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Les infrastructures linéaires sont reconnues pour faciliter la dispersion de plantes indésirables dans leur emprise et les habitats adjacents. Toutefois, les impacts des emprises de lignes électriques ont été peu étudiés, particulièrement en milieux humides. Cette étude a examiné la végétation des emprises de lignes électriques et de leurs habitats adjacents dans 23 tourbières ombrotrophes (bogs) et 11 minérotrophes (fens). Dans les fens, la dispersion des espèces indésirables est facilitée le long des emprises et certaines espèces peuvent se propager à plus de 43 m dans les habitats adjacents. Au contraire, ces infrastructures ne semblent pas favoriser la dispersion des espèces indésirables dans les bogs puisque leur présence était limitée à la marge des sites et était négligeable dans les habitats tourbeux adjacents. Finalement, les caractéristiques intrinsèques des tourbières, telles leur degré de minérotrophie (bog ou fen) et leur structure végétale (tourbière ouverte, semi-forestière ou forestière) semblent grandement influencer l’envahissement. / Linear infrastructures are known to facilitate the spread of undesirable plants within their right-of-way (ROW) as well as in adjacent habitats. However, the impacts of power-lines ROWs have been weakly studied, particularly in wetlands. This study examined the vegetation of 23 ombrotrophic (bogs) and 11 minerotrophic (fens) peatlands intersected by a power-line ROW. The results showed that the spread of undesirable species along the feature is possible in fens and that some of those species could disperse into the adjacent habitat to more than 43 m from the ROW. Inversely, those features seemed to be inefficient dispersal vectors in bogs, because undesirable species were restricted to the bog margin in the ROW, and almost none dispersed in the adjacent habitats. Finally, intrinsic characteristics of peatlands, such as their degree of minerotrophy (bog or fen) and their vegetation type (open, semiforested or wooded peatland) seem to be important factors influencing invasion.

Lorsque des animaux montrent un choix préférentiel pour un habitat à effet puits, on dit alors qu’ils sont capturés par un piège écologique. La sélection de l’habitat est bénéfique dans les systèmes classiques de type source-puits, puisque les animaux vivant dans des habitats de haute qualité (natalité>mortalité), choisissent de migrer vers des habitats de faible qualité (natalité<mortalité), uniquement lorsqu’il n’y a pas suffisamment d’habitat de haute qualité disponible. A l’intérieur d’un habitat de type piège écologique le choix est dangereux, et peut conduire à l’extirpation rapide d’une espèce, puisque les animaux vivant dans des habitats de haute qualité choisissent de migrer vers des habitats de faible qualité, même lorsqu’il y a suffisamment d’habitat de haute qualité disponible. Les pièges écologiques ont lieu lorsque des changements naturels ou induits par l’homme se produisent rapidement et que des déterminants de la sélection de l’habitat qui étaient alors sélectionnés deviennent trompeurs, entraînant des choix d’habitats inadaptés de la part des animaux. Pour distinguer un habitat de type puits d’un piège écologique, des connaissances complémentaires sont nécessaires, sur la relation entre les préférences d’habitat et la qualité de l’habitat. Dans l’écosystème de Hwange, les lycaons semblent baser le choix d’habitat sur les déterminants écologiques améliorant la fitness. Ils ont une meilleure efficacité de chasse dans la zone tampon à l’extérieur du parc national de Hwange, une compétition moindre avec les lions et avec les hyènes, ainsi qu’un meilleur accès à des sites de terrier. En conséquence, à l’extérieur du parc national, les lycaons donnent naissance à des portées de chiots plus grandes. Cependant, la mortalité induite par l’homme, en raison de l’effet lisière, est si grande qu’elle excède la natalité. Néanmoins, du fait qu’ils sont incapables de juger avec justesse de la qualité de l’habitat, en intégrant la mortalité induite par l’homme, les lycaons font un choix d’habitat inadapté, et ils se déplacent vers le puits de mortalité, à l’extérieur de la sécurité de l’aire protégée. En d’autres mots, les lycaons de l’écosystème de Hwange sont capturés par le piège écologique, que constitue la zone tampon