Climate and human activities impact the timing and quantity of streamflow and floods in different ways, with important implications for people and aquatic environments. Impacts of landscape changes on streamflow and floods are known, but few studies have explored the magnitude, duration and count of floods the landscape can influence. Understanding how floods are influenced by landscape structure provides insight into how, why and where floods have changed over time, and facilitates mapping the capacity of watersheds to regulate floods. In this study, I (1) compared nine flood-return periods of 31 watersheds across North Carolina and Virginia using long-term hydrologic records, (2) examined temporal trends in precipitation, stream flashiness, and the count, magnitude and duration of small and large floods for the same watersheds, and (3) developed a methodology to map the biophysical and technological capacity of eight urban watersheds to regulate floods. I found (1) floods with return periods ≤ 10 years can be managed by manipulating landscape structure, (2) precipitation and floods have decreased in the study watersheds while stream flashiness has increased between 1991 and 2013, (3) mapping both the biophysical and technological features of the landscape improved previous efforts of representing an urban landscape's capacity to regulate floods. My results can inform researchers and managers on the effect of anthropogenic change and management responses on floods, the efficacy of current strategies and policies to manage water resources, and the spatial distribution of a watershed's capacity to regulate flooding at a high spatial resolution. / Master of Science

In recent decades land use and land cover change (LULCC) has occurred throughout the Intermountain West. The Crown of the Continent Ecosystem (CCE) extends along the Rocky Mountains adjacent to the Canada-U.S. International border. In the U.S. portion of the CCE, located in northwestern Montana, development has increased since the 1990s, largely because of urban to rural migration. The CCE has become an amenity-based destination, which in turn is likely to threaten its terrestrial and aquatic ecological diversity (Quinn and Broberg 2007). Specifically, development pressures on private lands surrounding federally protected lands, are intensifying and thus threatening core habitat of native species and connectivity of forested areas. By characterizing the spatial and temporal patterns of LULCC, we can better understand landscape-scale changes influenced by human-environment interactions. Using National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products, I identified areas that have experienced land cover change for three time periods: 1992-2001, 2001-2006, and 2006-2011. Additionally, I used case studies to further investigate LULCC in the study area. The findings suggest that the highest rates of development in proximity to Glacier National Park were dependent on existing urban land cover, meaning existing roadway infrastructure and established urban areas saw the greatest urban development. Additionally, communities adjacent to Glacier National Park were hotspots for urban development. Based on the results, areas in proximity to federally protected lands are likely to experience continued urban intensification over the next few decades. / Master of Science

Invasive plant species threaten native plant communities and inhibit efforts to restore disturbed landscapes. Surface coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains are some of the most disturbed landscapes in North America. Moreover, there is not a comprehensive understanding of the land cover characteristics of post- mined lands in Appalachia. Better information on mined lands' vegetative cover and ecosystem recovery status is necessary for implementation of effective environmental management practices. The invasive autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) is abundant on former coal surface mines, often outcompeting native trees due to its faster growth rate. The frequent revisit time and spatial and spectral resolution of Landsat satellites make Landsat imagery well suited for mapping and characterizing land cover and forest recovery on former coal surface mines. I performed a multitemporal classification using a random forest analysis to map autumn olive on former and current surface coal mines in southwest Virginia. Imagery from the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 were used as input data for the study. Calibration and validation data for use in model development were obtained using high-resolution aerial imagery. Results indicate that autumn olive cover is sufficiently dense to enable detection using Landsat imagery on approximately 12.6% of the current and former surface coal mines located in the study area that have been mined since the early 1980s. The classified map produced here had a user's and producer's accuracy of 85.3% and 78.6% respectively for the autumn olive coverage class. Overall accuracy in reference to an independent validation dataset was 96.8%. These results indicate that autumn olive growing on reclaimed coal mines in Virginia and elsewhere in the Appalachian coalfields can be mapped using Landsat imagery. Additionally, autumn olive occurrence is a significant landscape feature on former surface coal mines in the Virginia coalfields. / Master of Science

