Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-246).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2008. / Abstract. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-246).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-246).

Characteristics and genesis of five pedons representing some of the soils of the central Alborz mountain northeast of Tehran were investigated. The present climate of the area is similar to the Mediterranean climate. The parent materials for the soils under study have apparently been derived from the Ecocene Alborz Green Beds (a thinly bedded light green mudstone), the Pliocene Hezardareh Formation (a poorly-cemented conglomerate) and Recent alluvium and colluvium. Pedons 2 and 4 are located at lower elevations (plain and river terraces) on 1 to 2 percent slopes. Pedons 3 and 5 are located at higher elevations (hills that surround the valley) on steep slopes of 60 to 75 percent. According to the results obtained from the physical, chemical, mineralogical, and micromorphological analyses, the pedons have been classified as Xeric Torriorthent--loamy-skeletal, mixed, thermic (pedon 1); Vertic Xerochrept--fine, mixed, thermic (pedon 2); Xerollic Calciorthid--loamy-skeletal, mixed, thermic (pedon 3); Xerollic Calciorthid--fine, mixed, thermic (pedon 4); and Argic Calciorthid--clayey-skeletal, mixed thermic (pedon 5). The studies on the genesis of the soils were summarized as follows: 1. Wind deposition has affected the top layer of the eroded surfaces of the five pedons. The process has incorporated silt and very fine sand materials into these layers. 2. The differences in landform stability, and consequently, the various degree of the influence of the erosion-deposition processes, are believed to be responsible for the differences in the horizon differentiation of the pedons. The steepness of sloper rather than age of the landform was responsible for the present morphology of the pedons. 3. Pedons 1 to 4 are Recent in age but the control section of pedon 5 reflects an age of Pleistocene or older and, therefore, a wetter climate than at present. 4. The clay mineralogy and the texture of the control section of the pedons reflect the greater influence of the parent materials than any other factor of pedogenesis. It was suggested that for the Aridisols with moisture regimes bordering on Xeric, the required electrical conductivity of more than 2 millimhos per centimeter be eliminated from the differentiating criteria in Soil Taxonomy.

The persistence of grizzly bears (<i>Ursus arctos</i>) in western Alberta is threatened by increasing human activities on the landscape. The Foothills Research Institute Grizzly Bear Program (FRIGBP) hypothesizes human-caused landscape change in Alberta causes long-term stress in individual bears, resulting in impaired biological functions and, when many bears are affected, decreased population performance. To facilitate the evaluation of individual grizzly bear health within the FRIGBP, the objective of my research was to develop and assess the usefulness of a health function score system for grizzly bears. From a large set of complex biological data collected from grizzly bears from 1999 to 2007, I merged 14 � constituent� variables into four health functions; growth, immunity, movement, and stress. For each health function, I calculated individual scores by adding ranked and weighted variable percentiles. I found that health function scores corresponded well with health status of individual bears based on values for multiple constituent variables. The score system facilitated quick screening of health in individual bears, identification of bears with reduced health, and comparison of health profiles between bears. I examined the usefulness of the score system by evaluating relationships presumed to exist under the working hypothesis of the FRIGBP. Results generated from health function scores were compared with those from constituent variable values using statistical and graphical techniques. I concluded that scores likely provided clearer depiction of wildlife health relationships than did constituent variables because they were not influenced by capture method, sex, or outlying observations. By using the score system, I found support for the proposed positive relationship between human-affected landscape condition and stress, but not for inverse relationships between stress and other health functions. The usefulness of the score system could be increased by minimizing use of redundant constituent variables, e.g., in growth and immunity, and removing the influence of potential confounding factors, e.g., capture.

