This research is an integrated geological and geomorphological study into the Denton Hills area. The study area is part of the foothills to the Transantarctic Mountains, which divides East and West Antarctica, allowing an opportunity to investigate glacial events from both sides. As the study area is ice-free, it has allows good examination of the bedrock geology and has preserved geomorphological features allowing them to be examined and sampled. Comprehensive geological map and geomorphological maps have been produced, extending the knowledge into the spatial distribution of units and features. Both the geological and geomorphological maps reveal a complex history of evolution. The original geological units have been subjected to deformation and intrusion of large plutons. The geomorphological mapping shows ice has flowed in alternate direction through the valleys, and the valleys have had long periods where they have been occupied by large proglacial lakes. As the Antarctic ice sheets expanded they flowed into the valleys either from the west, the Royal Society Range draining the East Antarctic Ice Sheet or from the east, McMurdo Sound. Ice would flow from McMurdo Sound when the West Antarctic Ice Sheet expanded causing the grounding line of the ice sheet to move north through the Ross Sea. Surface exposure dating completed during the study has correlated the timing of glacial events to global cycles. The dating confirmed the presence of the large proglacial lake during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Miers Valley, which drained about 14 ka. The Garwood Glacier has also been directly linked to the Last Glacial Maximum with a moraine forming about 22 ka. The dating has also shown that during the Last Glacial Maximum there was little fluctuation in the size of glaciers draining the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, with features being date to the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum.

Despite intense publicity, habitat loss still remains a serious threat to biodiversity. Forest destruction is its frontrunner, both in terms of physical habitat under threat and potential for biodiversity loss. In the fragmented landscape of the Taita Hills, SE Kenya, several bird species are facing the threat of extinction from forest loss. They are absent from many of the remnant forest patches and/or are showing negative effects with increasing disturbance. Using a relatively common forest-dependent bird species - the whitestarred robin Pogonocichla stellata - as a model, the current status of this ecosystem was examined, and future patterns predicted in view of the unrelenting destruction. As expected, the robin population in the largest and most intact fragment (c35 ha) was the healthiest, suggesting that this was indeed the best quality habitat patch: it had the highest population density, highest productivity (low nest predation and high juvenile to adult ratio) and lowest turnover rates. Effects of forest deterioration were evident from the fact that the medium-sized patch (c95 ha), which is undergoing severe degradation, was a worse habitat for the robin than the tiny patches (c2-8 ha): it had the lowest population density, lowest productivity (highest nest predation rates and lowest juvenile to adult ratio), and highest turnover rates. The explanation for this is twofold. Besides the smallest patches facing lower levels of habitat loss recently, they also had high levels of dispersal between them. They occasionally operated as a finegrained system with individuals moving between them in the space of a few days. In general, the robin metapopulation is demographically (rate of change, λ = 0.996) and genetically (at migration- and mutation-drift equilibrium) stable at present. The populations in the largest and smallest patches were potential sources providing emigrants that were possibly crucial in sustaining the population in the medium-sized patch (given its low productivity and high turnover rates). Overall, these findings underscore the importance of within-patch processes, both for ensuring persistence of subpopulations and providing dispersers, as well as between-patch processes (chiefly dispersal) for ensuring metapopulation persistence. Thus, by furnishing ample sample sizes that enabled work to be carried out in all fragments throughout this landscape, the model species approach was useful for identifying the need for a two-pronged conservation strategy. First, a need to focus within fragments to reduce habitat loss and degradation, and second, to address among fragment issues relating to land-use and maintaining a forested landscape, in order to enhance connectivity between patches. Finally, based on the mechanisms by which disturbance and fragmentation are affecting bird populations e.g. predator influxes from the surrounding matrix, conservation recommendations for the Taita Hills are offered.

Cougars (Puma concolor) have recently begun to reclaim former range and also are expanding into new territory. The Cypress Hills of southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan now hosts the most eastern confirmed breeding population of cougars in Canada. However, with the return of cougars come new issues about human safety and risk of livestock depredation. Using GPS radiocollars, scat analysis, snowtracking and wildlife cameras, I found that the Cypress Hills boasts one of the highest densities of cougars ever reported, yet the large cats avoid human-use areas and have not been documented to prey on livestock. Using aerial ungulate survey data, I also show that the increase in cougar abundance is associated with a shift in distribution of nave ungulate prey to areas outside the park. Provided that cougars continue to avoid humans and cattle, this island habitat could prove to be an important stepping stone to further expansion eastward. / Ecology

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1998. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 228-234). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-219).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-182).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-219).

Thesis (D. Min.)--McCormick Theological Seminary, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Abilene Christian University, 2008. / Abstract. Description based on Microfiche version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-82).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity International University, 2004. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-219).