This dissertation compared existence values held by Portland, Maine (United States) and Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) residents for the preservation of ten percent of the worlds tropical rain forests and identified economic and noneconomic components of existence value and use values. Existence value was narrowly defined as cognitive in nature; it is the value placed on simply knowing tropical rain forests exists independent of current and future use values. Between November 1998 and February 1999, a 16 page mail-back questionnaire was sent to a random sample of residents in Portland and Port Moresby. A total of 330 and 461 questionnaires were returned from Portland, and Port Moresby, respectively for an overall response rate of 41 and 49 percent, respectively. The results indicated that noneconomic components of mean willingness to pay (WTP) accounted for at least 50 percent of the total value for both Portland and Port Moresby residents. Noneconomic components of existence value (intrinsic value, good cause, moral duty etc) and use value (nonpaternalistic altruism) were excluded to avoid presenting overestimated benefits. Portland and Port Moresby WTP estimates were found to be statistically different from each other. This finding invalidated the assumption that benefits could be directly transferable between countries, especially between developed and developing countries. This result was also supported by evidence of statistical differences in motives and socioeconomic variables between Portland and Port Moresby respondents. Portland residents generally had a higher value for existence (as a proportion of total mean WTP) than Port Moresby residents. Both the Portland and Port Moresby WTP estimates were lower than Kramer and Mercers' (1997) US estimates. Results from the attitudinal models showed that Port Moresby respondents were more environment oriented than Portland respondents. The latter were more development oriented. Port Moresby respondents expressed the sentiment that the rich nations of the world (including the US) should bear the responsibility of preserving tropical rain forests.

The in situ concentrations and repeating unit characterization of poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) were examined in stratified photosynthetic microbial mats from Great Sippewissett Salt Marsh, Massachusetts and the Ebro Delta, Spain. In the cyanobacteria-dominated green layer material the mole % ratio of hydroxybutyrate (HB) repeating units to hydroxyvalerate (HV) units was generally 1HB:1HV. In the purple sulfur bacteria-dominated pink material the relationship was typically 1HB:2HV. When total PHA content was normalized to organic carbon content there was little seasonal variation in the PHA levels. However, a diel cycle of varying PHA levels was evident at all sites. Overnight, PHA accumulated to about 1 1/2 to 2 times the amount that had been present the previous evening. Over the course of the next daylight period, those levels declined to what they had been the previous evening. Exogenous acetate, lactate, and propionate induced 2 to 5-fold increases in PHA content when applied in the daylight, but had no effect on PHA content when applied at night. Intact microbial mat slabs, incubated in the light for 6 h in H 14CO3– amended seawater, incorporated 58% of the initial radiolabel. The cyano/green material incorporated 4 times more H14CO3– than did the PSB/pink material. The mats were fractionated into the major molecular pools of (1) low molecular weight (lmw) material, (2) proteins/nucleic acids, (3) PRA, and (4) glycogen. After the initial labeling period in the light, the 14C incorporated into the green layer material was partitioned as follows: 61% in lmw material, 20% in proteins/nucleic acids, 20% in glycogen, and less than 1% in PHA. After the initial labeling period in light the 14C incorporated into pink layer material was partitioned as follows: 61% in lmw material, 14% in proteins/nucleic acids, 25% in glycogen, and less than 1% in PHA. When mat that was labeled in the light was transferred to darkness, there was a marked now of 14C from the glycogen fraction to the PHA fraction, particularly in pink material where 13% of the incorporated 14C was detected after 20 h of darkness. There was no incorporation of label into the PHA of mats that were continuously incubated in the light.

This dissertation is an attempt to contribute to the literature that seeks to move beyond income-centered approaches to environmental degradation by examining the other socio-economic factors that influence environmental quality. The first part of the dissertation utilizes the Russian Statistical Agency's data on air pollution and deforestation in Russia to answer the question of what relationship, if any, exists between the quality of governance, income and power inequalities and environmental degradation. The major finding here is that, holding income constant, greater inequalities in income and in the provision of public goods are associated with more environmental degradation. The second part of this dissertation addresses the question of what impact, if any, inequalities among Russia's regions have on environmental degradation at the regional level. By developing two methods for distinguishing between changes in the absolute level of income and changes in the relative level of income, and controlling for the former, this dissertation finds that regions with lower relative incomes have more uncontrolled pollution and more net deforestation than regions whose incomes are high in relative terms. Moreover, these differences cannot be attributed simply to differences in spending on environmental protection; they appear to reflect differences in the location of environmentally degrading activities.

