Orientador: Archimedes Perez Filho / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociencias / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T21:47:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Quaresma_CristianoCapellani_M.pdf: 11449987 bytes, checksum: 50d36e1e3c31282ca79f035279765ce0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Vários estudos têm se empenhado na procura de métodos e teorias que pudessem explicar o porquê das atuais organizações espaciais paisagística do estado de São Paulo, principalmente as relativas a fragmentos isolados de diferentes fisionomias de cerrado lato sensu, que se distribuem de forma esparsa em meio a uma vegetação predominante de floresta tropical. O cerrado recebeu, por um longo período de tempo, o nome de campo seco, uma vez que fora considerado por alguns autores como uma vegetação adaptada às condições de clima seco. No entanto, outros estudos contradisseram a noção de que o cerrado fosse uma vegetação de predomínio em áreas de escassez de água, mas sim adaptada a condições oligotróficas dos solos. Segundo dados recentes, a ação desenfreada do sistema antrópico sobre os geossistemas de áreas ocupadas por vegetação de cerrado no Estado de São Paulo, permitiu a redução de tal tipo de vegetação para menos de 1%, em relação ao século passado. O desenvolvimento técnico atingido pelo sistema antrópico permite-lhe alterar e controlar parte dos elementos e fenômenos pertencentes à natureza. No entanto, há que se perceber que esta se constitui em sistema complexo, estando, assim, longe de ser plenamente conhecida, quanto mais controlada. O entendimento do funcionamento dos elementos físico-naturais, com base em método holístico, torna-se imperativo no presente momento da história do homem e do planeta. A aplicação da Teoria dos Sistemas aos estudos das dinâmicas dos processos da natureza pode servir como instrumento eficaz aos tomadores de decisão para a elaboração de políticas públicas e de planejamentos com vias a um maior equilíbrio nas relações entre os geossistemas e os sistemas antrópicos. Assim, a presente dissertação, objetivando entender as organizações espaciais físico/naturais, em áreas de cerrado lato sensu, bem como suas possíveis transformações decorrentes da ação antrópica, tomando como área-teste a Estação Ecológica de Jataí, no município de Luiz Antônio (SP), permitiu concluir que: A distribuição das fitofisionomias de cerrado na escala local, de fato, não é influenciada diretamente pelos atributos do clima, mas, sim, pelas características físicas e químicas dos solos, associadas às formas e unidades de vertente; O sistema antrópico, a partir do uso e ocupação das terras ocupadas por vegetação de cerrado, ao desconsiderar as fragilidades ambientais das mesmas, tem provocado aceleração de processos de degradação ambiental e contribuído para possíveis perdas da biodiversidade deste tipo de vegetação / Abstract: Several studies were carried out to find methods and theories that could explain the reason of the current landscape space organizations of the state of São Paulo, mainly those related to isolated fragments of different faces of cerrado lato sensu, scarsely distributed amid a predominant vegetation of tropical forest. The cerrado was for a long period of time called dry field, since it had been considered by some authors as vegetation adapted to the conditions of dry climate. However, other studies had contradicted the notion that the cerrado was a vegetation of predominance in areas of water scarcity, but rather adapted the oligotrophic conditions of the ground. According to recent data, the wild action of the anthropic system on geosystems of areas occupied by cerrado vegetation in the State of São Paulo, allowed a reduction of such type of vegetation to less than 1%, in relation to the last century. The technical development reached by the anthropic system allows it to modify and to control a part of the elements and phenomena of nature. However, it has to be considered that it constitutes itself in a complex system, thus being far from being totally known and controlled. The understanding of the functioning of the physical-natural elements, on the basis of holistic method, becomes imperative at the present moment of the history of man and the planet. Application the Theory of the Systems to the studies of the dynamics of the processes of nature can serve as an efficient instrument for decision-makers in the elaboration of public politics and planning so as to have a better balance in the relations between the anthropic system and the geosystems. Thus, the present work, whose aim is to understand physico/natural spatial organizations in cerrado areas lato sensu, as well as its possible transformations due to the anthropic action, taking as area-test the Ecological Station of Jataí, in the city of Luiz Antônio (SP), allowed to conclude that: the distribution of the phytoface of cerrado, in fact, is not influenced directly by the attributes of the climate, but rather by the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil, associated to the relief¿s forms and units; The anthropic system, through the use and occupation of lands by the cerrado vegetation, when disrespecting the environment fragilities, has led to the acceleration of these processes so contributing to the environmental degradation an possible losses of the biodiversity of this type of vegetation / Mestrado / Análise Ambiental e Dinâmica Territorial / Mestre em Geografia

