Since the time of European settlement, land-use history, management practices, the introduction of non-native invasive species (NNIS), and climate change have dramatically changed the successional pathways of Southern Illinois forests. Biodiversity is considered essential for ecosystem health and resiliency, so understanding the impact theses forest changes have on biodiversity is necessary to guide future management decisions. This study was conducted at Touch of Nature Environmental Center (TONEC) in Southern Illinois using the Shannon diversity index (H') to compare the levels of biodiversity in the overstory, shrub, seedling, and herbaceous layers across early, mid, and mature successional stages. Twenty plots were randomly placed within early, mid, and mature forest successional stages for a total of 60 plots. Four circular nested vegetation plots were recorded at each plot location. In the overstory plots (area 314.16 m2), woody stems above 6.5 cm diameter at breast height (dbh), age class, and crown were all recorded. In the shrub layer (area 28.27 m2), all woody stems between 2.5 and 6.5 cm dbh were recorded, while in the seedling layer (area 3.14 m2), all woody stems < 1 cm dbh were recorded. In the herbaceous layer, (area 1 m2) species were measured by percent cover. Shannon diversity index (H') was calculated for each plot. When vegetation layers were combined and mean H' within forest successional stages were compared, no differences were found. However, when successional stages were combined within each vegetation layer, the shrub layer had the least H' increasing to seedling, increasing again to overstory and herbaceous; these being equal. When breaking down the vegetation layers separately and comparing H' across successional stages within each, both the overstory and shrub layers had no difference. Early successional was the least diverse in seedling, rising to mid and mature, which were equal. The herbaceous layer showed an opposite trend with early having the highest H' decreasing to mid and decreasing again to mature. Finally looking at the differences across vegetation layers within early, mid, and mature successional stages. Early-successional had the most variability with the highest H' in herbaceous; this decreased progressively to overstory then to shrub and seedling, which were equal. In mid-successional plots, overstory, seedling, and herbaceous layers were equal with H' decreasing in shrub. In mature plots, all vegetation layers had the same H'. Across all vegetation layers, the highest percentage of NNIS was in early-successional, followed by mid, with notably less found in mature forest. Even in instances where H' values were the same, species composition across forest successional stages were quite different. While overall biodiversity is the same across successional stages, differences in H' can be seen when looking at the vegetation layers. Management should focus on removing NNIS in the early and mid-successional forests paying particular attention to the shrub layer, which has the overall lowest H' with the most dramatic differences in composition and the presence of NNIS across all successional stages. Also of concern is the low H' in the seedling layer in early-successional forest, which reduces the likelihood of successful regeneration of these hardwood stands in the future.

The title of this thesis is: The Customary Law of Intestate Succession. The African customary law relating to intestate succession has always been known to discriminate against women. The thesis therefore focuses on the customary law of intestate succession in the countries of South Africa, Ghana and Swaziland and the inroads they have made in improving the rights of women in this discriminatory field of African customary law. This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the topic of the research. It highlights the organisation of the intended research which comprises: a statement of the problem, the legal framework, research methodology and a summary of the chapter. Chapter 2 defines the general terms and concepts used in the customary law of intestate succession. This facilitates an understanding of the general principles comprising the body of law known as the customary law of intestate succession and lays the foundation for the country specific issues that are investigated in the following chapters. Chapter 3 discusses the recognition, application and development of the customary law of intestate succession in the country of South Africa. Chapter 4 considers the rules and laws of the customary law of intestate succession in the West African country of Ghana. Chapter 5 explains the current rules and laws of the customary law of intestate succession prevailing in the Kingdom of Swaziland. Finally, chapter 6 brings the thesis to a meaningful end, by criticizing the approaches adopted by the countries of South Africa, Ghana and Swaziland in improving the rights of women as far as the customary law of intestate succession is concerned. The chapter also presents various recommendations for improving the rights of women in this discriminatory field of the law. / Public, Constitutional, and International / LL. D.

Please read the abstract in the thesis. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Paraclinical Sciences / Unrestricted

