Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2005, Urban Studies and Public Affairs

Developing countries are fast urbanizing and those in Africa are among the fastest when compared to Asia and Latin America. The process of urbanization is believed to be connected with levels of development and some assert that, for a country to develop, there is the need for an increased level of industrialization because according to the modernization school of thought, there cannot be urbanization without economic growth. The developed countries passed through this process and according to this approach, developing countries must do the same. This situation, however, is believed to be different in the developing countries in general and in Africa in particular. Modernization theory of urbanization does not apply to developing countries which have not attained the economic growth of the developed countries before reaching high levels of urbanization. This then raises the question about how developing countries, to which all African countries belong, become urbanized and still continue to urbanize. In other words, is modernization theory of urbanization applicable to African urbanization? A standard measure, urbanization index, was developed for measuring urbanization in Africa since the traditional measure for urbanization depends on what each country defines as urban. This was then compared with the traditional measure of urbanization to note any differences in the prediction ability of urbanization in Africa. It was found that social indicators of development tend to predict urbanization more than the traditional economic variables on which modernization theory is based. Also, socioeconomic development variables tend to predict urbanization index more precisely than degree of urbanization, which is the traditional measure for urbanization. Though the applicability of modernization theory is validated for urbanization in Africa, modification is recommended for the theory.

Committee: Ashok Dutt (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2005, Environmental Studies (Arts and Sciences)

Olembo and Rham (1987) demonstrated the age-old belief by urban dwellers that urban greens make cities livable although few solid scientific data are available on the measurable benefits of greens on the urban environment. With the advent of GIS and remote sensing technologies, the American Forests Organization has measured the role of urban greens in dollar terms in some selected American Cities. This is seen in terms of physical or tangible benefits, environmental and health benefits, stormwater control, air quality control, energy conservation, social and other non-quantifiable benefits. Similarly the idea of green development in urban areas of developing countries, including Ghana, has come of age, with the call for identification of suitable sites for green development through capture, storage, integration, manipulation, analysis, querying and displaying of data that are spatially referenced. It is in this view that this study analysis problems that are likely to be encountered in the design and implementation of a GIS for urban green development in Ghana. While GIS and remote sensing technologies have the capacity to be utilized in the urban green development, its application in cities of Ghana may not be without problems. Some of the possible problems identified in this study, include data availability, data currency, accuracy and precision. Other data problems relate to data standardization, data merging and the database design and management. In addition to data problems, there are other problems such as personnel, financial and other resources, political and bureaucratic procedures involved and other socio-cultural barriers such as the traditional land tenure system, perception of development and attitudinal factors. In spite of these problems, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step; it is against this study suggested that a successful GIS development project begins on a pilot basis, involving situational assessment, needs of the end users, softw (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: James Lein (Advisor) Subjects: Geography

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1966, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2008, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Science (MS), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Biological Sciences

Urban surface water runoff contains high levels of salt and nitrate, particularly in northern climates of the United States. We hypothesized that increased salt and nitrate concentrations would reduce total biomass and cause complete taxonomic shifts of benthic algae. To investigate and quantify the multi-tiered responses of benthic algal assemblages to the impacts of road salt and nitrate, we created artificial flow-through streams with terracotta vessels with nutrient diffusing substrates (NDS) containing varying concentrations of both salt (0-7500 mg/L) and nitrate (0-5.9 mg/L) and incubated for 56 days during the summer. Diatom concentrations were significantly impacted by salt, and the combination of salt and nitrate on sampling days 4 and 28. Over the range of tested nitrate conditions, some cyanobacteria increased over time. Within the eukaryotic community, several algal family abundances changed significantly over time. The response of diatoms was complex, with treatment only significantly impacting specific genera. Overall, this study shows salt and nitrate, as well as the combined effects of the two, significantly impact benthic algae assemblages and community development.