Davis Mine, an abandoned pyrite mine in western Massachusetts, was my study model for acid mine drainage (AMD). Acidic waters from AMD cause the dissolution of other resident minerals increasing the concentration of heavy metals in these environments. Therefore, bacteria isolated from AMD exhibit high levels of tolerance to heavy metals. The objective of this work was to isolate and characterize acidophilic, aerobic, chemoorganotrophic bacteria from AMD that are tolerant to high concentrations of heavy metal divalent cations. First, I analyzed the microbial community present at aerobic sediments obtained at the opening of the former main shaft at Davis Mine. This sediment was used as inoculum for enrichments of bacteria in a mixture of heavy metals. Enrichments and isolated bacteria were characterized by tolerance to heavy metals, presence of extrachromosomal DNA, and presence of known metal tolerance-related genes. In addition, community structure and phylogenetic identities were determined. The diversity analysis of the sediment revealed that the microbial diversity at Davis Mine at the level of Bacterial classes is comparable to other aerobic sediments from AMD sites. The majority of the sequences were related to yet uncultured bacteria obtained from other mine sites or acidic soils making it difficult to describe accurately the microbial community structure. Chemoorganotrophic, heavy metal tolerant bacteria were successfully isolated from Davis Mine. The majority of the strains were closely related to the acidophilic genera Acidocella and Thiomonas. In addition, I isolated bacteria related to Burkholderia which was not previously isolated from AMD. The heavy metal tolerance profiles of 21 strains revealed that high tolerance was correlated to the addition of heavy metals to the pre-cultivation medium as well as the presence of a 480 kb plasmid. I suggest that the heavy metal resistances observed are the result of more than on type of mechanism that are induced by the presence of heavy metals in the culture medium.

Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an essential role in agriculture and in environments. It influences the productivity and physical well-being of soils. Therefore, it is important from both an economic and environmental standpoint to determine how agricultural practices will affect SOM and the biological cycling of carbon. Based on the changes of SOM characteristics, we further investigated the sorption dynamics and mechanisms of organic compounds in soil and SOM fractions under different soil managements. Several experiments were conducted and the results and conclusions were summarized as below. Long-term tillage experiment was initiated in 1979 at the Clemson University Pee Dee Research and Education Center (Darlington, SC). Cover crop experiment was conducted in the Connecticut River Valley at the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station in South Deerfield, Massachusetts (since 1990). Cross-Polarization Magic-Angle-Spinning (CPMAS) and Total Sideband Suppression (TOSS) solid-state 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Diffuse Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (DRIFT) spectroscopic techniques were used to identify the structural and compositional changes of SOM. Metolachlor sorption experiments (3 days) were conducted using a batch-equilibrium method. Three desorption steps were carried out for a total of 9 days in a sequential decant-refill steps following the sorption experiment. Our NMR results indicated that humic acid (HA) from rye alone cover was more aromatic and less aliphatic in character than other cover crop systems without nitrogen fertilizers. Based on the DRIFT peak height O/R (reactive/recalcitrant) ratios, the highest ratio was found in the HA from vetch/rye system with nitrogen fertilizer. Compared to conventional tillage (CT), conservation tillage (CnT) held a higher SOM and light fraction (LF) in the surface layer (0–5 cm). Aromaticity of HA increased with soil depth in both tillages. Conversely, the aliphatic-C content decreased with soil depth. However, the aromaticity of HA in CT was higher than that of CnT in the top soil (0–5 cm). Sorption nonlinearity (N) of metolachlor and hysteresis were dependent on the structure and composition of SOM. These results showed that agricultural practices not only changed the structure of SOM, but also changed the pesticide sorption behavior in the soil.

