Habitat fragmentation potentiates biodiversity loss worldwide. Species preservation requires an integrated understanding of wildlife-habitat relationships; however, responses to habitat fragmentation may vary considerably as a function of the species ecological flexibility and the unique attributes of each fragment habitat. In this dissertation, I explore the behavioural and health ecology of an ecologically flexible primate, the ringtailed lemur (Lemur catta), occupying forest fragments in south-central Madagascar that differ in isolation, degree of anthropogenic pressure, and L. catta food resource structure. Anja Special Reserve is a 34 ha rocky-outcrop forest fragment that is highly isolated from other forests containing L. catta. L. catta in this reserve have access to abundant food and water resources year-round due to the introduction of non-native fruit trees and the construction of an artificial lake adjacent the reserve, which support a population density of L. catta (6.6 lemurs/ha) that is higher than at any other site in which the species has been studied. In comparison, the Tsaranoro Valley forest is a 53 ha rocky-outcrop forest fragment that is surrounded by a matrix of grassy savannah and a few anthropogenic crops. While land clearing is pronounced in the valley, a few fragments remain within range for L. catta dispersal. L. catta in this fragment have limited access to introduced or anthropogenic resources and the population density (1.13 lemurs/ha) is one-sixth that at Anja. During the late dry season of 2010 and mid- to late-wet season of 2011, I collected continuous time focal animal data to examine behavioural patterns related to habitat use (ranging, matrix use, terrestriality), activity budgets, and feeding ecology of L. catta in each fragment. In addition, I examined two health parameters, stress and endoparasitism, through the collection of fecal samples from focal individuals. I compared these variables between and within populations to examine the potential impacts of habitat fragmentation on an ecologically adaptable primate. L. catta at Anja depended on smaller home range areas and a focused diet consisting largely of introduced food resources, and correspondingly exhibited lower energy expenditure, while spending more time engaging in rest and social acitivities when compared with the Tsaranoro lemurs. In comparison, L. catta at Tsaranoro occupied large home ranges, traveled greater distances to forage in the matrix habitat surrounding the fragment, and exhibited a more broad-based dietary strategy that contained few introduced or anthropogenic resources. From a health perspective, L. catta at Anja exhibited higher stress levels throughout the study period, while L. catta at Tsaranoro exhibited a greater prevalence of endoparasites, which may be reflective of differences in the social pressures and ranging patterns of L. catta between the two fragments, respectively. These results illustrate differences in the quality of the habitats and the potential fitness consequences that the L. catta populations must cope with, with important implications regarding the long-term suitability of these fragments for sustaining these populations. Such information is integral when assessing the viability of wildlife populations in degraded landscapes and should be a primary consideration for wildlife managers in biodiversity conservation. / Graduate / 0327 / 0329 / denisegabrie@gmail.com

The challenge to the construction industry in the United Kingdom (UK) to improve its performance in the delivery of projects to levels more acceptable to clients continues to receive attention from both industry and academia. This is because recommendations of past industry reports and research have not been able to address the fragmented approach to project delivery, often cited as the primary cause of the industry's poor performance, and the resulting unreliable delivery times and cost overruns. Effective integration of the delivery team could improve team cultures and attitudes, and encourage the collaborative working necessary for improved project delivery performance. This research aims to develop a framework for improving the integration of the project delivery team necessary for a more effective teamwork environment. The thesis begins with a review of the literature on project delivery and the concepts of team, teamwork and integration for performance improvement in multi-disciplinary environments. It explores, through interviews, how leading construction project managers have engendered and managed the integration of teams in large projects. A framework of working practices for improving the integration is developed from three live case studies. The framework is validated through industry-based workshops. Exploratory interviews, conducted in the first phase of the research process provided empirical evidence of how integration could act as a means of improving teamwork. The results highlighted that parties that make up the delivery team operated within organisationally defined boundaries but acknowledged that working together would yield better results. The extent of their integration was influenced by team practices and the procurement approach. The Design and Build system provided the most conducive environment for team integration. Case studies, conducted in the second phase of the research, concluded that integration was more effective within individual organisations and was influenced within the project delivery team by its structure and processes, work environment and culture. These issues had received attention individually, but this research established that they were interrelated. It proposes the comprehensive and structured approach to ensure effective integration. The framework developed within the research provides project leaders with a holistic and structured approach for achieving efficient teamwork through the appropriate integration of the project delivery team throughout the construction period. Such knowledge is necessary for achieving any meaningful improvements in how the project delivery team works together as a single unit.

