Mute Swans and Their Chesapeake Bay Habitats:Proceedings of a Symposium

The symposium “Mute Swans and their Chesapeake Bay Habitats,” held on June 7, 2001, provided a forum for biologists and managers to share research findings and management ideas concerning the exotic and invasive mute swan (Cygnus olor). This species has been increasing in population size and is considered by many to be a problem in regard to natural food resources in the Bay that are used by native waterfowl during the winter months. Other persons, however, feel that resource managers are attempting to create a problem to justify more killing of waterfowl by hunters. Some persons also believe that managers should focus on the larger issues causing the decline of native food resources, such as the unabated human population increase in the Bay watershed and in the immediate coastal areas of the Bay. The symposium, sponsored by the Wildfowl Trust of North America and the U.S. Geological Survey, provided the atmosphere for presentation of mute swan data and opinions in a collegial setting where discussion was welcomed and was often informative and enthusiastic. An interesting historic review of the swan in regard to the history of mankind was presented, followed by a discussion on the positive and negative effects of invasive species. Biologists from different parts of the continent discussed the population status of the species in several states in the east and in the Great Lakes area. Data on the food habits of this species were presented in regard to submerged aquatic vegetation, and an interesting discussion on the role that the food habits of Canada geese in regard to native vegetation was presented. Findings and recommendations of the Mute Swan Task Force were presented. Finally, a representative of the Friends of Animals gave a thought-provoking presentation in defense of the mute swan. The presentations, in general, provided the necessary information and recommendations to allow managers to proceed with management of this controversial species with new and valuable perspectives

On the Empty Miles of Ride-Sourcing Services: Theory, Observation and Countermeasures

The proliferation of smartphones in recent years has catalyzed the rapid growth of ride-sourcing services such as Uber, Lyft, and Didi Chuxing. Such on-demand e-hailing services significantly reduce the meeting frictions between drivers and riders and provide the platform with unprecedented flexibility and challenges in system management. A big issue that arises with service expansion is the empty miles produced by ride-sourcing vehicles. To overcome the physical and temporal frictions that separate drivers from customers and effectively reposition themselves towards desired destinations, ride-sourcing vehicles generate a significant number of vacant trips. These empty miles traveled result in inefficient use of the available fleet and increase traffic demand, posing substantial impacts on system operations. To tackle the issues, my dissertation is dedicated to deepening our understanding of the formation and the externalities of empty miles, and then proposing countermeasures to bolster system performance. There are two essential and interdependent contributors to empty miles generated by ride-sourcing vehicles: cruising in search of customers and deadheading to pick them up, which are markedly dictated by forces from riders, drivers, the platform, and policies imposed by regulators. In this dissertation, we structure our study of this complex process along three primary axes, respectively centered on the strategies of a platform, the behaviors of drivers, and the concerns of government agencies. In each axis, theoretical models are established to help understand the underlying physics and identify the trade-offs and potential issues that drive behind the empty miles. Massive data from Didi Chuxing, a dominant ride-sourcing company in China, are leveraged to evidence the presence of matters discussed in reality. Countermeasures are then investigated to strengthen management upon the empty miles, balance the interests of different stakeholders, and improve the system performance. Although this dissertation scopes out ride-sourcing services, the models, analyses, and solutions can be readily adapted to address related issues in other types of shared-use mobility services.PHDCivil EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163209/1/xzt_1.pd

Wild entanglements: exploring the visions and dilemmas of ‘renaturing’ urban Britain

