Nature and Society Relations Commons^™

Responding To Change In A Northern Aboriginal Community (Fort Resolution, Nwt, Canada): Linking Social And Ecological Perspectives, Sonia Darienne Wesche

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Human and environmental systems in the circumpolar north are particularly affected by the Earth’s changing climate, thus acting as a bellwether for other parts of the globe. Rural indigenous communities are most visibly impacted due to their close relationship with the land. These challenges are compounded by socio-economic transformations typical of peripheral communities within a larger, centrally governed system.

This dissertation links a community-based study of environmental change in Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories, Canada to evolving adaptation science. The study was prompted by local concern about changing environmental conditions caused by climatic, hydrological and resource development drivers. Its collaborative research …

An Analysis Of Community Forest Implementation In British Columbia, Canada, Ryan C. Bullock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The community forest is increasingly seen as an alternative to industrial forestry for its perceived potential to mitigate conflict in forest resource management and planning. Theoretically, a community-based approach affords the chance to assert local values, provide local benefits, and manage resources differently than established top-down approaches. Yet practical examples of community forest initiatives in Canada reveal a host of constraints. This research uses a multiple case study design to investigate the motivations for and challenges to implementing community forests in British Columbia, Canada. Observations are drawn from four case studies (Denman Island, Malcolm Island, Cortes Island, and Creston) in …

Urban Particulate Matter 2.5 Mass Concentrations: A Comparison Between A Drive-Through And A Park Setting, Cheryl Robertson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The focus of this thesis was to determine if light-duty vehicles idling at drive-throughs elevated ambient PM 2.5 mass more than those emitted by natural sources at a near-by greenspace. Two low-volume samplers (MiniVols), obtained from the Meteorological Services of Canada Air Quality Processes Research Division (ARQP), were set up 1.4 km apart in the west end of Kitchener, Ontario between the months of August and November, 2002. Four diurnal sampling periods were conducted on various days to determine when PM 2.5 mass concentrations were higher and at which location. Although overall results determined that the control site had obtained …

Assessment And Classification Of A Modified Urban Stream: Schneider Creek, Kitchener, Ontario, J. Andrew Carnegie

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study has produced an assessment framework and classification designed specifically for urban modified streams. While many stream assessment frameworks do exist, most are designed for natural streams and as such have no provision for characteristics of urban streams such as concrete channelization, storm drains, and urban debris. Building upon previous assessment and classification schemes, both urban and natural, this framework satisfies this need. It strengths lie in its user-friendly, visual-based approach to assessment by employing representative photographs and qualitative information to aid the user. A total of ten variables were employed that are scaled on a spectrum of categories, …

Differential Vulnerability To Debris Flow Hazard In Two High Mountain Communities Of The Karakoram Himalaya, Northern Pakistan, Shauna Flanagan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis presents the findings of a comparative study of vulnerability, coping and risk-averting strategies and social responses to environmental hazards, particularly debris flow and flooding hazards, in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Two small village-scale settlements, the prevailing form of community in the region, were selected as case studies and are described in detail. The villages exhibit a comparable subsistence agro-pastoral economy and socio-cultural organization reflecting similarities in environmental opportunities and constraints, historical processes and religious beliefs. However, they differ greatly in their proximity to commercial centres and in the rate at which modernization processes are being introduced and …

Risk, Vulnerability And Environmental Hazards In The Village Of Darkot, Northern Pakistan, Nicholas Andrew Cradock-Henry

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Conventional approaches to studying environmental risks and hazards have focused on the physical parameters of geomorphic, hydrologic and climatic events—magnitude, duration and frequency—without adequately accounting for the role of human agency in averting disaster and distributing loss. Secondly, where human intervention was recognized it was often in an incriminating way, particularly in work dealing with the developing world or peripheral regions such as mountain areas. Here, humans were portrayed as helpless victims; unable to successfully adapt to their environment or else they were viewed as having played an unwitting role in their own downfall through ‘short-sighted’ agricultural practices such as …

Vulnerability To Natural Disasters In A Rapidly Growing, Affluent Society, British Columbia, Canada, Jonathan P. Maclean Belcher

