The purpose of this thesis is the determination of a minimum market price for Short-Rotation Forestry (SRF) willow biomass grown in monoculture and windbreaks in Quebec and Ontario. Full cost budgeting was used and developed on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Harvest cycles of 3 and 4 years for monoculture plantations, and 8 years for windbreaks were investigated. Estimates for establishment and other preharvest costs were obtained from mid-sized (5 hectares) commercial SRF willow plots in Quebec and Ontario. / For the monoculture plantations, irrespective of cycle length, and using the base case figures, the final delivery cost of willow biomass ranged between 74-126 $/odMg and 63--109 $/odMg based on current and projected costs respectively. These hold for yields between 7 and 11 odMg/ha/yr. Moreover, the 4-year cycle was revealed to be more economically efficient than a 3-year cycle. Along with yield, the main cost factors affecting the economics of SRF monoculture plantations are: harvesting, transportation to a processing plant, land lease management. For the two major energy markets, ethanol and electricity production (biomass in replacement of coal), SRF willow biomass in monoculture plantations does not appear to be a viable feedstock given present technology and yields. In the short run, a more promising outlet for willow biomass is space heat production for small buildings, farm complexes, etc. In this market, many potential buyers can afford to pay a higher price for biomass than ethanol or electricity utilities. / In the windbreak system, biomass could be produced for between 44 and 68 $/odMg, assuming that yields between 12 to 20 odMg/ha/yr can be achieved. At this price, windbreak biomass is not a competitive feedstock for ethanol or electricity generation, but is attractive for space heat production. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Carbon storage was compared between two perennial biomass energy systems, namely switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and short-rotation willow Salix alba x glaffelteri L.) at 2 adjacent sites, and further compared with a corn cultivation, a 20-year-old abandoned field, and a mature hardwood forest, in southwestern Quebec. Aboveground carbon results indicated that switchgrass and corn had significantly greater carbon levels than willow at the less fertile site, but no significant differences were detected at the more fertile site. Root carbon results indicated that corn had significantly lower carbon levels than both perennial systems to a depth of 30 cm at both sites. However, switchgrass had significantly greater root carbon levels beyond 30 cm compared with willow and corn, and beyond 45 cm compared with the forest and abandoned field. These findings indicate that deep-rooted perennial grasses such as switchgrass have the potential to sequester carbon at deeper soil layers. Soil carbon results showed that at the more fertile site, willow was associated with significantly greater soil carbon levels than switchgrass. Moreover, both perennial crops had soil carbon levels that were greater than for corn, the abandoned field, and the forest. In contrast, at the less fertile site, no significant differences in soil carbon were detected between the various plant systems examined. The results of this study suggest that the perennial energy crops used, when grown on relatively fertile soils, have the potential to substantially increase soil carbon levels compared with conventional agricultural and/or forest systems. Consequently, when these crops are grown on less fertile soils, their added advantage of increasing carbon storage is lost.

In this thesis, I explore the works of Kenneth Grahame in light of what some critics have deemed “literary paganism”. I argue that Grahame employs certain “pagan” tropes in order to launch a critique of modern culture. Grahame upholds a classical vision of leisure that rejects the ideology inherent to urbanization. His critique of modernity relies on a literary persona indicative of an alternative attitude to that of the middle class fin de siècle urban culture. His short stories add to this critique in their presentation of childhood as a pre-converted pagan existence which en-kindles a sense of disappointment with routinized adult life in the modern city. The Wind in the Willows embodies Grahame's vision of true leisure which is depicted in both the River Bank animals and their wetland ecosystem itself. By paying close attention to the pagan themes in Grahame’s writing, we gain a comprehensive view of his often misunderstood body of work.

This thesis explores the chemical contents of post oak and willow trees. Samples of each tree are compared to determine the amount of sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, silicon, iron, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, and manganese in them. Results indicated usefulness of each tree to humans.

