Boreal landscapes cover a large part of both Sweden and the northern hemisphere. The hydrology of the boreal landscape is complex, with several factors that can affect it in a physical and/or chemical manner. In the Krycklan catchment area, 68km2, located in northern Sweden close to Umeå, data has been collected at several sites giving both stream flow and water chemistry information. In 2017 samples from 34 sites were collected and analysed from ephemeral streams within the Krycklan catchment area for the first time ever.  In this project, data that has been collected from the ephemeral streams will be correlated with data from the perennial streams in the catchment area. There are several hypotheses at the start of this project that suggests that within the ephemeral streams the DOC will be lower, and the CO2 will be the same. The aim of the project is to find out if there are any patterns that differentiates the ephemeral streams from the perennial streams or if there are no patterns at all. Since there is not so much data available for the ephemeral streams, the conclusions that might be reached in this project won’t be completely reliable. However, if interesting patterns are found the project could expand in the future and more samples can be taken to use for more precise analyses. / Boreala landskap täcker en stor del av både Sverige och norra halvklotet. Det boreala landskapets hydrologi är komplext, med flera faktorer som kan påverka det på ett fysiskt och/eller kemiskt vis. I Krycklans avrinningsområde, 68 km2, beläget i norra Sverige nära Umeå, har data samlats in på flera platser som erbjuder data för både flöde och vattenkemi. År 2017 samlades prover från 34 efemära strömmar och analyserades för första gången inom Krycklans avrinningsområde. I det här projektet kommer data som samlats från de efemära strömmarna att korreleras med data från de konstanta vattendragen i avrinningsområdet. Det finns ett par hypoteser i början av detta projekt som tyder på att inom de efemära strömmarna kan DOC halter vara lägre och CO2 halter kommer att vara densamma. Syftet med projektet är att ta reda på om det finns några anmärkningsvärda skillnader mellan de efemära strömmarna och de konstanta vattendragen. Eftersom det inte finns så mycket data tillgänglig för de efemära strömmarna kommer de slutsatser som kan uppnås i detta projekt inte att vara helt tillförlitliga. Om intressanta mönster finns däremot kan projektet expandera i framtiden och fler prover kan tas för att användas för mer exakta analyser.

Em sua história, o município de São Sebastião, localizado no Litoral Norte do Estado de São Paulo, foi palco de inúmeras transformações ambientais, principalmente a partir do final do século XVI, quando chegaram à região as primeiras levas de colonizadores europeus, introduzindo novos hábitos e imprimindo na paisagem as marcas de sua ocupação. Apesar das constantes alterações e apropriações do espaço urbano e rural, ainda existem remanescentes culturais que, norteados pela pesquisa arqueológica, propiciam significativas informações sobre as paisagens culturais do passado. Nesse caso, destaca-se o Sítio Arqueológico São Francisco, um complexo construtivo e arquitetônico cujas instalações estão relacionadas a uma propriedade agrícola da primeira metade do século XIX e que constituiu o objeto de estudo apresentado nesta tese de doutorado. De maneira geral, as pesquisas foram realizadas no âmbito da Arqueologia da Paisagem com o objetivo de compreender o cenário de implantação do sítio arqueológico. Privilegiou-se a utilização de tecnologias para realizar a leitura do processo histórico a partir de uma visão de espectro amplo baseada no entendimento das relações homem/meio ambiente, analisando os processos de artificialização do meio e as principais características da paisagem na época de ocupação do sítio. / In its history, the municipality of São Sebastião, located at the north costal zone of the State of São Paulo, was the stage of uncountable environmental transformations, mainly after the end of the XVIth century, when the first waves of European settlers disembarked in the region, introducing new customs as well as printing their signals of occupation in the landscape. Despite the constant alteration and re-appropriation of the urban space and rural zones, there are cultural reminiscences that, based on archaeological research, have revealed significative information about past cultural landscapes. In this case, the archaeological site known as São Francisco is an impressive instance of that, and constituted by an architectonic and constructive complex in which the units are associated with a XIXth century agricultural property, the very object of study in this PhD dissertation. In general terms, this research is focused on landscape archaeology with the priority to understand the implantation scenario of this archaeological site. At this point, it was selected the use of technologies to read the historical process of man-envrionment interaction based on a wide spectrum vision, and also analyzing the environment artificial-transformative processes that took place. Additionally, the main characteristics of the landscape during the time of site occupation are revealed.

