Climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity, and will alter species ranges, plant and animal phenology, and species interactions within ecosystems. Climate mediates plant-insect interactions, and consequently has the potential for positive or negative effects on biological control systems. Observational evidence suggests that a recent dramatic reduction in the density of diffuse knapweed, Centaurea diffusa Lamarck, in sites in British Columbia, Canada is attributed to the biological agent Larinus minutus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). This decline took place over several years of late spring and summer drought which suggested an association between dry conditions and successful biological control. To explore this, I conducted field experiments using rain shelters and watering treatments to assess the effectiveness of plant attack by L. minutus under moist and dry conditions. I found that L. minutus reduced seed production regardless of moisture conditions, with a trend towards greater seed reduction under dry conditions. Two or more species of insects in the same genera have been introduced in some weed biocontrol programs. If the species are ecological equivalents and compete the introduction of both species may be detrimental and reduce their impacts. If however the species vary in their distributions, the introduction of congeners may be advantageous. I review the following cases of species pair releases: the beetles Chrysolina quadrigemina (Suffrian) and Chrysolina hyperici (Forster) for St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.); the gallflies Urophora affinis Frfld. and Urophora quadrifasciata (Meig.) for Centaurea species; the weevils Neochetina bruchi Hustache and Neochetina eichhorniae Warner for water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms.) and the beetles Galerucella pusilla Duftschmidt and Galerucella calmariensis L. for purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.). I found that congeneric agents can offer complementary control of target weeds in slightly different habitats. Given the increasing focus on possible non-target effects of biological control introductions, I recommend that greater care be taken to avoid mixed species introductions and that judicious use be made of controlled field experimentation to determine species impacts. Molecular studies of species before introduction could help prevent the accidental introduction of multiple species.

Cities are concentrations of diverse populations that undergo continual transformation over time. This thesis deals with the question, how does the individual make place in a constantly changing environment? The entry point for this study was looking at neglected places in urban environments. I looked specifically at the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario and how it has developed as an open-ended and complex system. The site research is presented through a series of stories describing specific events or places in the Don Valley that have taken place over the past 200 years. This thesis offers a mongrel approach to design for a site within the Don Valley. “The Mongrel Approach” is an opportunistic way of building that is committed to survival and open as to how this can be achieved. The design proposes a series of intimate yet public infrastructural devices; a toilet, water fountain, shelter and bridge that are presented in a set of hand drawings as well as through an “Explanatory Tale.” A magpie narrates this short story, which is part true, part fiction and part wishful thinking. As the earth’s population becomes more urban than rural and increasingly mobile, contemporary cities are becoming home to a diverse range of individuals with complex and layered identities. The Mongrel Approach offers a way of building that can handle difference and contradiction and accommodate incongruous or inharmonious parts. It positions the designer as a conjurer or first mover. This thesis proposes Mongrel buildings that respond to change by transforming slowly and incrementally over time with the involvement of multiple authors; but at each moment, a register of time and human ritual.

This thesis investigates space through its relationship with society based on the idea of the social production of space. By employing the social concepts of community and institution, and the spatial concepts of shelter space and marker space, it provides a theoretical perspective for the evaluation of space in architectural history. This theoretical frame is supplied with a case study on the evolution of Early Christian community and their meeting place. The historical course of the Early Christianity in the Roman Empire from community formation to become an institution &ndash / Christendom - constitutes the paradigm for the social premise of the thesis. On the other hand, the proposed outline for the spatial evolution is demonstrated on the house-church at Dura-Europos.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze women&rsquo / s shelters in the context of the Feminist Standpoint Theory by focusing on a case in Turkey. The majority of the previous studies has not regarded the women&rsquo / s entire subjective experiences of domestic violence and shelter stay. Rather they present a reductionist picture. In this study, women&rsquo / s experiences of violence and shelter stay are analyzed and discussed in relation to / their specificities, the shelter structure, and the system shelters are connected in Turkey, from the perspective of Feminist Standpoint Theory. The issue of to what extent empowerment is attainable within the existing structures of institutions is questioned through qualitative method. Participatory observation is the main data gathering method in this study / semi-structured in-depth interviews are also used as additional data gathering source. Interviews and interpersonal relationships with 78 women are analyzed. The interviews aim at providing individual narratives of these women concerning the experience of violence and the process afterwards. In addition, interpersonal communications with the shelter staff are also added to the analysis. It was understood that the subjective experiences of the women are not wholly understandable under a fixed womanhood categorization of gender / they are mostly underestimated in the existing system of structure / and that the constraints specific to each woman&rsquo / s case combined with the rigid structural practices in the aftermath of violence entrap many women in situations difficult to escape, and the &lsquo / mediating role&rsquo / of the structures and individuals are disempowering for the women.

Climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity, and will alter species ranges, plant and animal phenology, and species interactions within ecosystems. Climate mediates plant-insect interactions, and consequently has the potential for positive or negative effects on biological control systems. Observational evidence suggests that a recent dramatic reduction in the density of diffuse knapweed, Centaurea diffusa Lamarck, in sites in British Columbia, Canada is attributed to the biological agent Larinus minutus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). This decline took place over several years of late spring and summer drought which suggested an association between dry conditions and successful biological control. To explore this, I conducted field experiments using rain shelters and watering treatments to assess the effectiveness of plant attack by L. minutus under moist and dry conditions. I found that L. minutus reduced seed production regardless of moisture conditions, with a trend towards greater seed reduction under dry conditions. Two or more species of insects in the same genera have been introduced in some weed biocontrol programs. If the species are ecological equivalents and compete the introduction of both species may be detrimental and reduce their impacts. If however the species vary in their distributions, the introduction of congeners may be advantageous. I review the following cases of species pair releases: the beetles Chrysolina quadrigemina (Suffrian) and Chrysolina hyperici (Forster) for St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.); the gallflies Urophora affinis Frfld. and Urophora quadrifasciata (Meig.) for Centaurea species; the weevils Neochetina bruchi Hustache and Neochetina eichhorniae Warner for water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms.) and the beetles Galerucella pusilla Duftschmidt and Galerucella calmariensis L. for purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.). I found that congeneric agents can offer complementary control of target weeds in slightly different habitats. Given the increasing focus on possible non-target effects of biological control introductions, I recommend that greater care be taken to avoid mixed species introductions and that judicious use be made of controlled field experimentation to determine species impacts. Molecular studies of species before introduction could help prevent the accidental introduction of multiple species.

Magistro darbe buvo įvertintas pušies pomiškio formavimasis VĮ Druskininkų miškų urėdijos Merkinės girininkijos pušynuose atvejinių (dviejų atvejų) kirtimų metu. Darbo objektas - Druskininkų miškų urėdijos Merkinės girininkijos atvejinių kirtimų kirtavietės. Darbo tikslas - įvertinti pušies pomiškio savaiminį atžėlimą atvejinių kirtimų kirtavietėse. Darbo metodai. Paprastosios pušies žėliniams įvertinti buvo iš medynų inventorizacinės medžiagos pasirinktos 22 atvejinių kirtimų kirtavietės. Šiose 1 - 5 metų (po iškirtimo) kirtavietėse buvo vertinamas pušies pomiškio žėlimas pagal Miško atkūrimo ir įveisimo nuostatuose pateiktą miško žėlinių vertinimo metodiką. Tyrimai vykdyti 2009 metų rudenį. Bareliuose buvo skaičiuojamos tikslinės ir netikslinės medžių rūšys, vertinta trako (krūmų) ir žolinės augalijos įtaka savaiminiam žėlimui. Darbo rezultatai: Tyrimo eigoje nustatyta, kad visose stebėtose kirtavietėse rastas palyginti nedidelis pušies savaiminukų kiekis. Vertinant pušų savaiminį žėlimą kirtavietėse ir apskaičiavus pagal rastus savaiminukus bareliuose, buvo nustatyta žėlimo kokybė. Iš 22 kirtaviečių (1 – 5 metų savaiminukai) tik 9,0 proc. įvertinta patenkinamai, 36 proc. blogai ir 55 proc. laikomi žuvusiais (tačiau 92 proc. žuvusių žėlinių augo 1 – 2 metų kirtavietėse, kuriose dar vyksta žėlimas, todėl daryti išvadas dėl jų kokybės dar anksti). Po kirtimo praėjus 3 – 5 metams žėlinių kokybė dažniausiai būna arba patenkinama arba bloga. Pagrindinės prasto žėlimo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The development of pine undergrowth in PO Druskininkai Forest Enterprise Merkinė pine forestry after shelter wood cuttings was evaluated in the master`s thesis. The object of the study – the clear cuttings in Druskininkai Forest Enterprise Merkinė pine forestry after shelter wood cuttings . The aim of the study – to evaluate self – regeneration of pine undergrowth in shelter wood cuttings. The methods: There were selected 22 shelter wood cuttings from stands inventory materials to evaluate greens of Shortleaf Pine. The sprouting of pine undergrow was assessed by the forest greens rating technique presented by Reforestation and Afforestation Regulations in these 1 -5 years (after cutting) clear cuttings. The research was carried out in 2009 autumn. Target and non-target species of trees were calculated in barrels, the influence of bushes and herbs for self – generation was assessed. The results: It was noticed a relatively small amount of self – growing trees in all observed wood cuttings. Growing quality was determined by assessing pines` self – growing in wood cuttings and found self – growing trees in bartels. From 22 wood cuttings (1-5 year – old self – growing trees) only 9,0% were satisfying, 36% - poor and 55% were considered dead (though, 92 % dead greens grew in 1-2 years wood cuttings, where growing is still going on, thus, to draw conclusions on the quality is too early). Greens` quality is usually satisfying or poor 3 – 5 years later after crossing. The main... [to full text]