Committee: Christopher Ward PhD (Advisor); Rex Lowe PhD (Committee Member); Paul Moore PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Aquatic Sciences; Biology; Ecology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, History

This dissertation uncovers how, why, and where the modern pet dog originated. The average dog's transition from a working animal to a nonworking companion in the nineteenth-century United Kingdom constituted the dog's most radical alteration of purpose since their initial domestication prior to the establishment of agricultural civilization. This dissertation contends that the modern family dog originated during the long-nineteenth century (1780-1920) primarily in Victorian Britain—the initial nation altered by the interlocking forces of industrialization and urbanization. These processes provided the necessary cultural and material preconditions to reconceptualize this traditional working animal as a nonworking companion. These phenomena also provided the necessary infrastructure to manufacture commodities—from biscuits to soap—that became necessary to maintain dogs. Family dogs altered domestic and urban environments, individual and collective habits, local and global economic markets, and traditional human and canine behaviors. British pet culture surged beyond national boundaries to become the global norm governing appropriate human-dog interaction. Fundamental English practices—such as leash laws—remain normal today alongside British breeds that garner worldwide favor. Despite their integral presence in modern Western culture, however, there remains no holistic—nor interdisciplinary—narrative explaining how the typical dog transformed from a working animal to a nonworking companion. In this sense, this project rectifies this pronounced historiographical absence and knowledge gap for the broader dog-owning public. Answering this question necessitates adopting an interdisciplinary perspective entangling humans and nonhumans since Britons were not solely responsible for creating pet dogs. Rather, dogs actively shaped this process. Understanding dogs in their own right—their cognitive, sensory, and physical capabilities—hinges on including insights from animal s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Chris Otter (Advisor); Nicholas Breyfogle (Committee Member); Bart Elmore (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Animal Sciences; Animals; British and Irish Literature; Comparative; Environmental Studies; European History; European Studies; Families and Family Life; History; Recreation; Science History; Sociology; World History

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2023, Geography

The changing urban morphology, particularly in African cities, is due to the changing regimes of accumulation from colonialism to globalization. Ridge in Accra, Ghana, has witnessed a change in its morphology and the conversion of most colonial bungalows into high-end land uses. The thesis examined the underlying processes of urban morphological change at Ridge by contextualizing ground evidence with frameworks of frontier urbanization, speculative urbanism, gentrification, and urban renewal. The thesis used High-resolution aerial photograph, Google Earth imagery, and field inventory to map the morphological changes. Interviews were conducted to examine the spatial processes underlying the transformation of Ridge. I also employed archival records, news articles, a public land sale document, and the Strategic Development Plan for the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area to contextualize field findings. The findings show a remarkable change in the morphology of Ridge. Also, the frameworks of frontier urbanization, speculative urbanism, gentrification, and urban renewal did not fully explain the changes due to a lack of data. However, local and global forces have interacted to provide a conducive environment for private capital to enable the production of Ridge. I provide three related recommendations for further research in the urbanization of African cities.

Committee: Ian Yeboah (Advisor); John Maingi (Committee Member); Naaborle Scakeyfio (Committee Member) Subjects: African Studies; Geography

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2023, Geography

Despite high poverty levels, and limited manufacturing and production activities, the morphology of the Sub-Saharan African cities is modernizing through the development of infrastructure including interchanges. The theoretical interpretations of the modernization of African cities have been couched within the frameworks of frontier urbanization and speculative urbanism. Using Accra-Tema City-Region (ATCR), Ghana as a case study, the primary purpose of the thesis is to map the geography of interchanges, examine the processes or reasons for the production of interchanges, and what they might mean for the urban development process of ATCR. I used Google Earth Satellite Imagery and Open Street Map (2000-2022) to locate the interchanges. I also employed archival research sources to obtain data on the sources of capital and builders for the interchanges. Open-ended interviews were conducted with the Department of Urban Roads and residents to ascertain the reasons for the development of interchanges and the implications for urban development. The findings show that ATCR has witnessed a concentration of 25 simple to tier-four complex interchanges under globalization. The production of interchanges has occurred because local forces have provided enabling circumstances for foreign direct investment. I provide three recommendations for the urban development process of ATCR.

