Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
Browse
2 results
Search Results
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 MANAGEMENT MATTER? EFFECTS OF CHARCOAL PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT ON WOODLAND REGENERATION IN SENEGAL(2010) Wurster, Karl; Defries, Ruth; Geography; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In Senegal, as in many parts of Africa, nearly 95% of its growing urban population depends on charcoal as their primary cooking energy. Extraction of wood for charcoal production is perceived to drive forest degradation. The Senegalese government and international donor agencies have created different forest management types with the ultimate goal of sustainably managing forests. This research combines local ecological knowledge, ecological surveys and remote sensing analysis to better understand questions related to how extraction for charcoal production and forest management affect Senegalese forests. Information derived from 36 semi-structured interviews suggests that the forests are degrading, but are depended on for income, grazing and energy. Interviewees understand the rules governing forest management types, but felt they had limited power or responsibility to enforce forest regulations. Ecological survey results confirmed that plots harvested for charcoal production are significantly different in forest structure and tree species composition than undisturbed sites. Across harvested and undisturbed and within forest management types the Combretum glutinosum species dominated (53% of all individuals and the primary species used for charcoal production) and demonstrated robust regenerative capacity. Few large, hardwood or fruiting trees were observed and had insufficient regenerative capacity to replace current populations. Species diversity was higher in co-managed areas, but declined after wood was harvested for charcoal production. Proximity to villages, roads and park edges in harvested and undisturbed plots and within forest management types had little impact on forest structure and tree diversity patterns with the harvesting of trees for charcoal spread consistently throughout the landscape. Remote sensing analysis with the MISR derived k(red) parameter demonstrated its ability to accurately classify broad land classes and showed potential when differentiating between pre- and post-harvest conditions over a three year time period, but could not accurately detect subtle changes in forest cover of known harvest time since last harvest in a single MISR scene. This research demonstrated the utility of multidisciplinary research in assessing the effects of charcoal production and forest management types on Senegalese forests; concluding that the effects of charcoal production on forest characteristics and regenerative capacity are consistent throughout all forest management types.