Although the impacts of livestock and human activities on riparian zones and associated wildlife have been well documented, little is known about the impacts that browsing by large native ungulates such as elk and moose may have. In the northern Yellowstone area, some willow stands experience intense browsing by elk and moose whereas others experience medium or very low amounts of browsing. The objectives of this study were (1) to compare the species and densities of birds among willow stands that have experienced different intensities of browsing by native ungulates, (2) to measure the relationship between five species of birds and aspects of habitat structure, and (3) to develop and evaluate predictive models that relate presence or absence of the five species to habitat characteristics. In 1989 and 1990, I measured densities of nesting songbirds and aspects of habitat structure in eight large willow stands that have experienced different intensities of browsing. The densities of five focal species (Common Yellowthroat, Lincoln's Sparrow, Warbling Vireo, Wilson's Warbler, and Yellow Warbler) varied considerably among sites. Only two sites had all five species and only one species--the Lincoln's Sparrow'was found in all eight sites. The proportion of severely browsed willows in the eight sites ranged from 3.5% to 100%. The nonlinear relationship between total bird densities and frequency of severe browsing suggests that birds have a threshhold of tolerance for browsing, beyond which bird numbers and total numbers of species drop. Principal Components Analysis of 14 habitat variables indicates that the study sites varied in terms of distances between shrubs, shrub heights, height heterogeneity, foliage density at various height intervals, and frequency of severely browsed willows. Browsing does appear to affect the assemblages of breeding birds in these sites, but site- and landscape-level factors such as food abundance, willow species composition, hydrology, type and gradient of adjacent community, and riparian zone width and elevation also play important roles. such variables should be incorporated into future predictive models to improve model performance. (82 pages)

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<p>U radu je analiziran&nbsp; uticaj limunske kiseline na morfolo&scaron;ke, fiziolo&scaron;ke i&nbsp; biohemijske<br />karakteristike&nbsp; odabranih&nbsp; klonova&nbsp; vrba&nbsp; (Salix&nbsp; spp.)&nbsp; gajenih&nbsp; u&nbsp; zemlji&scaron;tu&nbsp; umereno zagađenom&nbsp; kadmijumom&nbsp; (Cd).&nbsp; Definisanjem&nbsp; parametara&nbsp; akumulacije,&nbsp; otpornosti&nbsp; i tolerantnosti različitih klonova vrba na prisustvo kadmijuma u podlozi, kao i uspe&scaron;nosti primene&nbsp; limunske&nbsp; kiseline&nbsp; kao&nbsp; helatora&nbsp; u&nbsp; procesu&nbsp; asistirane&nbsp; fitoremedijacije,&nbsp; mogao&nbsp; bi se&nbsp; identifikovati&nbsp; klon&nbsp; (ili&nbsp; klonovi)&nbsp; pogodan&nbsp; za&nbsp; dekontaminaciju&nbsp; zemlji&scaron;ta&nbsp; zagađenog kadmijumom. Da&nbsp; bi&nbsp; se&nbsp; postigao&nbsp; cilj&nbsp; istraživanja biljke su gajene u polu-kontrolisanim uslovima tokom 3 meseca. Eksperiment je podeljen u dve faze (dve godine istraživanja),zasnovane&nbsp; na&nbsp; razlikama&nbsp; u&nbsp; metodolo&scaron;kom&nbsp; pristupu.&nbsp; Tokom&nbsp; prve&nbsp; godine&nbsp; limunska kiselina je dodata jednom, dok je tokom druge druge godine aplikacija ovog helatora vr&scaron;ena&nbsp; u&nbsp; tri&nbsp; ponavljanja.&nbsp; U&nbsp; radu&nbsp; je&nbsp; analizaran&nbsp; sadržaj&nbsp; i&nbsp; distribucija&nbsp; Cd&nbsp; u&nbsp; zemlji&scaron;tu&nbsp; i<br />različitim&nbsp; biljnim&nbsp; organima&nbsp; (koren,&nbsp; izdanak,&nbsp; mladi&nbsp; i&nbsp; stari&nbsp; listovi);&nbsp; uticaj&nbsp; Cd i&nbsp; limunske kiseline na morfometrijske parametre: visina i prečnik izdanka, masa i povr&scaron;ina listova, broj&nbsp; listova,&nbsp; masa&nbsp; i&nbsp; zapremina&nbsp; korena;&nbsp; na&nbsp; fotosintetičke&nbsp; karakteristike:&nbsp; intenzitet fotosinteze,&nbsp; intenzitet&nbsp; transpiracije,&nbsp; stomatalnu&nbsp; provodljivost,&nbsp; intercelularnu