As urban greening efforts continue, it is important to assess whether decisions to intensify street tree planting are meeting intended goals of improving urban canopy cover and increasing ecosystem services. Benefits of the urban forest take many forms, from ecological and economic to social and cultural, and are frequently cited in support of street tree planting. However, it is unknown to what extent factors such as species or nursery production method affect the ability of trees to successfully establish and provide ecosystem services in the urban environment. Using a system of oak trees planted along roads in South Amherst, Massachusetts during spring 2014, growth in caliper at six inches, diameter at breast height, and total tree height from fall 2014 to fall 2018 were modeled to determine whether species and/or nursery production method influenced street tree establishment and growth. Economic benefits were examined using a novel approach, whereby the breakeven point of costs and returns in ecosystem services was identified. Results indicated that both species and nursery production method influenced the success of these trees, which provided a return on investment by year 2018, in terms of both growth and benefits provided. This information is relevant to tree wardens and others tasked with street tree planning and maintenance, who must work within the confines of limited budgets in an environment that poses many challenges for trees.

Investigating forest soil biodiversity is essential to increase our understanding of ecosystem functions, assess potential consequences of global change, and thus optimize future decision-making processes. This cumulative PhD thesis contributes to this field by elucidating responses of bacterial and fungal forest soil communities, and their associated functions, in relation to tree diversity using a trait-based ecological approach with a focus on microbial living strategies. The three main chapters investigated microbial communities, using PCR-amplicon molecular methods, bioinformatics and novel statistics in the frame of the SoilForEUROPE project funded through the 2015–2016 BiodivERsA COFUND call for research proposals. Links between above-belowground biodiversity are crucial to understand forest functionality. For instance, studies on relationships of tree diversity and tree identity with microbial diversity reveal shifts in litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, primary production and the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. These kinds of studies commonly compare microbial populations of different tree taxonomical groups. However, the effects of different tree taxa on microorganisms are mediated by tree morphology, physiology, phenology and genetics. Therefore, the use of specific plant traits to study biodiversity has become more frequent, adding a mechanistic understanding of compositional or functional shifts and interactions with soil microbial communities. This generalizable approach provides a common currency to compare similar microbial communities from different regions or environments with few microbial taxa in common. Microbial communities are also filtered by other processes such as global drivers, stochastic events, abiotic and biotic factors in addition to the mentioned tree traits. This environmental filtering process results in a functional microbial community structure, also with their own set of traits to increase their population size through higher performance and as response the capacity to affect their own ecosystem. Furthermore, it is expected that a particular set of microbial traits represents the life history strategies that favored a particular community under specific environmental conditions. This thesis correlates tree traits with bacterial and fungal communities by using a wide-ranged European forest platform with 64 plots of four different latitudinal regions. The SoilForEUROPE design also included multispecies and monospecific forests comprising 13 main tree species and 33 different tree species compositions. All these conditions supplied a diversity of environments to improve our knowledge of microbial soil diversity and above-belowground interactions. The here presented thesis encompasses five individual chapters. Chapter 1 provides the research context, project presentation and the main approach used. The Chapters 2 and 3 were developed in association with colleagues from the University of Freiburg and investigate four major European forest types: boreal forests (Finland), hemi‐boreal forests (Poland), mountainous beech forests (Romania) and thermophilous deciduous forests (Italy). Chapter 4 focuses purely on temperate forest plots and Chapter 5 compiles and concludes the results and presented ecological meanings. In particular, Chapter 2 evaluated the influence of tree species composition and diversity on fungal diversity and community composition, and highlights the relationships of fungal guilds and enzymatic activities with tree traits in detail, while also taking environmental variables into account. We demonstrated, how guilds like fungal saprotrophs mirror the litter quality, while tree root traits are often linked to an increasing number of fungal symbiotrophs. We found that forest types of higher latitudes, which are dominated by fast tree communities, correlated with high carbon‐cycling enzymatic activities. In contrast, Mediterranean forests with slow tree communities showed high enzymatic activities related to nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. In Chapter 3, we investigated links between bacterial communities, their functionality and root trait dispersion. Bacterial diversity revealed no major changes across the root functional dispersion gradient. In contrast, predicted gene profiles linked to plant growth activities suggested an increasing bacterial functionality from monospecific to multispecies forest. We also exposed that in multispecies forests, the bacterial functionality declines with the increasing functional dispersion of the roots. We further revealed important effects of the tree species identity on bacterial community composition, but we did not find significant relationships with root functional dispersion. However, bacterial network analyses indicated that multispecies forest have a higher complexity in their bacterial communities, which points towards more stable forest systems with greater functionality. Chapter 4 aimed to explore microbial communities of different soil depths from 0 to 30 cm across forests covering deciduous, evergreen and mixtures plots. Microbial abundance and diversity were especially affected by soil depth and by the presence of evergreen trees. Results showed higher accuracy to detect niche preference by using taxonomy levels than metabolic pathways or fungal guilds as features of a machine learning model. We found that bacterial communities are primarily shaped by soil depth in contrast to fungal community, which were rather influenced by the forest composition. Results also supported the importance of mixed forest to maintain nutrient cycling and a broad diversity of metabolites compared to monospecific forest and this differences where particular perceived in the upper 10 cm of soil. Chapter 5 concludes the thesis and presents a few remarks highlighting microbial strategies that might be favored under a particular soil forest composition. Overall, this thesis not only revealed the ecological patterns of soil forest microbial communities, but also provides a practical tool with necessary information to support decision-making and enlarge the schemes to conserve soil biodiversity.

Trees in a community provide numerous benefits, including reducing ambient temperature, removing gaseous and particulate pollutants from the air, sequestering atmospheric carbon, and improving stormwater retention and filtration. However, trees also pose risks, especially in proximity to overhead utility lines. Trees near utility lines cause a large proportion of electrical power outages. As such, trees must be frequently and often severely pruned away from lines to minimize this risk. Presumably, community trees not growing near overhead utility lines are not pruned as frequently or severely. The objectives of this study are to (i) assess factors related to both individual trees and the sample populations of trees growing near and away from overhead utility lines, and (ii) determine whether those factors differed between the two groups. From May through September 2020, I sampled 200 utility easement plots and 200 non-utility plots in Eversource Energy’s distribution territories, measuring 2361 trees. I measured diameter at breast height (DBH), crown height and spread, percent crown missing, percent twig dieback, and likelihood of failure. Using this field collected data, I conducted an i-Tree Eco assessment to evaluate the contribution ecosystem services delivered by trees at each sampling site.

No description available.

BACKGROUND. The main goal of preschool teachers in inclusive settings should be providing the children with an environment that welcome all children, providing the child with freedom of expression and satisfying its primary needs, regardless of the child having difficulties or not and provide a high-quality education in their local surroundings together with their friends and peers. AIM. This study aims to answer which conditions for inclusive preschool settings are expressed in four countries in Europe: Austria, Croatia, Finland and Portugal. Furthermore, how the conditions presented on different levels of the Ecosystem are related to the Three P’s - Protection, Provision and Participation are also investigated. METHOD. This study was guided by the linguistic content analysis methodology. Text from each country was read in a systematic way and reduced by dividing it into the five dimensions of the Ecosystem model of Inclusive Early Childhood Education. This was followed by systematically coding the data through the lens of the three P’s. The final step was to visualize the links between the dimensions in the Ecosystem model and the three P’s. RESULTS. The analysis showed that all four countries provide information on most of the levels of the Ecosystem from macro- to micro-level. When it comes to Three P’s, most of them are verified on at least one of the levels of the Ecosystem. The last question showed that in comparison the macro level shows more similarities between countries than differences. CONCLUSION. To achieve an inclusive early childhood education setting and provide a calm, adequate welcoming preschool environment for all children, whether they have difficulties or not, the Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC, 1989) should be a work base and implemented in the National curriculum. In addition, both structures and processes and in all dimensions of the Ecosystem should be equally acknowledged

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第22816号 / 地環博第203号 / 新制||地環||39(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 西前 出, 教授 柴田 昌三, 准教授 落合 知帆 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

Tree canopies form the most important interface between the earth and the atmosphere, but their role as a potential habitat for eukaryotic microorganisms has been severely understudied. This thesis addresses the hitherto insufficient characterisation of protist diversity and community composition in forest soils and the canopy region, while in particular focusing on the prominent and mostly plant pathogenic Oomycota. Accordingly, several microhabitat compartments were sampled on the ground and in the canopy with the Leipzig Canopy Crane in two seasons over two years, and additionally in a palaeotropical rainforest in Papua New Guinea. Taxon-specific primers were applied to characterise the oomycete diversity in a high-throughput metabarcoding approach. In four chapters, I assess the initial description of oomycete communities in the canopy, their distribution in the forest ecosystem via air dispersal, their seasonality and functional diversity including the quantification of plant pathogens, and their diversity in tropical canopies. These results contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of oomycetes and their pathogenic lineages, their diversity, ecology, distribution, and ecosystem functioning.

The Upper Salinas Headwaters Conservation Plan is an effort to understand the cultural and ecosystem resources in the region, develop tools for conservation planning, and suggest a strategy and plan of action for implementation of those strategies. The plan covers a 218 square mile area between the Santa Lucia and the La Panza mountain ranges, south of Atascadero and east of the City of San Luis Obispo. The Conservation Area consists of rugged terrain made up of vast-relatively untouched open space. The area consists of several different vegetative communities including oak savannah grasslands, mixed hardwood and oak stands, shrubland, wetland and riparian corridors. The region is host to a number of land uses predominantly agriculture (mainly cattle ranching), some urban development, outdoor recreation, and a few mining operations. Approximately fifty-five percent of the acreage within the Conservation Area is designated public land (federal, state, and county), while the remaining acreages are dominantly private lands with Rural or Agriculture designations. Places of interest within the Conservation Area include the Upper Salinas River, Santa Margarita Reservoir, the historic Santa Margarita Ranch, and the town of Pozo. The region that contains the Conservation Area has been identified as having significant ecological resources (migratory corridors, important/rare vegetation communities, and a system of tributaries critical to Salinas River water quality and supply downstream.) The recognition of this important area has come from the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition statewide landscape priorities, The Nature Conservancy, the South Coast Wildlands Program, and a countywide report completed for The Conservancy by Catherine Lambert in 2007, which utilized Geographic information Systems (GIS) to assess ecosystem attributes and growth pressure parameters. The region containing the Conservation Area received a moderate to high combined score as a result of the assessment, suggesting a need for conservation efforts and resources from the Conservancy. The Conservation Area is based roughly on the shape of the subwatersheds that make up part of the larger Upper Salinas watershed. Several headwater tributaries flow into the Salinas River; a river utilized by several municipalities and agricultural operations as it flows north to Monterey Bay. Land use changes in the region can negatively affect water quality and supply downstream as well as degrade important habitat for fish and wildlife. Projected urban develop pressures from the City of Atascadero and an increase in more intensive agricultural production places increasing pressure on both local ranching operations and the regional ecosystem. The large amount of contiguous public land presents an opportunity for a conservation strategy aimed at creating expansive public-private protected lands that will ensure long-term protection of agricultural, hydrological, and wildlife resources. This conservation plan was developed primarily using GIS information from The Conservancy and data used with permission from the County of San Luis Obispo. GIS maps were created and utilized along with aerial photos from Google Earth to analyze the landscape for the following: vegetation communities stream flow direction and order types of development land ownership/parcel data agricultural soils geology existing protected areas conservation potential potential project sites for restoration/enhancement The GIS maps, aerial photo analysis, and information collected from interviews with several family ranchers are intended to be used as decision-support tools for future conservation projects in the region. However, for this plan, strategic and implementation recommendations are suggested in the form of long-term conservation agreements, land use management and restoration/enhancement techniques based on analysis of the information that was collected. The conservation strategy of this plan emphasizes the utilization of existing protected landscapes, primarily public land, along with the establishment of partnerships with private landowners within the Conservation Area to develop large contiguous tracts of protected land in the headwaters region of the Salinas River. The ranching heritage in the region, diversity of habitat and wildlife, sensitivity of hydrological resources, moderate to high levels of development potential from urban development, and more intensive agricultural production makes the Conservation Area in the Upper Salinas Watershed an essential target for conservation efforts.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Zoology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Freshwater ecosystems in South Africa are losing their quality and quantity over time due to pollution mainly from mining, agriculture, industries, deforestation, sewage systems, construction of dams, channel modification and over extraction of water. The Dwars River, a tributary of the Olifants River, is of no exception, as recent studies indicated an increase in nutrient input possibly from agriculture. The Dwars River is an important source of water for nearby communities (Ga-Mampuru). The aim of the study was to assess water and sediment quality of the Dwars River using macroinvertebrates as bioindicators of pollution. Water and macroinvertebrates sampling were done seasonally from July 2017 to May 2018. The water quality results indicated that non-toxic constituents such as salinity and EC (Electrical Conductivity) were above permissible limits stipulated by the DWAF (1996) guidelines. More sensitive taxa were found upstream, despite high concentrations of some nutrients and metals in the water column. The high abundance and distribution of macroinvertebrates observed upstream was confirmed by the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), South African Scoring System (SASS5) and Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) results during the study. Site 1 was dominated by the most sensitive taxa and this could be due to high dissolved oxygen content and increased heterogeneity of the area. Site 4 was dominated by the most tolerant taxa, according to the CCA, SASS score and ASPT results. This could possibly be due to the nutrients and heavy metals washed from upstream, which get adsorbed by the sediment. The results for species abundance, diversity and richness indicated that Ephemeroptera was the most abundant, while Diptera was the most diverse. Ephemeropterans are known to be indicators of good water quality. Site 1 had the highest number of families and orders while site 4 had the least families and orders. Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Tricoptera (EPT) taxa richness and Shannon diversity (H’) index values are high upstream and decrease downstream. Overall, the SASS5 indices, CCA and physicochemical results indicated that the water quality in the Dwars River is deteriorating in most impacted sites / National Research Foundation (NRF) and VLIR

In recent years consumption of drugs and thus the quantity of their residues in natural ecosystems is increasing. It is necessary to deal with their possible negative effects on the environment. This thesis is focused on the ecotoxicological evaluation of pharmaceuticals. Diclofenac and ibuprofen from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory substances, penicillin G and ampicillin from the group of antibiotics were tested. Mainly tests on aquatic organisms were used to evaluate of ecotoxicity, because the tested pharmaceuticals are predominantly occurred in the aquatic environment. Daphnia magna, Thamnocephalus platyurus, Artemia salina, Sinapis alba, Lemna minor, and Brachionus calyciflorus were used as testing organisms. Values of LC50, EC50 and IC50 were determinated and the ecotoxicity of pharmaceuticals was compared.