No / The roadside verges and their vegetation in selected counties of north England were evaluated for their conservation status. Thirty five different road sections each 50 m long along different A and B class roads were surveyed and the criteria selected for conservation evaluation included verge area, plant diversity, species richness, disturbance, presence of rare species and structure of hedges. A field assessment sheet was prepared in which, for each factor, a numerical rating system was used. For each factor, information was recorded to help the surveyor in choosing the appropriate score for that site. The rarity of recorded species was determined from the published sources. Most of the surveyed verges (54%) are of low conservation value, 40% are of medium conservation value and only 6% have high conservation status. Despite the unsatisfactory situation, there is considerable potential for using roadside verges for nature conservation because medium class verges could be improved by adopting sound management techniques.

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1999. / Bibliography: leaves 77-79.

abstract: General ecological thought pertaining to plant biology, conservation, and urban areas has rested on two potentially contradictory underlying assumptions. The first is that non-native plants can spread easily from human developments to “pristine” areas. The second is that native plants cannot disperse through developed areas. Both assume anthropogenic changes to ecosystems create conditions that favor non-native plants and hinder native species. However, it is just as likely that anthropogenic alterations of habitats will favor certain groups of plant species with similar functional traits, whether native or not. Migration of plants can be divided into the following stages: dispersal, germination, establishment, reproduction and spread. Functional traits of species determine which are most successful at each of the stages of invasion or range enlargement. I studied the traits that allow both native and non-native plant species to disperse into freeway corridors, germinate, establish, reproduce, and then disperse along those corridors in Phoenix, Arizona. Field methods included seed bank sample collection and germination, vegetation surveys, and seed trapping. I also evaluated concentrations of plant-available nitrate as a result of localized nitrogen deposition. While many plant species found on the roadsides are either landscape varieties or typical weedy species, some uncommon native species and unexpected non-native species were also encountered. Maintenance regimes greatly influence the amount of vegetative cover and species composition along roadsides. Understanding which traits permit success at various stages of the invasion process indicates whether it is native, non-native, or species with particular traits that are likely to move through the city and establish in the desert. In a related case study conducted in Victoria, Australia, transportation professionals and ecologists were surveyed regarding preferences for roadside landscape design. Roadside design and maintenance projects are typically influenced by different groups of transportation professionals at various stages in a linear project cycle. Landscape architects and design professionals have distinct preferences and priorities compared to other transportation professionals and trained ecologists. The case study reveals the need for collaboration throughout the stages of design, construction and maintenance in order to efficiently manage roadsides for multiple priorities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Biology 2010

No description available.

Blomsterlupin (Lupinus polyphyllus) är en välkänd invasiv växt i Sverige som frekvent växer i vägkanter. På grund av dess egenskaper, som konkurrensförmåga och kvävefixering, kan den ha negativa effekter på biodiversiteten vid vägkanter, vilket är habitat som utgör en tillflykt för många inhemska ängsväxter. Trots skötsel av vägkanter är blomsterlupin vanlig längs vägar av olika storlekar. Detta arbete undersöker om det finns skillnader i artens fördelning, täthet och storlek mellan asfaltsvägar och grusvägar. Eftersom asfaltsvägarnas vägkanter sannolikt utsätts för en mer intensiv skötsel, var mina hypoteser att grusvägar hade fler plantor per m2 inom populationerna och att en högre andel av deras vägkanter täcktes av lupin jämfört med asfaltsvägar. Femton lämpliga sträckor av vardera vägtyp var slumpmässigt utvalda och deras lupinpopulationer mättes. Mätningarna inkluderade populationsarea, antal plantor, plantstorlekar, det minsta avståndet mellan plantor och väg, samt vägkantsbredd. Efter analysen av datan med hjälp av Chi2-test och t-tester hittades enbart ett fåtal signifikanta skillnader mellan vägtyper. Det fanns en tendens att blomsterlupin förekommer längs fler asfaltssträckor jämfört med grusvägar men grusvägar hade en högre täthet inom populationer, täckning av kanterna, större populationer och större genomsnittlig plantstorlek. En signifikant skillnad var att plantor växte längre från vägen längs asfaltsvägar jämfört med grusvägar, vilket kan indikera att plantor som undkommer röjningen kan bevara populationerna längs asfaltsvägar. / Garden lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) is a well-known invasive plant in Sweden that frequently inhabits road verges. Because of its traits, such as competitive ability and nitrogen-fixation, it may have negative effects on biodiversity of road verges, which are habitats that represent a refuge for many native meadow plant species. Despite management of roadsides, Garden lupine is common along roads of different sizes. The present work investigates if there are differences in the species’ distribution, density and size among asphalt roads and gravel roads. As the asphalt roads’ road verges most likely experience a more intense management, my hypotheses were that gravel roads had more plants per m2 within the populations and a higher proportion of their verges were covered by lupine compared to asphalt roads. Fifteen suitable sections of each road type were randomly chosen and their lupine populations were measured. The measurements included population area, number of lupine plants, the plant sizes, the minimum distance of plants to the road and road verge width. After analyzing the data using Chi2-test and t-tests only a few significant differences between road types were found. There was a tendency of Garden lupine to occur in more sections of asphalt roads compared to gravel roads but gravel roads had a higher density within populations, coverage of the verges, larger populations and larger average plant size. One significant difference was that plants grew further away from the road along asphalt than on gravel roads, which could indicate that plants that escape management through clipping may sustain the populations along asphalt roads.

