H.Kobryn@murdoch.edu.au, Halina T. Kobryn

This study investigated the catchment of an urban wetland on sandy soils in Perth, Western Australia. The wetland is of high conservation value but is currently used as a stormwater-compensating basin. The three main aims of this work were to: 1. determine the importance of stormwater drains in the water and pollutant balance of the lake; 2. evaluate pollutant retention rates by the wetland; and 3. identify current land uses in the catchment, determine their impacts on the wetland and identify t...

Bosom García, Eva

Storm-induced impacts are known to cause important economic and environmental damages to coastal systems worldwide. Consequently, the relevance of including hazards and vulnerability assessments in coastal policies has been highlighted during the last years, so that coastal managers can make informed decision to apply mitigation and/or adaptation plans. The main purpose of this thesis is to develop a methodology to quantitatively assess coastal vulnerability to storms at different time scales, c...

Medeiros, Stephen Conroy

This dissertation investigates the use of remotely sensed data in coastal tide and inundation models, specifically how these data could be more effectively integrated into model construction and performance assessment techniques. It includes a review of numerical wetting and drying algorithms, a method for constructing a seamless digital terrain model including the handling of tidal datums, an investigation into the accuracy of land use / land cover (LULC) based surface roughness parameterizati...

Mykyta, John L.

In an effort to solve the forward propagation problem associated with the 1992 Barents Sea Polar Front Experiment Tomography Test, the transmission of a 224 Hz pulse signal from a near bottom sound source to a vertical hydrophone array was simulated based on three-dimensional ray theory. based on three- dimensional ray theory. Through numerical raytracing, followed by eigenray searches and estimations of ray amplitudes, searches and estimations of ray amplitudes, phases and travel times, the arr...

Chumbinho, Rogerio Paulo Antunes

A common characteristic of the interaction between the coastal topography and eastern boundary currents (EBC) is the appearance of cold filaments and mesoscale eddies. Hydrographic and satellite temperature data obtained during a cruise on board R/V Point Sur off Point Arena, California, in May 1993 were analyzed to study a particular eddy field in this area. The hydrographic data was first used to verify the remotely sensed surface temperature field, using three dimensional data visualization. ...

Johnson, Clifford D.

No description available.

Wimberly, Brent

Improvements for environmental monitoring and assessment were achieved to advance our understanding of sea-land interactions and nutrient cycling in a coastal bay.; The comprehensive assessment techniques for monitoring of water quality of a coastal bay can be diversified via an extensive investigation of the spatiotemporal nutrient patterns and the associated eco-hydrological trends in a coastal urban region. With this work, it is intended to thoroughly investigate the spatiotemporal nutrient p...

Huegel, Christoph Peter

A widespread phenomenon on dumpsites in the developing world, subsistence waste picking is also a common practice at the city-owned Coastal Park Landfill (CPL) in Muizenberg. Poor unemployed people from the townships of Capricorn, Vrygrond and Hillview, situated at the foot of the tip “skarrel for scrap” every day. The word skarreling is an Afrikaans term meaning to rummage or scrabble, scuttle or scurry. Thus, if one talks of “skarreling for scrap”, it generally refers to poor peo-ple trying to...

Casas Prat, Mercè

Tesi per compendi de publicacions / Climate change is a hot research topic due to the consequent impacts on our environment in the near future. The last report of the International Panel on Climate Change¿the leading international body for assessment of climate change¿highlights a lack of information on the potential changes in wave climate and, consequently, on their coastal impacts. The problem is largely complicated because wave forcing is affected by a number of uncertainty factors, being th...

Iversen, Ole Magnus Kålås

The goal of this thesis was to analyze the potential indirect environmental impacts, mainly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the construction of novel fjord crossings along Coastal Highway Route E39 in Norway. This was done by conducting an early-phase Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the concepts claimed technically feasible for crossing the Sognefjord. The contribution of GHG-emissions from fjord crossing infrastructure compared to traffic related emissions was investigated in deta...

