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Parks As Places Of Public Solace: The Perception Of Parks After 9/11, Ryan Hammond Jan 2018

Parks As Places Of Public Solace: The Perception Of Parks After 9/11, Ryan Hammond

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper investigates the utilization and public perception of parks in New York City following the 9/11 attacks, using a quantitative content analysis of local newspapers published within a year of the attack, specifically looking for themes indicating how parks were perceived and used. My preliminary findings indicate that parks were frequently used for large gatherings and memorials, that people found solace in the parks themselves, and that communities either formed or strengthened through use of parks following the attacks. In conclusion, the creation and promotion of large common green areas in urban spaces may serve as a means of …

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Examining The Influence Of Personal And Environmental Factors On Treatment Outcomes In Opioid Dependent Medication-Assisted Treatment Patients., Vierne Placide Jan 2018

Examining The Influence Of Personal And Environmental Factors On Treatment Outcomes In Opioid Dependent Medication-Assisted Treatment Patients., Vierne Placide

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Opioid abuse has become a global epidemic and is now a huge public health concern here in the US. Non-medicinal use of opioid prescription drugs is at the forefront of the epidemic and considered the "gateway" drug to other illicit opioid use. As opioid prescribing has increased over the last decade in the US, so has opioid-related deaths, surpassing car accidents and suicide as the leading cause of injury-related deaths. Medication assisted treatment (MAT) is fundamental in decreasing opioid abuse overdose and mortality. Therefore, the research study aims to determine if counseling adherence, opioid abstinence, and retention in MATs are …

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An Examination Of Beta Diversity Indices And Their Predictors In Two Large-Scale Systems, Philip Schroeder Jan 2018

An Examination Of Beta Diversity Indices And Their Predictors In Two Large-Scale Systems, Philip Schroeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biodiversity is what conservation biology was developed to conserve. It is the physical manifestation of life as a concept and, be it for practical or idealistic reasons, all conservationists seek to protect or, in some cases, enhance it. Because of its monolithic importance to the field, much effort has been expended trying to better measure and understand it. Recently, greater attention has been paid to the partition of diversity; the observation that the total diversity of a system (γ) can be broken down into within-site diversity (α) and between-site diversity (β). In particular, it has been noticed that the β …

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Weathering The Storm: Effects Of Storm Periods On Ancient Populations Of Coastal Florida, Brett Parbus Jan 2018

Weathering The Storm: Effects Of Storm Periods On Ancient Populations Of Coastal Florida, Brett Parbus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding human response to natural disasters is a core problem for environmental archaeologists. Hurricanes are often devastating to coastal populations, and recognizing behavioral change in response to these major storm events provides context for the resilience and adaptability of ancient coastal people. This research project focuses on retrodicting periods of increased storm frequency and intensity for regions of the Florida coast and comparing those storm periods to the existing archaeological record in order to determine if there are correlations between increased storminess and periods of site abandonment and/or changes in subsistence strategy. These potential correlations may aid in our understanding …

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The Impact Of Arthritis On The Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Individuals At The University Of Central Florida, Ryan E. Garwood Jan 2017

The Impact Of Arthritis On The Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Individuals At The University Of Central Florida, Ryan E. Garwood

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This purpose of the study is to examine the difference in the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between individuals who suffer from physician-diagnosed arthritis compared with individuals who do not suffer from physician-diagnosed arthritis in a population of university students, faculty, and staff. The study sampled from a population of students, faculty, and staff at the University of Central Florida. Through the implantation of a cross-sectional ecological design, differences between the two groups were measured with a survey that measures health-related quality of life, such as the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). The SF-36 questionnaire was distributed to subjects …

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Local Health Department Adoption Of Health Information Technology And Its Impact On Population Health, Tina Yeung Jan 2017

Local Health Department Adoption Of Health Information Technology And Its Impact On Population Health, Tina Yeung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the enactment of the HITECH Act in 2009, the US has invested billions in building a robust health information technology (HIT) infrastructure that is secure, capable of the electronic transfer of data and allows for real-time access of patient medical data, among others. This empirical study explored the driving forces (coercive, mimetic, and normative) in the adoption of HIT (i.e. EHRs and HIEs) by local health departments (LHDs) and how it has impacted the population health of counties in the US. The researcher conducted a cross-sectional, quantitative study using secondary data sources. The study included data on 505 local …

