Bibliography: p. 105-107. / The imminent promulgation of the Environment Conservation Act, No. 73 of 1989, which made provision for the devolution of responsibility for environmental matters to the third tier of government authority, was the primary motivation for this research, conducted throughout South Africa between 1988 and 1990. Local authority officials were concerned that they did not have the knowledge, manpower and infrastructural resources to accept this responsibility. This concern was reinforced by the rapid urbanization of predominantly disadvantaged communities for whom little provision had been made. A stratified selection for study purposes of urban areas from the whole of South Africa and all its population groups ensured a reasonable sample of metropolitan regions, regional centres, principle towns and smaller outlying urban areas. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of government authorities, Non-Government and Community Organizations and practitioners, either implementing or interacting with environmentally related legislation at the local level. With the permission of all participants, the interviews were recorded on audio-cassettes and later transcribed by the interviewers using a word processing programme. Out of these transcriptions, approximately 1000 problem-and-solution groupings were identified and classified. The most widely held perceptions of factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level were subsequently compared to the provisions of the Environment Conservation Act. It was found that these perceptions of factors requiring attention for the resolution of urban environmental problems are strongly linked to the establishment, maintenance and improvement of environments which contribute to a generally acceptable quality of life. This accords with only one of the four explicit provisions of the Environment Conservation Act. There is a widespread perception that until human needs (Maslow, 1968) are either satisfied or at least addressed, and the whole population incorporated into a more equitable legal framework, the successful implementation of environmental conservation in South Africa will be severely impaired. Furthermore, that the South African ' Government's adherence to the political ideology of separate development constitutes an abuse and exploitation of scarce resources. Recommendations are that the human needs of the whole population of South Africa must be addressed and environmentally destructive legislation repealed in order to truly resolve urban environmental problems, that the participation of the public in matters relating to the effective protection and controlled utilization of the environment be required, that administrative, natural and functional boundaries need to be aligned, and that the structure and responsibilities of bureaucratic hierarchies responsible for environmental management in urban areas need to be set out clearly.

This study seeks to find the best strategies to be implemented to decrease the human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Other countries management practises and strategies to manage HWC was reviewed, in order to identify if Skåne county in Sweden could pursue improvements. To be able to tackle HWC, a greater understanding of people's ethical views were investigated and their perceptions of improvements were documented and researched. This study aims to provide quantitative data with web based surveys and spatial mapping of impacts from the HWC in Skåne county. It further aims to map the values that affects society caused by the HWC, and to answer the following questions; What are the optimal strategies in order to decrease HWC in Skåne? Where can cost effective improvements be implemented? This was both answered in the interviews conducted, and the gathered data. Optimal strategies that were detected where Skåne county can improve were; extensive implementations of ecoducts and passages for game, reducing the use of fencing, translocating, compensation actions, increase hunting opportunities and an installment of further game warning systems. Ethical views of different respondents’ towards the HWC were also analyzed. The online survey revealed that there were a difference in respondents views of HWC, based on if they were environmental science students, hunters or the general public. The gathered data and result, stated that the general public and the environmental students/workers were categorized in the ethical views of ecocentrism. The hunters ethical views could not be determined, due to the inconsistency of the answers of the questions. By showing differences and similarities in ethical views and how to manage HWC, strategies and incentives can more easily be adapted, to reach a better community base that can work together to reduce the HWC. Because of the different knowledge of the respondent groups and of their ethical views, there needs to be a broader incentive program that can maintain different interests of people and reduce conflicts, as well as preserve the biological state of ungulates in Skåne. In the online survey, all of the respondents agreed that the stakeholder, most suitable to handle and manage the problematics regarding HWC, is the government/county government. Other stakeholders that were believed suitable for managing HWC in Skåne, were organisations, for-profit companies and lastly, private self-acting individuals. Furthermore, the respondents beliefs on coexistence between humans and wildlife were also studied. The data showed that the general public and the hunters believed that future were to be positive, and the environmental students/workers believe the HWC would still be a problem in the future.

abstract: Nitrogen is an essential, often limiting, element for biological growth that can act as a pollutant if present in excess. Nitrogen is primarily transported by water from uplands to streams and eventually to recipient lakes, estuaries, and wetlands, but can be modulated by biological uptake and transformation along these flowpaths. As a result, nitrogen can accumulate in aquatic ecosystems if supply is high or if biological retention is low. Dryland and urban ecosystems offer interesting contrasts in water supply, which limits transport and biological activity in drylands, and nitrogen supply that increases with human activity. In my dissertation, I ask: What is the relative balance among nitrogen retention, removal, and transport processes in dryland watersheds, and what is the fate of exported nitrogen? My dissertation research demonstrates that water is a major control on where and when nitrogen is retained and removed versus exported to downstream ecosystems. I used a mass-balance model based on synoptic surveys to study seasonal and spatial patterns in nitrate loading to a dryland stream network. I found that irrigation diversions transport nitrate from agricultural areas to the stream network year-round, even during dry seasons, and are an important driver of nitrate loading. I further explored how seasonal precipitation influences flood nutrient export in an intermittent desert stream by coupling long-term data of flood-water chemistry with stream discharge and precipitation data. I found that higher precipitation prior to a flood fills water storage sites in the catchment, leading to larger floods. In addition, higher antecedent precipitation stimulates biological nitrogen retention in the uplands, leading to lower nitrogen concentration in floods. Finally, I evaluated the consequences of nitrogen export from watersheds on how urban wetlands attenuate nitrate through denitrification that permanently removes nitrogen, and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) that retains nitrogen in another biologically reactive form. I found that DNRA becomes proportionally more important with low nitrate concentration, thereby retaining nitrogen as ammonium. Collectively, my dissertation research addresses how dryland and urban ecosystems can be integrated into models of watershed nitrogen cycling. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2019

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