In the last two decades, export-oriented crops and timber and fruit plantations have joined small-scale cultivation and pasture as important causes of tropical deforestation. Widespread conversion of tropical forest to agriculture threatens to isolate protected areas, which has led to efforts to maintain functional connectivity in landscapes between protected areas. Relatively few "landscape conservation" efforts have been assessed for their effect on deforestation, but advances in remote sensing now permit detailed monitoring of tropical land uses over time, including mapping of tree crops and plantations. This dissertation evaluates the long-term impact of forest conservation and reforestation policies on tropical forests in a habitat corridor. The following chapters test the capability of remote sensing to monitor tropical conservation efforts and assess whether landscape conservation policies can maintain forest cover and connectivity in the face of rapid agricultural expansion. Costa Rica has one of the most comprehensive landscape conservation policies in the tropics: a 1996 Forest Law banned deforestation and expanded payments for environmental services (PES) to protect forests and plant trees, prioritizing designated habitat corridors between protected areas. The long-term effect of the program on land-use transitions is not well known. To take advantage of this regional policy experiment, I used a time-series of five moderate-resolution Landsat images to track land-use change from 1986 to 2011in the oldest habitat corridor, the San Juan-La Selva Biological Corridor (SJLSBC). Forest conservation policies were associated with a 40% decline in deforestation after 1996 despite a doubling in the area of cropland in the last decade. The proportion of cropland derived from mature forest dropped from 16.4% to 1.9% after 1996, while one fifth of pasture expansion continued to be derived from mature forest. These results suggest that forest conservation policies can successfully lower deforestation, and that they can be more effective with large export producers than small-scale cattle producers. Tree plantations are an important component of Costa Rican PES, but knowledge of their distribution and contribution to connectivity in the corridor region is poor. After reviewing the remote sensing literature, I employed a novel integration of hyperspectral images and a Landsat time-series to create the first regional map of tropical tree plantation species. Including multitemporal data significantly improved overall hyperspectral map accuracy to 91%; the six tree plantation species were classified with 83% mean producer's accuracy. Non-native species made up 89% of tree plantations, and they were cleared more rapidly than native tree plantations and secondary forests. I combined existing land cover maps, field behavioral experiments, and a graph connectivity model to estimate whether landscape conservation policies increased connectivity for understory insectivorous birds, a representative forest-dependent group. The field playback experiments indicated both native and exotic tree plantations with a dense shrubby understory were acceptable dispersal habitat for all species, and that birds traveled readily near secondary forest edges but rarely into forested pasture. Graph model parameters were informed by these results. For all of these bird species, functional connectivity declined by 14-21% with only a 4.9% decline in forest area over time, implying that conservation policies have not caused a net increase in functional connectivity in the SJLSBC region. Despite making up 2% of the region, tree plantations had little effect on regional connectivity because of their placement in the landscape; we demonstrate that spatially-targeted reforestation of 0.1% of the region could increase connectivity by 1.8%. Collectively, the results presented in these chapters underline the potential and limitations of landscape conservation policies and corridor plans in the tropics; combining regulations and PES can lower deforestation over the medium-term, but increased enforcement, improved monitoring with remote sensing, and targeted conservation effort is needed to combat illegal deforestation and restore functional connectivity. Given numerous new tropical corridor and PES programs and the qualified successes of landscape conservation policies in Costa Rica and other tropical countries, our approach to the analysis can be applied to monitor and evaluate connectivity across the tropics.

