In Canada, the endangered prairie skink (Plestiodon septentrionalis) exists only in southwestern Manitoba. Habitat loss is the most significant threat faced by the prairie skink in Canada, with leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) invasion identified as one of the suspected factors contributing to habitat loss. The objectives of this study were to determine microhabitat preferences and effect of leafy spurge on prairie skinks in southwestern Manitoba. To determine microhabitat preferences, occupied sites were compared to unoccupied sites. Artificial cover was identified as the most important microhabitat element. To determine the impacts of spurge on microhabitat, ground temperatures in invaded were compared to un-invaded sites. No significant differences in temperature or skink density were observed between invaded and un-invaded site; however, skinks were more likely to use spurge when cover was present, than when no cover was present. Artificial cover may improve microhabitat by providing refuge from predators and microhabitat for prey.

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Archival records are essential for understanding changes in the environment. However, these records are largely ignored by archivists, who overwhelmingly focus on records of human history. Algonquin Provincial Park in east-central Ontario was established in 1893 and is the oldest park in the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Provincial Parks system. In addition to the many official functions and activities that occur in Algonquin Provincial Park, it is host to extensive environmental monitoring, assessment and research. However, no adequate system is in place to ensure that the records of archival value are identified, appraised, and preserved. An appraisal methodology is required to assist archivists to identify environmental records of long-term value. Using Algonquin Provincial Park as a case study, through primary source analysis of its structures and functions and comparisons with other park systems, various archival appraisal theories and methodologies are tested in order to determine the best method for appraising environmental records in general and the records of parks. It is determined that macroappraisal is the best method for appraising only the records created by the official functions and activities of Algonquin Provincial Park. However, the park depends on and interacts with many external affiliated organizations, including the Algonquin Forestry Authority, The Friends of Algonquin Park, Algonquins of Golden Lake First Nation, leaseholders, researchers, protest groups, anglers, businesses and contractors. The creation of environmental monitoring, assessment and research records is increasingly accomplished external to official government functions and activities. Many of these external groups create environmental records of archival value, yet, no formal strategy to preserve irreplaceable records is implemented in Algonquin Park. Elements from archival appraisal methodologies such as macroappraisal, the documentation strategy and the Minnesota Method are helpful for determining the relative archival value, and therefore level of documentation, of these external individuals, groups and organizations. This combination of methodologies is the most effective for ensuring the preservation of important environmental information and subsequently the environment. Various preservation partnership strategies are also suggested for these records identified as having archival value.

In Canada, the endangered prairie skink (Plestiodon septentrionalis) exists only in southwestern Manitoba. Habitat loss is the most significant threat faced by the prairie skink in Canada, with leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) invasion identified as one of the suspected factors contributing to habitat loss. The objectives of this study were to determine microhabitat preferences and effect of leafy spurge on prairie skinks in southwestern Manitoba. To determine microhabitat preferences, occupied sites were compared to unoccupied sites. Artificial cover was identified as the most important microhabitat element. To determine the impacts of spurge on microhabitat, ground temperatures in invaded were compared to un-invaded sites. No significant differences in temperature or skink density were observed between invaded and un-invaded site; however, skinks were more likely to use spurge when cover was present, than when no cover was present. Artificial cover may improve microhabitat by providing refuge from predators and microhabitat for prey.

