Access to markets is increasingly regarded in development circles as a critical factor in determining livelihood choices in peasant economies. In the northeastern Peruvian Amazon, a multitude of river transporters and market intermediaries based in the central city of Iquitos provide essential services and market opportunities for remote peasant producers across the region. Using a multi-scalar, multi-method approach involving extensive fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, this research (re)assesses the meanings and implications of "remoteness" and "connectedness" for rural peasants. At the regional scale, I examine the functional heterogeneity of river trading networks and marketing agents. Given the high-risk/high-transaction-cost environment, river trading is found to be expensive for producers and traders alike. High costs are exacerbated by the low gross returns of rural production (mainly food and natural building materials). Thin or missing markets for credit, labour, land and insurance increase the hardships associated with limited access to product markets. Regional findings are complemented with a comparative livelihoods analysis in two remote communities of the Alto Tigre River that benefit from differential access to oil-labour. My study reveals that differential access to labour has significant impacts on the livelihood strategies of working households. However, given limited access to external markets, cash-income from oil-labour is found to offer limited opportunities for growth. In sum, the research proposes insights for advancing the debate on livelihoods and poverty in the Peruvian Amazon.

Fluctuations of sea level in the recent past are well documented in the landscapes of northern Canada by the existence of raised strandlines with marine shells and emerged off-shore deposits. However details of these fluctuations in many areas remain to be resolved and their relationship to glaciation and deglaciation needs to be determined. [...]

This thesis investigates the potential application of a two-dimensional depth-averaged sediment transport and morphological model on a large braided river system and examines its capability to build a computational gravel budget and predict the morphological changes. The Lower Fraser River gravel reach is characterized by an irregularly sinuous single-thread channel split around large gravel bars and vegetated islands, and riverbed aggradation because of gradual gravel deposition over the years, bank hardening and channel confinement. Gravel removal from selected locations is considered as one of the viable management options to maintain the safety and integrity of the existing flood protection system along the reach. Therefore, any gravel removal plan in this reach requires a reliable sediment budget estimation and identification of deposition zones. It is also required to examine the possible future morphological changes with and without gravel removal and to assess its impact on design flood level. The main objective of this study is to build a computational sediment (gravel) budget for the 33 km long gravel reach that extends from Agassiz-Rosedale Bridge to Sumas Mountain near Chilliwack. In this study, a two-dimensional depth-averaged curvilinear mathematical model MIKE 21C was modified and applied to predict the gravel bedload transport and detect the change of morphology for the next 10 years period. A gravel transport formula was coded and added into the MIKE 21C model. Sediment transport code modification and application has been done side by side in a trial and error fashion. This is the first use of a conventional two-dimensional depth-averaged model for the entire gravel reach of the Lower Fraser River within affordable computational effort. The model application was successful in term of gravel budgeting, aggradation and degradation zones identification and long-term morphological change prediction, with some limitations and drawbacks. Further modification and model testing with recent bedload data is recommended.

Degradation of streams in urban-rural fringe regions occurs through complex interactions between hydrological, physical, chemical and biological mechanisms of the stream environment and surrounding landscape. Biological monitoring using macroinvertebrates may capture the complex and cumulative influences of land activity on the stream environment. The Salmon River catchment in the township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada straddles urban and rural environments in the Lower Fraser Valley. To date the Salmon River catchment has been subject to several environmental surveys. Following these earlier investigations, this study quantified relationships between the stream environment and changing land activity, across multiple scales, from 1975 to 2005, using macroinvertebrates as environmental integrators. Current and historical water, sediment, and macroinvertebrate information along with land use and land-cover evaluations were used to quantify relationships between the macroinvertebrate community and land activity in the catchment. Spatial and seasonal results for specific conductivity (a total dissolved ion indicator) and NO₃⁻-N and PO₄³ (nutrient indicators) traced groundwater and overland inputs to the stream environment. Nitrate guideline exceedances occurred at groundwater-influenced sites. Elevated sediment trace metal concentrations and Zn guideline exceedances occurred mid-reach in the catchment. Peak total macroinvertebrate and sensitive taxa abundance occurred mid-reach in the catchment in 2005, while richness and proportional sensitive abundance peaks were seen at groundwater-influenced sites. The dominance of tolerant to moderately pollution tolerant taxa occurred throughout. Despite historical water quality concerns at groundwater-influenced sites, greater shifts in community composition occurred in headwaters regions. Patterns of land use and land cover changed in sensitive areas (i.e. above aquifer and in the headwaters). A greater number of correlations between land activity and macroinvertebrate measures occurred at streams sites with 100 m buffers. The abundance of sensitive taxa positively correlated with the amount of agricultural land use, while rarefaction declined. Several Macroinvertebrate functional feeding groups correlated positively to forest cover, while sensitive taxa abundance and Zn concentrations declined. Results suggest continued water quality and sediment trace metal concerns, while macroinvertebrate results point to nutrient enrichment and greater historical variability in headwaters regions. Agricultural activity appears to have a stronger influence on aspects of the stream environment despite the presence of urban-rural land activity.

