In response to recent declines, forested riparian wetland areas have become an increased conservation and management area of concern focusing on increasing biodiversity and promoting healthy ecosystem services. Additionally, passerine birds have also experienced a sharp global decline in that associated habitat. To mitigate further declines of both habitat and species numbers government programs and agencies have intensified conservation efforts. However, the practices employed are often assumed to be beneficial without conducting dedicated surveys to measure efficacy and practicality of current approaches. As such, visual evidence and statistics are often needed to promote or validate further support and funding for continuing with current polices or creating new focal areas and practices. This study strives to provide an inexpensive, efficient way to assess conservation areas based on a target species through a generalized and adaptive methodology. The Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge in southern Illinois provides an opportunity to do just that with a focus on songbirds. The methodology outlined in this study implements multiple remote sensing land use and land cover classification techniques utilizing Landsat imagery from 1984 to 2014 to create a temporal analysis of the region from pre-refuge era to current refuge designated era. Field surveys from the 2015 songbird summer breeding and fall migration seasons as well as vegetation surveys for field-truthing supplement the remote sensing results. The classification methodology incudes a combination of pan-sharpening Landsat images to a 15 m x 15 m spatial resolution, texture analysis, object based image analysis, and Random Forests to produce land use and land cover maps. For the sake of comparison the same classification process is performed with the untransformed, source images at 30 m x 30 m spatial resolution. Landscape metrics such as the interspersion and juxtaposition index and the contiguity index also provide further insight to temporal landscape patterns. At the completion of the study it was found that there was a minimal difference between the overall classification accuracy of transformed and untransformed images and that lowest overall accuracy in the study was 91% while the highest was 98%. The key survey statistics concluded that during the summer and fall observation periods songbirds in forested wetland areas had a propensity to utilize areas closest to the wetland edge as opposed to inland areas. Furthermore, during fall migration it was concluded that the mixed forest habitat type had a direct effect on observation numbers. Overall, with the aid of multiple landscape metrics, it was shown that the region was increasing in forested area, patch density, and contiguity; in response the passerines were using the area at a high rate, especially near wetland edges creating a sustainable focal area for conservation and management. The methodology and results in this study contribute to an ongoing effort to provide visual and statistical evidence that is reliable and accessible for policy making. The potential to manipulate the generalized methods used in this study to enhance any land use and land class classifications and apply to any targeted species certainly exists. Future studies will want to investigate the use of higher spatial resolution images or actively take reflectance recordings in the field and supplement the temporal maps with a multi-year dedicated species dataset for maximum benefit.

Due to intensive coastal development, a combination of local (e.g. pollution, fishing) and global pressures (such as climate change) is affecting marine habitats worldwide. This is a pressing issue in Saudi Arabia, particularly considering the plans for the expansion of sea-related activities within the Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 framework. Sustaining some of those activities, such as tourism, is dependent upon the maintenance of good ecosystem health. National monitoring programs in Saudi Arabia are scarce and a lack of sound knowledge on how marine organisms change in space and time and what the main factors driving their responses are, limits the contribution of scientists to the management and conservation of the Red Sea. Here we provide baseline knowledge, that can be critical for assessing changes associated with current and future coastal development as well as climate change by collecting data across multiple spatial (including multiple habitats) and temporal scales for the analysis of macroinvertebrate organisms and environmental drivers. One of the most striking findings is related to the low densities observed for macroinvertebrates, making populations potentially vulnerable to disturbance. We also highlight the contribution of different habitats within the seascape and the need to prioritize the features of the bottoms for management and conservation purposes. Each habitat has a unique ecological signature but they are connected to adjacent habitats through a subset of species able to utilize different biotopes within the seascape. Disrupting this ecological network may affect biodiversity patterns from local to regional levels. Within each habitat, temporal variability should be taken into account as patterns change on a seasonal and annual scale. The aim of the thesis is to contribute to the sustainable development of the Red Sea, a unique resource shared among several countries, which will result in a long-term benefit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other countries. Information provided is critical as previous knowledge for the region was almost inexistent and allows for future studies to investigate and predict the impacts of intense coastal development and inform conservation and management decisions.