The language of flowers was a popular phenomenon in the United States in the nineteenth century. This dissertation on American literature looks at several American women authors’ use of the language of flowers in their novels. I examine the use of the language of flowers in Margaret Fuller’s “Magnolia of Lake Pontchartrain,” “Yuca Filamentosa,” and poetry such as “To Sarah,” Elizabeth Stoddard’s The Morgesons, Edith Wharton’s Summer, Mary Austin’s Santa Lucia: A Common Story and Cactus Thorn, and Susan Glaspell’s The Verge. Through analysis of language of flowers dictionaries, historical studies of the language of flowers, feminist history and theory, and close readings of the sketches, poems, novels, and plays themselves, I will show that American women continued to use and be influenced by the language of f lowers for close to a decade. I will also show that these women writers’ use of the language of flowers shows evolving social attitudes toward women and standards of femininity in American society during the nineteenth and early-twentieth century.

Several changes in land use during the last 50 years of 20th century had a significant impact on the composition of traditional meadows. The abundance of many plant species typical for traditionally managed meadows has declined. But some of these species have found a refuge in habitats such as field margins and road verges. The aim of this study was to describe how the reproduction success of two related Achillea species A. millefolium agg. and A. ptarmica depends on (i) the particular habitat in which they grow (meadow/verge); (ii) the abundance of pollinators in the study site; and (iii) timing of flowering within the season. Moreover, the longevity of individual flowers of the two taxa has been studied in order assess the width of the time frame the reproduction takes place in. These objectives were achieved by means of measuring plant total seed production and germination as proxies of reproductive success both in meadow and verge populations at the beginning, peak and end of the flowering season of the two species in 2012. The plants were chosen at plots, where concurrently a pollinator survey has been conducted as the part of the broader project. The durations of the male and female phases of individual flowers have been studied in separate experiments.