In a rapidly urbanising world, where lands are increasingly repurposed for human endeavours, where seas and rivers carry the weight of mounting plastic, where species extinction is a common theme and where the effects of global climate change are a daily reality, there has never been a more pressing need to rethink nature-society relations and environmental ethics. This thesis draws insights from two cases of urban renaturing in Britain (London and Plymouth) to explore critical issues in contemporary environmental practice, including what matters for humans and nonhumans in such endeavours. Renaturing is here understood as an intentional, reflective attempt to restore human/nonhuman relations, as well as the biophysical health of ecosystems. The twofold nature of this endeavour makes it a productive point of investigation, offering a means to uniquely contribute to academic discussions on nature-society relations and the future purpose of nature conservation in the UK. It argues that within urban environments, renaturing is best understood as a lively and creative endeavour, yet one full of contestation, characterised by issues of power, ownership and participation. For this reason, the thesis explores renaturing from human and more-than-human perspectives, to draw out multiple voices and thereby enrich understandings of what it means to intervene in nature, especially in dynamic, multispecies cities. The two case studies offer different angles on urban renaturing. Firstly, the study reveals that contemporary ambitions for ‘wilder cities’ do not exist in a vacuum: ‘nature’ is silently structured and ordered according to urban planning agendas, as well as vivid (re)imaginations of the environmental past. Secondly, it reveals that wild spaces can become highly defended places in cities. While this is partly due to do with the perceived issue of urban encroachment (higher densities of people), it is also to do with the way nature is imagined (as vulnerable and exclusive). Thirdly, it reveals that renaturing has material consequences for all those creatures who do not ‘count’ as nature. Taking a more-than-human approach, it argues that spatial categories (native/invasive, wild/domestic) do little to meet contemporary challenges in more ethical and meaningful ways. Finally, it reveals that in post-normal and post-natural times, there are significant limitations in the way(s) that humans govern the nonhuman world, including the decision-making capabilities of such actors. It therefore argues that there is a need to rethink the ways in which nature knowledge is produced, with closer attention to place, and what place reveals about the inextricable entanglements of people, plants and the many creatures and critters that exist in UK cities

Narrative Space and Spatial Transference in Jacob and Wilhelm Grimmʼs Fairy Tales

