In the context of growing tourism and global warming, the fragile landscape of the Himalayas is under immense pressure because of rapid land cover changes in developing countries like Nepal. Remotely sensed data combined with ethnographic knowledge are useful tools for studying such changes. The quantitative change can be measured analyzing satellite images whereas local people’s perceptions provide supportive information. To measure such changes in Sagarmatha National Park of Nepal, Multispectral Scanner (MSS) and Thematic Mapper (TM) images since 1972 were used. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated for different elevation classes and land cover types. These measurements, along with land cover change (1992- 2006) analysis, shows a significant conversion of the areas covered by ice, shrub and grass to rock and soil. Factors including political conflict due to a Maoist rebellion group, inactive park management, increasing tourist demand, and consequent natural resources exploitation helped to explain the change in the forested areas. This is supported by the information from short, informal, semi-structured interviews with local people. However, the local people are unaware of global warming, which has caused the ice melting and glacial lake expansion. Although global causes are out of the immediate control of land managers, better management practices and managed tourism might help alleviate deteriorating Himalayan ecosystems.

Land-use planning takes into consideration geologic hazards in order to protect both life and property. One type of geologic hazard is mass movement. Mass movement is a collective term for the downslope movement of mass units of debris e.g., bedrock, soil, and subsurface material, resulting from the influence of gravity and involving transporting media such as ice, snow, water, and air. As population increases, further pressures are placed on existing land use. Many areas once considered unsuitable for development due to steep slope or other physical characteristics are now experiencing problems. These areas, due to their physical characteristics, can be susceptible to mass movement. The problem is, information related to the areal distribution of susceptibility is most often not available for input to the land-use planning process. This thesis is proposing a methodology to provide general-level mass movement susceptibility maps. The methodology is a computer application utilizing the Harvard I. M. G. R. l. D. (IMGRID) System. IMGRID is a system using grid cells as the basic units of data storage, analysis, retrieval, and display. Basically, the methodology consists of three major components or phases: (1) providing the computer with data acceptable to the machine and computer programs (input); (2) manipulation of the data and storage of map results within the machine's memory (processing); and (3) the retrieval and display of results (output). The processing of the data is organized around susceptibility models which generate computer maps identifying areas susceptible to mass movements. Areas susceptible to moss movements are defined as portions of the landscape characterized by a set of natural characteristics existing in a stable state which will yield a failure of the material if acted upon by an external or internal triggering event either natural or man-induced. The methodology was applied to a small area in Southwest Washington as a demonstration of how one mechanically follows it from beginning to end. Nine mass movement models were constructed based on the Varnes’ classification system and applied to a data bank containing eleven data variables. The susceptibility mops generated were analyzed to determine the significant mapping classes using the statistical output from IMGRID.

A water budget model was developed to estimate year-end lake volumes of Goose Lake, Oregon-California, to determine whether an accurate reconstruction of lake volumes/levels could be made with several synthesized or partial volumetric components. Components evaluated were the lake level/volume observations, precipitation, streamflow, and evaporation during the data-rich study period, 1946 to 1975. By regressing estimated year-end volumes against actual volumes (using actual volumes as the input at the beginning of each year) a correlation coefficient of 0.97 was obtained. By letting the series' year-end volumes be substituted for the following years' antecedent volumes a systematic error was created, identical in time and degree to irrigation consumptive use in the basin. The consideration of this additional component improved the self-generating series. The interaction of the components described by the model was then fed into a reconstruction model which used regression equations relating precipitation and runoff to annual tree-ring width indices. In this manner, a long-term synthetic runoff and precipitation record was developed for the basin for the period 1422 to 1964. Trends in the model output for the recent period (1830 to present) closely parallel recorded observations of lake level/volume although the range of reconstructed volumes was not as extreme as actually occurred. Nevertheless, the "actual" versus "synthesized" lake level series (1946 to 1964) were fairly well correlated (r=0.75), being significant to the 0.99 level. The study shows that tree rings are useful in the reconstruction of hydrologic and climatologic phenomena and are especially sensitive to changes in available water supply but do not show the high interannual variation seen in both precipitation and streamflow. Additionally, the tree ring record appears to be more sensitive to drought than to dry conditions in the basin and is therefore not well suited to determining the recurrence interval of high-water conditions.

Coastal zone landscape characterization and empirical model development were evaluated using multi-spectral airborne imagery. Collectively, four projects are described that address monitoring and classification issues common to the resource management community. Chapter 1 discusses opportunities for remote sensing. Chapter 2 examines spectral and spatial image resolution requirements, as well as training sample selection methods required for accurate landscape classification. Classification accuracy derived from 25nm imagery with 4m pixel sizes outperformed 70nm imagery with 1m pixel sizes. Eight natural and five cultural landscape features were tested for classification accuracy. Chapter 3 investigated the ability to characterize 1m multispectral imagery into rank-ordered categorical biomass index classes of Phragmites australis. Statistical clustering and sample membership was based upon normalized field-measurements. The red imagery channel showed highly significant correlation with field measurements (p = 0.00) and explained much of its variability (r2 = 0.79). Addition of near-infra red, green, and blue image channels in a forward stepwise regression improved the coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.98). In Chapter 4, a landscape cover map was revised by incorporating expert knowledge into a simple spatial model. Examples are provided for a barrier island environment to illustrate this post-classification methodology. A prototype selection of expert rules was sufficient to change more than 20 per cent of the originally classified landscape pixels. Chapter 5 discusses the development of an empirical model that uses vegetation community classes to estimate: (a) soil type, (b) soil compaction rate, and (c) elevation. Vegetation class proved itself a reliable surrogate for estimating these variables based upon field-based statistical measures of association and significance tests. Vegetation was highly associated with four soil types (Cramer's V = 0.98) and soil compaction rates values at depths of 30 and 46cm (Cramer's V > 0.85), and was able to accurately estimate three decimeter-level elevation zones (r2 = 0.86, p = 0.00). A preliminary model to estimate transverse dune crest heights and locations under forest canopy was presented. Lastly, Chapter 6 offers a summary and concluding statements advocating continued use of remote sensing as an application tool for resource management needs.