située à l’extérieur du parc national de Hwange. / When animals show a preferential choice for sink habitat they are said to have been caught in an ecological trap. Habitat choice behaviour is beneficial in classic source-sink systems, as animals living in high quality habitat (natality>mortality) only choose to migrate into low quality habitat (natality<mortality) when there is not enough high quality habitat available. Within an ecological trap habitat choice is detrimental and can lead to rapid extirpation of a species, as animals living in high quality habitat choose to migrate into low quality habitat even when there is enough high quality habitat available. Ecological traps occur when sudden natural or human induced changes cause formerly reliable settlement cues to be no longer associated with an adaptive outcome, causing animals to make a maladaptive habitat choice. To be able to distinguish a sink from an ecological trap additional knowledge of the relationship between habitat preference and habitat quality is required. Within the Hwange system African wild dogs seem to base their habitat choice on the right fitness enhancing ecological cues. They experience a higher hunting efficiency in the buffer zone outside Hwange National Park, less competition with lions and spotted hyenas and a better access to suitable den sites. As a result African wild dogs outside the National Park give birth to larger litters of pups. However, due to an ‘edge effect’, human induced mortality in the buffer zone is so high it exceeds natality. African wild dogs nevertheless make a maladaptive habitat choice and move into the mortality sink outside the safety of the protected area as they are unable to judge habitat quality accurately by taking this human induced mortality risk into account. In other words, African wild dogs in the Hwange system are caught in an ecological trap in the buffer zone outside Hwange National Park.

This thesis is devoted to the optical properties of low-dimensional structures based on such two-dimensional materials as graphene, silicene and phosphorene. We investigate optical properties of a variety of quasi-one dimensional and quasi-zero-dimensional structures, which are promising for future optoelectronics. Primarily we focus on their low-energy optical properties and how these properties are influenced by the structures’ geometry, external fields, intrinsic strain and edge disorder. As a consequence of this endeavor, we find several interesting effects such as correlation between the optical properties of tubes and ribbons whose periodic and ‘hard wall’ boundary conditions are matched and a universal value of matrix element in narrow-gap tubes and ribbons characterizing probability of transitions across the band gap opened up by intrinsic strain originating from the tube’s surface curvature or ribbon’s edge relaxation. The analytical study of the gapped 2D Dirac materials such as silicene and germanene, which have some similarity to the aforementioned quasi-one-dimensional systems in terms of physical description, reveals a valley- and polarization-dependent selection rules. It was also found that absorption coefficient should change in gapped materials with increasing frequency and become a half of its value for gap edge transitions when the spectrum is linear. Our analysis of the electronic properties of flat clusters of silicene and phosphorene relates the emergence and the number of the peculiar edge states localized at zero energy, so-called zero-energy states, which are know to be of topological origin, to the cluster’s structural characteristics such as shape and size. This allows to predict the presence and the number of such states avoiding complicated topological arguments and provides a recipes for design of metallic and dielectric clusters. We show that zero-energy states are optically active and can be efficiently manipulated by external electric field. However, the edge disorder is important to take into account. We present a new fractal-based methodology to study the effects of the edge disorder which can be applied also to modeling of composite materials. These finding should be useful in design of optoelectronic devices such as tunable emitters and detectors in a wide region of electromagnetic spectrum ranging form the mid-infrared and THz to the optical frequencies.

