Zugl.: Mainz, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [180]-188) and index.

<p>Studies in tropical regions have shown that trees and grasses respond differently to fire, grazing and browsing. In African savannas, the responses to fire, grazing and browsing are different, determined by negative or positive correlations. Browsing may have other consequences than grazing because instead of increasing woody biomass it reduces it, causing increase in grass growth, leading to increase in fuel that results in more intense fires and decrease in woody biomass. Fire and herbivory are an important interactive disturbance factors affecting vegetation succession and the tree-grass dynamics in savanna environment. Several of the fire-herbivory interactions are landscape level effects, which is shown in 2 models. My hypothesis is that the tree-grass balances are determined by interactions of both grazing and fire. There have come new scientific data about fire and herbivory and the interaction effects on tree-grass dynamic and succession in the savanna. By analyzing my hypothesis through a comparison between hypotheses, Intermediate disturbance hypothesis, Janzen-Connell hypothesis and the Huston hypothesis, I propose several scenarios of the savanna tree-grass dynamics in East Africa, as a result of this comparison.</p>

Two companion pieces, a video documentary and written analysis, provide the text for this exploration of how women's life stories and the mother-daughter narrative are preserved through the transmission of inherited objects. The video documentary reveals the lives of six diverse women who each discuss the politics of receiving and passing on family heirlooms, and inevitably share the stories their artifacts represent, recalling details of their own lives and of their female ancestors. The written analysis, focused in the three key areas of Stories, Objects and Inheritance, is inclusive of research in reminiscence, oral history, storytelling by women of color, the mother-daughter bond, consumer behavior and exchange, ethnography, anthropology of gift-giving, and personal narrative by and about women. This project is informed from a feminist worldview, drawing on socialist feminism's connection of capitalism and material access to patriarchal domination of women. The research reflects the power of the stories. Women's personal narratives mirror the realities of their daily lives and exhibit a rich diversity of experience and culture. Further, as women's reminiscence and storytelling become and active part of a more inclusive historical archive, women of color's narrative and interpretive voices are also validated. The power of objects is revealed as they are passed through generational channel, gaining invaluable status and acting as an emblem of the spiritual nature of a kin group. Finally, the power of inheriting an inalienable possession is divulged, not just for one woman but also for her entire family system. When a woman inherits an object, she embodies a symbolic status ascribed to her simply by being a woman: keeper of the kin, guardian of the artifact, and guide in preserving and passing on the rituals and stories of women who came before. Inalienable possessions are bundled with personal biographies. Holding the artifact and ensuring the "rules" of transmission (such as passing it along gender lines or passing it on during a particular celebration or life transition) becomes more critical than preventing the object from breaking or landing in the wrong hands. Inheritance of an object is one sacred step in the family journey. The stories recounted by six women in this research are not the stories of all women, but speak to the politics and privileges of holding inalienable possessions that have been present for women for generations. Their stories and the supporting research move this niche of women's experiences from cupboards, basements, cedar chests and journals to the archives of a truer American history. / Graduation date: 2004 / 1 videocassette (100 min.), available at the OSU Circulation Desk.

In recent years, family firms have been stressed as important contributors to economic wealth. An increased focus from both researchers and practitioners can therefore be seen in various forms such as research institutes and conferences. Furthermore, family firms are often treated as a group of similar kind while inherent differences are played down. From a theoretical perspective, organisations look at the behaviour of others that face similar complex situations, such as succession. Information can be found in institutional carriers who connect groups of firms. By imitating what is perceived as successful practices, family firms face the risk of employing inefficient procedures in times of succession. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate what kind of ideas Dagens Industri as institutional carrier communicates about succession in family firms. To fulfil the purpose, data was retrieved in the form of Dagens Industri articles concerning family businesses and succession. Interpretations were based on theoretical constructs on family firms as well as institutional theory. From our findings, it was observed that family firms differ on the basis of industry presence and ownership structure. Furthermore, importance of time and communication was stressed in Dagens Industri.

The structure of phytoplankton communities was examined seasonally across five rivers with a focus on small cells and their relative importance. Picophytoplankton (0.2-2 μm), previously considered insignificant in rivers, reached densities as high as those observed in lakes and oceans (~ 10e4-10e5 cells/mL). Their relative importance was not a function of trophic state with the highest contribution to algal biomass found in the most eutrophic river. Body size distributions were analyzed from both chlorophyll-a size fractions and taxonomic enumerations; no significant effect of river or season was detected, suggesting that phytoplankton size distribution is not a useful metric of change in rivers. Unlike lake ecosystems, the rivers were uniformly dominated by small cells (< 20 μm). Taxonomic analyses of the seasonal succession did not reveal a common periodicity of particular divisions (e.g. diatoms). However, strong dominance was more typical of eutrophic rivers even though taxa richness was similar.