The persistence of grizzly bears (<i>Ursus arctos</i>) in western Alberta is threatened by increasing human activities on the landscape. The Foothills Research Institute Grizzly Bear Program (FRIGBP) hypothesizes human-caused landscape change in Alberta causes long-term stress in individual bears, resulting in impaired biological functions and, when many bears are affected, decreased population performance. To facilitate the evaluation of individual grizzly bear health within the FRIGBP, the objective of my research was to develop and assess the usefulness of a health function score system for grizzly bears. From a large set of complex biological data collected from grizzly bears from 1999 to 2007, I merged 14 � constituent� variables into four health functions; growth, immunity, movement, and stress. For each health function, I calculated individual scores by adding ranked and weighted variable percentiles. I found that health function scores corresponded well with health status of individual bears based on values for multiple constituent variables. The score system facilitated quick screening of health in individual bears, identification of bears with reduced health, and comparison of health profiles between bears. I examined the usefulness of the score system by evaluating relationships presumed to exist under the working hypothesis of the FRIGBP. Results generated from health function scores were compared with those from constituent variable values using statistical and graphical techniques. I concluded that scores likely provided clearer depiction of wildlife health relationships than did constituent variables because they were not influenced by capture method, sex, or outlying observations. By using the score system, I found support for the proposed positive relationship between human-affected landscape condition and stress, but not for inverse relationships between stress and other health functions. The usefulness of the score system could be increased by minimizing use of redundant constituent variables, e.g., in growth and immunity, and removing the influence of potential confounding factors, e.g., capture.

No description available.

The Svatý Tomáš Highlands and the Trojmezí Highlands in the Šumava foothills were constantly settled during 13th century. Although this area is a borderland with a less favourable climate, agriculture had a significant influence on the landscape changes. However political and economic changes during the 1950´s, especially the establishment of the Iron Curtain, had impacted previous trends. Displacement of inhabitans, destruction of villages and inaccessibility of the area have restored the natural processes. The aim of this work is to describe changes of land use in The Šumava foothills with regard to nature protection and results evaluated by geographic information system technologies. From stable cadastre maps it was detected, that land use in 1st half of 19th century in the Šumava foothills was very varied, it was there existed a lot of small fields of arable soil. However the surface of arable soil diminished gradually during the time and at the present time don´t exist any more in the study area. In monitored areas in the first place grew the share of forests. The changes of management also had an impact on the size of succession areas. It was found, that changes in land use are very similar in the all monitored regions.

Depuis les années 1970, les imposantes structures fortifiées de la vallée du fleuve Cuyes, -située au sud de l'Équateur, à la frontière entre les Andes et l’Amazonie correspondant à la province de Morona Santiago-, ont attiré l'attention des anthropologues et archéologues : ces constructions ont-elles été bâties et occupées par des populations andines ? amazoniennes ? à quelle époque et dans quel contexte ? La thèse vise à alimenter la discussion grâce à l’application d'une méthodologie d’analyse de la céramique ancienne tout à fait novatrice pour l’archéologie de la région, basée sur le concept de chaîne opératoire et une lecture anthropologique du matériel. / Since the 1970’s, the impressive fortified structures of the Cuyes river valley -located in the south of Ecuador, at the border between the Andes and the Amazonian lowlands-, have caught the interest of anthropologists and archaeologists: were these structures built and inhabited by Andean populations? Amazonian? when and in what kind of context? The dissertation aims at bringing new data to the debate through the use of a methodology of analysis of ancient ceramics totally new for the archaeology of the region, based on the concept of “chaîne opératoire” and on an anthropological interpretation of the material.

This thesis examines landscape change from 1889 to the present within the foothills-parkland ecoregion of Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP) in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Land cover dynamics are explored qualitatively and quantitatively using Geographical Information Systems and a combination of historical and contemporary data sources including: (1) Dominion Land Survey (DLS) transect records (1889), (2) repeat oblique photographs (1914 and 2004) and repeat aerial photography (1939 and 1999). Results indicate a consistent increase in woody vegetation cover, particularly aspen forest cover, within the foothills-parkland since 1889, largely at the expense of native grasslands. The primary drivers of these changes likely include: climatic influences, changes to the historical grazing regime, the suppression of natural fire cycles and the cessation of First Nations’ land management practices. This research illustrates the value of integrating multiple historical data sources for studying landscape change in the Canadian Rockies, and explores the implications of this change for ecological restoration in the foothills-parkland of WLNP.