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Home To School Transitions: A Guatemalan Family Portrait, Lisa Crayton Dec 2016

Home To School Transitions: A Guatemalan Family Portrait, Lisa Crayton

TAPESTRY

This study applies a sociocultural perspective to examine the home to school transitions in literacy achievement of three low-income children from Guatemala. Through participant observation and informal conversations with the family during home visits, two factors appeared to influence the literacy development of the family's young children: bilingualism and cultural assimilation. Investigating the home literacy environment of an immigrant family provides an insider's perspective of the life experiences of children from non-mainstream homes. Understanding their home reading and writing experiences, and their transition to school literacy, is valuable for reading teachers facing increasingly diverse students from multicultural backgrounds.

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Transforming The Aquatic Urban Landscape: Nutrient Status And Management Of Stormwater Basins, Lindsay Skovira Jan 2016

Transforming The Aquatic Urban Landscape: Nutrient Status And Management Of Stormwater Basins, Lindsay Skovira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization is a largely irreversible anthropogenic change that degrades environmental quality, including aquatic ecosystems. Stormwater ponds are a popular best management practice (BMP) to mitigate the effects of urban land use on downstream water bodies and contribute significantly to the total area of aquatic ecosystems in some urban watersheds. My research investigated the distribution of stormwater ponds and examined how different urban land uses influenced biophysicochemical conditions and management of those ponds in a rapidly developing suburban watershed in the Econlockhatchee River basin in Florida, USA. I evaluated limnological and ecological parameters in randomly-selected ponds distributed among three urban land-use …

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Settlement History And Interaction In The Manialtepec Basin Of Oaxaca's Central Coast, Victoria Menchaca Jan 2015

Settlement History And Interaction In The Manialtepec Basin Of Oaxaca's Central Coast, Victoria Menchaca

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the focus of over 70 years* of archaeological research, Oaxaca, Mexico, is one of Mesoamerica*s best understood regions. Yet, despite the volume of work in Oaxaca, information about one of its key resource areas, the central Pacific coast, remains limited. Specifically, the ambiguous role of Oaxaca*s Central Coast in interregional relationships during pre-Hispanic times to the sites of Monte Alban and Tututepec has been a chronic problem and major source of debate for decades. The purpose of this thesis is to begin clarifying the role of Oaxaca*s Central Coast in interregional networks and its pre-Hispanic history. Analysis utilized surface …

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Quantifying The Effects Of Boat Wakes On Intertidal Oyster Reefs In A Shallow Estuary, Donna Campbell Jan 2015

Quantifying The Effects Of Boat Wakes On Intertidal Oyster Reefs In A Shallow Estuary, Donna Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There have long been concerns about the negative impacts of recreational boating activity in the Indian River Lagoon system (IRL), especially in Mosquito Lagoon (ML), the northernmost part of the IRL. My research is focused on the impacts of boat wakes on intertidal reefs formed by the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. There has been a 24% loss of oyster habitat in ML since 1943, where natural oyster reefs have been replaced by dead oyster reefs which do not serve the same ecological function. While there is anecdotal and correlative evidence that this loss is a result of boat wakes, no …

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Testing For Isolation In Florida Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) Using Phylogenetics And Population Genetic Structure, Alexa Trujillo Jan 2015

Testing For Isolation In Florida Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) Using Phylogenetics And Population Genetic Structure, Alexa Trujillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Molecular data are useful in determining if populations are isolated and for species delimitation. Researchers and managers currently recognize five subspecies of raccoons (Procyon lotor) in Florida, based largely on perceived geographic isolation due to the island ranges of four subspecies. In this study, I provide the first estimate of phylogenetic relationships and population divergences within Florida raccoons using a molecular dataset. I analyze the mitochondrial control region, cytochrome b gene, and eight nuclear microsatellite loci to test two hypotheses: 1) the five, morphologically and geographically-defined subspecies of raccoon in Florida represent genetically distinct populations and (2) due to differing …

