No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The utilisation of heather moorland by red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus was studied with particular emphasis on the influences of vegetation structure on grouse behaviour at a series of spatial scales, from the choice of location within individual heather stands up to the composition and alignment of territories on the moor. A novel method of measurement and multivariate statistical analysis was developed for quantifying the structure of vegetation dominated by ling heather Calluna vulgaris. The method was assessed in relation to existing subjective classifications. The method revealed that gaps in the canopy of tall heather were utilised by grouse during the daytime in winter. The manner in which grouse exploit the vegetation types available in their territories was determined by radio-tracking a population on a managed grouse moor in north-east Scotland over the course of two years. During autumn and winter, territorial grouse showed a preference for tall heather relative to its availability. In spring, a greater use was made of heterogeneous mixtures of heather and graminoids during the daytime, and, to some extent, of shorter heather during the intensive feeding periods at dawn and dusk. Hens showed a very strong affinity for edge between heather stands in spring, but spent more time on the side offering the greater cover. Broods tended to range in areas with more old heather and more edge than generally available, but within their ranges, they clearly preferred heterogeneous areas. The relationships between vegetation patterns, the composition of territories and the alignment of territory boundaries were investigated using fifteen years' historical data. The relationships varied considerably between years. When the population was declining, heather edge was distributed evenly between territories, but it was distributed unevenly during population increase. In general, territory alignment showed a greater association with vegetation edges than with particular types of vegetation.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude archéologique de l'habitat du site fortifié de Tell el-Herr (Nord-Sinaï). Édifié à la frontière orientale de l’Égypte dans le courant du Ve siècle av. J.-C., l'établissement militaire constitue un ensemble remarquablement bien préservé de vestiges, notamment domestiques, contemporains de la première domination perse et des dernières dynasties indigènes.Grâce à une bonne connaissance du contexte chronologique et à la combinaison de plusieurs approches rassemblant l'analyse des matériaux, des principes architecturaux et l'examen du mobilier archéologique, ces vestiges ont pu être étudiés d'un point de vue spatial et fonctionnel sur une période de deux siècles. L'étude a permis de dresser un premier bilan de nos connaissances de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme d'un site pouvant être considéré comme un ensemble clos. Si l'analyse de l’organisation de l'habitat a été l'occasion d'appréhender le cadre de vie et les activités quotidiennes d'une population de garnison, elle a également permis de mettre en évidence une communauté mixte et pluri-éthnique, vivant dans un environnement urbain comparable à une petite ville largement ouverte sur l'extérieur. / This dissertation is dedicated to the archaeological study of the settlement in the fortified site of Tell el-Herr (North-Sinai). Built on the oriental border of Egypt in the course of the 5th century BC, the military establishment constitutes a outstandingly well preserved set of remains contemporaries of the first Persian Period and the last native dynasties.Thanks to a good knowledge of the chronological context and to the combination of several approaches gathering the materials and architectural principles analysis, as well as the examination of the archaeological furniture, these remains were able to be studied by a spatial and functional point of view, over a period of two centuries. The study allowed to assess our knowledge of the architecture and the town planning of a site which can be considered as a closed group. If the analysis of the settlement organization was the opportunity to comprehend the living environment and the daily activities of a garrison population, it also allowed to highlight a mixed and mutlicultural community, living in an urban environment comparable to a town widely opened on the outside.

No description available.

