Unbranched heterocytous cyanobacteria exhibit complex filament and colony architectures and variable life strategies from symbionts to free living planktic and non-planktic species. They are counted among microbial groups showing an extensive production of secondary metabolites, resulting in both pharmaceutically important and toxic compounds. The main focus of this thesis is to broaden our knowledge on bioactive secondary metabolite potential in this widespread group of cyanobacteria. An effective combination of methods including whole genome sequencing, bioinformatic analysis, and analytical chemistry techniques are applied to accomplish this task. The discrepancies in distribution of various classes of compounds among ecological groups defined by different life strategies are discussed. Additionally, the thesis endeavours to test multidisciplinary approaches to tackle taxonomic assignments of unresolved unbranched heterocytous cyanobacteria using morphological, phylogenetic and ecophysiological methods, including a meta-analysis of morphological traits.

Microorganisms are considered to be a significant selective factor affecting bird's life strategies. The body cover, including feather, is occupied by a wide range of bacteria that are in their host in different interactions. Group of microorganisms degradate keratins of feather is still most studied and most species of birds have them in feather. This feather degrading bacteria can disrupt the wear and its function and thus cause great losses to its fitness. Therefore, it seems likely that these feathers degrading bacteria and microorganisms generally play a significant role in creating defence mechanisms against their negative effects. One of the most important defence mechanisms to protect feathers against the action of microorganisms is the deposition of melanin pigments. This diploma thesis deals with the analysis of the total bacterial load in feathers and its resistance against bacterial degradation in 47 species of birds trapped in afromontan areas of western Cameroon. The specific aim of the thesis was to determine differences in the total number of bacteria in plumage in species with different life strategies, especially feeding and reproductive strategies. At the same time, the phtilochronological analysis of the quality of the plumage was performed and in vitro experiments were tested...

Future climate scenarios in the Baltic Sea project increasing sea surface temperature, as well as increasing precipitation and river runoff resulting in decreased salinity. These changes can severely impact the dynamics and function of brackish water communities, specifically phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are a significant source of organic matter to other trophic levels, and some species can be toxic. Their response to future climate conditions is of great relevance for the health of humans and aquatic ecosystems. The aim of this thesis was to assess the potential for climate-induced changes, such as decreasing salinity, to affect phytoplankton dynamics, physiology and chemical profiles in the Baltic Sea.      Phytoplankton successional patterns in the Baltic Proper consist of a spring bloom where diatoms and dinoflagellates co-occur and a summer bloom dominated by filamentous/colonial cyanobacteria. The consensus is that future warmer conditions will promote filamentous/colonial cyanobacteria blooms. This thesis shows that phytoplankton biomass in the spring bloom was lower in years with milder winters compared with cold winters. This suggests that in terms of annual carbon export to higher trophic levels, loss of biomass from the spring bloom is unlikely to be compensated by summer cyanobacteria. High frequency sampling of phytoplankton performed in this thesis revealed a strong relationship between the dynamics of pico- and filamentous cyanobacteria. Large genetic diversity was found in cyanobacterial populations with high niche differentiation among the same species. At community level, high temperature and low salinity were the main factors shaping the summer cyanobacterial composition. These conditions may promote the predominance of opportunistic filamentous cyanobacteria, e.g. Nodularia spumigena. This species produces various bioactive compounds, including non-ribosomal peptides such as the hepatotoxin nodularin. In this work, N. spumigena subpopulations evolved different physiological strategies, including chemical profiles, to cope with salinity stress. This high phenotypic plasticity ensures survival in future climate conditions. Under salinity stress, some subpopulations displayed shorter filaments as a trade-off. This indicates that the future freshening of the Baltic Sea may promote grazing on filamentous cyanobacteria and modify carbon flows in the ecosystem. In this thesis, Baltic N. spumigena chemotypes and genotypes grouped into two main clusters without influence of geographical origin. Thus, chemical profiling can be used to explore conspecific diversity in closely genetically related N. spumigena subpopulations.      Overall, this thesis has significantly expanded the knowledge on phytoplankton community and population responses to short- and long-term environmental changes, relevant to project the impacts of future climate conditions in the Baltic Sea.