Lam Yee Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-103). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter one: --- The anthropocentrism/ androcentrism debate --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter two: --- Self/ nature relationships: Self Realization and the relational self --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter three: --- the self/ nature relation in Wang's object- oriented poems --- p.53 / Conclusion --- p.82 / Endnotes --- p.86 / Bibliography --- p.95

Avant de devenir objet de préoccupations politiques et d’aménagement de l’espace, le paysage a été sujet dans les plus différents et divers courants de la pensée scientifique. Aujourd’hui, le paysage occupe une place importante et croissante dans les politiques et les actions publiques, notamment dans le cadre des problématiques de développement durable àl’échelle des territoires. Il sort ainsi de la « connaissance scientifique » vers « l’agir dans le monde ». Cette thèse se propose d’étudier dans quelles mesures les paysages du piémont et des contreforts du Larzac – marqués par la vitiviniculture – peuvent être un élément moteur dans les processus de développement territorial durable. Avec l’appui de la théorie des ressources territoriales, cette thèse propose dans un premier temps d’éclairer comment le paysage devientressource. La conception et les dynamiques du paysage sont complexes et souvent difficilement saisissables par les acteurs du territoire, ce qui complique les processus de valorisation et d’activation de la ressource. Avec l’appui de la pensée systémique, ce travail de recherche propose donc une « nouvelle forme » de représenter les paysages dans leur complexité- le dessin riche. Ceci est un outil efficace pour les acteurs locaux dans les processus d’autoréflexion et d’autoapprentissage, qui permettent la définition de stratégies et d’actions qui activent la ressource pour promouvoir un développement territorial durable et le maintien des paysages non simplement « beaux », mais aussi « vivants », avec la participation et selon les regards des acteurs. / Before becoming subject of political and spatial development concerns, landscapes have been subject into the most different and various currents of scientific thought. At present, landscapes have an important and increasing role into politics and public actions, particularly in the sustainable territorial development. Landscapes therefore “leave” from the scientific knowledge to “act in the world”. They are then auspicious to be a resource to engender territorial development. The conception and dynamics of landscapes are though complex and often difficult to be understood (into their complexity) by the actors from the territory, which complicate the process of resource activation. The aim of this thesis is to study how the landscapes from the Larzac piedmont and the foothills – characterized by the vitiviniculture – can be a driving force into the process of (sustainable) territorial development. With support of systems thinking, this research also provides a "new method" to represent landscapes in their complexity. This representation is an efficient tool for local actors to self-reflection and self-learning processes that allows strategies definition and actions to activate the resource and then promote sustainable territorial development, as well as the maintenance of a “beautiful” but also “living” landscape, with actors’ visions and participation.

abstract: This thesis consists of three projects employing complexity economics methods to explore firm dynamics. The first is the Firm Ecosystem Model, which addresses the institutional conditions of capital access and entrenched competitive advantage. Larger firms will be more competitive than smaller firms due to efficiencies of scale, but the persistence of larger firms is also supported institutionally through mechanisms such as tax policy, capital access mechanisms and industry-favorable legislation. At the same time, evidence suggests that small firms innovate more than larger firms, and an aggressive firm-as-value perspective incentivizes early investment in new firms in an attempt to capture that value. The Ecological Firm Model explores the effects of the differences in innovation and investment patterns and persistence rates between large and small firms. The second project is the Structural Inertia Model, which is intended to build theory around why larger firms may be less successful in capturing new marketshare than smaller firms, as well as to advance fitness landscape methods. The model explores the possibility that firms with larger scopes may be less effective in mitigating the costs of cooperation because conditions may arise that cause intrafirm conflicts. The model is implemented on structured fitness landscapes derived using the maximal order of interaction (NM) formulation and described using local optima networks (LONs), thus integrating these novel techniques. Finally, firm dynamics can serve as a proxy for the ease at which people can voluntarily enter into the legal cooperative agreements that constitute firms. The third project, the Emergent Firm model, is an exploration of how this dynamic of voluntary association may be affected by differing capital institutions, and explores the macroeconomic implications of the economies that emerge out of the various resulting firm populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Applied Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences 2018

