Watersheds in the Southwest, particularly the San Simon Watershed in Arizona, have been experiencing degradation since the turn of the century through processes of erosion and vegetation change. Mitigation and management actions rely on long-term assessment of landcover change; however, traditional methods of ground assessment are time-consuming and specific to particular sites. Remote sensing techniques can be an alternative method to assess landcover change over extensive areas. Forage inventory surveys and historical monitoring data were assessed for utility in landcover change detection. The contemporary remotely-sensed classifications included 2001 SwReGAP data and a CART classification of 2010 Landsat TM data. The CART classification was aided by shrub cover analysis of NAIP aerial photography. It was found that 1930s Grazing inventories were compatible with contemporary satellite image classifications for large-scale landcover change detection.

Research has demonstrated that equivalent temperature (TE), which incorporates both the surface air temperature (T) and moist heat content associated with atmospheric moisture, is a better indicator of overall heat content. This thesis follows up on a study that used TE to determine the impacts of land use/land cover and air masses on the atmospheric heat content over Kentucky during the growing season (April-September). The study, which used data from the Kentucky Mesonet, reveals that moist weather types dominate the growing season and, as expected, differences between T and TE are smaller under dry atmospheric conditions but larger under moist conditions. For example, the lowest TE-T difference was 10.04 °C on a dry weather day on the 18th of April, 2010 (T = 8.91 °C and TE = 18.95 °C). On the other hand, the highest estimated difference for a day of moist tropical weather was 46.54 °C on the 11th of August, 2010 (T = 26.54 °C and TE = 73.08 °C). Since land cover type influences both moisture availability and temperature in the lower atmosphere, the research shows that TE is larger in areas with higher physical evaporation and transpiration rates. Results support the hypothesis that the influence of different weather types over a region is a likely cause of interannual variation in TE.

High flow events often comprise the majority of annual discharge and riverine geochemical flux of phosphorus (P) and metals such as iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) due to glacial melt, snowmelt, and storm-driven sustained high flow. Aquatic ecosystem productivity in receiving water bodies such as Lake Champlain and the Gulf of Alaska (GoA) are impacted by the riverine import of nutrients. The magnitude of these high flow events can be a strong predictor of receiving water body conditions, and in some cases can contribute to eutrophication. We explore the intersection of high flow events and land cover in contrasting catchments in Vermont and Alaska, covering a range of land covers including glacial, boreal-forested, mixed hardwood-conifer forested, and agricultural. In Vermont, we explore the hypothesis that riverine dissolved and suspended sediment P loads during spring runoff have a particularly high proportion of reactive species due to unique hydrologic pathways and the association of P with Fe. We compared spring runoff and summer storm concentrations and distribution of dissolved P (DP), dissolved and colloidal metals, and redox sensitive suspended sediment P (RSP). Agricultural catchments in Vermont were characterized by enrichment in RSP and DP during both spring runoff and summer storms, particularly at the onset of snowmelt. In 2014, 82% of the annual DP and 74% of annual RSP loads were delivered to Missisquoi Bay during spring runoff, with the majority of suspended sediment significantly more redox sensitive, and carrying potentially bioavailable P, than typical inputs to limnological models, suggesting that the reactivity of this load is systematically underestimated. In Alaska, we investigate Fe size partitioning and flux throughout the hydrologic year, with additional high-resolution sampling during discrete storm events in adjacent forested and glacierized catchments typical of coastal Alaska. There are clear differences between these catchments during individual storm events, and across seasons, reflecting widely varying source environments for Fe. The geochemical character of river water exported from the forested catchment, dominated by dissolved Fe and DOC, reflects the influence of peatlands and organic-rich soil as the dominant source of Fe and P, while the glacial catchment exports significantly more material derived from glacial weathering of bedrock, reflected in higher sediment and colloidal concentrations. Phosphorus concentrations in both watersheds are very low throughout the year, but significantly higher in the forested catchment, driven by organic matter decomposition. Both Vermont and Alaska are likely to be significantly impacted by climate change, with an increase in the frequency of heavy precipitation events, and continued glacial recession in Alaska driven by rising temperatures. Changes in the timing, provenance, and severity of high flow associated with climate and land cover change will have dramatic impacts on total riverine P and Fe loads, and their potential reactivity and bioavailability in receiving water bodies. Development of conceptual models that incorporate the intersection between high flow events (hot moments) and land cover source environments (hot spots) is critical to understanding how these systems are likely to change in the future.

