In the Breckland Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA), farmers are encouraged to manage arable field margins to conserve arable plant communities using uncropped, cultivated field boundary strips ("uncropped wildlife strips") (UWSs). This study aims to describe the vegetation ofUWSs and to carry out an ecological assessment against the ESA objectives. Data were collected from a sample ofUWS and normally cropped sites in three study areas between 1989 and 1992. Species richness and non-crop biomass were greater in UWS than cropped sites. Bromus sterilis became dominant in study area 1, and appeared to have a competitive effect on other species. In study area 2 cultivations were done less frequently and perennial Graminae spread and became abundant. In study area 3, Amsinckia micrantha showed greatest increase but no effect on other species was apparent. Weed ingress into adjacent crops was lower at UWS than normally cropped sites. ESA objectives were translated into ecological criteria which could be directly measured. Assessments by subjective expert opinion and using species autecological data were compared. Subjective data were collected by a postal questionnaire of experts. Indicator species for each criterion were identified by applying rule sets to a species-attribute matrix. Site values for each criterion were calculated, and overall site values (foci) assigned using a multiple criterion method. Subjective site assessments closely agreed with the site foci and also with three of the five criteria. Over four years, half the sites were above the threshold level which represented satisfying ofESA objectives. Multivariate analysis of variation in the vegetation, from the main dataset and from a second survey, showed sites with lower soil pH, K and total N were more successful. Those with many overhanging or broadleaved trees, or previously cropped with sugar beet were less successful. Some amendments to management prescriptions are recommended.

Over the past several decades, the preservation of Brazil's natural landscapes and traditional cultures has received significant global attention; the focus of which has been primarily on the Amazon Basin. In order to safeguard the Amazon's unique biodiversity, natural resources, and traditional cultures, Brazil's state and federal governments have designated hundreds of thousands of square kilometers as conservation units with legally protected statuses. To effectively accomplish conservation objectives, it is necessary to maintain the permanence of protected areas. However, over the past decade, a host of circumstances has plagued Brazil's protected areas. Due to land use and economic pressures, the sizes of many protected areas throughout the Amazon are being reduced. Understanding the drivers and outcomes of reductions to protected areas is essential for the long-term preservation of ecosystem services. To that end, the objectives of this thesis were to understand why and how quickly a national park in the Legal Brazilian Amazon was being reduced in size by the Brazilian government. Interviews with key informants demonstrated that the park historically lacked legitimacy amongst newly arrived migrants which influenced the colonization amongst its borders. Moreover, inept governance regimes facilitated settlements within the park. Satellite imagery was used to detect and quantify the substantial rise in deforestation within the park. Spontaneous settlement in the region and a governance structure that did not enforce the park’s legality played a significant influence on the downsizing of Amazon National Park. In addition, domestic energy demands prompted the federal government to embark on a national energy strategy centered on hydropower construction that has directly impacted the park’s conservation effectiveness of maintaining natural forest cover. Together, these two drivers have united to considerably reduce both the size and the effectiveness of Amazon National Park. / text

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Stewardship is a key tool for the protection of natural areas at the landscape-scale. This is nowhere more evident than in the Carolinian Life Zone of Southern Ontario, where habitat exists for approximately 80% of Canada???s Species at Risk and where the majority of land is in private ownership. However, the implementation of stewardship initiatives has not always been successful. While an outcome of stewardship has been increased protection, initiatives that do not serve landowner needs can lead to reduced landowner support for future stewardship efforts. As such there is a need to look beyond landowner participation/non-participation, and instead examine the factors influencing landowner support for stewardship. The existing stewardship research on landowner support has found three main influencing factors: stewardship ethics, property rights concerns and bureaucracy. To examine if these themes are relevant to the Carolinian Life Zone interviews were conducted at three case study sites: Point Pelee, Rondeau and Long Point. The findings indicate that while the three broad themes are present, certain themes are more salient than others. It was also found that the local stewardship context made a great difference for landowner responses. Recommendations from the findings involve changes to stewardship programs, the role of landowners in conservation decision-making and land-use regulations.

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The tendency for an increasing number of people to live, work, and play in metropolitan areas is perhaps the most distinguishing mark of the United States in the twentieth century. In 1961 the term, "Megalopolis," was used to describe the merging of thirty-one metropolitan areas into one supermetropolis extending in an unbroken urban chain from 'Boston to Washington, D. C.1 Other areas of the country, most notably around the Great Lakes and Los Angeles, also display similar tendencies. The purpose of this paper is, first, to operationally define "megalopolis" and, then to utilize this definition in determining the extent of megalopolitan development in the Dallas and Fort Worth Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSA's).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2006. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Keith Debbage; submitted to the Dept. of Geography. Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-75).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-159).