The Asiatic black bear, or 'moon bear', has inhabited Japan since pre-historic times, and is the largest animal to have roamed Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu since mega-fauna became extinct on the Japanese archipelago after the last glacial period. Despite this, the bear features only rarely in the folklore, literature and arts of Japan's mainstream culture. This relative cultural invisibility in the lowland agrarian-based culture of Japan contrasts markedly with its cultural significance in many upland regions where subsistence lifestyles based on hunting, gathering and beliefs centred on the mountain deity (yama no kami) have persisted until recently. However, in recent decades the bear has been propelled from its position of relative cultural obscurity into the forefront of mainstream society's attention. As more and more of the bear's habitat is destroyed or degraded through forestry and development, the bear is increasingly encroaching onto human territory in its search for food, leading to pestilence and bear attacks. This thesis examines the nature of the contemporary human-bear relationship in Japan, dominated by human-bear conflict, or the so-called 'bear problem'. To better understand the contemporary response to the bear, the thesis explores the historical relationship of the Japanese with both the bear and its habitat, the forested uplands. The thesis further seeks to understand how cultural, historical, social and geographic factors influence a society's response to wildlife conflict and what can be learnt from the Japanese example which can be applied to the understanding of human society's response to wildlife conflict elsewhere.

Three outstanding problems related to the tectonic evolution of the Western Blue Ridge in the eastern Great Smoky Mtns. (GSM) include: (1) the nature of the Greenbrier Fault, previously interpreted as a younger over older pre-Taconic thrust fault with ~24 km of displacement between the Snowbird and Great Smoky Groups; (2) the relationship of regional metamorphism, expressed by the growth of porphyroblastic index minerals, to folding and foliation development in pelitic metasediments; (3) the relation of deformation to regional Taconian metamorphism. These problems were addressed in previous studies that did not have detailed mapping and petrography as a context. By using 1:24000 bedrock mapping in the eastern GSM in the area of the Greenbrier Fault and where regional metamorphic isograds are telescoped as a context, it can be concluded that: (1) the Greenbrier Fault exhibits an unconstrainable amount of post-metamorphic slip along the contact of the Great Smoky and Snowbird Groups and is not a major tectonic feature within the western Blue Ridge; (2) there is no direct spatial/coeval relationship between porphyroblast growth and foliation formation/matrix deformation that is consistent throughout the study area; (3) further work and mapping outside of the study area (S and SE) is needed when considering the relation of deformation to regional Taconian metamorphism, because of the non-pelitic nature of the Great Smoky and Snowbird Groups.

Remote ecosystems in Canadian Rocky Mountain parks and protected areas are being pressured by indirect impacts of human activities across the landscape. Ecological impacts can result from a variety of stressors such as climate change, fire suppression and prescription, visitor use, invasive species, and surrounding land-uses. With intensified challenges relating to logistics and moral issues inherent in remote ecosystem management (Higgs and Hobbs, 2010; Higgs and Roush, 2011), managers of these landscapes continue to struggle with questions of "what do we do here?" For ecological restoration and conservation management, historical landscape changes (predominantly following years of fire suppression and rapid climate change) are complicating decisions and our understanding of ecological processes. While intervention may become increasingly necessary for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services under conditions of rapid change (Hobbs et al., 2011), direct action may not be the most appropriate tactic, especially when lacking adequate information and foresight (Harris et al., 2006; Higgs and Roush, 2011). This study investigates observable historical remote landscape change in two protected areas in the Canadian Rockies, and examines the resulting implications for management and restoration. Present conditions in Willmore Wilderness Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park were evaluated in a comparative case-study approach. The influence of factors such as jurisdiction, climate, socioeconomics and settlement history were seen to strongly shape how environmental changes impacted management efforts and decisions. Long-term landscape changes were observed through repeat photography with the Mountain Legacy Project. Through focus groups using photo-elicitation with park managers, repeat photo pairs guided discussion. I pursued this research question: "how do long-term landscape changes influence conservation and restoration objectives in remote mountain ecosystems?" This also incorporated subsidiary questions: "what are the inherent challenges in managing (and restoring) remote ecosystems?” and “how could managers of remote ecosystems best approach these issues in the face of rapid ecological change?” Significant landscape changes are observed in both parks and include glacier retreat, forest stand aging, valley infill (encroachment) and upward movement of the treeline ecotone. While ecological changes are seen as significant and as threatening to various park values and public safety, efforts to better understand these changes or address them are limited. The majority of remote ecosystem management efforts in both parks are indirect (passive), with the exception of fire management. This is largely due to capacity and resource constraints, and agency recreation mandates and visitor needs monopolizing manager focus. Suggested restoration efforts would assist climate adaptation and reduce indirect impacts without placing notable pressure on remote ecosystems. The use of repeat photography for monitoring of ecological change is a strong possibility for parks management, particularly if public engagement through citizen science was implemented to minimize dependence on management resources. / Graduate / 0368 / 0768 / jlfalk@uvic.ca