Worldwide, we are losing biodiversity at unprecedented rates, and due to deforestation, degradation and poaching, Southeast Asian wildlife is facing extreme threats. Indonesia recently eclipsed Brazil in having the world's highest deforestation rate, largely due to the rise of the palm oil industry. Indonesia contains multiple biodiversity hotspots and endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). While Riau Province, Sumatra, produces approximately 20% of the world's palm oil, tigers still inhabit parts of Riau, though their habitat and prey are understudied. Thus, in this research, I aim to assess and quantify how tiger habitat has changed, how it will continue to change, and provide recommendations on how to improve the landscape for tigers. I create the first accuracy-assessed land cover maps of Riau, and then predict land cover change from 2016 – 2050. Using this newly created land cover map, I assess whether Tesso Nilo National Park, Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, and Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve are effective at preventing deforestation. Next, I examine human impacts within Tesso Nilo specifically, due to its suitability for oil palm and its potential as a stepping stone for wildlife movement from the western, mountains to the eastern peatlands of Sumatra. Finally, I examine impacts of human presence within Rimbang Baling on felid-prey relationships. I predict that by 2050, over 60% of natural forest in Riau will be lost, and all protected areas only confer low levels of protection. I determined that Tesso Nilo National Park has nearly 2500 km of roads within it and no areas within the park are untouched by humans. Wildlife detections were low near the boundary of Rimbang Baling and there was evidence of humans negatively impacting mousedeer (Tragulus spp) behavior. I suggest focusing on securing the habitat within Rimbang Baling and Bukit Tigapuluh to ensure habitat for dispersing tigers from the western mountains, in addition to, and perhaps before focusing on restoring Tesso Nilo and creating wildlife corridors. While tiger recovery in Riau will be difficult, with education, dedication, persistence and intelligent planning, tigers may be able to persist in this unique ecosystem in the long-term. / Ph. D. / Worldwide, we are losing plants and animals at unprecedented rates, and due to deforestation, degradation and poaching, Southeast Asian wildlife is facing extreme threats. Indonesia recently passed Brazil in having the world’s highest deforestation rate, largely due to the rise of the palm oil industry. Indonesia has a wide diversity of plants and animals, including endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger. While Riau Province, Sumatra, produces approximately 20% of the world’s palm oil, tigers still inhabit parts of Riau, though their habitat and prey are understudied. Thus, in this research, I aim to assess how tiger habitat has changed, how it will continue to change, and provide recommendations to improve the landscape for tigers. I create the first land cover maps of Riau that have been verified with field data, and then predict land cover change from 2016 – 2050. Using this land cover map, I assess whether Tesso Nilo National Park, Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, and Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve are effective at preventing deforestation. Next, I examine human impacts within Tesso Nilo, due to its soil characteristics making it suitable for oil palm and its potential as habitat for wildlife movement from the western, mountains to the eastern swamps of Sumatra. Finally, I examine impacts of humans within Rimbang Baling on wild cat-prey relationships. I predict that by 2050, over 60% of forest in Riau will be lost, and all protected areas only provide slight protection. I determined that Tesso Nilo has nearly 2500 km of roads within it and no areas within the park are untouched by humans. Wildlife sightings were low near the boundary of Rimbang Baling and there was evidence of humans negatively impacting tiger prey behavior. I suggest focusing on securing the forests within Rimbang Baling and Bukit Tigapuluh to ensure forest for tigers that may come from the western mountains, in addition to, and before focusing on restoring Tesso Nilo and creating wildlife movement areas. While tiger recovery in Riau will be difficult, with education, dedication, persistence and intelligent planning, tigers may be able to persist in this unique ecosystem in the long-term.

Land alterations including deforestation, unsustainable land management practices and an increase in cultivated areas have occurred in the Upper Ruvu watershed in recent decades threatening water and natural resources. This study, which used a combination of remote sensing techniques, field experiments, watershed monitoring, and modeling was designed to investigate impacts of environmental changes on hydrology and soil erosion. The objectives were to: map the extent of land use and land cover change and its influence on soil erosion; correlate the contribution of climate variability and human activities to the changes in hydrology at headwater and watershed scales; estimate surface runoff, sediments and Curve Number at plot scale, and model streamflow responses to changes in land use and land cover using the SWAT watershed model. Results indicate that areas covered by forest decreased from 17% in 1991 to 4% of the total watershed area in 2015. However, areas covered by cropland increased from 14% to 30% of the total watershed area from 1991 to 2015, respectively. Further, results indicate that site characteristics affect runoff and sediment yield as higher soil loss was estimated from cropland with a mean of 28.4 tha-1 in 2015 from 19.8 tha-1 in 1991. Results from monitoring show high sediment loads were from the most disturbed watersheds, compared to Mbezi. Analysis of trends for the long term records at the watershed showed that rainfall had significant decreasing trends. At annual scale, climate variability contributed 46% and human activities contributed 54% of the changes in streamflow. Results from the rainfall simulation experiments show upland rice had higher runoff (48 mmh-1) and soil loss (94 gm-2) compared to grassland and forest. Results from the model outputs showed that average streamflow decreased by 13% between 1991 and 2015. Average peak flows increased by 5% and 12% for 2000 and 2015, respectively compared to the baseline. Land alterations had impacts on surface runoff which increased by 75% and baseflow decreased by 66% in 2015 from the baseline. These results highlight the main areas of changes and provide quantitative information to decision makers for sustainable land and water resources planning and management. / Ph. D.