<p>The aim of this dissertation is to explore how and under what conditions life strategies of young men and women unfold in the towns of Masasi in southern Tanzania and Montepuez in northern Mozambique. These towns are located in regions which in their national contexts are perceived as peripheral and rural. The thesis examines the life strategies of youth, with particular emphasis on livelihood, education and mobility. How the life strategies can be related to the representations of young people in national and local discourses, and how global processes are involved in young people’s daily lives are also examined. The fieldwork was conducted between 2002 and 2004 and the main part of the empirical material consists of structured and semi-structured interviews.</p><p>Many young people are under substantial pressure to support themselves and their families, but a conflict exists between the expectations on youth to contribute to the household economy and their possibilities to do so. There is also a contradiction between being needed for labour and being trusted with responsibilities. Harsh economic conditions, combined with a weak position in terms of power, increase the vulnerability of young people in these places.</p><p>Global processes influence young people’s lives, primarily expressed through changed patterns of consumption. However, there is a feeling of exclusion from globalisation in terms of work. Self-employment is promoted as a solution to poverty by the government and by various organisations, but young people contest this discourse and demand ‘real’ employment for themselves and for their children. Young people’s mobility experiences are mainly local due to a local social network and limited resources. Those with larger resources tend to be more mobile and the more privileged youth aspire to move to the larger cities or abroad. Agriculture is a complementary livelihood strategy, which implies that the rural economy still has an important function as a safety net within the urban landscape.</p>

The aim of this dissertation is to explore how and under what conditions life strategies of young men and women unfold in the towns of Masasi in southern Tanzania and Montepuez in northern Mozambique. These towns are located in regions which in their national contexts are perceived as peripheral and rural. The thesis examines the life strategies of youth, with particular emphasis on livelihood, education and mobility. How the life strategies can be related to the representations of young people in national and local discourses, and how global processes are involved in young people’s daily lives are also examined. The fieldwork was conducted between 2002 and 2004 and the main part of the empirical material consists of structured and semi-structured interviews. Many young people are under substantial pressure to support themselves and their families, but a conflict exists between the expectations on youth to contribute to the household economy and their possibilities to do so. There is also a contradiction between being needed for labour and being trusted with responsibilities. Harsh economic conditions, combined with a weak position in terms of power, increase the vulnerability of young people in these places. Global processes influence young people’s lives, primarily expressed through changed patterns of consumption. However, there is a feeling of exclusion from globalisation in terms of work. Self-employment is promoted as a solution to poverty by the government and by various organisations, but young people contest this discourse and demand ‘real’ employment for themselves and for their children. Young people’s mobility experiences are mainly local due to a local social network and limited resources. Those with larger resources tend to be more mobile and the more privileged youth aspire to move to the larger cities or abroad. Agriculture is a complementary livelihood strategy, which implies that the rural economy still has an important function as a safety net within the urban landscape.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore suitable end-of-life strategies for fashion retailers of custom-made products after they have been returned by the customer, by analysing and evaluating these strategies, and how to implement and conclude the viability of these. Method: The study follows an abductive explorative case study method. The exploratory design is structured as follows; a literature review is carried out, followed by interviews for collecting empirical data, which is analysed with the help of a conceptual framework. Thereafter, secondary data is collected to create an overview of the real-world context in the form of end-of-life strategies implemented by fashion retailers. Finally, the case was tested within a new proposed framework. Findings: The findings demonstrate the importance of the core values of the companies and inherent to that, the product characteristics and design in the decision-making of a suitable end-of-life strategy. For that reason, a second phase of data collection based on secondary data was implemented and juxtaposed the first finding from the interviews. The main insight this paper shows is that resell “as it is”, which is a common end-of-life strategy for regular fashion retailers, is a conflicting strategy for retailers of custom-made clothing. Introducing an adapted version of the Sustainable Value Analysis Tool as a conceptual framework gave a better insight in how to approach and analyse suitable end-of-life strategies and shows the relation between these parameters. Originality: It is difficult according to the findings of this study to conclude a generalisable, one-size-fits-all end-of-life strategy for returned custom-made products. However, the introduction of an adapted version of the Sustainable Value Analysis Tool can serve a purpose for all fashion retailers in this transformation process and which is not limited to fashion retailers of mass customised clothing.

This thesis is focused on the problems of women in managerial positions in a selected metalworking company. It analyzes the status of women in the company, gender in the management and gender integration in the company. The position of women in managerial positions, criteria for success and barriers to their career are examined by analysis of company materials and interviews with staff. The main objective is focused on woman possibilities of work-life balance. There are practical suggestions at the end of this thesis.