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Does The Journey Matter More Than The Destination? The Contribution Of Geospatial And Local Conditions To Invasive Pomacea Maculata Distribution Across Ranchland Wetlands, Steffan Pierre Jan 2015

Does The Journey Matter More Than The Destination? The Contribution Of Geospatial And Local Conditions To Invasive Pomacea Maculata Distribution Across Ranchland Wetlands, Steffan Pierre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geospatial characteristics such as isolation and avenues of connectivity influence an invader's pattern of dispersal and distribution. However many examinations of invasion success ignore the contribution of dispersal to patterns of invasion and focus only on the local environmental/habitat factors. This study examines the interaction of geospatial characteristics, that may influence dispersal, and local environmental factors, that may govern successful occupation, on the likelihood of invasion (invasability) of wetlands within an agriculturally modified landscape. I examined the current invasion of seasonal wetlands in south-central Florida ranchland by non-native apple snails (Pomacea maculata (Ampullariidae)) as a model system for understanding this …

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The Use Of Stable Isotopes To Assess Potential Effects Of Algal Blooms On Seagrass And Macroalgae Communities In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Alexandra Azcona May 2014

The Use Of Stable Isotopes To Assess Potential Effects Of Algal Blooms On Seagrass And Macroalgae Communities In The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Alexandra Azcona

HIM 1990-2015

Algal blooms have caused significant losses in seagrass and macroalgae in the Indian River Lagoon, FL. To gain an understanding of these effects, samples of Gracilaria sp., Halodule wrightii, pinfish, and white mullet were taken throughout October and November of 2013. Samples from 2001 of Gracilaria sp., Halodule wrightii, Syringodium filiforme, Thalassia testudinum, pinfish, spotted seatrout, and white mullet were also obtained. Stable isotope data were obtained from these samples and compared by year and species. Halodule wrightii and pinfish had a significantly larger 2013 [delta]C13 values. Halodule wrightii also displayed lower total %C and total %N averages for 2013 …

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Isotope Turnover Rates And Diet-Tissue Discrimination In Skin Of Ex Situ Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Nicole E. Browning, Christopher Dold, Jack I-Fan, Graham A. J. Worthy Jan 2014

Isotope Turnover Rates And Diet-Tissue Discrimination In Skin Of Ex Situ Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), Nicole E. Browning, Christopher Dold, Jack I-Fan, Graham A. J. Worthy

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

Diet-tissue discrimination factors (Delta N-15 or Delta C-13) and turnover times are thought to be influenced by a wide range of variables including metabolic rate, age, dietary quality, tissue sampled and the taxon being investigated. In the present study, skin samples were collected from ex situ dolphins that had consumed diets of known isotopic composition for a minimum of 8 weeks. Adult dolphins consuming a diet of low fat (5-6%) and high delta N-15 value had significantly lower Delta N-15 values than animals consuming a diet with high fat (13.9%) and low delta N-15 value. Juvenile dolphins consuming a diet …

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The Relationship Of State Political Instability And Economic Failure To Predatory Organized Crime In Multiple Nations: A Global Comparative Anaylsis, Terrance Ruth Jan 2014

The Relationship Of State Political Instability And Economic Failure To Predatory Organized Crime In Multiple Nations: A Global Comparative Anaylsis, Terrance Ruth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship of political instability and economic failure to predatory organized crime in multiple nations. This is an important issue since each year the increase in predatory crime networks contributes to international economic failure, security risks, and the spread of organized crime. In an effort to understand the relationship between state failure and economic failure on the one hand, and organized crime on the other, this study will seek to address three goals. First, the study tests the degree to which variables that imply economic failure and state failure correlate with predatory organized crime. Second, the study …

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Threatened And Endangered Subspecies With Vulnerable Ecological Traits Also Have High Susceptibility To Sea Level Rise And Habitat Fragmentation, Allison M. Benscoter, Joshua S. Reece, Reed F. Noss, Laura A. Brandt, Frank J. Mazzotti, Stephanie S. Romañach, James I. Watling Jan 2013

