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A Performance Evaluation Of Architectural Coatings To Preserve Aerosol Paint On Concrete, Riley Morris May 2022

A Performance Evaluation Of Architectural Coatings To Preserve Aerosol Paint On Concrete, Riley Morris

All Theses

The growing movement of assigning cultural and heritage value to graffiti and street art is one without a preservation solution to ensure the longevity of these works in-situ in an outdoor environment. The goal of this thesis was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of six architectural topcoats’ performance when applied as a conservation treatment to outdoor aerosol graffiti and street art on concrete substrate. An artist’s quality, durable, color-fast spray-paint was applied to twenty-eight concrete test panels to mimic the application of graffiti or street art. Six topcoats, Prosoco SC-1, Prosoco Gloss n’ Guard WB, Keim Faceal Oleo HD®, Keim …


Habitat Relationships Of Bat Species Of Conservation Concern In Coastal South Carolina, Kyle Edward Shute Aug 2020

Habitat Relationships Of Bat Species Of Conservation Concern In Coastal South Carolina, Kyle Edward Shute

All Theses

Loss of forest habitat used for roosting and nocturnal activity by bats is a conservation concern in the southeastern United States. The northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), southeastern myotis (Myotis austroriparius), tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), and northern yellow bat (Lasiurus intermedius) all occur within the Coastal Plain of South Carolina, where their greatest conservation threat is loss of critical roosting and foraging habitats. However, little research has been conducted on these species of conservation concern in this region, leaving gaps in information about habitat associations that would inform conservation and management as forest loss continues due to logging, agriculture, urban …


Barriers And Facilitators To Engagement With Environmental Education Field-Trips In The Congaree Biosphere Reserve: A Spatial Perspective, Toby Story Dec 2019

Barriers And Facilitators To Engagement With Environmental Education Field-Trips In The Congaree Biosphere Reserve: A Spatial Perspective, Toby Story

All Theses

This study was conducted in the Congaree Biosphere Reserve (CBR), a UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve (BR), and is geographically situated at the nexus of conservation, sustainable development and Environmental Education (EE). We conducted semi-scripted interviews with providers of EE programs and administrators of middle schools in combination with Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis in a case study approach to elicit any barriers and facilitators to participation in EE field trips that exist in this specific context. We find that curriculum constraints, time, matters of human capacity, and access to finance and transportation present as barriers and are often interlinked. We …


There’S More To The Story: Shedding Light On Conflict Species Identification And The Unknown Impacts Of Conflict With Predators, Diane Helene Dotson May 2019

There’S More To The Story: Shedding Light On Conflict Species Identification And The Unknown Impacts Of Conflict With Predators, Diane Helene Dotson

All Theses

Local people living near protected areas are often dependent on these areas for livestock grazing and forest product collection, and therefore may face conflict with predators. The direct impacts of predator conflict (i.e., injury/death of livestock/humans) have been widely researched, however, it is the indirect impacts (e.g., fear, stress, sleep deprivation, increased disease vulnerability, family dynamics, and time/effort of pursuing compensation), that have received little attention on general. Further, within human-wildlife conflict (HWC) literature there seems to be an underlying assumption that research participants are able to correctly identify the wildlife species that they are reporting caused both direct and …


Quantitative Approaches To Upland Game Bird Conservation In Kansas, Alexander Schindler May 2019

Quantitative Approaches To Upland Game Bird Conservation In Kansas, Alexander Schindler

All Theses

The Great Plains region of North America is an important ecosystem supporting many plant and animal species, but one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. Loss and degradation of grasslands in the Great Plains region has resulted in major declines in abundance of grassland bird species. To ensure future viability of grassland bird populations, it is crucial to evaluate specific effects of environmental factors across species to determine drivers of population decline and develop effective conservation strategies. In this study, I took a multi-species approach to understanding effects of environmental factors on four species of upland game birds …


Do Open Spaces Provide Refuge For Anurans Within An Urban Matrix?, David Ruple Hutto Dec 2018

Do Open Spaces Provide Refuge For Anurans Within An Urban Matrix?, David Ruple Hutto

All Theses

Urbanization is among the largest threats to amphibian populations through habitat fragmentation, isolation, and outright destruction. Urban open spaces, such as parks and golf courses, have the potential to provide amphibians with suitable habitat within an urbanized matrix. During the spring and summer of 2018, I conducted dip net surveys and active call surveys to determine the presence and abundance of anurans at 51 wetland sites within the Piedmont ecoregion of South Carolina. Nearly one-third of these wetlands were located within urban open spaces, while the others were situated along a rural – urban gradient. Impervious surface and road density …


Assessing The Vulnerability Of Coastal Marsh Birds To Sea Level Rise In The South Atlantic Coast, Nicolette Roach May 2015

Assessing The Vulnerability Of Coastal Marsh Birds To Sea Level Rise In The South Atlantic Coast, Nicolette Roach

