Architecture Commons^™

The Relationship Between Bird Species Richness And Human Appropriation Of Net Primary Productivity, Kaeli Mueller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As humans harvest increasing amounts of biomass, it is crucial to gain an understanding of how much energy is being appropriated and the impact that this could have on ecosystems and biodiversity. The primary way in which humans impact biodiversity loss is through land use change. One way of quantifying the impact of land use change is through human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP). This measurement represents the total amount of energy derived from photosynthesis that humans remove from ecosystems and appropriate for their own use. My research studies the relationship between HANPP and bird species richness at the …

Managing Summer Camps: A Study Of Culture And Practices At Environmentally Conscious Camps, Landis Wenger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Supporting private landowners as they manage their land is essential to sustainability because sixty-one percent of land in the United States is privately owned and managed; therefore, it is crucial that we better understand the management practices implemented by private landowners and continue to development best management strategies. A significant portion of these land holders are summer camps. There are over 14,000 summer camps in America. Many summer camps already have cultures where they value their land and the ecosystems on their property; many have also sought to improve their land management practices as well. However, there is a lack …

Evaluating Planning And Management Of Natural Resources Within The Utah State Park System, Erin K. Mann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A change in management style, combined with increased visitation and the advanced age of guiding documents used to describe conditions and goals (known as Resource Management Plans) in Utah’s State Parks, are leading park managers to potentially not fulfill the objectives stated in their Resource Management Plans. Using a research tool known as “content analysis,” we analyzed the Research Management Plans of ten sample parks and found that written plans had strong priorities and goals regarding the care and management of natural resources. Significant findings included strong emphasis on resource protection, data collection, and research. Pre-written questions were asked of …

A Deep Dive Into Natural Swimming Pool Filtration: Living Walls As Technical Wetland Filters, Anna Farb

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Vertical gardens such as living walls can filter air and water, in addition to cooling buildings, reducing noise, increasing urban biodiversity, providing food, and enhancing well-being. Natural swimming pools (NSPs) are an ecologically sound alternative to chemically treated pools, but they have not reached their potential in the U.S. We investigated whether a living wall could be integrated into an NSP system for water filtration purposes, given that the vertical filter would have to produce excellent water quality for human swimmers. This could be a novel landscape design, particularly in the cases of steep contours, urbanized sites with limited space, …

Cultural Ecosystem Services Of Agroecosystems Along The Wasatch Front, Utah, Tiffany K. Woods

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agroecosystems, including peri-urban systems, are important providers of a range of services. However, management of these systems has generally been based on the market value of crops, neglecting to capture the broader public goods that ecosystem services provide to stakeholders. While the ecosystem service framework (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment [MEA], 2005) has been adopted to measure the market and non-market values associated with these services, knowledge gaps persist, particularly with respect to the quantification and valuation of cultural ecosystem services (CES). In this paper, the determination of CES values assigned to agroecosystems by residents of two communities along the Wasatch Front, …

Planning For Active Transportation In The Western United States: An Alternative Future For Cache Valley, Utah, Stephanie A. Tomlin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mobility in the western U.S. is defined primarily by the private automobile. Since the conclusion of WWII, the private automobile has become readily available to the public, and as a result, has heavily influenced the design of our modern cities in the west. In recent years the connections between high motor vehicle use and rising obesity rates, crumbling road infrastructure, and deteriorating air quality have caused city officials to reexamine the transportation systems of the west. One solution advocates, city officials, and planning professionals have begun examining is active transportation (walking, cycling, and public transit). Research suggests that a robust …

Recreation Community Branding: A Comparative Analysis Within Utah’S Wasatch Front, Lynda D. D. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study demonstrates the role recreational amenities play in contributing to the brand identity and sense of place in Utah master planned communities (MPCs). These MPCs are designed to enable residents to live, work, and play within close proximity within a styled built environment. While the built environment is often branded with a particular identity, these identities resonates with other attributes of the community, including recreation amenities. The study focused on MPCs along the Wasatch Front in Utah, since Utah’s population, along the Wasatch Front, is expected to double by 2050 (Envision Utah, n.d.). Many of the developments being built …

Redefining Landscape Norms: Exploring The Influence Of Normative Landscaping Patterns In Washington County, Utah, Ryan White

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As water supplies in the American West become increasingly strained by growing populations and threats of drought and climate change, water managers and governments are working to maximize water-use efficiency. With well over half of municipal water being used on outdoor irrigation, improved landscape water efficiency has been a clear candidate for conservation messaging. Because social norms play a significant role in what conservation behaviors individuals adopt voluntarily, conservation messaging strategies often try to influence and shift norms in favor of improved behaviors. A clear understanding of the existing norms, demographics, and cultural values of an area is essential to …