<p>This dissertation is an epigraphic study of the Roman auxiliary units raised on the Iberian Peninsula based on a corpus of over 750 inscriptions. It presents the literary and epigraphic evidence for late Republican allied and auxiliary forces and for the structure of imperial auxiliary units. It then examines the recruiting practices of the auxilia, the settlement of veterans, and the evidence for the personal relationships of the soldiers enlisted in these units as they are recorded in the epigraphic record, including inscriptions on stone and military diplomas.</p><p>The evidence presented here reveals that recruitment from the units' home territories persisted throughout the Julio-Claudian period and coexisted with local, provincial and regional recruitment into the Flavian period. The findspots of inscriptions and diplomas related to veterans of these units indicate that only about half of these veterans remained within military communities after their discharge, while many retired to civilian communities, some of which were also the soldiers' places of birth. Finally, the evidence for personal relationships of men enrolled in these units demonstrates the relative importance of relationships between soldiers in the first century and the decline of recorded inter-soldier relationships in the second and third centuries, while evidence for relationships between soldiers and civilians is more frequent after the first century. These arguments lead to the conclusion that, throughout their service, individual soldiers were influenced by members of their home communities, fellow soldiers, and the native populations among which they served in varying degrees and that these soldiers had corresponding influence upon those communities.</p> / Dissertation

Archival records are essential for understanding changes in the environment. However, these records are largely ignored by archivists, who overwhelmingly focus on records of human history. Algonquin Provincial Park in east-central Ontario was established in 1893 and is the oldest park in the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Provincial Parks system. In addition to the many official functions and activities that occur in Algonquin Provincial Park, it is host to extensive environmental monitoring, assessment and research. However, no adequate system is in place to ensure that the records of archival value are identified, appraised, and preserved. An appraisal methodology is required to assist archivists to identify environmental records of long-term value. Using Algonquin Provincial Park as a case study, through primary source analysis of its structures and functions and comparisons with other park systems, various archival appraisal theories and methodologies are tested in order to determine the best method for appraising environmental records in general and the records of parks. It is determined that macroappraisal is the best method for appraising only the records created by the official functions and activities of Algonquin Provincial Park. However, the park depends on and interacts with many external affiliated organizations, including the Algonquin Forestry Authority, The Friends of Algonquin Park, Algonquins of Golden Lake First Nation, leaseholders, researchers, protest groups, anglers, businesses and contractors. The creation of environmental monitoring, assessment and research records is increasingly accomplished external to official government functions and activities. Many of these external groups create environmental records of archival value, yet, no formal strategy to preserve irreplaceable records is implemented in Algonquin Park. Elements from archival appraisal methodologies such as macroappraisal, the documentation strategy and the Minnesota Method are helpful for determining the relative archival value, and therefore level of documentation, of these external individuals, groups and organizations. This combination of methodologies is the most effective for ensuring the preservation of important environmental information and subsequently the environment. Various preservation partnership strategies are also suggested for these records identified as having archival value.

This thesis explores the significance of the newspaper press in a settler society, in this case Poverty Bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It examines the circumstances of such a society's communications needs and problems, and its demographic structure. It also looks at the changing patterns of journalism in nineteenth century New Zealand and elsewhere and, importantly, printing's technological progress as it affected a provincial newspaper. Remoteness was a dominating feature of the Poverty Bay district and European settlement was slow to develop. The consequence was twofold: institutions, such as the church, the press and the school, were already well-established in New Zealand by the time this second frontier region began to attract much attention - in the case of the press this meant an interconnectedness from the outset, with ideas and staff emanating from established New Zealand circles - and communication difficulties caused by isolation. Poverty Bay's first newspaper, the Poverty Bay Standard, began in 1872, more than thirty years after New Zealand's first newspaper, the New Zealand Gazette. The 1870s saw a clamour of activity. This was reflected in the district's press, not only within its pages, but also with considerable competition and changing of ownership. Eventually one newspaper, the Poverty Bay Herald, succeeded where all others failed. The Poverty Bay Herald has remained in the hands of one family since experienced printer Allan Ramsay Muir became part-owner in 1884. Thus, the family and the community have been intertwined for one hundred and twenty years. Good provincial newspapers provide a cohesive element in their society or they do not succeed. The Poverty Bay Herald initially survived through luck and useful friends but it became a beacon for its community in that it reflected success and modernity. Many others attempted to dislodge it or share the stage, but the Poverty Bay Herald played, and still plays, a significant role as the former 'out district' stabilized and advanced.

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