Remiantis aprašomuoju – analitiniu, istoriniu, lyginamuoju, archeologiniu metodais, darbe nagrinėjamas LDK Nemuno piliakalnių gynybinės sistemos archeologinis ir istorinis ištirtumas, bei jo pritaikymo kultūriniam turizmui perspektyvos.Tyrimo objektu pasirinkta viena iš plačiausių archeologinio paveldo sričių – piliakalniai, kurie viduramžiais sudarė Nemuno upės gynybinę sistemą ir buvo pagrindinis gynybos ramstis kovose su Kryžiuočių ordinu. Išlikę piliakalniai yra galingos ir didingos Lietuvos istorijos liudytojai, kurie pasakoja apie šlovingas kovas ir mūšius.Didžioji dalis piliakalnių nėra pritaikyti turizmo reikmėms, turistų dėmesio nestokoja Seredžiaus, Veliuonos Sudargo piliakalnių kompleksai, tačiau visi likę – sunkiai pasiekiami, apaugę medžiais ir krūmais, vizualumas prastas. Tačiau ši piliakalnių sistema turi labai didelę istorinę ir archeologinę vertę, todėl būtina ją sudarančius piliakalnius įtraukti į kultūrinius įvykius (archeologinius festivalius, šventes) vykstančius Lietuvoje ir turistinius maršrutus. / By using descriptive - analytical, historical, comparative and archaeological methods this paper analyzes the archaeological and historical explorations of the defensive systems of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Nemunas mounds and the possibilities to adapt it for cultural tourism. The main object of this analysis is one of the most extensive areas of archaeological heritage – mounds. In the Middle Ages they made up the defence system of Nemunas river and were the main pillar of defense while fighting against the Teutonic Order. The remaining mounds are the witnesses of the powerful and majestic history of Lithuania. The big part of the mounds are not yet suitable for tourism. Mound complexes of Seredžius, Veliuona and Sudargas are widely visited by tourists, but all the rest are hard to reach and not well maintained. However, this system of mounds are of great historical and archaeological importance, so it is necessary to make these mounds the centre of various cultural events that are taking place in Lithuania.

This thesis applies a novel method of change detection, the Landsat Image Stack Trend Analysis method to the monitoring of retrogressive thaw slumps in the Richardson Mountains, NWT. This method represents a significant improvement upon previous methods of thaw slump monitoring, which utilized air photos and high-resolution satellite imagery. This method applies Tasseled Cap brightness, wetness and greenness indices to Landsat TM/ETM images acquired between 1985 and 2011 and analyzes the temporal change of each pixel for the different indices values. This method is useful in retrogressive thaw slump monitoring in two ways. First, by creating a map showing the linear change over time from 1985 to 2011, retrogressive thaw slumps can be easily identified, as they are more dynamic than the surrounding tundra. In total, 251 thaw slumps were identified within an area of roughly 18 000km2. Second, thaw slump activity, from initiation, growth and stabilization can be studied by plotting the annual vegetation index pixel values of adjacent pixels in a thaw slump. This method allows for the efficient extraction of annual thaw slump headwall retreat rates, provided the availability of cloud-free imagery. The retreat rates of 16 slumps were extracted, which were found to have an average annual retreat rate of 11.8 m yr-1.