This thesis seeks to explain how site-scale design decisions can assist retention of rare plant communities concentrated in and near settled areas. To do so it focuses on a specific species and development context. Explanations are sought through examination of case studies of landuse developments in proximity to retained Garry oak plant communities located in the perimeter of Victoria, British Columbia. In the study region, exponential declines in species populations, health, and diversity of rare Garry oak ecosystems have been largely attributed to impacts from land-use developments. Over the past century, land-use developments have transformed the floral, spatial, structural and functional characteristics of the settled landscape. Isolated islands of imperiled plant associations remain on protected bioreserves: for recruitment and connectivity, these rare fauna rely on private-land greenways. Architectural teams have the potential to influence the decision-making processes that create ecologically-vital greenspace on private land, thereby enhancing survival for declining plant communities. Case-study evidence for the importance of land-use decisions on diminishing Garry oak meadow is gathered through vegetation surveys conducted on Garry oak meadow in proximity to six architectural projects on Victoria's western edge. Observed changes in growth extensions are then categorized in relation to human activities associated with built form, and correlated with principles from Landscape Ecology. An ARC of design strategies, developed in primary research by K. D. Rothley is adapted for architectural use as follows: firstly, AREA of a plant community is kept free of encroachment by the orderly frame established around vegetation; secondly, RARE SPECIES and habitat are identified with borders or signage; thirdly, CONNECTIVITY between retained landscapes is secured by siting roads and buildings to minimize ecosystem fragmentation. To effectively communicate preexisting landscape ecology principles, grouped under the ARC of strategies, illustrations and key-word phrases are developed. These principles, when integrated into architectural teams' structural knowledge, extend the architects' perceived role beyond aesthetics and economic efficiency. Enhancing habitat value through retention or restoration of rare ecosystems at the margins of suburban development, becomes an additional realm of influence for professional teams designing the spatial configurations of peri-urban landscapes. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

Urbanization causes various environmental issues including water pollution, air pollution, and solid waste. Urbanization of watersheds has a profound influence on the quality of stormwater runoff. The quality of stormwater runoff is highly associated with land use. This study analyzed the exceedance frequency of stormwater quality in five watersheds of Denton over eleven years and also analyzed the relationship between stormwater quality and land use/cover of each watershed. The results showed that the most of the water quality parameters that were examined in the Lower Pecan watershed exceeded their threshold most frequently. The higher frequency of exceedance in this watershed can be attributed to the wastewater treatment plant and landfill site. Total suspended solids and turbidity were frequently exceeded in Hickory and Clear Creek watersheds. Conductivity was found to have highest percentage of exceedance in Upper Pecan and Cooper watersheds. Thus, rural watersheds were related with higher exceedance of TSS and turbidity whereas urban watersheds were related with higher exceedance of conductivity.