Esta dissertação de mestrado propõe técnicas de Cartografia Digital para um melhor embasamento técnico do Estado na defesa do patrimônio imobiliário estadual em ações judiciais que versem sobre questões relacionadas ao direito de uso e ocupação de terras públicas, em grande parte situadas em áreas de preservação ambiental e que resultam, muitas vezes, em indenizações milionárias contra o Estado. Segundo COSTA NETO (2006), a confusão que predomina na documentação da propriedade imobiliária em unidades de proteção integral favorece a ocorrência de ações ilegais e dificulta a resolução de conflitos, constituindo um dos principais obstáculos às ações governamentais para implantação e proteção dessas unidades. Favorece, ainda, a existência da denominada \"indústria das desapropriações\", por meio de uma corrida em busca de grandes somas de indenizações pelo poder público. Desta forma, torna-se fundamental a adoção de procedimentos técnicos que incorporem metodologias modernas de Cartografia Digital a fim de que possam ser compatibilizadas plantas, escrituras e memoriais descritivos antigos à bases cartográficas georreferenciadas e unificadas, a fim de agilizar trabalhos de defesa dos interesses do Estado, poupando o erário público de indenizações improcedentes. Para tanto, tomou-se como objeto de estudos a Reserva Florestal do Curucutú, imóvel do Governo do Estado de São Paulo, com características técnicas bastante diversificadas, e que bem serviu de paradigma para o estabelecimento e aplicação dos procedimentos nos demais imóveis. / This master thesis proposes techniques of Digital Cartography for the enhancement of the technical bases of the State in the defense of its real state patrimony in judicial actions regarding the issues related to the right of use and occupation of public lands, in great part located in areas of environmental preservation resulting, many times, in millionaire indemnifications against the State. According to COSTA NETO (2006), the predominant confusion on the real state property documentation in units of whole protection favors the occurrence of illegal actions and turns the conflicts resolution difficult, constituting one of the main hindrances to the governmental actions for the implementation and protection of those units. It favors yet the existence of the so called \"Power to Seize Industry\", through a rush in search of great sum of indemnifications by the Public Power. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance the adoption of technical procedures which incorporate modern methodologies of Digital Cartography so the plans can be compatible, deed and old descriptive memorials to cartographic bases geo-referred and unified, in order to streamline the work in defense of the State interests, saving the treasury from unsuitable indemnifications. For in such a way, the Forest Reserve of the Curucutú was overcome as object of studies, property of the Government of the State of São Paulo, with characteristics techniques sufficiently diversified, and that it served of paradigm for the establishment and application of the procedures in the excessively immovable ones well.

A la primera part d’aquesta tesi doctoral s’ha portat a terme l’anàlisi de composició bàsica de 16 productes flequers i de brioixeria tradicionals de la província de Lleida. Els resultats obtinguts indiquen que existeix una gran variabilitat a la composició nutricional dels productes estudiats, derivada de les matèries primeres utilitzades, de la seva formulació i dels processos d’elaboració. La segona part de la tesi s’ha centrat en la millora de les propietats tecnològiques i dels perfils nutricional i sensorial del pa a través de la incorporació d’oli d’oliva verge com a ingredient. Amb aquesta finalitat s’han estudiat els efectes de l’addició d’oli d’oliva a diferents nivells (0-75%) sobre les propietats fisicoquímiques i reològiques de la massa de pa y els efectes sobre el producte final en termes de volum específic, perfil sensorial i composició nutricional. Els pans elaborats amb 4%, 10% i 20% d’oli d’oliva verge han mostrat bones propietats reològiques; no obstant, únicament els dos primers han estat acceptats sensorialment. La tercera part de la tesi s’ha centrat en millorar el contingut fenòlic del pa elaborat amb un 10% d’oli d’oliva verge, per això ha estat necessari establir el procediment d’extracció i quantificació de compostos fenòlics d’una matriu de pa. A més s’ha estudiat la millor combinació temperatura-temps-format de cocció del producte per a minimitzar la pèrdua de compostos fenòlics i maximitzar la preservació del contingut fenòlic inicial. A partir de l’anàlisi sensorial i de la quantificació de fenols, el pa formulat amb oli d’oliva Arbequina enriquit en compostos fenòlics ha estat l’escollit com a producte finalista. / En la primera parte de esta tesis doctoral se ha llevado a cabo el análisis de composición básica de 16 productos de panadería y bollería tradicionales de la provincia de Lleida. Los resultados obtenidos indican que existe una gran variabilidad en la composición nutricional de los productos estudiados, derivada de las materias primas utilizadas, de su formulación y de los procesos de elaboración. La segunda parte de la tesis se ha centrado en la mejora de las propiedades tecnológicas y de los perfiles nutricional y sensorial del pan a través de la incorporación de aceite de oliva virgen como ingrediente. Con esta finalidad se han estudiado los efectos de la adición de aceite de oliva a distintos niveles (0-75%) sobre las propiedades físico-químicas y reológicas de la masa panaria, y sus efectos sobre el producto final en términos de volumen específico, perfil sensorial y composición nutricional. Los panes elaborados con 4%, 10% y 20% de aceite de oliva virgen han mostrado buenas propiedades reológicas; sin embargo únicamente los dos primeros han sido aceptados sensorialmente. La tercera parte de la tesis se ha centrado en mejorar el contenido fenólico del pan elaborado con un 10% de aceite de oliva virgen, para lo que se ha establecido el procedimiento de extracción y cuantificación de compuestos fenólicos de una matriz panaria. Además se ha estudiado la mejor combinación temperatura-tiempo-formato de cocción del producto para minimizar la pérdida de compuestos fenólicos y maximizar la preservación del contenido fenólico inicial. A partir del análisis sensorial y de la cuantificación de fenoles, el pan formulado con aceite de oliva Arbequina enriquecido en compuestos fenólicos ha sido escogido como el producto finalista. / In the first part of this doctoral thesis the basic composition analysis of 16 baked and pastry traditional products of Lleida province has been carried out. The obtained data indicates that there is a great variability in the nutritional composition of the studied products, which is derived of raw materials used, of their formulation and manufacturing processes. The second part of the thesis has been focused on the improvement of technological properties and of nutritional and sensorial profiles of bread through the addition of virgin olive oil as ingredient. For this purpose the effect of addition of different levels of virgin olive oil (0-75%) on physiochemical and rheological properties of bread dough, and its effects on final product in terms of specific volume, sensory profile and nutritional composition have been studied. Bread made with 4%, 10% and 20% of virgin olive oil showed good rheological properties, but only the first two were considered acceptable from sensory analyses. The third part of the thesis has been focused on improving the phenolic content of the bread made with 10% of virgin olive oil; to achieve it, establishing the phenolic compounds extraction and quantification procedure of a bread matrix has been necessary. Furthermore the best combination temperature-time-format of product baking to minimize the lost of phenolic compounds and maximize the preservation of initial phenolic content has been studied. From sensory analyses and phenolic quantification, the bread formulated with Arbequina olive oil enriched with phenolic compounds has been chosen as finalist product.

