UMD Theses and Dissertations
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Item ENHANCING BIOLOGICAL CONTROL BY GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) THROUGH AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE DITCH MANAGEMENT PRACTICES(2024) Shokoohi, Alireza; Lamp, William; Entomology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The establishment of semi-natural habitats on crop field margins is an increasingly popular integrated pest management (IPM) tool for conservation biological control of crop pests, decreasing reliance on harmful chemical pesticides. Agricultural drainage ditches are uncropped areas built to mitigate flooding on farms, but they may also provide suitable habitats for beneficial arthropods such as ground beetles, which are generalist predators of many common plant and invertebrate pests. In this study, I aimed to evaluate the potential of drainage ditches as natural habitats that promote biological control by ground beetles. To do this, my objectives were (1) to assess the impact of altered ditch management practices on ground beetle communities within a ditch and (2) to investigate ground beetle community composition and dynamics between ditch and adjacent crop field habitats across the Delmarva peninsula. Addition of straw to ditch banks in the fall increased ground beetle numbers by 97% in subsequent years, and ground beetle activity-density in drainage ditches was proportional to activity-density in adjacent fields for most genera. Results of this study suggest that altering drainage ditch management practices may provide additional ecological benefits by enhancing populations of ground beetles, thus reducing pest damage in adjacent crop fields.Item Context and future potential for strategic afforestation and reforestation to meet state climate mitigation goals(2021) Lamb, Rachel Loraine; Hurtt, George C; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The development of greenhouse gas reduction plans, climate initiatives, and other international efforts, such as the Bonn Challenge, has driven demand for improved carbon accounting practices in the land-use sector. Recent projects advanced by the NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) and the NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Mission provide critical information on present and future forest carbon stocks through high-resolution remote sensing and ecosystem modeling technologies. A key remaining geospatial and computational challenge is to identify and map strategic land areas for reforestation, which move decision-makers from considering wall-to-wall carbon sequestration potentials to priority implementation. This research seeks to address this challenge at the U.S. state scale by situating and demonstrating the unique capability of high-resolution NASA CMS forest carbon products to inform strategic reforestation in support of multiple policy goals. This work began with a review of the broader science and policy context for integrating forest carbon estimates into state climate mitigation planning across eleven states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) domain (USA). Next, two specific and linked applications of CMS products were advanced in Maryland (USA) in support of state reforestation goals. First, a forest carbon rental model was developed and applied to determine whether and where potential revenues from reforestation would outcompete existing cropland profit at the hectare scale. Second, two reforestation scenarios that jointly maximized remaining carbon sequestration potential and unprotected biodiversity conservation areas were mapped and evaluated under several socio-economic factors. These results show that while most states in the region do not yet including forest carbon estimates within their climate mitigation planning, high-resolution CMS forest carbon products can be combined with socio-economic data to advance strategic reforestation in support of climate mitigation, as well as landowner livelihoods and expanded biodiversity protection. This research provides a framework for other states interested in strategic climate mitigation planning with high-resolution forest carbon products. Furthermore, the results directly advance carbon monitoring science applications to ecosystem management, environmental policy, and land-use planning, and address relevant issues in public and private sector decision-making, such as uncertainty, valuation, implications, costs, and benefits.Item AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE DITCHES AS SOURCES OF BENEFICIAL SPIDERS TO ENHANCE CONSERVATION BIOCONTROL IN ADJACENT CROPLANDS(2020) Kutz, Dylan James; Lamp, William O.; Entomology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Agricultural drainage ditches are uncropped areas on farms located above high-water tables to assist in the hydrologic control of croplands. Drainage ditches have increasingly become the subject of research as sources of beneficial arthropods for agroecosystems. Spiders, the most common generalist predator in most field crops, are an important component of conservation biocontrol, but little is known of spider assemblages in drainage ditches or the extent they colonize adjacent croplands from these ditches. To better understand the composition and population dynamics of spider assemblages in drainage ditches, my objectives were (1) to assess the structure of spider assemblages inhabiting drainage ditches in Maryland and (2) to determine how spider assemblages in drainage ditches and adjacent soybean fields change throughout the soybean growth cycle. Overall, my work contributes to understanding how valuable drainage ditches are as habitats for natural enemies like spiders and how ditches influence spider assemblages in adjacent croplands.Item Estimation of Pan-Tropical Deforestation and Implications for Conservation(2015) KIM, DOHYUNG; Townshend, John R; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Reducing tropical deforestation