The thesis deals with the evaluation of habitat preferences of the red deer in the Krkonoše National Park. In the context of Central Europe, the Krkonoše Mountains are an important locality in which many rare and protected ecosystems are located. The current management is trying to restore the species composition of the forest, which was abundant in the past and replaced by atypical spruce species. Red deer (Cervus elaphus), which lives in these forests, has no natural enemy in the Giant Mountains, so it is necessary to control the local population and perform selective management for the purpose of forest protection. For proper management planning it is important to know the life strategies of the red deer: the deer's preffered habitat, physical-geographical characteristics that affect its movement and spatio- temporal use of the area. This information can be obtained through GPS-telemetry collar monitoring. The monitoring campaign in the Giant Mountains was carried out between 2014 and 2018 and the resulting data are used in this work. Information on 71 individuals of red deer are processed and subjected to spatio-temporal analysis, which shows that deer behavior is influenced by both daily and annual cycles. Another aspect influencing its movement is the density and intensity of the use of...

Small businesses provide 48% of private-sector jobs in the United States and play a vital role in the country's economic growth and development. Only half of U.S. small businesses survive for longer than 5 years. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore sustainability strategies managers of small oilfield service companies used to sustain their business for longer than 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 10 managers--one manager from each of 10 different oilfield service companies located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States and from review of publicly available documents and archived records. The conceptual framework for this study was the dynamic capability theory. Data analysis was conducted using Yin's 5-step data analysis process and methodological triangulation. Four themes emerged from the study: networking or relationship strategies, financial planning strategies, differentiation strategies, and education and experience strategies. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential for small business managers to use these findings to develop strategies for profitability and sustainability resulting in job creation, poverty reduction, and socioeconomic development.

Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology is a useful tool for analyzing provenance in the sedimentary record. Differentiating recycled and first cycle populations in the detrital record, however, is not a straightforward process. A second potential problem in using detrital signatures to determine provenance of sediment lies in the assumption that detrital signatures of modern rivers reflect input from each exposed unit in the catchment boundaries. To investigate each of these problems, I present U-Pb analysis of detrital zircon (DZ) from modern river sand collected from 20 watersheds, 6 detrital apatite (DA) signatures from modern river sand, and 6 DA signatures from exposed strata, all within the Talkeetna Mountains (south-central Alaska). DA rarely survives past the first cycle of erosion and deposition due to its inability to survive chemical weathering, and thus dominantly represent igneous input in detrital signatures, whereas zircon can be of igneous origin or can survive multiple cycles of erosion and deposition. By comparing the DA signatures with the DZ signatures, I present a method to better differentiate first cycle, igneous sediment contributions from recycled populations within a detrital signature. The results of these comparisons show that DA signatures provide ages of igneous input into the detrital record; these ages are also reflected in the DZ signature, thus signaling these DZ populations as igneous in origin. This study also investigates the potential for DA recycling and DA input from recycled strata. To address the second problem, I present a method using GIS software and the most recent map of Alaska to create simulated signatures that records input on a scale proportionate to the exposed surface area of each bedrock unit. In ~35% of the watersheds tested, the simulated signatures predict trends similar to the DZ signatures from the modern river sands, in 55% of the watersheds tested the simulated signatures missed one or more populations present in the DZ signature, and in 10% of watersheds tested, the simulated signature predicted trends very different from the DZ signatures. In cases where the DZ and simulated signatures do not match, I believe this represents influences of climate and relief and zircon fertility.