Ecological restoration has the potential to stem the tide of habitat loss, fragmentation and transformation that are the main threats to global biological diversity and ecosystem services. Through this thesis, I aimed to evaluate the ecological consequences of a 33 year old rehabilitation programme for coastal dune forest conservation. The mining company Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) initiated what is now the longest running rehabilitation programme in South Africa in 1977. Management of the rehabilitation process is founded upon the principles of ecological succession after ameliorating the mine tailings to accelerate initial colonisation. Many factors may detract from the predictability of the ecological succession. For example, if historical contingency is a reality, then the goal of restoring a particular habitat to its former state may be unattainable as a number of alternative stable states can result from the order by which species establish. Succession appears to be a suitable conceptual basis (at this stage in regeneration at least) for the restoration of coastal dune forest. Patterns of community characteristics observed in rehabilitating coastal dune forest sites were similar to those predicted by ecological succession, with few exceptions. Changes in the species pool such as the establishment of strong dominants may lead to divergence of regenerating trajectories away from the desired endpoints. The species composition of herbaceous plants in regenerating coastal dune forest sites became increasingly uniform as the time since disturbance increased. Despite initially becoming more similar they II deviated away from an undisturbed reference site. Contrary to our expectations, non-native species did not contribute the most to dissimilarity. The deviation from the reference forest is attributable to the higher abundance of a native forest specialist in the reference site and the higher abundances of native woodland adapted species in the rehabilitating sites. Changes in the disturbance regime under which species have evolved may lead to arrested succession. The rehabilitation of coastal dune forest relies on the Acacia karroo successional pathway which, has been criticised because Acacia dominated woodlands may stagnate succession. The patterns of species composition within regenerating coastal dune forest are a response to the canopy characteristics and represent an early stage in forest succession. Succession did not appear to be stagnant. Ecological succession does not pay much heed to the role that the surrounding landscape composition can play in the assembly of communities. The theory of Island biogeography provides predictions about how landscape composition influences community assembly. Landscape spatial parameters, measuring edge, isolation, and area explained the patch occupancy of the several bird and tree species, however, responses to patch characteristics were varied and idiosyncratic. For restoration to succeed, managers need to consider the spatial configuration of the landscape to facilitate colonization of rehabilitating patches. From this thesis and previous work, it appears that processes are in place that will lead to the reassembly of dune forest communities. As the rehabilitating sites are at an early stage of regeneration this may take some time to give rise to these coastal dune forest communities, and the management of rehabilitating coastal dune forest must allow for this. In addition, it is III important to remember that time may be interacting with the landscapes spatial attributes, which may limit the presence of certain species. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Ecological stoichiometry is a useful tool for understanding of ecological dynamics and related processes. There are only rare informations about nutrient cycling and nutrient dynamics in plant- soil system in restoration areas after coal mining. Different plant species have developed own strategies and treat differently with nutrients which can influence nutrient cycling and consequent nutrient return to the soil. In thesis, I investigated ecological stoichiometry as one of key factors which controls soil development in post mining sites. In general introduction, known facts are summarized about e.g. plant traits, decomposition process, nutrient cycling and consequences for soil development and restoration practices. But still, relationship between leaves, plant litter, and soil is poorly understood in restoration areas. The results of a doctoral thesis are presented in five papers, out of which three have been published, one has been already submitted and one manuscript is prepared for publication in an international journal with impact factor. In the first presented publication, the influence of soil fauna was studied (especially earthworms) on soil development. Soil development differed significantly between sites afforested with different tree species and it is strongly influenced by the...

Ballad Health nurse leaders received little nursing leadership education or competency development before beginning their leadership roles; yet they are crucial to improve quality, safety, cost, patient experience, and team member engagement. Competency development is linked to improved nurse leader confidence, job satisfaction, and retention. Additionally, the organization is experiencing a shortage of prepared internal candidates to fill vacant nurse manager positions. The organization’s Chief Nursing Council (CNC) questioned if a leadership development program could improve new and aspiring nurse managers' leadership competency. The CNC aimed to improve nurse leader competency by implementing and measuring the effectiveness of an evidence-based Nurse Leader Residency Program (NLRP) for new and aspiring nurse leaders. The CNC elected to base the NLRP on the American Organization of Nursing Leadership (AONL) Nurse Learning Domain Framework and Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory. Internal expert instructors addressed all AONL leadership topics during seven weekly in-person education sessions. Instructors provided the curriculum through lectures, group activities, individual activities, case studies, and videos. The residents assessed 105 competencies using the AONL Nurse Leader Competency Assessment Tool before and after program participation. Finally, the residents collaborated with their Chief Nursing Officer to identify a mentor. The resident group improved its overall self-assessed nursing leadership competencies by 50%. Residents’ self-competency improvement ranged between 0.5 - 2.0 on a 5-point scale. Implementing an evidence based NLRP improves new and aspiring nurse leader self-assessed competencies. Nurse leaders need advanced knowledge and competencies to successfully lead in the complex healthcare environment.

In the South Carolina state government, 43.4% of all full-time equivalent employees will be eligible to retire by the mid- to late-2020s. The potential loss of core organizational knowledge may occur as a result of the retirement of seasoned employees. Grounded by the transformational leadership theory, this qualitative case study explored the successful succession strategies of 8 Certified Public Managers (CPMs) in South Carolina state government organizations. Purposeful sampling led to selecting the 8 CPMs who each had more than 11 years of experience managing employees and each directly influenced the programmatic operations for their respective state government organizations. Data were obtained through individual semi-structured interviews and through state government organizational documents. Analysis included using codes to identify similar words and phrases, then recoding to categorize the codes into themes. Data transcriptions, coding, member checking, and methodological triangulation were used to strengthen the credibility of the findings. Thematic analysis identified 3 emergent themes within the data: succession implementation, succession continuity, and succession hindrances. The implications for positive social change include the potential for state government executive leadership to implement a succession program for all South Carolina state government organizations. The positive social change implications may provide standardization and structure for retaining core knowledge that could contribute to continuity, an increased focus on sustainable workforce capital, customer satisfaction, and social responsibility throughout communities in South Carolina.

