Landscape genetics of Phaedranassa herb. (Amaryllidaceae) in Ecuador

Speciation can be understood as a continuum occurring at different levels, from population to species. The recent molecular revolution in population genetics has opened a pathway towards understanding species evolution. At the same time, speciation patterns can be better explained by incorporating a geographic context, through the use of geographic information systems (GIS). Phaedranassa (Amaryllidaceae) is a genus restricted to one of the world’s most biodiverse hotspots, the Northern Andes. I studied seven Phaedranassa species from Ecuador. Six of these species are endemic to the country. The topographic complexity of the Andes, which creates local microhabitats ranging from moist slopes to dry valleys, might explain the patterns of Phaedranassa species differentiation. With a Bayesian individual assignment approach, I assessed the genetic structure of the genus throughout Ecuador using twelve microsatellite loci. I also used bioclimatic variables and species geographic coordinates under a Maximum Entropy algorithm to generate distribution models of the species. My results show that Phaedranassa species are genetically well-differentiated. Furthermore, with the exception of two species, all Phaedranassa showed non-overlapping distributions. Phaedranassa viridiflora and P. glauciflora were the only species in which the model predicted a broad species distribution, but genetic evidence indicates that these findings are likely an artifact of species delimitation issues. Both genetic differentiation and nonoverlapping geographic distribution suggest that allopatric divergence could be the general model of genetic differentiation. Evidence of sympatric speciation was found in two geographically and genetically distinct groups of P. viridiflora. Additionally, I report the first register of natural hybridization for the genus. The findings of this research show that the genetic differentiation of species in an intricate landscape as the Andes does not necessarily show a unique trend. Although allopatric speciation is the most common form of speciation, I found evidence of sympatric speciation and hybridization. These results show that the processes of speciation in the Andes have followed several pathways. The mixture of these processes contributes to the high biodiversity of the region.

An interactive environmental site assessment audit for Wagner Creek river basin clean up project

The primary purpose of this thesis was to design and create an Interactive Audit to conduct Environmental Site Assessments according to American Society of Testing Material's (ASTM) Phase I Standards at the Wagner Creek study area. ArcPad and ArcIMS are the major software that were used to create the model and ArcGIS Desktop was used for data analysis and to export shapefile symbology to ArcPad. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an effective tool to deploy these purposes. This technology was utilized to carry out data collection, data analysis and to display data interactively on the Internet. Electronic forms, customized for mobile devices were used to survey sites. This is an easy and fast way to collect and modify field data. New data such as land use, recognized environmental conditions, and underground storage tanks can be added into existing datasets. An updated map is then generated and uploaded to the Internet using ArcIMS technology. The field investigator has the option to generate and view the Inspection Form at the end of his survey on site, or print a hardcopy at base. The mobile device also automatically generates preliminary editable Executive Reports for any inspected site.

Macroinvertebrate abundance in tropical Andean streams, Ecuador

Deforestation in the tropical Andes is affecting ecological conditions of streams, and determination of how much forest should be retained is a pressing task for conservation, restoration and management strategies. We calculated and analyzed eight benthic metrics (structural, compositional and water quality indices) and a physical-chemical composite index with gradients of vegetation cover to assess the effects of deforestation on macroinvertebrate communities and water quality of 23 streams in southern Ecuadorian Andes. Using a geographical information system (GIS), we quantified vegetation cover at three spatial scales: the entire catchment, the riparian buffer of 30 m width extending the entire stream length, and the local scale defined for a stream reach of 100 m in length and similar buffer width. Macroinvertebrate and water quality metrics had the strongest relationships with vegetation cover at catchment and riparian scales, while vegetation cover did not show any association with the macroinvertebrate metrics at local scale. At catchment scale, the water quality metrics indicate that ecological condition of Andean streams is good when vegetation cover is over 70%. Further, macroinvertebrate community assemblages were more diverse and related in catchments largely covered by native vegetation (>70%). Overall, our results suggest that retaining an important quantity of native vegetation cover within the catchments and a linkage between headwater and riparian forests help to maintain and improve stream biodiversity and water quality in Andean streams affected by deforestation. Also, this research proposes that a strong regulation focused to the management of riparian buffers can be successful when decision making is addressed to conservation/restoration of Andean catchments.