Committee: Ian Yeboah (Advisor); Naaborle Sackeyfio (Committee Member); Amelie Davis (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

This dissertation seeks to explore the interrelationships between housing supply, the environment, and policy to address real-world challenges including climate change, water quality, and urban sprawl. To do this, my dissertation explores issues of sustainable economic growth from the perspective of land use management in both the short and long run. All three essays explore how farmers or landowners respond to changes in climate factors and changes in the surrounding urbanizing landscape. In Chapter 2, I empirically examine farmers' responsiveness and adaptation to changes in the urban landscape and climate by recovering the effect of urbanization on additionality attributable to government payments for best management practice adoption to protect water quality. Using a unique, farm-level survey in Pennsylvania of 6,782 farms conducted in 2016, I apply nearest-neighbor matching estimators and find a heterogeneous, positive, and significant effect on the adoption of riparian buffers and stream fencing due to government subsidies. I also find less additionality attributable to government payments in more urban areas and develop a regulatory avoidance model to explain this finding. I am the first to shed light on the urbanization pathway as a potential driver of heterogeneity in additionality, highlighting a new avenue to understand farmer behavior in the urbanizing agricultural landscape. In Chapter 3, I develop a structural duration model to estimate a landowner's decision to convert undeveloped land into residential development using data from 2007 to 2019 for four urbanizing Pennsylvania counties in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. I innovate on the existing literature by addressing both land price and housing price endogeneity using a control function approach suitable for use in nonlinear models. To form instruments, I rely on spatial housing market interconnections to link distant demand drivers to local housing prices and the exogeneity of long-term climate (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: H. Allen Klaiber (Advisor); Douglas H. Wrenn (Committee Member); Sathya Gopalakrishnan (Committee Member); Yongyang Cai (Committee Member) Subjects: Economics; Environmental Economics; Land Use Planning; Urban Planning

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2022, Earth Sciences

Despite efforts to mitigate and reduce contamination of surface water resources, water quality remains impaired in many places worldwide, primarily due to nonpoint source pollutants including agriculture and urbanization. These both introduce excess sediment and nutrients, various types of chemicals, and more to surface waters. The Scioto River in the Upper Scioto River Basin in central Ohio was studied to assess the influence of large-scale agriculture and urbanization/suburbanization on river geochemistry. The Scioto River has its headwaters in land dominated by row-crop agriculture, then flows through the expanding metropolitan Columbus area, then again through suburbs and agricultural land south of downtown Columbus. Additionally, the river is dammed in two places, providing another means of assessing how modification of natural river systems impacts river geochemistry. The Scioto River was sampled in five locations with varying degrees of surrounding agricultural and urban land use. Samples were collected weekly at three locations from February 2021 to August 2021, then monthly through December 2021. The other two locations were sampled monthly for the entire study period. Samples were analyzed for major ions, nutrients, select trace elements, and stable water isotopes. Results revealed that concentrations of many analytes were generally highest at the most upstream location, decreased until downtown Columbus, and increased at the location furthest downstream. Because much of the study area is underlain by carbonate bedrock, correlations with Ca and/or Mg were thought to indicate a primarily geogenic source of the solute. Elements with moderate to strong positive correlations with Ca and/or Mg included Na, HCO3, Cl, SO4 F, Br, Li, U, Ni, Rb, Mo, Ba, and Sr. Additionally, many of these elements had moderate to strong negative correlations with NO3+NO2, which is primarily from agricultural inputs. Further, log C – log Q relationships of these data revealed c (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: W. Berry Lyons (Advisor); Thomas Darrah (Committee Member); Nicholas Basta (Committee Member); Susan Welch (Committee Member) Subjects: Earth; Environmental Geology; Environmental Science; Geology; Hydrologic Sciences; Hydrology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2021, Geography

Pollinators provide humans with a varied diet, yet their numbers are in decline, partially due to habitat loss. Yards can provide suitable floral and nesting resources for pollinators, but residents may be hesitant to make such changes to their yards depending on their lifestyle, socio-economic characteristics, and social norms surrounding yard care. Two hundred surveys were deployed in Darke County and Miami County, Ohio asking residents about their yard management practices and values in addition to their willingness to plant three pollinator beneficial plants: Asclepias syriaca, Echinacea purpurea, and wildflowers (multiple spp.). One hundred and thirteen surveys were returned and analyzed through random forest models and linear regressions. We found that residents are less willing to plant these pollinator beneficial plants if they like to keep their backyards neat and tidy, but more willing to plant these if they report enjoying outdoor activities. Residents with higher incomes were more willing to plant wildflowers and A. syriaca. Together, these results indicate that this coupled human-natural system is strongly influenced by residents' lifestyle in the form of aesthetics, outdoor recreation, and expendable income.