This research examines moraine and lacustrine records of glacier fluctuations, in combination with palynological records of vegetation change, from the previously unstudied northwestern Ahklun Mountains in southwestern Alaska. Morain mapping reveals that ice-cap outlet glaciers in the study area extended ca. 60 km from the center of the Ahklun Mountians ice dome during the early Wisconsin (sensu lato), and ca. 40 km during the late Wisconsin. Correlations with well-studied moraines in the southern Ahklun Mountains indicate an asymmetry of glaciation over the range, with ice-cap outlet glaciers more extensive to the south. This asymmetry was more striking during the early Wisconsin (s.l.) than during the late Wisconsin. Alpine glaciers have repeatedly advanced from cirques within the study area. Because these alpine glaciers were confluent or sub-confluent with outlet glaciers during the late Wisconsin maximum, the alpine-glacier moraine record is relatively young. Lacustrine sedimentology from Little Swift Lake records significant retreat of alpine glaciers ca 12.8 ka (coeval with the onsent of the North Atlantic Younger Dryas). Moraines upvalley of the lake suggests a minor glacier (or rock glacier) advance occurred ca 5.5 ka. Lacustrine records of vegetation from Little Swift Lake extend back to ca. 13.4 ka. Most vegetation changes resulted from the post-glacial spread of trees and shrubs, including Betula, alnus, and Picea, to their modern ranges. However, pollen assemblages and other paleoclimate proxies suggest some major changes in late-glacial and Holocene climate. Major vegetation change, most notably the dramatic expansion of Poaceae, occurred ca. 100 yr after the 12.8-ka glacier retreat and persisted for more than 2 ka. The inferred reversal to dry (and possibly cool) climate was followed by a period of exceptionally productive mesic conditions during the early Holocene, ca. 11 to 9 ka. The pattern of latest-Quaternary climate changes documented in this study may be evidence that, as previous workers have concluded regarding the Pleistocene glaciations, the late-glacial and early Holocene climate of the Ahklun Mountains region was strongly modulated by changes in the proximity and temperature of the Bering Sea.

“Perilous Pilgrimage: A Lady’s Flight into the Rocky Mountain Wilderness” is comprised of four thematically linked essays set in the Colorado Rockies. In these essays I probe my fascination with masculinity at an early age, the impact of my rape at age twenty-two, the dependency and resentment that undermined my marriage after the rape, and my quest after my divorce fifteen years later to define myself on my own terms. The link joining these strands is the tension between my drive for independence and my disassociation from my mind and body as a result of the rape. “Perilous Pilgrimage” revisits three pivotal stages of my life: childhood, young adulthood, and middle age. As a youngster vacationing with my family in Rocky Mountain National Park, I was drawn to men who rescued lost hikers and climbed mountains. Fred Bowen, the caretaker of our rented cabin in the park, and the two California school teachers who were the first to conquer the Diamond on Longs Peak, appeared to have more freedom than I did as a middle-class girl growing up in the 1950s. That conviction was reinforced after I moved to Colorado at age seventeen. Four years later I graduated from college and began dating a man who introduced me to the thrill and terror of mountaineering. After leading me up numerous mountains, he became my husband, and we made our home in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Once married, I could no longer repress the unresolved issues of my rape and identity quest, and I revolted. At age thirty-nine, I embarked on a solo quest to reclaim that sense of wonder and independence I had felt as a child exploring Rocky Mountain National Park. Included in my essays are references to historical figures with similar urges as mine, such as the 19th-century English explorer George Augustus Ruxton and English travel writer Isabella Bird. My search for refuge and redemption in the Colorado Rockies replicated a centuries-old pattern.

Populations of Delphinium occidentale (Ranunculaceae)were monitored over two summers for the presence and dispersion of various life stages of several host specific phytophagous insects. Observations were made at several sites in the Wasatch National Forest east of Logan, Utah. Two species of larkspur aphid (Aphis rociadae and Kakimia wahinkae) were encountered. Although dispersal of alate individuals resulted in widespread infestation of the host plant population, aphids occurred initially on the same one or few plants at each site both springs. Little coexistence of the two species of aphid on the same plant was observed, perhaps because they partitioned the host plant resource according to light intensity under the incomplete aspen canopy. Several species of lepidopteran larvae, of uncertain host specificity, were observed. Two species (Autographa californica and pyrrhia expremins: Noctuidae) are known from cultivated host plants. Eggs of an unidentified geometrid (Lepidoptera) were located on the host plants in large numbers and their dispersion was analysed. The eggs were distributed nonrandomly over the host plant population, but attempts to further characterize the pattern were fruitless. Parasitism of the eggs by an unidentified hymenopteran was observed. Mortality of all larvae was high. Successful migration of larvae was not observed. Mature larvae were not sufficiently abundant to permit statistical study of pattern. Mature fruits were examined at the end of the growing season for larkspur maggots (Hylemya laxifrons). Maggots were found in 85 percent of the inflorescences sampled. Pteromalids (Hymenoptera) were also found in an apparently parasitic relationship with the maggots in the fruits. Maggots were not found in the surviving fruits of inflorescences infested with either species of aphid. Suggestions are given for future work.