Notre thèse de maîtrise se consacre à une analyse psychanalytique du roman familial, et en particulier de la relation mère-fille dans trois œuvres du XXIe siècle. Les textes, Autour de ma mère (2007) de Catherine Safonoff, Décidément je t’assassine (2010) de Corinne Hoex et Rien ne s’oppose à la nuit (2011) de Delphine de Vigan proposent tous une narration fragmentée du récit familial dans lequel la communication entre mère et fille, la maternité et le rapport au corps ont une place importante. Nous montrons comment le récit familial, qui trouve ses origines dans la mort ou dans l’avènement de la mort de la mère, est un travail de deuil qui facilite l’acceptation de la relation que la narratrice entretient avec sa mère. En outre, nous nous intéressons au lien entre la complexité de la relation mère-fille et le processus thérapeutique, c’est-à-dire l’écriture du récit familial. Une approche psychanalytique nous permet, dans un premier chapitre, d’aborder et de définir le roman familial. À partir de cette définition, nous abordons à l’écriture en tant que travail de deuil. Nous examinons également l’importance de la forme et du contenu du récit familial et son rapport avec la relation mère-fille. Ce survol théorique nous permet de passer à l’analyse de la relation entre les deux femmes dans les récits familiaux des œuvres du corpus. Le désir de la fille d’être à la fois près et loin de sa mère est incontournable dans le discours familial ; cette complexité se manifeste dans les fragments sur la communication avec la mère, le rapport à la maternité et au corps. Ainsi, la fille, endeuillée par la disparition de la mère, trouve un certain réconfort dans l’écriture du roman familial.

Black grouse Tetrao tetrix is a bird species composed of large, continuous as well as severely reduced and fragmented populations, making it an optimal species to investigate how genetic diversity is affected by habitat fragmentation. I have focused on genetic diversity in the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) to measure the ability of the black grouse to respond to environmental changes. I partly characterized MHC class II in black grouse and found striking similarities with chicken MHC class II. I demonstrated that black grouse possess a similar compact MHC as chicken with few MHC class II B (BLB) and Y (YLB) loci. I did not find evidence of balancing selection in YLB so I concentrated further studies on BLB. I developed a PCR-based screening method for amplifying and separating expressed BLB alleles in European black grouse populations. Small fragmented populations had lost neutral genetic diversity (based on microsatellites and SNPs) compared to samples from the historical distribution and contemporary large populations. There was also a trend, albeit less pronounced, for reduced MHC diversity in these populations. Neutral markers in small isolated populations were affected by increased levels of genetic drift and were therefore genetically differentiated compared to other populations. MHC markers on the other hand, were not subjected to genetic drift to the same extent probably due a long historic process of balancing selection. Inferences of heterozygosity and evolutionary patterns as well as detailed correlations to reproductive success and diseases cannot be performed until MHC can be amplified in a locus-specific manner. Therefore, I developed a single locus sequence-based typing method for independently amplifying MHC class II B loci (BLB1 and BLB2). I found that BLB1 and BLB2 were duplicated in a common ancestor to chickens and black grouse and that these loci are subjected to homogenizing concerted evolution due to inter-genetic exchange between loci after species divergence.  I could also verify that both BLB1 and BLB2 were transcribed in black grouse and under balancing selection. This collection of work has significance for future conservation of black grouse as well as research and management of zoonotic diseases.