has been a primary focus for the implementation of policies that are aimed at biodiversity conservation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as tropical forests have, biologically, the richest ecosystem on Earth, tropical deforestation is one of the largest sources of anthropogenic carbon emission into the atmosphere, and preventing it is the most inexpensive option, in order to reduce carbon emissions and conserve biodiversity. To set the effective policies and conservation plans to reduce emission from tropical deforestation, the evaluation of effectiveness of both the current and previous efforts for conservation is critical. The three studies in this dissertation describe the development of the methods to accurately monitor pan-tropical forest cover change, using satellite remote sensing data, and their integration with the econometrics approach, to evaluate the effectiveness of the tropical forest conservation practices. The dissertation contributes a method for long-term, global forest cover change estimation from Landsat, and the methods are applied to report the first, pan-tropical forest cover change trends, between the 1990s and the 2000s. The global forest cover change product from 1990 to 2000, which was produced, based on the developed methods which are evaluated to have an overall accuracy of 88%. The results demonstrate that tropical deforestation has accelerated between the 1990s and the 2000s by 62%, which contradicts the assertions of it being decelerating. The results further show that the increased deforestation rate between the 1990s and the 2000s is significantly correlated with the increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, agricultural production growth, and urban population growth between the two decades. Protected Areas (PA), throughout the tropics, avoided 83,000 ± 22,000 km2 of the deforestation during the 2000s. The effectiveness of international aid can be suppressed by weak governance and the lack of forest change monitoring capacity of each country. The conclusions of this dissertation provide a historical baseline for the estimates of tropical forest cover change, and for the evaluation of effectiveness of such conservation efforts.Item DETERMINING CONSERVATION PRIORITIES AND PARTICIPATIVE LAND USE PLANNING STRATEGIES IN THE MARINGA-LOPORI-WAMBA LANDSCAPE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO(2012) Nackoney, Janet; Justice, Christopher O; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Deforestation and forest degradation driven largely by agricultural expansion are key drivers of biodiversity loss in the tropics. Achieving sustainable and equitable management of land and resources and determining priority areas for conservation activities are important in the face of these advancing pressures. The Congo Basin of Central Africa contains approximately 20% of the world's remaining tropical forest area and serves as important habitat for over half of Africa's flora and fauna. The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently laying the foundation for a national land use plan for conservation and sustainable use of its forests. Since 2004, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has led efforts to develop a participatory land use plan for the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba (MLW) Landscape located in northern DRC. The landscape was recognized in 2002 as one of twelve priority landscapes in the Congo Basin targeted for the establishment of sustainable management plans. This dissertation focuses on the development of geospatial methods and tools for determining conservation priorities and assisting land use planning efforts in the MLW Landscape. The spatio-temporal patterns of recent primary forest loss are analyzed and complemented by the development of spatial models that identify the locations of 42 forest blocks and 32 potential wildlife corridors where conservation actions will be most important to promote future viability of landscape-wide terrestrial biodiversity such as the bonobo (Pan paniscus). In addition, the research explores three scenarios of potential agricultural expansion by 2050 and provides spatially-explicit information to show how trade-offs between biological conservation and human agricultural livelihoods might be balanced in land use planning processes. The research also describes a methodological approach for integrating spatial tools into participatory mapping processes with local communities and demonstrates how the resulting spatial data can be used to inform village-level agricultural land use for resource planning and management. Conclusions from the work demonstrate that primary forest loss is intensifying around agricultural complexes and that wildlife corridors connecting least-disturbed forest blocks are most vulnerable to future forest conversion. Conservation of these areas is possible with the development of land use plans in collaboration with local communities.Item Impacts of Conflict on Land Use and Land Cover in the Imatong Mountain Region of South Sudan and Northern Uganda(2012) Gorsevski, Virginia; Kasischke, Eric S; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Imatong Mountain region of South Sudan makes up the northern most part of the Afromontane conservation `biodiversity hotspot' due to the numerous species of plants and animals found here, some of which are endemic. At the same time, this area (including the nearby Dongotana Hills and the Agoro-Agu region of northern Uganda) has witnessed decades of armed conflict resulting from the Sudan Civil War and the presence of the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The objective of my research was to investigate the impact of war on land use and land cover using a combination of satellite remote sensing data and semi-structured interviews with local informants. Specifically, I sought to 1) assess and compare changes in forest cover and location during both war and peace; 2) compare trends in fire activity with