Geographic Visualization in Archaeology

Archaeologists are often considered frontrunners in employing spatial approaches within the social sciences and humanities, including geospatial technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) that are now routinely used in archaeology. Since the late 1980s, GIS has mainly been used to support data collection and management as well as spatial analysis and modeling. While fruitful, these efforts have arguably neglected the potential contribution of advanced visualization methods to the generation of broader archaeological knowledge. This paper reviews the use of GIS in archaeology from a geographic visualization (geovisual) perspective and examines how these methods can broaden the scope of archaeological research in an era of more user-friendly cyber-infrastructures. Like most computational databases, GIS do not easily support temporal data. This limitation is particularly problematic in archaeology because processes and events are best understood in space and time. To deal with such shortcomings in existing tools, archaeologists often end up having to reduce the diversity and complexity of archaeological phenomena. Recent developments in geographic visualization begin to address some of these issues, and are pertinent in the globalized world as archaeologists amass vast new bodies of geo-referenced information and work towards integrating them with traditional archaeological data. Greater effort in developing geovisualization and geovisual analytics appropriate for archaeological data can create opportunities to visualize, navigate and assess different sources of information within the larger archaeological community, thus enhancing possibilities for collaborative research and new forms of critical inquiry.

Radon: indicative atlas for Northern Ireland

Radon Affected Area potential in Northern Ireland was estimated using a joint mapping method. This method allows variation of radon potential both between and within geological units. The estimates are based on the results of radon measurements and geological information for more than 23,000 homes. Elevated radon potential is presented here as indicative maps based on the highest radon potential for each 1 kilometre square of the Irish grid. The full definitive detail is published as a digital dataset for geographical information systems, which can be licensed. The estimated radon potential for an individual home can be obtained through the Public Health England (PHE) UKradon website. The work was partially funded by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and was prepared jointly by PHE and the British Geological Survey. This report replaces the 2009 review and atlas (HPA-RPD-061).

A forma do privilégio: renda, acessibilidade e densidade em Natal-RN

The aim of this work is to understand the morphological expression of ground occupation by the higher income population, by focusing on population distribution in accordance with income layers and demographical density, as well as topological accessibility (HILLIER and HANSON, 1984) resulting from the urban grid structure. It endeavors to identify a functional organizing principle regarding the intra-urban space of Natal capital city of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, the research focus. In order to achieve this, census data as well as syntactic data were utilized for mapping and spatial analysis of income patterns, topological accessibility and demographical density using Geographical Information System GIS. The organizing principle was named as the Form of Privilege, a pattern that concentrates or tends to concentrate wealth, topological accessibility and low demographical density. Attempting to assess its extent, beyond Natal, this principle was applied to other Brazilian northeastern capitals such as: Fortaleza, CE; Teresina, PI; Aracaju, SE; Recife, PE; and João Pessoa, PB. Findings point out that although the urban structures of these cities are not immune to the Form of Privilege, Natal is emblematic of this phenomenon, a fact that demonstrates the perverse character of its spatial process, which historically creates privileged areas within the city, by means of the appropriation of accessibility as well as of the many urban benesses that are related to it by higher income groups at the expense of the major part of the population, which though being the people mostly in need of the benefits originating from the urban form are excluded from them

Efeitos diretos e indiretos de parâmetros dos semivariogramas referentes aos atributos químicos do solo sobre a produtividade de grãos de soja

In order to add value to soybens crops, and hence the marketing, medium and large producers have been using precision agriculture techniques (PA), as the Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and positioning satellite, to assist the management of crops. Thus, given the economic relevance of that culture to the southwest of Paraná State and Brazil, scientific studies to increase their productivity and profitability are of main importance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the chemical soil properties and soybean yield for each estimated parameter of semivariogram (range, nugget and level effect), and the deployment of these correlations in direct and indirect effects, aiming to improve the mapping process of spatial variability of soil chemical properties for use in PA. The hypothesis is that not all attributes of soil used to estimate the semivariogram parameters has a direct effect on productivity, and that even in groups of plants within a larger area it is possible to estimate the parameters of the semivariograms. The experiment was conducted in a commercial area of 19.7 ha, located in the city of Pato Branco - PR, central geographic coordinates 26º 11 '35 "South, 52 43' 05" West longitude, and average altitude of 780 m. The area is planted with soybeans for over 30 years, currently being adopted to cultivate Brasmax Target RR - Don Mario 5.9i, with row spacing of 0.50 m and 13 plants m-1, totaling 260,000 plants ha-1. For georeferencing of the area of study and sampling points was used a couple of topographic ProMarkTM3 receptors, making a relative positioning to obtain the georeferenced coordinates. To collect data (chemical analyzes of soil and crop yield) were sampled 10 blocks in the experimental area, each with an area of 20 m2 (20 meters long x 1 meter wide) containing two spaced adjacent rows of 0.5 m. Each block was divided into 20 portions of 1 m2, and from each were collected four subsamples at a distance of 0.5 m in relation to the lines of blocks, making up a sample depth for 0-10 cm a sample to 10-20 cm for each plot, totaling 200 samples for each depth. The soybean crop was performed on the blocks depending on maturity, and in each block was considered a bundle at each meter. In the data analysis, it was performed a diagnosis of multicollinearity, and subsequently a path analysis of the main variables according to the explanatory variables (range of chemical attributes: pH, K, P, Ca, etc.). The results obtained by the path analysis of the parameters of the semivariogram of soil chemical properties, indicated that only the Fe, Mg, Mn, organic matter (OM), P and Saturation by bases (SB) exerted direct and indirect effects on soybean productivity, although they have not presented spatial variability, indicating that the distribution of blocks in the area was unable to identify the spatial dependence of these elements, making it impossible to draw up maps of the chemical attributes for use in PA.

