In July 2013 the British Government unveiled its Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) policy, which aimed to radically change the role and function of the Army Reserve by making it both more capable and more deployable. One of the policy’s central organising principles was its focus on outsourcing military logistics capability previously held in the regular army to reserve forces in order to save costs. Reserve logistics transformation was therefore deemed central to the success of FR20. This thesis examines the origins, evolution and impact of FR20 as an attempt to organisationally transform the British Army Reserve’s logistics forces. In first detailing the historical, political and conceptual origins of FR20, it argues that reserve transformations rarely succeed in the manner envisaged; that the intensely political origins of FR20 have shaped the policy during each step of its development; and that the radical change in the delivery of military logistics since 2000 which underpins FR20’s emphasis on logistics is best understood through a post-Fordist analytical framework. Examining the impact of FR20 at the reserve sub-unit level, it argues that many units will struggle to deliver the capability required of them, but in other areas, such as integration with the regulars and increased professional opportunities, FR20 is succeeding. Quantitative evidence is presented to support these arguments. It then details how reserve logistics cohesion is different from that of regular combat forces, and shows how such inherent micro-level organisational factors can influence transformation. Finally, the wider implications of FR20 as a transformative attempt are discussed. This thesis’s central argument is that the political origins of FR20 within Parliament, and the Army Reserves’ organisational nature, have undermined the policy’s ability to deliver the key military capabilities it envisaged of reserves logistics units. However, in some important cultural/normative aspects, FR20 is slowly transforming the reserves. To date, FR20 has therefore been a ‘partial transformation’. In making this argument, this study contributes to the literature on the British Army Reserves, and military logistics, cohesion and transformation.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-02-16T13:59:37Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Nayara Ferreira Carvalho (PPGO-UFPE).pdf: 1641128 bytes, checksum: c4910be8fdae6566f2fa798507854475 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-16T13:59:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Nayara Ferreira Carvalho (PPGO-UFPE).pdf: 1641128 bytes, checksum: c4910be8fdae6566f2fa798507854475 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-25 / CAPES / O presente estudo teve como objetivo revisitar áreas recifais estudadas no ano 2000 em Tamandaré-PE para descrever as comunidades macrobentônicas, com foco no ouriço E. lucunter e comparar com os dados obtidos anteriormente, e, ainda usou como referência o recife de Santiago em Paripueira-AL. Através das técnicas de “Line Transect” e “Quadrat” foram amostradas nove áreas recifais do complexo recifal de Tamandaré e uma área recifal em Paripueira. Os resultados indicaram diferenças significativas na estrutura das comunidades macrobentônicas estudadas entre os recifes e entre os períodos. A densidade e cobertura bentônica viva de corais escleractíneos, hidrocorais, zoantídeos e grupos funcionais algais parecem ter sido influenciados pelo padrão de distribuição e abundância de ouriços, apresentando diferenças significativas em sua composição na presença ou ausência destes. Em 2000, a densidade de ouriços da área recifal fechada de Tamandaré era aproximadamente cinco vezes maior que a encontrada no presente estudo. O contrário ocorreu na área recifal de Santiago que aumentou sua densidade de ouriço após ser reaberta à exploração antrópica em 2004. A exclusão das atividades pesqueiras e turísticas na Ilha da Barra ao longo de 16 anos indica a recuperação da abundância de espécies potencialmente predadoras de ouriços, que não só reduziu a densidade de E. lucunter na área fechada, mas também esse efeito foi exportado para as áreas recifais adjacentes. Este estudo sugere que a redução da abundância de ouriços nos recifes adjacentes é o resultado do spillover de predadores e anti-spillover de recrutas de ouriços para os recifes mais próximos da área fechada, e conclui que grande parte das diferenças observadas na densidade populacional do E. lucunter ao longo de todo o Complexo Recifal de Tamandaré-PE é devido aos efeitos diretos e indiretos da exclusão antrópica. / The aim of this study was to revisit Tamandaré-PE reef areas studied in 2000 to describe macrobenthic communities focusing on the E. lucunter sea urchin and compare the present data to the data obtained previously, and also used as a reference the Santiago reef in Paripueira-AL. Nine reef areas of Tamandaré reef complex and one reef area of Paripueira were sampled through the techniques of Line Transect and Quadrat. The results indicated significant differences in macrobenthic community studied among the reefs and between periods. The density and coverage of scleractinians corals, hydrocorals, zoanthids and algal functional groups seems to have been influenced by the pattern of sea urchins distribution and abundance, once these groups showed significant differences in their composition in the presence or absence of E. lucunter. In 2000, the sea urchin density of the Tamandaré closed area was about 5 times greater than the density found in this study. The opposite occurred in the Santiago reef, where there was an increased sea urchin density after this reef have been reopened to anthropic exploitation in 2004. The exclusion of fishing and tourist activities in Ilha da Barra over 16 years has resulted in a recovery of the species abundance potentially predatory of sea urchins, which not only reduced the E. lucunter density in the closed area, once this effect was exported to the adjacent reef areas. This study suggests that sea urchins abundance reducing on adjacent reefs is the result of spillover from predators and anti-spillover from sea urchins recruits to nearby reefs of the closed area, and concludes that much of the observed differences in E. lucunter density throughout the reef complex of Tamandaré-PE is due to the direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic exclusion.

