Green politics or environmental blues? Analyzing ecological democracy

Unlike several previous efforts that have discussed ecological forms of democracy in vague or esoteric terms, this article elucidates key factors that may affect the realization of ecological democracy. In the first section, ecological democracy is defined as an alternative democratic model that 1) strives to incorporate interested citizens into environmental decision-making, and 2) lacks structural features that systematically concentrate environmental amenities into the hands of particular social groups, while imposing environmental and ecological degradation on others. This leads to a discussion of several hindering and facilitating factors that either thwart or encourage ecological democracy. Two examples in support of this discussion on ecological democracy are provided: border contamination due to heavy industrial use along the US-Mexican border, and community forestry in the southeastern state of Oaxaca. By analyzing relevant factors that either have prevented or encouraged democratic environmental decision-making, this research will serve to improve environmental policy formulation and governance

Community integration in ecotourism : a comparative case study of two communities in Peru

ThesisThesis (M.Sc.), University of Guelph, 199

Wildfire and climate impacts tree hollow density in a temperate Australian forest

Tree hollows are an important landscape resource used by fauna for shelter, nesting, and predator avoidance. In fire-prone landscapes, wildfire and climate may impact hollow dynamics; however, assessments of their concurrent impacts are rare. We conducted a field survey at 80 sites in the Sydney Basin bioregion (Australia) to understand how fire frequency, fire severity, mean annual temperature, and mean annual precipitation concurrently impacted the site-density of small- (10 cm entry width) tree hollows and tree basal scars (which mediate hollow formation via invertebrate access to heartwood), when tree-size and dead/live status were considered. A unimodal relationship occurred between medium- and large-sized hollow densities and fire frequency and severity, respectively, with hollow densities greatest at intermediate frequencies/severities. Increases of 1.82, 1.43, and 1.17 hollows per site were observed between the 1 (reference) and 2, 2 and 3, and 3 and >3 fire frequency categories. Increases of 1.26, 1.75 and 0.75 hollows per site were observed between the low (reference) and moderate, moderate and high, and high and very high fire severity categories. Fire severity was also positively associated with basal scar density, with increases of 2.52, 8.15, and 8.47 trees per site between the low (reference) and moderate, moderate and high, and high and very high categories. A weak positive and stronger negative association was observed between mean annual temperature and small-sized hollow and basal scar density, respectively. Dead and medium-sized tree density was positively associated with medium-sized hollow and basal scar tree density, respectively. Collectively, our results suggest that wildfires, and in some cases climate, have diverse and size-specific impacts on tree hollow and basal scar density. Our results imply that fire regimes that allow for moderately severe wildfire will promote larger-sized tree hollows, which are a limiting resource for many fauna species

Computational Method for Phase Space Transport with Applications to Lobe Dynamics and Rate of Escape

Lobe dynamics and escape from a potential well are general frameworks introduced to study phase space transport in chaotic dynamical systems. While the former approach studies how regions of phase space are transported by reducing the flow to a two-dimensional map, the latter approach studies the phase space structures that lead to critical events by crossing periodic orbit around saddles. Both of these frameworks require computation with curves represented by millions of points-computing intersection points between these curves and area bounded by the segments of these curves-for quantifying the transport and escape rate. We present a theory for computing these intersection points and the area bounded between the segments of these curves based on a classification of the intersection points using equivalence class. We also present an alternate theory for curves with nontransverse intersections and a method to increase the density of points on the curves for locating the intersection points accurately.The numerical implementation of the theory presented herein is available as an open source software called Lober. We used this package to demonstrate the application of the theory to lobe dynamics that arises in fluid mechanics, and rate of escape from a potential well that arises in ship dynamics.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figure

High-pressure investigations of CaTiO3 up to 60 GPa using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy

In this work, we investigate calcium titanate (CaTiO3 - CTO) using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy up to 60 and 55 GPa respectively. Both experiments show that the orthorhombic Pnma structure remains stable up to the highest pressures measured, in contradiction to ab-initio predictions. A fit of the compression data with a second-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state yields a bulk modulus K0 of 181.0(6) GPa. The orthorhombic distortion is found to increase slightly with pressure, in agreement with previous experiments at lower pressures and the general rules for the evolution of perovskites under pressure. High-pressure polarized Raman spectra also enable us to clarify the Raman mode assignment of CTO and identify the modes corresponding to rigid rotation of the octahedra, A-cation shifts and Ti-O bond stretching. The Raman signature is then discussed in terms of compression mechanisms.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 4 table

Banking from Leeds, not London: regional strategy and structure at the Yorkshire Bank, 1859–1952