Abstract Owing to the lack of concrete information provided by the narratives and the genreʼs unspecified setting, narrative space in fairy tales has been largely overlooked or dismissed as an inactive background for the action. Research which has considered this topic typically views it in terms of its symbolic potential, studying space in order to learn about other narrative elements (e.g. characters) or the implied meanings of the texts. This dissertation views narrative space as a concrete, material aspect of the narrative which is significant in itself. The main research question posed in the dissertation is: what do fairy tales tell us about narrative space and what does narrative space tell us about fairy tales? The main aim of the dissertation is therefore twofold: first, it examines how narrative space is structured in fairy tales and how the fairy tale conveys space-related information; second, it asks whether there is anything about the traits and structure of fairy-tale space that can be seen as genre-specific, i.e. that sets the fairy tale apart from other short prose narrative genres. The research is based on a textual analysis of the English translation of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimmʼs collection Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Childrenʼs and Household Tales, 1857). While its primary focus is on fairy tales, the dissertation also considers other genres included in the collection (animal tales, legends, religious tales, etc.). The research combines the knowledge produced within fairy-tale scholarship (folklore and literature studies) with the methodological tools of narratology. By considering narrative space and spatial transference, the dissertation aims to prompt a reconsideration of the fairy-tale genre and its definitions. One of its key findings is therefore a revised definition of the fairy tale as a genre which encompasses two domains – the magical and the non-magical – separated by a firm boundary, which must be crossed in the course of the story. What sets this interdomain boundary apart is the fact that it can be crossed from both sides, but only temporarily and only if certain conditions are met. The examination of genres through the prism of the domain has led to a reconsideration of our initial genre classification and prompted the conclusion that aetiological tales, Schwank tales, and didactic tales, which were initially listed as independent genres, are modes (subgenres) rather than genres. The thesis also shows that fairy-tale space is dynamic and relational, and that the lack of explicit spatial information should not be seen as an indication of the insignificance of space, but rather an expression of the genreʼs stylistic parsimony. Although the findings are based on the study of the Grimmsʼ fairy tales, the dissertation aims to provide an analytical framework that is applicable to other fairy-tale corpora. KEYWORDS: fairy tale, narrative space, spatial transference, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, narratology, genreTiivistelmä Väitöskirja tarkastelee narratiivista tilaa ja tilallista siirtymää Jacob ja Wilhelm Grimmin julkaisemassa satukokoelmassa Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Lasten ja kotitalouksien tarinat, 1857). Tutkimuskohteen korpus, joka koostuu 215 erilaisesta tekstistä, on jaettu kahteen osaan: primaarikorpukseen, johon perinteiset sadut kuuluvat, ja sekundaarikorpukseen, johon kuuluvat eläinsadut, opettavaiset sadut, etiologiset sadut, kansantarinat, formulatarinat, legendat, uskonnolliset tarinat ja humoristiset (Schwank) tarinat. Sekundaarikorpuksen avulla voi analysoida perinteisiä satuja vertailemalla niitä muihin lyhytproosan narratiivisiin lajityyppeihin. Narratiivista tilaa ei ole tähän mennessä riittävästi tarkasteltu tieteellisessä kirjallisuudessa, jossa se tavallisesti käsitetään pelkkänä passiivisena taustana tapahtumille, joiden täytyy sijoittua jonnekin. Tällainen näkemys on jossain määrin ymmärrettävä ottaen huomioon pitkään jatkunut kiinnostuksen puute tilallisiin kysymyksiin humanistissa tieteissä ja sosiaalitieteissä (ennen ns. spatiaalista käännettä) sekä perinteisten satujen tilallinen epämääräisyys. Säästeliäänä laji-tyyppinä perinteinen satu nimittäin jättää kertomatta kaiken, mikä ei suoraan vaikuta juoneen, kuten henkilöiden ja ympäristön tarkemman kuvailun. Aikaisempi tutkimus keskittyy enimmäkseen perinteisen sadun abstraktiin ja epämääräiseen tilaan tai sen symboliseen ja metaforiseen merkitykseen. Huomion keskipisteessä ei siis ole tila sinänsä, vaan se mitä tila kertoo itse tarinan tai sen henkilöiden merkityksestä. Aikaisemmasta tutkimuksesta poiketen tämä väitöskirja tarkastelee narratiivista tilaa aineellisena kolmiulotteisena ympäristönä sekä autonomisena ja välttämättö-mänä kerronnan keinona, jolla on merkitystä sinänsä. Tutkimus keskittyy perinteisen sadun rakenteeseen, sen esittämiseen (ts. niihin narratiivisiin ja lingvistisiin strategioihin, joiden avulla tilaan liittyvää informaatiota välitetään) sekä eräisiin yleispiirteisiin. Väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan myös tilallista siirtymää tärkeänä edelly-tyksenä ihmisprotagonistin ja maagisen aineksen vuorovaikutukselle, joka puolestaan on perinteisen sadun lajityypin tärkein tekijä. Lisäksi tilallinen siirtymä toimii keinona kytkeä yksittäiset paikat laajempaan tilalliseen verkostoon. Tutkimus sijoittuu satujen tutkimuksen teoreettiseen viitekehykseen sekä narratologian metodologiseen ja analyyttiseen kehikkoon. Se ei sitoudu yhtenkään erityiseen satujen tutkimuksen teoriaan, vaan systematisoi ja kehittää edelleen eri lähestymistapojen tuottamaa tietoa. Erityisen tärkeitä tälle tutkimukselle ovat satujen tutkimuksen puolella Max Lüthin ja Alfred Messerlin sekä narratologian puolella Marie-Laure Ryanin ja Katrin Dennerleinin