Naquin, James Dustin

This study is focused on a paleoenvironmental history of a backbarrier coastal lagoon situated on the seaward margin of the Lafourche delta lobe in coastal Louisiana. A 2.2 meter long sediment core (Core BC 53) was collected from a mangrove-covered land strip on the northern margin of Bay Champagne, and was studied using pollen analysis, Loss-on-ignition (LOI), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis, and Cesium-137 and radiocarbon dating techniques to establish sediment stratigraphy and core chronolo...

Ledesma, Roy R.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / Timesections of potential temperature, dewpoint temperature, modified radar refractivity (M), and the vertical derivative of the modified radar refractivity (dM/dZ) from radiosondes and the Ground-based High Resolution Interferometer Sounder (GB-HIS) during three experiments are studied to analyze refractive effects in the coastal boundary layer and evaluate GB-HIS performance. In May of 1991 and 1992, the GB-HIS instrument was deployed o...

Cross, Patrick S.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / A high temporal resolution data set from a mooring in Monterey Bay, California was analyzed and used to calculate heat and momentum fluxes for the purpose of forcing two ocean mixed layer models. The time frame for the study was September, 1992, a period representative of the sea breeze circulation frequently affecting this and other coastal regions. The models used were that of Price, Weller and Pinkel (1986), a Richardson number based ...

Lamboo, Andrea M.

This thesis presents the results of research initiated in May of 1998 to address the need for a communication strategy for Canada's ' Oceans Act' and its three programs. The development of a strategy to communicate the Act and its three programs to the Canadian Arctic coastal communities of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Central and Arctic Region is the overall goal of this research. To effectively communicate the Act and its three programs, there are three objectives: (1) to identify and documen...

Cassie, David M.

The population structure of a lichen, Thamnolia subuliformis and a moss, Dicranum elongatum, was examined in northeastern regions of Wapusk National Park. With the use of microsatellite molecular markers, it was reported that the sterile lichen had a level of variation similar to that of a sexually reproducing species. The variation reported for the moss, where sporophytes were not encountered, supported subdivided populations. It was concluded that these species have the genetic resources ne...

McLaughlin, Garrett

The forests of coastal British Columbia are some of the most productive in the world, providing a wide range of values including timber production, carbon sequestration, and wildlife habitat. Forest management often requires weighing competing values and implementing decisions to promote them, while avoiding negative impacts to other values. Forest ecosystems models such as FORECAST and Habitat Suitability Indices provide a means of analyzing alternative management strategies for their impacts o...

Orellana Lazo, Miguel

Research on climate change indicates that the risk of water scarcity at many remote tourist destinations will increase in the next few decades. Tourism development puts strong pressure on freshwater resources, the availability of which is especially limited in remote areas. At locations with no access to conventional water sources, tourism facilities require supply alternatives, such as desalinated or imported water, which implies elevated energy demands and carbon emissions. In this context, a ...

Rekken, Gregory Kyle

Low-cost hoop houses are common climate enhancing structures used by small to medium-scale farmers for intensive production of high-value crops. On-farm fertilizer production and utilization of locally available soil amendments can reduce input costs, while increasing regional sustainability. Production system specific organic fertilization programs, with respect to relative nutrient concentrations, mineralization rates, and pest and disease suppressing capabilities, are crucial for sustained ...

Mach, Megan Elizabeth

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) offers a holistic evaluation of tradeoffs between human activities, but this offer rests upon a foundation of science. In this thesis, I assessed and advanced the knowledge-base for EBM in five ways, focusing on nonnative species in estuarine ecosystems. In Chapter 2, I tested for the comprehensiveness of research that connects the impacts of anthropogenic activities to changes in ecosystem service production, employing a literature review of estuarine ecosystem...

Woo, Mai Lei Margaret

Theoretical developments in the study of hunger and famines are largely grouped into two schools, one emphasizing environmental factors and the other, social factors. However, narratives from Sinde village in Southeastern Tanzania blur the environmental/social divide to describe an interconnected social landscape. Local food narratives reveal that landscapes embody power that determines where people can or cannot farm and fish. Drawing on participant observation of everyday life in the village o...