Infrastructure systems around the world face immediate crises and smoldering long-term challenges. Consequently, system owners and managers must balance the need to repair and replace the aging and deteriorating systems already in place against the need for transformative investments in deep decarbonization, climate adaptation, and transportation that will enable long-term competitiveness. Complicating these decisions are deep uncertainties, finite resources, and competing objectives. These challenges motivate the integration of “hard” investments in physical infrastructure with “soft” instruments like insurance, land use policy, and ecosystem restoration that can improve service, shrink costs, scale up or down as future needs require, and reduce vulnerability to population loss and economic contraction. A critical advantage of soft instruments is that they enable planners to adjust, expand, or reduce them at regular intervals, unlike hard instruments which are difficult to modify once in place. As a result, soft instruments can be precisely tailored to meet near-term needs and conditions, including projections of the quasi-oscillatory, regime-like climate processes that dominate seasonal to decadal hydro-climate variability, thereby reducing the need to guess the needs and hazards of the distant future. The objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate how potentially predictable modes of structured climate variability can inform the design of soft instruments and the formulation of adaptive infrastructure system plans. Using climate information for sequential adaptation requires developing credible projections of climate variables at relevant time scales. PartI considers the drivers of river floods in large river basins, which is used throughout this dissertation as an example of a high-impact hydroclimate extreme. First, chapter 2 opens by exploring the strengths and limitations of existing methodologies, and by developing a statistical-dynamical causal chain framework within which to consider flood risk on interannual to secular time scales. Next, chapter 3 describes the physical mechanisms responsible for heavy rainfall (90th percentile exceedance)and flooding in the Lower Paraguay River Basin (LPRB), focusing on a November-February(NDJF) 2015-16 flood event that displaced over 170 000 people. This chapter shows that: 1. persistent large-scale conditions over the South American continent during NDJF 2015-16 strengthened the South American Low-Level Jet (SALLJ), bringing warm air and moisture to South East South America (SESA), and steered the jet towards the LPRB, leading to repeated heavy rainfall events and large-scale flooding; 2. while the observed El Niño event contributed to a stronger SALLJ, the Madden-JulienOscillation (MJO) and Atlantic ocean steered the jet over the LPRB; and 3. while numerical sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) and seasonal models projected an elevated risk of flooding consistent with the observed El Niño event, they had limited skill at lead times greater than two weeks, suggesting that improved representation of MJO and Atlantic teleconnections could improve regional forecast skill. Finally, chapter 4 shows how mechanistic understanding of the physical causal chain that leads to a particular hazard of interest – in this case heavy rainfall over a large area in the Ohio River Basin (ORB) – can inform future risks. Taking the GFDL coupled model, version 3 (CM3) as a representative general circulation model (GCM), this chapter shows that 1. the GCM simulates too many regional extreme precipitation (REP) events but under-simulates the occurrence of back to back REP days; 2. REP days show consistent large-scale climate anomalies leading up to the event; 3. indices describing these large-scale anomalies are well simulated by the GCM; and 4. a statistical model describing this causal chain and exploiting simulated large-scale in-dices from the GCM can be used to inform the future occurrence of REP days. Even the best climate projections must confront epistemic uncertainties. Part II of this dissertation explores how intrinsically flawed projections should inform sequential adaptation.First, chapter5reviews approaches for planning under uncertainty, considering the role of classical decision theory, optimization, probability, and non probabilistic approaches. Next, chapter 6 considers how different physical mechanisms impart predictability at different timescales and the implications of secular, low-frequency cyclical, and high-frequency cyclical variability for selection between instruments with long and short planning periods. In particular, this chapter builds from three assertions regarding the nature of climate risk: 1. different climate risk mitigation instruments have different project lifespans; 2. climate risk varies on many scales; and 3. the processes which dominate this risk over the planning period depend on the planning period itself. Defining M as the nominal design life of a structural or financial instrument and N as the length of the observational record (a proxy for total informational uncertainty), chapter 7 presents a series of stylized computational experiments to probe the implications of these premises. Key findings are that: 1. quasi-periodic and secular climate signals, with different identifiability and predictability, control future uncertainty and risk; 2. adaptation strategies need to consider how uncertainties in risk projections influence the success of decision pathways; and 3. stylized experiments reveal how bias and variance of climate risk projections influencerisk mitigation over a finite planning period. Chapter 7 elaborates these findings through a didactic case study of levee heightening in the Netherlands. Integrating a conceptual model of low-frequency variability with credible projections of sea level rise, chapter 7 uses dynamic programming to co-optimize hard (levee increase) and soft (insurance) instruments. Key findings are that 1. large but distant and uncertain changes (e.g., sea level rise) do not necessarily motivate immediate investment in structural risk protection; 2. soft adaptation strategies are robust to different model structures and assumptions while hard instruments perform poorly under conditions for which they were not de-signed; and 3. increasing the hypothetical predictability of near-term climate extremes significantly lowers long-term adaptation costs. Finally, part III seeks to unpack the conceptual experiments of parts I and II to inform policy and future research. Chapter 8 describes how constructive narratives about climate change can discourage climate fatalism. Instead, chapter 8 emphasizes that while climate change is and will be a critical stressor of infrastructure systems, individuals, communities, and regions have agency and can mitigate its consequences. Finally, chapter9concludes by discussing the key findings of this dissertation and exploring how future work on decision under uncertainty, technology, and earth systems science can aid the design and management of effective infrastructure services.

