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- Title
- A comparison of pixel based and object based vegetation community classification in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
- Creator
- Barone, Dorianne M., Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Geosciences
- Abstract/Description
-
Pixel based and object based vegetation community classification methods were performed using 30 meter spatial resolution Landsat satellite imagery of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), a remnant of the northern Everglades. Supervised classification procedures using maximum likelihood and parallelepiped algorithms were used to produce thematic maps with the following vegetation communities : wet prairie, sawgrass, cattail, tree island, brush, aquatic/open...
Show morePixel based and object based vegetation community classification methods were performed using 30 meter spatial resolution Landsat satellite imagery of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), a remnant of the northern Everglades. Supervised classification procedures using maximum likelihood and parallelepiped algorithms were used to produce thematic maps with the following vegetation communities : wet prairie, sawgrass, cattail, tree island, brush, aquatic/open water. Spectral data, as well as NDVI, texture and principal component data were used to produce vegetation community classification maps. The accuracy levels of the thematic maps produced were calculated and compared to one another. The pixel based approach using the parallelepiped classification algorithm on the spectral and NDVI dataset had the highest accuracy level. A generalized form of this classification using only three vegetation communities (all wet prairie, tree island/brush and aquatic/open water) was compared to a previously published classification which used 1987 SPOT imagery in order to extract information on possible vegetation community transitions that are occurring within the Refuge. Results of the study indicate that 30 meter spatial resolution may be useful for understanding broad vegetation community trends but not species level trends. Pixel based procedures provide a more accurate classification than object based procedures for this landscape when using 30 meter imagery. Lastly, since 1987 there may be a trend of tree island/brush communities replacing wet prairie communities in the northern part of the Refuge and a transition to wet prairie communities in place of tree island/brush communities in the southern portion of the Refuge.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/58002
- Subject Headings
- Ecosystem management, Vegetation dynamics, Vegetation classification, Spatial ecology, Mathematical models
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Constraints of landscape level prey availability on physiological condition and productivity of great egrets and white ibises in the Florida Everglades.
- Creator
- Herring, Garth, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
- Abstract/Description
-
Life history strategy suggests long lived bird species will adjust their nesting effort according to current conditions, balancing the costs of reproduction with their long-term needs for survival and future reproduction. The habitat conditions that produce these responses may differ between species, even within the same ecosystem, producing different nesting and population trends. I traced the pathway by which food availability influences the physiological condition of pre-breeding great...
Show moreLife history strategy suggests long lived bird species will adjust their nesting effort according to current conditions, balancing the costs of reproduction with their long-term needs for survival and future reproduction. The habitat conditions that produce these responses may differ between species, even within the same ecosystem, producing different nesting and population trends. I traced the pathway by which food availability influences the physiological condition of pre-breeding great egrets and white ibises through to reproductive measures, and the physiological condition of chicks. I focused on these two species with contrasting foraging strategies, in relation to foraging and habitat conditions to maximize the likelihood of application of these results to other wading bird species. Experimental food supplementation and physiology research on white ibis chicks demonstrated that in years with low prey availability white ibis were food limited, with increased levels of stress protein 60 and fecal corticosterone. This is the first study to demonstrate experimentally the response of stress protein 60 to changing levels of food availability. During a year with low prey availability (2007) white ibis adults and chick physiological condition was lower than that of great egrets. During the same year, fledging success was lower for both species (20% for white ibis versus 27% for great egret) but the magnitude of the decrease was particularly severe for the white ibis (76% decline versus 66% decline for the great egret). Results suggest white ibises modify their clutch size during years with poor habitat in accordance with life history traits of a long-lived species, whereas great egrets maintained their clutch size during years with poor habitat., Increasing recession rates, hydrological reversals, and prey densities influenced white ibis, whereas great egrets were most influenced by prey densities and recession rates, with no effect of hydrological reversal. During the same year, fledging success was lower for both species (20% for white ibis versus 27% for great egret) but the magnitude of the decrease was particularly severe for the white ibis (76% decline versus 66% decline for the great egret). Results suggest white ibises modify their clutch size during years with poor habitat in accordance with life history traits of a long-lived species, whereas great egrets maintained their clutch size during years with poor habitat. Increasing recession rates, hydrological reversals, and prey densities influenced white ibis, whereas great egrets were most influenced by prey densities and recession rates, with no effect of hydrological reversals. This study is the first to make the link between landscape hydrology patterns, prey availability, and responses in wading bird nesting. These linkages provide critical insight into how species' nesting patterns could differ given the same time and spatial constraints and how that may be related to long-term nesting trends. This knowledge could ultimately lead to novel predictions about population and community patterns of wetland birds.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77643
- Subject Headings
- Bird populations, Water birds, Wetland ecology
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Family, obligation, and educational outcomes: unraveling the paradox of high aspirations and low academic achievement among the children of Haitian immigrants.