Threatened And Endangered Subspecies With Vulnerable Ecological Traits Also Have High Susceptibility To Sea Level Rise And Habitat Fragmentation, Allison M. Benscoter, Joshua S. Reece, Reed F. Noss, Laura A. Brandt, Frank J. Mazzotti, Stephanie S. Romañach, James I. Watling

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

The presence of multiple interacting threats to biodiversity and the increasing rate of species extinction make it critical to prioritize management efforts on species and communities that maximize conservation success. We implemented a multi-step approach that coupled vulnerability assessments evaluating threats to Florida taxa such as climate change, sea-level rise, and habitat fragmentation with in-depth literature surveys of taxon-specific ecological traits. The vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and ecological traits of 12 threatened and endangered subspecies were compared to non-listed subspecies of the same parent species. Overall, the threatened and endangered subspecies showed high vulnerability and low adaptive capacity, in particular to …

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Social Insects Dominate Eastern Us Temperate Hardwood Forest Macroinvertebrate Communities In Warmer Regions, Joshua R. King, Robert J. Warren, Mark A. Bradford Jan 2013

Social Insects Dominate Eastern Us Temperate Hardwood Forest Macroinvertebrate Communities In Warmer Regions, Joshua R. King, Robert J. Warren, Mark A. Bradford

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

Earthworms, termites, and ants are common macroinvertebrates in terrestrial environments, although for most ecosystems data on their abundance and biomass is sparse. Quantifying their areal abundance is a critical first step in understanding their functional importance. We intensively sampled dead wood, litter, and soil in eastern US temperate hardwood forests at four sites, which span much of the latitudinal range of this ecosystem, to estimate the abundance and biomass m(-2) of individuals in macroinvertebrate communities. Macroinvertebrates, other than ants and termites, differed only slightly among sites in total abundance and biomass and they were similar in ordinal composition. Termites and …

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Assessing The Performance Of A Northern Gulf Of Mexico Tidal Model Using Satellite Imagery, Stephen C. Medeiros, Scott C. Hagen, Naira Chaouch, Jesse Feyen, Marouane Temimi, John F. Weishampel, Yuji Funakoshi, Reza Khanbilvardi Jan 2013

Assessing The Performance Of A Northern Gulf Of Mexico Tidal Model Using Satellite Imagery, Stephen C. Medeiros, Scott C. Hagen, Naira Chaouch, Jesse Feyen, Marouane Temimi, John F. Weishampel, Yuji Funakoshi, Reza Khanbilvardi

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

Tidal harmonic analysis simulations along with simulations spanning four specific historical time periods in 2003 and 2004 were conducted to test the performance of a northern Gulf of Mexico tidal model. A recently developed method for detecting inundated areas based on integrated remotely sensed data (i.e., Radarsat-1, aerial imagery, LiDAR, Landsat 7 ETM+) was applied to assess the performance of the tidal model. The analysis demonstrates the applicability of the method and its agreement with traditional performance assessment techniques such as harmonic resynthesis and water level time series analysis. Based on the flooded/non-flooded coastal areas estimated by the integrated remotely …

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Habitat Use And Feeding Ecology Of Delphinids Inferred From Stable Isotopes And Fatty Acid Signatures, Nicole Browning Jan 2013

Habitat Use And Feeding Ecology Of Delphinids Inferred From Stable Isotopes And Fatty Acid Signatures, Nicole Browning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prey availability, directly or indirectly, affects all aspects of a predator’s life history and is a primary factor influencing habitat selection and movements. This is especially true for delphinid species where it has been documented that the behaviors and movements of dolphins are strongly influenced by food availability. Unfortunately, the feeding ecology and habitat use patterns of many of these species are poorly understood. Many methodologies that have been employed to explore these facets of dolphin ecology have limitations and constraints or are logistically infeasible. Stable isotope and fatty acid signature analyses have been used extensively on a wide variety …

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Hidden Earthworks In The Forests Of The Bolivian Amazon, John H. Walker Jul 2012

Hidden Earthworks In The Forests Of The Bolivian Amazon, John H. Walker

ProSIGAB Documents

No abstract provided.