koncentraciju&nbsp; CO2,&nbsp; efikasnost&nbsp; kori&scaron;ćenja&nbsp; vode,&nbsp; koncentraciju&nbsp; fotosintetičkih&nbsp; pigmenata; na mineralnu ishranu i distribuciju makronutrijenata u biljkama (sadržaj azota, fosfora i kalijuma);&nbsp; na&nbsp; sadržaj&nbsp; aminokiseline&nbsp; prolina&nbsp; i&nbsp; cisteina;&nbsp; na&nbsp; aktivnost&nbsp; antioksidativnih enzima&nbsp; (katalaza,&nbsp; askorbat-peroksidaza,&nbsp; gvajakol-peroksidaza),&nbsp; kao&nbsp; neezmiskih antioksidanata poput sadržaja redukovanog glutationa i tiola. Dobijeni&nbsp; rezultati&nbsp; su&nbsp; ukazali&nbsp; na&nbsp; genotipsku&nbsp; specifičnost&nbsp; analiziranih&nbsp; klonova&nbsp; vrba&nbsp; u procesu&nbsp; fitoremedijacije&nbsp; u&nbsp; zavisnosti&nbsp; od&nbsp; primenjenog&nbsp; tretmana,&nbsp; doze&nbsp; Cd&nbsp; i&nbsp; prisustva limunske kiseline. Toksično dejstvo nije bilo jasno uočljivo na morfolo&scaron;kom nivou, dok su&nbsp; primenjeni&nbsp; tretmani&nbsp; signifikantno&nbsp; uticali&nbsp; na&nbsp; fiziolo&scaron;ko-biohemijske&nbsp; procese&nbsp; u biljkama.&nbsp; Sa&nbsp; povećanjem&nbsp; sadržaja&nbsp; Cd&nbsp; u&nbsp; biljkama&nbsp; je&nbsp; utvrđena&nbsp; tendencija&nbsp; smanjenja intenziteta fotosinteze, transpiracije, kao i efikasnosti&nbsp; kor&scaron;ćenja vode, dok je primena limunske&nbsp; kiseline&nbsp; ublažila&nbsp; &scaron;tetan&nbsp; efekat&nbsp; ovog&nbsp; te&scaron;kog&nbsp; metala,&nbsp; &scaron;to&nbsp; je&nbsp; registrovano&nbsp; na<br />kombinovanim tretmanima.&nbsp; Kao odgovor na akumulaciju Cd u biljnom tkivu utvrđena<br />je&nbsp; promena&nbsp; aktivnosti&nbsp; antioksidativnih&nbsp; enzima,&nbsp; kao&nbsp; i&nbsp; neezimskih&nbsp; komponenti<br />odbrambenog&nbsp; sistema&nbsp; za&scaron;tite.&nbsp; Pored&nbsp; toga,&nbsp; u&nbsp; radu&nbsp; je&nbsp; utvrđeno&nbsp; da&nbsp; primena&nbsp; limunske kiseline&nbsp; utiče&nbsp; na&nbsp; usvajanje,&nbsp; akumulaciju&nbsp; i&nbsp; toleranciju vrba na prisustvo Cd,&nbsp; te&nbsp; rezultati ove&nbsp; studije&nbsp; imaju&nbsp; praktičan&nbsp; značaj&nbsp; u&nbsp; usavr&scaron;avanju&nbsp; tehnika&nbsp; fitoremedijacije&nbsp; i dekontaminacije zagađenih područja.</p> / <p>The role of citric acid on morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics of selected willow clones (Salix spp.) grown in soil with moderately polluted cadmium (Cd)&nbsp; was&nbsp; presented.&nbsp; The&nbsp; aim&nbsp; of&nbsp; this&nbsp; study&nbsp; was&nbsp; to&nbsp; determine&nbsp; the&nbsp; Cd&nbsp; accumulation, translocation&nbsp; and tolerance of different willow clones, as well as the influence of citric acid as a chelator in the assisted phytoremediation process.&nbsp; In order to achieve this goal, plants&nbsp; were&nbsp; grown&nbsp; in&nbsp; semi-controlled&nbsp; conditions&nbsp; for&nbsp; 3&nbsp; months.&nbsp; The&nbsp; experiment&nbsp; was divided&nbsp; into&nbsp; two&nbsp; phases&nbsp; (two&nbsp; years&nbsp; of&nbsp; research),&nbsp; based&nbsp; on&nbsp; differences&nbsp; in&nbsp; the methodological approach, regarding the application of citric acid. During the first-year experiment, citric acid was added once, while in the second year the application of this chelator was performed in three repetitions.&nbsp; The analyses included:&nbsp; the accumulation and distribution of Cd in soil and various plant organs (root, stem, young and old leaves); influence of Cd and citric&nbsp; acid on morphometric parameters: stem hight and diameter, number&nbsp; of&nbsp; leaves,&nbsp; biomass&nbsp; and&nbsp; area&nbsp; of&nbsp; leaves,&nbsp; biomass&nbsp; and&nbsp; volume&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; root;&nbsp; on&nbsp; photosynthetic&nbsp; characteristics:&nbsp; net&nbsp; photosynthetic&nbsp; and&nbsp; transpiration&nbsp; rate,&nbsp; water&nbsp; use efficiency, stomatal conductance, intercellular concentration of CO2, concentration of photosynthetic&nbsp; pigments;&nbsp; on&nbsp; mineral&nbsp; nutrition&nbsp; and&nbsp; distribution&nbsp; of&nbsp; macronutrients&nbsp; in plants (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content); on the content of the amino acid proline&nbsp; and&nbsp; cysteine;&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; activity&nbsp; of&nbsp; antioxidant&nbsp; enzymes&nbsp; (catalase,&nbsp; ascorbate peroxidase,&nbsp; guaiacol&nbsp; peroxidase),&nbsp; as&nbsp; non- enzymatic&nbsp; components&nbsp; such&nbsp; as&nbsp; reduced glutathione and thiol content.