työt. Satujen rakenteen analyysissa sovelletaan Marie-Laure Ryanin kehittämää mallia, joka koostuu viidestä tilallisesta yksiköstä: tilallisesta kehyksestä, tarinan asetelmasta, tarinan tilasta, tarinan maailmasta ja narratiivisesta universumista. Sovellettaessa satuun tätä mallia paljastuvat sadun narratiivisen tilan moniker-roksisuus sekä monimutkaiset prosessit, joilla tilaa rakennetaan lukijan ja tekstin jatkuvassa vuorovaikutuksessa. Soveltaakseen yleistä mallia perinteisen sadun analysointiin tutkimus laajentaa mallia lisäämällä käyttöön uuden kategorian – alueen – johon kuuluvat ne tilat, joissa vallitsevat samanlaiset luonnonlait. Perin-teinen satu sisältää kaksi aluetta: ei-maagisen ja maagisen. Kahden kvalitatiivisesti vastakkaisen alueen olemassaolo ei ole luonteenomaista ainoastaan perinteisille saduille, vaan sama ilmiö tavataan myös eräissä narratiivisen lyhytproosan lajityypeissä kuten legendoissa ja uskonnollisissa kertomuksissa. Väitöskirja esittääkin sadun ominaispiirteiden syntyvän kahden alueen vuorovaikutuksesta ja niiden välisen rajan ylittämisen tavoista. Tarkemmin sanoen alueiden välinen raja on mahdollista ylittää sen kummaltakin puolelta, mutta vain tilapäisesti (liikkuvan henkilön on tarinan lopussa palattava omalle alueelleen) ja tiettyjen edellytysten vallitessa. Vaikka kyseiset edellytykset ovat erilaiset ei-maagisille ja maagisille henkilöille, ne tyypillisesti riippuvat kontaktin luomisesta kohdealueeseen, yleensä portinvartijan kautta. Maagiselle alueelle päästäkseen ei-maagisten henkilöiden on osoitettava myönteisiä ominaisuuksia kuten sääliä, rohkeutta ja anteliaisuutta tai seurattava tarinaan kuuluvia automaattisia ohjeita. Maagiselle alueelle joutuvat eksyneet tai hyljätyt henkilöt, mutta se voi myös houkutella ihmisiä puoleensa poikkeuksellisilla esineillä, eläimillä sekä visuaalisilla tai auditiivisilla signaaleilla joko auttaakseen tai vahingoittaakseen heitä tai pyytääkseen heidän apuaan. Pahantahtoinen maaginen voi pyytämättä tunkeutua ei-maagiselle alueelle tai manipuloida ei-maagista henkilöä kutsumalla häntä luokseen. Hyväntahtoinen maaginen sen sijaan saapuu ei-maagiselle alueelle (usein tahattomasti) ei-maagisen henkilön kutsusta, joka voi olla verbaalinen (eksplisiittinen kutsu, häälupaus, toive, maaginen tai muu verbaalinen formula, avunhuuto) tai ei-verbaalinen (itku, pahat ajatukset, lannistuminen tai epätoivoa ilmaiseva ele tai käytös). Toissijaisen korpuksen analysointi tilallisesta näkökulmasta johti tutkimuksessa sen alkuperäisen luokittelun tarkennukseen. Tietyntyyppisillä narratiiveilla (didaktiset, etiologiset, Schwank) ei näet ole pysyvää tilallista rakennetta, vaan niihin kuuluvien alueiden lukumäärä ja luonne voivat vaihdella. Niinpä päädytään siihen, etteivät nämä lajityypit ole riippumattomia, vaan niiden edustajat ovat alalajeja sellaisista lajityypeistä, joilla on vakiintunut määrä alueita. Tulokset sitä paitsi johtavat perinteisen sadun alkuperäisen työmääritelmän uudelleenarviointiin, jota (tilallisuus huomioon ottaen) voidaan luonnehtia sellaiseksi lajityypiksi, joka kuvaa kahta selvästi toisistaan erottuvaa ja laadultaan erilaista aluetta: ei-maagista ja maagista. Tarinan edetessä näiden alueiden on (tilapäisesti) jouduttava kosketuksiin, minkä aikaansaa tilallinen siirtymä – nimittäin alueiden välisen rajan ylitys. Rajan voi ylittää sen kummaltakin puolelta, mutta vain tilapäisesti ja mikäli tietyt ehdot täyttyvät. Tällä tapaa tutkimus korostaa narratiivisen tilan mahdollisuuksia lajityyppiluokittelun yhtenä mahdollisena kategoriana. Tutkimus osoittaa myös, ettei eksplisiittisen tilallisen tiedon puuttumista perinteisestä sadusta pidä tulkita sen merkityksettömyydeksi, vaan osoitukseksi kyseisen lajityypin säästeliäästä luonteesta. Toisin sanoen se tosiseikka, että perinteinen satu harvemmin kertoo tilasta avoimesti ja yksityiskohtaisesti, ei tarkoita tilan merkityksettömyyttä, vaan on osoitus siitä, että kyseisellä lajityypillä on muita keinoja välittää tilallista informaatiota joko paikkoja suoraan kuvaamalla ja nimeämällä tai kerronnan epäsuorilla viittauksilla henkilöihin, esineisiin, paikkoihin ja materiaaleihin. Kaiken kaikkiaan tämä tutkimus tunnistaa perinteisen sadun narratiivisen tilan kerronnan dynaamisena osana, joka rakentuu henkilöiden, esineiden, tapahtumien ja muiden tilojen vuorovaikutuksesta. Siinä mielessä tila ei ole (kuten sen aikaisempien määritelmien perusteella voisi luulla) pelkkä tapahtumien näyttämö ja tausta, vaan monimutkaisen suhdeverkoston osatekijä ja myös lajityyppiluokittelun tärkeä tekijä. AVAINSANAT: satu, narrativiinen tila, tilalllinen siirtymä, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, Jacob ja Wilhelm Grimm, narratologia, lajiSažetak U doktorskom se radu istražuju pripovjedni prostor i prostorno premještanje u bajkama objavljenim u zbirci Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Djetinje i kućne bajke, 1857.) Jacoba i Wilhelma Grimma. Korpus istraživanja, koji obuhvaća 215 žanrovski raznolikih tekstova, podijeljen je na dva djela: primarni korpus, koji obuhvaća bajke, te sekundarni korpus, koji obuhvaća priče o životinjama, poučne priče, etiološke priče, (usmene) pripovijetke, formulne priče, predaje, legende, vjerske priče i šaljive priče. Sekundarni korpus omogućava poredbenu analizu bajke i drugih kratkih proznih žanrova. Tema pripovjednog prostora u bajkama podzastupljena je u znanstvenoj literaturi, gdje se prostor bajke uglavnom tretira kao pasivna pozadina zbivanja koja ni na koji način ne utječe na njihov razvoj, te postoji naprosto jer se radnja mora negdje odvijati. Ovakav stav donekle je razumljiv s obzirom na dugotrajan manjak interesa za prostorne teme u humanističkim i društvenim znanstvenima (prije tzv. prostornog obrata), kao i slabo definirane prostorne parametre koje nudi sama bajke. Naime, u svom tradicionalnom obliku, bajka kao