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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Studies

Wildland Fire Disturbance - Recovery Dynamics In Upland Forests At Acadia National Park, Maine, Jessica E. Charpentier Jan 2020

Wildland Fire Disturbance - Recovery Dynamics In Upland Forests At Acadia National Park, Maine, Jessica E. Charpentier

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The overall goal of this study was to evaluate whether coastal Maine (USA) forests are resilient to changing climate and fire regimes. The occurrence of a catastrophic wildfire at Acadia National Park (ANP) in 1947 provided a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of wildfire on forest dynamics in upland communities of coastal spruce-fir and northern hardwood forests of the Maine coast. This study, conducted 68 years after the stand-replacing 1947 Bar Harbor Fire, builds on studies by W.A. Patterson conducted in 1980 and 1992-1994, 33 and 45-47 years after the fire. There were two lines of investigation in this …


The Potential Role Of Payment For Ecosystem Services In Protected Area Management In Rwanda: A Case Study From Gishwati-Mukura National Park, Yves Gakunde Jan 2020

The Potential Role Of Payment For Ecosystem Services In Protected Area Management In Rwanda: A Case Study From Gishwati-Mukura National Park, Yves Gakunde

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The demand for ecosystem services (ES) by communities around the world especially from developing countries is increasing, and creates conflict between protected ecosystem management and community socioeconomic wellbeing needs, particularly around protected areas. Taking into consideration globalization, capitalism, weak policies, and population growth as some of the majors driving factors to land change, increased demand for ES comes in part from societies’ changing economic demands and opportunities, such as food and commercial crop production, timber extraction, urbanization, and infrastructural development. Many biodiversity conservation approaches and initiatives have been used to protect and maintain healthy ecosystems. While the fence and fine …


Positive Organizational Leadership And Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Phenomenon Of Institutional Fossil Fuel Divestment, Abigail Abrash Walton Jan 2016

Positive Organizational Leadership And Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Phenomenon Of Institutional Fossil Fuel Divestment, Abigail Abrash Walton

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Climate change is one of the most significant dynamics of our time.The predominant contributor to climate change is combustion of fossil fuels by humans.This study deepened understanding of organizational leaders’ role in enacting one approach to addressing climate change:institutional fossil fuel divestment.The study used a qualitative research design to explore U.S.-based foundation leaders’ readiness to pursue fossil fuel divestment by their institutions.The study examined leaders’ motivations and actions in pursuing divestment, while simultaneously exercising their fiduciary duty to steward institutional assets.Research questions focused on the divestment behavior change process and the outcomes of divestment on leaders and their organizations.Data collection …


Collaboration And Climate Action At The Local Scale, Linda Lyshall Jan 2011

Collaboration And Climate Action At The Local Scale, Linda Lyshall

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation encompasses a case study and a Participatory Action Research project. The case study focuses on climate change mitigation activities within King County, Washington and its 39 cities and towns and discusses progress and challenges related to transportation issues, efficiency measures, and sustainability planning. The findings indicate there is a high level of activity in waste reduction, environmental outreach and education, bicycle and pedestrian promotion, tree canopy protection, sustainability policies, and green building. Other categories, such as energy efficiency, electric vehicle infrastructure, and greenhouse gas emission inventories and goal setting are on the rise. Twelve of the cities were …


Participatory Planning For A Promised Land: Citizen-Led, Comprehensive Land Use Planning In New York’S Adirondack Park, Ann Hope Ruzow Holland Jan 2010

Participatory Planning For A Promised Land: Citizen-Led, Comprehensive Land Use Planning In New York’S Adirondack Park, Ann Hope Ruzow Holland

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

New York’s Adirondack Park is internationally recognized for its biological diversity. Greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined, the Adirondacks are the largest protected area within the Northern Appalachian/Acadian Eco-Region and within the contiguous United States. Ecologists, residents of the Park, and others are concerned about rapid land use change occurring within the borders of the Park. Almost half of the six million acres encompassed by the Park boundary is privately-owned, where 80% of land use decisions fall within the jurisdiction of local governments. The comprehensive planning process of one such local government, the …