<p>The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the ecological consequences of buffer strip retention on riparian and terrestrial biodiversity. Earlier studies on forest buffer strips have evaluated their effectiveness in relation to water quality and aquatic biota. However, forests along streams are species rich habitats for many organism groups. Buffer strip management is assumed to be important also for protecting such species. Current approaches to biodiversity-oriented forest management practices need to be scientifically evaluated. In this thesis the effects on bryophytes and land snails have been evaluated.</p><p>A before-and-after experiment along 15 small streams in northern Sweden showed that buffer strips of 10 m on each side of the stream moderated the negative effects exhibited at the clear-cuts. The number of land snail species remained similar as to before logging and the number of vanished bryophyte species was lower in the buffer strips than in the clear-cuts. The ground moisture influenced the survival rate of land snails at the clear-cuts. At mesic sites many species vanished but at wet sites the snail fauna was unaffected by the logging.</p><p>Many bryophyte species, most of them liverworts, decreased or disappeared in the buffer strips. These were mostly growing on substrates elevated from the forest floor, such as logs, stumps and tree-bases. A number of nationally red-listed species, sensitive for changes in microclimate, were among those decreasing most. Thus, for the species in most need of protection the buffer strips were too narrow.</p><p>An experiment with bryophyte transplants followed over a season showed that wet ground moisture moderated the negative edge effects in narrow buffer strips. On the other hand, the growth in mesic and moist sites was almost as low as in comparable clear-cuts.</p><p>Microclimatic edge effects are stronger at south facing than north-facing edges of forest clear-cuts. This was shown in an experiment using bryophyte growth as an indicator of differences in microclimate. However, the depth of edge influence seemed to be similar between north- and south-facing forest edges, >30 m for one species. An explanation for this could be that wind penetrates deeper into edges than solar radiation and has a more variable direction.</p><p>In conclusion, narrow buffer strips consist entirely of edge habitat. For many species the environment in buffer strips is good enough for persistence. For others, most notably bryophyte species on convex substrates, wider buffer strips are needed to ensure long-term survival. </p>

The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the ecological consequences of buffer strip retention on riparian and terrestrial biodiversity. Earlier studies on forest buffer strips have evaluated their effectiveness in relation to water quality and aquatic biota. However, forests along streams are species rich habitats for many organism groups. Buffer strip management is assumed to be important also for protecting such species. Current approaches to biodiversity-oriented forest management practices need to be scientifically evaluated. In this thesis the effects on bryophytes and land snails have been evaluated. A before-and-after experiment along 15 small streams in northern Sweden showed that buffer strips of 10 m on each side of the stream moderated the negative effects exhibited at the clear-cuts. The number of land snail species remained similar as to before logging and the number of vanished bryophyte species was lower in the buffer strips than in the clear-cuts. The ground moisture influenced the survival rate of land snails at the clear-cuts. At mesic sites many species vanished but at wet sites the snail fauna was unaffected by the logging. Many bryophyte species, most of them liverworts, decreased or disappeared in the buffer strips. These were mostly growing on substrates elevated from the forest floor, such as logs, stumps and tree-bases. A number of nationally red-listed species, sensitive for changes in microclimate, were among those decreasing most. Thus, for the species in most need of protection the buffer strips were too narrow. An experiment with bryophyte transplants followed over a season showed that wet ground moisture moderated the negative edge effects in narrow buffer strips. On the other hand, the growth in mesic and moist sites was almost as low as in comparable clear-cuts. Microclimatic edge effects are stronger at south facing than north-facing edges of forest clear-cuts. This was shown in an experiment using bryophyte growth as an indicator of differences in microclimate. However, the depth of edge influence seemed to be similar between north- and south-facing forest edges, &gt;30 m for one species. An explanation for this could be that wind penetrates deeper into edges than solar radiation and has a more variable direction. In conclusion, narrow buffer strips consist entirely of edge habitat. For many species the environment in buffer strips is good enough for persistence. For others, most notably bryophyte species on convex substrates, wider buffer strips are needed to ensure long-term survival.