The goal of this diploma thesis is to propose a proper method of comparison and quantification of differences in RÚIAN / ISKN and ZABAGED databases with respect to their specifics, while focusing on descriptive part of the data reflecting land use / land cover. This proposal is implemented using automated means of geographic information systems and the methodology is tested on sufficient number of appropriate areas. The theoretical part introduces with a possibility to compare datasets in general and with the characteristics of the both databases, with focus on their attribute part describing land use / land cover. The practical part consists of the design of comparison, methodology implementation description and testing of the whole design as well as testing of those individual components that influence the result of the comparison. Result of this thesis is a methodology and software (scripts) for comparison of RÚIAN / ISKN and ZABAGED databases.

This thesis deals with the signs and impacts of the hydrological drought in the Rakovnicky stream basin. Its aim is to evaluate trends of the selected hydroclimatic variables, to analyze drought periods and land cover changes as one of the factors influencing a runoff regime in the catchment. The main methods used for the long-term and seasonal trends are Man-Kendall test, IHA analysis, flow duration curves and mass curves. Dry periods are evaluated based on Streamflow drought index (SDI), Low Flow index and runoff Q95 exeedance. Land use changes are analyzed using historical maps and index of change. Basic indices of ecological stability are calculated. According to the results the frequency and intensity of the hydrological drought in the Rakovnicky stream basin is increasing. Although the amount of a rainfall is consistent, its distribution throughout the year is changing. In addition the constantly increasing temperature and land use changes cause a significant runoff decreasing. To improve a water retention capacity in the cathment, it would be convenient to apply adaptation measures in the river channels and floodplains. Key words: rainfall, runoff, drought, ecological status, Rakovnicky stream

1 ABSTRACT The work deals with the use of vegetation indices to study temporal variation in vegetation phenology. The first part was devoted to detailed analysis of domestic and foreign literature, which deals with the work processed in this field. The main research questions were if changed start, end and length of growing period during the analysis period. Other research theme was comparision with ground phenological data. Another objective of this work was search dependencies computed data phenological variables from vegetation indicies with phenological ground data. As a basic data set was used GIMMS set, which distributes the vegetation index NDVI. Other data sets were MERIS MTCI, data MODIS with vegetation indices NDVI, EVI a LAI. The results of analyzes of vegetation phenology show trends in most shifts at the beginning of growing season, where was a shift to an earlier time. Results of the analysis of vegetation remote sensing data with ground-based phenological data ČHMÚ were unfolding always according to the specific forest phenological stations. Interesting results were at the phenological station Svoboda nad Úpou, where the results of trends directives were consistent in almost all data sets. Comparison of process curves vegetation indicies with ground data corresponded most curves at selected...

Studies in paleoclimate are important because they give us knowledge about how the climate system works and puts the current climate change in necessary perspective. By studying (pre)historic periods we increase our knowledge not just about these periods, but also about the processes that are important for climatic variations and changes. This thesis deals mainly with the interaction between climate and vegetation. Vegetation changes can affect climate in many different ways. These effects can be divided into two main categories: biogeochemical and biogeophysical processes. This thesis studies the biogeophysical effects of vegetation changes on climate in climate models. Climate models are a necessary tool for investigating how climate responds to changes in the climate system, as well as for making predictions of future climate. The biogeophysical processes are strongly related to characteristics of the land surface. Vegetation changes alter the land surface’s albedo (ability to reflect incoming solar radiation), roughness and evapotranspiration (the sum of evaporation and tran-spiration), which in turn affects the energy fluxes between the land surface and the atmosphere and thereby the climate. It is not, however, evident in what way; denser vegetation (e.g. forest instead of grassland) gives decreased albedo, which results in higher temperature, but also increased evapotranspiration, which contrastingly results in lower temperature. Vegetation changes are in this thesis studied in four different (pre)historic periods: two very cold periods with no human influence (c. 44,000 and 21,000 years ago), one warm period with minor human influence (c. 6,000 years ago) and a cold period with substantial human influence (c. 200 years ago). In addition to that the present climate is studied. The combination of these periods gives an estimate of the effect of both natural and anthropogenic vegetation on climate in different climatic contexts. The results