The implementation of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR) in Canada is strongly dependent on grassroots community-based support and understanding. The recent calls for the Oak Ridges Moraine and adjacent Greenbelt lands (ORMGB) to be designated a BR require that a communications strategy be created to garner local support. Taking into consideration complex systems theory, this study looked to build a communications framework that combined higher-scale social organizing literature like social movement and environmental campaigns more detail-focused group dynamics and strategic communications research. Applying this framework to the ORMBG landscape revealed key target audience groups and messaging for the BR communications strategy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

The goal of this thesis was to test the applicability of biomarker analyses to better understand the glacial stratigraphic record of the Hudson Bay Lowlands and Oak Ridges Moraine. A biomarker analysis conducted on three geologic deposits from the Hudson Bay Lowlands showed that they can be differentiated based on organic matter (OM) inputs and stage of diagenesis, relating to paleoclimate and depositional environments. In the second study, a biomarker analysis was applied to samples from ten deposits in the Oak Ridges Moraine. These deposits were differentiated based on OM inputs relating to paleovegetation. Additionally, reincorporation and post-deposition alteration led to sample heterogeneity confirming the current understanding of glacial depositional processes and environments. This thesis shows that biomarker analyses can effectively differentiate and contextualize geologic deposits based on OM inputs and stage of diagenesis. This in turn will provide a more robust understanding of the stratigraphic record.

The goal of this thesis was to test the applicability of biomarker analyses to better understand the glacial stratigraphic record of the Hudson Bay Lowlands and Oak Ridges Moraine. A biomarker analysis conducted on three geologic deposits from the Hudson Bay Lowlands showed that they can be differentiated based on organic matter (OM) inputs and stage of diagenesis, relating to paleoclimate and depositional environments. In the second study, a biomarker analysis was applied to samples from ten deposits in the Oak Ridges Moraine. These deposits were differentiated based on OM inputs relating to paleovegetation. Additionally, reincorporation and post-deposition alteration led to sample heterogeneity confirming the current understanding of glacial depositional processes and environments. This thesis shows that biomarker analyses can effectively differentiate and contextualize geologic deposits based on OM inputs and stage of diagenesis. This in turn will provide a more robust understanding of the stratigraphic record.

Conservation in Canada is increasingly driven by land use planning processes. Approaches to governing nature conservation have shifted dramatically from protecting isolated pristine areas to greater attention to the remaining fragments of greenspace in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. The ways that societies govern and use nature are always changing, and these physical management actions are connected to deeply rooted cultural norms and values about the ideal relationship between humans and nature. In the land use planning approach to conservation, citizens and governments find value and construct meaning for remaining nature rather than beginning with normative considerations of what is most worthy of protection. At the root of this conservation planning trend is a growing appreciation for hybrid nature that is valued as natural in spite of the past or present influences upon it. This represents a dramatic shift from the traditional values involved in North American nature conservation, where nature was most valued for its perceived separation from human influence and protected to maintain its untouched qualities. In light of these ideological shifts in the ways that Canadians value and in turn manage nature, is there a corresponding change in the ways that conservation activists perceive environmental value and evaluate naturalness? An increasing number of studies demonstrate that public valuation of nature is not limited to pristine environments: even highly disturbed environments can be valued as natural and are not perceived as a form of lesser nature. Conceptions of what is natural and what is not are highly subjective and variable; in particular, the body of work on the social dimensions of both invasive species and ecological restoration demonstrates the ways in which people construct naturalness in accord with their values and cultural context. By exploring the extent to which people perceive invasive species as reducing naturalness and how ecological restoration is perceived to restore it, these subjects serve as excellent conceptual lenses for exploring constructions of nature. This study explores the subtle variations in environmental values and perception of naturalness among a study population who self-identify as pursuing the same goal: ensuring the continued protection of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The Moraine is a partly urbanized landform in southern Ontario that is situated within a complex hybrid socio-ecological landscape. It is also the subject of an active and high profile conservation movement that has spanned over 40 years. Using a combination of interviews and Q Method, this study explored how citizens engaged in Oak Ridges Moraine conservation perceive both the current and ideal state of naturalness on the Moraine, with specific emphasis on how the discourses these citizens use to frame the Moraine invoke the concept of naturalness Findings from this study reveal that Moraine activists represent a conservation paradox: they value the natural, non-human qualities of the landform, yet at the same time identify the Moraine as a hybrid landscape with both social and ecological qualities. In particular, respondents indicated a strong interest in naturalness in the context of invasive species and ecological restoration, yet at the same time identified the naturalness of the Moraine to be a lesser priority in the face of urban development pressures. In this way, citizens engaged in Moraine conservation respond to the hybrid quality of the Moraine landscape by moving beyond the binary distinction between nature and society, situating themselves as both apart from and a part of the landscape at the same time. This finding demonstrates how values for conserving nature are affected by hybridity between social and ecological systems, and suggests how embracing the paradox of hybrid nature can contribute to understanding and managing complex socio-ecological systems.

The implementation of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves (BR) in Canada is strongly dependent on grassroots community-based support and understanding. The recent calls for the Oak Ridges Moraine and adjacent Greenbelt lands (ORMGB) to be designated a BR require that a communications strategy be created to garner local support. Taking into consideration complex systems theory, this study looked to build a communications framework that combined higher-scale social organizing literature like social movement and environmental campaigns more detail-focused group dynamics and strategic communications research. Applying this framework to the ORMBG landscape revealed key target audience groups and messaging for the BR communications strategy.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Environmental Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-265). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19834

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2008. Graduate Programme in Geography. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-281). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR51494

Glacial runoff from the Tian Shan and Altai Mountains is an important water resource, especially for people living in the arid areas of Central Asia. Measured water volumes from glaciers have decreased, and glacier area have shrunk with 50-90% since the Little Ice Age. Lack of knowledge regarding glaciers in high mountain areas, and the impact from climate change makes this an important field to investigate. This thesis focuses on topographic features and their impact on spatial glaciation patterns; today and during the global last glacial maximum, 19-30 thousand years ago (ka). From selected marginal moraines in the Tian Shan and Altai mountains, with a deglaciation age between 19-30 ka, an analysis was created in ArcMap (GIS, Geographic Information System) with 1 arc second resolution ASTER GDEM2 (Digital Elevation Model) and in Google Earth. An elevation profile, hypsometry and mapping were created for the analysis. The interpretations made from the limited dataset resulted in topographic features affecting the glaciation extension today and percentage of decreasing glacier area since 19-30 ka, to be connected to north/south-facing direction of the drainage area and the elevation. Drainage areas experiencing the highest percentage of glacial shrinkage were southfacing and/or at elevation below 3961 m a.s.l. / Central Asia Paleoglaciology Project

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