Kim, Micheline Agi

In small streams, shading from the riparian canopy can limit production by stream algae. Removal of the riparian canopy due to forest disturbance can alter light and nutrient regimes in small streams, which in turn may influence grazer-periphyton interactions within the stream community. To investigate the influence of forest disturbance on grazer-periphyton interactions, I conducted an experiment to test for the effects of light, nutrients, and grazing by tadpoles of the tailed frog (Ascap...

Zhong, Anliang

Secondary biosolids were applied to 16- and 26-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) plantations (SI50 = 27 m and 36 m, respectively) in the Southern Moist Submaritime Coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic subzone (CWHmsl), British Columbia, in order to investigate the effects on soil chemical properties, tree nutrient status, stand growth and yield, soil moisture availability and tree water status, tree photosynthesis, leaf area index and water use efficiency. Compar...

Mailly, Daniel

The Coastal Western Hemlock (CWH) is an important biogeoclimatic zone in British Columbia. Studies on forest stand dynamics in this zone have been quite limited, and have generally focussed on moist, old-growth ecosystems. This lack of study of serai forest development may have resulted partly from the belief that the major stand development work had already been done. Although several studies provide a contextual framework for understanding successional dynamics in these forests, substanti...

Curran, Michael Patrick

To investigate regional (southern Coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone) trends in fire effects on longer-term tree growth and nutrient levels, 52 research blocks were resampled in five subzones, from Long Beach (west coast of Vancouver Island) to Mission Tree Farm (50 km east of Vancouver). These were on 1938 to 1985 burns studied by the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), B.C. Ministry of Forests, industry, and the University of British Columbia. Five new 1985 research blocks were monito...

Onate, Nilda Elvira

This study showed how selected growth and yield simulations models compare in predicting the results of a set of prescriptions for planted stands of coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii [Mirb.] Franco). Estimates of growth rate, mean diameter, and yield were compared over a rotation for various sites. An economic analysis of the projected estimates was conducted with particular focus on a site index of 30 m. The selected models showed a wide variation predicting the eff...

Pavel, Mihai

As forest harvesting shifts from old-growth to second-growth stands, profitability is becoming an important issue. In a cooperative project involving Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC), University of British Columbia (UBC) and Canadian Forest Service - Pacific Forestry Center, a model was developed to predict economics of second-growth harvests. The final result that can be obtained with the model is the net revenue produced after logging a second-growth stand. This is ...

Heise, Kathy Ann

Throughout most of their range, Pacific white-side dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) inhabit pelagic waters, or the continental shelf and slope. In recent years, however, their abundance has increased markedly in the nearshore waters of British Columbia, and the species is likely the most numerous cetacean in the region. In this study I examined the timing of this increase, and ecological and population factors that may have contributed to it. No systematic population censuses of Pacific wh...

Wahbe, Tanya Rhoda

Ten headwater creeks were surveyed for tailed frog tadpoles in the summers of 1994 and 1995 to assess possible effects of timber harvest on their population density and structure. Three watersheds were selected to replicate three treatments: old-growth (250+yrs), mature second growth (60-80yrs) and young clearcut (~5yrs). One buffered clearcut creek was located and sampled but not replicated. Creek and site characteristics modified the response forest harvest had on tailed frog tadpole popul...

Bennett, Douglas Martyn

The Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) worked with International Forest Products Limited (INTERFOR) to plan and implement a partial cutting trial at Chamiss Bay on Vancouver Island's west coast. A study was conducted to investigate the harvesting feasibility of partial cutting in old-growth stands on steep slopes. The study sites were located within the CWHvml biogeoclimatic unit. Harvesting, using manual falling and cable yarding systems, was done in the summers of 199...

Moore, Janet Linda

This thesis focuses on the planning problems of anticipated increases in average global seas levels for coastal and island communities throughout the world. The combination of global warming repercussions, increasing population growth, and the evolution of megacities are discussed in the context of sustainable development in communities affected by rising sea levels. Inherent in these discussions are the related planning, political, and economic issues of equity and security of loc...