- Creator
- Nicholas, Tekla., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
-
The desire for academic success is shared by Haitian parents and their American-born children. Yet, despite this will to succeed, second generation Haitian students have been shown to fare poorly in school when compared to other ethnic groups. This qualitative study revealed that students' poor results in high school were not due to adversarial attitudes toward education; rather, they reflected inadequate foundations in basic academic skills. In particular, limited vocabularies hamper the...
Show moreThe desire for academic success is shared by Haitian parents and their American-born children. Yet, despite this will to succeed, second generation Haitian students have been shown to fare poorly in school when compared to other ethnic groups. This qualitative study revealed that students' poor results in high school were not due to adversarial attitudes toward education; rather, they reflected inadequate foundations in basic academic skills. In particular, limited vocabularies hamper the academic achievement of many Haitian American students. Some students who expected that passing grades would lead to college are unable to pass the FCAT exam required to earn a high school diploma. Surprisingly, the highest levels of academic achievement were attained by the students with the poorest and least educated parents. They displayed extraordinary motivation attributed to a strong sense of familial obligation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77648
- Subject Headings
- Minorities, Education, Haitian Americans, Education, Children of immigrants, Education, Motivation in education
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The Filipina-South Florida international Internet marriage practice: agency, culture, and paradox.
- Creator
- Haley, Pamela Sullivan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Sociology, Florida Atlantic University
- Abstract/Description
-
This dissertation concerns the structures and individual agency of Filipina brides who met their American husbands through Internet or pen pal advertisements. Popular media, legal scholars, and some feminists have largely described the phenomenon in terms of its oppressiveness toward the women involved, thus dismissing any agency on the part of the women. Similarly, much of the scholarship has located the American Internet grooms as ogres who are out to exploit these women for domestic and...
Show moreThis dissertation concerns the structures and individual agency of Filipina brides who met their American husbands through Internet or pen pal advertisements. Popular media, legal scholars, and some feminists have largely described the phenomenon in terms of its oppressiveness toward the women involved, thus dismissing any agency on the part of the women. Similarly, much of the scholarship has located the American Internet grooms as ogres who are out to exploit these women for domestic and sexual services. If prominent researchers of this phenomenon are correct in their assessments that Filipina Internet brides operate as effective agents, then one also assumes these women continue that agency when they settle into their new lives as Filipina wives married to American men. Therefore, my central research question is: How has this agency manifested itself, and has this manifestation been problematic for the American groom, who, from the typical Internet ad's text and images and couple d with prevailing American cultural assumptions, assumed he was getting a submissive wife? To explore possible answers to these questions I performed a rhetorical analysis of two typical Internet advertisements. The focus on the ads is important to my study because the Internet advertisements both shape and reflect the popular view of the so-called Filipina "mail-order bride." Next, in order to gain the Internet brides' and grooms' perspectives of the phenomenon, I interviewed three Filipina-Americano couples currently living in South Florida between November, 2005, and October, 2007. My findings support the scholars who forefront the brides' agency and, therefore, reject the stereotypes projected on the Internet advertisements. My findings also reject the stereotype of the exploitative husband. From my interview data, the women appeared agentive and the men encouraged their wives' agency., An unanticipated and paradoxical outcropping of the interview descriptions of their courtshand subsequent marriages. In this one area both the brides and grooms unanimously deemphasized their own agency, and instead highlighted romantic narratives with each insisting that they had "fallen in love."