Habitat restoration has socio-economic as well as biophysical impacts. In Grant County, Oregon a recent influx of funding and technical resources for habitat restoration has led to focused monitoring efforts there to better understand the impacts. This study explores how local land use and land management practices are changing in Grant County as a result of restoration and other drivers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 landowners, land managers, and long time residents to document the change they have observed and identify how they are adapting. The results suggest that many interconnected social, economic, and ecological changes have taken place in Grant County in the recent past, of which the increased focus on restoration and conservation is just one. Other significant changes include the decline of the timber industry, shifting land ownership patterns, intensified regulation of natural resources, and increased environmental awareness. Ways that the community is adapting and additional ways in which they might more successfully adapt to these changes were identified. Recommendations for how to contribute to a more resilient Grant County are presented for the regulatory, academic, and scientific communities.

<p dir="ltr">Globally, soils hold more carbon than both the atmosphere and aboveground terrestrial biosphere combined. Changes in land use and land cover have the potential to alter soil carbon cycling throughout the soil profile, from the surface to meters deep, yet most studies focus only on the near surface impact (< 25 cm deep). This research bias toward shallow soil carbon cycling has ramifications for understanding the full impacts of agricultural and restoration management practices on soil organic and inorganic carbon dynamics. The primary objective of my thesis research is to evaluate the factors controlling the impact of deep-rooting perennial grass on soil carbon cycling during prairie restoration of soil following long term, row crop agriculture. Paired soil pits were established to compare the effects of restoration on soil C dynamics in a corn-soy cropping system (minimal tillage) and restored prairie sites in Nebraska and Illinois. At each site, soil organic carbon (SOC) and inorganic carbon (SIC) content, stock, and stable carbon isotope analysis were preformed to ~2 m depth to assess long term integrated C dynamics. Estimating the contribution of prairie carbon inputs to the SOC in the soil profile was examined using stable carbon isotopic signatures in the SOC in relation to the above ground vegetation changes in C₃ and C₄ photosynthetic pathway plant community composition. Comparative analysis of edaphic properties and soil carbon suggests that deep loess deposits in Nebraska permit enhanced water infiltration and SOC deposition to depths of ~100 cm in 60 years of prairie restoration. In Illinois, poorly drained, clay/lime rich soils on glacial till and a younger restored prairie age (15 years) restricted the influence of prairie restoration to the upper 30 cm. Comparing the δ¹³C values of SOC and SIC in each system demonstrated that SIC at each site is likely of lithogenic origin. This work indicates that the magnitude of influence of restoration management is dependent on edaphic properties inherited from geological and geomorphological controls. Future work should quantify root structures and redox properties to better understand the influence of rooting depth on soil carbon concentrations. Fast-cycling C dynamics can be assessed using continuous, in-situ CO₂ and O₂ soil gas concentration changes. The secondary objective of my thesis was to determine if manual, low temporal resolution gas sampling and analysis are a low cost and effective means of measuring soil O₂ and CO₂, by comparing it with data from in-situ continuous (hourly) sensors. Manual analysis of soil CO₂ and O₂ from field replicates of buried gas collection cups resulted in measurement differences from the continuous sensors. Measuring CO2 concentration with manual methods often resulted in higher concentrations than hourly, continuous measurements across all sites. Additionally, O₂ concentrations measured by manual methods were higher than hourly values in the restored prairie and less in agricultural sites. A variety of spatial variability, pressure perturbations, calibration offsets, and system leakage influences on both analysis methods could cause the discrepancy.</p>