Pernu, James Victor

The management of the coastal zone is a complex task facing all three levels of Canadian Government. While academic research and public attention tend to focus on federal and provincial agencies, the role of local government has been left largely unexplored. This thesis examines the role of local government in coastal zone management in British Columbia and evaluates local government’s contribution to the management of the coastal zone based on the performance of local planning policies in ...

Sheldon, Kim Antoinette

To have greater predictive abilities for informed resource management guidelines for freshwater species protection and management, we need to increase our limited knowledge of the many aquatic species that inhabit small coastal streams. Coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii) are common to small streams in the Pacific Northwest and are a species of concern or threatened throughout their native range. To address knowledge needs I (1) examined the seasonal variation in survival rate...

Adams, Seth Daniel

Forest fertilization has long been used to enhance tree growth and timber yield. More recently, fertilization has become the focus of increased interest as a potential method for increasing soil C uptake, vis-à-vis suppression of microbial enzymes that decompose recalcitrant soil organic matter (SOM). However, fertilization is also associated with increased emission of the potent greenhouse gas N₂O. In this study I evaluate the effect of N amendment on activities of soil enzymes and on N am...

Gerzon, Michael

Since the early 1900’s logging activities in coastal British Columbia (BC) have reduced the extent of old-growth forest area from its historical distribution of 90% to approximately 55% of the forest landbase at present. Presently, the province employs an age threshold approach to identify old-growth forest throughout BC. While this approach allows for a rapid inventory assessment, there are several factors that limit its efficacy: the age-based classification method does not capture the gradual...

Dewi, Meiliana

Green-tree or variable retention harvesting is being increasingly adopted as an alternative to clearcutting in the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia (BC), to maintain forest biodiversity and function and enhance aesthetic quality. Green-tree retention may also benefit the soil resource, and research is needed to understand how these silvicultural treatments affect soil nutrient availability and microbial community structure and function. The objectives of this study were to determine...

Merrin, Claire

Dissolved Mn, Al, Cd and Cu concentrations were determined across a series of horizontal surface transects along the Northeast Pacific Ocean from the coast off Big Sur, California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This region of coastline allows the relative importance of different modes of input of trace metals to California Current surface waters to be assessed. In particular, the impact on dissolved concentrations of fluvial input from the Columbia River, diffusion from reducing she...

Shirley, Susan

Riparian ecosystems are known for their high diversity, yet they represent one of the most threatened habitats globally. I studied riparian and upland bird communities in undisturbed old-growth forest on western Vancouver Island, B.C. and in riparian buffer strips retained after harvesting. In undisturbed forest, species richness and diversity did not differ over the riparian-upland gradient. Except for riparian specialists and species associated with deciduous vegetation, there was broad o...

Kalikoski, Daniela C.

Fisheries are often referred to as a common pool resource (CPR) in which exclusion is difficult and resource use involves subtractability. In the estuary of the Patos Lagoon, Southern Brazil, artisanal fisheries management has faced a crisis which brought forth a co-management regime, represented by a Forum, to manage fisheries CPRs. The objectives of the thesis were to analyse the implementation of the Forum arrangement and to recommend ways to strengthen the comanagement process. The anal...

Kim, Hyeong Jeong

This research investigated hillslope subsurface flow processes and the mechanisms of runoff generation in a forested catchment in British Columbia in response to rainfall and snowmelt events. Observations at a hillslope segment included subsurface outflow from a soil pit, ground water levels, hydraulic conductivities, and snow water equivalent. Stream discharge and meteorological data were monitored in the catchment. Subsurface flow at the hillslope segment responded rapidly enough to input...

Fabris, Stéphanne

As the forest industry in British Columbia becomes increasingly dependent on second-growth timber for its raw material supply, the question of wood quality becomes more relevant. Accelerated growth in forest plantations, coupled with an earlier harvest, will lead to changes in the quality of the timber harvested. The influence of cambial aging, initial spacing, stem taper and growth rate was non-destructively evaluated on the wood quality characteristics of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii...

