River basins provide essential services for both humans and ecosystems. Understanding the connections between ecosystems and society and their function has been at the heart of resilience studies and has become an increasing important endeavor in research and practice. In this dissertation, I define basin resilience as a river basin system's capacity to absorb, manage, and adapt to biophysical, social-economic, and political changes (or stressors) while still maintaining its essential structure, feedbacks, and functional integrity. I address the question of resilience, scale, and development in the Mekong and Columbia River Basins. This dissertation answers the following questions: 1) is systems theory an appropriate model to evaluate basin resilience, 2) is the Mekong Basin resilient, 3) are the Mekong and Columbia River Basins resilient across multiple scales, 4) can conflict management and collaborative learning enhance resilience, 5) can a resilience framework be used for basin comparisons, and 6) what lessons can the Mekong basin take from rapid development in the Columbia basin? In Chapter 2, I create and apply a social-ecological systems (SES) model of the Mekong River Basin to assess resilience at sub-basin (provincial), watershed (national), and basin (regional) scales. Feedbacks, thresholds, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity are determined and used as inputs into an overall basin resilience assessment. Drawing upon field work done in the Mekong Basin, Chapter 3 uses Conflict Management and Collaborative Learning processes to address resilience weaknesses across multiple scales in the Mekong Basin. Chapter 4 uses the basin resilience framework to compare the Mekong and Columbia Basins against physical characteristics, development rate, conflict and cooperation, and institutional responses to development projects. In this dissertation I find the Mekong has medium-low basin resilience and that scale is a critical determinant in basin resilience assessments. I find that in this study, vulnerability is inversely proportional to resilience, and low resilience at one scale, for example fisheries in the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, decreases resilience for the entire basin. I find that Cambodia and Lao PDR are the least resilience and Thailand the most resilient countries in the Mekong Basin ��� Thailand more resilient in some sectors than the Mekong River Commission (MRC). I find that the MRC's conflict management strategy is hampered by a restrictive mandate and weakness in capacity building at tributary and national scales but that Collaborative Learning processes are effective in enhancing resilience at the sub-basin scale. Finally, I demonstrate through the basin comparison that the Mekong has a highly resilient biophysical system and traditionally a resilient institutional system however, the proposed rate of development is unsustainable with trends indicating a significant erosion of resilience. I find the Columbia Basin lacking resilience in fishing, hydropower, and water quality ��� sectors mitigating the effects of development in the Columbia Basin, manifesting as overall negative trends in cooperation. However, the Columbia shows signs of increasing cooperation due recent inclusion of Tribal Nations in water management. Flexible and inclusive institutional responses to water resource development challenges, in the Mekong to rapid development on the mainstream and in the Columbia to negotiations over renewal of the Columbia River Treaty, are key determinants to whether or not each basin can halt the current negative trends and strengthen basin resilience to face the challenges now and those coming in the future. / Graduation date: 2013

The composition and distribution of fish assemblages was examined in a floodplain lake system in the Amazon basin. Quantitative samples were collected during the 1992-1993 flooding season at Marchantaria Island, Solimoes River. A total of 25,819 specimens representing 8 orders, 30 families, 101 genera and 139 species of fish were collected. Analysis of species richness distribution among 7 vegetation strata showed that vegetated sites had higher species richness than unvegetated sites. Stands of Paspalum repens had the most diverse fish fauna. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to investigate relationship between fish assemblages and 16 environmental variables. CCA revealed that dissolved oxygen, water transparency, water depth and aquatic vegetation structure were significantly related to fish assemblage organization. The results suggest that physiological adaptations to hypoxia and habitat complexity play a major role in the organization of these assemblages. The morphology, ontogenetic development, shape variability and deposition of otolith microincrements are described for floodplain serrasalmin fishes. Serrasalmin otoliths were similar to other ostariophysan, nevertheless their shape was species-specific. Elliptical Fourier analysis showed that Mylossoma aureum lapilli were highly variable in shape when compared to closely related species. PCA and discriminant function analysis indicated that two distinct forms of lapillus can be recognized for M. aureum, and intra-species variation was higher than inter-species variation. Otolith microincrement analysis was tested for these fishes, and microincrement deposition validation showed that Piaractus brachipomus deposits otolith increments on a daily basis. Patterns of spatial distribution, growth and mortality characteristics of larvae and juvenile were examined for M. aureum inhabiting the Marchantaria Island floodplain. Otolith-derived birth date reconstruction showed that M. aureum spawning season extended from late November to March, and peak larvae recruitment to the island occurred in mid-December. Larvae and juveniles had different spatial distributions in relation to habitat usage. Instantaneous growth coefficients (g) varied from 0.0197(d�����) to 0.265(d�����) among cohorts. Early-season cohorts had wider otolith microincrements and higher instantaneous growth coefficients than late-season cohorts. Mortality estimated by the decline of loge (abundance) regressed on age indicated that cohort-specific instantaneous mortality varied significantly among cohorts, ranging from 0.027(d�����) (2.6%/d) to 0.103(d�����) (9.7%/d). / Graduation date: 2001

