Best practices for Restoration Ecology have been largely derived from case studies. Novel Ecosystems is an approach that has the possibility of providing the field of restoration research with both structure and a road map for ecological recovery. In December 2015, Ontario Parks will be ceasing the lease of approximately 122 ha of farmland within Boyne Valley Provincial Park. My thesis aims to bridge the gap between social and ecological systems and build a resilient restoration project at Boyne Valley Provincial Park. My approach integrated the best case scenarios from each the social and ecological aspects to determine a restoration plan. From the social aspect, I chose the method photo-elicitation to bridge the communication gap between myself, the researcher, and the interviewees. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six major stakeholders including a farmer who is currently leasing land within Boyne Valley Provincial Park, a frequent hiker of the Ontario Parks’ trail system, an academic researcher for Ontario Parks, and three Ontario Parks’ personnel to understand the different landscape preferences of stakeholders within Boyne Valley Provincial Park. From the ecological aspect, I examined the success of restoration for the first year after a fall planting in terms of species richness and percent cover for all species, including native species (planted and not planted) and non-native species across three fields with different initial conditions. To test which species should be used as the initial ground cover after farming has ceased, I looked at the survivorship and growth of five species: Danthonia spicata, Elymus trachycaulus ssp. trachycaulus, Sporobolus cryptandrus, Monarda fistulosa and Penstemon hirsutus. My recommendations for restoration at Boyne Valley Provincial Park include implementing the restoration efforts at a smaller scale to start. The remaining fields should continue to be farmed until restoration can commence or mowed at least four times a year before seeds are formed. Open communication should continue between all stakeholders. Soil preparation should include tilling the soil prior to planting only if the land was left abandoned (e.g. old-field). A plant composition survey should be conducted prior to restoration – more particularly in hay fields - to determine if native meadow species are found. If native meadow species are present (e.g. Sisyrinchium montanum) that would not survive tilling, a no-till planting method may be a better option than tilling. Acknowledging these are early results, my initial recommendation based on survivorship and growth for the first year after planting would be to use plant plugs for Elymus trachycaulus ssp. trachycaulus and a combination of plant plugs and seeds for Monarda fistulosa and Penstemon hirsutus. Future studies should incorporate other herbaceous species to increase the biodiversity while choosing flowers that bloom at different times. Additionally, pilot studies should be completed at all Ontario Parks locations where agriculture leases are ending to develop restoration methodologies that are applicable across Ontario. Information on each of the species to be planted should be distributed to the farmers that border Ontario Parks’ boundaries. This information should include at minimum the species life history, dispersal mechanisms, and a photograph. The research in this thesis outlines initial restoration efforts to guide restoration recommendations for the first year after land abandonment. Much longer-termed research is necessary to understand community dynamics and potential recovery of system.

Best practices for Restoration Ecology have been largely derived from case studies. Novel Ecosystems is an approach that has the possibility of providing the field of restoration research with both structure and a road map for ecological recovery. In December 2015, Ontario Parks will be ceasing the lease of approximately 122 ha of farmland within Boyne Valley Provincial Park. My thesis aims to bridge the gap between social and ecological systems and build a resilient restoration project at Boyne Valley Provincial Park. My approach integrated the best case scenarios from each the social and ecological aspects to determine a restoration plan. From the social aspect, I chose the method photo-elicitation to bridge the communication gap between myself, the researcher, and the interviewees. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six major stakeholders including a farmer who is currently leasing land within Boyne Valley Provincial Park, a frequent hiker of the Ontario Parks’ trail system, an academic researcher for Ontario Parks, and three Ontario Parks’ personnel to understand the different landscape preferences of stakeholders within Boyne Valley Provincial Park. From the ecological aspect, I examined the success of restoration for the first year after a fall planting in terms of species richness and percent cover for all species, including native species (planted and not planted) and non-native species across three fields with different initial conditions. To test which species should be used as the initial ground cover after farming has ceased, I looked at the survivorship and growth of five species: Danthonia spicata, Elymus trachycaulus ssp. trachycaulus, Sporobolus cryptandrus, Monarda fistulosa and Penstemon hirsutus. My recommendations for restoration at Boyne Valley Provincial Park include implementing the restoration efforts at a smaller scale to start. The remaining fields should continue to be farmed until restoration can commence or mowed at least four times a year before seeds are formed. Open communication should continue between all stakeholders. Soil preparation should include tilling the soil prior to planting only if the land was left abandoned (e.g. old-field). A plant composition survey should be conducted prior to restoration – more particularly in hay fields - to determine if native meadow species are found. If native meadow species are present (e.g. Sisyrinchium montanum) that would not survive tilling, a no-till planting method may be a better option than tilling. Acknowledging these are early results, my initial recommendation based on survivorship and growth for the first year after planting would be to use plant plugs for Elymus trachycaulus ssp. trachycaulus and a combination of plant plugs and seeds for Monarda fistulosa and Penstemon hirsutus. Future studies should incorporate other herbaceous species to increase the biodiversity while choosing flowers that bloom at different times. Additionally, pilot studies should be completed at all Ontario Parks locations where agriculture leases are ending to develop restoration methodologies that are applicable across Ontario. Information on each of the species to be planted should be distributed to the farmers that border Ontario Parks’ boundaries. This information should include at minimum the species life history, dispersal mechanisms, and a photograph. The research in this thesis outlines initial restoration efforts to guide restoration recommendations for the first year after land abandonment. Much longer-termed research is necessary to understand community dynamics and potential recovery of system.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Natural Resource Sciences. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/06/23). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 16, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