Committee: Amélie Davis (Advisor); Mary Henry (Committee Member); Ryan Gunderson (Committee Member) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Geography; Sustainability

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2021, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Rapid urbanization has been going on since China started economic reforms in 1978. The economic and urban architecture development increased imbalance in the distribution of wealth causing economic inequality, while it had some positive socioeconomic impacts across Chinese society. This paper seeks to understand the causes of these inequalities in the housing system and the negative impact of the reformation in rapid urbanization by learning from political, social, economic, and cultural influences and developing a new rational solution to address the current issues. This paper will be analyzing some typical marginalized/urban village neighborhoods in Shenzhen. Based on the analysis, it will be used to compare the new urban renewal approach for upgrading the living condition of marginalized communities and as an opportunity to incorporate a greater variety of socioeconomic groups into the same neighborhood. In this paper, a series of design principles that address marginalized communities' architectural and urban issues will be delivered through research and design iteration.

Committee: Edward Mitchell M.Arch (Committee Chair); Vincent Sansalone M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2021, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The urban fabric of cities is changing at a fast pace. To meet the requirements of a modern society, the existing urban fabric requires catalysts that stimulate the potentials of the city of tomorrow. The Indian cities are expected to grow rapidly from 340 million people in 2008 to a whopping 590 million in 2030. Population growth and rapid urbanization in India combined have created huge challenges to overcome the depreciating standard of living in urban areas. Overcrowded cities, illegal buildings and disparity in the market owes large demands for the growing population. The acceleration has been creating voids and lost spaces that are underutilized. Reconsidering the voids in Indian cities, necessitates micro-scaled renewal methods to support public spaces and community development. The expanding cities need to adapt this change of unpacking the strengths of urban voids, by reclaiming and implementing its potentials in an existing urban fabric. The result is a healthy transformation of vacant lands to urban spaces that enhance the life of the city and its inhabitants.

Committee: Edward Mitchell M.Arch (Committee Chair); Vikas Mehta Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Entomology

The majority of the human population resides in cities. This transformation to an urbanized world has disrupted many species due to habitat disturbance, alien species colonization, and changes in soil and air quality. This reality has raised concerns about the impact of urbanization on insect communities. Many cities are implementing conservation efforts to combat these stressors by transforming habitats to urban farms, pocket prairies, and rain gardens. Although urbanization is a negative driver of insect biodiversity, opportunities exist to implement conservation strategies in “legacy cities” that can support insects and allow us to understand how challenges of urbanization affect their distribution patterns. Legacy cities are cities that have faced significant population decline due to the fall of manufacturing industries. This has resulted in an increase in vacant land that can be revitalized to target key conservation initiatives. My research was focused on how urban habitat transformation affects predatory insects and their community assembly, distribution patterns, and diet. I used lady beetles (Coccinellidae) and long-legged flies (Dolichopodidae) as my target species due to previous evidence illustrating their decline and importance as biological control agents. My key objectives were to determine how the local management and landscape context of urban greenspaces influenced the abundance, richness, and health of these predators. To examine their health, I focused on their ability to locate prey as well as their dietary breadth. In Chapter 1, I found that habitat type had no effect on native lady beetle abundance while local variables within a site such as plant height, biomass and bloom abundance supported a greater richness of lady beetle species. Also, I found that landscape variables such as decreased impervious surface surrounding a site and sites that were surrounded by less isolated greenspace patches supported a greater abundance and richness in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Gardiner (Advisor); Michel Andrew (Committee Member); Megan Meuti (Committee Member); Carol Anelli (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2020, Geography

The changing urban morphology around the globe, especially in Africa, is a result of regimes of capital accumulation from capitalist societies. African cities are then regarded as the "new frontier" for global real estate developments in the form of glass towers. Airport City, Accra (ACA), Ghana, has witnessed similar real estate developments. By using ACA as a case study, the purpose of the thesis is to examine how urban space is changing, the processes influencing the change, and what it might mean for development purposes in urban Ghana. The study used Google Earth images (2002-2018) to map the changing landscape. Open-ended interviews were conducted with real estate developers in ACA, Ghana Airport Company Limited, Chiefs, and GaDangme Council to examine processes influencing the transformation, and implication for urban development. The findings show a significant growth and change in ACA morphology. The changing morphology of ACA is because local frameworks provided an enabling environment for global foreign direct investments. However, it is primarily local private real estate developers rather than a global surplus that is changing the ACA pattern. The findings and documented evidence show that the La and Osu are disenfranchised, hemmed in social, economic, and environmental conditions. The thesis recommends four ways forward.

