This thesis explores the relationship between environmental restoration and social-economic factors. It focuses on the erosion treatment on the Loess Plateau, especially the Grain to Green Project (GGP), the biggest national-range environmental treatment program in China in recent years. GGP produced significant impact on local landform, landuse and livelihood. On one hand, the program effectively controlled torrent by increasing soil aggregation; on the other hand, it lacked long-term perspectives and had underestimated the complexity of the environment and of local residents. The thesis seeks to bridge the gaps between soil treatment policy and the actual effect. Research was conducted on soil erosion across multiple scales and key issues are generated based on typical cases. Findings from the research serve as guidelines for the following design proposition. The design applies hierarchical method, including both top-down and bottom-up interventions. First, a division method for erosion states was developed which can divide the erosion problem within the range of the yellow river into small catchment basins. Second, a typical catchment basin was selected as an example to show proposed strategy in three scales: catchment, slope and patches. The core design idea is to conserve resources and maximize output in sustainable ways. The fragmented land patches are integrated to complete the production model. The study site is planned according to field condition, such as erosion process, slope ratio, lighting, water resource and distance to settlements. Patches were identified using vegetation coverage and appropriate planting strategies were proposed accordingly. In sum, the thesis is a critique of existing GGP. A new solution is proposed that can mitigate the conflict of soil erosion treatment and socio-economic development of local communities. / published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 7, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Sand mining has grown popular in South African rural communities due to its increasing demand for building purposes in and around the surrounding villages as well as a source of income to the rural communities. Sand is an indispensable natural resource of any society around the world. For instance, the government has to deal with the frequent sand mining environmental effects and implement various strategies on how to deal with these effects to protect the environment. Although the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) 107 of 1998 regulates sand mining, the illegal and unregulated rural sand mining is causing land degradation, creating unpleasant appearances, causing vulnerability to floods and pointing out the need for rehabilitation. Given the circumstances surrounding the issue of illegal sand mining in rural communities, this research is aimed at investigating the impact of illegal or legal sand mining on the environment looking at the land degradation and the importance of rehabilitating the area after use in Mentz village. The main objective of this research was to explore how sand mining causes land degradation and examining the significance of rehabilitation in sand mining. The methodology of the study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative research design in a form of questionnaire surveys, oral interviews and field observations to collect the data. The sample was composed of the general members of the community, the chief and the sand miners. For data analysis, the study used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), IBM SPSS Statistics 25. The results indicated that sand mining causes 54.76% of the land degradation in South Africa. Furthermore, the research revealed that 30.95% of the land degradation was due to deforestation and 11.90% of Mentz land degradation was caused by overgrazing. Besides, an overwhelming 76.58% of the respondents agreed that land should be rehabilitated after sand mining processes.

Afin de dépolluer et de réhabiliter les sols contaminés par des hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAP), différentes techniques ont été développées durant les dernières décennies, mais leur impact sur les fonctions du sol est rarement pris en compte. L'objectif de ce travail était d'évaluer l'impact des traitements par oxydation chimique sur différents paramètres physico-chimiques et biologiques de terres contaminées aux HAP et de proposer des solutions pour restaurer le fonctionnement biologique des terres oxydées. Les différentes expérimentations de laboratoire et de terrain ont montré que l'efficacité des réactions d'oxydation chimique (réaction de Fenton et persulfate activé) sur la teneur en HAP dépendait de la disponibilité de la pollution et des propriétés physico-chimiques des terres. Par ailleurs, des processus d'acidification ont été observés sur des terres non carbonatées, altérant