The intent of the research described in this thesis was to reconstruct and document Holocene glacier activity in the central British Columbia Coast Mountains. Despite ongoing efforts to describe glacier fluctuations in the southern and northern Coast Mountains, only limited attention has been directed to revealing the Holocene histories of glaciers in the central Coast Mountain region. The goals of this research were twofold: firstly, to describe mid-Holocene glacier advances at five remote glacier sites in the central Coast Mountains, and secondly, to detail Little Ice Age (LIA) glacier fluctuations at four glacier sites in the central Coast Mountains. The mid-Holocene behaviour of Canoe, Fyles, Jacobsen, Tchaikazan and Icemaker glaciers was investigated using dendroglaciological techniques and stratigraphic analysis. Subfossil wood evidence suggests these glaciers were expanding into standing forests prior to 6.63, 4.90 and 4.20 ka. Stratigraphically constrained woody detritus at Fyles Glacier records the progradational history of a Gilbert-type delta forming in response to glacial expansion between 7.02-5.47 ka. Glacial expansion occurring between 7.50-4.00 ka has regional correlatives, suggesting coherent broad-scale climate forcing mechanisms influenced glacial mass balance at this time. Insight into the LIA behaviour of central Coast Mountain glaciers was provided by conducting lichenometric surveys of Rhizocarpon spp. across LIA moraines at Pattullo, Fyles, Deer Lake and Jacobsen glaciers. The presence of a second, lesser known, lichen species at some sites necessitated the construction of a Xanthoria elegans growth curve. An assessment of lichenometric measurements from the southern and central Coast Mountains provided the opportunity to build a X. elegans growth curve constrained by 18 control points. Lichenometric surveys revealed dominant moraine building episodes at 890-1020, 1280-1320, 1490-1530, 1680-1720, 1780 and 1820-1870 AD, highlighting the complex nature of glacier fluctuations during the LIA. A regional subalpine fir tree-ring chronology (1610-2010 AD) was developed from four stands located in the central Coast Mountains for dendroclimatological investigations. Correlation analyses show that the radial growth of trees corresponded to variations in the mean June/July air temperature and May 1st snowpack. This relationship was used to reconstruct these climate parameters for the duration of the tree-ring record. Intervals of cooler summer air temperatures and above average snowpack were found to broadly correspond with dominant periods of LIA moraine building from 1610-1930 AD. This reconstruction of mid-Holocene and LIA glacial history offered insights consistent with the emerging record of glacial activity described for the southern Coast Mountain glaciers. It also provides the first evidence for mid-Holocene glacial expansion in the central and northern Coast Mountains. The application of lichenometry in the central Coast Mountains documents the regional LIA behaviour of glaciers and the construction of a Xanthoria elegans growth curve for the Coast Mountains provides a framework for future geobotanical dating using this species. / Graduate