Structural and geochemical analyses of the Top and Casino deposits, Bald Mountain-Alligator Ridge district, Nevada, were conducted to determine how structures affected gold deposition in Carlin-type deposit s. We also examined how permeability changed over time in a fault that cuts siltstone-dominated sedimentary rocks. The association of gold and related arsenic with faults at the margins of a Jurassic pluton and sedimentary rocks suggests that ore fluids migrated along faults and fracture s. Permeability of the faults changed over time within the Casino deposit, where the ore-controlling fault was a distributed conduit in the early stages of mineralization but a barrier and a localized conduit a t opposite ends of the deposit during later stages. Results indicate that faults may significantly influence patterns of ore deposition and change character over deposit-scale distances, and continued slip along faults may create clay-rich low-permeability faults that are mineralized during early stages of development.

The landscape evolution of the northeastern Uinta Mountains and the manner in which climatic and tectonic forcing have influenced it are not well constrained. Surficial deposits covering ~325 km2 below the glacial termini in the Henrys Fork and ~50 km2 along the Green River in western Browns Park were mapped at 1:24,000 scale to develop a Quaternary stratigraphic framework for the northeastern Uinta Mountains. The Henrys Fork mapping area spans from late Wisconsinan moraines to Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The Henrys Fork stratigraphy contains 10 mainstem gravels, six piedmont gravels, and landslide deposits. Terraces preserved along the Henrys Fork converge downstream and are strath terraces underlain by clast-supported, cobble gravel derived from the Uinta Mountain Group and Paleozoic limestone units. The Henrys Fork terrace stratigraphy was correlated to the Wind River terrace stratigraphy for age control, and incision rates were estimated at 80-110 m/m.y. The Browns Park mapping area includes Little Hole and continues through lower Red Canyon into westernmost Browns Park, ending at the Warren Draw-Swallow Canyon quadrangle boundary. The Browns Park stratigraphy includes eight mainstem gravels, five piedmont gravels, and various landslide, colluvial, and eolian deposits. A tuffaceous bed with Lava Creek Bash (640 ka) was identified near the top of a deposit at Little Hole that was previously mapped as Miocene basin fill. Minimum Green River incision rates were estimated between 90 and 115 m/m.y. using the Lava Creek Bash for age control. These rates are comparable to estimates for the Henrys Fork, but are about half of the rates reported for the south flank of the Uintas and other central Rocky Mountain ranges. A series of three distinct deposits in western Browns Park are interpreted as evidence for the landslide impoundment and subsequent outburst flooding of the Green River. These include slackwater deposits at Little Hole, an outburst flood deposit in western Browns Park, and a large paleolandslide deposit that lies between them. Estimates of sediment accumulation rates behind the paleolandslide dam suggest it was stable for ~605 years. Peak discharge estimates from impounded water volume estimates and paleoflow competence indicators suggest that the resulting outburst flood was ~22,000 m3/s.

This study is an exploratory study, descriptive in nature and investigates the familiarity and practices of midwives and women with regard to complementary therapies during pregnancy and labour. The study was conducted in four major hospitals in Western Sydney, namely Nepean, Jamieson, Blue Mountains Anzac Memorial and Hawkesbury hospitals. The findings showed that in the main the midwives and women were familiar and made use of four therapies, ie. aromatherapy, massage, music and hydrotherapy. The midwives practiced without any significant training in these therapies. Hospital policies were almost non existant in relation to the practice of complementary therapies and nurses often felt frustrated at not being able to implement complementary therapies. The main issues that emerged from the study were the need for education for the midwives related to specific complementary therapies, hospital policies conducive to the practice of complementary therapies and research into the efficacy of the different complementary therapies. The women need further exposure to complementary therapies and education in the respective therapies if they are to feel empowered in dealing with the stress of their daily lives / Master of Nursing (Hons)

In 1815 the Blue Mountains were first identified as a unique landscape when Governor Macquarie took a tour over them and located the nineteenth century principles of the Sublime and Picturesque within its' landscape. Until this time the Blue Mountains were considered to be a hostile impenetrable barrier to the West. This paper examines some of the ways the Blue Mountains has been represented in the past, and has been identified as a tourist destination through interpretations imposed on the landscape by the tourist industry since that time. The areas covered deal with the heritage of British Colonialism as a way of forming opinions about the Australian landscape. Then, the theories of the Picturesque and Sublime are examined when applied to the Blue Mountains landscape. The final chapters in this paper deal with contemporary issues that have shaped the way the tourist industry is encouraged to encounter the Blue Mountains landscape / Master of Arts (Hons)