Contributos para o planeamento da rede de espaços verdes públicos, de recreio infantil e recreio sénior, para a cidade de Coimbra

Os espaços verdes públicos de recreio infantil e sénior são indispensáveis para a qualidade do ambiente e da vida urbana, pela sua importância e pelos múltiplos benefícios que lhe estão associados. A criação deste tipo de espaços deve ocorrer de modo concertado com o crescimento das cidades. Neste sentido, as politicas de planeamento urbano devem dar resposta a uma rede coesa deste tipo de espaços na cidade concebendo-os de modo a que sejam acessíveis a toda a população. O presente trabalho apresenta uma metodologia de planeamento de uma rede de espaços verdes públicos de recreio infantil e recreio sénior para a cidade de Coimbra. A metodologia é apoiada numa primeira fase em fichas de levantamento e numa segunda fase recorre-se à aplicação dos Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG); ABSTRACT: Public green spaces for the recreation of children and senior are essential for the quality of the environment and urban life, given their importance and the multiple benefits associated with them. The creation of such spaces must occur in parallel with the growth of the cities. Therefore, urban planning policies must meet a cohesive network of this type of spaces in the city, designing them to be accessible to the entire population. This work presents a methodology for the planning of a network of public green spaces for the recreation of children and seniors for the city of Coimbra. The methodology is supported initially in survey forms and a second phase refers to the application of Geographic information Systems (GIS).

Álgebra de mapas de atributos de solos para estimativa da aptidão agrícola das terras.

The land suitability evaluation is used to establish land zonings for agriculture activities. Geographic information systems (GIS) are useful for integrating different attributes necessaries to define apt and not apt lands. The present study had as main objective to describe procedures to define land suitability using GIS tools, soils maps and data soils profiles data, emphasizing procedures to define soil atributes. The area studied was the watershed of Córrego Espraiado, Ribeirão Preto-SP, located on the recharging area of the Guarani Aquifer, with approximately 4,130 ha and predominance of sugar cane culture. The database project was developed using the GIS Idrisi 32. The land suitability evaluation was done considering the intensive agricultural production system predominant in the watershed, adjusted for the vulnerability of the areas of recharge and for the methodology of GIS tools. Numerical terrain models (NTM) had been constructed for cation exchange capacity, basis saturation, clay content and silt+clay content using kriging (geostatistical interpolator), and for aluminum saturation using the inverse-square-distance. Boolean operations for handling geographic fields (thematic maps and NTM) to produce information plans are described and a land suitability map obtained by GIS tools is presented, indicating that 85% of watershed lands are apt to annual cultures.

A forma do privilégio: renda, acessibilidade e densidade em Natal-RN

The aim of this work is to understand the morphological expression of ground occupation by the higher income population, by focusing on population distribution in accordance with income layers and demographical density, as well as topological accessibility (HILLIER and HANSON, 1984) resulting from the urban grid structure. It endeavors to identify a functional organizing principle regarding the intra-urban space of Natal capital city of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, the research focus. In order to achieve this, census data as well as syntactic data were utilized for mapping and spatial analysis of income patterns, topological accessibility and demographical density using Geographical Information System GIS. The organizing principle was named as the Form of Privilege, a pattern that concentrates or tends to concentrate wealth, topological accessibility and low demographical density. Attempting to assess its extent, beyond Natal, this principle was applied to other Brazilian northeastern capitals such as: Fortaleza, CE; Teresina, PI; Aracaju, SE; Recife, PE; and João Pessoa, PB. Findings point out that although the urban structures of these cities are not immune to the Form of Privilege, Natal is emblematic of this phenomenon, a fact that demonstrates the perverse character of its spatial process, which historically creates privileged areas within the city, by means of the appropriation of accessibility as well as of the many urban benesses that are related to it by higher income groups at the expense of the major part of the population, which though being the people mostly in need of the benefits originating from the urban form are excluded from them

Geo referenciación y estudio de las plantas existentes, autóctonas e introducidas en las parroquias: Baños, Tarqui, Ricaurte, San Joaquin

La presente monografía, tiene como objetivo analizar y describir las plantas existentes tanto autóctonas como introducidas en las parroquias de: Baños, Ricaurte, San Joaquín y Tarqui, enfocándonos en las más representativas de cada una de ellas. Al mismo tiempo analizar su ubicación, sus características y sus usos en relación a sus habitantes. Esta investigación de carácter tanto bibliográfica como de estudio de campo, se ha realizado utilizando textos y el sistema de información geográfico para generar información de carácter cartográfico, con el propósito de obtener la investigación más actualizada posible. Conociendo la situación actual que vive el planeta en relación con el medio ambiente y la destrucción progresiva del mismo, es importante conocer cuáles son las plantas que aún sobreviven en nuestro medio, su conservación y de qué manera éstas nos ayudan para la preservación de nuestro medio natural.