The purpose of this study is to find out how the non-governmental shelters for battered women identify themselves in context of their dependence and cooperation with the municipality. Their legitimacy is also investigated which is based on, along with identity, key concepts of the neoinstitutional organization theory. The mutual dependency between these two actors is problematized along with the question of who is responsible for assisting the battered women, and who takes on the responsibilities for them. The empirical result that is analyzed was gathered through three qualitative semi structured interviews with employed personnel at three different battered women’s shelters in three different municipalities in Sweden. Further, three qualitative semi structured interviews was held with a representative from the social services offices in those same municipalities. The results show that although the interaction between the battered women’s shelters and the municipalities vary a bit, all the battered women’s shelters are dependent on the municipalities in which they function for economic resources. It appears in the interviews that there is a mutual dependency whereas the social services rely on the knowledge and experiences the battered women’s shelters have gathered through the years, along with the low cost volunteer workers bring the organization.

The aim of this study was through theories of emotional labor; understand how staff and volunteers within women’s shelter handled their emotions in the encounters with battered women. To examine this we used a qualitative method and interviewed four staff members and three volunteers spread across four different women’s shelters. The data collected was analyzed using Hochschilds’ theory of emotional labor. The results show that the most common feelings within the women’s shelters were feelings of friendship, happiness, sadness and frustration. The results also show that the staff and volunteers needed to manage their emotion due to the inappropriateness of some feelings. The feelings that needed managing were primarily feelings of sadness, frustration and shock. To manage their emotion the staff and volunteers of the women’s shelters used both surface acting and deep acting. The surface acting used was that staff and volunteers hid the feelings that were considered inappropriate. The deep acting used was method acting, working experience, life experience and the staff and volunteers also managed their emotions by talking to fellow staff and their loved ones.

Unhome: Objects of Vulnerability, references simple structures and ad hoc processes that come out of the human need for shelter. Proceeding from the need for physical protection from hostile environments, various techniques and technologies - inventions engendered by need - have been employed to clarify formal and conceptual concerns about housing. The provisional architectures represented have been constructed - as in vernacular architecture - by employing materials that are readily available or that come easily to hand. Rather than using conventional construction techniques and durable materials, however, the structures were erected by way of sewing, weaving, textiles, and recycled materials. The resultant objects remain vulnerable and fragile in potentially dangerous circumstances.

Föryngringen av skog på Gotland har historiskt sett varit problematisk under lång tid och i dagsläget används främst markberedning följt av plantering av tall. Förutsättningen för föryngring under skärm samt naturlig föryngring under fröträd som föryngringsmetod har studerats i denna rapport då det råder brist på skriftliga sammanfattningar om dessa båda metoder. Föryngringsmetoderna studerades genom fältstudier på 16 lokaler och intervjuer med verksamma inom branschen på Gotland. Naturlig föryngring visade sig ha viss framgång på norra Gotland samt fungera väl på nordöstra Fårö. Förutom på Fårö visade emellertid föryngring med markberedning och plantering bäst resultat. Plantering under skärm och självföryngring under skärm verkade fungera på norra Gotland på jordar av grus och sand. Att resultatet skiljer sig åt beror sannolikt på olika markstrukturer för de olika delarna av ön där vissa av norra Gotlands jordar med sand, grus och mindre stenstruktur har större nytta av en högskärm samt lämpar sig bättre för naturlig föryngring.