From Summary: This is a geographical study of land use in the Eastern Cape Province. The land use pattern, although related closely to the features of the natural environment, is perhaps even more closely related to the spatial variations of the man-made environment, particularly to the disposition of the different racial groups with their different cultures and economies, and to the kaleidoscopic character of the settlement pattern.

This thesis examines how stakeholder values should be clarified in consensus-based processes in order to provide the framework for the generation of options, the collection of technical information and the assessment of options. The specific context is forest land use planning in British Columbia, particularly with respect to creating protected areas. A case study approach was used. The case study used was the Clayoquot Sound Sustainable Development Strategy Committee planning process (begun in January 1991). This particular case study was chosen because it was the first effort to use negotiations to provide advice to the provincial government on a regional sustainable development issue. It was also highly contentious and very public, therefore it is reasonably well-documented. One of the major flaws in how options were generated and assessed in this process was that insufficient time was spent clarifying stakeholders' values and underlying interests. This had repercussions throughout the negotiations. The problem was not well-defined and this meant it was difficult to generate options that met stakeholders' objectives. Option generation was hasty and was rooted in the status quo. In addition, technical information was collected at the beginning of the process, before objectives were clarified or options generated. This meant there was not a clear idea of how the information would be used to support the decision-making, and resulted in reports heavily loaded with descriptive information. Assessing the options generated was also subject to flaws: the first was that the analysis was based on values that were largely implicit and came primarily from technical experts. The second was that the status quo (the current state of conditions) was used to assess the impacts of proposed options. This led to the consistent overestimate of jobs losses caused by the reduction in harvest level associated with withdrawal of forest land from the commercial land base. Despite these difficulties, this process greatly increased stakeholders' understanding of both the technical issues involved and the difficulties of governing. The social learning aspect of the process is an important legacy and may make future decision-making processes in the area easier. However, improvements in the generation and assessment of options are needed to improve negotiations. Importantly, the problem needs to be well-defined and well-structured. To achieve this, the objectives hierarchy approach is promoted here. It is relatively simple to use in practice, and forces stakeholders' to examine their values and underlying interests. This means that they are more able to generate options that. meet these. interests (rather than their well-entrenched positions). To help move beyond the status quo to create imaginative options, it also useful to ask stakeholders to think about how to achieve their objectives. Once objectives have been clarified and imaginative options have been generated, then the technical information required to assess options can be identified and collected. This leads to the collection of more functional, and less descriptive, information which will be more useful to inform the decision-making. When assessing options, uncertainty in the data, and implicit judgments by technical experts should be made explicit and bounded with probabilities. This improves confidence in the data. Lastly, the base case, which incorporates current trends and is a more reliable predictor of future conditions than the status quo, should be used as a basis for comparing options. It is especially important to consider the effects of declining rates of employment due to mechanization and the fall-down effect in the base case scenario, in order to get a more realistic estimate of the true jobs losses due to reduced harvests, with and without land withdrawals. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Geographic information systems and remote sensing software were used to analyze data to determine the area and volume of the proposed Fastrill Reservoir, and to examine seven alternatives. The controversial reservoir site is in the same location as a nascent wildlife refuge. Six general land cover types impacted by the reservoir were also quantified using Landsat imagery. The study found that water consumption in Dallas is high, but if consumption rates are reduced to that of similar Texas cities, the reservoir is likely unnecessary. The reservoir and its alternatives were modeled in a GIS by selecting sites and intersecting horizontal water surfaces with terrain data to create a series of reservoir footprints and volumetric measurements. These were then compared with a classified satellite imagery to quantify land cover types. The reservoir impacted the most ecologically sensitive land cover type the most. Only one alternative site appeared slightly less environmentally damaging.

The objective of this study was to deploy a conceptual framework developed by M. Forbes using a geographic information system (GIS) approach to assess the functionality of wetlands in the Galveston Bay Area of Texas. This study utilized geospatial datasets which included National Wetland Inventory maps (NWI), LiDAR data, National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery and USGS National Land Cover data to assess the capacity of wetlands to store surface water and remove pollutants, including nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, and organic compounds. The use of LiDAR to characterize the hydrogeomorphic characteristics of wetlands is a key contribution of this study to the science of wetland functional assessment. LiDAR data was used to estimate volumes for the 7,370 wetlands and delineate catchments for over 4,000 wetlands, located outside the 100-yr floodplain, within a 2,075 square mile area around Galveston Bay. Results from this study suggest that coastal prairie freshwater wetlands typically have a moderate capacity to store surface water from precipitation events, remove ammonium, and retain phosphorus and heavy metals and tend to have a high capacity for removing nitrate and retainremove organic compounds. The results serve as a valuable survey instrument for increasing the understanding of coastal prairie freshwater wetlands and support a cumulative estimate of the water quality and water storage functions on a regional scale.

Using Coachella Valley's Salton Sea ecosystem as a model, several multidisciplinary wetland activities for grades three to six were developed. A resource guide for educators is included.