All Theses

Global wetland degradation and loss is occurring at a rapid rate, and in the United States over 50% of wetlands in the lower 48 states have been altered since European settlement. In some cases, wetlands that were historically transformed for agriculture are now managed as wetland habitat. We conducted occupancy surveys for black rails (Latterallus jamaicensis) in managed and unmanaged areas of coastal South Carolina. We modeled landscape and local factors potentially influencing occupancy and we assessed whether these habitat associations indicated vulnerability following expected alterations from sea level rise. Black rails occupied 17 of 344 sites surveyed. Landscape factors …


Avian Community Response To Fire-Mediated Regeneration Of Native Pine Stands In The Mountains Of South Carolina, Curtis Walker Aug 2013

Avian Community Response To Fire-Mediated Regeneration Of Native Pine Stands In The Mountains Of South Carolina, Curtis Walker

All Theses

To assess the impacts of fire disturbance management on the avian community at Jocassee gorges in the mountains of South Carolina, a total of 1000 10-minute, 50 m radius point counts were conducted in treatment and control plots during the spring breeding seasons of 2011 and 2012. Comparisons of avian communities were made between the burned treatment sites and reference control sites to examine community and priority species response to prescribed fire. Values of species diversity, species richness, and total number of individuals were found to be significantly higher in the burned treatment plots than in the control plots as …


Examination Of Qualitative Methodology Usefulness In Assessing Management Effectiveness Of Protected Areas: A Case Study Of Mexico, Carla Mora-Trejos May 2011

Examination Of Qualitative Methodology Usefulness In Assessing Management Effectiveness Of Protected Areas: A Case Study Of Mexico, Carla Mora-Trejos

All Theses

Parks and Protected Areas (PAs) are an important approach for conservation of cultural and natural diversity worldwide (Bruner 2001; McNeely 1994; Rao & Geisler 1990). Their long term success depends on effective management in relation to the goals set forth for the PA. Measuring this can be complex and challenging and has been done in a variety of ways in order to better get at the answer of how to measure management effectiveness. The purpose of this research was to develop and test qualitative methodology designed to explore management effectiveness using all six elements from the WCPA framework (Hockings et …


Gis And Web Technologies For Assessing Sediment Pollution From Abandoned Developments, Joshua Werts May 2011

Gis And Web Technologies For Assessing Sediment Pollution From Abandoned Developments, Joshua Werts

All Theses

The economic crisis that occurred at the time of this research left numerous residential developments in the Southeastern United States in various stages of construction, creating a potential source of sediment runoff to waterways. Sediment runoff is potentially damaging to aquatic ecosystems and lakes. The objectives of this research include identifying these developments in upstate South Carolina through GIS/remote sensing analysis and implementation of an integrated webGIS framework. Residential development locations with significant bare soil areas were identified through GIS analysis involving Landsat 5 TM classification and aerial photograph verification. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was used in …


Developing A Management Tool To Estimate Unmarked Puma (Puma Concolor) Populations With A Remote Camera Array, Megan Pitman Aug 2010

Developing A Management Tool To Estimate Unmarked Puma (Puma Concolor) Populations With A Remote Camera Array, Megan Pitman

All Theses

Puma (Puma concolor) ecological research, puma management, and puma conservation require a technique to efficiently estimate puma populations. Adequate population estimates for pumas are difficult to produce due to natural history characteristics of the species. Remote camera arrays present a promising new tool for surveying cryptic mammals, but techniques for estimating population levels of unmarked animals or species that are difficult to individually identify in photographs are needed. Our goal was to develop techniques to (1) determine the camera effort needed to detect resident pumas with 95% certainty and (2) estimate puma population density for unmarked pumas with a remote …


Risk Assessment Of Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard For Grassland Birds At The Mcentire Air National Guard Station, Eastover, South Carolina, Marla Hamilton Dec 2009

Risk Assessment Of Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard For Grassland Birds At The Mcentire Air National Guard Station, Eastover, South Carolina, Marla Hamilton

All Theses

ABSTRACT
There are strict regulations surrounding vegetation management at military airfields for the purpose of reducing Bird Aircraft Strike Hazards (B.A.S.H.). At military installations vegetation heights are set between 17 to 38 cm to discourage the use of animal species such as flocking birds, soarers (e.g. raptors), large wading birds (e.g. herons), and waterfowl that create hazards to flying aircraft. Within designated clear zones, managers have typically promoted the growth of non - non-native grasses without much consideration for how these plantings might impact B.A.S.H. potential, bird occupancy, or avian conservation. Grasslands and grassland associated avifauna are among the 'highest …


A Condition Assessment Of The Old Island At Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina, Sarah Kollar May 2009

A Condition Assessment Of The Old Island At Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina, Sarah Kollar

All Theses

Cemeteries face a number of condition problems, both naturally and through human destruction. Without protection, historic cemeteries will eventually be diminished or lost. Magnolia Cemetery of Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the many cemeteries facing various preservation problems. In an attempt to assist the cemetery, the failing conditions assessment of the Old Island section of Magnolia highlights the major problems of the area.
The Old Island is a section of Magnolia Cemetery located in the rear of the cemetery that has clearly defined boundaries with marsh and a small lake surrounding it. Plus, many of the people buried in …