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No description available.

Since the 1970s, artificially stabilized hydrology, increased presence of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio), and invasion by a highly competitive cattail hybrid (Typha x glauca) have changed the nesting ecology of Western Grebes at Delta Marsh, Manitoba. To evaluate the impact of stressors within Delta Marsh on Western Grebes, I repeated surveys originally conducted by Nuechterlein (1975) on the nesting ecology of Western Grebes at Delta Marsh, and compared 2009/2010 breeding success and nesting ecology data with 1973/1974 data. Reductions in breeding success during 2009 and 2010 were primarily due to increases in rates of nesting losses from wave action. Nests destroyed by spawning Common Carp, and depredations by River Otters (Lontra canadensis) further contributed to nesting losses. Reestablishing stands of emergent bulrush around nesting islands and reducing the abundance of carp within the marsh might help return Western Grebe breeding success to rates recorded in the 1970s

A field study of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) was undertaken largely in the plantations of Monaughty and Culbin in Morayshire between 1977 and 1980, with additional observations in these and other forests between 1976 and 1982. In the mixed and structurally diverse Scots pine-larch-spruce plantation of Monaughty higher population densities and a sex ratio favouring males were recorded compared to the more uniform pine plantation of Culbin. Comparisons were made of the habitat available with that in which capercaillie were recorded, especially in relation to the species composition and age of stands. Seasonal and sexual differences in habitat use were found. Drive counts with many observers and transects with a single observer were used to estimate abundance and it was concluded that both methods were worthwhile provided large enough areas could be effectively sampled. Transacts on tracks had advantages over transects off tracks and winter transects over summer ones. Scots pine and dwarf shrubs were important in the diet. A study was made of physical features and chemical composition of conifers fed on, which agreed with some predictions based on earlier work, but indicated that caporcaillie may have been selecting needles rich in crude fat. Nesting dispersion in relation to mating sites and nesting density is described. A detailed study of nesting habitat indicated that dwarf shrubs provide important cover. Important behaviour patterns and the behaviour at the lek are described and interpreted. Evolutionary costs and benefits of the patterns in mating behaviour observed at one lek which was intensively studied for several seasons are discussed. Approaches towards improved capercaillie management and conservation are suggested.

This thesis posits that throughout history, the Western city has been made and understood according to a shared image of the cosmos. It argues that though the contours of this cosmos have changed over time and place, collectively held understandings of the city endure to the present day. Drawing on literary and cultural theory, this way of understanding the city may be conceptualised as ??magical??, that is incorporating knowledge which is hermeneutic and mythical, as well as empirical. The specific example of places of the dead, understood as cemeteries, memorials and other locations at which the dead are actually or symbolically interred, is used in this thesis to test the notion that that the city may continue to be understood as a reflection of world view. Places of the dead provide an appropriate test case for this task, as their forms and locations have clear associations with temporally and culturally specific understandings of the city. This thesis applies textual analysis and discourse analysis to seven case studies of contemporary places of the dead in order to examine the way in which the magic of the city may operate in one typology of place. It considers the representation of these case studies in a large array of texts, with particular emphasis on fictional, and thus potentially ??magical??, texts such as novels, television series and architectural drawings, as well as postcards, movies, cartoons, photographs, songs and paintings. The results of the case studies are used to argue not only that the city continues to be understood using a wide variety of ways of knowing, but also that these alternative epistemologies offer insights into contemporary cities which are not gained through the use of conventional methodologies.

