Ivy, Russell L.

This research examines tensions between Latino/a farmworkers, who rely on the seasonal harvest of saw palmetto (Serenoa repens [W. Bartram] Small) berries for increased livelihood security, and conservationists and land-managers who view harvesting as detrimental for wildlife. Informal harvesting occurs on public and private lands, sometimes without permission. Berries, though ubiquitous on the landscape, have become a contested resource. The rapid conversion of rural wildlife habitat into suburban development has increased State urgency to bring natural areas into protection along the Florida Ecological Greenways Network. Habitat infringement and associated pressures on wildlife by development has led to the promotion of the state-wide Florida Wildlife Corridor, based on the FEGN. This corridor would connect isolated Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) populations and Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) with other populations. The scale of the commercial berry industry is unknown, but is estimated at millions of pounds annually. State and wildlife conservationists are increasingly concerned with the perceived scale of the harvest and its possible associated effects on wildlife, particularly Florida black bears.

The deregulation of the airline industry created a myriad of changes in the U.S. air transport system that has both defended and sparked debate on the wisdom of such policy change for over three decades. One of the promises of deregulation from its proponents in the 1970s was increased competition that would lead to a reduction in fares for consumers. Historic data and literature has indeed shown this to be to the case as average airfares have trended downward especially over the last twenty years. Nonetheless, the industry has become much more complex since deregulation in terms of pricing to the point that very sophisticated yield management computer models are used to achieve an optimum balance between load factors and price. Consequently, this has in turn translated into a haphazard experience for most air travelers in the United States; for instance, the cost of a ticket is sometimes lower traveling from coast to coast than within a particular region of the U.S. and paid fares for the exact same trip can deviate dramatically, often based on variation in the date of purchase. Additionally, this has also resulted in a spatial pattern where certain regions throughout the country have enjoyed lower airfares more so than others. This research seeks to identify this regional disparity using a geographically weighted regression and spatial autoregressive models in a sample of 6,200 routes between 80 primary U.S. airports. The results from the global model showed that variables which measure competition (airlines), operating cost (flights, distance) and elasticity (layover time) proved to be statistically significant and had a positive relationship with airfare The GWR results indicated that while some factors like distance, and hub size, were statistically significant almost nationwide, other factors such as frequency, presence of low cost carriers, and numbers of airlines were only statistically significant at certain airports. Finally, the spatial regressions models indicate that the spatial autocorrelation found in U.S. airfares resemble the first order properties of spatial autocorrelation (i.e. spatial heterogeneity) and not the second order properties (i.e. spatial dependence).

The country of Slovakia has experienced many new changes since their adoption of a market economic system. The tourism industry is an area of the economy that has experienced high levels of growth and is deemed to be a cornerstone of Slovakia's future well being. The objective of this paper is to assess this industry by investigating the reorganization and use of networks by small businesses. A survey of Slovak hotels and tourism agents was conducted to evaluate these interrelationships. The results of the survey were then used to analyze the geographic differences between firms in Slovakia's tourism industry. Emerging patterns were found that reflected the adaptation of Slovakia's small tourism businesses to the changing business environment as well as network patterns that resembled those found in older market based economies.

The European Union (EU) has been evolving over the past years towards a goal of becoming an integrated economic space. Transportation, particularly, air transport, is a key step in the unification process, thus the development of the Single Air Market (SAM). The goals of this research are: (1) to identify the forces influencing air transport in the EU; (2) to identify the hierarchical structure of the major airports in the EU, and; (3) to compare the air transport hierarchy within the EU with networks of other modes of transport. This research uses unique variables as surrogates to traditional transport accessibility studies. Results indicate that the spatial patterns of core regions are similar to other studies, with variations in the peripheral spatial pattern.

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIW) and its associated ports are both the entranceways of international commerce to the U.S. and arteries of domestic commercial transportation. Each year the federal government invests thousands of dollars into the waterways and ports of the United States. The goals of this thesis are (1) to provide an historical background of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and the selected ports and (2) to determine if federal expenditures are yielding results at the AIW and the ports. Several modest statistical analyses are used to determine if Federal investment influences passenger and cargo volume at the selected ports. Findings indicate that federal investment does influence cargo volume, however, there are many additional factors to be considered which may play a greater role in passenger and cargo volume at these ports.

As use of the Internet becomes pervasive, user interface design of web sites becomes increasingly important. Consumers must be able to easily and quickly perform the functions they desire. Travel industry applications have a large market potential on the Internet. Because of the geographical relationships of locations and functions in the travel industry, the use of cartography and GIS can be very beneficial to user interfaces of these applications. This paper examines functions, inputs, and user interface of current airline reservation web sites, and looks at some current examples of GIS use on the Internet. It then discusses ways to improve the user interface design of airline reservation web sites using GIS to create more powerful and easy-to-use applications that also incorporate other aspects of the travel industry.

This thesis analyzes the use of targeting in four Florida cities: Gainesville, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, and Pensacola. Many Economic Development Organizations (EDOs) target certain industries to bring to their community. Often, these assessments are based on assumptions about quality of jobs and the impact they would have on the community. Geography is left out of the equation. Biotechnology (SIC 2836), Airplane and Parts (SIC 372), Corporate Headquarters (represented by administrative and auxiliary functions), and Printed Circuit Boards (SIC 3672) industries have been identified as targeted industries and are examined in depth. Various cities in the study set have chosen to target these industries. This thesis then goes on to explain where these industries typically locate and whether their characteristics match the Florida communities.

Over the past century, the elderly have been a growing proportion of the total population in the United States. Due to this, geographers have given increasing amount of attention to the study of the elderly. One of the areas where geography has made substantial contributions is in examining the concentration and spatial distribution. Two processes effect the spatial distribution: aging in place and migration. Historically, the origin and destination streams of interstate migrants have been highly concentrated; however, the destinations are now becoming more diffuse.

Estonia has experienced extreme political changes throughout the twentieth century that drastically altered the direction of trade flows. As economic changes occurred, geographers regionalized Estonia in different ways. During Estonia's independent period (1918-1939), the nation fit into a West European economic region as a peripheral agricultural country. Soviet annexation, 1940-1991, reversed Estonia's economic participation to an Eastern focused and industrialized republic. Today, Estonia has resurfaced as an independent nation that has begun to realign its economy toward Western European countries, while promoting itself as a geographic window between East and West.

The pattern of decline of the mining community of Sotiras, in the island of Thasos in Greece is examined as well as its resurrection as a seasonal second home economy. Thasos has been famous for its mineral wealth since antiquity, and Sotiras, functioned as the second most important mining town on the island during the early twentieth century. The community has experienced boom and bust cycles from its continued dependence on a single activity, mining in the early part of the century and tourism and seasonal residents at the present time. The main objective of this study is to discuss and analyze the socioeconomic, cultural, and spatial effects of the boom periods and the long decades of decline in between on the population and landscape of Sotiras in a core-periphery framework.