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar os significados das paisagens da microbacia do ribeirão dos Sinos, em Ipeúna, SP, a partir de um estudo dos processos de transformação do espaço e de uma vivência, uma imersão nas paisagens. O conceito de paisagem utilizado não se restringe à mera visualidade, a um espaço observado. Pelo contrário, trata-se de um espaço vivenciado, uma realidade complexa e relacional, indissociável no que diz respeito à sua materialidade e às suas representações. Nesse sentido, a busca pelos significados das paisagens depende das experiências partilhadas pelas pessoas que as vivenciam. A partir das experiências e visões de mundo dos proprietários rurais, buscamos compreender melhor como surgem as motivações que dão sentido às práticas que resultam na configuração das paisagens rurais da microbacia. Nossa abordagem se deu de forma exploratória e qualitativa. Analisamos a história local e o contexto atual a partir de uma revisão bibliográfica, de um registro fotográfico e de entrevistas semi-estruturadas realizadas com os proprietários rurais e outros membros da população local entre maio de 2008 e maio de 2009. Tendo em vista que Ipeúna foi um pequeno Distrito de Rio Claro até 1964, quando foi emancipada, seu processo de modernização, em comparação com outras cidades, foi recente. Atualmente, ainda é um município pequeno. Seu contexto social é marcado pela adaptação dos antigos moradores à chegada de novos habitantes, estranhos ao seu círculo de convivência, e às transformações sociais, econômicas e culturais. Constatamos que os pequenos produtores rurais tradicionais enfrentam dificuldades crescentes para sobreviver da atividade agropecuária e seu modo tradicional de produção está prestes a ser abandonado definitivamente. Os principais problemas ambientais mencionados foram: escassez de água, erosão, queimadas e danos provocados por javalis. Há diferenças marcantes de atribuições de significados às paisagens entre as famílias ipeunenses tradicionais e os novos moradores. A beleza das paisagens é valorizada enfaticamente pelos proprietários de chácaras, que estão em condições de aproveitar o tempo com atividades de lazer. Por outro lado, devido ao longo período de convivência no lugar, os sentimentos e as memórias depositadas sobre as paisagens e propriedades rurais pelas famílias ipeunenses tradicionais são mais profundos e íntimos, refletindo suas próprias histórias de vida. Esta pesquisa enfatiza a enorme complexidade dos processos de transformação do espaço, das experiências humanas e dos significados das paisagens. / The present work aims to investigate the meanings of the Sinos stream microbasins landscapes, in Ipeuna, SP - Brazil, from a study of space transformation processes and life experiences. The landscape concept used is not restricted to mere visuality and observed space. Contrariwise, landscape is an experienced space, a complex and relational reality, both materiality and representation. In this sense, the investigation of the meanings of the landscapes depends on peoples \"shared experiences\". Based on the landowners experiences and world views, we have hoped to expand the comprehension of motivations for practices that result in the appearance of the microbasin agricultural landscapes. This was an exploratory qualitative research. We have analyzed the local history and the present context by literature review, photo registry and semi-structured interviews conducted with landowners and other members of the local population between May 2008 and May 2009. Ipeuna had been a small district of Rio Claro until 1964, when it turned into a city. Because of this, compared to other cities, the modernization process was recent. Nowadays, it is still a small town. The social context is characterized by the adaptation of traditional dwellers to the arrival of new residents, strangers to their social circle, and the social, economic and cultural changes. We have found that the traditional farmers face increasing difficulties to survive in farming and its traditional way of production is about to be abandoned permanently. The main environmental problems cited were: water scarcity, erosion, fires and damages caused by wild boars. There are great differences of meanings attributed to the landscapes between traditional families from Ipeuna and new residents. The landscapes beauty is strongly valued by the proprietors of country houses that are able to spend time on leisure activities. On the other hand, because of the long experience time in that place, feelings and memories deposited on the landscapes and rural properties by the traditional families from Ipeuna are more profound and intimate, reflecting their own life histories. This research emphasizes the enormous complexity of space transformation processes, human experiences and meanings of landscapes.

Public awareness of declining pollinator populations has increased interest in creating “bee–friendly” urban landscapes. I quantified bee visitation and assemblages of 72 species of flowering woody plants common in urban landscapes. I found strong plant species effects and variation in seasonal activity of particular bee taxa but no overall differences in bee visitation or genus diversity between native versus nonnative species or trees versus shrubs. Analysis of pollen from a subset of these plants revealed small but statistically significant differences in total and essential amino acids between native and nonnative species and trees and shrubs, although each group had species with high quality pollen. Uptake and dissipation of soil–applied imidacloprid and dinotefuran was measured in nectar and leaves of two woody plant species, Ilex × attenuata and Clethra alnifolia to assess concentrations to which pollinators might be exposed in landscape settings. Three application timings were evaluated. Residues in nectar and tissue were analyzed by HPLC–MS/MS in two successive years. Residues in nectar following autumn or spring applications exceed concentrations shown to adversely affect individual and colony–level traits of bees. Summer application mitigated concentrations of imidacloprid (8–31 ng/g), but not dinotefuran (235–1191 ng/g), in nectar.