jezično ekonomičan žanr uglavnom izbjegava sve što izravno ne pridonosi razvoju radnje, poput opisa likova ili okoline. Postojeća istraživanja uglavnom naglašavaju apstraktnu, slabo definiranu prirodu prostora bajke ili su usmjerena na njegova simbolička i metaforička značenja. U središtu zanimanja stoga nije prostor kao takav, već kao izvor informacija o značenju priče ili drugim pripovjednim elementima (npr. likovima). Za razliku od dosadašnjih istraživanja, ovaj doktorski rad pripovjedni prostor bajke razumije kao materijalnu, trodimenzionalnu okolinu te autonoman i nužan pripovjedni element koji je značajan sam po sebi. U središtu istraživanja su struktura prostora bajke, njegova prezentacija (tj. pripovjedne i jezične strategije kojima se prenose informacije o prostoru) i opće odlike. Osim pripovjednim prostorom, doktorski se rad bavi i prostornim premještanjem koje je glavni preduvjet za ostvarivanje kontakta između ljudskog protagonista i čarobnog, što se pak smatra ključnom osobinom žanra bajke. Nadalje, premještanje omogućava povezivanje pojedinih lokaliteta u širu prostornu mrežu. Istraživanje je smješteno unutar teorijskog okvira tzv. istraživanja ili studija o bajkama (fairy-tale studies), te metodološko-analitičkog okvira naratologije. Pritom ne slijedi jedinstveni pravac unutar istraživanja bajke, već sistematizira znanje nastalo unutar različitih teorijskih orijentacija. Od osobite važnosti za ovo istraživanje radovi su Maxa Lüthija i Alfreda Messerlija (istraživanja o bajkama), te Marie-Laure Ryan i Katrin Dennerlein (naratologija). Analiza strukture pripovjednog prostora oslanja se na model koji je ponudila Marie-Laure Ryan, sastavljen od pet prostornih jedinica: prostornog okvira, smjestišta (eng. setting), prostora priče, pripovjednog svijeta i pripovjednog svemira. Primjena ovog modela na analizu bajke otkrila je slojevitost njenog pripovjednog prostora i složenost procesa njegove konstrukcije, koji se odvija kroz kontinuirano pregovaranja između čitatelja i teksta. Kako bi ovaj opći model prilagodilo istraživanju bajke, istraživanje ga je dopunilo novom kategorijom domene, koja obuhvaća prostore u kojima je na snazi određeni sustav prirodnih zakona. Bajka se sastoji od dvije domene: ne-čarobne („realistične“) i čarobne. Samo po sebi, postojanje dvaju kvalitativno oprečnih domena nije jedinstveno bajci, već obilježava i druge kratke prozne žanrove, poput legende i vjerske pripovijetke. U doktorskom se radu stoga tvrdi da osobitost žanra bajke proizlazi iz interakcije među domenama i načinima prelaska granice koja ih dijeli. Točnije, spomenuta se granica može prijeći s obje strane, ali samo privremeno (mobilni lik do kraja priče mora se vratiti u svoju ishodišnu domenu) i pod određenim uvjetima. Iako se uvjeti za prelaženje granice razlikuju za ljudske i čudesne likove, zajednička im je pretpostavka uspostavljanje kontakta s ciljnom domenom, najčešće otjelovljenom u liku čuvara ulaza. Kako bi ušli u čarobnu domenu, ljudski likovi moraju dokazati da posjeduju pozitivne kvalitete poput suosjećanja, hrabrosti ili velikodušnosti, ili da su upoznati s automatskim pravilima priče. U čarobnu se domenu pripuštaju izgubljeni ili zlostavljani likovi. Čarobno može i navabiti ljudske likove uz pomoć predmeta, životinja, te vizualnih ili auditivnih signala kako bi im naštetilo ili zatražilo njihovu pomoć. Zloćudno čarobno u ne-čarobnu domenu može nasilno prodrijeti ili manipulacijom iznuditi poziv od strane ljudskog lika. Dobroćudno čarobno u ne-čarobnu domenu stupa na poziv ljudskog lika. Taj poziv često je nehotičan, a javlja se u obliku verbalnih (izravan poziv, dopuštenje, vjenčani zavjet, želja, čarolije i druge verbalne formule, poziv u pomoć) i neverbalnih zaziva (plakanje, negativne misli, odustajanje, geste i ponašanje koji odaju očaj). Analiza sekundarnog korpusa istraživanja kroz prizmu prostora potaknula je reviziju njegove početne klasifikacije. Naime, uočeno je da pojedine skupine priča (konkretno, poučne, etiološke i šaljive priče) nemaju stabilnu prostornu strukturu, te da se broj i kvaliteta njihovih domena mijenjaju. Za njih je, stoga, zaključeno da nisu samostalni žanrovi već potkategorije ili modusi drugih žanrova, koje odlikuje stabilan broj domena. Osim toga, rezultati istraživanja potaknuli su i reviziju početne definicije žanra bajke, koji se (uzimajući prostor u obzir), može opisati kao pripovjedni žanr koji prikazuje dvije jasno razdvojene i kvalitativno oprečne domene: ne-čarobnu i čarobnu. U toku priče, te domene moraju stupiti u (privremeni) kontakt, koji je uvjetovan prostornim premještanjem, poglavito prelaženjem granice među domenama. Ta se granica može prijeći s obje strane, ali samo privremeno i pod određenim uvjetima. Istraživanje ovime upućuje na potencijal pripovjednog prostora kao relevantne kategorije klasifikacije žanrova. Istraživanje nadalje pokazuje da manjak eksplicitnih informacija o prostoru u bajkama ne treba tumačiti kao znak njegove nevažnosti, već kao odraz ekonomičnosti žanra. Drugim riječima, činjenica da bajka rijetko izravno i detaljno progovara o prostoru ne znači da njen prostor nije važan, već naprosto da je – zbog jezične ekonomičnosti – razvila alternativne strategije kojima na izravne (imenovanje, izravni opis) i neizravne (opisno pripovijedanje, uputnice na likove, predmete i materijale) načine otkriva detalje vlastitog pripovjednog prostora. Na koncu, istraživanje opisuje prostor bajke kao dinamičan pripovjedni element kreiran kroz brojne odnose između likova, predmeta, događaja i drugih prostora. U tom smislu, prostor nije, kao što sugeriraju starije definicije, tek spremnik za likove i pozadina događanja, već sudionik složenih odnosa kao i važan faktor klasifikacije žanrova. KLJUČNE RIJEČI: bajka, pripovjedni prostor, prostorno premještanje, Kinder- und Hausmärchen, Jacob i Wilhelm Grimm, naratologija, žan