Nesta dissertação apresenta-se a evolução morfológica e sedimentológica no Arco Praial de Massaguaçú, Litoral Norte do Estado de São Paulo, em uma escala espaço-temporal histórica e de eventos. O Arco Praial de Massaguaçú localiza-se ao norte da Baia de Caraguatatuba e tem uma extensão de aproximadamente 7,5km. A metodologia consistiu na determinação da variação da linha de costa através da análise de fotografias aéreas de 1962, 1977, 1994 e 2001 e GPS para 2006. Foram obtidos 174 perfis bidimensionais e 16 perfis tridimensionais coletados em cinco levantamentos de campos entre os meses de novembro de 2006 e março de 2008 utilizando o método de DGPS. Foram coletadas ainda 176 amostras sedimentares na zona de espraiamento do Arco Praial, junto ao último ponto de cada perfil bidimensional, sendo uma coleta por perfil. Os resultados demonstraram que a maior parte da praia sofreu progradação entre os anos de 1962 e 1994, sendo observada mudança nesta tendência entre 1994 e 2006. Os dados de morfologia e sedimentologia mostraram grande variabilidade espaço temporal, sendo que estas parecem estar relacionadas a variações anuais de energia de onda. Foi identificada uma Zona de Erosão Acentuada (ZEA) na Parte Central do Arco Praial e dividiu-se a praia em cinco áreas de risco, onde este é menor nas extremidades do Arco Praial e aumenta em direção a região central. / This dissertation characterize the morphological and sedimentological evolution of Massaguaçú Bay Beach, São Paulo State, Northeast Brazil, in a Historical and events spatial-temporal scale. Massaguaçú Bay Beach is localized northward of Caraguatatuba Bay and has approximately 7.5Km length. The methodology consisted on the determination of the shoreline changes with Aerophotographic analyses of 1962, 1977, 1994 and 2001, 2006 shoreline was taken with GPS. The DGPS Method was used to obtain 174 two-dimensional profiles and 16 tri-dimensional profiles in 5 field campaigns conducted between November, 2006 and March, 2008. 176 sand samples were collect in the swash zone, next to the last position of each two-dimensional profile. Data showed that almost all beach demonstrated shoreline progradation between 1962 and 1994, this tendency change between 1994 and 2006 with the possibility of increase of the retraction processes. It was observed a great variability in morphological and sedimentological data, this appear to be related with variations on the wave height pattern during the year. It has identified an Erosional Hotspot in the central area of the beach and the beach has divided in five risck areas where the risck increase from the extremities to the center of the beach.

Nesta dissertação apresenta-se a evolução morfológica e sedimentológica no Arco Praial de Massaguaçú, Litoral Norte do Estado de São Paulo, em uma escala espaço-temporal histórica e de eventos. O Arco Praial de Massaguaçú localiza-se ao norte da Baia de Caraguatatuba e tem uma extensão de aproximadamente 7,5km. A metodologia consistiu na determinação da variação da linha de costa através da análise de fotografias aéreas de 1962, 1977, 1994 e 2001 e GPS para 2006. Foram obtidos 174 perfis bidimensionais e 16 perfis tridimensionais coletados em cinco levantamentos de campos entre os meses de novembro de 2006 e março de 2008 utilizando o método de DGPS. Foram coletadas ainda 176 amostras sedimentares na zona de espraiamento do Arco Praial, junto ao último ponto de cada perfil bidimensional, sendo uma coleta por perfil. Os resultados demonstraram que a maior parte da praia sofreu progradação entre os anos de 1962 e 1994, sendo observada mudança nesta tendência entre 1994 e 2006. Os dados de morfologia e sedimentologia mostraram grande variabilidade espaço temporal, sendo que estas parecem estar relacionadas a variações anuais de energia de onda. Foi identificada uma Zona de Erosão Acentuada (ZEA) na Parte Central do Arco Praial e dividiu-se a praia em cinco áreas de risco, onde este é menor nas extremidades do Arco Praial e aumenta em direção a região central. / This dissertation characterize the morphological and sedimentological evolution of Massaguaçú Bay Beach, São Paulo State, Northeast Brazil, in a Historical and events spatial-temporal scale. Massaguaçú Bay Beach is localized northward of Caraguatatuba Bay and has approximately 7.5Km length. The methodology consisted on the determination of the shoreline changes with Aerophotographic analyses of 1962, 1977, 1994 and 2001, 2006 shoreline was taken with GPS. The DGPS Method was used to obtain 174 two-dimensional profiles and 16 tri-dimensional profiles in 5 field campaigns conducted between November, 2006 and March, 2008. 176 sand samples were collect in the swash zone, next to the last position of each two-dimensional profile. Data showed that almost all beach demonstrated shoreline progradation between 1962 and 1994, this tendency change between 1994 and 2006 with the possibility of increase of the retraction processes. It was observed a great variability in morphological and sedimentological data, this appear to be related with variations on the wave height pattern during the year. It has identified an Erosional Hotspot in the central area of the beach and the beach has divided in five risck areas where the risck increase from the extremities to the center of the beach.

