at MFF UK in cooperation with JINR Dubna and the University of Erlangen. We were as first able to confirm, from the microscopic theory, the appearance of a double-peak structure of GMR strength functions for deformed nuclei, and its connection with E0-E2 coupling. We showed the importance of using strength functions in the study of GMR. Keywords: HFB, SRPA, giant monopole resonances 1

Giant City State Park in Makanda, Illinois contains graffiti created by passersby and local residents. Many deem modern graffiti in parks as a depreciative behavior. However, the inscription created by Theodore Wilson Thompson in 1862 along the Giant City Nature Trail has implications for interpretive use by park staff. This is due to the inscription being etched prior to the park's establishment and Theodore's pioneering contributions to Makanda and Carbondale, Illinois. Therefore, Theodore Thompson was the focus of this study due to his inscription and the lack of park research conducted on his life history. In 1852, as a young boy, he moved to the Makanda vicinity with his family. Theodore and his brother Albert carved their names in sandstone during the Civil War, in an area that would later become part of Giant City State Park. After owning a large fruit farm as an adult and increasing the size of the town of Makanda, Theodore moved to Carbondale where he purchased 600 acres adjoining what would become Southern Illinois University. Thompson Woods and Thompson Lake (Campus Lake) were established by Theodore and were later added to the campus of Southern Illinois University. Through the documentation and research of other names etched throughout the park, it will be possible for park staff to not only create interpretive media to help visitors better connect with the resource, but also help preserve the history of the area before it became a park.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF MARGARET MARZIYE ANDERSON, for the Masters of Science degree in Forestry, presented on September 12th, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. FIRE AND FERTILIZATION EFFECTS ON THE GROWTH AND EXPANSION OF EXISTING NATIVE CANEBRAKES [ARUNDINARIA GIGANTEA (WALT) MUHL] IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Jon Schoonover Giant cane [Arundinaria gigantea (Walt) Muhl.], a native bamboo, is an integral component of bottomland forests in the southeastern United States. Cane occurs as monodominant stands, also known as canebrakes, which historically covered vast areas of land. As a result of land conversion, overgrazing and altered fire regimes, an alarming 98% reduction of canebrakes has occurred. Due to the ecological significance of giant cane as wildlife habitat, a riparian buffer, its role in soil stabilization and potential as woody biomass, restoration interest has increased. Research with planted cane indicated fertilization and burning had interacting effects on cane growth, however in remnant natural stands, the influence of burning and fertilization on canebrake growth and spread is unknown. This study examined the survival and growth response of cane to burning and fertilization in remnant stands to provide guidance for rehabilitation, restoration and management. Four treatment plots were replicated eight times across seven sites in canebrakes growing in riparian zones adjacent to agricultural fields in the Cache River Watershed, Illinois. The four treatments were randomized factorial design of: 1) burning, 2) fertilization, 3) burning/fertilization, or 4) control. Within treatment plots, two interior and three exterior 1-m² subplots were randomly established to measure culm density (stems/ha), height (cm), diameter (mm), and spread (increase in live culm density by the outward movement from interior subplots into exterior subplots) prior to treatment and after one and two growing seasons. Fertilized and fertilized/burned plots were treated in summers of 2011 and 2012 with a half corn rate of nitrogen (56 kg ha-1), phosphorus (22 kg ha-1), and potassium (37 kg ha-1). Prescribed burning took place in March 2012. Data were analyzed using a three way analysis of variance (fire, fertilization and subplot) (α = 0.05). At year 0 (2011), culm density, height and diameter were not significantly different among treatments. By year 2, live culm density in interior plots slightly increased, however density in exterior plots tended to more than double, indicating canebrake expansion over time. Fertilization tended to increase height and had little effect on cane diameter. Research suggests that cane typically increases in both height and diameter simultaneously, suggesting that fertilization only partially provides the resources needed to stimulate growth. Further analysis on fertilization application rates and timing may be necessary to ascertain the efficiency of its role in culm growth and development. Giant cane responded to prescribed burning through a decrease in height and culm diameter. However, fire increased culm density through stimulation of the growth of new culms. In addition, though fire consumed a portion of existing culms, the canebrake emerged vigorously, demonstrating prescribed fire's utility as a tool for land managers to reduce competition and increase canebrake health and expansion.

Riparian buffers are a commonly utilized best management practice (BMP) for mitigating non-point source pollution from agricultural fields. This practice is most effective when runoff enters the buffer as sheet flow. However runoff from becomes concentrated and forms concentrated flow paths (CFPs) breaking through the buffer in critical erosional areas. These critical areas can be determined prior to the implementation of a BMP such as a riparian buffer through incorporation of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This approach utilizes field characteristics with hydrological processes in order to determine the erosion risk areas from observed field data throughout an entire watershed. In order to re-establish a riparian buffer in critical areas managers need a method that can prevent erosion and the loss of top soil. This study evaluates an innovative method, "Buffer in a Bag", used to restore riparian buffer benefits and to prevent further erosion in CFPs. There were three different treatments initiated for this study the first two treatments the "Buffer in a Bag", and Hand-Planted were implemented prior to the broadcasting of switchgrass seed. The final treatment was the Control, which required no planting within the treatment plot. The "Buffer in a Bag" treatment utilized the placement of giant cane rhizomes within burlap bags along the channel of concentrated flow. The hand planted treatment utilized the placement of giant cane rhizomes planted in the agricultural field adjacent to the path of concentrated flow. The presence of these CFPs breaking through riparian buffers has been noted, but the actual significant soil erosion occurring within the CFP and in the adjacent field has yet to be quantified. Through the use of topographical surveys and geostatistical analysis to produce digital elevation models (DEM) of in-field elevation changes the hydrological processes and volumetric difference for CFPs can be determined. The goal was to define the variability and the spatial pattern from the data as a means of providing comparisons between subsequent survey periods over time and space to estimate the difference and movement of sediment within CFPs. The volumetric differences found when comparing the DEMs between survey periods provide a quantifiable method for evaluating the implementation of a treatment, such as the "Buffer in a Bag". Using geostatistical analysis of volumetric difference between the treatment plots determined that that there was no significant difference between the CFP's over the study period. The mean percentage volumetric difference within the treatment plots between "Buffer in a Bag", Hand-Planted, and Control treatments were -2.49%, -3.72%, and -2.37%, respectively. There was overall net erosion across all treatments with the erosion and accumulation being significantly different across the survey periods for all the treatment CFPs. The mean percentage volume loss across treatments and survey periods varied from positive 10% accumulation to negative 15% erosion for overall loss when looking at each individual survey and CFP. The displayed loss of valuable topsoil and continued expansion of these concentrated flow paths emphasis the need for research in further management applications. There needs to be an effective method developed to address the volumetric difference within CFPs forming in these high risk erosion areas. Using a GIS/RUSLE approach to indicate these high risk erosion areas will hopefully facilitate the prevention of the formation of concentrated flow paths prior to the implementation of a BMP, such as riparian buffers.

Various dendrochronological methods for avalanche reconstructions was applied on tree-ring records of dominant Norway spruce (Picea abies) in the Giant Mountains National Park. The individual growth chronologies from studied avalanche paths (Pramenný důl, Navorská jáma, Pančavská stěna, Velká Studniční jáma and Úpská jáma) proved that climate is the main driving factor of intra-annual variation of tree growth. Traumatic resin ducts are formed with delay up to 5 years. Combination of two and more tree-ring characteristics is suitable for reconstruction of avalanche events. I achieved to reconstruct undocumented avalanches. I conclude that dendrochronology is suitable tool for avalanche reconstruction; however, high pollutant emission highly reduced the potential of gained results.