<p>To achieve a sustainable development, impacts onbiodiversity of urbanisation, infrastructure, land use changesand other developments must be considered on a landscape andregional scale. Landscape ecology can provide a conceptualframework for the assessment of consequences of long-termdevelopment processes like urbanisation on biodiversity on alandscape scale, and for evaluating the impacts of alternativeplanning scenarios. The aim of this study was to explore theeffects of habitat quality, quantity and connectivity on forestbird diversity in an urban-rural gradient. The purpose of theanalyses was to develop knowledge and methods for integratingbiodiversity issues in planning and assessments in anurbanising environment, on landscape and regional scales.</p><p>The study area was situated in and around Stockholm, thecapital of Sweden, covering the city centre, suburbs andperi-urban areas. Data on breeding forest birds were collectedthrough bird censuses in an urban-suburban gradient. In orderto embrace also the peri-urban areas for a more completeurban-rural gradient, data on two fragmentation-sensitiveforest grouse species were obtained through a questionnaire tohunters in the whole study area. Response variables in theanalyses were forest bird species richness and diversity,relative species richness and occurrence of single sensitivespecies like selected sedentary forest birds, including theforest grouse species, and red list species. Habitat quality,quantity and connectivity were analysed using available data onabiotic conditions, including urban disturbances, andvegetation in geographical information systems. In addition, afield study on vegetation structure and composition wasperformed in a subset of the smaller sample sites.Relationships between the response variables and habitatquality, quantity and connectivity were explored usingstatistical methods like multivariate statistics and regressionmodelling. Further, for some models, spatial dependencies werequantified and accounted for. When habitat models wereretrieved, they were used for spatial predictions of habitatsuitability. They were also applied on future planningscenarios in order to predict and assess the impacts onsensitive species. In the urban-rural gradient, the foreststructure and composition changed, so that in more urban areas,coniferous forest on rich soils, wet forests and wetlandsbecame less abundant and more scattered. Sensitive birdspecies, tied to these habitat types, were shown to besensitive to habitat fragmentation caused by urbanisation.Large, well-connected habitat patches and aggregations ofsuitable habitat in the landscape had a higher probability ofoccupancy when compared to other patches. For the forest grousespecies, effects of car traffic added to the explanation oftheir distribution. By contrast, deciduous forest was stillquite common in predominantly urban areas, due to both latechanges in land use and a history of human preferences. Certainred listed bird species tied to deciduous forest did not seemto be affected by isolation, and also occurred in suitablehabitats in some highly urbanised areas. Furthermore, relativespecies richness in the urban-suburban gradient was related tomulti-layered deciduous forest habitats with a large amount ofdead wood. Such habitats were associated with natural shorelineand with old pastures and parks. From the derived statisticalmodels, describing the relationships between sensitive speciesand environmental variables, predictive habitat maps could becreated for the present situation and for planning scenarios.The predictions of the impacts on habitats of sensitive speciesmade it possible to quantify, integrate and visualise theeffects of urbanisation scenarios on aspects of biodiversity ona landscape scale.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2003. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-72). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-139).

Στην παρούσα εργασία έγινε διερεύνηση των χωρικών προτύπων των ειδών, ως δείκτης πρόβλεψης για τη μεταβολή της κατανομής τους στο χρόνο. Κάθε χωρικό πρότυπο προκύπτει από αλληλεπίδραση των βιοτικών και αβιοτικών παραγόντων, όπου όλες αυτές οι οικολογικές διεργασίες πιθανόν να επηρεάζουν την γεωγραφική εξάπλωση ή συρρίκνωση του κάθε είδους. Το συνολικό πλαίσιο της έρευνας εντάσσεται στην επιστήμη της οικολογίας του τοπίου, δηλαδή στο πώς οι χωρικές διαρθρώσεις που εμφανίζονται σε κάθε τοπίο, επηρεάζουν τις διεργασίες που καθορίζουν την αφθονία και κατανομή των οργανισμών. Η νέα αυτή προσέγγιση έχει αναπτυχθεί ραγδαία τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες και μπορεί να αποτελέσει βάση για το σχεδιασμό και διατήρηση κάθε οικοσυστήματος. Κυριότερος σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας ήταν να εξετάσουμε αν τα χωρικά πρότυπα των ειδών επηρεάζουν την μεταβολή της κατανομής των ειδών, και αν συμβαίνει αυτό, σε τι ποσοστό μπορούν να αποτυπώσουν αυτήν την μεταβολή. Η έρευνα για την μεταβολή της κατανομής των ειδών αφορά αναπαραγόμενα πτηνά, με περιοχές έρευνας την πολιτεία της Νέας Υόρκης και τη Μεγάλη Βρετανία. Όλα τα δεδομένα προέρχονται από τους διαθέσιμους Άτλαντες για τις αντίστοιχες περιοχές. Οι χρονικές περίοδοι των χωρικών δεδομένων ήταν μεταξύ 1980-85 και 2000-05 για την Πολιτεία της Νέας Υόρκης και μεταξύ 1968-72 και 1988-91 για την Μεγάλη Βρετανία. Η διαχρονική μεταβολή της έκτασης των ειδών διερευνήθηκε μέσω στατιστικών αναλύσεων με τους δείκτες χωρικού προτύπου, οι οποίοι αποτελούσαν την ποσοτικοποιημένη έκφραση για το χωρικό πρότυπο κάθε είδους. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό οι στατιστικές αναλύσεις έγιναν με την μέθοδο απλής και πολλαπλής παλινδρόμησης, όπου ως ανεξάρτητες μεταβλητές θεωρήθηκαν οι δείκτες χωρικού προτύπου, και ως εξαρτημένες μεταβλητές θεωρήθηκαν οι μεταβολές της κατανομής των ειδών μεταξύ των δύο χρονικών περιόδων. Στη συνέχεια ακολούθησε διαχωρισμός των ειδών σύμφωνα με κάποιες βιολογικές ιδιαιτερότητες (ενδιαιτήματα, διατροφή, σπανιότητα), όπου εφαρμόστηκε η ίδια ακριβώς ανάλυση για τα ομαδοποιημένα πλέον είδη. Αφού μεταφέρθηκαν τα αποτελέσματα σε πίνακες, χρησιμοποιήθηκαν και διαγράμματα για να μελετηθεί με συστηματικό τρόπο η επίδραση που έχουν οι τιμές των δεικτών στις μεταβολές της έκτασης των ειδών. Όλες οι αναλύσεις πραγματοποιήθηκαν με τη χρήση της R. Από τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας προέκυψε ότι το χωρικό πρότυπο της κατανομής των ειδών παρουσίαζε στατιστικά σημαντικές αλλά μη ισχυρές τάσεις, καθιστώντας δύσκολη την πρόβλεψη της μεταβολής της κατανομής των ειδών. Πιθανόν τα χωρικά πρότυπα να μην αποτελούν ενδεδειγμένο δείκτη για τις κάθε τύπου μεταβολές της κατανομής των ειδών. / In the present study there was an investigation of the spatial patterns of species, as an indicator predictor for the configuration of their distribution in the range of time. Each spatial pattern stems from the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors, where all these ecological processes may affect the geographical spread or the contraction of any species. The overall framework of the research is included in the science of the landscape ecology, on how the spatial structures that appear in any landscape, affect the processes that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms. This new approach has been developed rapidly in recent decades and may consists the basis for the design and the maintenance of each ecosystem. The main purpose of this study was to examine whether the spatial patterns of species affect the change in the distribution of species, and if so, at what rate can capture this change. Research on the change in the distribution of the species concerns breeding birds, research areas with the state of New York and of UK. The whole data stern from available Atlases that existed for their respective areas. The time periods of the spatial data were between of 1980-85 and 2000-05 for the State of New York and between of 1968-1872 and 1988-1991 for Great Britain. The temporal evolution at the extent of the species was investigated through statistical analyzes indicators of spatial patterns, which constituted the quantitative expression for the spatial pattern of any species. In this framework, the statistical analyzes were concluded using the method of simple and multiple linear regression, in where independent variables were considered as indicators of spatial patterns, and as dependent variables were considered the alterations of species distribution between the two time periods. Continuing, there was a separation of species according to some biological particularities (habitats, diet, rarity), which the same analysis was applied for most clustered species. Once the results were transferred in tables, charts were used also in order to study systematically the effect, that values of indicators have at the variations of the species area. All analyzes were performed with the use of statistical programming language R. From the outcomes of this study has been resulted that the spatial pattern of species allocation had statistically significant but not strong trends, making difficult the prediction of variation of species spatial patterns. Probably spatial patterns do not consist an appropriate indicator in any type of variations of species distribution.

The North Sakhalin Basin is a polyphase Neogene basin situated on an active strike-slip plate boundary between the Amur and Okhotsk microplates.  This basin contains a sedimentary record of the Amur River, as well as the tectonic processes which have resulted in the formation and deformation of the basin.  I use a multi-disciplinary approach, involving heavy mineral analysis, seismic interpretation and geomorphic observations and analyses, to constrain the evolution of the landscape, sedimentary basins and fluvial systems at this active continental margin. Detrital mineralogy and integrated sediment accumulation rates indicate that the drainage basin of the Amur River has been relatively stable since the Early Miocene, with no evidence for continental-scale drainage capture during this time.  Instead, sediment delivery to the basin has responded to a number of tectonic and climatic processes, most notably the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation in the Pliocene and uplift and erosion of the North Sakhalin Basin in the Late Neogene.  By contrast, the Colorado River, which also has a delta on an active strike-slip margin, has been profoundly affected by tectonic processes at the continental margin, resulting in major drainage re-organisation in the Late Neogene. Sediment delivery to the North Sakhalin Basin has been strongly affected by tectonic processes along the Sakhalin-Hokkaido Shear Zone.  The basin underwent a phase of transtension during the Early Miocene (&gt;15 Ma), followed by continued strike-slip offset during the Middle-Late Miocene (15-6.3 Ma), and finally transpression during the Pliocene which is still ongoing today.  The diachronous, northeastward-propagating deformation and uplift of the North Sakhalin Basin (initiated between 6.3-3.6 Ma) is preserved in the geomorphic characteristics of fluvial networks, the first-appearance of recycled deltaic sediments and by onlapping reflector terminations on offshore anticlines.  The landscape of Sakhalin is transient, and continuing to deform in the present day.