Against the background of a rapidly collapsing socialist empire in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, socialist China has since the late 1970s consciously endeavored to develop a "socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics." This thesis assesses the process of economic and spatial transformation in the Zhujiang (Pearl River) Delta, one of the fastest growing economic regions in China. The purposes are to identify the general pattern of economic and spatial changes, to determine the key forces responsible for such changes, and to explore the theoretical implications of these changes in the broader context of interpretation about the operating mechanism of regional development. The overall objective is to understand how a regional economy under socialism is transformed after the intrusion of global market forces. My analyses of regional data and indepth case studies reveal that the Zhujiang Delta has since 1979 moved away from the previous impasse of involutionary growth or growth without development and entered a new era of real transformative development in which dramatic growth has occurred not only in agricultural and industrial output but also in labour productivity, per capita income, and employment. The take-off of the delta's regional economy has owed little to the expansion of state-run modern manufacturing, but has been fueled primarily by numerous small-scale, labour-intensive, and rural-base industries. The spatial outcome of this rural industrialization has been a rapid urbanization of the countryside, especially of the area adjacent to and between major metropolitan centres. There has been no increasing concentration of population in large cities as the conventional wisdom of urban transition might have predicted. Regional development in the Zhujiang Delta during the 1980s was not an outcome of any active state involvement. It was instead a result of relaxed control by the socialist central state over the delta's regional economy. Local governments, along with the collective and private sectors, are found to be the chief agents responsible for the transformation of the peasant economy and the development of the transport infrastructure. The penetration of global market forces via Hong Kong into the Zhujiang Delta has significantly facilitated the process of economic, spatial, and social transformation. This study of the operating mechanism of regional development in the Zhujiang Delta presents a dialectical model of local-global interaction to combat the two prevailing schools of exogenism and endogenism. It also suggests that previous theories on Chinese regional development, which assumed a strong socialist central state monopolizing local economic affairs, might need fundamental modifications. For the Zhujiang Delta, the development of which is still in the early take-off stage, the establishment of a modern transport infrastructure has shown remarkable effects, leading to rather than following the growth of the delta's economy. Finally, the relocation of transnational capital and manufacturing production from Hong Kong to the Zhujiang Delta has not displayed a spatial tendency of high concentration in the primate city as the conventional theory of globalization would suggest. Non-economic factors such as historical, cultural, and social linkages between investors and their target regions are found to have played a major role which should not be overlooked in understanding the mechanism and spatial patterns of the internationalization of production.

This thesis, located in Edmonton, Alberta, aims to magnify the differences between urban development and nature. It proposes a vision of future Edmonton in which the River Valley Park system is restored as an intensive greenway through the heart of the city, acting as a necessary counterpoint to urbanization. Contrasting elements such as natural vs artificial, celestial vs the clock, recreation and relaxation vs work and stress are the basis for treating the river valley an anti-city rather than as an extension of it. This does not mean that the park system is isolated from the city, but that development in the River Valley is concerned in opposition to the city. Architectural interventions in the River Valley take advantage of landscape and environmental processes to enhance the experience of being in this natural “wilderness”.

