Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-84). Also available vis the World Wide Web.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 17, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. C. Mark Cowell. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.) -- Griffith University, 2004. / Facsimile of the author's original dissertation. Pagination of document: x, 121 leaves. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online via the World Wide Web.

Fragmentation can drive local populations to become smaller and more isolated, and consequently more susceptible to extinction. Movement between patches, however, can interconnect such populations so that they effectively behave as larger and more stable metapopulations. Over the past two decades metapopulations have been used to shed light on the complex interactions that occur between hosts and parasites. Effectively every host can be considered as a discrete habitat patch from the perspective of a parasite. As such, host-parasite interactions naturally lend themselves to being examined within the metapopulation paradigm. In this thesis I examine empirically how various aspects of metapopulation structure, such as local host population size and landscape isolation/connectivity, combine to determine the extinction and recolonization dynamics of parasites in the landscape. Using a naturally fragmented water vole (Arvicola amphibious) metapopulation, I describe the spatial and temporal variation in parasite infection prevalence or burden in a Scottish landscape. I specifically address the spatial and temporal dynamics of both ectoparasites, and vectortransmitted microparasites, since these are two groups of parasites commonly found in natural systems yet often overlooked in the host-parasite metapopulation literature. In addition, I attempt to understand how specific parasite characteristics, such as transmission mode and infectious period, can influence how parasites respond to host population structure. In the final chapter, I bring together a number of parasite groups to examine the impact of metapopulation dynamics on parasite communities as a whole by investigating its impact of parasite community richness. Overall the findings of my study indicate that host spatial structure and the level of connectivity between patches are important factors that affect parasite dynamics and community richness. However, the exact level of connectivity required to sustain a parasite population locally depended on specific parasite characteristics. In contrast, local effects host/vector population size and patch infection history) had no discernible impact on most parasite groups.

Orientador: Célia Regina Lopes Zimback / Banca: Anderson Antonio da Conceição Sartori / Banca: Luis Gustavo Frediani Lessa / Resumo: Para o planejamento dos recursos naturais e avaliação de uma determinada área, é imprescindível analisar e identificar a bacia hidrográfica. O sensoriamento remoto e procedimentos modernos para obter-se imagens, referentes aos novos sistemas de informações geográficas (SIGs), auxiliam na aquisição de diversos tipos de dados. Foram determinadas as áreas que favorecem a conexão entre os fragmentos florestais, com o objetivo de realizar análise de paisagem na sub-bacia do Rio Araquá. Caracterizar o uso e cobertura atual do solo na bacia, por meio de técnicas de sensoriamento remoto, chamada de classificação supervisionada por máxima verossimilhança. Depois, com o auxílio do SIG, foi feita a análise multicriterial com o Método da Combinação Linear Ponderada, determinando os critérios (fatores e restrições) e os pesos dos fatores. A área de estudo foi descrita, assim como o material cartográfico e os dados orbitais. Foram gerados mapas de rede de drenagem, de uso e cobertura do solo, declividade, solos, potencial de infiltração, AVA, fragmentos florestais, classificação da paisagem no programa ArcGis e análise multicriterial no Idrisi Selva. Por último, foi gerado o mapa de conexão florestal, em que notou-se que as áreas mais críticas estão próximas à cobertura florestal, onde as conexões de fragmentos são afetadas por ocupação antrópica e pela agricultura, que cresce a cada ano. Para a recuperação dessas áreas, os agentes ambientais devem realizar planejamentos, apoiando-se em u... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: River River basin analysis and identification are extremely important to natural resources planning and evaluation of a given area. Remote sensing and modern procedures to capture images corresponding to the new geographic information systems (GIS) assist the acquisition of different types of data. In this study, regions that favor the connection of forest fragments were delimited to perform the landscape evaluation of Araquá river sub-basin. Current land use and cover were characterized using supervised maximum likelihood classification of remotely sensed images. Then GIS-based approach to multi-criteria evaluation was performed with a Weighted Linear Combination Method to determine the conditions (factors and restrictions) and factor weights. The studied area was described as well as the cartographic material and the orbital data. Maps for drainage network, land use/cover, declivity, soil, infiltration capacity, area of variable inflow, forest fragments and landscape classification were generated using ArcGis software and the multi-criteria analysis was performed with Idrisi Selva software. Finally, a map for forest connection was established, which revealed that the most critical areas are near to forest cover where the connection between fragments are affected by anthropic occupation and agriculture. To recover these areas, environmental managers must create strategies based on a methodology that contemplates the entire landscape and ecosystems, prioritizing the connection between forest fragments and the existing disruptions in the studied area / Mestre