Thermal and chemical interactions of premixed flames with inert and catalytic surfaces are studied in this dissertation, for the purpose of elucidating their effects on flame stability and pollutant emissions. Both weak chemical flame-surface coupling (due to radical wall recombination) and strong chemical coupling (due to catalytic wall activity), have been analyzed. A combination of model development and analysis has been used to comprehend various experimentally observed phenomenon, ranging from the effect of surface phenomenon on NO x and fuel emissions. Detailed model analysis has been undertaken in order to determine the effects of thermal and radical wall quenching on bifurcation behavior, wall heat flux, and pollutant emissions, in premixed hydrogen and methane/air flames. A new method to identify the contributions of various NO formation pathways (e.g., the Zeldovich, NNH, and prompt NOx pathways), has been developed. A new methodology for the construction of thermodynamically consistent, detailed surface reaction mechanisms has been developed. The energetics of the reaction mechanisms are derived from the application of the unity bond index-quadratic exponential potential (UBI-QEP) formalism, with species coverage dependent heats of adsorption, obtained from experiments or theory, as an input. Transition state theory estimates are used initially for the pre-exponentials of the reactions, while experimental data is used the sticking probabilities. Large scale simulations are then conducted using this reaction mechanism coupled with appropriate gas-phase chemistry and reactor scale models, to obtain predictions of targeted experiments. Reaction path analysis and sensitivity analysis are employed to identify the important steps for each experiment. A mathematical optimization of the important pre-exponentials against the targeted experiments is then undertaken, by, and refine the pre-exponentials of these reactions. Finally, this optimized mechanism is validated by comparison with other sets of experiments. Detailed reaction mechanisms for H2, CO, and CH 4/air mixtures over platinum are developed.

Degradation of aquatic ecosystems is an unfortunate consequence of industrialization, urbanization and general societial activity. The health of biological communities in these systems is subject to chemical stressors including emerging contaminants and legacy compounds that inevitably transit from land-based ecosystems into aquatic habitats. Fish have been utilized as preferred vertebrate sentinels of these systems for decdes; however, base-line data regarding disease, immune responses, endocrine function and other physiological responses is often not experimentally qualified prior to field application. Here, the presence of estrogen receptors (ERs) in channel catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus) leukocytes is demonstrated. Estrogens affect the responsiveness of channel catfish peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) to mitogens in vitro. The ERs, ERα and ERβ2, are differentially expressed depending on leukocyte lineage, phenotype, and state of activation. Estrogens are likely involved in the regulation of immune responses in vivo, and estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals may directly impact leukocyte function. Additionally, laboratory studies established a better understanding of immune and endocrine responses to polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure in brown bullheads (Amieurus nebulosus) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). This legacy compound clearly modulated the immune response in both species, and likely predisposes these animals to disease. Interestingly, short-term short-duration exposures to environmentally relevant concentrations during early development can have long-term effects on T-cell populations of the immune system in salmon. These laboratory studies facilitated the interpretation of data collected from a multi season field study in the Ashtabula River where PCB contamination is thought to have negative impacts on resident biota. This applied field study utilized brown bullheads and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides ) collected from the Ashtabula River and a reference site, Conneaut Creek. Histological, immunological, allometric and endocrine biomarker endpoints provided strong evidence that fish from the Ashtabula River are biologically different than those from the reference site. Data also emphasized the advantage of a multi-tier, multi-species, multi-season sampling approach. The biological data were supported by body burden chemical analysis. Lastly, two diseases of bullheads resulting from Edwardsiella ictaluri and Henneguya gurlei were descrbed, and further the understanding of infectious diseases of this sentinel fish.^