Hui Wing-chi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-141). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / LIST OF TABLES --- p.xi / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xiii / LIST OF ACRONYMS --- p.xvii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE- --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Conceptual Framework and Study Objectives --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Scope of the Research and Study Area --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Location and Climate --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Geology --- p.12 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Landuse Characteristics and Status of Water Quality --- p.13 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of Study --- p.14 / Chapter 1.5 --- Organization of Thesis --- p.16 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO - --- LITERATURE REVIEW / Chapter 2.1 --- Landuse Alteration --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Urbanization and Landuse Changes --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Detecting Landuse Changes in Urbanizing Region --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2 --- Impact of Landuse Alteration on Water Quality --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Point and Nonpoint Sources of Water Pollution --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Nonpoint Source Pollution as a Worldwide Environmental Problem --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Methods of Assessing Nonpoint Source Pollution --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- GIS-based Modeling of Nonpoint Source Pollution --- p.26 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Application of Remote Sensing on Water Quality Study --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3 --- Landuse Changes and Their Water Quality Impacts in the Pearl River Delta --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Economic Reform and Urbanization --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Urban Redevelopment --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Rural Industrialization --- p.33 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Water Pollution --- p.34 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE - --- METHODOLOGY / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2 --- Computation of Areal Nonpoint Source Pollution Loading --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Assumptions --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Curve Number Method --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Generation of Nonpoint Source Pollutants --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Model Operation --- p.43 / Chapter 3.3 --- Instream Water Quality Modeling --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Description ofWASP5 --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Hydraulic Parameters --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Model Constants --- p.48 / Chapter 3.4 --- Description of Model Input Data --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Watershed Delineation --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Soil Data --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Rainfall Data --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Detection Landuse Changes --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.4.1 --- Image Preprocessing --- p.54 / Chapter 3.4.4.2 --- Classification and Post-classification Analysis --- p.57 / Chapter 3.4.4.3 --- Assessment of Accuracy --- p.60 / Chapter 3.5 --- Scenario Modeling --- p.61 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR - --- INTERFACING ARCVIE W GIS WITH WATER QUALITY MODEL / Chapter 4.1 --- Watershed Parameter Generator --- p.64 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Topographic Analysis and Stream Network Definition --- p.65 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Vectorization of Basin Geometries --- p.68 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Computation of Basin Geometric Characteristics --- p.69 / Chapter 4.2 --- Nonpoint Source Pollution Loading Generator --- p.69 / Chapter 4.3 --- Instream Water Quality Calculator --- p.74 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE- --- LANDUSE AND LAND COVER CHANGES ANALYSIS / Chapter 5.1 --- Framework for Analysis --- p.78 / Chapter 5.2 --- Landuse Changes During the Study Period --- p.82 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Areal Landuse Changes --- p.82 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Inter-category Landuse Changes --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.2.1 --- Rural-to-urban Changes --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.2.2 --- Rural-to-rural Changes --- p.87 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Error matrix --- p.88 / Chapter 5.3 --- Spatial Pattern of Landuse and Land cover --- p.91 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Urban Land --- p.92 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Rural Areas --- p.94 / Chapter 5.4 --- Scenario Building --- p.96 / Chapter 5.5 --- Limitation of Landuse Classification based on Satellite Image Interpretation --- p.96 / Chapter 5.6 --- Summary --- p.98 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX - --- IMPACTS OF LANDUSE CHANGES ON NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION LOADING AND WATER QUALITY / Chapter 6.1 --- Impact of Landuse Changes on NPS Loading --- p.100 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Identification of Curve Number --- p.100 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Runoff and Areal Nonpoint Source Pollution Loadings --- p.101 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Sensitivity of NPS Pollution Loading to Landuse Changes --- p.107 / Chapter 6.2 --- Instream Water Quality Analysis --- p.110 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Downstream Variation of Water Quality --- p.111 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Comparison with NWQC II --- p.114 / Chapter 6.3 --- Strategic Landuse Management --- p.117 / Chapter 6.4 --- Limitation of the Study --- p.118 / Chapter CHAPTER SEVEN - --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 7.1 --- Summary of Findings --- p.122 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Landuse and Land Cover Changes --- p.122 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- GIS-based Water Quality Modeling --- p.123 / Chapter 7.1.3 --- Pollution Loading and Instream Water Quality --- p.124 / Chapter 7.2 --- Future Study --- p.125 / REFERENCES --- p.127

The aim of this project was to develop curriculum that educators could use to assist high school students (ages 14-17 years) in the Inland Empire of Southern California to apply critical thinking skills to understanding the negative effects of uncontrolled urban sprawl. The problems and issues which result from sprawl are emphasized in the learning activites.

Biological monitoring and land use data analysis were performed for a small (79,800 acre) watershed in west-central Indiana. A model was developed between Hilsenhoff biotic index and percentage of water (volume) draining through forestland at each sample site (R2.92, P < .002). This water volume model was found to explain more of the variation in biological integrity than USEPA and Ohio EPA habitat assessment methods, as well as, a land use model based upon percentage watershed surface area. Based on this water volume model, maps were created depicting regions within the watershed that had the greatest potential to damage water quality. Land acquisition/conversion projects based upon these maps should improve biological integrity/water quality more efficiently (requiring less land acquisition/conversion, and therefore lowering project costs, while increasing water quality benefits). / Department of Biology

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)