Roberge, Michelle

A multi-stream comparative study conducted in southwestern British Columbia revealed that juvenile coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) were found at highest density in narrow (< 3 m), shallow (< 40 cm) streams with non-coarse substrate. To assess how cutthroat trout grow and behave within different physical habitats, I selected three streams for intensive examination from the physical structure gradient that I derived in the multi-stream study: (A) narrow width, shallow, fi...

Allison, Clay Stanley

Evaluating investments in projects designed to restore the natural system and prevent expected loss from events such as landslides is difficult because of the complexity of the natural system and chance. Using a road deactivation project in coastal British Columbia as a case study, I demonstrate the use of decision analysis to organize the complexity of the natural system. The resulting structure provided a series of focal points for an expert group to develop consensus estimates of the pro...

Sadler, Kella Darleen

This thesis had two general objectives: to describe the patterns of distribution and abundance of terrestrial bryophytes in old growth subalpine forests at two study areas (Cypress and Mt. Seymour Provincial Parks) in southern coastal British Columbia, and to determine the scale at which environmental factors influence these patterns. Using principal components analyses, it was demonstrated that regional scale ("biogeographical") plant associations correspond only weakly to the patterns of ...

Boss, Shelly Marrie

To what extent are salmonids limited by food and cover in streams? To answer this question, I conducted a summer field experiment to test the effects of food and cover on growth, survival and emigration of coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki). Resources that affect summer growth can further influence individuals if body size is linked to other aspects of fish ecology, such as over-winter survival. Thus, I also examined whether size at the end of the experiment improved survi...

Jia, Xiaojuan

The increasing risk of river flooding or coastal submersion is already visible through recent events like the storm Xynthia and the floods in the Var department, which caused several dozens of deaths in France. These catastrophic events, even if their extent remains relatively limited, would have justified a preventive evacuation of high risk prone areas. However, the consequences for the population would be much more serious when large cities of hundreds of thousands of people will be partially...

Brunelli, Federico <1975>

This thesis presents SEELF (Sustainable EEL fishery) Index, a methodology for evaluation of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) for the implementation of an effective Eel Management Plan, as defined by EU Regulation No.1100/2007. SEELF uses internal and external indices, age and blood parameters, and selects suitable specimen for restocking; it is also a reliable tool for eel stock management. In fact, SEELF Index, was developed in two versions: SEELF A, to be used in field operations (catch&rele...

Manrique Paredes, Rosa Soledad <1971>

Fog oases, locally named Lomas, are distributed in a fragmented way along the western coast of Chile and Peru (South America) between ~6°S and 30°S following an altitudinal gradient determined by a fog layer. This fragmentation has been attributed to the hyper aridity of the desert. However, periodically climatic events influence the ‘normal seasonality’ of this ecosystem through a higher than average water input that triggers plant responses (e.g. primary productivity and phenology). The i...

Bellafiore, Debora <1981>

This work is a detailed study of hydrodynamic processes in a defined area, the littoral in front of the Venice Lagoon and its inlets, which are complex morphological areas of interconnection. A finite element hydrodynamic model of the Venice Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea has been developed in order to study the coastal current patterns and the exchanges at the inlets of the Venice Lagoon. This is the first work in this area that tries to model the interaction dynamics, running together a model for...

Navarro, Rachelle G.

The sanitary collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of human waste promotes health, improves the quality of the environment and thus, the quality of life in a community. Some poor communities in developing countries, rarely consider inadequate excreta disposal a problem. In absence of sanitation facilities, these communities rely on natural processes to dispose of their waste, wherein the practice of defecating in the open fields or on surface water is prevalent. / In communities occ...

Blyth, Samuel

The investigation of socio-ecological interactions involving mangrove ecosystem services (ES) illustrates the complexity of the relationships between functional ecosystems, market integration and the ability to maintain human well-being. The Belo-sur-Mer system of mangrove forests, located on the west coast of Madagascar, provides a range of ES to the communities of Antanamanimbo and Marofihitsy. Mangrove fisheries provide the majority of monetary incomes in both communities, representing 53.5...