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Examining The Role Of Social Capital In Community Development: How The Creation Of A Land Trust Set A Small Town On The Path To Sustainability, Lynda A. Brushett
Examining The Role Of Social Capital In Community Development: How The Creation Of A Land Trust Set A Small Town On The Path To Sustainability, Lynda A. Brushett
Doctoral Dissertations
Theoretical constructs of social capital and sustainable community development are examined through the lens of the lived experience of a small Vermont town. A case study of the community's land use planning history from the 1960's through to the present assesses the actions and relationships among individuals and institutions engaged in civic efforts to achieve environmental, economic, and social balance in development decision-making. The role of a land trust and its members as a community system changing variable---a self-organized institutional response to the concerns of citizens to the unsustainable development of their community---is evaluated. Findings describe the process whereby social …
Fire Dynamics In Amazonia, Manoel Cardoso
Fire Dynamics In Amazonia, Manoel Cardoso
Doctoral Dissertations
Fires are major disturbances for ecosystems in Amazonia. Because of their short time scale and strong links to biogeochemical cycles, fires significantly affect fluxes and stocks of carbon and nutrients, change air composition, and modify ecosystems structure and functioning. Fires are strongly related to land-use, land-cover and climate conditions. Because the increasing development of the region, these factors have been changing and leading to different patterns of fire activity. Thus it is very important to understand the dynamics of fires in the region and to develop models that can project their potential changes. To contribute in all these subjects, we …
The Influence Of Urbanization On Runoff Generation And Stream Chemistry In Massachusetts Watersheds, Brian A. Pellerin
The Influence Of Urbanization On Runoff Generation And Stream Chemistry In Massachusetts Watersheds, Brian A. Pellerin
Doctoral Dissertations
The conversion of forested and agricultural land to suburban and urban landscapes is a dominant land use change dynamic in the United States and has implications for watershed hydrology and water quality. Here I evaluate the effect of integrated landscape features (e.g., percent residential or developed) and watershed-scale attributes influenced by urbanization on stream nutrient concentrations in headwater catchments in Massachusetts. In addition, I evaluate the importance of surface versus subsurface flow paths during rainfall events in stormflow generation in a small urban catchment. The percentage of residential land explains 52% of the variability in mean annual nitrate (NO3) concentrations …
Assessing Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Induced Decline And Susceptibility Using Hyperspectral Technologies, Jennifer Pontius
Assessing Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Induced Decline And Susceptibility Using Hyperspectral Technologies, Jennifer Pontius
Doctoral Dissertations
The ultimate goal of this study was to provide the scientific framework for using narrow band hyperspectral instruments to assess early hemlock decline and susceptibility to the introduced hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). To this end, spectral data from an ASD FieldSpec Pro was used to develop a 6-term linear regression equation, which predicted a detailed decline rating (0--10) with an R2 of 0.71 and RMSE of 0.591. To scale up this method to a remote sensing platform, NASA's Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) was used to create a hemlock abundance map, correctly identifying hemlock dominated pixels (>40% basal …
A Study Of Basidiomycetes Isolated From Coarse Woody Debris And Contiguous Soil Horizons In A Mixed Deciduous-Conifer Forest In New Hampshire, United States Of America, Therese Ann Thompson
A Study Of Basidiomycetes Isolated From Coarse Woody Debris And Contiguous Soil Horizons In A Mixed Deciduous-Conifer Forest In New Hampshire, United States Of America, Therese Ann Thompson
Doctoral Dissertations
The wood decay fungus Hypholoma sublateritium (Fr.) Quel., links the mineral (BC & E) and organic (Oe) soil layers to decomposing coarse woody debris (CWD) in a northern hardwood forest. This link supports the possibility that energy stored in woody debris can facilitate the vertical transfer of elements and compounds within the soil profile. This potential transfer implies new pathways for biogeochemical cycling within forests. H. sublateritium was isolated from basidiocarp fruiting bodies (October 1997 & 1998), Acer rubrum L. bole wood (June 1999), and three soil horizons (October 1999 and October 2000) from one of six research sites in …