Relationship of cloudiness to near surface temperature over land areas of the Northern Hemisphere for the past several decades is assessed using the data from surface meteorological weather stations, satellite observations, and the NCEP reanalysis project. The overall cloud relationship to near surface temperature is well represented by near surface humidity and surface conditions. Nighttime cloud-related surface warming decreases with the increase in near surface specific humidity. After cloud longwave-related temperature change and snow cover information are removed, one unit of cloud cover is empirically associated with a surface cooling of 0.59 K. The AMIP-1 models generally were able to reproduce the cold season cloud-temperature relationship, but not for the warm season and for the diurnal cycle. The daytime cloud-related surface cooling over China and the contiguous U.S. generally strengthened, but slightly weakened over Canada and the former USSR during the post WWII period. Since the 1970s a prominent increase in atmospheric humidity has weakened cloud longwave effect on surface temperature (best seen at nighttime) over the extratropical land areas. Significant changes and a general redistribution of cloudiness occurred over the contiguous U.S. and the former USSR (south of 60°N) during the past forty to fifty years. Low cloudiness increased over the contiguous U.S. while it decreased over the former USSR (south of 60°N) Total cloud amount and convective cloud frequency increased in both countries.

A biologically-based secondary ambient air quality standard for vegetation in the U.S. is presently lacking. Analyses sensitive to the physiological conductivity of exposed plants as well as atmospheric and soil conditions were used here to predict the signature response of plants to ozone, foliar injury. Bel-W3 tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bel-W3) was used as an acute-response model while Asclepias syriaca L. was used as a chronic-response model to identify important controlling factors involved in foliar injury response to ambient ozone. Temperature, RH, PAR, wind velocity, soil moisture, soil matric potential, and vapor pressure deficit were investigated relative to their influence on injury development during simultaneous exposure to ozone. Several important factors were found to lead to overestimation of vegetation exposure to ambient ozone. These included use of a standard ozone measurement height, soil moisture deficits, asynchrony between diurnal stomatal conductance and peak ozone concentration, episodic exposures to elevated ozone concentrations during late-day weak sunlight (PAR < 500), and seasonal decline of gas exchange and ozone uptake in herbaceous plants. These results indicate the need for refinement of current indices to protect vegetation, which, if based solely on ozone concentration, e.g. AOT40, SUM06, W126, will continue to lead to overestimation of ozone exposure.

Environmental conservation and natural resources management are critical global issues of the 21st century. The management of protected public lands emerges as a challenge particularly in developing countries because of the biophysical and socio-cultural importance of these lands. These lands are often referred to as ‘working landscapes’ where the natural systems and the collective actions of local residents have shaped one another in well-balanced interactions for generations. The working landscapes of the Köprülü Kanyon National Park (KKNP) in Turkey have provided the case study for this dissertation. Eleven villages exist within the park with a total of approximately 7,100 residents. The rich natural resources of the park have been contested by local communities, management and concessionaires. The objectives of the research were: first, to understand the fundamentals of the natural and socio-cultural dynamics within protected areas in general, and within the KKNP in particular; second, to examine the social conflicts which complicate the management of the KKNP; and third, to explore potential solutions whereby the stakeholders can cooperate in stabilizing the traditional dynamics of the park’s working landscapes. Qualitative data was collected via 38 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with local residents, managers and concessionaires. The research found that an array of social disturbances and conflicts impact the social fabric and harm the land-human integrity of the site. These include shifting demographics, changing lifestyles of the villagers, pressures from tourism, multiple governmental authorities and instable management. Yaylacýlýk tradition, a semi-sedentary form of pastoralism, has played a significant role in both the traditional ecology and the social relations within the communities of the KKNP; and its abandonment has severely impacted both social and biophysical conditions. Through yaylacýlýk local residents had managed the lands as common property. The establishment of the national park, changing life styles and the pressures on the local agricultural economy brought an end to yaylacýlýk. Now the resources are treated in effect as open pool resources, thus leading to their demise. Throughout the eventful past of the KKNP the local residents have come from being integral elements of the ‘working landscapes,’ to being as antagonistic enemies of the park management. The three ideal characteristic elements of the ‘working landscapes’ of the KKNP (controlled access, coordination and communication) which once were maintained by the yaylacýlýk tradition, can be re-institutionalized within the region through contemporary applications by neutral third party initiatives. Restoration, conservation and efficient management of biophysical resources and the natural environment should be the outcomes of the resolutions of social conflicts which can be accomplished by the restoration of these three elements of the social structure.