A ocorrência de distúrbios impacta a diversidade de estratégias de vida em comunidades e a evolução de estratégias de vida em populações. Na Ecologia, o distúrbio é estudado enquanto fator ambiental que altera a disponibilidade de recursos e a abundância das populações, ocasionando a exclusão competitiva de espécies menos favorecidas a depender da intensidade e da frequência de sua ocorrência. Na Biologia Evolutiva, o distúrbio é avaliado enquanto pressão que, dependendo de sua regularidade no ambiente, determina a intensidade da resposta evolutiva das espécies e, assim, a adaptação a estratégias de vida de maior aptidão. Ainda que haja separação entre as duas áreas, a dinâmica ecológica influencia a dinâmica evolutiva e vice-versa. Estudos que integram Ecologia e Evolução têm sido cada vez mais recorrentes, no entanto, poucos ou nenhum consideram o distúrbio. Neste trabalho, utilizamos um modelo baseado em indivíduo para criar cenários nos quais os processos de adaptação e exclusão competitiva de espécies possam ocorrer, tanto conjunta quanto isoladamente, a fim de entender como o distúrbio determina as estratégias de vida presentes em comunidades sob dinâmicas ecológicas, evolutivas e eco-evolutivas. No modelo, as estratégias de vida são atributos herdáveis definidos por um trade-off entre longevidade e fecundidade. O cenário evolutivo foi composto por populações (apenas uma espécie) com mutação; o cenário ecológico, por diversas espécies sem mutação e o cenário eco-evolutivo, por diversas espécies com mutação. Observamos que o distúrbio esteve positivamente relacionado com a predominância de indivíduos fecundos em todos os cenários, mas o efeito do distúrbio sobre a diversidade de estratégias variou. Nos cenários evolutivo e eco-evolutivo, a diversidade de estratégias aumentou com a intensificação do distúrbio, enquanto no cenário ecológico a diversidade caiu. Isso indica a importância da mutação como fonte de novas variantes da estratégia quando há alta renovação de indivíduos da comunidade, condicionada pela mortalidade elevada. Apenas no cenário eco-evolutivo houve um pico de heterogeneidade de estratégias em níveis intermediários de distúrbio. Neste cenário, o isolamento reprodutivo das espécies, em contraposição à pan-mixia que ocorre dentro das populações, permite que as espécies difiram em relação à sua estratégia de vida média. Em paralelo, a entrada constante de variantes de estratégias por mutação previne a extinção definitiva das estratégias do sistema. Assim, quando o nível de distúrbio é intermediário, tanto espécies mais fecundas quanto espécies mais longevas conseguem coexistir na comunidade. Dado que os diferentes cenários resultaram em padrões distintos de frequência relativa de estratégias de vida, este trabalho evidencia a importância de estudarmos o efeito do distúrbio na estrutura e na dinâmica de comunidades unindo processos que são tipicamente estudados de forma isolada pela Ecologia e pela Biologia Evolutiva / Disturbance events impact life strategy diversity in communities and life strategy evolution in populations. In the field of Ecology, disturbance occurrence is studied while an environmental factor that alters resource availability and populations abundance, causing competitive exclusion of less favorable life strategies depending on disturbance frequency and intensity. In the field of Evolutionary Biology, disturbance is evaluated as a pressure, depending on its spatial and temporal regularity, that determines the intensity of species\' evolutionary response and, as a consequence, the adaptation towards the fittest life strategy. Although there is a separation between these two fields of knowledge, ecological dynamics influence evolutionary dynamics and the other way around. Studies that mix Ecology and Evolution are becoming more common, but few or none of them takes disturbance in consideration. Here, we use an individual-based model to generate contexts in which adaptation and competitive exclusion might act apart and together in order to understand how disturbance determines life strategies that occur in communities under ecological, evolutionary and eco-evolutionary dynamics. In the model, life strategy is an inheritable character defined for a trade-off between longevity and fecundity. Simulations from the evolutionary context were composed by one population under mutation acting, simulations from the ecological context by various species without mutation and simulations from the eco-evolutionary context by various species with mutation occurrence. We observed that disturbance was positively correlated with fecund individuals preponderance in all contexts but that disturbance