The approach, that a I chose to fullfil my idea as well as the diploma project, was bassed on solving problems, which I consider as key in the context of the whole urban setting. The parameters which I collected led me through the designing process. The result of my work followed in the foodsteps of the international competition, which took place in this area. transformation of the nonfunctionl part of town and recreat it towards new cultural cluster, where the first flagship suppouse to be this concert hall. In this case was important, to find and melt together all the possitive influences of this urban area.

Montane meadows provide essential habitat for a variety of unique species and important ecosystem services in the western United States. Although important, meadows have experienced increased rates of conifer encroachment due to climate change, fire suppression and grazing. To combat meadow degradation from conifer encroachment, land managers have employed various restoration strategies one of which is conifer removal. Multiple studies have investigated the relationship between meadow hydrology and vegetation; however, few have assessed the effect of conifer removal on meadow groundwater. The goal of this study is to determine if the removal of conifers from an encroached meadow has an effect on depth to the groundwater table (WTD) and soil moisture content (SMC), and to investigate the accuracy and potential usefulness of evapotranspiration (ET) calculation methodologies for montane meadows. This goal will be accomplished by the subsequent objectives: 1) perform an analysis of WTD and SMC in an encroached meadow preceding and following conifer removal and upland thinning; 2) calculate and compare daily ET estimates in a previously restored meadow using diurnal groundwater table fluctuation, diurnal groundwater fluctuation modelling, and SMC. Miranda Cabin Meadow (MC) is located within the Upper American River Watershed, southeast of French Meadows Reservoir, at an elevation of 6,200 feet. MC received conifer removal, upland thinning and road decommissioning in the fall of 2018 as part of the American River Conservancy’s American River Headwaters Restoration Project. This study found the average WTD in MC during the growing season decreased from 4.91 feet prior to restoration, to 3.39 feet after restoration. In addition, the number of days the WTD was within 0.98 feet and 3 feet increased from 12 days and 34 days, to 31 and 49 days. Analysis of SMC in MC was limited due to gaps in data, however this study found that after restoration the average weekly SMC decreased at a slower rate than prior to restoration, possibly indicating decreased hydrologic output from ET. Based upon WTD during the growing season and the limited SMC data it appears that removal of conifers and upland thinning at MM promotes SMC and WTD conditions conducive to meadow vegetation communities. Marian Meadow (MM), located in Plumas County, CA at an elevation of 4,900 feet, received conifer removal as part of a timber harvest plan carried out by Collins Pine Company in July 2015. The soil moisture sensors used in this study were installed in MM in September 2013 for previous graduate thesis research. Groundwater table data was collected using 10-foot wells installed in July of 2018. Daily ET was calculated during August 2018 using three methodologies, and during September 2018 using two methodologies. Daily ET estimates calculated using diurnal groundwater table fluctuation and the White method averaged 11.8 mm per day in August and 9.1 mm in September. Using diurnal groundwater table fluctuation modelling this study calculated an average daily ET of 4.2 mm in August and 3 mm in September. Daily ET estimates based on SMC were calculated for August 2018 using two methods which produced estimates of 0.9 mm and 1.2 mm per day. All three methods for calculating ET produced some daily estimates that compare well to previous research of Et in Sierra Nevada meadows, however the White method generally overestimated daily Et while SMC methods underestimated ET. Groundwater table fluctuation modelling produced the best estimates of daily ET for both August and September. ET results in this study support previous research on the applicability of the White method; and they also suggest that the applicability of groundwater fluctuation modelling to estimate meadow daily ET in Sierra Nevada montane meadows be investigated further.