fortement et durablement les paramètres physico-chimiques et biologiques. Cette altération était plus forte après utilisation du persulfate activé, engendrant ainsi des pertes en éléments traces métalliques dans les eaux de percolations. L'apport de matériaux susceptibles d'augmenter le pH a permis la restauration des activités biologiques et la capacité des terres à supporter la végétation lorsque les terres ont fortement été acidifiées. L'association de traitements d'oxydation chimique et de refonctionnalisation pourrait présenter un moyen de réhabilitation efficace. Un indice, dont l'objectif était de représenter l'état du sol en fonction du poids accordé à différents paramètres, a été proposé et a permis d'évaluer les variations induites par les traitements d'oxydation et les procédés de refonctionnalisation / In order to clean up polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contaminated soils, various techniques have been developed during the last decades, but their impact on soil functions was rarely considered. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of chemical oxidation treatments on different physico-chemical and biological parameters of PAH contaminated soil and to propose solutions to improve the biological functioning of oxidized soil. Various laboratory and field experiments have shown that the efficiency of chemical oxidation reactions (Fenton reaction and activated persulfate) on PAH concentrations depended on pollutant availability and soil physico-chemical properties. Besides, intense acidification processes have been observed on uncarbonated soil with a strong impact on soil physico-chemical and biological parameters. Moreover, this alteration was higher with activated persulfate treatment, leading to the loss of trace metals in water percolation. In the strongly acidified soil, the input of materials, suitable for pH increase, resulted in the restoration of biological activities and soil capacity to support vegetation. The association of chemical oxidation treatment and restoration techniques could present a good mean for soil rehabilitation. Finally, an index, which aimed to represent soil conditions based on the weight given to different parameters, was proposed and was used to evaluate changes induced by oxidation treatments and restoration techniques

Since human beings began to use and shape the land, their influence on their<p>environment has kept on growing so that little or no ecosystem in the world is now<p>considered as untouched. This induces pressures on ecosystem health and land scarcity.<p>Africa is of particular concern because it still presents broad undisturbed zones and<p>key ecosystem services, despite being submitted to increasing anthropogenic pressures.<p>Landscape ecology appears suitable for the study of such phenomena, thanks to its spacebased<p>integrative nature and geographical level of focus. It studies the impact of spatial<p>pattern transformation — especially heterogeneity and its components — on ecological<p>processes and provides powerful analytical tools of landscape anthropisation.<p>The main objective of this thesis is to organise the concepts and methods, from<p>landscape ecology and related disciplines, into a consistent logic, to pinpoint missing<p>analytical frameworks for response-oriented anthropisation assessment, and to apply them<p>to African cases to explore the spatial patterns of anthropisation. In order to address<p>landscape anthropisation, we assemble diverse disciplines into a logical network (DPSIR).<p>The new theoretical framework is tested on Lubumbashi (DRC). In order to address<p>spatial patterns, we first evaluate the thermodynamic connection of the term entropy in<p>landscape ecology: spatial heterogeneity, unpredictability and scale influence. Then, based<p>on 20 landscapes, we highlight the complex relationship between spatial heterogeneity<p>and landscape anthropisation. We finally use the modelled relationships to test the<p>anthropogenic origin of the spatial pattern of a land cover class in Lubumbashi.<p>The main results of this research show that several concepts are used to describe different<p>aspects of anthropisation and that its quantification strongly depends on the reference states.<p>Data formats can be combined into a new assessment method ensuring more precision<p>and comparability, but a good field knowledge is required. As for heterogeneity, the<p>existing definitions of landscape entropy follow the logic of thermodynamics or information<p>theory, that are not compatible. Only unpredictability could be properly interpreted in<p>thermodynamic terms if energy transfer measurements were performed at the appropriate<p>level. The anthropogenic effects on heterogeneity completely diverge depending on the<p>amount of already anthropised surface, on the land cover type (natural or anthropogenic),<p>and on the heterogeneity components.