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Valuing Natural Space And Landscape Fragmentation In Richmond, Va, Lee Wyatt Carpenter Jan 2016

Valuing Natural Space And Landscape Fragmentation In Richmond, Va, Lee Wyatt Carpenter

Theses and Dissertations

Hedonic pricing methods and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) were used to evaluate relationships between sale price of single family homes and landscape fragmentation and natural land cover. Spatial regression analyses found that sale prices increase as landscapes become less fragmented and the amount of natural land cover around a home increases. The projected growth in population and employment in the Richmond, Virginia region and subsequent increases in land development and landscape fragmentation presents a challenge to sustaining intact healthy ecosystems in the Richmond region. Spatial regression analyses helped illuminate how land cover patterns influence sale prices and landscape patterns that …


Benthic Macroinvertebrate Subsampling Effort And Taxonomic Resolution For Bioassessments Of Streams In The James River Watershed Of Virginia, Laurel Williams May 2014

Benthic Macroinvertebrate Subsampling Effort And Taxonomic Resolution For Bioassessments Of Streams In The James River Watershed Of Virginia, Laurel Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Benthic macroinvertebrate diversity influences stream food web dynamics, nutrient cycling and material exchange between the benthos and the water column. Stream bioassessment has moved to the forefront of water quality monitoring in terms of benthic macroinvertebrate diversity in the recent past. The objectives of this study were to determine optimum subsample size and level of taxonomic resolution necessary to accurately and precisely describe macroinvertebrate diversity in streams flowing in the Piedmont province of the James River watershed in Virginia. Forty-nine sampling sites were selected from streams within the Piedmont Physiographic Province of the James River watershed. Ten sites were randomly …


Using Macroinvertebrate Community Composition To Distinguish Between Natural And Anthropogenic Sedimentation, Amanda E. Schutt Sep 2012

Using Macroinvertebrate Community Composition To Distinguish Between Natural And Anthropogenic Sedimentation, Amanda E. Schutt

Theses and Dissertations

Excess fine sediment from human activity is a major pollutant to streams across the U.S.; however, distinguishing human-induced sedimentation from natural fine sediment is complex. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently implemented a protocol for the quantitative field assessment of human-induced sedimentation using measurements of stream geomorphology. Macroinvertebrate community composition, streambed sediment stability, and sediment composition were studied at 49 sites in the James River watershed in central Virginia. Sediment composition was found to be a stronger driver of community composition than sediment stability. Although I was not able to show that macroinvertebrate metrics were related to sediment stability independently …


The Association Between Adult Self-Reported Asthma & Potential Exposures To Asthma Triggers In Virginia Workplaces: An Ecological Study, Jeanette R. Bowman Jan 2007

The Association Between Adult Self-Reported Asthma & Potential Exposures To Asthma Triggers In Virginia Workplaces: An Ecological Study, Jeanette R. Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Work-related asthma (WRA) is thought to be the most common occupational lung disease in the U.S., but there is no standard case definition of WRA. Most states, including Virginia, do not require WRA diagnoses to be reported to health departments. At present, there is too little epidemiological data on WRA in Virginia to direct public health planning efforts. Objectives: The first objective of this study was to estimate potential exposure to workplace asthma triggers in each of Virginia's 35 health districts. The second objective was to examine associations at the health district level between workplace asthma triggers, other asthma …