Au Québec, de nombreux arthropodes s'attaquent au pommier, entraînant des pertes de rendement pour les producteurs. Afin de minimiser ces pertes, les producteurs ont recours à différents traitements chimiques qui ont des conséquences négatives pour l'environnement et la santé humaine. L'objectif de ce projet de recherche était d'établir un aménagement végétal pour améliorer la lutte naturelle aux arthropodes ravageurs. Des plates-bandes de fleurs composées d'achillée millefeuille (Achillea millefolium L.) et de verge d'or du Canada (Solidago canadensis L.) (Asteraceae) ont été établies dans trois vergers de pommiers commerciaux au Québec, afin d'évaluer leur impact sur deux ravageurs du pommier et sur les principaux prédateurs. Les populations de l'hoplocampe des pommes Hoplocampa testudinea Klug et du puceron vert du pommier Aphis pomi DeGeer ont donc été suivies durant l'été 2008 à l'aide de pièges collants blancs et d'observations visuelles dans les vergers et au sein même des aménagements. Dans le même temps, les principaux prédateurs aphidiphages en verger ont été suivis, soit les Araneae, Cecidomyiidae, Chrysopidae, Coccinellidae, Hemerobiidae et Syrphidae. Chaque verger de pommiers comportait des parcelles aménagées (avec plate-bande de fleurs) et non aménagées (avec couvre-sol naturel) qui étaient comparées entre elles. La plate-bande de fleurs a eu un effet positif sur l'hoplocampe des pommes en réduisant significativement l'abondance des populations dans les parcelles aménagées. De plus, une étude en parallèle a permis de démontrer que l'huile essentielle d'achillée millefeuille avait un effet répulsif sur ce ravageur, en réduisant significativement la ponte et le nombre d'œufs dans les fleurs de pommiers. D'un autre côté, le pourcentage de dommages aux fruits était similaire entre les parcelles aménagées et non aménagées. La plate-bande de fleurs n'a pas eu d'effet sur le puceron vert du pommier ni sur les prédateurs aphidiphages, car les abondances n'étaient pas différentes entre les parcelles aménagées et non aménagées, ni entre la plate-bande de fleur et le couvre-sol naturel du verger. La plate-bande de fleurs n'a donc pas joué son rôle attractif attendu envers les arthropodes bénéfiques. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Aménagement végétal, plate-bande de fleurs, Malus sp., huile essentielle, Achillea millefolium, Solidago canadensis, Hoplocampa testudinea, Aphis pomi, prédateurs, Araneae, Coccinellidae, Syrphidae.