Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Landscape Ideology In The Greater Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt Plan: Negotiating Material Landscapes And Abstract Ideals In The City's Countryside, K. Cadieux, Laura Taylor, Michael Bunce

K. Valentine Cadieux

We analyze the role of landscape ideology in the recent Ontario Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) Greenbelt Plan. Focusing on the “Protected Countryside,” the major land-use designation in the Plan that structures the Greenbelt framework, we explore tensions between abstract ideals of countryside used by policy makers to elicit support for the Plan and people's lived experience of material landscapes of the peri-urban fringe. Approaching “countryside” from the combined perspectives of landscape studies and political ecology, we show how the abstract ideals used to build support for the protection of countryside in the high-level political arena are in tension with existing …

Smart Engagement: Planning And Decision-Making In Distressed Urban Neighborhoods, Justin Hollander, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Eliza D. Whiteman

Michael P. Johnson

Making The Blue Zones: Neoliberalism And Nudges In Public Health Promotion, Eric Carter

Eric D. Carter

This paper evaluates the ideological and political origins of a place-based and commercial health promotion effort, the Blue Zones Project (BZP), launched in Iowa in 2011. Through critical discourse analysis, I argue that the BZP does reflect a neoliberalization of public health, but as an "actually existing neoliberalism" it emerges from a specific policy context, including dramatic health sector policy changes due to the national Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare; a media discourse of health crisis for an aging Midwestern population; and an effort to refashion Iowa cities as sites of healthy and active living, to retain and …

The Impact Of Hurricane Katrina On The Environmental Security Of The Us Gulf Coast Region And Beyond, John Lanicci, James Ramsay

John M Lanicci

No abstract provided.

Roosevelt Lodge: Essence Of The Old West, Tamsen Hert, Karl Byrand, William Wyckoff, Lee Whittlesey, Langdon Smith, Diane Papineau, Yolonda Youngs

Tamsen Hert

This collection of essays explores the changing cultural landscapes and built environments of Yellowstone National Park.

Your Friends And Neighbors: Localized Economic Development And Criminal Activity, Matthew Freedman, Emily Owens

Matthew Freedman

We exploit a sudden shock to demand for a subset of low-wage workers generated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program in San Antonio, Texas to identify the effects of localized economic development on crime. We use a difference-in-difference methodology that takes advantage of variation in BRAC’s impact over time and across neighborhoods. We find that appropriative criminal behavior increases in neighborhoods where a fraction of residents experienced increases in earnings. This effect is driven by residents who were unlikely to be BRAC beneficiaries, implying that criminal opportunities are important in explaining patterns of crime.

Forthcoming in the …

Paradoxes Of Democratisation: Environmental Politics In East Asia, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

This chapter examines environmental politics in four polities that run the full spectrum of political regimes: mainland China (authoritarian), South Korea and Taiwan (newly democratic), and Japan (mature democracy). The chapter argues that variation in environmental politics in each place resulted primarily from the timing of their environmental movements, with subsequent movements learning from predecessors and gaining increasing access to global NGO networks. Paradoxically, when environmental movements became linked to democratization movements (in South Korea and Taiwan), they also became linked to political parties, which hindered access to government policymaking when non-allied parties were in power.

The Irreconcilable Tension Between Dwelling In Public And The Regulatory State, Renia Ehrenfeucht, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

Renia Ehrenfeucht

No abstract provided.

This Is My Front Yard!” Claims And Informal Property Rights On Sidewalks, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Renia Ehrenfeucht

Renia Ehrenfeucht

No abstract provided.

Narratives Of Social Support And Health In Aboriginal Communities, Chantelle Richmond

Chantelle Richmond

Societies that foster high-quality social relationships and social support seemingly produce healthier populations. Existing research identifies social support as a significant dimension and determinant of Canadian Aboriginal health, yet patterns of morbidity and mortality overwhelmingly reflect social causes (e.g., violence, suicide), thereby suggesting that social support may not be widely accessible within this population. This paper seeks to understand how broader societal factors (e.g., colonialism) work to influence access to social support in the everyday social environments of Aboriginal communities. Narrative analysis of interviews with 26 Aboriginal Community Health Representatives (CHRs) from across Canada. Sources of social support are institutional …

Health Disparities In Canada Today: Some Evidence And A Theoretical Framework, Katherine Frohlich, Nancy Ross, Chantelle Richmond

Chantelle Richmond

This paper documents contemporary evidence on patterns of health disparities in Canada and suggests theoretical mechanisms that give rise to these patterns. The overall health of Canadians, as measured by life expectancy or mortality, has improved dramatically over the past 30 years and some disparities have diminished slightly (e.g., life expectancy by income group for men), while others have increased (e.g., diabetes for Aboriginal peoples). Arguably the most egregious health disparities in Canada are those existing between Aboriginals and the rest of the Canadian population. This paper focuses specifically on three social determinants and their effects on disparities in health; …

Community-Based Participatory Research (Cbpr) With Indigenous Communities: Producing Respectful And Reciprocal Research, Joshua Tobias, Chantelle Richmond, Isaac Luginaah

Chantelle Richmond

The health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada continue to grow despite an expanding body of research that attempts to address these inequalities, including increased attention from the field of health geography. Here, we draw upon a case study of our own community-based approach to health research with Anishinabe communities in northern Ontario as a means of advocating the growth of such participatory approaches. Using our own case as an example, we demonstrate how a collaborative approach to respectful and reciprocal research can be achieved, including some of the challenges we faced in adopting this approach.