Male bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in Shark Bay, WA, form several levels of alliances. Determining the relationship between paternity, relatedness and alliance membership is crucial in seeking evolutionary adaptive explanations for alliance formation. Previous behavioural data have revealed a social system whose complexity is unparalleled outside humans. Pairs or trios of male dolphins cooperate as stable first-order (1? alliances to sequester and control reproductive females. Two 1?alliances sometimes cooperate as small second-order (2? alliances to attack other 1?alliances or defend against attacks. Some males choose a different strategy by forming large superalliances of approximately fourteen individuals to attack 1?and 2?alliances. Kinship appears to play a role in the structuring of male alliances, but its importance differs with the alliance type. Relatedness analyses showed that on average, males in 1?and 2?alliances are strongly related, while members of the superalliance are not. Further, the strength of the association of partners within the superalliance was not correlated with their genetic relatedness. Thus, within one sex, it appears that there may be more than one simultaneous mode of group formation and its evolution. There was also an association between alliance behaviour and reproductive success as predicted by some theories of group formation. I assigned nine paternities to six out of 107 mature males. Males with alliance partners were significantly more successful in fathering offspring than males without partners. Compared to non-allied males, the chance of obtaining a paternity was significantly higher for members of 1?alliances, and reproductive success was significantly skewed among 1?alliance members. Assessment of kinship and relatedness required a number of technical developments and some preliminary data. I first refined a biopsy system in order to obtain tissue samples from free-ranging dolphins with minimum behavioural effects irrespective of age-group or gender. Then I carried out population genetics analyses, which demonstrated that there was only weak population structure within Shark Bay. Microsatellites showed a weak pattern of isolation by distance, and eight haplotypes of the mitochondrial DNA control region suggested weak female philopatry. The high number of migrants between locations allowed all samples from East Shark Bay to be pooled for subsequent analyses.

Chapter 1. The hardwood forests of Western Australia -- 2. Sustained yield management and its influence upon timber production -- The influence of technical developments upon sawmilling operations -- Labour organisation and sawmilling practice -- The rationalisation of the production of timber -- Future prospects for Western Australian hardwoods

Adaptation of exotic species to the Australian landscape poses a serious threat to the integrity of natural ecosystems and profitability of current farming systems. Ryegrass, an outcrossing species complex (Lolium spp.) and an intractable weed of cropping systems, was used as a candidate to further investigate adaptation within Mediterranean-type environments. Evolutionary differentiation in naturalised populations and their adaptive potential were examined in common gardens by characterising the genetic variability within and between 80 populations collected across 8 cropping regions, and 30 populations from adjacent paddocks differing in key management inputs. Morphological variability within and between populations was not found to be simply the consequence of variable distribution in the number and frequency of taxonomic species which colonised Australia with European settlement. Most plants were intermediate in appearance between L. rigidum Gaud. and L. multiflorum Lam. Ecotypic differentiation between regions was clearly evident even though the vast majority of variation in life history traits was found within sites (except for flowering time, 18%). Overall, as growing season length decreased flowering time and spikelet number per spike also decreased; conversely, florets per spikelet, flag leaf size, and population uniformity increased. Larger leaves and lower maternal investment per seed may confer an adaptive advantage in more arid, cropping intensive habitats where competition to intercept light is intense and moisture availability during seed fill more uncertain. By contrast smaller, more numerous leaves and a wider diversity in life history traits may confer an adaptive advantage in higher rainfall, grazing intensive habitats where the risk of predation (consumption) of plant parts is greater and a wider range of biotic pressures abound. iv However, in spite of the large amount of variability in morphological traits upon which selection could act, no evidence was found to support the claim that ryegrass would change in response to mechanical seed collection at harvest (chaff-cart use) to circumvent such control. The frequency of a deleterious adaptation to acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase inhibiting herbicides appeared stable in one population after 13 years without herbicide use. Notwithstanding, the frequency of herbicide resistance declined sharply within a 20 m zone adjacent to a susceptible area but this has only limited agronomic benefit. By contrast, the potential to decimate the frequency of resistance by sowing herbicide-susceptible tetraploid ryegrass was identified, and glasshouse results were consistent with the minority cytotype exclusion principle. Possible experimental approaches to field validate this novel concept and key issues to be resolved are discussed.

Thesis (M.F.)--Oregon State College, 1950. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 47-48). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Additional advisors: William Howell, Coral Lamartiniere, R. Douglas Watson, Stephen A. Watts. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 7, 2008; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.