No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 16, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-100).

"Food desert" commonly describes food insecure areas with few fresh food outlets. Though used in a number of sources, the definition of "food desert" remains largely undeveloped and research is often deficit oriented, failing to account for community assets that may exist within food deserts but are underutilized or under-supported. Using an assets-based, ethnographic approach, this study combines GIS and survey methodology with participant observation and qualitative interviews to assess the potential positive effect of urban agriculture on food accessibility in Sulphur Springs, a USDA identified urban food desert in Tampa, Florida. Ethnographic data suggest that within this neighborhood, residents are largely dissatisfied with the quality of goods and services provided by local food retailers and, in response, seek alternatives to local retail food options. GIS and food store survey results from this study suggest that urban agriculture has the potential to increase fresh food accessibility and availability. Qualitative interview data suggest that the most appropriate way to improve food accessibility in this particular community is through Community Supported Agriculture that fosters social connections, while increasing access to healthful, quality foods, and circulating money within the community.

Between the 1970s and 2014, Winnipeg experienced dramatic change in the distribution of healthy food retailers in inner-city neighbourhoods. Winnipeg’s “active core” neighbourhoods identified through Dr. David Gordon’s research on Canadian suburbs (Gordon & Jean 2011), have undergone a decline in accessible healthy food options and a rise in food deserts. This practicum identifies the causes of food retail decline and possible strategies for improving accessible healthy food retail options within Winnipeg’s active core. The changes in the distribution of food retail over time in Winnipeg are displayed through a series of maps: one for 1971 and every five years thereafter until 2011, and the year 2014, using data collected through telephone directories. Spatial data of Winnipeg’s active core is compared with population density data, informational maps, and other statistical data. Finally, various stakeholders, including planners, current and former business owners and other experts are interviewed to discuss these trends, lessons learned, and possible solutions. / October 2015

The fossiliferous sediments of the Hueso and Tapiado formations exposed in the Vallecito Creek-Fish Creek section (VCFC) of the Anza-Borrego Desert (ABD) span the boundary between Blancan and Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal 'Ages.' Historically, the determination of the Blancan-Irvingtonian (B-I) boundary in the VCFC proved problematic. A new study to determine the B-I boundary in the VCFC revealed data inaccuracies in both published works and curatorial records of the mammal and other vertebrate fossils from the ABD. Most individual inaccuracies were minor, but an accumulation of over 50 years of multiple inaccuracies had significant effects on local and regional biostratigraphic and biochronologic correlations. A detailed investigation of the inaccurate data resulted in recognition of 17 types of error, with at least five sources. The two most prominent sources of error are those derived from publication and curation protocols. Examination of over 150 publications and in-house faunal lists produced over 830 taxonomic names and format variants, for 110 mammalian taxa identified from the ABD and VCFC. Approximately 50% of the taxonomic identifications were previously published without voucher catalogue numbers or fossil descriptions. A critical review of the taxonomic assignments resulted in an updated faunal list of ABD terrestrial Mammalia, including 110 taxonomic names, 66 unqualified genera, and 46 unqualified species. A supplemental list of 'retired' taxa includes 178 previously published or listed taxonomic names and format variants. The 4.5 km sequence of originally superposed sediments within VCFC is now tilted at 23 degrees and exposed in plan view. This exposure was captured in both aerial photos and satellite imagery. GIS layers of the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale and individual collecting localities are readily superposed onto the stratigraphic images. When united with the faunal database, GIS maps of biostratigraphic data facilitate detection and correction of data errors. Resulting corrected maps show highest and lowest stratigraphic occurrences of taxa, as well as geographic clustering of taxonomic groups, outlining possible paleohabitats. As a result of data improvement and GIS display, the local B-I boundary currently is best estimated by the presence of Ovibovini at >1.42 Ma. / text