Today traditionally managed wooded hay meadows only exist in small fractions of their former distributions. Because of the fragmentation and degeneration of hay meadows and the fact that pollinating insect diversity and abundance also are declining, pollination services in these habitats requires attention. To examine the pollination services in traditionally managed hay meadows I collected Ranunculus acris (Buttercup) in 20 meadows of varying quality on Gotland and evaluated the mean seed set and mean number of produced seeds per plant. I also collected Filipendula vulgaris (Dropwort) in 18 meadows and evaluated the mean seed set to be able to compare the pollination success of the insect pollinated R. acris with the wind pollinated F. vulgaris. A range of habitat variables were collected in the meadows and in older surveys to examine their relative impact on seed set. I found significantly higher seed set for R. acris in the meadows with higher habitat quality, than in meadows with lower quality. In contrast seed set in F. vulgaris was not related to habitat quality. The population density also seemed to play an important role in fertilization rate for R. acris, through increased seed set in high density areas, while plant height was positively correlated with number of produced seeds. For F. vulgaris seed set was positively correlated with moss cover, and number of seeds per plant was positively correlated with population density. These results suggest that reproductive success among insect pollinated plants are more sensitive to habitat degeneration than among wind pollinated plants. The status of pollination services in traditionally managed wooded hay meadows should be evaluated further.

L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi pretén analitzar una paradoxa narrativa: com construir un relat serial, i per tant potencialment infinit, sota la pressió d’un final apocalíptic. La presència d’aquesta cloenda amenaçadora hauria d’impossiblitar la capacitat de la narració per desenvolupar-se successivament sine dia; en canvi, aquesta relació de conflictivitat es demostra solvent i absolutament necessària en un conjunt de produccions televisives nordamericanes, que tenen com a rerefons l’esperit paranoic evocat pels atemptats de l’11 de setembre. A aquests afectes, la present recerca aborda l’estudi dels components narratius i estètics en la construcció serial de les ficcions televisives 24 (Fox, 2001, Robert Cochran i Joel Surnow), Prison Break (Fox, 2005, Paul Scheuring) i Heroes (NBC, 2006, Tim Kring). El text es divideix en tres parts que corresponen essencialment a tres conceptes; tres substantius que acullen, des de la seva accepció més amplia, les característiques que, per a nosaltres, defineixen la construcció serial d’aquestes produccions. Destaquem en primer lloc el concepte de Saturació per definir aquells elements que constitueixen la complexitat narrativa pròpia d’aquestes sèries. Des d’aquesta premissa s’analitza la contribució mútua dels gèneres narratius, la seva hibridació i la proliferació de les trames. El segon apartat, Fragmentació, parteix també d'un problema derivat de la cronologia contrarrellotge que presenten les sèries. L’expansió de les trames i la cursa contrarrellotge, així com altres aspectes de caràcter temàtic, obliguen a un sentit de fractura constant, ja sigui merament estructural, ja sigui metafòrica o literal en els continguts del relat. Finalment, la cursa contrarellotge obliga al fet que tota la narració es visqui amb un caràcter de Simultaneïtat. Això suposa utilitzar tota una sèrie de recursos tecnològics per explicar la intercomunicació entre els personatges i les trames, com a prolongació de la mirada espia. Saturació, fragmentació i simultaneïtat seran tres vectors que ajudaran a comprendre el caràcter postmodern d’aquestes sèries. / The aim of this PhD dissertation is to analyze a narrative paradox: how to deal with a drama series story – which should be allegedly a potential infinite tale – when this drama is pressured by an apocalyptic end. The presence of this finale should avoid this ability to defer the story sine dia; nonetheless, that controversial relationship seems to be reliable and absolutely needed in some North American production series, that have as a background the paranoic feeling recalled by the September 11 attacks. To this goal, this research studies the narrative and aesthetic elements which contribute to the serial construction of the following television dramas: 24 (Fox, 2001, Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow), Prison Break (Fox, 2005, Paul Scheuring) and Heroes (NBC, 2006, Tim Kring). This text is divided in three chapters, which concern to three concepts; these three items integrate the main features of the drama series architecture in their wider meaning. Firstly we would like to stress the concept Saturation to define the elements that set up narrative complexity in these series. From this point of view, we analyze the mutual contribution of the television drama series, their hybridisation and their growing plots. The second section, Fragmentation, also begins with the out of time chronology, typical from these series. The spreading plot and the fight against the clock – also other subject issues - lead the stories to a constant fracture, in a structural meaning, but also in metaphorical or literal ones. Finally, the race against the clock makes the story dependent on a certain Simultaneity. That implies to use all sort of technological resources to explain the communication between characters and plots, as an extension of a spying eye. Saturation, Fragmentation and Simultaneity will be three factors that will help to understand the postmodern behavior of the new television dramas.

