There is a strong conservation need to understand traits of native species that adapt to urban environments, but results have been equivocal. Wetland birds have shown a strong phylogenetic signal towards urban tolerance; however, these species have largely been ignored in urban studies. I used Wood Storks (Mycteria americana) to determine how a wetland species of conservation concern responded to human-induced landscape change in South Florida. Specifically, my study investigated 1) resource selection of storks in roadway corridors, 2) factors influencing stork prey biomass in roadside created wetlands, 3) dietary flexibility of storks in response to human-induced landscape change, and 4) the impact of urban food subsidies on natural food limitations and stork productivity. I found that storks preferred canals and roadway corridors within the urban landscape. At a finer scale, storks selected for more natural wetland vegetation even within the urban landscape cover type. These results suggest that roadway corridors even within a highly urbanized area may provide adequate foraging habitat for storks. Factors influencing stork prey biomass in roadside created wetlands varied depending on created wetland type. I found that landscape-level vegetation and the physical properties of a created wetland were more influential in permanently inundated created wetlands whereas local-scale vegetation and hydrologic conditions were most influential in ephemeral created wetlands. Storks also selected prey that were more similar to the larger-bodied fishes in created wetlands than the smaller fishes in natural wetlands. Urban nesting storks selected prey that were more characteristic of created wetlands whereas storks nesting in natural wetlands selected prey that was more characteristic of prey found in natural wetlands. These results suggested that storks may have behavioral plasticity in foraging habitat and prey selection to adapt to some degree of human-induced rapid environmental change. Additionally, storks nesting in both urban and natural wetlands had narrow diet breadths and high productivity during optimal natural wetland conditions; however, during suboptimal natural conditions, urban stork diet expanded to include anthropogenic items, leading to increased productivity. Overall, this research provides a mechanistic understanding of how a wetland species persists, and even thrives, in an urban environment. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The social and structural determinants play a significant role in community health, and differences in the experience of these factors facilitate some of the health disparities that are seen in the US along racial and socioeconomic lines. In this manuscript, I propose a conceptual model of the social determinants of health hierarchy and discuss the positioning of the structural determinants of the built environment within that hierarchy. I discuss the research connecting some of the structural determinants to health outcomes. Finally, I review several opportunities for local government to alter the built environment in ways that can promote community health and mitigate health inequity. / Urban Bioethics

Increasing recognition of the worlds' expanding population and current global rural-to-urban migration necessitates a better understanding and integration of urban ecological process into the framework for urban design (Sandström, 2006). Incorporating ecological processes such as resilience and dispersal into urban design requires special attention be paid to green infrastructure for the preservation and restoration of biodiversity. In addition, biodiversity improvement promotes related ecosystem services (Opdam et al., 2006) and advocates biodiversity conservation and strengthening as a key part of the development of sustainable urban landscapes. This research developed a replicable and broadly applicable method for determining the ability of green infrastructure to increase abundance of the three target species, and by extension, biodiversity. By applying the urban biodiversity assessment method, green infrastructure can be designed to build neighborhood scale urban ecological networks, specifically designed for the target species in Boston’s highly fragmented urban landscapes. Green infrastructures such as urban parks, riparian corridors, street trees, and unused abandoned land have the ability to serve as important reserves of biodiversity. Using the spatial pattern analysis program FRAGSTATS, the assessment of green infrastructure demonstrates its potential for increasing biodiversity of three target species (Red-tailed Hawk, Song Sparrow, and Variegated Fritillary). The comparative analysis of the existing green infrastructure with the proposed scenarios will determine their potential for species-specific neighborhood scale biodiversity improvement. Additionally, the comparison of the proposed scenarios and their rating helps provide valuable information regarding the spatial configuration of green infrastructure and the effect that it can have on target species.

The paper investigates the problem of the contradiction between the importance of the urban environment for the successful socialization of modern adolescents and the continuing hostility of the urban space of the metropolis for adolescents. The analysis of the degree of benevolence of the urban environment for adolescents of a number of typical microdistricts of a large industrial metropolis is carried out. Recommendations are made on improving the municipal policy aimed at creating an urban environment comfortable for children. / В работе исследуется проблема противоречия между важностью городской среды для успешной социализации современных подростков и сохраняющейся недружественностью городского пространства мегаполиса для подростков. Проведен анализ степени доброжелательности городской среды для подростков ряда типичных микрорайонов крупного индустриального мегаполиса. Сформированы рекомендации по совершенствованию муниципальной политики, направленной на формирование комфортной для детей городской среды.