Malaria is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity globally. Land use/land cover (LULC) change have been found to affect the transmission and distribution of malaria in other regions, but no study has attempted to examine such relationships in Nepal. Therefore, this study was conducted in Nepal to assess LULC change between 2000 and 2010, to study the spatial and temporal trend of malaria incidence rate (MIR) between 1999 and 2015, and to understand the relationship between LULC and malaria. The land cover types used for this study are forest, water bodies, agriculture, grassland, shrubland, barren areas, built-up areas and paddy areas. Change detection techniques were used to study LULC change. The temporal trend of MIR in 58 districts, and the relationship between MIR and LULC were evaluated using Poisson and negative binomial regression. Forest, water bodies, snow cover, and built-up area increased in Nepal by 28.5%, 2.96%, 55.12% and 21.19% respectively while the rest of the LULC variables decreased. MIR decreased significantly in 21 districts; however, four districts namely Pyuthan, Kaski, Rupandehi and Siraha had a significantly increasing trend of MIR. During 2001, 2002, and 2003, MIR was positively related to water bodies and paddy areas. Similarly, MIR of 2010 was negatively related to grassland. However, there was no relationship between LULC and MIR in 2000, 2011, 2012 and 2013. It may be because MIR is decreasing significantly in the country and thus the influence of LULC change is also decreasing. / MS

Study of landscape change is a subject of interest for a wide range of professional work both in the Czech republic and abroad. This thesis therefore does not give a simple description of the changes in the landscape, but rather focuses on the further synthesis of these findings and the subsequent creation of a typology of land cover changes and their impacts on landscape structure in the region of interest, including also its heterogeneity. It is therefore a process of allocated areas that formed and still form the same processes that lead to homogenization of the landscape, as opposed to its fragmentation. Area of interest is so-called Visegrad Group of countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland). There are four countries of the former Eastern bloc in Central Europe, which shared some relatively similar initial conditions for the further development of the landscape after the "release" of the regime change in 1989. The landscape began to develop in different way. Each country began a different way to approach a completely different landscape interfering in its development. Review starts with describing landscape development in the period up to 1989, when it was not too taken of the ecological functions and the importance of the landscape. This period was characterized by the...

Master of Science / Department of Geography / Douglas G. Goodin / Volyn Oblast in Western Ukraine has experienced substantial land use/land cover change over the last 25 years as a result of a change in political systems. Remote sensing provides a framework to quantify this change without extensive field work or historical land cover records. In this study, land change is quantified utilizing a post-classification change detection technique comparing Landsat imagery from 1986-2011(Post-Soviet era began 1991). A variety of remote sensing classification methods are explored to take advantage of spectral and spatial variation within this complex study area, and a hybrid scheme is ultimately utilized. Land cover from the CORINE classification scheme is then converted to the EUNIS habitat classification scheme to analyze how land cover change has affected habitat fragmentation. I found large scale agricultural abandonment, increases in forested areas, shifts towards smaller scale farming practices, shifts towards mixed forest structures, and increases in fragmentation of both forest and agricultural habitat types. These changes could have several positive and negative on biodiversity, ecosystems, and human well-being.