Surface mining and its associated territory disturbance is generally perceived negatively by society. However, these newly transformed regions may be very important areas of conservation from biodiversity point of view of and emergence of refugia. This thesis investigates the dynamics of the coal dumps and the land cover changes in relation to the occurrence of endangered species of Tawny pipit (Anthus campestris) in the North Bohemia. This area is the only breeding region in the country for this species. The aim of this thesis is to describe land cover change on three coal dumps (Tušimice, Bílina a Vršany) within horizon of four years (2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017). Moreover, another aim was to asses habitat preferences of Tawny pipit based on ornithological findings for particular year. As it is seen from the results, the most significant change occurred at those areas, which were without vegetation cover in the beggining of monitoring and were cover with vegetation later. The category of herbal vegetation was the one which increased the most, as it was caused by spontaneous succession. It showed up that Tawny pipit's most preferred areas are land cover categories coal dumps surface without vegetation, coal dumps surface with herbal vegetation and category buildings, build-up area and transport...

Spatial heterogeneity impacts population and community-level dynamics including species-level dispersal patterns, the use and availability of refugia, predator/prey dynamics, and reproductive fitness. Understanding how wild animal populations respond to environmental heterogeneity is essential for their proper management and conservation. In this study, I examine the responses of Willow Flycatchers to spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of their food and habitat resources. Over the course of three breeding seasons, I radio- tracked Willow Flycatchers at Fish Creek in Manti-La Sal National Forest in Utah, recorded detailed behavior data at each radio location, and collected fecal, feather and insect samples. I formulated individual and population-level Bayesian spatial resource selection functions to model Willow Flycatcher foraging and vocalization behavior on multiple scales. These models indicate that vocalization and foraging behavior are spatially segregated within the home ranges of Willow Flycatchers. Further, Willow Flycatchers were found to use mature riparian habitat for vocalizing while they used a variety of habitat types for foraging. The insect samples were used to identify distinct carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures for the aquatic and terrestrial insect communities at Fish Creek. In conjunction with the fecal samples, I used the stable isotope signatures to determine the contribution of aquatic versus terrestrial insects to the Willow Flycatcher diet. Aquatic insects comprised a larger proportion of the diet of adult than nestling Willow Flycatchers. This suggests that adult flycatchers consume a diet that is distinct from the one they feed to their nestlings. Finally, I compared space use characteristics in two populations of Willow Flycatchers: a population of the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher at Roosevelt Lake, Arizona and another belonging to a non-endangered subspecies of Willow Flycatcher at Fish Creek, Utah. Differences in space use were found largely among breeding flycatchers while space use characteristics in non-breeding Willow Flycatchers did not differ across populations. This suggests that space use patterns in non-breeding Southwestern Willow Flycatchers may be generalizable to non-breeding flycatchers from non-endangered populations. This study expands our understanding of how Willow Flycatchers respond to spatial heterogeneity while its key findings have management and conservation implications for the species.

Culitivated Tastes argues for a new evaluation of colonial landscape art and representations of nature from the Netherlands Indies (colonial Indonesia). The thesis focuses on examples from Java, Sumatra, Ambon and Bali during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but also discusses early post-colonial literature. It uses paintings and photography, with supporting references to Dutch colonial novels, to argue that images of landscape and nature were linked to the formation of Dutch colonial identities and, more generally, to the politics of colonial expansion. Paintings were not simply colonial kitsch (mooi Indi??, or 'beautiful Indies', images): they were the purest expression of Dutch ideals about the peaceful, prosperous landscapes that were crucial to uncontested colonial rule. Often these ideals were contradicted by historical reality. Indeed, paintings rarely showed Dutch interventions in Indies landscapes, particularly those that were met with resistance and rebellion. Colonial photographs often supported the painterly ideals of peace and prosperity, but in different ways: photographs celebrated European intrusions upon and restructuring of Indonesian landscapes, communicating the notions of progress and rational, benevolent rule. It is in literature that we find broader discussions of nature, which includes climate as well as topography. Here representations of landscape and nature are explicitly linked to the formation of colonial identities. Dutch anxieties about the boundaries of racial and gender identities were embedded within references to Indies landscape and nature. Inner colonial worlds intersected with perceptions of the larger environment in literature: here the ideals and triumphs associated with Dutch colonial expansion were juxtaposed against fears related to remaining European in a tropical Asian landscape.