Numbers of wild Canada geese (Branta canadensis) have increased dramatically during the past 30 years in the lower Columbia and Willamette Valley systems. The damage they cause by grazing and trampling plants can be substantial. The objectives of this research were to: 1) Develop methods that provide reliable estimates of goose impact on wheat yield and quality, and 2) Develop methods to separate goose damage from other factors that lower yield such as poor soil or waterlogging. To document grazing impacts, color aerial photography was combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) and precision farming technology. Field-scale color aerial photographs (1:14,000 scale) were acquired four times during each growing season: in January, March, April, and just prior to harvest in July. Each flight was coupled with ground truth data collection to verify exact cause of spectral signature variation or variations in wheat cover. Such data included wheat height, number of goose droppings, and a relative rating of goose grazing intensity. At each sampling point a platform photograph and a GPS location were taken. Wheat yield impact varied considerably as field size, shape and proximity to road varied. Yield maps revealed that, goose grazing had reduced grain yield by 25% or more in heavily grazed areas. At harvest time during the first year, wheat grain in the heavily grazed areas had higher moisture content due to delayed maturity. Therefore those areas were harvested two weeks later. Heavily grazed areas also had more weeds than ungrazed portions of the field. Late-season (April) grazing was more damaging to wheat yield than was earlier season grazing, but early season grazing did have an impact on yield. Intensely hazed fields had lower levels of damage than did fields or portions of fields that were not as vigorously guarded. Our results illustrate very practical ways to combine image analysis capability, spectral observations, global positioning systems, precision farming and ground truth data collection to map and quantify field condition or crop damage from depredation, standing water, or other adversities. Image analysis of geopositioned color platform photographs can be used to stratify winter wheat fields into impact units according to grazing intensity. Ground-truth data, when collected in conjunction with a GPS, provided the information needed to locate and establish the spectral properties of impacted areas. Once the spectral properties of a representative area were identified, information could be extrapolated to other areas with the same characteristics. In addition, this method could be used in conjunction with aerial photography to verify areas of grazing. The combination of two or more of these tools would provide farm managers and agricultural consultants with a cost-effective method to identify problem areas associated with vegetation stress due to heavy grazing by geese or other factors. / Graduation date: 1999

There are two major problems associated with soil acidity and lime response investigations: A. Determining how much lime (100% "available" CaCO��� equivalent) is required to raise a soil pH (or degree of acidity) from its existing level to a specified level - presumably where need for lime is eliminated. B. Determining responses of different crops on different soils to lime; and defining some chemical measurement of the soil that will predict the response of a specified crop. Investigations in this study were limited to the first problem. Liming characteristics of 45 acid Willamette Valley soils, representing the major agricultural soil associations, were determined by incubating the soils with increments of CaCO���. The lime required to bring the soils to the specified pH levels of 6.8, 6.4 and 6.0 varied widely within the respective pH levels. Relationships between soils, however, as determined by the value of the incubation curve slope (meq. of CaCO��� /100g of soil required to raise soil pH by one unit), were improved by grouping into related soils. Laboratory measurements of other soil chemistry parameters were compared with changes in pH to determine if a satisfactory quick laboratory procedure could be developed to measure the incubation lime requirement of soils with different chemical characteristics. Measurements of soil pH were made by three different methods: (1) in the supernatant of a 1:2 soil to water suspension; (2) in the sedimented paste of the 1:2 soil to water suspension; and (3) in the supernatant of a 1:2 soil to 1 N KCl suspension. Lime requirement with a buffered solution was measured in limed and unlimed soils by use of the SMP (Shoemaker, McLean, and Pratt) buffer method. Soil samples treated with increments of lime were analyzed for extractable Al and exchange acidity by titration and the unincubated soils were analyzed for exchange acidity determined by subtracting exchangeable bases from CEC measured at pH 7. 0 and pH 6. 0. Results of the correlation analyses showed that the SMP buffer method should prove useful for predicting the incubation lime requirement. Correlation coefficients for these two values were .89, .90 and 86, respectively, to reach pH levels of 6.8, 6.4 and 6.0. Soil pH measurements, extractable Al, and exchange acidity determinations did not provide as good a basis for determining incubation lime requirements, Regression equations were calculated for the SMP buffer/incubation lime requirement relationships. The purpose of this study was to identify the changes in soil chemical measurements that take place with application of lime. No attempt was made to determine whether a crop might respond to an application of lime on an acid soil. The assumption was made that yield could be related to specific pH or soil acidity levels that could be measured in the laboratory. Therefore, the problem was approached by studying procedures that might determine the application of lime required to reach a specified pH or soil acidity measurement. It anticipated that field trials for evaluating lime response will be carried out in the future to evaluate the usefulness of the SMP buffer method which showed promise in this regard. / Graduation date: 1972

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 1983. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-70).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-63).

This study presents a reliable and economic model for achieving an accurate Knife River Flint identification, utilizing a macroscopic, microscopic and ultra-violet methodology supported by an experimental protocol. Correct identification of Knife River Flint is essential for understanding of trade and acquisition strategies involving stone tools in the Northern Plains. The identification model is applied to archaeological sites from three ecozones of southern Alberta, all dating to the Late Precontact Period. Knife River Flint decreases in size and quantity the further north the sites are found. However, the quantity of Knife River Flint from this time period is very low so that no firm conclusions about acquisition strategies or trade patterns can be established as yet.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-74). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1982. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-40). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1982. / Typescript (photocopy). Some maps folded in pocket. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-169). Also available via the World Wide Web.