Hepatitis B In Ghana's Upper West Region: A Hidden Disease In Need Of National Policy Attention, Paul Mkandawire, Chantelle Richmond, Jenna Dixon, Isaac Luginaah, Joshua Tobias

Chantelle Richmond

Like many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly prevalent in Ghana. Using qualitative methods, this paper draws from the political ecology of health theoretical framework to examine perceptions and understandings of HBV in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The findings reveal that extremely low levels of knowledge and pervasive lay misconceptions about the disease within this geographic context are shaped by large scale structural influences. Furthermore, in this context there is essentially no access to HBV immunizations, testing or treatment services which reinforces potential routes for the spread of HBV. An explosive spread of HBV …

Formal Dementia Care Among First Nations In Southwestern Ontario, Sara Finkelstein, Dorothy Forbes, Chantelle Richmond

Chantelle Richmond

This article explores how dementia care is provided to First Nations communities in southwestern Ontario. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with health care providers and analysed using a constructivist grounded-theory methodology. Two interrelated frameworks for understanding dementia care were identified: a care delivery framework and a knowledge framework. The care delivery framework identified care goals, care elements being provided, care barriers, and strategies and solutions to deliver care and overcome barriers. The knowledge framework defined four groups of knowledge stakeholders: persons with dementia, informal care providers, formal care providers, and the First Nations community. It identified the knowledge each …

Efficacy Of A 3-Hour Aboriginal Health Teaching In The Medical Curriculum: Are We Changing Student Knowledge And Attitudes?, Alysia Zhou, Samantha Boshart, Jennifer Seelisch, Reza Eshaghian, Ryan Mcleod, Jeff Nisker, Chantelle Richmond, John Howard

Chantelle Richmond

There is national recognition of the need to incorporate Aboriginal health issues within the medical school curricula. This study aims to evaluate changes in medical students’ knowledge and attitudes about Aboriginal health, and their preparedness to work in Aboriginal communities after attending a 3-hour Aboriginal health seminar. A cross-sectional survey was administered before and after the seminar for Year 1 and 2 medical students at the University of Western Ontario. The survey included four true or false questions and 24 questions using a seven-point Likert scale (1 – strongly disagree, 7 – strongly agree). Eighty two of 130 (64 per …

The Determinants Of First Nation And Inuit Health: A Critical Population Health Approach, Chantelle Richmond, Nancy Ross

Chantelle Richmond

Environmental dispossession disproportionately affects the health of Canada's Aboriginal population, yet little is known about how its effects are sustained over time. We use a critical population health approach to explore the determinants of health in rural and remote First Nation and Inuit communities, and to conceptualize the pathways by which environmental dispossession affects these health determinants. We draw from narrative analysis of interviews with 26 Community Health Representatives (CHRs) from First Nation and Inuit communities across Canada. CHRs identified six health determinants: balance, life control, education, material resources, social resources, and environmental/cultural connections. CHRs articulated the role of the …

Burma: A Land Of Contrasts, David Butgereit

David M. Butgereit, M.S.N.

No abstract provided.

Spatial Hyperdynamism In A Post-Disturbance Simulated Forest, Qian Wang, George Malanson

George P Malanson

Spatial hyperdynamism in a post-disturbance simulated forest is studied. When the cutting rate is high and if the cutting pattern is scattered or involving a larger area, the two landscape metrics have much greater variance after cutting. After cutting the potential interaction between different species is more dynamic than that before the cutting, which can be detected from the variation of the proximity measure. These dynamics are primarily driven by the appearance and disappearance of single cell patches as colonizers temporarily occupy cells vacated by the deaths of better competitors. Boundary cells are most likely to be dynamic because their …

Comment On Modeling Ecological Response To Climatic Change, George Malanson

George P Malanson

No abstract provided.

Canadian Landform Examples; 27, Beaver Landforms, David Butler, George Malanson

George P Malanson

No abstract provided.

Ecological Processes And Spatial Patterns Before, During And After Simulated Deforestation, George Malanson, Qian Wang, John Kupfer

George P Malanson

Ecological processes and spatial patterns, before, during and after simulated deforestation are examined. A competition-colonization simulation, in which the primary trade offs are represented in a spatially explicit model, is used to explore the consequences of additional aspects of landscape dynamics following deforestation for plant diversity and community structure. Deforestation changes the spatial pattern of the landscape, and species respond differently because of their different dispersal abilities. The basic lessons of competition-colonization models for deforestation stand, but the ensured extinction implied by the extinction debt concept is further ameliorated as more realistic pattern-process relations are theorized.