Virtually all marine conservation planning and management models in place or proposed have in common the need for improved scientific rigour in identifying and characterising the marine habitats encompassed. An emerging central theme in the last few years has been the concept of representativeness, or representative systems of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The habitat classification and mapping needed to incorporate considerations of representativeness into MPA planning must logically be carried out at the same scale at which management occurs. Management of highly protected areas occurs almost exclusively at local scales or finer, independent of the reservation model or philosophy employed. Moreton Bay, on Australia’s east coast, was selected for studies at the local scale to map and classify macrobenthic habitats. In a site scale (1 km) trial for the major habitat classification study, remote underwater videography was used to map and characterise an unusual assemblage of epibenthic invertebrates on soft sediments. The assemblage included congregations of the comatulid crinoid Zygometra cf. Z. microdiscus (Bell) at densities up to 0.88 individuals.m-2, comparable to those found in coral reef habitats. There was no correlation between the distribution of this species and commonly used abiotic surrogates depth (6 – 18 m), sediment composition and residual current. This site scale trial is the first quantitative assessment of crinoid density and distribution in shallow water soft-sediment environments. The high densities found are significant in terms of the generally accepted picture of shallow-water crinoids as essentially reefal fauna. The findings highlight the conservation benefits of an inclusive approach to marine habitat survey and mapping. Assemblages such as the one described, although they may be of scientific and ecological significance, would have been overlooked by common approaches to marine conservation planning which emphasise highly productive or aesthetically appealing habitats. Most habitat mapping studies rely solely or in part on abiotic surrogates for patterns of biodiversity. The utility of abiotic variables in predicting biological distributions at the local scale (10 km) was tested. Habitat classifications of the same set of 41 sites based on 6 abiotic variables and abundances of 89 taxa and bioturbation indicators were compared using correlation, regression and ordination analyses. The concepts of false homogeneity and false heterogeneity were defined to describe types of errors associated with using abiotic surrogates to construct habitat maps. The best prediction by abiotic surrogates explained less than 30% of the pattern of biological similarity. Errors of false homogeneity were between 20 and 62%, depending on the methods of estimation. Predictive capability of abiotic surrogates at the taxon level was poor, with only 6% of taxon / surrogate correlations significant. These results have implications for the widespread use of abiotic surrogates in marine habitat mapping to plan for, or assess, representation in Marine Protected Areas. Abiotic factors did not discriminate sufficiently between different soft bottom communities to be a reliable basis for mapping. Habitat mapping for the design of Marine Protected Areas is critically affected by the scale of the source information. The relationship between biological similarity of macrobenthos and the distance between sites was investigated at both site and local scales, and for separate biotic groups. There was a significant negative correlation between similarity and distance, in that sites further apart were less similar than sites close together. The relationship, although significant, was quite weak at the site scale. Rank correlograms showed that similarity was high at scales of 10 km or less, and declined markedly with increasing distance. There was evidence of patchiness in the distributions of some biotic groups, especially seagrass and anthozoans, at scales less than 16 km. In other biotic groups there was an essentially monotonic decline in similarity with distance. The spatial agglomeration approach to habitat mapping was valid in the study area. Site spacing of less than 10 km was necessary to capture important components of biological similarity. Site spacing of less than 2.5 km did not appear to be warranted. Macrobenthic habitat types were classified and mapped at 78 sites spaced 5 km apart. The area mapped was about 2,400 km2 and extended from estuarine shallow subtidal waters to offshore areas to the 50 m isobath. Nine habitat types were recognised, with only one on hard substrate. The habitat mapping characterised several habitat types not previously described in the area and located deepwater algal and soft coral reefs not previously reported. Seagrass beds were encountered in several locations where their occurrence was either unknown or had not previously been quantified. The representation of the derived habitat types within an existing marine protected area was assessed. Only two habitat types were represented in highly protected zones, with less than 3% of each included The study represents the most spatially comprehensive survey of epibenthos undertaken in Moreton Bay, with over 40,000 m2 surveyed. Derived habitat maps provide a robust basis for inclusion of representative examples of all habitat types in marine protected area planning in and adjacent to Moreton Bay. The utility of video data to conduct a low-cost habitat survey over a comparatively large area was also demonstrated. The method used has potentially wide application for the survey and design of marine protected areas.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-118).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-118).

In 2008 an initial benthic habitat map was completed by the contractor Avineon, Inc. The National Park Service South Florida / Caribbean Network (SFCN) conducted an accuracy assessment of the map and found the overall habitat identification to be acceptable. However, upon further inspection, the soft-bottom habitat classifications displayed a relatively high level of accuracy, while the hard-bottom habitats were below an acceptable level. With the acquisition of new higher resolution side scan sonar data and 2054 field data points from multiple sources, the 2008 map was revised and improved by utilizing these new data sets to produce the 2010 Dry Tortugas benthic habitat map. The 2010 Dry Tortugas benthic habitat map was developed using 13 mapping classes and 1709 polygons totaling an area of 26,229 hectares. All “Unknown” areas (10,444 hectares) in the 2008 map were identified, the line work for the hard-bottom areas was fine-tuned and a mapping layer was developed showing those areas which have a higher potential for fish and benthic biodiversity. In addition, a final bathymetry layer for the park was developed by merging the existing light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and newly acquired side scan sonar/bathymetry data. The current management plan for the Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO) marine areas focuses much of its effort on the Research Natural Area (RNA). The intensive amount of research effort placed on the RNA has also accomplished the research needed for the rest of DRTO because current research and monitoring efforts are split equally between areas of the DRTO that fall within and outside the RNA to make for a balanced comparative study design. In February of 2007, National Park Service (NPS) and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) developed a science plan to assess conservation effectiveness for the RNA in conjunction with the rest of DRTO and the two nearby existing marine reserves. The implementation of the science plan has been accomplished through collaboration and cooperation of federal and state agencies, academic scientists, and NPS. The new benthic habitat map and corresponding products will help in showing what types of marine habitats are located in the Dry Tortugas National Park and provide the ability to track whether management interventions are effectively protecting the environment and associated resources.