Abstract Winter energy management in small passerines living year-round in boreal or alpine areas presumably results in strong selective pressure since they need to find food, at a time when natural resources diminish and become less available, and energy requirements increase dramatically. In this thesis energy management during the non-breeding season was studied in three species of tits (Parus spp.), from three different populations: Coll de Pal (Spanish Pyrenees), Lund (Southern Sweden) and Oulu (Northern Finland). Energy management strategies vary significantly between species and among populations and individuals of the same species. Such differences may depend on several environmental factors, food predictability and individual characteristics. Birds from the studied populations appear to react to energetic challenges on a short-term basis and in a highly flexible way. The coal tit (Parus ater) in Coll de Pal and the willow tit (Parus montanus) in Oulu, both hoarding species, relied mostly on short-term management of energy for winter survival. Social and residence status appeared to be the most important factors in determining the level of energy reserves, underlining the importance of food predictability for energy management in wintering tits. Further studies were carried out on two distinct populations of great tit (Parus major) exposed to different winter hardiness. Birds from both populations increased their resting metabolic rate (MR) with experimentally decreasing ambient temperatures. Birds from Oulu maintained higher expenditures than birds from Lund in all cases, but also experienced higher energetic cost of thermoregulation at the lowest temperatures. The differences probably did not arise from a differential insulation capacity between populations, despite the differences in plumage structure found, but from a differential metabolic acclimatization. Birds from Lund probably became hypothermic at the lowest temperatures, which may have exceeded the levels they were acclimatized for. The observed differences in basal MR in laboratory conditions were consistent in wild birds throughout the non-breeding season. Birds from both populations experienced similar patterns of variation in basal MR, with expenditures increasing with mass but decreasing with day length, size and age. Great tits modulate their energy expenditure in a flexible way as a means for surviving the non-breeding season. Further, despite such flexibility, populations appear to be locally adapted for such metabolic acclimatization. These results may have important implications on their life-history and distribution. Winter acclimatization appears to be a complex set of entangled strategies that are based on a metabolic adjustment to cope with changing energy requirements. Other mechanisms that apparently play a secondary role, for example the long term management of reserves through fattening or hoarding, or conserving heat through hypothermia and by developing a better insulative plumage, are certainly important emergency strategies that in natural conditions may explain how some populations can endure winter conditions.

The recent establishment of an impressive network of national parks within first the Soviet Union and then post-Soviet Russia can be viewed as representative of ongoing shifts in relationships between valuations of nature and of societal organization and empowerment. With dissipation of the country's centralized administrative structures, the designation of national parks has repeatedly been used to support regional claims to territorial autonomy under the auspices of environmental protection. Site selection, however, has been motivated primarily by attachments to the specifics of place and attendant proclamations of self-identity rather than to normative ecological or recreational national park criteria. As a consequence, Russian national parks embrace complex matrices of historical, cultural and natural landscape characteristics reflective of their respective constituencies. Appearing first in the outlying Republics, the national park formation process diffused inwards to the Russian heartland and eastwards into Siberia. This sequential development, not by chance, has mirrored the devolution of Soviet sovereignty and the deconstruction of its empire. Two national parks, Pribaikalski and Zabaikalski in the Lake Baikal region of south-central Siberia, have served as primary research sites for examining the validity of the above concepts and for observing and analyzing the processes involved. To maximize informational and perceptual access and to study site/societal interactions, a variety of constituencies have been incorporated into the study through extensive multitiered participatory roles. At an operational level, these activities have emphasized international agency/NGO consultancies, the development of a park-directed, village-based ecotourism program and the founding of a wider-ranging “Friends of the National Parks Society.” Research results have supported the contention that Russian national parks are primarily a product of regional socio-political forces intent on preserving representative natural/cultural landscapes rather than the result of centralized decision-making processes prioritizing recreation, education, or biodiversity objectives. Given the persistence of societal flux, the sites will continue to be highly susceptible to the influences of stakeholder/constituency interests and empowered individuals. / Graduate