Abstract Understanding of natural and human induced changes to freshwater biodiversity patterns is critical for efficiently conserving and managing these highly impacted ecosystems. In this doctoral thesis, I study the natural spatial and temporal variability of littoral macroinvertebrate communities, as well as aquatic biodiversity responses (of bryophytes, macroinvertebrates and diatoms) to human impact on forested headwater streams. I also study the temporal variability of natural and human-impacted stream communities. I show that littoral macroinvertebrate communities are most variable between individual samples and to some extent between littorals, and that the diversity patterns of rare and common littoral macroinvertebrates vary at different spatial scales. Temporal (interannual) variability is of minor importance, particularly for the core species of the community. For rare species, however, the temporal component was generally more important than spatial turnover. For headwater streams, I show that most taxonomic groups responded negatively to human impact on the adjacent riparian forest. Nevertheless, pristine riparian forest is not a sufficient surrogate for stream biodiversity as also streams with relatively disturbed riparian forests supported diverse benthic communities. A rapid classification method based on the physical structure of the stream channel and its riparian forest is able to identify the reference-state communities, as well as the most severely altered communities, but a reliable identification of the intermediately-disturbed sites would need more precise information about the key stressors of stream communities. I found that fine sediments originating from forest drainage were the main factor causing reduction of stream biodiversity. I also found that forestry impacted streams varied temporally more than pristine streams, emphasizing the importance of interannual sampling of impacted streams for a reliable status assessment. / Tiivistelmä Luonnollisen ja ihmisen aiheuttaman biodiversiteettivaihtelun ymmärtäminen hoito- ja suojelutoimissa on tärkeää pienvesien monimuotoisuuden turvaamiseksi. Tarkastelen väitöskirjassani järvien rantavyöhykkeen pohjaeläinten ajallista ja paikallista vaihtelua sekä latvapurojen eliöyhteisöjen (pohjaeläimet, sammalet, piilevät) vasteita ihmisen aiheuttamaan fysikaaliseen muutokseen rantametsässä ja purouomassa. Tarkastelen myös ajallisen vaihtelun eroja luonnontilaisten ja ihmisvaikutteisten latvapurojen eliöyhteisöjen välillä. Osoitan, että järven rantavyöhykkeen pohjaeläinyhteisöt vaihtelevat eniten yksittäisten näytteiden välillä ja pienessä määrin eri rantojen välillä, mutta ajallinen vaihtelu ei heikennä tulosten luotettavuutta muiden kuin harvinaisten lajien osalta yhteen vuoteen rajoittuvassa näytteenotossa. Purotutkimuksissa osoitan, että useiden vesieliöryhmien lajirunsaus muuttuu ihmisen aiheuttaman rantametsän muutoksen seurauksena, mutta luonnontilaista rantametsää ei silti voida pitää yksiselitteisesti myös puron suojelutason mittarina, koska se ei välttämättä turvaa eliöiden lajistollista eheyttä suhteessa alkuperäiseen alueelliseen lajistoon. Rantametsän ja uoman fysikaalisiin rakennepiirteisiin perustuvaa nopeaa luokittelumenetelmää voidaan käyttää eliöyhteisöltään monimuotoisimpien ja metsätalouden voimakkaimmin rasittamien purojen tunnistamisessa. Eliöyhteisöltään lievemmin muutettujen purojen luotettavaan erotteluun luokittelun pitäisi kuitenkin sisältää tarkempaa tietoa metsäojitusten aiheuttamasta liettymisestä, joka on tulosteni perusteella haitallisin metsätaloudesta johtuva puroyhteisöjä rasittava tekijä. Havaitsin myös metsätalouden rasittamien purojen tilanarvioinnin toistettavuuden olevan luonnontilaisia puroja heikompaa, joten metsätalouden rasittamien purojen pidempiaikainen seuraaminen tuntuu välttämättömältä luotettavien tilanarvioiden tuottamiseksi.

No description available.