Understanding Utah's Native Plant Market: Coordinating Public And Private Interest, Virginia Harding Hooper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Changes in Lone Peak Conservation Nursery customer profiles cause state nursery leaders to question what their products are being used for and how trends in native plant use are changing the market for Utah native plants. The Utah native plant market is changing as interest in native plants is expanding to meet new conservation objectives, oftentimes in urban settings. This newer demand for native plants appears to be motivated by current changes in urban conservation behavior, continued population growth in the arid West, scarcity of water resources, the increasing appreciation for indigenous plant aesthetics, and concern for bio-diversity. A survey …

The Wild And Scenic Rivers Act: Perspectives On Private Land Issues, Gary R. Weiner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is the nation's principal tool for accomplishing river conservation. Congress intended for the Act to apply to rivers regardless of ownership of adjacent lands, but efforts to implement the Act on rivers bordered by private property have met with limited success. This paper presents the underlying issues related to private land applications, explores the range of ideas and opinions existing among river conservation experts, agency river planners and others regarding how to work with these issues, identifies areas of general concurrence and least agreement, and makes recommendations for future private land applications of the …

Analysis Of Processes To Determine Site Suitability For A Marina At Bear Lake, Charles J. Houghten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this thesis was to determine the criteria necessary for an analysis of site suitability for locating a marina at Bear Lake. Once criteria were defined and pertinent resource factors collected, a method to analyze the criteria was utilized to aid in the selection of the best site for locating this marina. Various methods to analyze site suitability were evaluated and the pros and cons of the chosen approach, a cluster analysis of existing resource transect data with hypothetical transect criteria, were discussed. Based on this study, no optimum sites were located at Bear Lake for a marina …

Visual Assessment Of Rivers And Marshes: An Examination Of The Relationship Of Visual Units, Perceptual Variables And Preference, John C. Ellsworth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship of two approaches to visual assessment of landscape--the qualitative descriptive inventory and the theoretically-based empirical perceptual preference approach. Three levels of landscape visual units based on bio-physical similarities (landscape units, setting units, and waterscape units) were identified in a marsh (CUtler Reservoir, Cache County , Utah), and its tributary streams. Color slide photographs were taken from five of the visual units. These slides were rated on a 5- point scale by panels of judges for the expression of four perceptual variables--coherence, complexity, mystery, and legibility. The same slides were rated …

Comprehensive Health Planning In Utah: An Organizational Analysis Of Environmental Health Planning, Marsha J. Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study is to delineate the role of a Utah State comprehensive health planning agency in environmental health planning. The scope and nature of environmental health planning was researched thus defining the data base. Secondary information sources and informal interviews were used as sources for data about the existing situations in Utah which affect the organization of environmental health planning. The analysis of existing situational was presented in five sections: Goals for Environmental Health Planning; Intergovernmental Planning Coordination in Utah; Multicounty Health Districts in Utah; Utah State Agencies Having Responsibilities Related to Environmental Health; and Implications of …

A Review Of Commercial Renewal Districts With Possible Applications To Logan, Utah, Maw-Shyong Jean

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis identifies and reviews problems of and the methodology for solving these same problems that confront many of the central business districts in most cities in the United States. Population. street systems, traffic control, parking, and land use as well as street appearance are considered. Problems of congested traffic, shabby, out-of-date and even dilapidated store fronts, as well as pollution, street construction, parking availability are all very real problems in city centers. Contemporary concepts, approaches, ideas of landscape architects and city planners are examined and applied to solving these problems. The commercial district of Logan, Utah is considered, the …

Environmental Criteria To Aid Developers In Site Evaluation For Small Scale Residential Developments In Cache County, Utah, Roger P. Fickes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper is the preparation of environmental criteria to be used to aid future developers, county planning board, and county commissioners in the evaluation of sites for proposed small scale residential developments, and whether that development will have an irreparable environmental impact. The criteria are intended to fill the gap between standards for housing developments and finished design and that of environmental impact of small scale housing developments in Cache County, Utah.

An Evaluation Of Land Use Planning Workshops Held In Utah During 1973, Andrew C. Germanow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During 1973 a series of land use planning workshops for local officials and interested citizens was held in the multi-county planning districts of the state of Utah. The workshops were based on a planning process which had been used in Wasatch County, Utah, to develop the Heber Valley Plan. The emphasis of this process and of the workshops was the involvement of the citizens of the community in the planning process and the use of natural resource information as an additional basis for making planning decisions.

The evaluation includes a description of significant results of the Heber Valley Plan, events …