Endurance athletes have long benefited from ingesting carbohydrates prior to, and during endurance events. Fatigue during endurance exercise has repeatedly been associated with the depletion, or reduction, of bodily carbohydrate reserves. The improved endurance capability observed after aerobic training has, however, been attributed to the increased oxidation of fat relative to carbohydrate, thereby having a 'carbohydrate sparing" effect and thus delaying the point at which reduced carbohydrate reserves will cause fatigue. This study was therefore designed to investigate the effects of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) and carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation, on the performance and metabolic parameters of nine male marathon athletes. These results were then statistically compared to the effects of adding L-carnitine to the MCT and CHO supplement, on the same parameters. Metabolic parameters included nutritional status evaluations, serum organic acid profiles (non-esterified fatty acid and L-lactate profiles), and plasma carnitine determinations. Performance was measured in terms of peak treadmill running speed, V02 max, respiratory exchange ratios, heart rates, vco2 and vo2 data during progressive treadmill exercise tests. Nutrition and energy intakes were recorded during the study, as well as record kept of the athlete's training programmes. At the end of each supplementation period, a standard marathon was included in the experimental design, in order to practically validate controlled laboratory results. The main findings of this study included the identification of two athletes as 'fat burners'~ Non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) profiles indicated that they predominantly relied on fatty acid oxidation during exercise, after MCT supplementation. The latter presumably because of adaptive changes in their metabolism, enabling them to benefit from MCT supplementation. In spite of the majority of athletes relying on carbohydrate metabolism during exercise, the addition of L-carnitine to the MCT and CHO supplement, induced a shift towards lipid metabolism; evident from RER and VC02 data, as well as the majority of athletes improving their performance. The observed shift was slight; the latter being ascribed to the relatively small dose of L-carnitine (compared to previous studies) included in the supplement. However, L-carnitine was incorporated into a palatable, liquid MCT and CHO supplement, and not merely administered in the form of a pharmacological dose. A major, and extremely unexpected finding, was the presumed effect that the winter, and continuous cold exposure, had on plasma carnitine levels. Plasma carnitine levels decreased significantly, without any intervention, prior to the start of the second trial period, which stretched over the middle of winter. Despite carnitine supplementation, plasma carnitine levels still decreased. This occurrence most certainly influenced results; the shift towards lipid metabolism would presumably have been more pronounced, had the 'Winter factor' not come into play. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Physiology / unrestricted

A descriptive case study approach and 34 indicators was used to examine the socio-economic impacts of whale watching tourism in the Laguna San Ignacio (LSI) World Heritage Site - located within the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The framework measured both the socio-economic changes, and the economic viability of the local and regional operators. This approach led to a detailed understanding of the underlying, and often complex, inter-related factors that shaped the ecotourism development in LSI between 1994 and 2002. It identified strengths and weaknesses of current ecotourism development making it a valid tool for evaluating and improving these activities in any biosphere reserve. More specifically the objectives were to examine: 1. How existing ecotourism operations and their activities in the LSI have changed since 1994; 2. Whether these changes have made ecotourism a more viable socio-economic development alternative for the local communities; and 3. Which strategies may be useful in overcoming identified barriers to further socio-economic benefits both from existing and future ecotourism activities. The results strongly suggested that the benefits from ecotourism improved significantly between 1994 and 2002. Economically this was reflected in growth of visitor numbers (50%), employment (100%) and local and regional revenue approximately 70% (or 55% in real terms adjusting for inflation). Social benefits were seen in more cooperation among previous antagonistic stakeholders; a wider distribution of ecotourism benefits; some improvement in living standards and increasing local support for the Reserve. Politically, local stakeholders became more empowered through involvement in tourism related management activities. The viability of the local and regional operators also improved significantly as they became more sophisticated in their product offerings, enhanced their facilities and gained a market share of ecotourism relative to the foreign operators. These improvements were particular true for the operators that sold package tours. However, the analyses also revealed a number of barriers with the most important ones being: • Unresolved historic land use conflicts over rights to land with ecotourism possibilities; • Lack of activities diversification possibilities outside the tourism season; • Stagnating visitor numbers; • Uneven business skills among operators; • Poor marketing and promotional efforts; • Insufficient ecotourism infrastructure; • A proposed ecotourism tax; • Low profit margin of the ecotourism operators; and • Lack of funding for further investments To alleviate these threats and barriers 13 general strategies were identified. An elaboration of these resulted in 39 concrete operational strategies on how potentially to implement them. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate

This thesis explores Recreational Carrying Capacity (RCC). The investigation looks at the theory of RCC, and trends in recreational use and management to make a first estimate of the RCC of Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. An extensive literature review is used to synthesize the social, ecological and managerial factors called for in RCC theory; and to summarize relevant aspects of park policy and recreation trends. This review serves as a foundation for adapting a RCC model from the literature. The model is then used to estimate the RCC of the developed backcountry areas of Garibaldi Provincial Park. The emphasis of the thesis is on the ecological component of RCC: a bio-climatic zone inventory, a soil capability survey, and a visual impact assessment are all undertaken to build an estimate of the ecological sensitivity of the study area. The model also uses social influences and BC Parks policy to assist in the formulation of the RCC for the study area. The RCC estimates derived are not precise because of weaknesses in the data base. Nevertheless, the estimates do indicate that the most desirable areas for recreation within Garibaldi Park have reached or exceeded the capability of the biophysical resources of those areas to sustain the recreational activities undertaken. As important as the RCC estimation is the identification of biophysical limitations of the study area. These limitations call for careful site selection in the development and management of Garibaldi Park to protect the biophysical resources which attract recreational use. If the model is to be of greater assistance in park planning and management then more precision is required in the investigation. Increased precision requires dividing the broad bio-climatic zones into sub-zones or micro-zones to allow site and route selection for managing the study area. RCC theory and the RCC model used are useful as planning tools because of the comprehensiveness required by the theory and the explicitness of the values used within the model. However, this comprehensiveness demands a large data base which is not available in the case study of Garibaldi Park. This points to the need for further research if RCC theory and the model used are to be of utility to park planning in B.C. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

This work is focused on the issue of creation of reserves to cover the costs of decommissioning of nuclear installations. These costs arise from the need to prevent exposure to radioactivity and other pollutants that adversely affect the environment and human health. The thesis describes various systems of decommissioning of nuclear installations and the creation of reserves in selected countries - the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Finland and France. The analytical part of the work deals with comparative analysis of the creation of reserves for decommissioning of nuclear facilities in selected countries and their subsequent evaluation. The work is a basis for optimizing the system for establishing reserves for decommissioning of nuclear facilities in the Czech Republic.

Trinidad and Tobago is a small open economy that faces macroeconomic policy challenges which are related to imperfections in the financial sector and volatility of energy sector revenues. Specifically, two of the key issues policymakers are grappling with are high levels of excess reserves and the optimal management of the economy's resource revenues—in the face of domestic and external shocks to the energy sector. This thesis uses a general equilibrium modeling approach to examine the dynamic effects of these policy challenges on the Trinidad and Tobago economy. In the first case, this study examines the financial and real effects of excess reserves in a New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model with monopoly banking, credit market imperfections and a cost channel. The model explicitly accounts for the fact that banks in Trinidad and Tobago hold excess reserves and they incur costs in holding these assets. Simulations of a shock to required reserves show that although raising reserve requirements is successful in sterilizing excess reserves, it creates a procyclical effect for real economic activity. This result implies that financial stability may come at a cost of macroeconomic stability. The findings also indicate that using an augmented Taylor rule in which the policy interest rate is adjusted in response to changes in excess reserves reduces volatility in output and inflation but increases fluctuations in financial variables. To the contrary, using a countercyclical reserve requirement rule helps to mitigate fluctuations in excess reserves, but increases volatility in real variables. Moreover, this research uses an open economy Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model to analyze the transmission of resource price shocks and a shock to resource production in the Trinidad and Tobago economy. It also applies alternative fiscal rules to determine the optimal allocation of resource windfalls between spending today and saving in a sovereign wealth fund. The results show that spending all the resource windfall on consumption and investment creates more volatility and amplifies Dutch disease effects, when compared to the case where all the excess revenues are saved. Also, neither a policy of full spending nor full saving of the surplus revenue inflows is optimal if the government is concerned about both household welfare and fiscal stability. In order to minimize deviations from both objectives, the optimal fiscal response suggests that a larger fraction of the resource windfalls should be saved, than what the government is presently saving.

Estimates suggest that international reserves of the Eurosystem could be reduced by one third to half ($130-$170 bill.) of its existing level after the introduction of the Euro. While the ultimate decision, whether and how to use these excessive reserves (public debt repayment, financing of a fund, financing of a tax cut) is a political one, some general results can be stated: First, since reserves earn interest revenue, a large part of which is transferred to the government anyway, moderate (but still positive) economic gains can be expected from a reserve reduction. Second, reserve reductions exceeding a certain threshold require the ECB's approval, which could, however, only be rejected if the envisaged measures were inconsistent with the ECB's monetary and exchange rate policy. Given that unintended macroeconomic effects can easily be avoided by a carefully planned and coordinated reserve reduction, such a rejection by the ECB - which is subject to the review by the European Court of Justice - is only hard to justify. Equally important from a legal point of view is that reserve reductions, effected as transfer of an extraordinary gain to the government, do not constitute monetary financing as prohibited under Art. 101 EC Treaty. Finally, reducing reserves to an adequate level would also eliminate incompatibilities and conflicts of interest between monetary and investment policy by the central banks and reduce their field of operation to their core task: the conduct of monetary policy. Thus, a carefully planned and coordinated reserve reduction can be supported from both an economic as well as legal point of view. / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut