Diss. (sammanfattning). Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2006. / Title from title page screen (viewed on May 31, 2006). Thesis advisor: Ken Orvis. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 27, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Software projects are not developed in isolation. Open source software projects encourage a networked collaboration and interdependence across projects and developers. Recent research has shifted to studying software ecosystems, communities of projects that depend on each other and are developed together. However, identifying technical dependencies at the ecosystem level can be challenging. In this dissertation, we propose a new method, known as reference coupling, for detecting technical dependencies between projects. The method establishes dependencies through user-specified cross-references between projects. We use our method to identify ecosystems in GitHub hosted projects, and we identify several characteristics of the identified ecosystems. Our findings show that most ecosystems are centered around one project and are interconnected with other ecosystems. The predominant type of ecosystems are those that develop tools to support software development. We also found that the project owners’ social behavior aligns well with the technical dependencies within the ecosystem, but project contributors’ social behavior does not align with these dependencies. We conclude with a discussion on future research that is enabled by our reference coupling method. / Graduate / harrison.franc@gmail.com

xvii, 141 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This study considers the role of the forest ecosystem in Trinity County, California's economy. I seek to better understand the natural resource-based economy of a national forest-proximate community by creating a framework that describes the resource flows into and out of Trinity County and guides ecosystem services valuation within the County. Thus, this study examines the monetary benefits that ecosystem functions create through delivery of goods such as water, energy, and timber and also estimates the value of services, such as recreation, carbon sequestration, and amenity value. Finally, this study examines how money is spent to maintain the ecosystem functions that create these goods and services, such as who pays to maintain water collection and filtration capacity or habitat. Ultimately, this study offers insight into opportunities and limitations for ecosystem services valuation at the county level, and considerations for future attempts to value ecosystem services. / Committee in Charge: Cassandra Moseley, Chair; John Bliss; Trudy Cameron

No description available.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv & Cons Biol) / Gaps in our knowledge of the functional roles of snakes within ecosystems limit our ability to predict the potentially cascading effects their removal from an ecosystem might create. Extirpation of snake species could potentially result in losses of ecosystem functionality if those taxa are ecologically unique. I used pitfall and funnel trap arrays, artificial cover object surveys, active searching, and passive camera trapping, as well as pre-existing faunal diversity data to identify terrestrial tetrapod species within the Koeberg Private Nature Reserve. This resulted in a list of 265 species, of which 13 were snakes. I then gathered data on dietary and four additional functional traits for each species from the literature. Next, using hierarchical and partitioning around medoids clustering, I identified ten broad dietary guilds and 54 functional guilds within the terrestrial tetrapod community. Of the dietary guilds Dasypeltis scabra was the only snake species that formed a unique single species guild and was one of four snake species (Pseudaspis cana, Homoroselaps lacteus and Lamprophis guttatus) to form four unique single species functional guilds. The remaining snakes clustered together within groups of other vertebrate predators. Functional diversity analysis was then used to simulate losing eight major taxonomic groups (birds, passerines, non-passerines, mammals, reptiles, snakes, non-snake reptiles and amphibians) and gauge the effects of those losses on overall community dietary and functional diversity. Functional diversity analysis revealed that the loss of certain snake species resulted in disproportionate losses of overall community dietary and functional diversity while losing others had negligible effects. These findings provide ambivalent support for the dietary and functional uniqueness of snakes suggesting that certain snake species are fulfilling unique functional roles within the ecosystem. Additionally, it is likely that losing those non-redundant species would result in significant losses of ecosystem functionality.

New developments such as 'Precision Medicine' and 'Digital Health' are emerging areas in healthcare technology, underpinned by 'convergent technology' or 'cross-industry' innovation. However, convergence results in greater uncertainty and influence from new knowledge and actors, including previously disparate technologies and capabilities, bringing specific challenges in the development of innovations. Although the literature addresses the context of technology convergence, there has been limited research reported on the how such innovation is effected in nascent ecosystems. This qualitative research addresses identified literature gaps, initially by using a combination of ecosystem actor interviews (n=39) to understand the context, followed by five longitudinal in-depth case studies at innovator organisations. Case evidence was obtained from a combination of interviews (n=62), supplemented by field observations, primary documents and evidence from publicly available sources. The data was subjected to multiple coding methods, with plausible causal mechanisms identified through case and cross-case analyses. The research findings identify a set of five interconnected micro-processes (early organisational routines) which together form a non-deterministic activity system that enables an innovator to navigate (the ecosystem), negotiate (a position within it) and nurture (the innovation and ecosystem). The research further identifies the importance of careful balancing between relationally focussed credibility-seeking and advantage-seeking actions as the main driver 'guiding' managers when developing the innovation, the associated business model(s) and value network in the evolving ecosystem. A conceptual model and framework are developed to show the interrelationships between organisational routines, the activity systems and the ecosystem. In developing organisational capabilities, it is argued that convergent innovation requires mostly incremental changes (low depth of change) across many organisational routines (high breadth of change), which reduce the uncertainty of organizational change and thus increase internal acceptance. These findings support the argument that innovators require a more 'systemic' view of innovation and governance approaches contributing to the innovation and capabilities literature. From a practice perspective, the research provides mechanisms for building relational capabilities critical to innovation delivery.

The general aim of this thesis was to examine the merits of ex-situ vs. in-situ strategies for the conservation of the endangered freshwater pearl mussel, Margaritifera margaritifera, and to investigate the relationship of the larval parasitic stages of the mussel (glochidia) with the salmonid hosts. To this end, I critically reviewed the literature on conservation of freshwater mussels, developed methods for quantifying the behaviour and activity patterns of adult mussels in captivity, experimentally studied host specificity, and quantified the physiological and behavioural effects of glochidia upon salmonid hosts. The results indicate that the conservation of the freshwater pearl mussel is probably best addressed at the watershed scale, and will benefit from a combination of ex-situ and in-situ techniques, as well as from a more critical assessment of findings, many of which are only reported in the grey literature. Empirical, peer-reviewed data are badly needed to inform current conservation efforts. Novel Hall-effect magnetic sensors were used to quantify and characterise discrete mussel behaviours without adversely affecting the welfare or survival of adult mussels, and these hold considerable potential for determining optimal rearing conditions for ex-situ conservation. Arctic charr was shown to be a potentially suitable host for M. margaritifera, and occupied an intermediate position in host suitability between brown trout and Atlantic salmon. Physiological impacts of glochidia upon brown trout included swelling of secondary lamellae and spleen enlargement, but the latter tended to be slight and was restricted to 1 month post-exposure. Glochidia encystment had no significant effect on blood haematocrit, respiratory performance, or cryptic colouration of brown trout hosts. The behavioural effects were more subtle and glochidiosis made brown trout more risk-averse and less willing to explore a novel habitat, without affecting the host's ability to chemically recognise and avoid cues from a predator. Overall, the results of this thesis indicate that the impacts of glochidia upon salmonid hosts are probably slight and temporally variable, and may perhaps lead to increased host survival, which would support the symbiosis-protocooperation theory of glochidia-salmonid interaction.

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