The northeast African continental margin of the Western Desert of Egypt is host to a complexly deformed series of Phanerozoic basins. Substantial sedimentary deposition (~5 km) and basin formation resulted from regional deformation due to continental collision and repeated rifting and inversion cycles. Limited sedimentary exposure and exploration has prevented elucidation of Phanerozoic basin evolution, particularly in the Paleozoic. Previous studies of the region have largely relied upon sedimentary analysis, gravity, and 2D/3D seismic data. This study, in contrast, has employed extensive use of detrital zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology (n=1004) from 17 wells in conjunction with 3D seismic, well log correlation, and heat flow data to elucidate a spatiotemporally comprehensive tectonic and stratigraphic model. The detrital zircon thermochronometric data provides new evidence that the lower Paleozoic, Carboniferous, and Mesozoic stratigraphic sequences of the Western Desert represent thermally distinct, tectonically controlled sequences with independent thermal evolutions. The lower Paleozoic sequence has been partially thermally reset, reaching temperatures of ~140-170 ̊C. Partial resetting is noted throughout the region and reached its thermal maximum in the Permo-Triassic, synchronous with onset of Neotethyan rifting. The Carboniferous sequence has not been thermally reset, with exposure to temperatures no greater than ~140 ̊C and reaching thermal maximum presently. Carboniferous (U-Th)/He ages have dominant input from short-lag-time zircons (exhumation to deposition) and indicate the stratigraphic sequence was proximally sourced. The proximal sourcing is likely from transmitted stress and fault reactivation in Egypt during the Hercynian Orogeny that caused fault block exhumation and erosional unroofing. Sediment was shed from uplifted fault blocks that formed the eastern boundary of the Carboniferous sequence. The Mesozoic sequence has not been thermally reset, reaching temperatures no greater than ~120 ̊C and presently reaching thermal maximum. Localized areas with stacking of lower Paleozoic, Carboniferous, and Mesozoic sequences likely bury the lower Paleozoic to abnormally deep depths (~7 km) and elevated temperatures of ~200 ̊C. Evidence from faulting relationships, basin controlling structures, and heat flow data indicate that N-S trending basement structures may define a region of crustal transition between the Archean-Paleoproterozoic Saharan Metacraton and the juvenile Arabian-Nubian Shield. / text

No description available.

Breakout session from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The University of Arizona Libraries has developed several collaborative projects at local, regional and national levels. For example, the UA Libraries and the Office of Arid Land Studies at the University of Arizona have worked together on Rangelands West, a collaborative effort involving 19 Western land-grant universities. The UA Libraries and the Office of Arid Land Studies have recently partnered on a new initiative, the Sonoran Desert Knowledge Exchange (SDKE). SDKE is an emerging collaborative effort led by the UA Libraries involving more than 25 educational institutions, community organizations, and research centers. The presenters will share information about the vision of SDKE, the development and content of the project, discuss the roles of SDKE partners and participants, and examine the evolution of SDKE through the lens of collaboration. Issues surrounding the complexities of collaboration will be explored: How are transitions handled from library-led projects to more collaborative projects? What long-term vision is required to incorporate collaborative elements into project stages? What are the challenges and rewards of collaborative projects?

Impacts of ecological competition are reduced when organisms play different roles in their environment. More individuals can survive on varied but finite sets of resources when organisms eat different kinds of prey, live in different places, or are active at different times. Species within an assemblage of small fossorial snakes have ecologies that vary mostly by diet. Different species eat very different things. Species live in different habitats on sand ridges, but the differences are less dramatic than in diet. Disparity in resource use typically varies the most according to species, so that individuals of the same species are more similar to each other than they are to individuals of other species. However, variation exists in resource use within species over time and space. Wide variation exists in dietary resource use in four well-sampled species of comb-eared skinks. However, where species occur at the same study site there are clear distinctions in resource use between species despite the wide variation in diets observed between individuals of the same species. Additionally, strict ecological distances in diet between species are maintained during five censuses that were conducted over a 16-year period. These results illustrate the basic ecological principals of fundamental and realized niches. Here, individuals ate many different food items and species have the potential to overlap in diet but that overlap is reduced because of realized ecological boundaries between species within a single place and time, which result in decreased competition for resources. / text