Thesis (M.A. Rel.)--School of Theology, Anderson University, 1988. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-119).

<p>The aim of the study was to examine if the benthos in a restored portion of a small lowland stream south of Linkoping differed from two non</p><p>restored reference areas two years after restoration. The reference areas were one stretch downstream and one upstream stretches of the restored</p><p>stream. The benthic invertebrates were collected using standardized kick sampling. In order to classify the communities and estimate any</p><p>differences, three different indices were exercised. In addition rank-abundance curves and checklists were used to get a picture of species</p><p>composition. The only index that showed a difference between areas was the Berger-Parker diversity index showing that the downstream reference</p><p>stretch differed from the other two. None of the analyses showed that the restored area was different from the other two, probably due to too short</p><p>a time since the restoration. To allow for the bottom substrate to develop and stabilize so that species can re-colonize the area.</p>

Reducing the cover of non-native species is one of the challenges of ecosystem restoration. The goal of this study is to identify native species traits that will increase native species cover and reduce non-native species cover in the first growing season at upland and wetland prairie restoration sites. Native and non-native prairie species were planted in the fall and harvested the following summer at both an upland and a wetland site. Native species traits, such as plant weight, leaf area, relative growth rate, leaf area ratio, leaf weight ratio, net assimilation rate, and specific leaf area were measured under laboratory conditions for 7- and 21-day old seedlings. Germination rate (laboratory) and phenology (field) were also measured. At the upland site, species with a large 7-day plant weight and a high germination rate also had high native cover in the field (P<0.00l, R��=0.83). At the wetland site, high 21-day leaf area, low 21-day leaf weight ratio, and high net assimilation rate predicted increased native cover in the field (P<0.00l, R��=0.87). An abundance of natives, as measured by native cover, native biomass, and number of individuals, likely results in fewer resources (light, nutrients, and water) available for the non-native species growth resulting in a reduction in the non-native cover. Intrinsic traits of native species also predicted the field performance of non-native species, although the amount of variation explained was lower than the amount of variation explained in the models that predicted native cover. In the upland site, native species with high leaf weight ratio (21-day) tended to have lower non-native cover in their field plots (P=0.087, R��=0.23). In the wetland site, the native species traits that predict non-native cover were low 21-day leaf area and high 21-day leaf weight ratio (P<0.00l, R��=0.46). These traits were similar to those that predicted native species cover at the wetland site. This study demonstrates the ability of species traits to predict field performance. Predictive models were generated using native species traits to select species for restoration that will increase native cover and decrease non-native cover in the first growing season. Traits can be measured for species not included in this study and the models generated can be used to predict the field performance of species at similar sites. / Graduation date: 2002

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Montana, 2006. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Mar. 23, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-96).

Contains reprint of author's professional report (Master of Landscape Architecture)--University of California, Berkeley, 2005. / Title from cover. "May 2006." Each report also has separate t.p. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in PDF via the Internet.

Beethoven wrote his earliest piano concerto, the Piano Concerto in E-Flat Major WoO 4, in 1784-85. The surviving manuscript copy contains the solo part complete and a piano reduction of all orchestral passages (Tutti) whenever the soloist is not playing. That manuscript also includes Beethoven's cues for an instrumentation consisting of strings, horns and flutes. Eminent Beethoven scholar Willy Hess completed his own reconstruction of the concerto in 1943. His version has been recorded three times, but only one is currently available on the Philips label (442580-2). The newest reconstruction of the concerto, created by Professor Jon Ceander Mitchell in 2003, is presented in this study in the form of a piano reduction (as a two-piano critical edition). This present edition, edited by Dr. Mitchell and the author of this essay, retains Beethoven's instrumentation and restores the endings of the second and third movements (which were changed by Willy Hess). This study also includes a piano cadenza for the first movement, which is a free composition by the author. It also discusses both available restorations of this work and some of the concerto's interpretative issues.

The prairies of North America have undergone substantial changes since European settlement in the 1800's, with some estimates suggesting that 96% of the tallgrass prairie has been converted. Multiple factors contributed to reduction in prairie, including: grazing, row-crop farming, depressed fire regimes, and exotic grass species introduction. In Texas, 35% of the historic grassland ecosystems have been either altered or converted. Introduced in the 1940's, exotic grass species such as Bermuda grass (Cynodon sp) have displaced native grass species throughout Texas. Introduced grass species can alter the existing plant communities degrading habitat for birds and other animals. Grassland birds are declining faster than any other bird group within North America; due in part to a reduction in suitable breeding habitat. I addressed this issue by comparing nesting success of grassland birds between exotic grass sites and restored native grass sites in the blackland prairie region of east-central Texas during 2007-2008 breeding seasons. I conducted point counts and nest searching from March - July. Point count data indicate no difference in species richness between sites. Dickcissel (Spiza americana) nests represented 89% of the nests found (n = 104). Dickcissel abundance was 44% higher in restored sites and 76% of nests were located in restored sites. Daily survival (DSR) for dickcissels in restored sites was 0.895 (SE = 0.013) and for exotic sites was 0.930 (SE = 0.017). I used an independent samples t-test to compare mean nest height, which was 56% higher in restored sites than exotic sites (n = 83, x bar = 38.0 cm plus/minus 1.90; x bar = 15.2 cm plus/minus 2.19, df = 81, t = -6.31, P = 0.001), and mean nest substrate height which was 58% higher in restored sites than in exotic sites (n = 83, x bar = 118.8 cm plus/minus 6.50; x bar = 46.5 cm plus/minus 4.77, df = 81, t = -6.08, P = 0.001). Although dickcissel abundance was greater in restored sites than exotic sites, their observed nesting success and DSR was lower in restored sites. This is indicative of an ecological trap, which occurs when an organism is attracted to a habitat that negatively impacts the organism. Some research suggests that restored fields in other states are acting as traps for dickcissels, and according to my results restored sites I sampled may also be acting as ecological traps for dickcissels in Texas.