effect on life strategy diversity varied between the different contexts. In the evolutionary and the eco-evolutionary contexts, life strategy diversity increased with disturbance raise, while in the ecological context diversity decreased. This result evidences the mutation role as a source of new life strategy variants when there is a high renovation of individuals given by raised mortality. Only in the eco-evolutionary context there was an interspecific heterogeneity peak on intermediate levels of disturbance. In this scenario, species reproductive isolation, in contrast to populations panmixy, allows species to differ in relation to its life strategies. In parallel to this, the constant input of new life strategy variants by mutation prevents the definite extinction of life strategies from the system. Therefore, when disturbance level is intermediate, productive species as well as long-lived ones are able to coexist. Given that the different contexts resulted in varied patterns of life strategies\' relative frequency, this study evidences the importance of studying disturbance effect on communities structure and dynamics unifying processes that are typically separated between Ecology and Evolution fields

Submitted by Mariana Dornelles Vargas (marianadv) on 2015-05-05T17:02:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 padroes_historias.pdf: 488314 bytes, checksum: 941fd4b4c3b3ef436c122f26fe6f483a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-05T17:02:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 padroes_historias.pdf: 488314 bytes, checksum: 941fd4b4c3b3ef436c122f26fe6f483a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Nenhuma / A história de vida das espécies pode ser contada através de suas características fenotípicas, pois elas são resultantes dos processos ocorridos ao longo do tempo evolutivo. Para definir padrões estruturais e de luminosidade entre as espécies arbóreas de uma Floresta com Araucária do Sul do Brasil, características importantes de história de vida foram utilizadas com o intuito de entender as relações existentes entre as espécies encontradas dentro deste ambiente. A filogenia também foi levada em conta e analisada através de um teste de Mantel entre as características de vida e as distâncias filogenéticas das espécies avaliadas. Os resultados revelaram as relações existentes entre as variáveis de história vida e os eixos da PCA que foram divididos em 7: retenção de tecidos, crescimento vertical, alcance luminoso, comprimento da semente, trade-off da dispersão zoocórica, crescimento rápido e trade-off da captura de luz. Já as correlações de Pearson com as posteriores correções através do método de Benjamini & Hochberg apontaram 6 correlações significativas envolvendo os regenerantes 1 e 2. A análise de agrupamento separou as espécies em quatro grupos diferentes: tolerantes à sombra, intermediárias zoocóricas, intermediárias preferencialmente não zoocóricas e espécies com alta intensidade de radiação solar (com destaque para Araucaria angustifolia). Este estudo possibilitou a compreensão das estratégias de vida adotadas pelas espécies arbóreas de uma Floresta com Araucária do Sul do Brasil, além de ser uma nova ferramenta para conservação e manejo destas espécies que poderá ser utilizada nos estudos posteriores. / The life history of species can be expressed by their phenotype features, because trait characteristics are determined by processes occurring in an evolutionary timescale. In this study I analyzed morphological and demographic traits to reveal life histories of Araucaria forest trees species. Possible influence of phylogeny in life history traits was taken into account by a Mantel test between traits and the phylogenetic distance. Trait patterns were then evaluated through ordination, classification and correlation analyses of species per trait matrixes. The Mantel test showed no significant influence of phylogeny in species traits. Principal Component Analysis showed seven life history axes, named as tissue retention, vertical growth, light range, seed length, zoochory trade-off, fast growth and light capture trade-off. Pearson correlations with Benjamini & Hochberg corrections resulted in 6 significant associations between regenerates 1 and 2. Cluster analysis separated the species in four different groups: shade tolerant, zoochoric intermediaries, non-zoochoric rather intermediaries and species with high intensity of solar radiation (especially to Araucaria angustifolia). This study enabled the comprehension of the strategies of life adopted by tree species in the Araucaria Forest, besides becoming a new means of conservation and management of these species.