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is an endangered keystone tree species growing at the highest elevations in the mountain ranges of western North America. Across its range, whitebark pine is faced with a number of threats including fire suppression, mountain pine beetle, white pine blister rust, and climate change. Climate change is perhaps the greatest threat facing the species, yet it is the least understood. Most studies rely on model predictions and only look at the impacts on whitebark pine itself, not taking into consideration the other bird, mammal, and plant communities that are associated with it. In order to assess the potential effects of climate change on whitebark pine communities in the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, this thesis examined the vegetation associations and climate controls currently shaping the communities. My results showed that whitebark pine is growing in the open away from other subalpine tree species. This suggests that whitebark pine is not facilitating other subalpine tree species, contrary to what has been shown in the Rocky Mountains. Evidence of a distinct suite of understory vegetation associated with whitebark pine is weak and inconclusive. Differences in understory vegetation appear to be mainly due to site differences in climate, soils, and topography. Age distributions constructed from tree cores revealed that whitebark pine decline at lower elevation sites may be due to successional advancement to subalpine fir, and subalpine fir is currently encroaching into higher elevation sites. A dendrochronological assessment revealed that winter conditions, including snowpack, temperature, and the Aleutian Low Pressure Index (ALPI) were the most limiting to whitebark pine growth at high-elevation sites, but biotic factors including disease and competition appear to be more important than climate in determining annual ring growth at lower elevation sites. Bootstrapped correlations between annual ring widths and snowpack records showed that tree responses to fluctuating snowpack have changed over time. For most of the 20th century, low snowpack periods were associated with greater annual growth. Since around 1970, when the snowpack levels dropped below anything previously recorded for the area, annual tree growth has been reduced. It appears that these high elevation tree species require a balance between too much snow (shorter growing season) and too little snow (reduced protection from harsh winter conditions). Climate change models for the area predict drastically reduced snowpack in the coming decades. If snowpack continues to drop, as it has since 1970, it will likely lead to severe impacts on whitebark pine growth in the southern Coast Mountains. / Graduate / 0329 / carlsonkim@hotmail.com

Remote ecosystems in Canadian Rocky Mountain parks and protected areas are being pressured by indirect impacts of human activities across the landscape. Ecological impacts can result from a variety of stressors such as climate change, fire suppression and prescription, visitor use, invasive species, and surrounding land-uses. With intensified challenges relating to logistics and moral issues inherent in remote ecosystem management (Higgs and Hobbs, 2010; Higgs and Roush, 2011), managers of these landscapes continue to struggle with questions of "what do we do here?" For ecological restoration and conservation management, historical landscape changes (predominantly following years of fire suppression and rapid climate change) are complicating decisions and our understanding of ecological processes. While intervention may become increasingly necessary for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services under conditions of rapid change (Hobbs et al., 2011), direct action may not be the most appropriate tactic, especially when lacking adequate information and foresight (Harris et al., 2006; Higgs and Roush, 2011). This study investigates observable historical remote landscape change in two protected areas in the Canadian Rockies, and examines the resulting implications for management and restoration. Present conditions in Willmore Wilderness Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park were evaluated in a comparative case-study approach. The influence of factors such as jurisdiction, climate, socioeconomics and settlement history were seen to strongly shape how environmental changes impacted management efforts and decisions. Long-term landscape changes were observed through repeat photography with the Mountain Legacy Project. Through focus groups using photo-elicitation with park managers, repeat photo pairs guided discussion. I pursued this research question: "how do long-term landscape changes influence conservation and restoration objectives in remote mountain ecosystems?" This also incorporated subsidiary questions: "what are the inherent challenges in managing (and restoring) remote ecosystems?” and “how could managers of remote ecosystems best approach these issues in the face of rapid ecological change?” Significant landscape changes are observed in both parks and include glacier retreat, forest stand aging, valley infill (encroachment) and upward movement of the treeline ecotone. While ecological changes are seen as significant and as threatening to various park values and public safety, efforts to better understand these changes or address them are limited. The majority of remote ecosystem management efforts in both parks are indirect (passive), with the exception of fire management. This is largely due to capacity and resource constraints, and agency recreation mandates and visitor needs monopolizing manager focus. Suggested restoration efforts would assist climate adaptation and reduce indirect impacts without placing notable pressure on remote ecosystems. The use of repeat photography for monitoring of ecological change is a strong possibility for parks management, particularly if public engagement through citizen science was implemented to minimize dependence on management resources. / Graduate / 0368 / 0768 / jlfalk@uvic.ca

No description available.