The music press and music journalism are rarely subjected to substantial academic investigation. Analysis of journalism often focuses on the production of news across various platforms to understand the nature of politics and public debate in the contemporary era. But it is not possible, nor is it necessary, to analyse all emerging forms of journalism in the same way for they usually serve quite different purposes. Music journalism, for example, offers consumer guidance based on the creation and maintenance of a relationship between reader and writer. By focusing on the changing aspects of this relationship, an analysis of music journalism gives us an understanding of the changing nature of media production, media texts and media readerships. Music journalism is dialogue. It is a dialogue produced within particular critical frameworks that speak to different readers of the music press in different ways. These frameworks are continually evolving and reflect the broader social trajectory in which music journalism operates. Importantly, the evolving nature of music journalism reveals much about the changing consumption of popular music. Different types of consumers respond to different types of guidance that employ a variety of critical approaches. This thesis, therefore, argues that the production of music journalism is one that is influenced by the practices of consumption.

Free-radical polymerisation (FRP) has been one of the most important techniques for producing materials used in a very wide variety of applications and has enhanced the lives of millions of people around the world. However, for many years a number of fundamental questions regarding the key kinetic processes involved in FRP have remained unresolved. In particular, an accurate description of the mechanism for diffusion-controlled bimolecular termination has proven elusive. As a result, conventional modelling tools for FRP have often proven unreliable. The aim of this thesis, therefore, was to accurately study the evolution of the bimolecular termination rate coefficient during free radical polymerisation using a new and more accurate methodology based on ‘controlled/living’ reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerisation. This was undertaken in order to develop a more precise understanding of bimolecular termination and thereby develop a more reliable modeling approach capable of predicting the rates of reaction and evolution of molecular weight distributions for a wide range of experimental conditions and a wide range of functional monomers. The RAFT-CLD-T (RAFT Chain-Length-Dependent Termination) Method was used to determine accurate values for the conversion and chain-length-dependent termination rate coefficient, kti,i(x), as a function of various parameters. These parameters included the chain size, i, polymer concentration (or conversion, x), chain length size distribution and chain architecture/structure. The accuracy of the RAFT-CLD-T Method was crucial to this work, therefore, an important part of this thesis was devoted to evaluating the reliability of this technique. Below 5 % conversion and above 80 % conversion the method was found to be unreliable due to the effects of chain-length-dependent propagation, high PDI’s and short-long termination. However, between 5 % and 80 % conversion it was found that the method is extremely robust and a series of easy-to-use experimental guidelines were determined for accurately applying the RAFT-CLD-T Method. The effects of chain size, chain size distribution, solution polymer concentration, and matrix architecture were examined for the RAFT-mediated polymerisations of methyl methacrylate (MMA), styrene (STY) and methyl acrylate (MA). It was found that four distinct scaling regimes of termination are observed: (1) a ‘short’ chain dilute solution regime, (2) a ‘long’ chain dilute solution regime, (3) a semi-dilute solution regime and (4) a concentrated solution regime. In dilute polymer solutions, chain-length-dependent power law exponents, ’s, determined during the polymerisation of MMA, STY and MA (where kti,i(x)  i-) indicated that termination follows two major scaling regimes with exponents of approximately ~0.5 to 0.6 for ‘short’ chains and and ~0.12 to 0.16 for ‘long’ chains. Importantly, these exponents are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions for translational and segmental diffusion-controlled