Tapaiitam : human modifications of the coast as adaptations to environmental change, Wemindji, eastern James Bay

Concerns about environmental changes have prompted scholars to search for adaptation lessons and insights from local ecosystem-based management approaches. Unfortunately, Eurocentric misconceptions of wilderness persist as powerful obstacles to understanding and appreciating aboriginal land and resource management. This thesis provides a comprehensive case analysis of the James Bay Wemindji Crees' responses and adaptations to coastal change. Specifically, it examines how Crees modify the coast for subsistence resource harvesting, how these modifications and associated harvesting strategies are intended to function, and their significance for local and mainstream society. I investigate past (as far back as four-hundred years) and present land management practices, as well as future initiatives, through ethnographic methods, field surveys, and remote image measurements. Crees' local knowledge is shown to inform camp location decision-making and the maintenance and/or creation of hunting areas. A dynamic interplay of various bio-physical, socio-cultural, and technological factors is reflected through persistence and change in camp locations. A humanized landscape is further evidenced by the dikes, tillage areas, burnings, fish weirs, and forest-corridors that Cree construct to increase resource predictability. I show that Cree adaptations to environmental change are informed by a commitment to maintaining tradition while also embracing contemporary opportunities. Cree resource management also seeks to harmonize investments in place by opposing or delaying environmental change, while remaining flexible and open to experimentation in accordance with change. The resulting relationships between Crees and their environment have immediate implications for Wemindji Cree efforts to establish a local-management based protected area. These relationships are also instructional for mainstream society as it grapples to find appropriate responses and adaptations to environmental change