human population patterns; and 3) investigate the underlying causes influencing land use patterns related to war. I did this by using a Disturbance Index (DI), which isolates un-vegetated spectral signatures associated with deforestation, on Landsat TM and ETM+ data in order to compare changes in forest cover during conflict and post-conflict years, mapping the location and frequency of fires in subsets of the greater study area using MODIS active fire data, and by analyzing and summarizing information derived from interviews with key informants. I found that the rate of forest recovery was significantly higher than the rate of disturbance both during and after wartime in and around the Imatong Central Forest Reserve (ICFR) and that change in net forest cover remained largely unchanged for the two time periods. In contrast, the nearby Dongotana Hills experienced relatively high rates of disturbance during both periods; however, post war period losses were largely offset by gains in forest cover, potentially indicating opposing patterns in human population movements and land use activities within these two areas. For the Agoro-Agu Forest Reserve (AFR) region northern Uganda, the rate of forest recovery was much higher during the second period, coinciding with the time people began leaving overcrowded Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. I also found that fire activity largely corresponded to coarse-scale human population trends on the South Sudan and northern Uganda side of the border in that post-war fire activity decreased for all areas in South Sudan and northern Uganda except for areas near the larger towns and villages of South Sudan, where people have begun to resettle. Fires occurred most frequently in woodlands on the South Sudan side, while the greatest increase in post-war, northern Ugandan fires occurred in croplands and the forested area around the Agoro-Agu reserve, Interviews with key informants revealed that while some people fled the area during the war, many others remained in the forest to hide; however, their impact on the forests during and after the conflict has been minimal; in contrast, those interviewed believed that wildlife has been largely depleted due to the widespread access to firearms and lack of regulations and enforcement. This study demonstrates the utility of using a multi-disciplinary approach to examine aspects of forest dynamics and fire activity related to human activities and conflict and as such contributes to the nascent but growing body of research on armed conflict and the environment.Item DESIGNING FOR BIODIVERSITY TO INFLUENCE HABITAT ON A GREEN ROOF IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA(2012) Myers, Chris H.; Ellis, Christopher D.; Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This paper will discuss design elements to enhance pollinator and avian diversity on a green roof in the District of Columbia. Biodiversity trends on green roofs in Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the United States are discussed. Focusing on North America, reconciliation ecology is explored through the use of case studies. The design process for designing a green roof is divided into three parts: identifying program goals, site analysis, and design concept. Design guidelines are extrapolated from conservation literature for the creation of green roofs that support pollinator and avian habitat. These "bioroofs" will be draped over the United States Coast Guard Headquarters building which will serve as a template for creating a green roof to target the least tern, the killdeer, the butterfly and the bee, in the District of Columbia.Item Evaluating the Impacts of Top-down Protected Area Governance on Local Livelihoods - The Case of the Turkish Village of Kapikiri(2012) Yilmaz, Aysegul; Howland, Marie; Urban and Regional Planning and Design; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study evaluates the positive and negative impacts of strict protected area designation on the livelihoods and socioeconomic wellbeing of a resident community living within the boundaries of a protected area, and explores how these impacts are distributed across different community groups. The study also examines whether strict protected area designation compensates for a decrease in traditional income by increased tourism. A case study analysis was conducted in the Turkish village of Kapikiri, where two centuries ago, modern settlement began among the ruins of an ancient Greek city. The area's rich cultural and natural heritage resources and biodiversity prompted the Turkish government to designate it with strict culture-protected area status in 1989, and with nature-protected area status in 1994. The study involved conducting a household survey with a representative sample of households, interviews with different community groups, and interviews with officials at various levels of protected area governance. The study reveals that the Turkish government did not balance strict culture-protected area status with residents' socioeconomic development needs. An inflexible, to changing circumstances non-adaptive legal framework of cultural heritage conservation did not accommodate residents' development needs, prohibiting them any change on their built structures. Conversely, the broader nature-protected area status, intended to conserve the area's natural heritage resources and biodiversity, provided for the continuation of a traditional cultural landscape and encouraged tourism, creating a demand for tourism services and establishments. Increased demand in tourism combined with fines not high enough to deter illegal construction, however, did not discourage particularly business owners from building illegally. While business owners expanded their business capacity and increased their income, being able to absorb the costs of illegal activity, most farmers vulnerable to regional economic and agricultural influences, lacked finances to build or renovate illegally and provide new housing for