Committee: Ian Yeboah (Advisor); John Maingi (Committee Member); David Prytherch (Committee Member) Subjects: Geography

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2020, Environment and Natural Resources

Urbanization can have profound influences shaping patterns of songbird diversity. For many species, urbanization poses considerable challenges, yet in many instances urban areas provide important habitat for songbirds, most notably riparian urban areas. With renewed interest to maintain functioning urban forests, understanding the interactions between songbirds and their urban environments is critical to making informed land management decisions. My research addresses habitat usage of breeding urban songbirds in Columbus, Ohio, focusing on the relationship between urban songbird presence and behavior and the vegetation in urban riparian forests. Previous songbird studies have been conducted in the Columbus metropolitan area since 2001 and have focused primarily on the impacts of urbanization on abundance, nesting, and survival. My goals for this study were to add to this knowledge base by examining potential correlations between songbird territory density and structural vegetative characteristics in urban forests and to investigate the foraging strategies of urban songbirds. The first component of my study examines the relationship between the breeding territory densities of individual songbird species and the vegetation structure of urban sites. Given that vegetation structure has been linked to urban songbird abundance and survival, the number of trees, the size of trees, and the density of exotic or native stems in a site may influence the territory density of certain species. I tested the hypotheses that overall songbird territory density will be greater in areas will fewer exotic stems and Neotropical territory density will increase with structural diversity. I conducted spot maps in urban riparian forests in Columbus, Ohio from late April to August in 2019 and compared these data to spot maps conducted by my colleagues in 2007 and 2011 to determine territory densities for the most common species, which included the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Blue Jay, Carolina (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stephen Matthews PhD (Advisor); G. Matthew Davies PhD (Committee Member); Charles Flower PhD (Committee Member); Christopher Tonra PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Forestry; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Biological Sciences

Current declines in the abundance and diversity of bees and other pollinators has created uncertainty in their ability to reliably deliver pollination services. Recent studies examining urban bee communities show that bees respond to urbanization-mediated changes in land-use and environmental conditions. This includes increases in thermal and desiccation threats via urban heat island (UHI) effects that have not been well explored in bees. But it is unclear whether or how urbanization-related changes to pollinators influence pollination services. In this dissertation, I surveyed urban gardens and city parks across the metropolitan region of Toledo, Ohio (USA). First, I examined thermal and desiccation tolerances and safety margins for three bee species: silky striped sweat bees (Agapostemon sericeus), western honey bees (Apis mellifera), and common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens). Second, I examined how urbanization and local habitat characteristics (herbaceous cover, floral abundance and color, tree abundance, canopy cover, soil moisture, gardens size) influenced bee communities (abundance, diversity, composition) and pollination services (visitation frequency). Third, I examined how bee species with specific functional traits and combinations of traits (functional guilds) were influenced by urbanization. The findings from this dissertation suggest that bees have differential sensitivities to urbanization, and managing for diverse bee communities in urban environments may require mitigating changes in temperature and water and increasing floral resource availability.

Committee: Kevin McCluney Ph.D. (Advisor); Mary-Jon Ludy Ph.D. (Other); Andrew Gregory Ph.D. (Committee Member); Helen Michaels Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shannon Pelini Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Entomology; Zoology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2019, Environment and Natural Resources

Aerial insectivorous birds – a guild comprising swallows, nightjars, swifts, and flycatchers -- have experienced alarming population declines in eastern North America in recent decades. Although declines in individual bird species may be linked to other causes, including loss or fragmentation of suitable breeding habitat and habitat degradation in tropical wintering grounds, similar declines across multiple, taxonomically diverse species in the guild indicate that changes in flying insect prey is likely a common factor. Aerial insectivores breeding in urban areas -- comprising 69.4 million acres (3.6% of total) in the contiguous United States and continuing to expand -- are affected by multiple environmental changes, including alterations to local climate, habitat structure, and water quality, as well as potential shifts in both terrestrial and emergent aquatic insect prey. Emergent aquatic insects have recently been shown to provide energetic advantages to aerial insectivorous birds relative to terrestrial insects, yet they are highly sensitive to changes in water quality. Here, I used the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) to investigate potential associations between aerial insectivorous birds and urbanization, local climate, and water quality. Specifically, I evaluated Tree Swallow reproductive success, body condition, and trophic dynamics at seven river-riparian sites representing urban and natural/protected land use in greater Columbus, Ohio over four consecutive breeding seasons (2014-2017). Study sites with impervious surface in the watershed >25% were classified as urban. Urban nests were associated with higher fledging success (linear mixed-effects model [LMM]: p = 0.009) and earlier clutch initiation (LMM: p = 0.060). Nestling mass was not related to land use (LMM: p = 0.930) but exhibited high interannual variability (LMM: p = 0.006), as did body condition in adult males (LMM: p = 0.010), and mercury (Hg) in both adults (LMM: p = 0.080), and nestlings (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mažeika Sullivan (Advisor); Stephen Matthews (Committee Member); Rachel Gabor (Committee Member) Subjects: Freshwater Ecology; Wildlife Conservation