A grammatical description of Golpa: a dying Yolnu language

This thesis is the first detailed description of Golpa, a seriously endangered Yolŋu language that is still proudly spoken by very few people on Elcho Island, in the north eastern corner of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Only one the remaining speakers is still fluent. Yolŋu languages belong to the Pama-Nyungan language family. Within the Yolŋu language bloc Golpa is counted among the Nhaŋu language varieties which have received the leat linguistic attention. Nhaŋu used to be spoken by a number of clans all along the Wessel Islands. The Golpa clan is the only one left from these Nhaŋu speaking Wessel clans. Other Nhaŋu varieties are spoken westwards towards Milingimbi and Maningrida. However, they differ from Golpa (and presumably also from the other already extinct and not documented Wessel Island Nhaŋu varieties) in regard to their lexical and grammatical inventory. The grammatical description is based on the analysis of the morphological and syntactic constructions exhibited in the created text corpus and on data obtained in the course of elicitation. Some data was collected by observing actual conversations in Golpa. The description mainly rests upon data obtained from two fluent speakers and two semi-speakers. Therefore, this grammatical account differs from descriptions based on data from many speakers in a lively speech community. Like other Yolŋu languages, Golpa is typologically agglutinative, synthetic and predominantly dependent marking, showing no required order for S, A, V or O. Yolŋu languages mainly differ from each other in regard to their verbal systems. This is also the case when comparing Golpa with other Yolŋu varieties. However, unlike all other languages in that region, Golpa does not have any auxiliaries. Also, there are some distinct grammatical phenomena which appear to be related, at least to some degree, to the infrequent use of the language and the obsolescence process. It is remarkable that despite the very small number of (semi-)speakers and the limited use of the language over the past decades, Golpa still is a fully functional language with no pathological signs. It still shows a great amount of complexity and a large number of categories.Diese Arbeit ist die erste grammatische Beschreibung der Golpa Sprache. Golpa ist eine akut vom Aussterben bedrohte Yolŋu Sprache, die nur noch von sehr wenigen Klanmitgliedern auf Elcho Island gesprochen wird. Die Insel befindet sich im äußersten Nordosten von Arnhem Land im Northern Territory, Australien. Nur noch einer der verbleibenden Sprecher beherrscht die Sprache fließend. Yolŋu Sprachen gehören der Pama-Nyungan Sprachfamilie an. Innerhalb der Yolŋu Sprachen zählt Golpa zu den Nhaŋu Mundarten. Diese sind am wenigsten beschrieben. Nhaŋu wurde von einer Reihe von Klans auf den Wessel Islands gesprochen. Von diesen existiert nur noch der Golpa Klan. Weitere Nhaŋu Mundarten werden weiter westlich bei Milingimbi und Maningrida gesprochen. Allerdings unterscheiden sich diese sowohl hinsichtlich des Vokabulars als auch hinsichtlich einer Reihe von grammatischen Elementen von Golpa (und wahrscheinlich auch von den anderen bereits toten und nicht dokumentierten Wessel Island Nhaŋu Mundarten, zu denen Golpa gehört). Die grammatische Beschreibung basiert auf der Analyse von morphologischen und syntaktischen Konstruktionen, die dem selbst aufgebauten Textkorpus entnommen oder durch Elizitationstechniken gewonnen worden sind. Einige wenige Daten sind auch durch Beobachtung von Konversationen in Golpa gesammelt worden. Nahezu alle Daten stammen von lediglich zwei fließenden Sprechern und zwei Semisprechern. Diese Golpa Grammatik ist daher nicht mit Beschreibungen zu vergleichen, die auf Daten von einer Vielzahl von Sprechern aus einer lebendigen und dynamischen Sprachgemeinschaft beruhen. Wie andere Yolŋu Sprachen auch ist Golpa eine agglutinierend-synthetische Sprache, die vorwiegend grammatische Relationen an der NP ausdrückt (dependent-marking) und keine rigide Satzstellung aufweist. Yolŋu Sprachen unterscheiden sich generell vor allem im Verbalsystem voneinander. Golpa weicht hier allerdings erheblich von anderen Yolŋu Sprachen ab, da es keine Auxiliare hat. Auch weist Golpa eine Reihe von grammatischen Merkmalen auf, die, zumindest teilweise, auf die recht eingeschränkte Nutzung der Sprache und den damit verbundenen Sprachabbauprozess zurückzuführen sind. Bemerkenswert ist, dass trotz aller Sprachabbaumerkmale, einer enorm kleinen Sprecherzahl und einem seit mehreren Jahrzehnten anhaltenden eingeschränkten Sprachgebrauchs im Grunde keine pathologischen Kennzeichen offenbar wurden. Golpa ist nach wie vor eine voll funktionstüchtige Sprache mit viel Komplexität und einer großen Zahl an Kategorien