subsequent generations. The case of Kapikiri points to a pressing need for long-term conservation and development strategies that address the unique and changing dynamics of local socioeconomic contexts. Protected area governance in Turkey needs to adopt a conservation policy that is pluralistic and responsive to changing local socioeconomic needs and environmental conditions; one that meets the needs of local communities while preserving heritage resources for generations to come.Item Conserving Pollinators: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Evaluating the Ecological, Economic and Cultural Value of Native Bees in Mid-Atlantic Sustainable Agriculture(2008-04-25) Meredith, Annette May; Paolisso, Michael J.; Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Certain pollinator populations are threatened globally due to habitat fragmentation and alteration, pesticides, disease and infestations by parasites. Localized population declines have prompted interest on the part of various stakeholders in restoring and maintaining pollinator-friendly habitats on working landscapes, particularly private agricultural lands. Recommendations from the National Research Council's report, Status of Pollinators in North America, include informing the agricultural community about ways to manage pollinators and conducting studies to improve restoration protocols and to understand land managers' willingness to adopt pollinator-friendly practices (NRC 2007). Interdisciplinary in nature, this research follows NRC's recommendations and incorporates methods from environmental science, ecology and anthropology to investigate and evaluate the opportunities and challenges to native bee conservation in Mid-Atlantic sustainable agriculture. I censused sustainable agriculture farms to assess the diversity of bees in different habitats and collected and identified over 3100 individuals representing five families, 26 genera and 81 species. Native bee abundance measures indicated a temporal shift in foraging among habitats with more bees moving into crops in mid-summer. I investigated floral constancy and visitation rates among native bees at Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, VA and found that bees move primarily among conspecific flowers and that particular flowers are more attractive to certain bee genera. I also investigated pollination of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) and examined importance of native bees to Mid-Atlantic vegetable crops. Additionally, I conducted a survey to examine similarities and differences in beliefs and values of Mid-Atlantic sustainable agriculture producers and pollinator scientists/managers in relation to native bee conservation. Sustainable agriculture farmers already hold beliefs, values and knowledge about ecosystem services conservation; therefore to formulate effective outreach, there is a need to understand how these beliefs differ or align with those of pollinator advocates. Although sustainable agriculture producers and pollinator scientists/managers share certain beliefs and values, enough differences were detected to impact outreach efforts. Results from the research can be used to develop feasible conservation approaches for native bees in this region.Item Analyzing the Impact of Participatory-Planned Conservation Policies in the Negril Environmental Protection Area, western Jamaica(2007-05-06) Miller Anderson, Lovette; Defries, Ruth S.; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF PARTICIPATORY PLANNED CONSERVATION POLICIES IN THE NEGRIL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AREA, WESTERN JAMAICA Lovette Miller Anderson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Dissertation directed by: Professor Ruth Defries Department of Geography This dissertation research sought to determine the ways in which the participatory-planned conservation policies influence changes in local populations' natural resource use. The research took place in the Negril Environmental Protection Area, western Jamaica and covered the period 1990 to 2005. The two major questions asked were 1) In what ways do participatory-planned conservation policies influence changes in the protected area's natural resource use? 2) How does group membership and demography influence the perception of the conservation policies and of changes in natural resource use? The research employed trend analyses, content analyses, a population survey, discriminant analyses and semi-structured interviews to answer the research questions. In general, the research finds that national socioeconomic development interests were given priority over the participatory-planned conservation policies. The changes in local populations' natural resource use were primarily due to the national socioeconomic policies that were in place prior to the protected area designation as well as those that were implemented during the study period. Second, the research finds that, in general, groups that have shared histories were homogeneous in their views of conservation and/or development. In contrast, newer entrants to the protected area were generally heterogeneous in their views of conservation and/or development. Further, the research finds that changes in the demographic characteristics of local populations significantly influence the perception of conservation and development. For example, respondents who were relatively new to the protected area generally had a positive perception of conservation and of the decline in fishing jobs. In contrast, respondents who have lived there relatively longer had a negative perception of conservation and of the decline in fishing jobs. By examining the complexity of implementing the participatory-planned conservation policies in Negril's postcolonial and non-colonial socioeconomic and political landscape, this research extends the discourse on protected areas from large, relatively low populated areas to the complex geographic landscapes that currently describe some newer protected areas.