In dryland environments, the availability of soil moisture is the primary control on plant species’ distributions. In the sandhill regions of the northern Great Plains, vegetation establishment has transformed highly mobile, desert-like dune fields into stabilized landscapes covered by mixed-grassland prairie. This study examines how dune stabilization has modified the spatiotemporal distribution of soil moisture resources. An ergodic (space-for-time) approach was used, comparing soil moisture dynamics on active and vegetation-stabilized dunes in the Bigstick Sand Hills of southwestern Saskatchewan. Results indicate that while dune stabilization has enhanced near-surface soil moisture availability, deeper profile soil moisture recharge is reduced. Through better understanding how vegetation has modified soil moisture dynamics in stabilizing sandhill regions, better management practices may be implemented to maintain water resource availability and ecosystem health. / xii, 97 leaves : ill., maps ; 29 cm

Two riparian habitats in southeastern Arizona provide the setting for a study of 127 plants useful to human foragers. A view of plant part availability is based on annual phenological profiles, and on historic and prehistoric records of plant use. Food choice is limited in March and April, but high August through November. Riparian plants also offer numerous non-food resources. Trees and shrubs serve more needs in relation to number of available species than do perennial herbs (including grasses) and annuals. Southwestern ethnographic literature hints that certain native taxa (Panicum, Physalis, Populus, Salix, Typha and Vitis) might receive special care. Inherent qualities of parts, coupled with ethnographic records of preparation and use, provide a basis for speculation on which parts might survive in an ancient record. Most are expected to disintegrate in open sites. Parts sought for different needs can enter a dwelling via diverse routes that produce confusingly similar archaeological debris. Modern experiments to wash pollen from 14 separate harvests permit evaluation of plant fruit and leaves as pollen traps, to help interpret pollen recovered from ancient dwellings. High amounts of Berberis, Rumex and Ribes pollen, sometimes in clumps or as tetrads, travel on harvested fruit. Arctostaphylos, Monarda, Oxalis, Rhus, Rhamnus, Vitis and Juniperus parts carry lower amounts. Quercus and Gramineae pollen grains travel on parts of other taxa, as well as on their own fruit. The phenological profiles offer insight into group life-form activities in response to local temperature and precipitation trends. Rising and maximum temperatures coincide with intense vegetative and reproductive activity for trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Increased levels of precipitation coincide with maximum flowering and fruiting of herbaceous perennials and fall annuals. Limited data on six taxa from Utah generally agrees with observations in this study, suggesting strong genetic control in the phenology of some riparian taxa.