show that vegetation changes can change temperature with 1–3 °C depending on season and region. The response is not the same everywhere, but depends on local properties of the land surface. During the winter half of the year, the albedo effect is usually most important as the difference in albedo between forest and open land is very large. During the summer half of the year the evapotranspiration effect is usually most important as differences in albedo between different vegetation types are smaller. A prerequisite for differences in evapotranspiration is that there is sufficient amount of water available. In dry regions, evapotranspiration does not change much with changes in vegetation, which means that the albedo effect will dominate also in summer. The conclusion of these studies is that vegetation changes can have a considerable effect on climate, comparable to the effect of increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in scenarios of future climate. Thus, it is important to have an appropriate description of the vegetation in studies of past, present and future climate. This means that vegetation has the potential to work as a feedback mechanism to natural climatic variations, but also that man can alter climate by altering the vegetation. It also means that mankind may have influenced climate before we started to use fossil fuel. Consequently, vegetation changes can be used as a means to mitigate climate change locally. / Studiet av paleoklimat är viktigt för att det ger kunskap om hur klimatsystemet fungerar samt för att det sätter nuvarande klimatförändring i ett nödvändigt perspektiv. Genom att studera (för)historiska perioder ökar vi vår kunskap om dessa perioder, men också om vilka processer som har betydelse för klimatets variationer. Denna avhandling behandlar framförallt interaktionen mellan klimat och växtlighet. Förändringar i växtligheten kan påverka klimatet på flera olika sätt. Dessa kan delas in i två huvudgrupper: biogeokemiska och biogeofysikaliska processer. Denna avhandling studerar de biogeofysikaliska effekterna på klimatet i klimatmodeller. Klimatmodeller är ett nödvändigt verktyg för att studera hur klimatet svarar på förändringar i klimatsystemet, samt för att göra förutsägelser om framtidens klimat. De biogeofysikaliska processerna är förknippade med markytans egenskaper. Förändrad växtlighet förändrar markytans albedo (förmågan att reflektera inkommande soltrålning), skrovlighet och förmågan att transportera vatten från marken till atmosfären genom evapotranspiration (summan av avdunstning och transpiration), vilket i sin tur påverkar energiflödena mellan markytan och atmosfären. Dessa förändringar påverkar sedermera klimatet. Det är emellertid inte självklart på vilket sätt; tätare växtlighet (t.ex. skog i stället för äng) ger minskat albedo vilket ger högre temperatur, men också ökad evapotranspiration vilket däremot ger lägre temperatur. Växtlighetsförändringars påverkan på klimatet studeras i denna avhandling i fyra olika (för)historiska perioder: två väldigt kalla perioder utan mänsklig påverkan (ca 44 000 och 21 000 år sedan), en varm period med liten mänsklig påverkan (ca 6 000 år sedan) och en kall period med avsevärd mänsklig påverkan (ca 200 år sedan). I tillägg till det studeras också dagens klimat. Resultaten visar att förändringar i växtlighet lokalt kan ha en signifikant effekt på klimatet. Kombinationen av dessa perioder ger en uppskattning av effekten av både naturlig och antropogen växtlighet i olika klimatsammanhang. Förändrad växtlighet kan ändra temperaturen med 1-3 °C beroende på årstid och område. Responsen är inte densamma överallt utan beror på lokala egenskaper hos markytan. Under vinterhalvåret är oftast albedoeffekten viktigast eftersom skillnaden i albedo mellan skog och öppet landskap då är mycket stor. Under sommarhalvåret är evapotranspirationen oftast viktigast eftersom skillnaden i albedo mellan olika växtlighetstyper då oftast är små. En förutsättning för det är att det finns tillräckligt med vatten tillgängligt för evapotranspiration. I torra områden förändras evapotranspirationen inte särskilt mycket när växtligheten förändras, vilket gör att albedoeffekten dominerar även på sommaren.  Slutsatsen av dessa studier blir att förändrad växtlighet kan ha en betydande effekt på klimatet, jämförbar med den effekt som ökade halter av växthusgaser har i scenarier för framtida klimat. Alltså är det viktigt att ha en korrekt beskrivning av växtligheten i studier av (för)historiskt, nutida och framtida klimat. Det betyder att växtligheten har potentialen att fungera som en återkopplingsmekanism till naturliga klimatvariationer, men också att människan kan påverka klimatet genom att förändra växtligheten. Det betyder också att mänskligheten kan ha påverkat klimatet innan vi började använda fossilt bränsle. Följaktligen kan växtlighetsförändringar användas som ett sätt att lokalt begränsa klimatförändringar. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Student Number : 9707731W - PhD thesis - School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies - Faculty of Science / Southern Mozambique has experienced changes in land-use and land-cover over the last 45 years. South Central Chibuto is a dynamic environmental change ‘hotspot’ of this region, and because of the socio-economic development that is taking place it is unveiling a number of land-use changes in Mozambique. In this research, environmental changes in the region are shown to be a function of various socioeconomic and biophysical drivers of change. A variety of research methods including interpretation of aerial photographs and satellite images, analysis of archival material, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and structured interviews, have been used to derive some of the drivers of environmental change. These drivers of change include socio-economic factors, the colonial dual economy and the increase in cash crop production that led to negative impacts on some lands in the steep slopes of the ancient dunes, the post-independence policy of nucleation of settlements that has induced extensive conversions of land use together with the war and the recent shifts into a market economy that have led to further intensification of land use. The biophysical drivers include, among others but not limited to, fluctuations in rainfall, with periods of alternating dry and wet spells shaping land-use change, as well as single shock events, such as extreme droughts and floods. New factors, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic and globalization have been identified as having an impact on the livelihoods in the study area. A valuable, local-scale case or place-based case study approach is shown to enable a detailed and rich analysis of the complex trajectory of environmental change. Finally, lessons drawn from this study are shown to have the potential to inform policies for sustainable livelihoods in Mozambique.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The support of the Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute (GCSRI) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the GCSRI. February 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa / Global change, specifically land cover change and climate change, are recognised as the leading drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide. Habitat loss has resulted in a loss of biodiversity and led to significant declines in species populations. Climate change is altering species distributions, ecosystem composition and phenology. Conservation planning is required to offset these dynamic threats to species persistence into the future. Plants form the basis of trophic structure and functioning and may not be able to track changing environmental conditions as well as mobile species. They thus represent an essential starting point for understanding climate change and habitat loss impacts. The patterns and processes which generate and maintain floristic diversity must be explored before global change impacts on these communities can be assessed and planned for at a landscape scale. This thesis investigates the environmental variables structuring indigenous plant community composition, pattern and turnover in grassland and savanna systems in KwaZulu-Natal. The threats posed by land cover change and climate change are explored and a coarse-grained landscape connectivity map developed to impart maximum resilience in order to maintain floristic diversity in the era of anthropogenically induced global change. The environmental variables correlated to floristic pattern and turnover were temperature, soil fertility and precipitation variables. The orientation of the temperature gradient conflicts with the soil fertility gradient, hence species with particular soil requirements will be hampered in their efforts to track the temperature gradient. The gradients were non-linear with turnover highest on dystrophic soils in warm and drier summer regions. The major drivers of land cover change were cropped agriculture, timber plantations (agroforestry), rural and urban development, dams and mines. The drivers of change differed according to land tenure type. The average rate of habitat loss in the province over an 18 year period was 1.2% per annum, levels which are considered unsustainable. A target level of 50% of natural habitat remaining is recommended. Environmental domains were identified using the environmental correlates of plant community composition. These were used to investigate climate change impacts using a collection of downscaled climate models. Conditions suiting savanna species are set to increase at the expense of conditions suiting grassland species raising significant challenges for the conservation of grasslands. Indices of habitat intactness and climatic stability were used to develop a vulnerability framework to guide conservation actions to mitigate global change impacts on floristic diversity. Building on the insights gained from the study, a connectivity map linking protected areas was developed, that if implemented, will maximise the opportunity to maintain floristic diversity into the future. The spatial location of the corridors was prioritised based on broad scale climatic refugia, high turnover areas and important plant areas for endemic and threatened species. The corridors were aligned along the major climatic gradients driving floristic pattern. The corridors represent the most natural and cost-effective way for species to adapt to climate change and persist in the landscape. This thesis provides new insights into two global threats facing plant communities in KwaZulu-Natal and provides a suite of products that inform dynamic conservation planning and directs appropriate conservation action. The results may be used to inform policy and legislation. / MT2017