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186295
- Subject Headings
- Arranged marriage, Social aspects, Marriage brokerage, Intercountry marriage, Mail order brides
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Influence of Soil Disturbance and Fire on the Distribution of Caesar’s Weed (Urena Lobata) in Pine Flatwoods.
- Creator
- Hagood, Daniel Harrison, Benscoter, Brian, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
- Abstract/Description
-
Novel disturbances can increase the vulnerability of pine flatwoods to exotic species such as Caesar’s weed (Urena lobata), a plant that has invaded many ecosystems. To understand Caesar’s weed response to disturbance, a factorial field manipulation was used to quantify invasion success. Influence of feral swine (Sus scrofa) on the presence of seeds in the area was analyzed. The effect of heat on Caesar’s weed germination was also quantified. A winter fire and mechanical soil disturbance had...
Show moreNovel disturbances can increase the vulnerability of pine flatwoods to exotic species such as Caesar’s weed (Urena lobata), a plant that has invaded many ecosystems. To understand Caesar’s weed response to disturbance, a factorial field manipulation was used to quantify invasion success. Influence of feral swine (Sus scrofa) on the presence of seeds in the area was analyzed. The effect of heat on Caesar’s weed germination was also quantified. A winter fire and mechanical soil disturbance had no statistical effect on the spread of Caesar’s weed. However, in feral swine disturbed soils Caesar’s weed was more likely to be husked and experience less competition from seeds of other species. Low levels of seed heating increased germination. This data can provide information about the influences of fire and soil disturbances on the spread of Caesar’s weed, as well as how fire intensity levels can affect the spread of invasive Caesar’s weed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004928
- Subject Headings
- Ecology -- Florida, Urena lobata, Invasive plants--Ecology
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The legacy of the Highwaymen.
- Creator
- Rudolph, Elissa., Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
- Abstract/Description
-
In the 1950s, a group of African-American artists based around Ft. Pierce, Florida, began selling their landscapes of palm hammocks, colorful sunsets, and Evergladian fauna to tourists traveling south to the Sunshine State. Mass-produced in the artists' backyards, these subtropic landscapes found their way into Florida's motels, hotels, banks, and office buildings as well as private homes. The regional art form fell out of favor until the mid-1990s when an art aficionado coined the name ...
Show moreIn the 1950s, a group of African-American artists based around Ft. Pierce, Florida, began selling their landscapes of palm hammocks, colorful sunsets, and Evergladian fauna to tourists traveling south to the Sunshine State. Mass-produced in the artists' backyards, these subtropic landscapes found their way into Florida's motels, hotels, banks, and office buildings as well as private homes. The regional art form fell out of favor until the mid-1990s when an art aficionado coined the name "Highwaymen." Since then a resurgence of interest has brought new fame to the surviving members of the group. Along with this modern interest in the Highwaymen comes another facet of the subject : Several Highwaymen have sons and daughters who paint. Do the children paint like their parents? Are the children riding on the coattails of their parents or have they developed their own original style? Is the legacy of the Highwaymen continued in their progeny?
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/58011
- Subject Headings
- Landscape painting, American, African American painting
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The Atlantic sun.
- Creator
- Florida Atlantic University
- Date Issued
- 1966, 1989, Vol. 1, no. 1, 69, no. 8, 1966-05-12, 1989-06-28
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/vola
- Subject Headings
- College student newspapers and periodicals, College students, Students, Florida Atlantic University, Universities and colleges
- Format
- Serial
- Title
- The Independent Atlantic sun.
- Creator
- Florida Atlantic University
- Date Issued
- c1989-c1991, 1989, 1991
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/volc
- Subject Headings
- Students, Universities and colleges, College students, College student newspapers and periodicals
- Format
- Serial