Responses of juvenile steelhead trout to changes in stream habitat resulting from an instream habitat rehabilitation project in Meadow Creek, Oregon were measured from 1991 through 1992 and compared to pre-treatment data from 1987 through 1990. Sixty nine pool-forming, and 59 channel-stabilizing log structures were constructed by the U.S. Forest Service in a 3.7 km reach in 1990. A 20-year flood caused extensive modifications to the instream structures in May 1991. Pool habitat and large wood volume increased in the treatment and the two reference reaches but pool development was greater in the treatment reach compared to the two reference reaches. Summer rearing densities of juvenile steelhead were similar for the treatment and the two reference reaches at the reach scale. Summer rearing densities were lower in the post-treatment period compared to the pre-treatment period for the treatment and two reference reaches. Mean density of juvenile steelhead was higher in complex pools compared to non-complex pools throughout the study area. Mean density of juvenile steelhead was higher in pools associated with large wood from washed-out structures compared to pools associated with intact structures in the treatment reach. Changes in smolt production from the treatment reach following the rehabilitation project could not be determined due to trapping difficulties. Only three percent of the smolts emigrating from the basin overwintered in the treatment reach in 1992. Four life history patterns of juvenile steelhead were identified. Only one of the four life history patterns rears in the Meadow Creek basin until smolting. From these findings I conclude that the instream habitat rehabilitation project did not increase the abundance of juvenile steelhead or smolt production during the first two years after treatment. An extended drought and a 20-year flood may have been the dominant factors controlling abundance of juvenile steelhead over the study period. The Meadow Creek rehabilitation project may have limited success at increasing smolt production because it influences only one of four life history patterns of juvenile steelhead during the entire freshwater rearing phase. / Graduation date: 1997

Meadow bromegrass (<i>Bromus riparius</i> Rehm.) is a recently introduced pasture grass in western Canada. Its leafy production and rapid regrowth have made it the most widely used grass species for pasturing beef animals in this region. As relatively little breeding work has been done on this species, there is little information on its breeding behaviour. The main objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and assess breeding methodologies for meadow bromegrass. Forty-four meadow bromegrass genotypes from the three available cultivars and forty half-sib (polycross (PX) and open-pollinated (OP)) and selfed (S1) progenies were evaluated for morphological and agronomic characters, and molecular (RAPD) markers. Genetic variation for total biological yield, head weight, seed yield, harvest index, height, growth habit, spread, and volume was significant in the OP and S1 tests. Genetic variation estimates for dry matter yield were negative (PX), not significant (OP), or moderate (S1). Estimated geneticvariation for quality traits and those characters which were visually evaluated was not significant, except for growth habit (OP and S1) and acid-detergent fiber (ADF) (S1). Among progeny lines, RAPD marker variation found in the half-sib progenies accounted for about 15% of the total variation. In the S1 test the variation among progeny lines was twice that of the half-sib progenies. Correlations between the different characters demonstrated that is possible to simultaneously improve both seed and forage yield. Since leafiness was found to be correlated with dry matter yield but not with seed yield it may be possible to simultaneously improve all three characters. Rankings of progenies by the half-sib tests for forage and seed yield were not changed by the use of the synthetic parental value (SVi) which includes information from selfed progeny. The PX progeny test did not discriminate parents as well as the OP and S1 tests, which may be due to non-random pollination in the polycross. The S1 progeny test showed the highest predicted response to selection, followed by the OP test. Heritability estimates from the OP and S1 tests for total biological yield, seed yield, harvest index, and height, were similar to those found in the clonal evaluation test. Therefore, a clonal evaluation test will provide sufficient information to choose parents for breeding an improved synthetic cultivar for these characters. Observed dissimilarity of ranking of progeny lines over progeny tests for some traits (head weight, seed yield, and harvest index) was due to discrepancies between the PX and OP tests. No differences in progeny line ranking among the progeny tests were observed for all other traits. Analysis of variance on marker frequency means showed that interaction between genotypes and progeny lines was also not significant.

No description available.