On étudie une zone de la Cordillère de la Costa au sud du Chili (41°15'S-41°00'S), habitée par l'ethnie Mapuche. Là, il y a encore des précieuses forêts tempérées, qui ont une haute priorité de conservation au plan mondial. Mais, il est constaté, un processus continu de transformation lié à l'extraction de bois de chauffe, l'élevage extensif, la perturbation de l'habitat du conifère Fitzroya cupressoides, et le déploiement des plantations forestières. Sur la base d'une classification multi-temporelle d'images satellite, une modélisation spatio-temporelle a été mise en œuvre pour comprendre et anticiper la dynamique de la détérioration de la forêt. L'analyse rétrospective révèle qu'entre 1976 et 2008, la forêt a été réduite 12400 ha, soit un taux de déforestation 0,25% par an. 20 modèles de déforestation sont calibrés, 4 d'entre eux sont sélectionnés pour construire des scénarios prospectifs. La simulation prévoit que la diminution de forêt entre 2008 et 2040 pourrait atteindre 13000 ha. Deux autres modèles mis en œuvre simulent l'évolution de la qualité de l'habitat de F. cupressoides. Les scénarios prévoient une augmentation de la surface détériorée ; l’extrapolation à partir de la période d’apprentissage 2001-2008 pendant laquelle la plus grande part de terres indigènes a été légalisée, par rapport à la période précédente à 2001, prédit une augmentation plus significative de la surface détériorée. On fournit un outil pour amplifier la gestion territoriale des systèmes environnementaux toujours non incorporée dans la planification chilienne. Enfin, la thèse met également d'intéressantes comparaisons entre modèles qui diffèrent par rapport aux paramètres de calibration. / SAn area of the Cordillera de la Costa is studied in southern Chile (41°15'S - 41°00'S), inhabited by ethnic Mapuche. There are still valuable temperate forests that have high conservation priority worldwide. But it is found, a continuous process of transformation related to the extraction of firewood, ranching, disruption of habitat conifer Fitzroya cupressoides, and deployment of forest plantations. Based on a multi-temporal satellite images classification, a spatial-temporal modeling was implemented to understand and predict the dynamics of the deterioration of the forest. Retrospective analysis revealed that between 1976 and 2008, the forest has been reduced 12,400 ha, a deforestation rate of 0.25% per annum. 20 models of deforestation are calibrated, 4 of them are selected to construct scenarios. The simulation predicted that reductions of forest between 2008 and 2040 could reach 13,000 ha. Two other models implemented simulate changes in habitat quality F. cupressoides. Scenarios predict an increase in the damaged surface; extrapolating from the learning period 2001-2008 during which the largest share of indigenous lands was legalized, compared with the previous period to 2001, predicts a significant increase in the damaged surface. In this way, it provides a tool to enhance the local management of environmental systems still not incorporated into the Chilean planning. Finally, the thesis also makes interesting comparisons between models that differ with respect to the calibration parameters.

abstract: Use of off-highway vehicles (OHV) in natural landscapes is a popular outdoor activity around the world. Rapid-growing OHV activity causes impacts on vegetation and land cover within these landscapes and can be an important factor in land degradation and ecosystem change. The Algodones Dunes in southeastern California is one of the largest inland sand dune complexes in the United States and hosts many endangered species. This study examines changes in land cover and OHV activity within two OHV active sites in comparison to an adjoined protected area. The study also investigates potential associations between land cover changes, climate trends, and OHV activity over recent decades. Time-series analysis was used to investigate the spatial-temporal changes and trends in the land cover in the Algodones Dunes from 2001 to 2016. In addition, high-resolution aerial photographs were analyzed to determine spatial patterns of OHV usage in comparison to visitor estimation collected by the Bureau of Land Management and observed changes in land cover composition between the control site and OHVs areas. A decreasing trend in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index over time indicates a decline in the amount of vegetation cover, which corresponds with an increasing trend in albedo and land surface temperature. Results also show a substantial difference in land cover between the control site and OHVs areas, which typically have a lower amount of vegetation cover, higher exposed sand surface, and increased anthropogenic features. Both climatic variations and OHV activity are statistically associated with land cover change in the dune field, although distinct causal mechanisms for the observed declines in vegetation cover could not be separated. The persistence of drought could inhibit vegetation growth and germination that, in turn, would hinder vegetation recovery in OHV areas. Meanwhile, repeated OHV driving has direct physical impacts on vegetation and landscape morphology, such as canopy destruction, root exposure, and increased aeolian sand transport. Active ecosystem protection and restoration is recommended to mitigate the response of declining vegetation cover and habitat loss to the impacts of OHV activity and climatic variability and allow natural recovery of re-establishement of nebkha dune ecosystems in the Algodones Dunes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Geography 2018