Though the basic purpose of MPAs is marine ecosystem conservation, the question of their influence on the local economy is often critical since it governs their social acceptability. This paper addresses the
problem of measuring the local economic impact of MPAs, on the basis of a comparative analysis of socio-economic...
Though the basic purpose of MPAs is marine ecosystem conservation, the
question of their influence on the local economy is often critical since it
governs their social acceptability. This paper addresses the problem of
measuring the consequences of creating a marine protected area (MPA) on
recreational extractive and non-extractive uses...
Since the early 1980s, satellite imagery has been commonly used to detect change
in wetlands. The overall objective of this study is to utilize remote sensing and
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to determine the extent of change of
the wetland area and of other land use and land cover...
Antarctic Ice Sheet mass balance and, hence, sea level change is affected by the floating extensions of outlet glaciers and ice streams that take up about 44% of the coastline (Drewry et al., 1982) and are referred to as "ice shelves". Ice sheet mass loss accelerates when these ice shelves...
The mangrove ecosystem has served as a life-support system to large populations of coastal dwellers in Ecuador for many generations. Diverse communities comprised of multi-racial and multi-ethnic groups have formed along the edge of the mangrove forests throughout the Ecuadorian coast. These groups self-identify as being part of an “ancestral”...
Small-scale land acquisitions are transforming long-standing human-land relations in West Africa. In particular, high rates of urban population growth lead to the transfer of land from non-market customary tenure systems to market-based, formal land tenure regimes on the edges of cities. The literature suggests that the conversion process from inalienable...
Full Text:
Landscape in Peri-Urban Mali
Laurence C. Becker
Associate Professor, Geography
Oregon State
This paper discusses a new approach to the design of operating systems. We view the jobs or tasks in this system as a number of small independent steps or functions which are sequenced together to produce a desired result. The concepts upon which this operating system is based are drawn...
Dimensional stability of wood-based composites with changing moisture content remains an important challenge in the industry for many applications. Wood modification technologies have shown significant improvement in dimensional stability by altering the chemistry of the wood substrate, or by filling the available space in the wood microstructure that otherwise would...
Flax fibers are frequently used as a sustainable and recyclable reinforcement for composite materials in aesthetic applications (ex. car interiors). Flax fibers are biodegradable and can be sustainably harvested. Furthermore, the question of how to dispose of flax reinforced materials after the end of their lifetime can be solved in...
Both conflicts and new identities result when indigenous' traditional values of landscape and resource management are superimposed with federal governments' management of archaeological and forest resources in federally designated protected areas. This thesis examines the relationship and discourse between two Cuicatec towns in Oaxaca, Mexico and three Mexican government agencies...
This study examines the impact of two decades of neoliberal policy reform on food production and household livelihood security in three West African countries. The rice sectors in The Gambia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mali are scrutinized as well as cotton and its relationship to sorghum production in Mali. Although market...
International development programs are often implemented with the goal of building community resilience, but without a clear articulation of how this goal will be met, or any consideration of if or why the effort was successful after it has concluded. This thesis considers three different activities implemented by the U....
In this era of free trade and globalization, food is traveling greater and greater distances to its consumers. This is causing small farms and small farmers all over the world to protest as their livelihood is being undercut by cheap agricultural commodities from outside their communities. In the Ecuadorian Andes,...
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is revolutionizing the use of wood in the construction sector of North America as a solution for walls and diaphragms in mid-rise or even high-rise timber structures on account of its environmental advantages, high strength-to-weight ratio, fire-safety performance, and propensity for prefabrication. However, considering the hygroscopic nature...