In order to understand the ecology of species, it is important to know how animals use their environment. This information can be determined at a range of spatial and temporal scales, and results may vary accordingly. The habitats that animals use determine resources available to them for different purposes (e.g. feeding and resting), and risks of predation to which they are exposed. Consequently, patterns of behaviour in relation to the environment are likely to influence survival and fitness. In Tasmania, Australia, three common and widely distributed native marsupial herbivores are the red-necked or Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus), the red-bellied pademelon (Thylogale billardierii) and the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). Information on the behaviour of these species in relation to their environment is largely unavailable. This thesis describes the abundance, spatial organisation and habitat selection patterns of these three species, within a patchy forestry landscape. The five major habitat types within this environment were: (1) a prepared site that was planted with commercial Eucalyptus nitens seedlings during the study (referred to as 'young plantation'); (2) 5-7 year old E. nitens plantation; (3) grassland; (4) native forest; and (5) harvested uncleared land. Patterns of habitat use and selection were examined at three sequential spatio-temporal scales, within a hierarchy of decisions. These were: (1) location of home-range within the landscape, (2) feeding area within the home-range, and (3) vegetation consumed within one habitat, the young plantation. A radio-telemetry study of Bennett's wallabies, pademelons and possums was used to examine Scales 1 and 2 at the individual animal level. Animal surveys were carried out to examine Scale 2 for the entire herbivore community at the population level. These data were also used to estimate herbivore densities for the overall area and individual habitats. Fenced and unfenced vegetation plots, located within the young plantation, a highly used habitat, were monitored over time to examine Scale 3. As part of this research, modifications to common line-transect sampling methods were made. These enabled methods that are usually applied to daytime surveys in open habitat, to be used in nocturnal surveys in densely vegetated habitats. Accuracy testing of the radiotelemetry system is also described, as the patchiness of the landscape required careful interpretation of results. Results showed that, at night, wallabies and pademelons used all habitats, but consistently selected for open habitats (young plantation and grassland) across spatio-temporal scales. The use of these open habitats for feeding was confirmed by the large biomass of grass and forbs consumed by herbivores in a detailed study of vegetation on the young plantation. These patterns are consistent with their feeding strategies of grazer or mixed-feeder. During the day, the two macropod species avoided open habitats and showed strong selection for closed habitats. Wallabies selected for older plantation, while pademelons selected for native forest. This difference reflects their respective predator avoidance strategy (crypsis for pademelons) or escape response (flight for wallabies). Although shelter habitat was important to the two macropod species, their lack of selection at the home-range scale was suggested to reflect the fact that resting animals require little space. Patterns of habitat use and selection were difficult to interpret for possums, because results varied between the spatio-temporal scales. Spotlighting data showed that at night, possums selected for native forest, young plantation and particularly grassland at the population level. Radio-collared animals selected only for native forest. Older E. nitens plantations were avoided by possums at every level, and appeared to represent a biological desert to this species. High overall densities of wallabies and pademelons (0.3 and 1.5 animals.ha-1, respectively), and small, round, home-ranges (61.6 ha and 22.3 ha, respectively) suggested that these species benefited from the patchiness of this environment. This is attributed to the highly heterogeneous habitats, providing complimentary resources in the absence of ecotones or transitional flora zones, existing side by side, over a small spatial scale. In contrast, extremely low possum population density (0.04 animals.ha-1) and very large home-ranges (39.1 ha) suggested that resources, presumably den sites and/or food, were limited within this forestry environment. Results on the ecological aspects of the three herbivore species, described above, are put in the context of the Tasmanian forestry industry, particularly in relation to management of herbivore browsing damage to planted seedlings. Based on this work, I suggest that future management strategies could involve: (1) reducing fragmentation of the natural environment, which supports small home-ranges and high macropod densities, by designing larger, rounder plantations; (2) considering the placement of plantations in relation to the proximity of open (feeding grounds) and closed (shelter) habitats; (3) reducing or removing windrows from newly established plantations to restrict pademelons to the plantation edge; (4) deliberately retaining groundcover or using cover crops to provision herbivores with an alternative food source, as grasses and herbaceous dicots are eaten in preference to Eucalyptus nirens seedlings; (5) recognising that wallabies and pademelons remove a large biomass of groundcover and therefore, could play a positive role in weed control, reducing the need to herbicide plantations; (6) monitoring newly planted plantations at short and regular time intervals so that damage caused by insects versus mammals can be differentiated; and (7) avoiding planting in winter when macropods may have little alternative food to eat on newly established plantations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available online.

Thesis (M. Env. St.)--University of Adelaide, Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies, 1993? / Eight folded maps in pocket. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-99).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, August 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.