Geomorphological Limits To Self-Organization Of Alpine Forest-Tundra Ecotone Vegetation, Yu Zeng, George Malanson, David Butler

George P Malanson

Feedback in the establishment of vegetation has been shown to produce spatial patterns that differ from the geomorphological basis for resources. The dynamics of these spatial patterns have been characterized as self-organization because local processes produce them at landscape scales. Geomorphic patterns could, however, enhance or disrupt the processes that lead to patterns and the interpretation of self-organization. A simulation model that showed such indication of self-organization at alpine forest-tundra ecotones is modified to incorporate a geomorphic feature commonly seen in this environment - solifluction steps - as an exogenous condition in the model. Analyses linking spatial patterns and rates …

Nearest Neighbor Analysis Of Miniature Polygonal Patterned Ground, Eastern Glacier National Park, Montana, David Butler, George Malanson, Thomas Wilbanks

George P Malanson

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Dispersal, Population Delays, And Forest Fragmentation On Tree Migration Rates, George Malanson, David Cairns

George P Malanson

Examining the relation between the dispersal of seeds across landscapes and the migration of species can inform studies of processes such as invasions and response to climatic change. In this research a spatially explicit model is used to analyze the effects of dispersal probability, limits on establishment, generation time, seed crop probability, and varying proportions and patterns of landscape fragmentation on migration rate. Comparisons are made with rates inferred for migrations based on isopols of species range changes in the Holocene (20–200 km/century). The effects of the parameters on migration rate in the model are additive. Dispersal probability, related to …

Turf-Banked Terrace Treads And Risers, Turf Exfoliation And Possible Relationships With Advancing Treeline, David Butler, George Malanson, Lynn Resler

George P Malanson

Fine-scale geomorphic/pedogenic processes at alpine treeline may facilitate the initial stages of conifer invasion of alpine tundra. Turf-banked terraces and turf exfoliation associated with solifluction may provide both the topographic protection and the seedbed necessary for conifer establishment above treeline. The morphometry, stoniness and surface penetrability of turf-banked terraces were recorded. Whereas differences among sites exist due to topographic constraints, differences in soil penetrability depend on turf exfoliation. Exfoliated turf risers are significantly more penetrable than non-exfoliated solifluction risers and adjacent treads. These penetrable microsites provide favorable conditions for seed germination. The process of turf exfoliation may play a role …

Fire History And Patterns Of Venturan Subassociations Of Californian Coastal Sage Scrub, George Malanson

George P Malanson

Californian coastal sage scrub has floristically distinct subassociations with sharp boundaries in the Santa Monica Mountains. This mesoscale biogeographic pattern has been variously attributed to the timing and pattern of fire and to differences in the moisture availability on sites. An examination of the actual fire history of sites reveals that recent fire events are unlikely to have caused the observed patterns. Sites with similar fire histories are not as similar in vegetation as sites with different fire histories but similar aspect. Single short fire intervals do not result in dissimilar communities; fires are unlikely to recur with the same …

Effects Of Feedbacks And Seed Rain On Ecotone Patterns, George Malanson

George P Malanson

Ecotones can be abrupt changes in vegetation on gradual abiotic gradients, such as some treelines, and so have been considered as potential indicators of response to climatic change and regulators of fluxes across landscapes. Factors of positive feedback for growth and establishment and seed rain from source areas have been suggested as playing a role in such patterns and dynamics. The effects of variation in feedback strength and seed rain on the abrupt pattern have not, however, been assessed. A spatially explicit computer simulation is used to represent an ecotone as might occur at a mountain treeline. The steepness of …

Geomorphic And Biogeographic Setting Of The Rocky Mountains; Rocky Mountain Futures; An Ecological Perspective, David Cairns, David Butler, George Malanson

George P Malanson

No abstract provided.

Topographic Shelter And Conifer Establishment And Mortality In An Alpine Environment, Glacier National Park, Montana, Lynn Resler, David Butler, George Malanson

George P Malanson

No abstract provided.

Linear Forest Patterns In Subalpine Environments, Matthew Bekker, George Malanson

George P Malanson

Studies of feedback between ecological pattern and process can benefit from the analysis of visually striking patterns, as they may reveal underlying processes and clarify the relative role of exogenous versus endogenous factors in driving vegetation change. Roughly linear forest patches are common in subalpine environments, including `hedges', `ribbon forest', and `Shimagare' or `wave regenerated forests' (waves). The influence of wind is common among these patterns, but the role of positive feedback, the most important component of self-organization in biological systems, varies. Hedges are orientated parallel to prevailing winds in several mid-latitude mountain ranges worldwide. Desiccation and ice-particle abrasion kills …