The military faces unprecedented limitation of resources due to fiscal cuts through all branches of service. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore succession planning (SP) strategies used by Air National Guard leaders to retain skilled workers. The target population consisted of 5 leaders of the Washington Air National Guard (ANG) with a minimum of 5 years of experience in the ANG. The five tenured candidates were selected given proven leadership performance, ability to influence the organization, and they provided institutional knowledge and corporate insight of SP efforts spanning nearly a century. Additionally, these leaders had direct first-hand experience with local selective retention process and successful force management practices. The conceptual framework included organizational leadership theory, succession theory, and employee retention. Semistructured interviews were conducted and relevant documents collected. All interpretations from the data were subjected to member checking to ensure trustworthiness of findings. Coding, clustering, and thematic analysis were methods used for data analysis. Prominent ideas and actions taken were coded, common codes were clustered and themes evolved. Based on the methodological triangulation of data, 5 themes surfaced: (a) skills focus verses strategic, (b) informal verses formal SP, (c) individual verses organizational, (d) priority for retention verses recruitment, and (e) limited skill leads to mission gaps. The application of the findings from the study may contribute to social change by inspiring military leadership to adopt more strategic succession planning and ensure business sustainability by changing existing SP from a recruitment-based technique to culture of retention.

abstract: This research seeks to better understand the current state of US healthcare FM industry hiring practices from colleges and universities to identify potential employment barriers into healthcare FM and interventions to help overcome them. Two national surveys were distributed to healthcare facility managers and directors to collect quantifiable information on healthcare organizations, hiring practices from FM academic programs, individual demographics, and opinions of FM college graduates. Designated survey respondents were also contacted for phone interviews. Additionally, a Delphi method was used for this research to draw upon the collective knowledge and experience of 13 experts over three iterative rounds of input. Results indicate that the healthcare FM industry is hiring very few college interns and new college graduates for entry-level management jobs. Strong homogeneousness demographics, backgrounds, and paths of entry among existing healthcare FM professionals has created an industry bias against candidates attempting to enter healthcare FM from non-traditional sources. The healthcare FM industry’s principal source for new talent comes from building trade succession within healthcare organizations. However, continuing to rely on building tradespersons as the main path of entry into the healthcare FM industry may prove problematic. Most existing healthcare facility managers and directors will be retiring within 10 years, yet it is taking more than 17 years of full-time work experience to prepare building tradespersons to assume these roles. New college graduates from FM academic programs are a viable recruitment source for new talent into healthcare FM as younger professionals are commonly entering the healthcare FM through the path of higher education. Although few new college graduates enter the healthcare FM industry, they are experiencing similar promotion timeframes compared to other candidate with many years of full-time work experience. Unfamiliarity with FM academic programs, work experience requirements, limited entry-level jobs within small organizations, low pay, and a limited exposure to healthcare industry topics present challenges for new FM college graduates attempting to enter the healthcare FM industry. This study shows that gaps indeed exist in student learning outcomes for a comprehensive healthcare FM education; key technical topics specific to the healthcare industry are not being addressed by organizations accrediting construction and facility management academic programs. A framework is proposed for a comprehensive healthcare FM education including accreditation, regulatory and code compliance, infection control, systems in healthcare facilities, healthcare construction project management and methods, and clinical operations and medical equipment. Interestingly, academics in the field of FM generally disagree with industry professionals that these technical topics are important student learning outcomes. Consequently, FM academics prefer to teach students general FM principles with the expectation that specific technical knowledge will be gained in the workplace after graduation from college. Nevertheless, candidates attempting to enter healthcare FM without industry specific knowledge are disadvantaged due to industry perceptions and expectations. University-industry linkage must be improved to successfully attract students into the field of healthcare FM and establish colleges and universities as a sustainable recruitment source in helping address FM attrition. This paper is valuable in establishing the current state of the US healthcare industry’s hiring practices from FM academic programs and identifying major barriers of entering the healthcare FM industry for new FM college graduates. Findings facilitate development of interventions by healthcare organizations and universities to further open FM academic programs as a sustainable source of new talent to help address healthcare FM attrition, including a healthcare FM education framework to elucidate college student learning outcomes for successful employment in healthcare FM. These student learning outcomes provide a framework for both the healthcare industry and academia in preparing future facility managers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Built Environment 2019

In family firms, CEO successions are key events for firms’ sustainable development, and different types of successors may influence firm behaviors in significantly different ways. To respond to the mixed results of extant studies and unveil the underlying effects, this study adopted a socioemotional wealth perspective. The hypothesis was that family firms with internal succession are more likely to be involved in behaviors that could increase the socioemotional wealth of the family, including corporate innovation, diversification strategies, and corporate philanthropy. Using data on Chinese publiclylisted family firms from 2008 to 2017, the above hypotheses were tested. Results largely showed support for the hypotheses. Multiple methods were employed to mitigate endogeneity problems and enhance robustness. Overall, this study contributes to the current research on family leadership by proving that internal family succession has a positive influence on preserving the socioemotional wealth of the family. / Business Administration/Strategic Management