No description available.

Desertification is a problem occurring in arid and semiarid zones all over the world. It is a consequence of mismanagement of the land. Human activities and livestock pressure on such fragile ecosystems lead to a deterioration of the soil by increasing its salinity, lessening its moisture, and covering it with sand and dust. Aerial photographs and satellite images constitute a tool for mapping and monitoring the desertification process. Multispectral data can assist in detecting the indicators of desertification in early stages in order to plan adequate action. The improvement of the resolution of satellite images and the fact that they are available on a periodic basis make the use of these data suitable for mapping the evolution of desert patches at large scales. The green band of Landsat MSS is used in this study. Two images taken, respectively, in 1976 and 1985 and covering the province of Ouarzazate in southern Morocco are used to map the desertification process and its evolution in the region. At the scale used and given the ground resolution of the MSS (80 meters), significant changes were found between the two images. However, changes occurring at scale smaller than 80 meter square were impossible to detect by visual interpretation of this band.

Mortality data from two populations, Bowling Green and Lexington, Kentucky, were correlated with atmospheric conditions for this region. The mortality data included the cause of death by respiratory disease, age, sex and race. The respiratory diseases considered in this study were emphysema, tuberculosis, pneumonia, asthma, influenza, acute and chronic bronchitis. The atmospheric conditions considered t have an effect on health were temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity and precipitation. Mean temperature, mean barometric pressure, and mean precipitation per month were correlated with the death rate per thousand but proved no significance at the .05 level in either study area. IN the null hypotheses low temperatures, high barometric pressure, and dry weather did not show a high significant correlation with death rate. The availability of data and sample size were limiting factors in this study.

Ecotourism is a common conservation and development strategy in the Maya, Forest region. New sites of ecotourism consumption, such as El Rematé near Tikal National Park in Guatemala, are developing in response to consumer demand for budget accommodations in this attractive cultural and natural setting. This study analyzes new ecotourism infrastructure developments in El Rematé for signs that this tourism draws on ecological imagery as expressed in popular media - or popular ecology - not on the natural and cultural ecology of the region that is the target of international conservation efforts. Analysis suggests that ecotourism entrepreneurs who effectively associate their product with texts of popular ecology will out-compete the community ecotourism projects supported by the non-governmental organizations managing the Biosphere Reserves in the region, challenging the success of international conservation and development strategies.

Nurse plant and object facilitation is an important factor mitigating abiotic stress, improving seedling recruitment, and shaping the fine-scale spatial patterns of many plant communities. I investigate the role of facilitation on lodgepole pine regeneration following blowdown in central Oregon. My objective is to examine the importance of nurse objects on seedling recruitment under varying stand conditions. I base my analysis on 1) the mapped locations and attributes of seedlings, saplings, trees, shrubs, snags, stumps, and sound and decomposed logs in each of five, 500 m2 circular plots, 2) water holding capacity estimates of woody and leafy litter and pumice soil, and 3) growing-season air temperatures. My analysis identifies seedling patterns at multiple spatial scales (~0-8 m) using nearest neighbor and Ripley’s K statistics and identifies differences in canopy structure, seedling development, and temperature using non-parametric rank-sum tests. My results show blowdown severity varies with pre-disturbance stand structure, resulting in a multi-modal stand structure with a wide range of canopy and seedling microhabitat conditions. Stand-wide, post-blowdown regeneration patterns reveal >80% of seedlings grow near nurse shrubs, logs, and woody litter, suggesting preferential germination and survival in these microhabitats. High seedling densities correspond with median shrub diameters, and up to 38% of seedlings grow near recently downed logs, indicating both shrubs and logs serve as important nurse objects. The role of nurse objects in mitigating moisture stress is implicated by the potentially high evaporative stress under extreme growing season temperatures in areas of severe blowdown and by the high moisture-holding capacity of woody litter relative to the pumice soil. Stand-wide, 91% of all seedlings and 87% of all shrubs grow on woody litter, and seedlings growing on woody litter show the greatest development. The positive spatial correlation of seedlings and shrubs with nurse plants and woody litter supports the assertion that both are important facilitators for seedling regeneration and emerging spatial patterns of stand recovery. These results have important management implications, suggesting that the removal of nurse plants and objects through salvage logging or prescribed burning may have negative long-term impacts on local and regional forest regeneration.

This thesis is a case study of a small agricultural community located along the eastern edge of Everglades National Park, The purpose of this study was to document the way land use decisions have been made and how these decisions have affected this community and the Everglades ecosystem. This research demonstrated that decisions made by the involved agencies have negatively affected both the community of Pariah, Florida and the Everglades ecosystem. Research methods included extensive document research, participant observation and formal and informal interviews. It appears that public concern over “saving the Everglades” has been used to provide a legitimating framework for the achievement of a plurality of personal goals and unstated agency agendas that have little or nothing to do with either the Everglades or the environment in general.