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Inner yard building occupant’s perception versus the computer simulated metrics of daylight : Field study and simulation-based analysis of inner yard buildingBorodinova, Baiba January 2018 (has links)
This Master thesis was aimed at investigating common daylight evaluation methods related to Swedish building codes versus human perception of daylight in residential spaces. Field (interview) and simulation-based study were conducted in one of the typical 20thcentury residential, closed courtyard buildings in Stockholm. 12 residents of Kv. Väktaren 16 were interviewed and simulation models were prepared for the apartments occupied by the participants. Resident perception of light was mostly contrary to daylight assessing values and methods of daylight factor – DF in a point (CIE overcast sky) and alternative method of window to floor area ratio – AF that are stated in Swedish standard (Boverkets byggregler BFS 2016:6). Attractive and interesting view, access to direct sunlight and visual comfort played important role in overall occupant satisfaction level, this suggests that daylight metrics should include perception-based factors, which positively impact our health and well-being.
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Ecosystem services, biodiversity and human wellbeing along climatic gradients in smallholder agro-ecosystems in the Terai Plains of Nepal and northern GhanaThorn, Jessica Paula Rose January 2016 (has links)
Increasingly unpredictable, extreme and erratic rainfall with higher temperatures threatens to undermine the adaptive capacity of food systems and ecological resilience of smallholder landscapes. Despite growing concern, land managers still lack quantitative techniques to collect empirical data about the potential impact of climatic variability and change. This thesis aims to assess how ecosystem services and function and how this links with biodiversity and human wellbeing in smallholder agro-ecosystems in a changing climate. To this end, rather than relying on scenarios or probabilistic modelling, space was used as a proxy for time to compare states in disparate climatic conditions. Furthermore, an integrated methodological framework to assess ecosystem services at the field and landscape level was developed and operationalised, the results of which can be modelled with measures of wellbeing. Various multidisciplinary analytical tools were utilised, including ecological and socio-economic surveys, biological assessments, participatory open enquiry, and documenting ethnobotanical knowledge. The study was located within monsoon rice farms in the Terai Plains of Nepal, and dry season vegetable farms in Northern Ghana. Sites were selected that are climatically and culturally diverse to enable comparative analysis, with application to broad areas of adaptive planning. The linkages that bring about biophysical and human changes are complex and operate through social, political, economic and demographic drivers, making attribution extremely challenging. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that within hotter and drier conditions in Ghana long-tongued pollinators and granivores, important for decomposition processes and pollination services, are more abundant in farms. Results further indicated that in cooler and drier conditions in Nepal, the taxonomic diversity of indigenous and close relative plant species growing in and around farms, important for the provisioning of ecosystem services, decreases. All other things equal, in both Nepal and Ghana findings indicate that overall human wellbeing may be adversely effected in hotter conditions, with a potentially significantly lower yields, fewer months of the year in which food is available, higher exposure to natural hazards and crop loss, unemployment, and psychological anxiety. Yet, surveys indicate smallholders continue to maintain a fair diversity of species in and around farms, which may allow them to secure basic necessities from provisioning ecosystem services. Moreover, farmers may employ adaptive strategies such as pooling labour and food sharing more frequently, and may have greater access to communication, technology, and infrastructure. Novel methodological and empirical contributions of this research offer predictive insights that could inform innovations in climate-smart agricultural practice and planning.
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Birds, bats and arthropods in tropical agroforestry landscapes: Functional diversity, multitrophic interactions and crop yieldMaas, Bea 20 November 2013 (has links)
No description available.
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