<p>The aforementioned findings could be adapted to include functional aspects and<p>better address the relationship between spatial pattern and ecological processes. Such<p>integration would help designing response actions that can recommend human activities<p>and spatial patterns that could optimise the use of land to ensure ecological functioning<p>while supporting human development. / <p>L’influence croissante de l’homme sur son environnement affecte désormais le monde<p>entier, ce qui induit des pressions sur la santé des écosystèmes et raréfie les ressources<p>en terres. L’Afrique présente un intérêt particulier à cet égard car elle contient de vastes<p>zones quasi vierges et fournit des services écosystémiques importants mais est soumise<p>à des pressions anthropiques croissantes. L’écologie du paysage étudie ces phénomènes<p>de façon intégrative au moyen de sa composante spatiale et de son échelle d’intérêt. Elle<p>étudie l’impact des transformations de la structure spatiale — en particulier l’hétérogénéité<p>et ses différentes composantes—sur les processus écologiques et fournit de puissants outils<p>analytiques de l’anthropisation.<p>L’objectif de cette thèse est d’organiser les concepts et méthodes de différentes disciplines<p>de façon à mettre en évidence leurs forces et faiblesses pour proposer une nouvelle<p>quantification de l’anthropisation, orientée vers la gestion, et de la tester sur des paysages<p>africains pour examiner la structure spatiale de l’anthropisation. Le DPSIR est utilisé pour<p>assembler les différents concepts. La nouvelle méthodologie est testée sur Lubumbashi<p>(RDC). Ensuite, le lien entre la thermodynamique et l’utilisation du terme entropie en<p>écologie du paysage est examiné. Vingt paysages servent alors à mettre en évidence la<p>complexité de l’impact de l’anthropisation sur l’hétérogénéité du paysage. Enfin, cette<p>modélisation sert à mettre en évidence l’origine anthropique de la structure spatiale d’une<p>classe d’occupation du sol à Lubumbashi.<p>Les résultats principaux de cette recherche sont que pléthore de termes sont utilisés<p>pour représenter différents aspects de l’anthropisation et que sa quantification dépend de<p>la définition d’états de référence. Cependant, la combinaison de différents formats de<p>données peut aboutir à une nouvelle méthodologie plus précise et adaptable, mais cela<p>nécessite une bonne connaissance de terrain. Les définitions de l’entropie dépendent soit de<p>la thermodynamique soit de la théorie de l’information, qui ne sont pas compatibles. Seule<p>l’imprévisibilité pourrait être interprétée thermodynamiquement, si les mesures de transfert<p>d’énergie étaient effectuées à l’échelle appropriée. L’impact humain sur l’hétérogénéité<p>diverge selon la quantité de surface déjà anthropisée, le type de couverture du sol pris en<p>compte ainsi que les composantes de l’hétérogénéité mesurées.<p>Ces découvertes peuvent être adaptées pour intégrer des aspects fonctionnels de la<p>structure spatiale et mieux cerner le lien entre celle-ci et le fonctionnement écologique, ce qui<p>permettrait de proposer des activités humaines et des structures spatiales qui optimiseraient<p>l’utilisation des ressources en sol pour assurer tant le fonctionnement écologique que le<p>développement humain. / Doctorat en Sciences agronomiques et ingénierie biologique / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Dam removal is increasing as dams age, yet little is understood about the pedogenic response to dam removal. This study reports on the edaphic changes of reservoir sediments and vegetation cover one year following removal of a small earthen dam in Northern California. In August 2012, I sampled surface sediments from the former Dream Lake reservoir in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and compared their physical and chemical properties with soil samples from two reference sites. I also estimated percent cover of vegetation in the former reservoir and reference sites. My results show that the reservoir was under reduced conditions, as determined by gleyed soil color and a higher pH when compared to reference samples. In contrast to reservoirs on larger river systems which tend to be sinks for organic matter, Dream Lake showed a reduction in organic matter when compared to reference locations. My results suggest reservoirs created by dams cannot be considered to have similar sediment properties, namely increases in organic material. Unlike other studies that found former impoundments invaded by non-native species, the former Dream Lake site has been colonized by native grasses, sedges, and rushes. This study documents the edaphic properties and vegetation response of a small reservoir one year after dam removal, and suggests a more thorough investigation of those properties prior to undertaking costly restoration of these highly dynamic systems.