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Phylogenetic Community Structure Of Aquatic Beetle Assemblages In A Multi-Wetland Experiment, Sandor Lawrence Kelly Jan 2012

Phylogenetic Community Structure Of Aquatic Beetle Assemblages In A Multi-Wetland Experiment, Sandor Lawrence Kelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phylogenetic Community Structure (PCS) metrics are becoming more common in community ecology. PCS metrics estimate the phylogenetic relatedness among members of an ecological community or assemblage. If ecological traits are conserved, then phylogenetic clustering (i.e., taxa are more closely related than expected by chance) indicates habitat filtering as the key process in community assembly. On the other hand, a pattern of phylogenetic overdispersion (i.e., taxa are more distantly related than expected by chance) suggests competition is dominant. Most studies to date have used PCS of unmanipulated ecosystems, but the value of PCS metrics will be best revealed in experiments. This …

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The Colonial Legacy Of Environmental Degradation In Nigeria's Niger River Delta, Joseph England Jan 2012

The Colonial Legacy Of Environmental Degradation In Nigeria's Niger River Delta, Joseph England

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nigeria’s petroleum industry is the lynchpin of its economy. While oil has been the source of immense wealth for the nation, that wealth has come at a cost. Nigeria’s main oilproducing region of the Niger River Delta has experienced tremendous environmental degradation as a result of decades of oil exploration and production. Although there have been numerous historical works on Nigeria’s oil industry, there have been no in-depth analyses of the historical roots of environmental degradation over the full range of time from the colonial period to the present. This thesis contends that the environmental degradation of Nigeria’s oil producing …

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Biogeochemical Cycling And Nutrient Control Strategies For Groundwater At Stormwater Infiltration Basins, Andrew M. O'Reilly Jan 2012

Biogeochemical Cycling And Nutrient Control Strategies For Groundwater At Stormwater Infiltration Basins, Andrew M. O'Reilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Elevated concentrations of nutrients, particularly nitrate, in groundwater and springs in Florida are a growing resource management concern. Stormwater infiltration basins, which are a common stormwater management practice in the well-drained karst terrain areas of Florida, are a potentially important source of nutrients to the groundwater system because stormwater exits the basin by only evaporation or infiltration. To better understand the biogeochemical processes integrating stormwater infiltration impacts on groundwater resources in a field-scale setting, a combination of hydrologic, soil chemistry, water chemistry, dissolved and soil gas, isotope, and microbiological data was collected from 2007 through 2010 at two stormwater infiltration …

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Fine-Scale Geographic Variation Of Stable Isotope And Fatty Acid Signatures Of Three Fish Species In The Indian River Lagoon, Fl, Jennifer Fletcher Odom Jan 2012

Fine-Scale Geographic Variation Of Stable Isotope And Fatty Acid Signatures Of Three Fish Species In The Indian River Lagoon, Fl, Jennifer Fletcher Odom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, is a unique closed “bar built” estuary system that has little interchange with the Atlantic Ocean and which is home to many resident species. Three fish species were investigated to see if their isotopic and fatty acid signatures differed based on geographic location. The goal was to assess the degree of resolution of spatial variation that is possible when using stable isotope and fatty acid signature analysis to interpret feeding habits and potential linkages between feeding habits and health status. Spotted seatrout (n=40), pinfish (n=60) and white mullet (n=60) were collected over a 4 week …

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Using Gis To Determine The Influence Of Wetlands On Cayuga Iroquois Settlement Location Strategies, David J. Birnbaum Dec 2011

Using Gis To Determine The Influence Of Wetlands On Cayuga Iroquois Settlement Location Strategies, David J. Birnbaum

HIM 1990-2015

The archaeological record of the Iroquois supports that settlements were regularly relocated during the protohistoric period (1500-1650 A.D.). With the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) computer software, archaeologists may analyze variables potentially resulting in or influencing the movement of settlements. Through the use of spatial analysis, I argue that Cayuga Iroquois settlement locations were influenced by the environmental characteristics of their surrounding landscape. Specifically, wetlands are believed to have influenced settlement location choices in central New York state. This study examines the spatial relationships between wetland habitats and protohistoric period Cayuga Iroquois settlements where swidden maize agriculture comprised most …

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An Ecological Analysis Of Social And Economic Influences On Black And White Infant Mortality Risk In Orange County, Fl, Littleton, Vanessa Lopez Jan 2011