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

British Columbia is a province that experienced rapid demographic, urban and economic growth in the past few decades. It is a modern and technologically sophisticated society. Although the province possesses the knowledge and resources to combat most dangers that threaten its people and communities, these dangers continue to outstrip the precautions and safety measures in place. The reasons for this seem to lie less in the characteristics of dangers or hazards, but rather relate to socioeconomic processes and organisations that disadvantage particular people, groups and sectors of the population, or make them more vulnerable to dangers than others. This thesis …

A Winter Index For Benchmarking Winter Road Maintenance Operations On Ontario Highways, Jianzhong Li

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canada is one of the snowiest countries in the world, and winter road maintenance activities cost in the order of a billion dollars a year. These activities vary considerably over both space and time, partly due to differences in winter weather, but also because of differences in road and traffic mix, terrain and other factors. The thesis explores the association between winter road maintenance activities and winter weather. The first objective is to characterize the spatial and temporal variation in severe winter weather in Ontario. The second objective is to identify a winter weather index that is sensitive to road …

Topologic Structure Of Cellular Networks A Spatial Autocorrelation Approach, Pamela K. Morgan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

No abstract provided.

Agricultural Land Search Behavior: A Study Of Agricultural Relocation In The Niagara Fruit Belt, Peter J. De Boer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis identifies and examines how people look for farms. In it the actual search rather than the decision to seek additional or alternative locations is the focus. It is estimated that the sample of farmers interviewed and surveyed consists of 50 per cent of those who had undergone the process of relocation/expansion in the past two years in the Niagara region of Ontario. The analytic framework used is adopted from a case study of intra-urban mobility. Therefore, this study is an attempt to transpose those urban concepts to an agricultural situation. Five important sets of variables of farmers are …

The Canadian Regional North American Residential Preference Surfaces, Grant William Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The objective of this research was to examine the North American residential preference surfaces of the six traditional regions of Canada. Each regional surface demonstrated a decided spatial regularity in preferences. This regularity was distorted somewhat by local biases and the location of the sample tested relative to the rest of the surface. There was a general tendency to rate the local area high and for preference to decline with increasing distance from the local area. In addition, each surface indicated a strong preference for the west coast here called an ‘Eden’ effect. A ridge of high desirability generally joined …

User Preferences: Criteria For The Development Of Future Snowmobile Areas, Bruce D. Reain

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

During the 1960’s the snowmobile was adapted to be used as a recreational vehicle. The resulting use of this recreational machine put demands upon a valuable resource, recreational land, such that land-use conflicts have occurred. It is the assumption of this study that the snowmobile will continue to be utilized as a recreational machine. Therefore the study assumed that eventually, it would be necessary to plan and provide designed, safe snowmobile sites and facilities for recreational use, particularly in Southern Ontario where demand is greatest.

The study attempted to fulfill four objectives. The first objective was to determine the behavioral …

Towards An Identification And Investigation Of Parameters Relevant To The Evaluation Of Potential Sites For Outdoor Recreation, James Warren Tovell Wilgar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

From the Resources for Tomorrow Conference held in 1961 came the recommendation for more research in the field of Recreation. With this challenge the thesis outlines various studies dealing with the classification and inventory of recreation lands. Because of the lack of correlation found to exist between the expected location of recreation sites based upon a capability classification and the observed locations of inventoried recreation sites, further analysis was undertaken. The results indicate that the potential of an outdoor rural recreation site is largely a function of historical, physical, accessibility, population, activity/facility and economic/political factors. These parameters, used in a …

A Feasibility Study Of Commercial Upland Game Bird Farms In Waterloo County, Ontario, Robert John Mcclure

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Economic Factors And Changes In Land-Use Associated With The Transition To A Beef Feedlot System In Waterloo County, Gary B. Griffith

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The first objective of this study is to examine the transition from the traditional system of agriculture to a relatively new type of operation, the beef feedlot enterprise. This will incldue not only an examination of the actual transition but also the factors which were conducive to such a change. In this respect, the current, as well as the past position of beef in the agricultural economy, will be discussed as a contributing factor to the movement toward specialization. The views and attitudes of the framers in the study group concerning their change in vocation will also be examined and …