В ходе исследования были изучены основные принципы концепции умных городов, рассмотрен мировой опыт и потенциальные перспективы реализации подобных подходов в Екатеринбурге. Целью работы было выявить уровень соответствия элементов городской среды Екатеринбурга концепции Smart City. Задачи: 1. Изучить содержание и основные составляющие концепции «Умный город». 2. Изучить мировой опыт внедрения принципов Smart City. 3. Рассмотреть элементы городской среды Екатеринбурга применительно концепции «Умный город». 4. Выделить перспективы развития городской среды Екатеринбурга в соответствии с принципами Smart City. Мировой опыт внедрения принципов Smart City очень разнообразен и не может быть на 100% применен в России в неизменном виде, поскольку без учета особенностей жизни общества и условий среды он будет неэффективен. Важно адаптировать достойные идеи на своей территории, а не полностью заимствовать чужие проекты. Результаты опроса показали, что есть некоторые препятствия в распространении и реализации принципов концепции «умного города» в Екатеринбурге: низкая информированность населения, инертность властей и горожан, недостаточный уровень культуры людей, отсутствие системности при внедрении новшеств и др. Несмотря на это, респонденты склонны верить в возможность развития городского пространства по принципам Smart City, осознавая также необходимость объединения усилий власти и населения для реализации проектов. В целом есть неплохие перспективы развития городской среды Екатеринбурга в соответствии с принципами Smart City. / During the research, the basic principles of the concept of smart cities were studied, world experience and potential prospects for the implementation of such approaches in Yekaterinburg were examined. The aim of the work was to identify the level of compliance of the elements of the urban environment of Yekaterinburg with the Smart City concept. Tasks: 1. To study the content and the main components of the concept of Smart City. 2. To study the world experience in implementing the principles of Smart City. 3. To consider the elements of the urban environment of Yekaterinburg in relation to the concept of "Smart City"/ 4. To highlight the prospects for the development of the urban environment of Yekaterinburg in accordance with the principles of Smart City. The world experience in implementing the principles of Smart City is very diverse and cannot be 100% applied in Russia unchanged, because without taking into account the characteristics of society and environmental conditions, it will be ineffective. It is important to adapt worthy ideas on your territory, and not to completely borrow other people's projects. The results of the survey showed that there are some obstacles to the dissemination and implementation of the principles of the smart city concept in Yekaterinburg: low public awareness, inertia of the authorities and citizens, insufficient culture of people, lack of consistency in introducing innovations, etc. Despite this, respondents tend to believe into the possibility of developing urban space according to the principles of Smart City, realizing also the need to combine the efforts of the authorities and the population for the implementation of projects. In general, there are good prospects for the development of the urban environment of Yekaterinburg in accordance with the principles of Smart City.

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Many military conflicts are fought in urban environments that subject the U.S. soldier to a number of challenges not otherwise found in traditional battle. In the urban environment, the soldier is subject to threatening attacks not only from the organized army but also from civilians who harbor hostility. U.S. enemies use the civilian crowd as an unconventional tactic to blend in and look like civilians, and in response to this growing trend, soldiers must detect and identify civilians as a threat or non-threat. To identify a civilian as a threat, soldiers must familiarize themselves with behavioral cues that implicate threatening individuals. This study elicited expert strategies regarding how to use nonverbal cues to detect a threat and evaluated the best medium for distinguishing a threat from a non-threat to develop a training guide of heuristics for training novices (i.e., soldiers) in the threat detection domain. Forty experts from the threat detection domain were interviewed to obtain strategies regarding how to use nonverbal cues to detect a threat (Phase 1). The use of nonverbal cues in context and learning from intuitive individuals in the domain stood out as strategies that would promote the efficient use of nonverbal cues in detecting a threat. A new group of 14 experts judged scenarios presented in two media (visual, written) (Phase 2). Expert detection accuracy rates of 61% for the visual medium and 56% for the written medium were not significantly different, F (1, 13) = .44, p = .52. For Phase 3 of the study, a training development guide of heuristics was developed and eight different experts in the threat detection domain subjectively rated the heuristics for their importance and relevance in training novices. Nine heuristics were included in the training guide, and overall, experts gave all heuristics consistently high ratings for importance and relevance. The results of this study can be used to improve accuracy rates in the threat detection domain and other populations: 1) the soldier, 2) the average U.S. citizen, and 3) employees of the Transportation Security Administration. / Ph. D.

This project has sought to answer the question 'How is landscape made?’ by examining the landscape of the Otago Peninsula on the east coast of the South Island of Aotearoa/New Zealand. By taking a social constructionist approach, an in depth case study has been completed using ethnographic methods combined with discourse analysis. The theoretical framework adopted led to the research question being refined and divided into two parts. The first seeks to determine the discourses that construct the landscape of the Otago Peninsula. Those identified include discourses of Mana Whenua, agriculture, environmentalism, gardening, heritage, neo-liberalism and the picturesque. These discourses interact and resist one another through networks of power. Thus the second part of the research question seeks to understand these networks and the distributions of power through them. The agricultural discourse is the most powerful, albeit under strong challenge from the environmental discourse and from the impacts of neo-liberalism. Mana Whenua discourses have gained significant power in recent decades, but their influence is tenuous. The picturesque discourse has significant power and has been utilised as a key tool in District planning in the area. Thus, the landscape is seen to be made by the dynamic interactions of discourses. This has two consequences, the first, an emphasising of the dynamism of the landscape - it is a process which is under constant flux as a consequence of both the human interactions with and within it, and the biophysical processes which continue outside of human ken. The second consequence is to stress that the landscape is not a unitary object and that this needs to be recognised in the formulation of policy and landscape management.