A characteristic of alpine drainage basins is the very sparse distribution of meteorological recording stations. This study models a contiguous distribution of microclimate and snowpack accumulation in the upper Oldman River basin. To accomplish this goal, gaps between weather recording stations are first filled using a modified MTCLIM climate simulation model in conjunction with the spatial analysis capabilities of the PAMAP geographic information system (GIS). The GIS provides terrain information such as elevation, slope, and aspect on a 100 metre grid as input into the microclimate simulator which, in turn, outputs daily meteorological conditions for a user-defined period of time. The estimation of snowpack accumaltion is achieved with another component of the model which makes use of the modelled microclimate to calculate daily accumulation and ablation on a grid point basis. Simulation results are returned to the GIS for display and spatial analysis. Discussion includes such thngs as the grouping of terrain variables and the derivation of an altitudinal precipitation profile, both of which are required for computational efficiency. While regression analysis indicates a very close relationship between observed and simulated temperature, precipitation is less successfully modelled at the daily time scale. Comparisons of simulated temperature with observed data resulted in an r2 + .94 and are therefore considered very reliable. Daily precipitation comparisons initially indicated a low correlation between observed and simulated data. However, when monthly totals are considered instead, r2 rises to 0.66. When snopack conditions are simulated for several snow pillows in the region, regression analysis with observed data producers r2 values as high as 0.896. / xi, 178 leaves : ill., maps ; 29 cm.

Livestock grazing in riparian habitats alters the vegetation structure, which has a detrimental effect on wildlife. This study examined the effect of cattle grazing in riparian habitats on winter bird biodiversity, small mammal biodiversity, and microclimate. Study sites were ungrazed, moderately grazed, and heavily grazed riparian habitats along the Oldman River, Alberta during winter 2005 and 2006. Bird species richness, individual abundance, and diversity indices were higher in ungrazed habitats than in grazed habitats. Deer mouse population sizes were not different except during spring 2006, when populations were larger in ungrazed sites. Microclimate data were collected in riparian sites and upland sites in winter 2006. Temperatures were higher and wind speeds were slower in riparian sites than in upland sites. Wind speeds were faster in heavily grazed riparian sites than in lightly grazed sites. Faster winds in heavily grazed sites may account for the decreased winter biodiversity in these habitats. / x, 118 leaves ; 29 cm

This thesis explores the Quijos Valley ground stone economy in relation to broader social, political, and economic aspects of the Quijos chiefdoms during the Late Period (AD 500 – 1500). In particular, this research examines the extent to which ground stone craft production was a dimension of social differentiation during a period marked by the greatest sociopolitical transformations. Ultimately, this research suggests that Late Period ground stone production was an independent and part-time household activity, and not an avenue of elite aggrandizement. However, aspects of this research have aimed to show that certain forms of ground stone were important implements of household maintenance, both socially and economically. This research is embedded within the Quijos Valley Regional Archaeological Project (QVRAP) and has aimed to contribute to our understanding of the development of social complexity within this region, as well as contributing to our understanding of ground stone craft production more generally. / x, 244 leaves ; 29 cm

Freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems are connected through biomass exchanges such as the flow of predators, prey, nutrients and detritus between them. Emerging aquatic insects provide an alternate food source to riparian consumers often termed an allochthonous subsidy. Stable isotope analyses of naturally occurring carbon and nitrogen is effective for tracing energetic food sources to consumers. This thesis evaluated whether stable isotope analysis would be effective in the Oldman River Basin, Alberta. Aquatic and riparian primary consumers are distinct in their isotopic signatures and valid for to use in stable isotope analysis. Stable isotope modelling was then used to evaluate the proportional contribution of aquatic insects to riparian spider and beetle diets. Carbon analysis showed an overall aquatic insect contribution of 25 % and 18 % for spiders and beetles, respectively; while nitrogen analysis showed an overall contribution of 36 % and 20 %, respectively. The spatial extent of the aquatic insect contribution upland from the river was shown to decrease from 50 - 55 % at 1 m to 0 % at 30 m for both consumers using carbon, and from 35 - 40 % at 1 m to 0 % at 40 m using nitrogen. Finally, regression modelling of the size of a river and the spatial scale of an aquatic insect dietary contribution showed a significant relationship, indicating larger water bodies support higher production of aquatic insects. A meta-analysis of published literature applied to this model also indicated a significant relationship between the size of the river and the extent of an aquatic insect contribution. / xii, 126 leaves m ; 29 cm