Biological diversity is a key component in assessing ecosystem health. Alteration, degradation and loss of habitat due to human influence is currently the primary stressor resulting in decreases in diversity. Reliable assessment of large areas in terms of biological integrity are needed for conservation and preservation efforts. Remotely sensed data provide an integrated view of reflected electromagnetic energy over large areas of the earth. These energy patterns provide unique spectral signatures which can be correlated to land cover and habitat. This research sought relationships between traditional ecological measures and information gathered from satellite digital imagery. Reliable interpretation of earth surface characteristics relies largely on accurate rectification to a map projection and subsequent thematic classification. Use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for rectification was superior than digitizing topographical maps. Differentially corrected GPS locations provided optimum rectification with SPOT satellite imagery while marginally better rectifications were obtained for Landsat MSS imagery using uncorrected GPS positions. SPOT imagery provided more accurate land cover classifications than did MSS. Detection of temporal land cover change using MSS imagery was hampered by confusion among intermediate successional classes. Confusion between upland and bottomland forest classes occurred with both SPOT and MSS. Landscape analyses using thematic maps produced from the previously discussed endeavors suggested that terrestrial habitat in the Ray Roberts Lake area became more fragmented and complex in shape. Habitat patches became smaller but more numerous. Forested areas were most effected and conservation efforts should focus on management strategies that promote vegetation succession and forest maturation. Remotely sensed SPOT data were successfully used to predict tree basal area. There were no significant relationships found with other in situ measures or between MSS data and any vegetation measures. Remote sensing provided information suitable for large scale projects concerning landscape-level ecological issues. Rectification and classification accuracies were the primary factors influencing meaningful interpretation. Project goals should determine the scale of remotely sensed data and acceptable level of accuracy.

Habitat Evaluation Procedure data gathered at Ray Roberts Lake in 1989 and 1990 were analysed for temporal variability, observer variability and relationships between Habitat Units (HUs) and species density/diversity. observer variability within a group was analysed by cluster analysis and bootstrapping. Five out of 36 sites showed significant differences in Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) values within the group. A nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was used to analyze temporal variability. One of 6 sites showed a significant difference in HSI values between years. Using Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient, a correlation was found between indicator species density and HUs. No significant correlation was indicated between species diversity and HUs.

Torpedograss (Panicum repens) was first observed in Lake Okeechobee in the 1970s and appears to have displaced an estimated 6,400 ha of native plants, such as spikerush (Eleocharis cellulosa), where inundation depths are often less than 50 cm. Two series of studies evaluated substrate exposure and water depth influences on torpedograss establishment and competitiveness. Results revealed that fragments remain buoyant for extended periods and so facilitate dispersal. Once anchored to exposed substrate fragments can readily root and establish. Subsequently, torpedograss thrives when subjected to inundations to 75 cm and survives prolonged exposure to depths greater than 1 m. These findings suggest that fluctuating water levels contribute to torpedograss dispersal and colonization patterns and that low water levels increase marsh area susceptible to invasion. The competition study found that spikerush grown in monoculture produces significantly more biomass when continually inundated to shallow depths (10 to 20 cm) than when subjected to drier conditions (-25 cm) or greater inundations (80 cm). In contrast, torpedograss establishes more readily on exposed substrate (-25 to 0 cm) compared to inundate substrates. During the first growing season biomass production increases as substrate exposure interval increases. However, during the second year, established torpedograss produces more biomass when grown on intermittently wet (0 cm) compared to permanently dry (-25 cm) or intermittently inundated (10 cm) substrates. No difference in production was observed between substrates permanently inundated (10 cm) and any other regime tested. During the first two years of torpedograss invasion, regardless of treatment, spikerush suppresses invasion and torpedograss had little effect on established spikerush, indicating that spikerush-dominated areas are capable of resisting torpedograss invasion. Even so, disturbances that might cause mortality of long hydroperiod species, such as spikerush, may create open gaps in the native vegetation and thus facilitate torpedograss establishment and expansion.

In North Texas, the Barnett Shale underlies large areas of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW), which magnifies debates about the externalities of shale gas development (SGD). Continued demand for natural gas and expansive urbanization in DFW will cause more people to come in contact with drilling rigs, gas transport, and other urban shale gas landscapes. Thousands of gas wells within the DFW region occupy a large, yet scattered land surface area. DFW city planners, elected officials, and other stakeholders must deal with current and future urban growth and the surface impacts that are associated with gas development. This research examines how shale gas landscapes affect urban land uses, landscapes, and patterns of development in DFW. The study focuses on multiple fast growing DFW municipalities that also have high numbers of gas well pad sites. This study asks what are the spatial characteristics of gas well production sites in DFW and how do these sites vary across the region; how do gas well production sites affect urban growth and development; and how are city governments and surface developers responding to gas well production sites, and what are the dominant themes of contestation arising around gas well production sites and suburban growth?

Cement-based concrete is one of the main construction materials that is widely used for many construction applications due to its strength, durability, reflectivity, and versatility. However, it is acknowledged that production of cement as a primary material of concrete releases 1.8 Gt carbon dioxide (CO2) into the environment. It is estimated that one ton of cement production releases one ton of CO2 to the atmosphere. That is why, this work aims to create a concrete that could be an alternative to cement-based concrete. Geopolymer concrete (GPC) is an eco-friendly construction material and an alternative to conventional concrete that is produced by reacting aluminate and silicate bearing constituents with a caustic activator (i.e. sodium-based or potassium-based). Both potassium and sodium have been considered as generally safe intergradient by the FDA, based upon the observance of several good manufacturing practice conditions of use. Theses activators are used in various application including concrete, food, as a stabilizer, and as a thickening agent. Moreover, these activators are also used in making soap, as an electrolyte in alkaline batteries and in electroplating, lithography, and paint and varnish removers. Medically, these activators are widely used in the wet mount preparation of various clinical specimens for microscopic visualization of fungi and fungal elements in skin, hair, nails, and even vaginal secretions, Currently, it was determined that these activators solution were found to be a safe and effective treatment of plane warts. Despite the developments in the studies relating to GPC made by various precursors such as fly-ash and slag in the literatures, the use of GPC made by fly-ash and bottom-ash has not been overly researched. In this study, attempts have been made to produce a unique mix proportion for Potassium-based GPC made by fly-ash and bottom-ash and investigate various mechanical properties of this type of GPC including elastic modulus, freeze-thaw resistance, heavy metal leach-ability and corrosion in both laboratory and real environmental conditions using Non-Destructive Tests (NDT)s. / Graduate / 2021-12-15