An Ecological Analysis Of Social And Economic Influences On Black And White Infant Mortality Risk In Orange County, Fl, Littleton, Vanessa Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black health disparities are a salient public health issue with blacks in every socioeconomic level at a greater health disadvantage than their white counterparts. In particular, disparity in infant mortality rates between blacks and whites have widened in recent decades to differentials never before experienced in the United States. Social ecologists investigating the myriad of individual and environmental risk factors have failed to fully account for the persistent differential. This study examines the relationships between individual and environmental influences on the health risk experienced by blacks, whites, as well as the differential between the two populations. This multi-level analysis was …

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Adaptive Responses Of Branchial Morphology To Hypoxia In The Neotropical Electric Fish Genus Brachyhypopomus, Leilani B. Pathak Jan 2011

Adaptive Responses Of Branchial Morphology To Hypoxia In The Neotropical Electric Fish Genus Brachyhypopomus, Leilani B. Pathak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many tropical aquatic environments worldwide are characterized by intermittent or prolonged hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen). Nevertheless, many tropical freshwater fishes are able to inhabit these challenging environments via a range of morphological, physiological and behavioral adaptations. Brachyhypopomus is a diverse genus of weakly electric fishes represented by 28 known species distributed from Panama to Argentina. 17 species are restricted to permanently normoxic habitats (blackwater rivers and terra firme streams), eight species are restricted to seasonally or perennially hypoxic habitats (whitewater floodplains of large tropical rivers or permanent swampy habitats), and three species are eurytopic (occur in both seasonally hypoxic and …

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Applications Of Airborne And Portable Lidar In The Structural Determination, Management, And Conservation Of Southeastern U.S. Pine Forests, Claudia De Mendonca Costa Synek Listopad Jan 2011

Applications Of Airborne And Portable Lidar In The Structural Determination, Management, And Conservation Of Southeastern U.S. Pine Forests, Claudia De Mendonca Costa Synek Listopad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Active remote sensing techniques, such as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), have transformed the field of forestry and natural resource management in the last decade. Intensive assessments of forest resources and detailed structural assessments can now be accomplished faster and at multiple landscape scales. The ecological applications of having this valuable information at-hand are still only being developed. This work explores the use of two active remote sensing techniques, airborne and portable LiDAR for forestry applications in a rapidly changing landscape, Southeastern Coastal Pine woodlands. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of airborne and portable LiDAR, the tools used to extract …

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Using Lidar-Derived Vegetation Profiles To Predict Time Since Fire In An Oak Scrub Landscape In East-Central Florida, James J. Angelo, Brean W. Duncan, John F. Weishampel Jan 2010

Using Lidar-Derived Vegetation Profiles To Predict Time Since Fire In An Oak Scrub Landscape In East-Central Florida, James J. Angelo, Brean W. Duncan, John F. Weishampel

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

Disturbance plays a fundamental role in determining the vertical structure of vegetation in many terrestrial ecosystems, and knowledge of disturbance histories is vital for developing effective management and restoration plans. In this study, we investigated the potential of using vertical vegetation profiles derived from discrete-return lidar to predict time since fire (TSF) in a landscape of oak scrub in east-central Florida. We predicted that fire influences vegetation structure at the mesoscale (i.e., spatial scales of tens of meters to kilometers). To evaluate this prediction, we binned lidar returns into 1m vertical by 5 x 5 m horizontal cells and averaged …

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Characterizing The Vertical Structure And Structural Diversity Of Florida Oak Scrub Vegetation Using Discrete-Return Lidar, James J. Angelo Jan 2010

Characterizing The Vertical Structure And Structural Diversity Of Florida Oak Scrub Vegetation Using Discrete-Return Lidar, James J. Angelo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vertical structure, the top-to-bottom arrangement of aboveground vegetation, is an important component of forest and shrubland ecosystems. For many decades, ecologists have used foliage height profiles and other measures of vertical structure to identify discrete stages in post-disturbance succession and to quantify the heterogeneity of vegetation. Such studies have, however, required resource-intensive field surveys and have been limited to relatively small spatial extents (e.g.,

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