L'objet de ce projet de recherche est de prédire la durée de vie d'éléments mécaniques qui sont soumis à des phénomènes de fatigue cyclique. L'idée est de développer un schéma numérique novateur pour prédire la rupture de structures sous de tels chargements. Le modèle est basé sur la mécanique des milieux continus qui introduit des variables internes pour décrire l'évolution de l'endommagement. Le défi repose dans le traitement des cycles de chargement pour la prédiction de la durée de vie, particulièrement pour la prédiction de la durée de vie résiduelle de structures existantes. Les approches traditionnelles de l'analyse de la fatigue sont basées sur des méthodes phénoménologiques utilisant des relations empiriques. De telles méthodes considèrent des approximations simplificatrices et sont incapables de prendre en compte aisément des géométries ou des charges complexes associées à des problèmes d'ingénierie réels. Une approche basée sur la description de l'évolution thermodynamique d'un milieu continu est donc utilisée pour modéliser le comportement en fatigue. Cela permet de considérer efficacement des problèmes d'ingénierie complexe et la détérioration des propriétés du matériau due à la fatigue peut être quantifiée à l'aide de variables internes. Cependant, cette approche peut être numériquement coûteuse et, par conséquent, des approches numériques sophistiquées doivent être utilisées.La stratégie numérique sur laquelle ce projet est basé est singulière par rapport aux schémas incrémentaux en temps usuellement utilisés pour résoudre des problèmes élasto-(visco)plastique avec endommagement dans le cadre de la mécanique des milieux continus. Cette stratégie numérique appelée méthode LATIN (Large Time Increment method) est une méthode non-incrémentale qui recherche la solution de manière itérative sur l'ensemble du domaine spacio-temporel. Une importante innovation de la méthode LATIN est d'incorporer une stratégie de réduction de modèle adaptative pour réduire de manière très importante le coût numérique. La Décomposition Propre Généralisée (PGD) est une stratégie de réduction de modèle a priori qui sépare les quantités d'intérêt spacio-temporelles en deux composantes indépendantes, l'une dépendant du temps, l'autre de l'espace, et estime itérativement les approximations de ces deux composantes. L'utilisation de l'approche LATIN-PGD a montré son efficacité depuis des années pour résoudre des problèmes élasto-(visco)plastiques. La première partie de ce projet vise à étendre cette approche aux modèles incorporant de l'endommagement.Bien que l'utilisation de la PGD réduise les coûts numériques, le gain n'est pas suffisant pour permettre de résoudre des problèmes considérant un grand nombre de cycles de chargement, le temps de calcul peut être très conséquent, rendant les simulations de problèmes de fatigue intraitables même en utilisant les techniques LATIN-PGD. Cette limite peut être dépassée en introduisant une approche multi-échelle en temps, qui prend en compte l'évolution rapide des quantités d'intérêt lors d'un cycle et leur évolution lente au cours de l'ensemble des cycles. Une description type « éléments finis » en temps est proposée, où l'ensemble du domaine temporel est discrétisé en éléments temporels, et seulement les cycles nodaux, qui forment les limites des éléments, sont calculés en utilisant la technique LATIN-PGD. Puis, des fonctions de forme classiques sont utilisées pour interpoler les quantités d'intérêt à l'intérieur des éléments temporels. Cette stratégie LATIN-PGD à deux échelles permet de réduire le coût numérique de manière significative, et peut être utilisée pour simuler l'évolution de l'endommagement dans une structure soumise à un chargement de fatigue comportant un très grand nombre de cycles. / The motivation of the research project is to predict the life time of mechanical components that are subjected to cyclic fatigue phenomena. The idea herein is to develop an innovative numerical scheme to predict failure of structures under such loading. The model is based on classical continuum damage mechanics introducing internal variables which describe the damage evolution. The challenge lies in the treatment of large number of load cycles for the life time prediction, particularly the residual life time for existing structures.Traditional approaches for fatigue analysis are based on phenomenological methods and deal with the usage of empirical relations. Such methods consider simplistic approximations and are unable to take into account complex geometries, and complicated loadings which occur in real-life engineering problems. A thermodynamically consistent continuum-based approach is therefore used for modelling the fatigue behaviour. This allows to consider complicated geometries and loads quite efficiently and the deterioration of the material properties due to fatigue can be quantified using internal variables. However, this approach can be computationally expensive and hence sophisticated numerical frameworks should be used.The numerical strategy used in this project is different when compared to regular time incremental schemes used for solving elasto-(visco)plastic-damage problems in continuum framework. This numerical strategy is called Large Time Increment (LATIN) method, which is a non-incremental method and builds the solution iteratively for the complete space-time domain. An important feature of the LATIN method is to incorporate an on-the-fly model reduction strategy to reduce drastically the numerical cost. Proper generalised decomposition (PGD), being a priori a model reduction strategy, separates the quantities of interest with respect to space and time, and computes iteratively the spatial and temporal approximations. LATIN-PGD framework has been effectively used over the years to solve elasto-(visco)plastic problems. Herein, the first effort is to solve continuum damage problems using LATIN-PGD techniques. Although, usage of PGD reduces the numerical cost, the benefit is not enough to solve problems involving large number of load cycles and computational time can be severely high, making simulations of fatigue problems infeasible. This can be overcome by using a multi-time scale approach, that takes into account the rapid evolution of the quantities of interest within a load cycle and their slow evolution along the load cycles. A finite element like description with respect to time is proposed, where the whole time domain is discretised into time elements, and only the nodal cycles, which form the boundary of the time elements, are calculated using LATIN-PGD technique. Thereby, classical shape functions are used to interpolate within the time element. This two-scale LATIN-PGD strategy enables the reduction of the computational cost remarkably, and can be used to simulate damage evolution in a structure under fatigue loading for a very large number of cycles.

No description available.