<br />The obtained results indicated the genotypic specificity of the analyzed willow clones in the phytoremediation process, depending on the treatment applied, the Cd dose, and the presence of&nbsp; citric acid.&nbsp; The toxic effect was not evident on the morphological&nbsp; level, while&nbsp; the&nbsp; applied&nbsp; treatments&nbsp; showed&nbsp; a&nbsp; significant&nbsp; influence&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; physiologicalbiochemical processes in the willows. The net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, as well as,&nbsp; water use eficiency&nbsp; showed decreasing with increasing Cd concentration in plant tissue,&nbsp; while&nbsp; the&nbsp; application&nbsp; of&nbsp; citric&nbsp; acid&nbsp; mitigated&nbsp; the&nbsp; harmful&nbsp; effect&nbsp; of&nbsp; this&nbsp; heavy metal, which was registered on combined treatments. In response to the accumulation of Cd in plant tissue, a&nbsp; change in the&nbsp; activity&nbsp; of&nbsp; anti-oxidant enzymes,&nbsp; as&nbsp; well as nonenzymatic&nbsp; components&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; defense&nbsp; system&nbsp; has&nbsp; been&nbsp; established.&nbsp; In&nbsp; addition,&nbsp; the<br />application of citric acid showed the promotion role on the&nbsp; absorption, accumulation and tolerance of willows grown in moderately polluted soil cadmium, which has a practical significance in the improvement of phytoremediation techniques and decontamination of polluted soil.</p>

Municipal treated wastewater entering rivers contain biologically active pharmaceuticals capable of inducing effects in aquatic life. Phytoremediation of three of these pharmaceuticals and an herbicide was investigated using Sandbar willow (Salix exigua) and Arabidopsis thaliana. Both plants were effective at removing compounds from solution, with removal of 86% of the synthetic estrogen, 17α-ethynylestradiol, 65% of the anti-hypertensive, diltiazem, 60% of the anti-convulsant, diazepam (Valium®), and 51% of the herbicide atrazine, in 24 hours. Distribution of compounds within roots and shoots, in soluble and bound forms, differed among compounds. Uptake and distribution of pharmaceuticals within the study plants confirmed pharmaceutical behaviour can be predicted based on a physiochemical property, their octanol-water partitioning coefficients. An effective method for detection of 17α-ethynylestradiol within surface water using solid phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed. Previously unreported breakdown of 17α-ethynylestradiol into another common estrogen, estrone, during preparative steps and gas chromatography was resolved. / xv, 216 leaves ; 29 cm.

This diploma thesis deals with the cultivation of fast-growing wood and concentrates on the influence of particular factors like e.g. location, agrotechnology and fertilizers, which have a crucial impact on the phytomass production. Moreover, the thesis evaluates the economic efficiency of this type of sustainable energy ressource, which can be a source of local business. Introductory theoretical chapters describe essentials rules of the cultivation of fast-growing wood. Furthermore the thesis presents general information in this field and proposes suitable wood clones. In addition, the thesis outlines the process of choice and preparation of the agricultural parcel, the usage of various fertilizes, herbicides and agrotechnology. The applied core characterises the business case itself. The primary research compares financial investment and its return of two examined agricultural parcels under the prerequisit of suitable choice of location and agrotechnology. A trail phase depictes the cultivation of fast-gworing wood and discuss presumptions for succesfull business. This thesis is mainly based on primary research. The acquired data are further analyzed and the final chapter attempts to outline the results and suggest measures.