termination, respectively. At increasing polymer concentrations, kti,i(x) falls rapidly coinciding with the onset of the gel effect. By comparing results from the RAFT-mediated polymerisations of MMA, STY, MA, and vinyl acetate (VAc) with theoretical models, we found that the onset of the gel effect coincided closely with the theoretical onset of chain overlap. Considerable uncertainty has plagued the evaluation of this phenomenon, but using a difunctional RAFT agent we showed this uncertainty arises from the influence of broad MWD’s on chain overlap and short-long termination. Finally, critical tests of this theory involving the bimolecular termination of linear radicals in solutions of star polymer confirmed that the gel effect coincided with chain overlap. Beyond the gel effect termination slows enormously, passing through the ‘semi-dilute solution’ regime and into the ‘concentrated solution’. In semi-dilute solution, theoretical predictions based on scaling theory (i.e. the ‘blob’ model) were in excellent agreement with results for the polymerisation of PSTY in linear and star polymer solutions, indicating that the solvent quality diminished both with increasing chain length and through the addition of a star polymer matrix. In concentrated solutions, the chain-length-dependent power law exponent increased linearly with conversion. For example, for MMA the chain length dependence of kt in the gel regime scaled as gel = 1.8x + 0.056, suggesting that reptation alone does not describe termination in the concentrated solution. Values of gel for PSTY, MA, and VAc were in similar agreement, indicating that a mechanism intermediate between unentangled and entangled semi-dilute scaling laws applies in the concentrated solution regime. Interestingly, gel values for these monomers were found to decrease with increasing chain flexibility in the order gel(MMA)> gel(STY)> gel(VAc)> gel(MA), suggesting matrix mobility is rate determining in concentrated solutions. Similarly, gel values were also larger in star polymer solutions, coinciding with decreasing matrix mobility. Thus, although it has been commonly believed that polymer chains diffuse via reptation above the gel effect, these results show that this only occurs for solutions containing rigid and/or highly immobile macromolecules and in very high concentrations. To describe these behaviours, a semi-empirical ‘composite kt model’ was also developed to describe kti,i(x) as a function of i and x up to high conversions. We showed that the model is very simple to implement and accurate for modelling a wide range of functional monomers and experimental conditions. In particular, we showed the method was accurate for modelling RAFT-mediated polymerisations of a very wide range of monomers (MA, MMA, and PSTY) and was even accurate for modelling conventional FRP’s. Thus, the model provides a simple, flexible and accurate method for predicting the rate of reaction and evolution of molecular weight distributions across a range of experimental conditions based on accurate kti,i(x) values.

Landscape modification resulting in habitat loss, fragmentation and intensification of land use is a serious threat to the earth’s biological diversity and the primary cause of the current extinction crisis. Recent research suggests the human-modified area of the landscape (that is not ‘traditional’ habitat for native species but potentially once was), or the ‘matrix’ (as it is hereafter called) has a major influence on wildlife persistence in modified landscapes. However, the matrix is a poorly studied and inadequately understood element of a modified landscape. There are at least two reasons for this. Firstly, the predominance of island biogeography and metapopulation theories in ecological thinking ensured that the matrix has historically been ignored in ecological research. Secondly, it is difficult to analyse matrix effects without confounding effects of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and other aspects of landscape modification. As landscapes are modified attributes of the matrix co-vary with attributes of patches and landscapes, entangling their relative impacts on wildlife. Thus to investigate the independent influence of the matrix on mammals I selected 19 study landscapes by rigorous criteria to control for all potentially confounding patch and landscape attributes such as remnant forest patch size, shape, vegetation type, condition