Les infrastructures linéaires sont reconnues pour faciliter la dispersion de plantes indésirables dans leur emprise et les habitats adjacents. Toutefois, les impacts des emprises de lignes électriques ont été peu étudiés, particulièrement en milieux humides. Cette étude a examiné la végétation des emprises de lignes électriques et de leurs habitats adjacents dans 23 tourbières ombrotrophes (bogs) et 11 minérotrophes (fens). Dans les fens, la dispersion des espèces indésirables est facilitée le long des emprises et certaines espèces peuvent se propager à plus de 43 m dans les habitats adjacents. Au contraire, ces infrastructures ne semblent pas favoriser la dispersion des espèces indésirables dans les bogs puisque leur présence était limitée à la marge des sites et était négligeable dans les habitats tourbeux adjacents. Finalement, les caractéristiques intrinsèques des tourbières, telles leur degré de minérotrophie (bog ou fen) et leur structure végétale (tourbière ouverte, semi-forestière ou forestière) semblent grandement influencer l’envahissement. / Linear infrastructures are known to facilitate the spread of undesirable plants within their right-of-way (ROW) as well as in adjacent habitats. However, the impacts of power-lines ROWs have been weakly studied, particularly in wetlands. This study examined the vegetation of 23 ombrotrophic (bogs) and 11 minerotrophic (fens) peatlands intersected by a power-line ROW. The results showed that the spread of undesirable species along the feature is possible in fens and that some of those species could disperse into the adjacent habitat to more than 43 m from the ROW. Inversely, those features seemed to be inefficient dispersal vectors in bogs, because undesirable species were restricted to the bog margin in the ROW, and almost none dispersed in the adjacent habitats. Finally, intrinsic characteristics of peatlands, such as their degree of minerotrophy (bog or fen) and their vegetation type (open, semiforested or wooded peatland) seem to be important factors influencing invasion.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of History, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], ii, 89 p. : maps. Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-89).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:06:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RomuloRMS.pdf: 3055902 bytes, checksum: 75eaf485a85529179129dd468ccfc772 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-18 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / &#65279;The ionic plasma nitriding is one of the most important plasma assisted treatment technique for surface modification, but it presents some inherent problems mainly in nitriding pieces with complex geometries. In the last four years has appeared a plasma nitriding technique, named ASPN (Active Screen Plasma Nitriding) in which the samples and the workload are surrounded by a metal screen on which the cathodic potential is applied. This new technique makes possible to obtain a perfect uniform nitrided layer apart from the shape of the samples. The present work is based on the development of a new nitriding plasma technique named CCPN (Cathodic Cage Plasma Nitriding) Patent PI 0603213-3 derived from ASPN, but utilizes the hollow cathode effect to increase the nitriding process efficiency. That technique has shown great improvement on the treatment of several types of steels under different process conditions, producing thicker and harder layers when compared with both, ASPN and ionic plasma nitriding, besides eliminating problems associated with the later technique. The best obtained results are due to the hollow cathode effect on the cage holes. Moreover, characteristic problems of ionic plasma nitriding are eliminated due to the fact that the luminescent discharge acts on the cage wall instead of on the samples surface, which remains under a floating potential. In this work the enhancement of the cathodic cage nitriding layers proprieties, under several conditions for some types of steels was investigated, besides the mechanism for nitrides deposition on glass substrate, concluding that the CCPN is both a diffusion and a deposition process at the same time / &#65279;A nitreta??o i?nica ? um dos processos de revestimento superficial dos mais importantes, mas apresenta alguns problemas inerentes, principalmente, na nitreta??o de pe?as com geometria complexa. Nos ?ltimos quatro anos surgiu uma nova t?cnica de nitreta??o a plasma, denominada de ASPN (Active Screen Plasma Nitriding), na qual as amostras s?o envolvidas por uma tela polarizada catodicamente e com ela ? poss?vel obter uma camada nitretada, perfeitamente uniforme, independente da forma da amostra. O nosso trabalho baseia-se no desenvolvimento, no ?mbito do LabPlasma, de uma nova t?cnica de nitreta??o em plasma, denominada nitreta??o em gaiola cat?dica (NGC) dep?sito de patente PI 0603213-3 derivada da ASPN, mas que utiliza o efeito de c?todo oco para aumentar a efici?ncia do processo de nitreta??o. Esta t?cnica apresentou bastante efic?cia na nitreta??o de v?rios tipos de a?os, nas mais variadas condi??es de tratamento, proporcionando a obten??o de camadas mais espessas e de maior dureza, quando comparada com a ASPN e com a nitreta??o i?nica convencional, al?m de eliminar problemas de irregularidades associados ? t?cnica convencional. Sua maior efici?ncia deve-se ? utiliza??o do efeito de c?todo oco estabelecido nas paredes dos furos da gaiola, enquanto que a elimina??o dos problemas inerentes ? t?cnica convencional, deve-se ao fato do plasma atuar na gaiola e n?o nas amostras, as quais permanecem em potencial flutuante. Neste trabalho, foram avaliadas as condi??es de otimiza??o da nitreta??o, realizada com esta t?cnica, para diferentes tipos de a?os, al?m de investigarmos os mecanismos que atuam, quando da deposi??o de nitretos em substratos de vidro, observando que a NGC ? um processo misto de difus?o e deposi??o