Natal dispersal and new group formation in capybaras (\u3ci\u3eHydrochoerus hydrochaeris\u3c/i\u3e) in a seasonally flooded savanna of Venezuela

This study examines natal dispersal and new group formation in capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) in a seasonally flooded savanna in Venezuela. The first section describes a novel approach to the study of dispersal that could be applied to many taxa. Dispersal is considered in three stages (emigration, transience, and immigration) and its proximate and ultimate mechanisms are clearly differentiated. The second chapter describes dispersal behavior in capybaras, including which individuals disperse, when, and to where. In the third chapter, I evaluate dispersal in capybaras with respect to social subordination and social cohesion hypotheses. In this population, some support was found for the social subordination hypothesis, although results were not always straightforward. Little evidence was found for the social cohesion hypothesis. All dispersers were male and very few males were philopatric. Taken together, these data suggest that young dispersing males are more aggressive (both initiating and receiving more aggression) and less tolerated by adult males than are females of similar age. This population appears to have two behavioral classes of individuals that follow gender roles: aggressive-dispersive males; and tolerant-philopatric females. The aggression initiated by young males is suggestive of a social variation of the ontogenetic switch hypothesis wherein maturing males switch from being submissive juveniles to aggressive subadults. While most social hypotheses for dispersal focus on the reactions of juveniles to adults, this study suggests a primary role of the behavioral maturation of the disperser. In the final chapter, the ultimate drivers of dispersal are considered in light of the behavioral data collected. The tendency for aggressive interactions to be intra-sexual suggests mate competition is an important driver of dispersal in this species. Although genetic data are not yet available, the high costs of dispersal and differences between natal and breeding groups further support the mate competition hypothesis for the evolution of dispersal in capybaras. Understanding dispersal in this highly social species provides valuable insight concerning the relationship between habitat and social structure. In the context of extensive, and often rapid, anthropogenic environmental changes, the ability to predict a species response to change becomes increasingly important

Origins of Human Language

This book proposes a detailed picture of the continuities and ruptures between communication in primates and language in humans. It explores a diversity of perspectives on the origins of language, including a fine description of vocal communication in animals, mainly in monkeys and apes, but also in birds, the study of vocal tract anatomy and cortical control of the vocal productions in monkeys and apes, the description of combinatory structures and their social and communicative value, and the exploration of the cognitive environment in which language may have emerged from nonhuman primate vocal or gestural communication

Skin for Skin

Since the 1960s, the Native peoples of northeastern Canada, both Inuit and Innu, have experienced epidemics of substance abuse, domestic violence, and youth suicide. Seeking to understand these transformations in the capacities of Native communities to resist cultural, economic, and political domination, Gerald M. Sider offers an ethnographic analysis of aboriginal Canadians' changing experiences of historical violence. He relates acts of communal self-destruction to colonial and postcolonial policies and practices, as well as to the end of the fur and sealskin trades. Autonomy and dignity within Native communities have eroded as individuals have been deprived of their livelihoods and treated by the state and corporations as if they were disposable. Yet Native peoples' possession of valuable resources provides them with some income and power to negotiate with state and business interests

The Game of Conservation: International Treaties to Protect the World’s Migratory Animals

The Game of Conservation is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable examination of nature protection around the world. Twentieth-century nature conservation treaties often originated as attempts to regulate the pace of killing rather than as attempts to protect animal habitat. Some were prompted by major breakthroughs in firearm techniques, such as the invention of the elephant gun and grenade harpoons, but agricultural development was at least as important as hunting regulations in determining the fate of migratory species. The treaties had many defects, yet they also served the goal of conservation to good effect, often saving key species from complete extermination and sometimes keeping the population numbers at viable levels. It is because of these treaties that Africa is dotted with large national parks, that North America has an extensive network of bird refuges, and that there are any whales left in the oceans. All of these treaties are still in effect today, and all continue to influence nature-protection efforts around the globe. Drawing on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, Mark Cioc shows that a handful of treaties—all designed to protect the world’s most commercially important migratory species—have largely shaped the contours of global nature conservation over the past century. The scope of the book ranges from the African savannahs and the skies of North America to the frigid waters of the Antarctic.https://ohioopen.library.ohio.edu/oupress/1008/thumbnail.jp