Recently, the importance of quantifying the success of stream/river restoration projects has become a priority in restoration. The absence of ecological monitoring of stream restoration has been made very evident, resulting in the questioning of the viability of restoration activities that have taken place, the ecological approaches used and of restoration as a field of study as a whole. Priority has been set towards illustrating what a successfully restored stream should consist of with development of conceptual frameworks. My study builds upon that concept, by drawing a methodological framework that illustrates how successful stream restoration projects should be quantified using a stream restoration monitoring protocol; asking the question whether a stream restoration monitoring protocol can be created and whether it can appropriately quantify the success of restored stream reaches; further, what assessment technique(s) are best suited for monitoring; ecological, geomorphic or a hybrid approach. In Waterloo, Ontario 29 restored test stream reaches were assessed using benthic macroinvertebrates. Benthos community composition was described using Family Richness, Simpson’s Diversity, % EPT, and % Chironomidae. The same reaches were also assessed using a geomorphic assessment technique I designed for this study, which focused on channel stability measures and substrate type as habitat. The methodology was then used to develop information on disturbed (n=7) and natural (n=5) reference reaches in Waterloo. The reference condition approach was used to quantify the relative placement of the restored test streams to reference condition. The ecological assessment technique was best able to quantify the success of a restored reach, by showing linear relationships between benthic metrics in a PCA analysis (0.657). The geomorphic approach, as analyzed by a Non-metric multidimensional scaling test did not consistently evaluate or significantly distinguish between restored reaches and reference conditions, shown by a stress of 25.31. However, a canonical correspondence analysis showed that there are some relationships, although weak, between the ecological approach and geomorphic approach (0.696; p=0.03). This study showed that it is possible to quantify the success or lack of success of restored stream reaches and it is recommended that a hybrid approach be used when monitoring for stream restoration success.

An important aspect of restoration ecology is the removal of non-native invasive plants. While restorations in urban areas involve similar challenges to restorations in rural areas, urban efforts also contend with unique issues such as increased fragmentation and decreased seed sources for native species. This study examined efforts to eradicate Ligustrum sinense and allow native vegetation to occupy the landscape. The herbaceous layer was inventoried at study plots in riparian bottomlands of four Atlanta, Georgia, natural areas two years after start of treatment to remove L. sinense. Plant taxa were described and compared to a similar study conducted in a rural area of northeastern Georgia. Significant abundance of L. sinense was recurring at urban sites while recurrence at rural sites was low. Other non-native invasive species, frequently used in urban landscaping, were also occurring at urban sites and not at rural sites.

Recently, the importance of quantifying the success of stream/river restoration projects has become a priority in restoration. The absence of ecological monitoring of stream restoration has been made very evident, resulting in the questioning of the viability of restoration activities that have taken place, the ecological approaches used and of restoration as a field of study as a whole. Priority has been set towards illustrating what a successfully restored stream should consist of with development of conceptual frameworks. My study builds upon that concept, by drawing a methodological framework that illustrates how successful stream restoration projects should be quantified using a stream restoration monitoring protocol; asking the question whether a stream restoration monitoring protocol can be created and whether it can appropriately quantify the success of restored stream reaches; further, what assessment technique(s) are best suited for monitoring; ecological, geomorphic or a hybrid approach. In Waterloo, Ontario 29 restored test stream reaches were assessed using benthic macroinvertebrates. Benthos community composition was described using Family Richness, Simpson’s Diversity, % EPT, and % Chironomidae. The same reaches were also assessed using a geomorphic assessment technique I designed for this study, which focused on channel stability measures and substrate type as habitat. The methodology was then used to develop information on disturbed (n=7) and natural (n=5) reference reaches in Waterloo. The reference condition approach was used to quantify the relative placement of the restored test streams to reference condition. The ecological assessment technique was best able to quantify the success of a restored reach, by showing linear relationships between benthic metrics in a PCA analysis (0.657). The geomorphic approach, as analyzed by a Non-metric multidimensional scaling test did not consistently evaluate or significantly distinguish between restored reaches and reference conditions, shown by a stress of 25.31. However, a canonical correspondence analysis showed that there are some relationships, although weak, between the ecological approach and geomorphic approach (0.696; p=0.03). This study showed that it is possible to quantify the success or lack of success of restored stream reaches and it is recommended that a hybrid approach be used when monitoring for stream restoration success.