Cette thèse traite des problèmes des concentrations de contraintes locales, en particularité des effets des bords libres dans des structures stratifiés. À l'interface entre deux couches avec des propriétés élastiques différentes, les contraintes ont un comportement singulier dans le voisinage du bord libre en supposant un comportement de matériau élastique linéaire. Par conséquent, ils sont essentiels pour promouvoir le délaminage. Via Formulation unifiée de la Carrera (CUF) différents modèles cinématiques sont testés dans le but de capter les concentrations de contraintes. Dans la première partie de ce travail, les approches de modélisation dimensionnelle réduits sont comparées. Deux classe principale sont présentés: la couche équivalent (ESL) et l'approche par couche, LW. Par la suite leurs capacités à capter les singularités sont comparées. En utilisant une fonction a priori singulière, via une expression exponentielle, une mesure des contraintes singulières est introduite. Seulement deux paramètres décrivent pleinement les composantes des contraintes singulières au voisinage du bord libre. Sur la base des paramètres obtenus les modèles sont comparés et aussi les effets sous des charges d'extension et de flexion et pour différents stratifiés. Les résultats montrent une nécessité des modèles complexes dans le voisinage du bord libre. Cependant loin des bords libres, dans le centre de plaques composite, aucune différence significative ne peut être noté pour les modèles plutôt simples. La deuxième partie de ce travail est donc dédiée au couplage de modèles cinématique incompatibles. Modèles complexes et coûteux sont utilisés seulement dans des domaines locaux d'intérêt, tandis que les modèles économiques simples seront modéliser le domaine global. La eXtended Variational Formulation (XVF) est utilisé pour coupler les modèles de dimensionnalité homogènes mais de cinématique hétérogènes. Ici pas de recouvrement de domaine est présent. En outre, le XVF offre la possibilité d'adapter les conditions imposées à l'interface en utilisant un paramètre scalaire unique. On montre que, pour le problème de dimensionnalité homogène, que deux conditions différentes peuvent être imposées par ce paramètre. Un correspondant à des conditions fortes des Multi Point Constraints (MPC) et un second fournir des conditions faibles. La dernière offre la possibilité de réduire extrêmement le domaine qui utilise le modèle cinématique complexe, sans perte de précision locale. Comme il s'agit de la première application de la XVF vers les structures composites, le besoin d'un nouvel opérateur de couplage a été identifié. Un nouveau formulaire est proposé, testé et sa robustesse sera évaluée. / This work considers local stress concentrations, especially the free-Edge effects of multilayered structures. At the interface of two adjacent layers with different elastic properties, the stresses can become singular in the intermediate vicinity of the free edge. This is valid while assuming a linear elastic material behaviour. As a consequence this zones are an essential delamination trigger. Via the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF), different kinematical models are testes in order to obtain the correct local stress concentration. In the first part of this work, the reduced dimensional modelling approaches are compared. Two main class are presented: Equivalent Single Layer (ESL) models treating the layered structure like one homogenous plate of equal mechanical proper- ties, and the Layer Wise approach, treating each layer independently. Subsequently their capabilities to capture the appearing singularities are compared. In order to have a comparable measurement of those singularities, the obtained stress distributions will be expressed via a power law function, which has a priori a singular behaviour. Only two parameters fully describe therefore the singular stress components in the vicinity of the free edge. With the help of these two parameters not only the different models capabilities will be compared, but also the free edge effect itself will be measured and compared for different symmetrical laminates and the case of extensional and uniform bending load. The results for all laminates under both load cases confirm the before stated need for rather complex models in the vicinity of the free edge. However far from the free edges, in the composite plates centre, no significant difference can be noted for rather simple models. The second part of this work is therefore dedicated to the coupling of kinematically incompatible models. The use of costly expensive complex models is restricted to local domains of interest, while economic simple models will model the global do- main. The Extended Variational Formulation (XVF) is identified as the most suitable way to couple the kinematically heterogenous but dimensional homogenous models. As it uses a configuration with one common interface without domain overlap, the additional efforts for establishing the coupling are limited. Further the XVF offers the possibility to adapt the conditions imposed at the interface using a single scalar parameter. It will be shown that for the homogenous dimensional problem under consideration only two different conditions can be imposed by this parameter. One matching the strong conditions imposed by the classical Multi Point Constrains (MPC) and a second one providing a weak condition. The last one is shown to provide the possibility to reduce further the domain using the complex kinematical model, without the loss of local precision. As this is the first application of the XVF towards composite structures, the need for a new coupling operator was identified. A new form is proposed, tested and its robustness will be evaluated.