Industrial philanthropist Edward Akroyd created the Yorkshire Penny Savings Bank in 1859. Despite competition from the Post Office Savings Bank after 1861 and a serious reserve problem in 1911, it sustained his overall strategy to become a successful regional bank. Using archival and contemporary sources to build on recent scholarship illustrating how savings banks were integrated into local economies and the complementary roles of philanthropy and paternalism, we analyse an English regional bank's strategy, including an assessment of strategic innovation, ownership changes and management structure. This will demonstrate that the founder's vision continued, even though the 1911 crisis radically altered both strategy and structure

Health-related quality of life among adolescents with eating disorders

Objective Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an emerging area of research in eating disorders (EDs) that has not been examined in adolescents in detail. The aim of the current study is to investigate HRQoL in an adolescent ED sample, examining the impact of ED symptoms on HRQoL. Methods Sixty-seven treatment-seeking adolescents (57 females) with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) completed self-report measures of HRQoL and ED symptoms. Results Participants reported poorer HRQoL in mental health domains than in physical health domains. Disordered attitudes, binge eating, and compensatory behaviors were associated with poorer mental health HRQoL, and body dissatisfaction was associated with poorer physical health HRQoL. Conclusion The current study assessed HRQoL among adolescents with EDs, finding several consistencies with the literature on adults with EDs. Future research should compare adolescents and adults with EDs on HRQoL

Relationships between Larval and Juvenile Abundance of Winter-Spawned Fishes in North Carolina, USA

We analyzed the relationships between the larval and juvenile abundances of selected estuarine-dependent fishes that spawn during the winter in continental shelf waters of the U.S. Atlantic coast. Six species were included in the analysis based on their ecological and economic importance and relative abundance in available surveys: spot Leiostomus xanthurus, pinfish Lagodon rhomboides, southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, and Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus. Cross-correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between the larval and juvenile abundances within species. Tests of synchrony across species were used to find similarities in recruitment dynamics for species with similar winter shelf-spawning life-history strategies. Positive correlations were found between the larval and juvenile abundances for three of the six selected species (spot, pinfish, and southern flounder). These three species have similar geographic ranges that primarily lie south of Cape Hatteras. There were no significant correlations between the larval and juvenile abundances for the other three species (summer flounder, Atlantic croaker, and Atlantic menhaden); we suggest several factors that could account for the lack of a relationship. Synchrony was found among the three southern species within both the larval and juvenile abundance time series. These results provide support for using larval ingress measures as indices of abundance for these and other species with similar geographic ranges and winter shelf-spawning life-history strategies

Comparison of Non-Exercise Cardiorespiratory Fitness Prediction Equations in Apparently Healthy Adults

Aims: A recent scientific statement suggests clinicians should routinely assess cardiorespiratory fitness using at least non-exercise prediction equations. However, no study has comprehensively compared the many non-exercise cardiorespiratory fitness prediction equations to directly-measured cardiorespiratory fitness using data from a single cohort. Our purpose was to compare the accuracy of non-exercise prediction equations to directly-measured cardiorespiratory fitness and evaluate their ability to classify an individual\u27s cardiorespiratory fitness. Methods: The sample included 2529 tests from apparently healthy adults (42% female, aged 45.4 ± 13.1 years (mean±standard deviation). Estimated cardiorespiratory fitness from 28 distinct non-exercise prediction equations was compared with directly-measured cardiorespiratory fitness, determined from a cardiopulmonary exercise test. Analysis included the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure to compare estimated cardiorespiratory fitness with directly-measured cardiorespiratory fitness, Pearson product moment correlations, standard error of estimate values, and the percentage of participants correctly placed into three fitness categories. Results: All of the estimated cardiorespiratory fitness values from the equations were correlated to directly measured cardiorespiratory fitness (p \u3c 0.001) although the R2 values ranged from 0.25-0.70 and the estimated cardiorespiratory fitness values from 27 out of 28 equations were statistically different compared with directly-measured cardiorespiratory fitness. The range of standard error of estimate values was 4.1-6.2 ml·kg-1·min-1. On average, only 52% of participants were correctly classified into the three fitness categories when using estimated cardiorespiratory fitness. Conclusion: Differences exist between non-exercise prediction equations, which influences the accuracy of estimated cardiorespiratory fitness. The present analysis can assist researchers and clinicians with choosing a non-exercise prediction equation appropriate for epidemiological or population research. However, the error and misclassification associated with estimated cardiorespiratory fitness suggests future research is needed on the clinical utility of estimated cardiorespiratory fitness. Keywords: Prognosis; cardiopulmonary exercise test; exercise test; fitness algorithm; maximum oxygen consumption