and position in the landscape, presence of any large (potential ‘source’) native forest patches within the landscape unit, as well as matrix land use composition and history. A study landscape was defined as the area within a 500 m radius of a remnant forest patch edge. Landscapes were selected along a gradient of rural-suburban residential development spanning the broadest achievable range of what I call ‘matrix development intensity’. This gradient was quantified by a novel weighted road-length metric that considered multiple road attributes to give significance to the ecological impact of different roads. Mammals and their habitat were sampled in three landscape elements within each landscape: remnant patch core, remnant patch edge and matrix to allow a landscape level inference. Mammals were sampled by a combination of Elliott traps, wire cage traps, hair funnels, scats and direct sightings. Thirty environmental variables were measured including habitat structure and disturbance and a full floristic survey was conducted. The matrix intensity gradient was characterised by increased anthropogenic disturbance such as increased housing density, closer proximity of sample sites to houses and higher human disturbance across the landscape mosaic, including in the core of remnant patches. However, matrix intensity was not the greatest source of overall variation in structural and floristic habitat attributes. Therefore the confounding of matrix effects with effects of remnant forest patch habitat attributes were successfully ruled out. Management actions of individual landholders can shape habitat attributes essential to mammals across the landscape mosaic. Mammal response to matrix intensity was species specific. Several native species declined in abundance, others were more resilient to moderate levels of matrix intensity, one species increased in abundance, and at least one species appeared unaffected by matrix intensity. Native species richness peaked at moderate levels, while exotic species richness and feral predators increased with matrix intensity and were negatively correlated with native species. Species response to matrix intensity appeared related to their use of edge or matrix habitat. However, an ability to use the matrix per se may not translate into an ability to persist in a landscape where development substantially reduces the habitat or movement value of the matrix. Seven a priori models of various remnant patch habitat, landscape and matrix influences on terrestrial mammal species richness were tested. Matrix attributes were the most important determinants of species richness. Matrix development intensity had a strong negative effect while matrix vegetation structural complexity had a strong positive effect on mammal species richness. Distance to the nearest remnant forest habitat was relatively unimportant. I hypothesised that thresholds of matrix intensity would exist where native species decline in abundance and exotic and native synanthropic species increase to dominate the mammal community. Thresholds were found for abundance of all native terrestrial species combined, macropod abundance and exotic rodent abundance. However, threshold models were only better than linear or cubic models for exotic rodent abundance. Matrix development intensity has a pervasive impact across the whole landscape mosaic that results in a complex range of environmental changes that individually and collectively impact the mammal community. Drawing on all results, I present a conceptual model of the overall impact of matrix development intensity on mammal community integrity. I conclude that a structurally complex matrix within a human-modified landscape can provide supplementary habitat resources and increase the probability of successful species movement across the landscape. Research needs to incorporate empirical data of specific matrix effects into models and theory of species distribution and abundance in human-modified landscapes. This can help guide application of management actions and landscape planning principles across different landscapes. Planning authorities and land managers need to explicitly acknowledge the importance of the matrix and the numerous factors that could be manipulated, such as retention or restoration of a structural vegetation layer that can assist mammal movement across the matrix, for greater landscape-wide conservation outcomes.