Studies in tropical regions have shown that trees and grasses respond differently to fire, grazing and browsing. In African savannas, the responses to fire, grazing and browsing are different, determined by negative or positive correlations. Browsing may have other consequences than grazing because instead of increasing woody biomass it reduces it, causing increase in grass growth, leading to increase in fuel that results in more intense fires and decrease in woody biomass. Fire and herbivory are an important interactive disturbance factors affecting vegetation succession and the tree-grass dynamics in savanna environment. Several of the fire-herbivory interactions are landscape level effects, which is shown in 2 models. My hypothesis is that the tree-grass balances are determined by interactions of both grazing and fire. There have come new scientific data about fire and herbivory and the interaction effects on tree-grass dynamic and succession in the savanna. By analyzing my hypothesis through a comparison between hypotheses, Intermediate disturbance hypothesis, Janzen-Connell hypothesis and the Huston hypothesis, I propose several scenarios of the savanna tree-grass dynamics in East Africa, as a result of this comparison.

Le chablis est reconnu pour avoir une grande importance dans les régimes de perturbation de plusieurs forêts tempérées d'Amérique du nord. En forêt mixte tempérée nordique, où le régime de perturbation est dominé par des feux et épidémies d'insectes, les intervalles de retour élevés en font la perturbation la moins étudiée. Toutefois, cette perturbation peut avoir un grand impact sur la dynamique forestière. Les principaux effets de cette perturbation sont une augmentation de lumière, crée par la mortalité au niveau de la canopée, ainsi que la création de nouveaux milieux de germination. Ces conditions permettent la croissance de la végétation de sous étage et l'établissement de nouveaux individus. En fonction de la sévérité des dommages, qui modifie l'ouverture de la canopée, le niveau de mortalité des différentes strates et les perturbations du sol (bois morts, puits et monticules), les effets sur la structure et la composition peuvent varier. En effet, en ayant différentes vulnérabilités au chablis ainsi que des réponses variées aux perturbations, certaines essences seront favorisées en fonction des conditions créées par la tempête. Le 17 juillet 2006, un orage violent affecte une grande superficie de forêt mixte nordique, zone historiquement peu touchée par cette perturbation. L'objectif de cette recherche est de connaître l'effet des chablis sur la dynamique forestière de ces forêts mixtes, et ce par l'étude de la mortalité et de la réponse de régénération. L'échantillonnage s'est fait à l'été 2008 où un total de 15 sites situés en chablis sévère et 15 situés en chablis modéré ont été échantillonnés. L'identification des arbres morts et vivants a premièrement permis de déterminer la vulnérabilité des espèces au chablis et les facteurs influençant cette dernière. Les semis d'essences arborescentes ont été échantillonnés à la base des arbres morts afin de déterminer leurs abondances sur différents milieux de germination. Finalement, des matrices de transition ont été construites à partir des données de la mortalité et de la régénération pour évaluer la composition forestière post-chablis. De façon générale, les chablis modérés ont eu peu d'impact sur la structure forestière tandis que les chablis sévères ont diminué la densité des peuplements ainsi que la taille moyenne des arbres. C'est en chablis sévère que les différences interspécifiques jouent un rôle important au niveau de la mortalité, augmentant potentiellement l'impact sur la dynamique post-chablis. Néanmoins dans les deux sévérités, les essences intolérantes sont les plus vulnérables à cette perturbation. Sous les arbres morts, les semis les plus abondants étaient ceux des espèces tolérantes et semi-tolérantes, qui ont pu s'installer dans des conditions ombrageuses. Les puits et monticules créés par cet événement, malgré leur faible couverture, ont permis l'établissement du bouleau jaune, espèce aux conditions de germination spécifiques. Les résultats de mortalité et de régénération semblent indiquer que le chablis pourrait avancer la succession forestière en favorisant des espèces de succession de milieu et de fin de succession. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : chablis, mortalité, vulnérabilité, déracinement, succession, forêt mixte.