Le paludisme a sévi dans l’archipel des Comores depuis 1925 où une grande épidémie s’est déclenchée à la Grande Comore. Ces îles ont offert des conditions favorables au développement des vecteurs responsables de la transmission du paludisme (Anopheles gambiae et Anopheles funestus) avec un climat tropical humide, une forte densité hydrographique, un environnement forestier et marécageux et la construction de citernes de collecte d’eau de pluie dans les habitations. Cette maladie est devenue endémique stable depuis les années 70 et un problème de santé publique majeur jusqu’aux années 2000. Dès la fin des années 90, le gouvernement comorien a décidé de mettre en place une stratégie de lutte contre le paludisme par la lutte anti-vectorielle et la protection de la population contre les piqûres des moustiques. Ces vingt dernières années, ces actions de lutte contre le paludisme se sont intensifiées et, pour la première fois, un traitement de masse à base d’Artequick a été réalisé à Mohéli (2007-2009), à Anjouan (2012-2013) et à la Grande Comore (2013). Depuis, un recul spectaculaire du paludisme a été observé sur l’ensemble des îles, car Mohéli et Anjouan sont entrées en phase de pré-élimination et la Grande Comore en phase de contrôle. Cette thèse décrit, dans la première partie, l’évolution spatiale et temporelle du paludisme avant et après le traitement de masse pour appréhender l’impact des différentes actions de lutte. Une cartographie de la prévalence en milieu hospitalier et de l’incidence du paludisme à l’échelle des districts sanitaires et des villages montre son recul à Anjouan et Mohéli et son maintien à la Grande Comore. Les tests d’autocorrélation spatiale ont révélé une similitude de la transmission du paludisme entre des localités proches, qui forment des clusters à la Grande Comore. Nous avons démontré, dans la deuxième partie, qu’il existe bel et bien une influence des facteurs environnementaux sur la transmission du paludisme bien que les actions de lutte ont plus de poids. À l’échelle des districts sanitaires, des modèles de régressions linéaires simple et multiple ont été établis entre l’incidence du paludisme et les caractéristiques de l’occupation du sol des îles et les indicateurs paysagers à l’échelle des villages de la Grande Comore. Une enquête sur les connaissances, les pratiques et les vulnérabilités des populations a été menée sur 1288 ménages de l’Union des Comores pour appréhender les facteurs de vulnérabilité favorables à la transmission du paludisme. Au-delà de la présence des citernes dans les ménages, le lieu de dépôt de déchets ménagers favoriserait son maintien à la Grande Comore. L’enquête a révélé que plusieurs ménages de la grande île n’avaient pas pris le traitement de masse de 2013. Cette thèse permet de mieux comprendre les aspects humains et environnementaux du maintien du paludisme et vise ainsi à mieux cibler les futures actions de lutte. / Malaria has been present in the Comoros archipelago since 1925, when a major epidemic was first recorded in Grande Comore. The islands have been favourable to the development of vectors causing malaria transmission (Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus) due to the high tropical rainfall, high hydrographic density, the suitable environment with forests and wetlands, as well as the construction of water reservoirs in households. This disease has been endemic since the 1970s and a major public health problem until the 2000s. From the end of the 1990s, the Comorian government has decided to implement a strategy to control malaria by anti-malaria vector control and population protection against mosquito bites. In the last twenty years, malaria control efforts have been intensified and for a first time, mass treatment with Artequick has been carried out in Mohéli (2007-2009), Anjouan (2012-2013) and Grande Comore (2013). There has since been a dramatic decline in malaria on all the islands, as Mohéli and Anjouan have entered a pre-elimination phase and Grande Comore is in the control phase. In the first part, this thesis describes the spatial and temporal dynamics of malaria before and after mass treatment in order to understand the impact of different control actions. A mapping of hospital prevalence and incidence of malaria at the district and village levels shows its decline in Anjouan and Mohéli and its persistence in Grande Comore. Spatial autocorrelation tests have revealed a similarity in malaria transmission between neighbouring localities that are forming clusters in Grande Comore. In the second part, it was demonstrated that environmental factors have an influence on malaria transmission, despite the greater importance of control actions. At the district level, simple and multiple linear regression models have been established between the incidence of malaria and land cover / land use patterns of islands and landscape indicators at the village level in Grande Comore. A survey on people's knowledge, practices and vulnerabilities was conducted among 1,288 households in the Union of the Comoros to assess factors of vulnerability that contribute to malaria transmission. Beyond having water reservoirs in households, the waste disposal location would also have an impact on malaria in Grande Comore. The survey revealed that several households on the large island did not take the 2013 mass treatment. This thesis provides a better understanding of the human and environmental aspects of malaria maintenance and thus aims to better target future control actions.