Orientador: Sérgio Campos / Banca: Elen Fittipaldi Brasilio Carrega / Banca: Teresa Cristina Tardeli Pissarra / Banca: Fernanda Leite Ribeiro / Banca: Sergio Pascoal de Campos / Resumo: A partir da década de 1950, a população mundial cresceu rapidamente, atingindo hoje mais de 7 bilhões de habitantes, gerando assim o aumento do processo de urbanização. Para atender a demanda de bens de consumo duráveis e não duráveis da atual população, a economia agropecuária expandiu e, consequentemente ampliou suas fronteiras. Com isso, áreas destinadas à cultura agrícola e pastagem ocuparam espaços em que, anteriormente eram ocupados por matas ciliares e florestas nativas; ocasionando a redução ou inexistência da vegetação que circunda as redes de drenagem e fragmentação das florestas. Nesse contexto, a análise do uso e ocupação do solo de Lençóis Paulista, através da utilização de Sistemas de Informações Geográficas e imagens do satélite Landsat, se torna necessária pois as principais empresas geradoras de emprego do município dependem diretamente da matéria- prima rural, como cana de açúcar e eucalipto, presentes em cerca de 80% do território do município. / Abstract: Since the decade of 1950, the world population has dramatically increased, reaching nowadays around 7 billion people, which has caused an increase in the urbanization process. In order to supply the people's demand for durable and non-durable goods, there was an expansion in the agriculture economy, which has as a consequence the expansion of its frontiers. Areas for agricultural activities and pasture have used lands which had been previously characterized by riparian and native forests, resulting in the reduction or even inexistence of vegetation around the drainage network and forest fragmentation. In this context, the analysis of the use and occupation of the land of LençóisPaulista, by means of the use of Geographical Information Systems and images generated by Landsat satellites, is necessary, since the main companies employing people in the city directly depend on rural goods, such as sugar cane and eucalyptus, cultures present in approximately 80% of the city's territory. / Doutor

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 4, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--North Carolina State University, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Dec. 16, 2005). Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Forest fragmentation is caused by the clearing of patches of indigenous vegetation for agriculture, urban development, and other human land uses. Such action results in patches of remnant natural vegetation being surrounded by altered vegetation. I investigate the effects of forest fragmentation and matrix type on avian diversity and assemblage structure in forest patches of the historically fragmented Karkloof / Balgowan forest range, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study compares the bird assemblage diversity and composition of indigenous forest patches surrounded by commercial forestry (Gilboa complex) with that surrounded by natural grassland matrix (Balgowan complex). Insularisation of Afromontane Mistbelt forest in KwaZulu-Natal has led to loss of species where forest fragments support fewer bird species than comparably sized patches of mainland forest. Small fragments within natural grassland have fewer bird species per unit area than larger fragments. Forest patch area-dependent density compensation is evident and bird assemblages appear saturated. Bird assemblages are characterised by a non-random species distribution pattern where area-dependent processes are dominant, and the loss of species from fragments follows a deterministic sequence. In forests in the plantation-dominated matrix no island-effect is detectable and it appears that forest patches are converging on the same bird species richness, regardless of forest size. No density compensation is evident and bird assemblages are not saturated. The sequence of species loss from forest patches is not as predictable, where a random yet prominent colonisation process exists. As commercial plantations provide suitable habitat cover for movement of forest birds, colonisation of both distant and small indigenous forest patches has been possible, reducing the effects of area-dependent extinction in the forest patches but also resulting in lower species richness in larger patches. Bird species of the Karkloof / Balgowan forest range appear to be fragmentation adapted, and most species are resilient to further landscape change. Certain species are however more prone to local extinction than others. The major predictors of extinction risk are body size, abundance status, and feeding guild. Patch area is the dominant force governing traits in the natural Balgowan complex where larger species with low natural abundance and an insectivorous diet are most prone to local extinction. In the Gilboa complex the nature of the plantation matrix appears to be masking the species natural responses to fragmentation making it difficult to predict which species are most at risk. In order to preserve maximum bird diversity, including high-risk species, the largest intact forest units (≥302ha) must be conserved. Evidently, the nature of the matrix affects avifaunal diversity and distribution in forest patches, and plantations have the capacity to significantly alter bird assemblage structure and composition in indigenous forest patches. Forest fragments must be considered as integrated parts of a complex landscape mosaic, and this study emphasises the importance of understanding landscape-scale processes. Knowledge of ecological and life history traits proves valuable for predicting community level response to landscape change. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Grassland is an important part of the ecosystem in the Canadian prairies and its loss and fragmentation affect biodiversity, as well as water and carbon fluxes at local and regional levels. Over the years, native grasslands have been lost to agricultural activities, urban development and oil and gas exploration. This research reports on new methodologies developed for mapping the spatial extent of native grasslands to an unprecedented level of detail and assessing how the grasslands are fragmented. The test site is in the Newell County region of Alberta (NCRA). 72 Landsat and 34 SPOT images from 1985 to 2008 were considered for the analysis. With an airport runway used as a pseudo-invariant feature (PIF), relative radiometric correction was applied to 17 Landsat and 8 SPOT images that included the same airport runway. All the images were classified using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification algorithm into grassland, crop, water and road infrastructure classes. The classification results showed an average of 98.2 % overall accuracy for Landsat images and SPOT images. Spatial extents and their temporal change were estimated for all the land cover classes after classifying the images. Fragmentation statistics were obtained using FRAGSTATS 3.3 software that calculated land cover pattern metrics (patch, class and landscape). Based on the available satellite image data, it is found that in Newell County there is almost no significant change found in the grassland and road infrastructure land cover in over two decades. Also, the fragmentation results suggest that fragmentation of grassland was not due to the result of road infrastructure. / x, 105 leaves : ill., ; 29 cm