Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Géographie : Lyon 3 : 2004.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Lettres. Géographie et aménagement : Lyon 3 : 2005. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Géographie : Lyon 3 : 2004. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.

published_or_final_version / Botany / Master / Master of Philosophy

The purpose of this project was to determine the vanadium bearing ore minerals present at the Green Giant vanadium-graphite deposit in the S.W. of Madagascar owned by Toronto based Energizer Resources Inc. The rocks are mainly quartzofeldspathic gneiss, with alternating bands of hornblende biotite gneiss, marble, granitoid, and amphibolite. Using X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, the vanadium bearing minerals were identified as vanadium bearing rutile, schreyerite, berdesinskiite, karelianite, a member of the karelianite-eskolaite solid solution, V-bearing phlogopite, V-bearing pyrrhotite, V-bearing pyrite, goldmanite, dravite, uvite, actinolite, and unidentified V-sulphide 1, V-sulphide 2, and V-silicate 1. The mineral assemblage present at Green Giant deposit is quite similar to that at Lake Baikal, Russia. Vanadium-bearing phlogopite is primary vanadium host in the deposit, although V-bearing oxides contribute substantially to the total V concentration, even where present in very trace amounts.

This work describes the isolation and structural elucidation of extractives from four species of the Meliaceae and one of the Simaroubaceae families. All five species examined are endemic to the island of Madagascar. One novel seco-ring A protolimonoid with a bourjotinolone A-type side-chain was isolated from Turraea sericea, while Malleastrum antsingyense yielded one known and one novel limonoid of the vilasinin group. Neobeguea leandreana was found to contain three novel limonoids of the phragmalin class, including a relatively rare 17-keto seco-ring D compound and one containing a oxidized C-19 methyl group. Quivisia papinae has afforded eight novel and five known protolimonoids and limonoids of the azadiradione, evodulone, and mexicanolide classes. Included among these are a mexicanolide group limonoid with a 17-keto seco-ring D, and two further mexicanolide limonoids containing a hitherto unreported 9a,11a-epoxide ring and a Δ 9(11)-double bond. One C19 and four C20 quassinoids, of which one is novel, together with a known but rare triterpenoid, were isolated from the Madagascan Simaroubaceae Samadera madagascariensis. These findings support the suggestion that this species is closely related to, if not synonymous with, the companion species Samadera indica and Quassia indica. A literature survey on the effect of structural variations in ring B on coupling constants in 11,12-disubstituted havanensin-group limonoids was also undertaken, resulting in the observation of a remarkable correlation between ring structure and coupling constant values for a wide range of compounds isolated from different sources. An explanation for these observations is advanced. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

The purpose of this project was to determine the vanadium bearing ore minerals present at the Green Giant vanadium-graphite deposit in the S.W. of Madagascar owned by Toronto based Energizer Resources Inc. The rocks are mainly quartzofeldspathic gneiss, with alternating bands of hornblende biotite gneiss, marble, granitoid, and amphibolite. Using X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe analysis, and Raman spectroscopy, the vanadium bearing minerals were identified as vanadium bearing rutile, schreyerite, berdesinskiite, karelianite, a member of the karelianite-eskolaite solid solution, V-bearing phlogopite, V-bearing pyrrhotite, V-bearing pyrite, goldmanite, dravite, uvite, actinolite, and unidentified V-sulphide 1, V-sulphide 2, and V-silicate 1. The mineral assemblage present at Green Giant deposit is quite similar to that at Lake Baikal, Russia. Vanadium-bearing phlogopite is primary vanadium host in the deposit, although V-bearing oxides contribute substantially to the total V concentration, even where present in very trace amounts.

Long isolation and the island environment of Madagascar has led to the evolution of a number of unusual traits in the Lemuriformes, including reproductive synchrony, sexual monomorphism, female dominance, and female feeding priority. Though gestation and lactation are costly in all mammals, the unpredictable and often harsh environment of Madagascar may have led to the selection of particular adaptive traits which offset some of the high costs of reproduction in female lemurs. Sex differences in feeding behavior between male and female Lemur catta, which have been documented previously may he a reflection of increased reproductive female nutritional need, although differences in actual nutritional intake has not been examined. In August and September of 2005 I collected 217 hours of focal feeding data on 9 male and 9 gestating female L. catta from two social groups. at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve in southwestern Madagascar. Additionally, I collected representative samples of all plant foods eaten by the focal animals. Since reproductive females have higher metabolic needs, I predicted that when compared to males, gestating females would consume more, feed for longer periods, and ingest higher relative amounts of crude protein and minerals. and lower relative amounts of fiber. Additionally, since the two focal social groups have similar and over-lapping home ranges, I predicted that no feeding differences (amount consumed. time spent feeding, ingestion of crude protein, minerals and fiber) would be present between social groups. I found no statistically significant differences in feeding behavior between males and females. while nutritional sex differences were limited to females consuming increased phosphorus (P= 0.004) and potassium (P=0.015 ). Furthermore, although I detected no between group differences nutrient consumption or amount of food consumption Green Group did spend significantly more time foraging, when compared to Red Group (P=0.004). These data may be explained by the prior activity of cyclone Ernest. which greatly reduced food availability and caused a fruiting failure of Tamarindus indica, a keystone resource of gallery forest L. catta. Additionally, although both focal groups ventured outside of the forest to forage on agricultural or introduced plant species. Green Group only fed on crop foods on one occasion. while Red Group fed daily on the easily processed crop foods, which may have decreased their foraging time. Ability to exploit novel resources and adapt to environmental extremes may be a key feature enabling L. catta to persist alongside humans in the harsh environment of Madagascar.

Despite increasing publicity, habitat loss and fragmentation remain a serious threat to biodiversity. The main objectives of this research were (i) to study the effects of forest fragmentation on the distribution and abundance of resident birds in the fragmented littoral forests of southeastern Madagascar and temperate woodlands of southeastern Australia at three spatial scales (patch, landscape and regional) and (ii) to place the results of these case studies within the realms of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography and its descendent theories, to ascertain whether it is appropriate to use these theories to derive conservation scenarios within these threatened regions. Deforestation of Madagascar's remaining forests is considered a global concern due to both its current high intensity and the small amount of forest claimed to be remaining on the island. Surprisingly, very few studies have considered the impacts of forest fragmentation on bird diversity in Madagascar. A multi-scale study on the effects of littoral forest fragmentation and degradation on birds is therefore a major step forward for bird conservation on the island. Furthermore, prior to this study no known work has been conducted on the avifauna within the threatened littoral forests of eastern Madagascar. My results indicated that (i) the littoral forests contained bird species assemblages that were unique when compared to neighbouring forest habitats, (ii) many forest-dependent bird species were significantly affected by habitat structure and especially proximity to forest edge and (iii) many forest-dependent species were affected by landscape factors such as remnant shape and remnant size. No relationship was found between measures of landscape composition, remnant 'isolation' and bird distribution within littoral forest remnants.

Thesis (S.T.M.)--Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-190).