Free-radical polymerisation (FRP) has been one of the most important techniques for producing materials used in a very wide variety of applications and has enhanced the lives of millions of people around the world. However, for many years a number of fundamental questions regarding the key kinetic processes involved in FRP have remained unresolved. In particular, an accurate description of the mechanism for diffusion-controlled bimolecular termination has proven elusive. As a result, conventional modelling tools for FRP have often proven unreliable. The aim of this thesis, therefore, was to accurately study the evolution of the bimolecular termination rate coefficient during free radical polymerisation using a new and more accurate methodology based on ‘controlled/living’ reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerisation. This was undertaken in order to develop a more precise understanding of bimolecular termination and thereby develop a more reliable modeling approach capable of predicting the rates of reaction and evolution of molecular weight distributions for a wide range of experimental conditions and a wide range of functional monomers. The RAFT-CLD-T (RAFT Chain-Length-Dependent Termination) Method was used to determine accurate values for the conversion and chain-length-dependent termination rate coefficient, kti,i(x), as a function of various parameters. These parameters included the chain size, i, polymer concentration (or conversion, x), chain length size distribution and chain architecture/structure. The accuracy of the RAFT-CLD-T Method was crucial to this work, therefore, an important part of this thesis was devoted to evaluating the reliability of this technique. Below 5 % conversion and above 80 % conversion the method was found to be unreliable due to the effects of chain-length-dependent propagation, high PDI’s and short-long termination. However, between 5 % and 80 % conversion it was found that the method is extremely robust and a series of easy-to-use experimental guidelines were determined for accurately applying the RAFT-CLD-T Method. The effects of chain size, chain size distribution, solution polymer concentration, and matrix architecture were examined for the RAFT-mediated polymerisations of methyl methacrylate (MMA), styrene (STY) and methyl acrylate (MA). It was found that four distinct scaling regimes of termination are observed: (1) a ‘short’ chain dilute solution regime, (2) a ‘long’ chain dilute solution regime, (3) a semi-dilute solution regime and (4) a concentrated solution regime. In dilute polymer solutions, chain-length-dependent power law exponents, ’s, determined during the polymerisation of MMA, STY and MA (where kti,i(x)  i-) indicated that termination follows two major scaling regimes with exponents of approximately ~0.5 to 0.6 for ‘short’ chains and and ~0.12 to 0.16 for ‘long’ chains. Importantly, these exponents are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions for translational and segmental diffusion-controlled termination, respectively. At increasing polymer concentrations, kti,i(x) falls rapidly coinciding with the onset of the gel effect. By comparing results from the RAFT-mediated polymerisations of MMA, STY, MA, and vinyl acetate (VAc) with theoretical models, we found that the onset of the gel effect coincided closely with the theoretical onset of chain overlap. Considerable uncertainty has plagued the evaluation of this phenomenon, but using a difunctional RAFT agent we showed this uncertainty arises from the influence of broad MWD’s on chain overlap and short-long termination. Finally, critical tests of this theory involving the bimolecular termination of linear radicals in solutions of star polymer confirmed that the gel effect coincided with chain overlap. Beyond the gel effect termination slows enormously, passing through the ‘semi-dilute solution’ regime and into the ‘concentrated solution’. In semi-dilute solution, theoretical predictions based on scaling theory (i.e. the ‘blob’ model) were in excellent agreement with results for the polymerisation of PSTY in linear and star polymer solutions, indicating that the solvent quality diminished both with increasing chain length and through the addition of a star polymer matrix. In concentrated solutions, the chain-length-dependent power law exponent increased linearly with conversion. For example, for MMA the chain length dependence of kt in the gel regime scaled as gel = 1.8x + 0.056, suggesting that reptation alone does not describe termination in the concentrated solution. Values of gel for PSTY, MA, and VAc were in similar agreement, indicating that a mechanism intermediate between unentangled and entangled semi-dilute scaling laws applies in the concentrated solution regime. Interestingly, gel values for these monomers were found to decrease with increasing chain flexibility in the order gel(MMA)> gel(STY)> gel(VAc)> gel(MA), suggesting matrix mobility is rate determining in concentrated solutions. Similarly, gel values were also larger in star polymer solutions, coinciding with decreasing matrix mobility. Thus, although it has been commonly believed that polymer chains diffuse via reptation above the gel effect, these results show that this only occurs for solutions containing rigid and/or highly immobile macromolecules and in very high concentrations. To describe these behaviours, a semi-empirical ‘composite kt model’ was also developed to describe kti,i(x) as a function of i and x up to high conversions. We showed that the model is very simple to implement and accurate for modelling a wide range of functional monomers and experimental conditions. In particular, we showed the method was accurate for modelling RAFT-mediated polymerisations of a very wide range of monomers (MA, MMA, and PSTY) and was even accurate for modelling conventional FRP’s. Thus, the model provides a simple, flexible and accurate method for predicting the rate of reaction and evolution of molecular weight distributions across a range of experimental conditions based on accurate kti,i(x) values.