The structure and composition of mixed-conifer forest (MCF) in central Oregon has been altered by fire exclusion and logging. The resulting increased density, spatial contagion, and loss of fire resistant trees decrease the resiliency of this ecosystem to fire, drought, and insects. The historical and current composition and structure of MCF are characterized by steep environmental gradients and a complex mixed-severity fire regime. This inherent variation makes it difficult to determine the magnitude of anthropogenic effects and set objectives for restoration and management. As a result, there is a lack of consensus regarding how MCF should be managed and restored across the landscape. My primary research objectives were to: (1) Characterize the current structure and composition of MCF and how these vary with environmental setting; and (2) Characterize establishment and tree growth patterns in MCF in different environmental settings. To address these objectives, I collected field data on structure and composition and increment cores across a range of environmental conditions in MCF of the eastern Cascades and Ochoco Mountains. I used cluster analysis to identify four stand types based on structure and composition in the eastern Cascades study area and four analogous types in the Ochoco Mountains study area. Variation in understory composition and the presence of large diameter shade tolerant species distinguish each type. Stand types occupied distinct environmental settings along a climatic gradient of increasing precipitation and elevation. At relatively dry PIPO sites understories were dominated by ponderosa pine. At wetter PIPO/PSME and PIPO ABGC sites understories were dominated by shade tolerant species, but ponderosa pine was dominant in the overstory. At the coolest and wettest PIPO/PSME/ABGC sites understories were dominated by grand fir and shade tolerant species were common in the overstory. In the eastern Cascades current density of all live trees and snags was 432, 461, 570, 372 trees per hectare (TPH) for the four stand types identified. Stand types in the drier Ochoco Mountains were currently less dense at 279, 304, 212, and 307 TPH. Current MCF densities in both areas are 2-3 times higher than densities estimated for the late 19th and early 20th centuries from other studies in those two areas. Reconstruction of cuts in each stand type indicates that the density of large diameter ponderosa pine has been reduced by approximately 50% in all stand types in both study regions. Age histograms demonstrate that current density and composition of MCF stand types is a product of abrupt increases in tree establishment following fire exclusion in the late 19th century. The number of trees established increased after 1900 in all stand types, but the timing and composition of changes in establishment varied with climate. At dry PIPO sites increases in establishment were delayed until the 1920s and 1930s and were composed of ponderosa pine. At PIPO/PSME and PIPO/ABGC sites with intermediate precipitation, establishment was dominated by ponderosa pine prior to 1900, but after 1900 establishment was dominated by a large pulse of Douglas-fir and grand fir. At the wettest PIPO/PSME/ABGC there was less evidence of changes in structure and composition over time. My results indicate that compared to dry pine and dry-mixed conifer sites, relatively productive moist mixed-conifer sites were characterized by large changes in structure and composition. Such sites could be considered more ecologically altered by lack of fire than drier forest types that had high fire frequencies but slower rates of stand development and less plant community change. Radial growth patterns of cored ponderosa pines differed between the eastern Cascades and Ochoco Mountains. In the eastern Cascades mean growth rates and variance decreased during favorable climatic periods after 1900. This is likely related to increased competition, and provides evidence that current stand density lacks a temporal analog in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sensitivity of growth to climate and harvest suggest competition for water in the denser forest of the eastern Cascades, and indicates thinning will increase the diameter growth rate of large old pines. In the Ochoco Mountains, ponderosa pine tree growth was less responsive to climate prior to fire exclusion in the late 1800s, and growth did not respond to fire events. This suggests competition among trees was historically low in this region. After fire exclusion growth became more responsive to wet and dry climatic cycles, which may indicate that increased density and competition made trees more responsive to climate variability. Patterns of slow and fast growth appeared to differ between study regions and likely differ at the sub-regional scale. Further analysis of the relationship between growth and climate in different environmental settings is needed to distinguish where stand development has been modified by disruption of fire regimes. / Graduation date: 2013