This study is concerned with programs to conserve remnant stands of native vegetation in the agricultural regions of South Australia and concentrates on the development of explicit evaluation procedures which reflect stated conservation objectives. As botanical data are available for stands of native vegetation in most of the agricultural regions, stands in a particular region are able to be compared rather than assessed in isolation. Based on a review of conservation evaluation schemes in Australia and overseas, a hierarchical evaluation procedure using multiple criteria to compare stands was applied to stands of vegetation in the Mount Lofty Ranges. The conservation objective, of preserving samples of all plant communities in a region, led to the analysis of existing botanical data from two surveys of the Mount Lofty Ranges, to provide the basis for an inventory of regional plant communities. These surveys included 52 remnant stands of native vegetation and employed a point-centred quarter plotless sampling technique to summarise the vegetation. Numerical classificatory analysis of the raw sampling point data produced a more comprehensive floristic summary than the results from the plotless sampling. These floristic groups were correlated with physical environmental variables to produce an inventory of 45 regional vegetation types, as the first stage in the conservation evaluation of stands. Evaluation criteria of size, species richness and species rarity were quantified and used to select examples of each vegetation type on the basis of overall satisfaction of the criteria. In addition, the smallest suite of stands, in which all the vegetation types were represented, was determined, and was shown to be 24 stands. All of these were included in the 37 stands chosen using the three criteria. A third evaluation stage used stand parameters such as plant community richness to give a priority ranking of the 37 stands. A polythetic divisive classification of the vegetation types was developed to provide a means of evaluating communities in stands of native vegetation yet to be sampled in the region, and of comparing the vegetation types with communities in existing reservesr Examination of species-sampling area relationships led to recommended plot sizes for such future vegetation surveys in the Mount Lofty Ranges. The ease of collecting floristic data and the extensive time involved in quantitative measurements suggest that all perennial plant species be recorded and only estimations be made of vegetation quantity and structure for each sampling plot. This study demonstrates the usefulness of numerical classification techniques for conservation evaluation, and of continuous variables to quantify criteria of conservation value; and the application of those criteria in an explicit, hierarchical conservation evaluation procedure.

ABSTRACT AN EVALUATION OF THE ENG 101, DEVELOPMENT OF READING AND WRITING SKILLS 1 G&uuml / ntek, Duygu M.A., Department of English Language Education Supervisor : Prof. Dr. H&uuml / sn&uuml / Enginarlar July 2005, 134 pages The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ENG 101, Development of Reading and Writing Skills 1, and find out about the effectiveness of this course in terms of the goals and objectives, methods and materials and evaluation procedures. To fulfill that aim, three questionnaires and an interview document were designed and given to 21 ENG 101 instructors and 255 students taking the couse. In addition to the questionnaires, interviews were held with 9 ENG 101 instructors and 1 administrator, and feedback was obtained from the end-of the term evaluation meeting. Another questionnaire to evaluate the coursebook, English for Academic Purposes 1 was designed and given to 19 instructors who taught the ENG 101 course. It was prepared to collect feedback about the newly-written coursebook of the ENG 101 in detail. To analyse quantitative data, descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and t-test were conducted. The qualitative data gained from the interviews, open ended questions and feedback from the end of course meeting were analysed via content analysis. The results of the study revealed that the participants were generally satisfied with the course since most of the answers given in the questionnaires were around 3 (out of 4) &ldquo / moderately&rdquo / , which meant that all parties had generally favourable perceptions about the effectiveness of the ENG101 regarding the achievement of the objectives, effectiveness of the methods, materials and evaluation procedures as well as the coursebook. However, there were some complaints stemming from teachers&rsquo / workload and time constraints including too many writing tasks and insufficient language input for which certain administrative academic decisions were taken and work on relevant modifications started.

New Jersey, Georgia, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia (ESV) are important snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) growing regions, but profitability is threatened by Pythium blight. Causal agents of Pythium blight on snap bean were identified using morphological characterization and sequence analysis of the rDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of 100 isolates. Most isolates were Pythium aphanidermatum (Edson) Fitzp. (53%), and also included Pythium deliense Meurs (31%; all from Georgia), Pythium ultimum Trow (12%), Pythium myriotylum Drechsler (2%), Pythium catenulatum Matthews (1%), and unknown Pythium sp. (1%). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. deliense in Georgia and on common bean and squash (Cucurbita pepo L.); as well as the first report of P. catenulatum on lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) and in New Jersey. Fungicide labeling and cultivar selection for Pythium blight management is hindered by difficulties associated with conducting successful trials, because the disease occurs sporadically and clustered in the field. Three P. aphanidermatum-infested inoculum substrates were evaluated at three concentrations. The vermiculite/V8 juice (5:3 weight to volume) inoculum (10,000 ppg/0.3 m) consistently caused at least 50% disease in 3 field trials. Sensitivity of the Pythium blight pathogens was determined in vitro against five fungicides. Twenty-two Pythium isolates representing P. aphanidermatum, P. deliense, P. ultimum, and P. myriotylum were inoculated to media amended with each active ingredient at 0, 100μg/ml, the concentration equivalent to the field labeled rate if applied on succulent beans at 187 L/ha, and the equivalent if applied at 374 L/ha. All isolates were completely sensitive (100% growth reduction, or GR) to all active ingredients at the labeled rates, except azoxystrobin. At 100μg/ml azoxystrobin, one P. deliense isolate had 8.9% GR. All isolates had 100% GR to copper hydroxide at 100μg/ml, and the lowest GR on mefenoxam-amended medium was 91.9%. At 100μg/ml cyazofamid, all P. deliense isolates were completely sensitive and variation was observed in P. aphanidermatum isolates. At 100μg/ml potassium phosphite, significant GR similarities were recorded within isolates of the same species, and less than 50% GR was observed in all P. deliense isolates. / Ph. D.