A ocorrência de distúrbios impacta a diversidade de estratégias de vida em comunidades e a evolução de estratégias de vida em populações. Na Ecologia, o distúrbio é estudado enquanto fator ambiental que altera a disponibilidade de recursos e a abundância das populações, ocasionando a exclusão competitiva de espécies menos favorecidas a depender da intensidade e da frequência de sua ocorrência. Na Biologia Evolutiva, o distúrbio é avaliado enquanto pressão que, dependendo de sua regularidade no ambiente, determina a intensidade da resposta evolutiva das espécies e, assim, a adaptação a estratégias de vida de maior aptidão. Ainda que haja separação entre as duas áreas, a dinâmica ecológica influencia a dinâmica evolutiva e vice-versa. Estudos que integram Ecologia e Evolução têm sido cada vez mais recorrentes, no entanto, poucos ou nenhum consideram o distúrbio. Neste trabalho, utilizamos um modelo baseado em indivíduo para criar cenários nos quais os processos de adaptação e exclusão competitiva de espécies possam ocorrer, tanto conjunta quanto isoladamente, a fim de entender como o distúrbio determina as estratégias de vida presentes em comunidades sob dinâmicas ecológicas, evolutivas e eco-evolutivas. No modelo, as estratégias de vida são atributos herdáveis definidos por um trade-off entre longevidade e fecundidade. O cenário evolutivo foi composto por populações (apenas uma espécie) com mutação; o cenário ecológico, por diversas espécies sem mutação e o cenário eco-evolutivo, por diversas espécies com mutação. Observamos que o distúrbio esteve positivamente relacionado com a predominância de indivíduos fecundos em todos os cenários, mas o efeito do distúrbio sobre a diversidade de estratégias variou. Nos cenários evolutivo e eco-evolutivo, a diversidade de estratégias aumentou com a intensificação do distúrbio, enquanto no cenário ecológico a diversidade caiu. Isso indica a importância da mutação como fonte de novas variantes da estratégia quando há alta renovação de indivíduos da comunidade, condicionada pela mortalidade elevada. Apenas no cenário eco-evolutivo houve um pico de heterogeneidade de estratégias em níveis intermediários de distúrbio. Neste cenário, o isolamento reprodutivo das espécies, em contraposição à pan-mixia que ocorre dentro das populações, permite que as espécies difiram em relação à sua estratégia de vida média. Em paralelo, a entrada constante de variantes de estratégias por mutação previne a extinção definitiva das estratégias do sistema. Assim, quando o nível de distúrbio é intermediário, tanto espécies mais fecundas quanto espécies mais longevas conseguem coexistir na comunidade. Dado que os diferentes cenários resultaram em padrões distintos de frequência relativa de estratégias de vida, este trabalho evidencia a importância de estudarmos o efeito do distúrbio na estrutura e na dinâmica de comunidades unindo processos que são tipicamente estudados de forma isolada pela Ecologia e pela Biologia Evolutiva / Disturbance events impact life strategy diversity in communities and life strategy evolution in populations. In the field of Ecology, disturbance occurrence is studied while an environmental factor that alters resource availability and populations abundance, causing competitive exclusion of less favorable life strategies depending on disturbance frequency and intensity. In the field of Evolutionary Biology, disturbance is evaluated as a pressure, depending on its spatial and temporal regularity, that determines the intensity of species\' evolutionary response and, as a consequence, the adaptation towards the fittest life strategy. Although there is a separation between these two fields of knowledge, ecological dynamics influence evolutionary dynamics and the other way around. Studies that mix Ecology and Evolution are becoming more common, but few or none of them takes disturbance in consideration. Here, we use an individual-based model to generate contexts in which adaptation and competitive exclusion might act apart and together in order to understand how disturbance determines life strategies that occur in communities under ecological, evolutionary and eco-evolutionary dynamics. In the model, life strategy is an inheritable character defined for a trade-off between longevity and fecundity. Simulations from the evolutionary context were composed by one population under mutation acting, simulations from the ecological context by various species without mutation and simulations from the eco-evolutionary context by various species with mutation occurrence. We observed that disturbance was positively correlated with fecund individuals preponderance in all contexts but that disturbance effect on life strategy diversity varied between the different contexts. In the evolutionary and the eco-evolutionary contexts, life strategy diversity increased with disturbance raise, while in the ecological context diversity decreased. This result evidences the mutation role as a source of new life strategy variants when there is a high renovation of individuals given by raised mortality. Only in the eco-evolutionary context there was an interspecific heterogeneity peak on intermediate levels of disturbance. In this scenario, species reproductive isolation, in contrast to populations panmixy, allows species to differ in relation to its life strategies. In parallel to this, the constant input of new life strategy variants by mutation prevents the definite extinction of life strategies from the system. Therefore, when disturbance level is intermediate, productive species as well as long-lived ones are able to coexist. Given that the different contexts resulted in varied patterns of life strategies\' relative frequency, this study evidences the importance of studying disturbance effect on communities structure and dynamics unifying processes that are typically separated between Ecology and Evolution fields