Overexploitation of the earth's resources is causing concern for ecosystem health globally and demands clear strategies for biodiversity conservation. The development of non-invasive and cost-effective tools for ecosystem assessment is an urgent global imperative. In this context, the nascent discipline of ecoacoustics provides a new framework to assess the effects of habitat degradation on human and non-human populations. Sound is considered as a core component and indicator of ecological processes and therefore can be investigated to infer ecological information about populations, communities and landscapes. A subfield of this discipline, soundscape ecology, provides fresh perspectives on understanding coupled natural-human dynamics. Despite the contributions of ecoacoustic methods in biodiversity assessment, landscape ecology and conservation biology some factors are constraining their full potential. This is principally due to challenges in interpreting the acoustic community through current acoustic metrics. Moreover, research gaps in understanding coupled natural-human dynamics through soundscape analysis have been identified, which could make significant further contributions to conservation biology in the near future. This thesis contributes to ecoacoustics from the perspective of conservation biology. The relevance and potential use of acoustic methods for assessing biodiversity and exploring social dimensions within conservation biology are presented throughout. Chapters include both Ecological and Social research components. A systematic review of publications on soundscape and its association with ecological and human wellbeing contextualizes the following empirical work, in chapter 1. Chapter 2 provides an evaluation into how effectively current acoustic metrics (ACI, BI, AE and H) reflect the status of wildlife populations along a gradient of forest disturbance. A novel approach to rapidly assess habitat status using automatic detection of indicator species (IS) is presented in chapter 3. Empirical studies are complemented by an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of acoustic sensors for assessing biodiversity, in chapter 4. Finally, social factors are addressed in chapter 5, which presents a novel approach for evaluating the human and environment relationship through soundscape perception analysis. The acoustic analyses explored show potential in analysis of ecological and social research dimensions in conservation biology. The systematic review shows that soundscape, and its association with wellbeing, evolved from an interest in sounds, and their influence on health, into a multidimensional and integrative concept incorporating multiple domains of wellbeing (Health, Social and Cultural Wellness and Ecological Integrity). Within the Ecological component in chapter 2, although significant differences in acoustic biodiversity metrics along sites were found, relevant qualitative biodiversity values that describe the status of wildlife populations were not reflected through the acoustic indices. To tackle this issue, I observed that the tool for automatic detection of IS was effective for rapid evaluation of habitat status; however, it should only be used for obtaining data of presence/absence of species. The combination of community level (acoustic indices) and individual level (automatic detection of indicator species) acoustic analysis showed a great potential as a tool for rapid evaluation of habitats. Moreover, I found that use of acoustic sensors was effective for registering high number of birds and indicator species; however, it is best applied in conducting multiple surveys or long term monitoring due to expensive equipment costs. Within the Social component I observed that soundscape perception analysis generated insights into human-environment relationships and highlighted the implications of habitat degradation on humans. Sounds of social relevance were also identified, which could be used for determining priority areas for conservation. Great potential for investigating social implications of habitat degradation through acoustic methods was revealed. The acoustic approaches investigated proved to be useful tools in understanding the dynamics of ecosystems, by exploring both ecological and social dimensions, and contribute to knowledge in conservation biology. Further research on the application of acoustic methods in conservation biology is recommended.

Yip Tak Kei Oskar. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2007-2008, design report." / 2 pages printed on 1 side of leaf only. / Buddha & Bodhi Tree --- p.3-26 / "Previous Studio Work_Master 2nd Semester, 2007 Jan-Apr" / Appreciating Nature from Structure to Space --- p.27-64 / "Submitted Design Project_Master 3rd & 4th Semester, 2007-08 Sep-Apr" / Collective Images --- p.65-78 / "Informal Record_Submitted Design Project_Master 3rd & 4th Semester, 2007-08 Sep-Apr"

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In recent times, the concept of ‘intangible heritage’ has gained credence within the international heritage community, reflecting wider concerns relating to the cultural impact of global economic, technological and political forces. For many, intangible heritage represents a vital living mediation of the material past (i.e. tangible heritage) which deepens its significance and meaning-conferring qualities. This thesis explores how in recent times, the intangible heritage became ‘separated’ from the tangible heritage in such a way as to bring about ideological division within the field of heritage preservation and a sense of discontinuity with the past – particularly relating to the practice of restoration and its patrimony of expertise. The thesis argues that this has been attributable to an ‘institutionalised’ conception of heritage based essentially on a historiography of materials located in the ideological site of the museum – the repository where tangible heritage is housed, organised, interpreted, conserved, restored and displayed in such ways as to confer meaning upon the material world. By drawing extensively upon evidence from the literature and engaging the conservation-restoration field, the thesis develops discussion around the emergence (and subsequent institutionalisation) of a relatively recent scientific paradigm of practice – ‘scientific restoration’ – largely shaped by this ‘museological’ vision of heritage. It also considers how the work of Cesare Brandi came to be instrumental in the formulation of this vision but argues that such conceptions have been predicated upon a misappropriation of his ideas and a misreading of historical heritage preservation ideologies that has done much to contribute to tensions evident within the heritage community. To this end, the thesis aims to redress this historical impasse by reconsidering the function of restoration – especially in terms of what is added to the historical document – and reconciling the competing claims of the tangible and intangible by developing the concept of ‘authentic process’.

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Alex Standen

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