Design of bicycling suitability maps for hilly cities

Post-print version. Pictures and tables separated from main text and presented at the end.

Cálculo de caudales de diseño al cierre de la cuenca del Río Frío en el Departamento de Cundinamarca

90 p.

FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT UNDER HISTORICAL AND PREDICTED LAND USE CHANGE USING CONTINUOUS HYDROLOGIC MODELING

Current procedures for flood risk estimation assume flood distributions are stationary over time, meaning annual maximum flood (AMF) series are not affected by climatic variation, land use/land cover (LULC) change, or management practices. Thus, changes in LULC and climate are generally not accounted for in policy and design related to flood risk/control, and historical flood events are deemed representative of future flood risk. These assumptions need to be re-evaluated, however, as climate change and anthropogenic activities have been observed to have large impacts on flood risk in many areas. In particular, understanding the effects of LULC change is essential to the study and understanding of global environmental change and the consequent hydrologic responses. The research presented herein provides possible causation for observed nonstationarity in AMF series with respect to changes in LULC, as well as a means to assess the degree to which future LULC change will impact flood risk. Four watersheds in the Midwest, Northeastern, and Central United States were studied to determine flood risk associated with historical and future projected LULC change. Historical single framed aerial images dating back to the mid-1950s were used along with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing models (SPRING and ERDAS) to create historical land use maps. The Forecasting Scenarios of Future Land Use Change (FORE-SCE) model was applied to generate future LULC maps annually from 2006 to 2100 for the conterminous U.S. based on the four IPCC-SRES future emission scenario conditions. These land use maps were input into previously calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) models for two case study watersheds. In order to isolate effects of LULC change, the only variable parameter was the Runoff Curve Number associated with the land use layer. All simulations were run with daily climate data from 1978-1999, consistent with the 'base' model which employed the 1992 NLCD to represent 'current' conditions. Output daily maximum flows were converted to instantaneous AMF series and were subsequently modeled using a Log-Pearson Type 3 (LP3) distribution to evaluate flood risk. Analysis of the progression of LULC change over the historic period and associated SWAT outputs revealed that AMF magnitudes tend to increase over time in response to increasing degrees of urbanization. This is consistent with positive trends in the AMF series identified in previous studies, although there are difficulties identifying correlations between LULC change and identified change points due to large time gaps in the generated historical LULC maps, mainly caused by unavailability of sufficient quality historic aerial imagery. Similarly, increases in the mean and median AMF magnitude were observed in response to future LULC change projections, with the tails of the distributions remaining reasonably constant. FORE-SCE scenario A2 was found to have the most dramatic impact on AMF series, consistent with more extreme projections of population growth, demands for growing energy sources, agricultural land, and urban expansion, while AMF outputs based on scenario B2 showed little changes for the future as the focus is on environmental conservation and regional solutions to environmental issues.

Scenario-based preparedness plan for floods

The increasing trend of disaster victims globally is posing a complex challenge for disaster management authorities. Moreover, to accomplish successful transition between preparedness and response, it is important to consider the different features inherent to each type of disaster. Floods are portrayed as one of the most frequent and harmful disasters, hence introducing the necessity to develop a tool for disaster preparedness to perform efficient and effective flood management. The purpose of the article is to introduce a method to simultaneously define the proper location of shelters and distribution centers, along with the allocation of prepositioned goods and distribution decisions required to satisfy flood victims. The tool combines the use of a raster geographical information system (GIS) and an optimization model. The GIS determines the flood hazard of the city areas aiming to assess the flood situation and to discard floodable facilities. Then, the multi-commodity multimodal optimization model is solved to obtain the Pareto frontier of two criteria: distance and cost. The methodology was applied to a case study in the flood of Villahermosa, Mexico, in 2007, and the results were compared to an optimized scenario of the guidelines followed by Mexican authorities, concluding that the value of the performance measures was improved using the developed method. Furthermore, the results exhibited the possibility to provide adequate care for people affected with less facilities than the current approach and the advantages of considering more than one distribution center for relief prepositioning.