Cette thèse propose une méthodologie qui intègre les méthodes formelles dans la spécification, la conception, la vérification et la validation des systèmes complexes concurrents et distribués avec une perspective à événements discrets. La méthodologie est basée sur le langage graphique HILLS (High Level Language for System Specification) que nous avons défini. HiLLS intègre des concepts de génie logiciel et de théorie des systèmes pour une spécification des systèmes. Précisément, HiLLS intègre des concepts et notations de DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification), UML (Unified Modeling Language) et Object-Z. Les objectifs de HILLS incluent la définition d’une syntaxe concrète graphique qui facilite la communicabilité des modèles et plusieurs domaines sémantiques pour la simulation, le prototypage, l’enaction et l’accessibilité à l’analyse formelle. L’Enaction se définit par le processus de création d’une instance du système qui s’exécute en temps réel (par opposition au temps virtuel utilisé en simulation). HiLLS permet la construction hiérarchique et modulaire des systèmes à événements discrets grâce à une description simple et rigoureuse des aspects statiques, dynamiques et fonctionnels des modèles. La sémantique pour simulation de HiLLS est définie en établissant un morphisme sémantique entre HiLLS et DEVS; de cette façon chaque modèle HiLLS peut être simulé en utilisant un simulateur DEVS. Cette approche permet aux utilisateurs DEVS d’utiliser HiLLS comme un langage de spécification dans la phase de modélisation et d’utiliser leurs propres implémentations locales ou distribuées de DEVS en phase de simulation. L’enactment des modèles HiLLS est basé sur une adaptation du patron de conception Observateur pour leur implémentation. La vérification formelle est faite en établissant un morphisme entre chaque niveau d’abstraction de HiLLS et une méthode formelle adaptée pour la vérification formelle des propriétés à ce niveau. Les modèles formels sur lesquels sont faites les vérifications formelles sont obtenus à partir des spécifications HiLLS en utilisant des morphismes. Les trois niveaux d’abstraction de HiLLS sont : le niveau composite, le niveau unitaire et le niveau des traces. Ces niveaux correspondent respectivement aux trois niveaux suivants de la hiérarchie de spécification des systèmes proposée par Zeigler : CN (Coupled Network), IOS (Input Output System) et IORO (Input Output Relation Observation). Nous avons établi des morphismes entre le niveau Composite et CSP (Communicating Sequential Processes), entre le niveau unitaire et Z, et nous utilisons les logiques temporelles telles que LTL, CTL et TCTL pour exprimer les propriétés sur les traces. HiLLS permet à la fois la spécification des modèles à structures statiques et les modèles à structures variables. Dans le cas des systèmes à structures variables, le niveau composite intègre à la fois des propriétés basées sur les états et les processus. Pour prendre en compte ces deux aspects, un morphisme est défini entre le niveau Composite de HiLLS et CSPZ (une combinaison de CSP et Z). Le processus de vérification et de validation combine la simulation, la vérification exhaustive de modèle (model checking) et la preuve de théorèmes (theorem proving) dans un Framework commun. La vérification exhaustive et la preuve de théorèmes sur les modèles HiLLS sont basées sur les outils associés aux méthodes formelles sélectionnées dans les morphismes. Nous appliquons la méthodologie de modélisation de HiLLS à la modélisation du Alternating Bit Protocol (ABP) et à celle d’un guichet automatique de dépôt de billet (Automated Teller Machine) (ATM). / This thesis proposes a methodology which integrates formal methods in the specification, design, verification and validation processes of complex, concurrent and distributed systems with discrete events perspectives. The methodology is based on the graphical language HILLS (High Level Language for System Specification) that we defined. HiLLS integrates software engineering and system theoretic views for the specification of systems. Precisely, HiLLS integrates concepts and notations from DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification), UML (Unified Modeling Language) and Object-Z. The objectives of HILLS include the definition of a highly communicable graphical concrete syntax and multiple semantic domains for simulation, prototyping, enactment and accessibility to formal analysis. Enactment refers to the process of creating an instance of system executing in real-clock time. HILLS allows hierarchical and modular construction of discrete event systems models while facilitating the modeling process due to the simple and rigorous description of the static, dynamic, structural and functional aspects of the models. Simulation semantics is defined for HiLLS by establishing a semantic mapping between HiLLS and DEVS; in this way each HiLLS model can be simulated by a DEVS simulator. This approach allow DEVS users to use HiLLS as a modeling language in the modeling phase and use their own stand alone or distributed DEVS implementation package to simulate the models. An enactment of HiLLS models is defined by adapting the observer design-pattern to their implementation. The formal verification of HiLLS models is made by establishing morphisms between each level of abstraction of HILLS and a formal method adapted for the formal verification of the properties at this level. The formal models on which are made the formal verification are obtained from HILLS specifications by using the mapping functions. The three levels of abstraction of HILLS are: the Composite level, the Unitary level and the Traces level. These levels correspond respectively to the following levels of the system specification hierarchy proposed by Zeigler: CN (Coupled Network), IOS (Input Output System) and IORO (Input Output Relation Observation). We have established morphisms between the Composite level and CSP (Communicating Sequential Processes), between Unitary level and Z and we expect to use temporal logics like LTL, CTL and TCTL to express traces level properties. HiLLS allows the specification of both static and dynamic structure systems. In case of dynamic structure systems, the composite level integrates both sate-based and process-based properties. To handle at the same time state-based and process-based properties, morphism is established between the dynamic composite level and CSPZ (a combination of CSP and Z); The verification and validation process combine simulation, model checking and theorem proving techniques in a common framework. The model checking and theorem proving of HILLS models are based on an integrated tooling framework composed of tools supporting the notations of the selected formal methods in the established morphisms. We apply our methodology to modeling of the Alternating Bit Protocol (ABP) and the Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

Over the last two decades, there have been increasing concerns about environmental degradation and its consequences on the long-term sustainability of socio-economic systems around the world. The publication of the report of the Club of Rome in 1972, (Meadows et al. 1972) focused on the issue of limits to growth. Since then, there has been a profusion of literature and general models have been developed to address the causes of environmental degradation and the unsustainability of current patterns of growth (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 1970; 1990). Essentially these models used parameters that included population growth, consumption levels and aspects of technology, and their effects on the environment. While these models and studies were at a macro level that helped focus attention on the patterns of growth and their unsustainability, they did not provide insights into the mechanisms that were driving ecological change, nor suggest alternative models of growth. An entry point into the current study is to understand the mechanisms that drive ecological change. Motivated by concerns for environmental degradation, and the need to understand the mechanisms that drive ecological change, the study is situated in the academic domain of studies on human-nature interactions. The complex nature of interactions between human groups with their environment and their dependence on the situational context, requires that such studies be at a regional and local scale for which sufficient detail is available. This particular study is situated in the Nilgiri hills in the Western Ghats of Southern India for which such detailed information is available. The study reconstructs the ecological history of the Nilgiri area during the last 200 years, and from this laboratory of human-nature interactions, attempts to derive general patterns.