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Environment and Natural Resources

Wildlife have responded to urbanization in a variety of ways. While some species have been displaced from developed areas, others have learned to tolerate and even thrive in anthropogenic landscapes. Even within a single species, there are inter-individual variations in behavior. Such variations are sometimes attributed to the presence of behavioral syndromes (i.e., suites of correlated behaviors in response to a common stimuli). Behavioral syndromes imply that while a population may contain variations in behavior, each individual has a limited amount of behavioral plasticity. If individuals consistently respond to stressors in a particular manner and some responses are more beneficial than others, the environment may influence which behavioral tendencies dominate in a given location. One commonly-studied set of behavioral syndromes are those associated with the bold-shy spectrum. Bolder individuals are typically defined as being more risk-prone, more exploratory, less neophobic, and less sensitive to stressors. In urban environments, high levels of disturbance, increased human activity, and large quantities of novel items may favor bolder, less anxious individuals over shy individuals. If that is the case, one would expect to find a greater proportion of bold individuals in areas with increased development. Using the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area as a case study location, we conducted flight initiation distance (FID) tests (n= 78) and novel object tests (n=50) on free-ranging coyotes from 2015-2017. Additionally, hair cortisol concentrations (n= 198) were measured from coyote hair samples that were collected from 2014-2018. We found that coyotes in more developed locations tended to have lower FIDs, behave less cautiously around novel objects, and show slightly higher hair cortisol concentrations than coyotes in more natural settings. Flight initiation distances were consistent across trials for individuals who were tested more than once (n= 18) and coyote resp (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stanley Gehrt Dr. (Advisor); Stephen Matthews Dr. (Committee Member); Jeremy Bruskotter Dr. (Committee Member); Hamilton Ian Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Animals; Ecology; Wildlife Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Public Health

In recent decades, the unprecedented and fast growing urban development in China has brought numerous benefits to the country, but its impact on public health is complex and multifactorial. Increased population density and rural-to-urban migration have a significant impact on infectious disease transmission. As one of the re-emerging vector-borne diseases, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) remains a public concern. With the rapid urban growth, coupled with the changing climate and environmental pollution, HFRS cases have continuously emerged in recent years, and the disease endemic has expanded from rural to urban areas and disease distribution has shifted over time. The distribution of HFRS varies geographically, and annual cases exhibit evident bimodal seasonality. Previous studies have identified the spatiotemporal changes in primary and secondary clusters of HFRS and linked pathogen-carrying rodent population, climatic factors (i.e. temperature, precipitation, relative humidity), and socioeconomic variables with the HFRS occurrence. However, few studies have investigated the impact of urban development on the persistence of HFRS endemics, and the influence of large numbers of migrating population on seasonal outbreaks. In our investigations, we simulated disease transmission dynamics using the deterministic compartmental model by separating the susceptible population into urban permanent residents and migrating population, in order to better understand the contributing factors of HFRS recurrent and seasonal variations. The model output indicates that contacts with infected rodents among the susceptible migrating population have significantly contributed to the seasonal outbreaks for all four study areas. City-specific variations in the magnitude of outbreaks are observed and largely affected by different climatic conditions and demographic composition in each city. We conclude that the risk behaviors of the migrating population have primarily driven t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Qinghua Sun PhD (Advisor); Bo Lu PhD (Committee Member); Laura W Pomeroy PhD (Committee Member); Olorunfemi Adetona PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Public Health