Biogeographic patterns across a landscape are developed by the interplay of environmental processes operating at different spatial and temporal scales. This research investigated dynamics of salt marsh vegetation on the Skallingen salt marsh in Denmark responding to environmental variations at large, medium, and fine scales along both spatial and temporal spectrums. At the broad scale, this research addressed the importance of wind-induced rise of the sea surface in such biogeographic changes. A new hypothetical chain was suggested: recent trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation index toward its positive phase have led to increased storminess and wind tides on the ocean surface, resulting in increased frequency, duration, and magnitude of submergence and, hence, waterlogging of marsh soils and plants, which has retarded ecological succession. At the mid-scale, spatial patterns of vegetation and environmental factors were examined across tidal creeks. Sites closer to tidal creeks, compared to marsh interiors, were characterized by the dominance of later-successional species, higher bulk density, and lower nutrient contents and electrical conductivity. This finding implies that locations near creeks have experienced a better drainage condition than the inner marshes, which eventually facilitated the establishment of later-successional plants that are intolerant to physical stress. At the micro-scale, this research examined how the extent and mode of facilitation and competition vary for different combinations of plant species along physical gradients. Both positive and negative relationships were spatially manifested to a greater degree on the low marsh than on the mid marsh. This insight extends our current knowledge of scale-dependent interactions beyond pioneer zones to higher zones. On the low marsh, different types of bivariate point pattern (i.e., clustered, random, and regular) were observed for different combinations of species even at similar spatial scales. This finding implies that it is difficult to generalize at which scales competition and facilitation occur. To conclude, this research stresses the need for a holistic approach in future investigations of salt marsh biogeography. For example, based on results of this current research, it would be meaningful to develop a comprehensive simulation model that incorporates salt marsh ecology, geomorphology, and hydrology observed across scales.

Most corporations today have an organizational framework that includes a separation between ownership and management of the company. Along with the Board of Directors, the chief executive officer (CEO) usually has the power to make significant decisions on corporate policy and also takes personal responsibility for the performance of the company. Thus the selection of an optimal CEO is a crucial business decision, and is the focus of this management study. When undertaking the procedures for CEO succession, the members of the Board must select appropriate candidates for the position, as well as deciding upon the CEO¡¦s job responsibilities. The Board evaluates the extent to which the various candidates¡¦ capabilities and experiences match the needs of the corporation. After discussing the pros and cons of each candidate, the Board selects the most appropriate individual for the position. However, certain circumstances often exist that serve to affect this decision process. Specifically, the quality and timing of Board meetings may have a serious detrimental affect on selecting the optimal candidate. By analyzing the literature reviews and annual reports of 682 public companies in Taiwan in 2003, three succession logics of selecting a CEO can be observed: 1) social relationship, 2) political power, and 3) rational capability. From these three logics, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) The social relationship has the most influence on the selection outcome, with political power acting as the second most influential aspect, and management capability as the third; 2) The influence of the Chairman¡¦s abstract power, as well as his ownership of stock, do not have an obvious influence on the selection outcome, though the Chairman¡¦s control over Board seats has a statistically significant impact on CEO selection; 3) A CEO¡¦s social relationship can not be replaced by his management capability; 4) CEO¡¦s social relationship and stock ownership both have high positive correlation with his involvement of the Board, while the Chairman¡¦s power and the CEO¡¦s management capability don¡¦t.

Family businesses have been a majority in the stage of world economy, and whose combination of ownership, management and family make relevant management issues even more complex. The significance and complexity of family businesses have incrementally attracted more scholar attention. Literature indicates that only one-thirds of family businesses can be passed on to second generation. Succession, therefore, becomes an important issue in the continuity of family business. This study, in adoption of qualitative approach, aims at exploring how the attitude of founders in the family business towards succession can influence the succession process and how they adjust roles in the business during the succession process, and the importance of successors¡¦ level of interests, abilities and development and the criteria of successor selection. Four case companies were interviewed. The results are as follows: 1). Founders in the family business usually nominate their desired successors, but do not have further succession plan, and moreover, remain their influences or statues in the business as consultants once they retire or transfer leadership. 2). Preferences in male siblings are demonstrated. 3). In terms of training and development, successors rely on on-the-job trainings and founders to pass their connections and relevant industrial knowledge, by that successors are likely to build up their legitimacy and gain trust from stakeholders. 4). Successors¡¦ personal interests that are accommodated by succeeding the business is positive for succession. 5). The value of family in the Chinese context is positive for succession.