No description available.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / Douglas G. Goodin / My thesis characterizes the temporal and spatial behavior of ozone and fine particulate matter in the Kansas City metropolitan area. I also investigate the capability of a synoptic weather typing scheme, the Spatial Synoptic Classification, to characterize and explain the behavior of ozone and fine particulate matter in the Kansas City area. Daily maximum ozone concentrations from nine active ozone monitoring stations and daily average particulate concentrations six active PM2.5 monitoring stations were compared to daily SSC weather type records from 2004-2010. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted on the ozone and PM2.5 data to analyze temporal and spatial behavior. A non-parametric recursive partitioning technique was used to create a conditional inference tree-based regression model to analyze the association between the different SSC weather types and the selected pollutants. The ANOVA results showed significant seasonal trends with both pollutants. In general, ozone concentrations are typically lower in the spring and autumn months and higher during the summer months. PM2.5 concentrations were not as dependent on the season, however, they did tend to be higher in the late summer months and lower in the autumn months. The results also showed significant differences for both pollutants in average concentration depending on location. The ozone concentrations generally tended to be higher in the areas that are located downwind of Kansas City and lowest at the station located in the middle of the urban area. Fine particulates also seemed to be highest in the downwind portion of the urban area and lowest in the region upwind of the city. The conditional inference tree showed that higher concentrations of both pollutants are associated with tropical air masses and lower concentrations are associated with polar air masses.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1938 S56 / Master of Science

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / William J. Adams / The purpose of this study is to research cultivation effects of gender represented on MTV reality television series "The Hills" on adolescent female bloggers. Gerbner’s cultivation theory structures the background of this study. By conducting a textual analysis of various celebrity gossip blog sites from November 1-30, 2008, this study will unveil personal opinions relating to the reality of constructed gender representation and authenticity of "The Hills" as a “reality” television program. Blogs provide an ambiguous platform for individuals to immediately express opinions, judgments and attitude concerning the program; therefore, this study will be a contribution to the expanding field of convergence and “new media.” Although comments on the websites are critical of "The Hills" characters and their depiction of “reality,” the television program has a dedicated audience, calling for the reevaluation of “fandom.” Cyberspace offers an opportunity for virtual dialogue among viewers, as well as a platform to express cyberfeminist rhetoric. Women and girls are gaining new social and organizing space, claiming a new form of power and shaping media and society through particular kinds of participatory communication.

Master of Science / Department of Biology / Samantha Wisely / As human populations increase world-wide, land use and land cover are altered to support the rapid anthropogenic expansion. These landscape alterations influence patterns of zoonotic infectious disease emergence and propagation. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to study emerging and re-emerging diseases to predict and manage for future epidemics. Studies of directly-transmitted infectious diseases should consider three components of disease epidemiology: characteristics of the pathogen, ecology of the host, and habitat configuration of the underlying landscape. I studied the influence of both the host ecology of the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) and the alteration of the underlying landscape on the epidemiology of rabies virus in the Flint Hills of Kansas. This tall-grass prairie is experiencing woody expansion due to anthropogenic disturbance, altering the landscape on which the rabies virus emerges and spreads. We first studied the behavioral and social ecology of the striped skunk using field and genetic methods. We concluded that 1) striped skunks reached high population densities in anthropogenically disturbed habitats, 2) these individuals were not closely related, and 3) contact rates could be influenced by temperature. Using habitat-specific skunk densities from this initial study, we created spatially-explicit contact networks of skunk populations across the Upper Kansas River Watershed and simulated the emergence and spread of rabies through the system. This modeling approach revealed a threshold of forest habitat beyond which striped skunks became increasingly connected and the rabies virus reached greater extents across the landscape. Based on these findings we recommend fire regimes and land cover alterations to reduce woody encroachment across the Flint Hills and to avoid future disease epidemics in the region.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / Kendra K. McLauchlan / The quantitative relationship between pollen assemblages in sediment and vegetation cover is largely unknown because many factors influence this relationship. This lack of quantitative relationship is particularly acute in grassland regions, where both past and future climate change have the potential to determine grassland composition and cover. The tool used to reconstruct past grassland cover is the relative abundance of distinct fossil pollen types preserved in sediment. However, the interpretation of grassland pollen assemblages as grassland vegetation types needs to be refined to improve these reconstructions. Using pollen found in the surface sediments from 24 artificially-constructed ponds in the Flint Hills ecoregion of Kansas, USA, I examined relationships between pollen and vegetation in the tallgrass prairie biome, which includes woody components. By comparing the pollen data to field-surveyed vegetation data and land cover classifications taken from Kansas Gap Analysis Program data, I correlated pollen and vegetation in this ecoregion. Pollen productivity estimates for Artemisia, Ambrosia, Asteraceae, Chenopodiaceae, Cornus, Fabaceae, Juniperus, Maclura, Poaceae, Populus, Quercus, and Salix were calculated via the Extended R-Value Model. Common pollen types identified in sediments are mostly herbaceous grassland plant species such as Poaceae, Artemisia, and Ambrosia, but woody plants such as Populus, Quercus, and Juniperus are also represented. PPEs have been calculated for four of these taxa in Europe, and values from the Flint Hills are higher. These are the first PPEs reported for eight of these taxa. This research will further advance quantitative vegetation reconstructions in the Great Plains of North America and refine interpretations of how climate change affects grasslands.