3. PhD Theses
Recent Submissions
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Phytoplankton as ecological quality indicator of lakes
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2021)According to Water Framework Directive (WFD), phytoplankton abundance, composition and bloom metrics should be used in lake ecological quality assessment. Phytoplankton is highly sensitive to environmental changes and can ... -
Diversity of potato late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans in the Baltic populations
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)Late blight, caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans (Mont. de Bary 1876), is one of the most economically damaging plant diseases and certainly the most devastating disease in potato. The current research results ... -
Factors affecting apple juice quality and mycotoxin patulin formation
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)The aim was to find out the effect of cultivation system (organic- and conventional-), apple preprocessing storage temperature (+3°C and +9°C) and juice pressing technology (rack-and-frame press, water press and belt ... -
Landscape metrics and cultural ecosystem services: an integrative resource-driven mapping approach for landscape harmony
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)The overall idea of PhD thesis was to explain with objective evidence and using mapping techniques, why and how people value particular visual landscapes. Mainstream mapping research usually refers to uniqueness, diversity ... -
A tiered framework for mapping and assessing ecosystem services from semi-natural grasslands: expert-based assessments, proxy indicators and uav surveys
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)Semi-natural grasslands provide a wide range of goods and services, including plant species diversity, carbon storage and sequestration, biomass production for grazing animals, flood reduction, habitat for migratory and ... -
When peace and quiet is not enough: Examining the challenges communities face in Estonian and Latvian rural landscapes
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)Estonian and Latvian rural landscapes are not static; they evolve under environmental influences, both natural and socioeconomic. The landscapes have undergone rapid transformation from the collectivised Soviet period to ... -
Mesophyll conductance in gymnosperms
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)Mesophyll conductance is the CO2 diffusion efficiency through the leaf from the substomatal cavity to chloroplasts located in plant cells. It is an important step determining photosynthetic efficiency next to photosynthetic ... -
Impact of farming system, pre-crop and weather conditions to yield and quality of spring wheat
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)Present thesis studies the impact of farming system, pre-crop and weather conditions to yield and quality of spring wheat. The main objectives were: (i) to determine the effect of six leguminous pre-crop species (perennial ... -
The effects of heat stress severity on photosynthesis and volatile organic compound emissions in black mustard and tobacco
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2020)Plants are susceptible to various abiotic stress factors during their growth, such as low and high temperatures, drought, and excess water and light. At this time, rising temperature is one of the most topical issues as ... -
Breeding and migration ecology of Common Crane (Grus grus L.)
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)The objectives of this thesis were to analyse the breeding population trends and distribution of the Common Cranes in Estonia and the availability of potential breeding habitat (I, IV), to describe nesting habitats in ... -
Effects of synthetic and biological pesticide exposure on honey bees and bumble bees
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)The current thesis investigated whether different pesticide residues, and at which concentrations, can be found in different honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colony components collected from different land use types (I, ... -
Holistic development of the oil shale region as an industrial heritage, recreational, sports and tourism district
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)In Ida-Viru County, the oil shale industrial activity and its decrease in recent decades have caused damaged landscapes, deteriorating settlements and infrastructures, environmental problems, high unemployment, emigration ... -
Encoding of environmental heat by the sensory triad of insects antennal thermo- and hygroreceptor neurons
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)Despite that environmental thermal conditions play a major role in all levels of biological organization very little information is available on noxious high temperature sensation crucial in behavioural thermoregulation ... -
The effect of military vehicles on rut formation on Estonian soils and natural recovery of the ruts
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)Soil degradation resulting from the passages of agricultural, forestry, rescue, and military vehicles has gained global interest. One of the first indications that the soil is being harmed by vehicle traffic is rutting. ... -
Quantitative scaling of foliage photosynthetic characteristics and release of constitutive and induced volatiles with severity of biotic stress
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)Plants produce a large amount of secondary metabolites including a variety of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be categorized to isoprenoids, benzenoids, products of lipoxygenase (LOX) based on the ... -
Pigment-based chemotaxonomy – efficient tool to quantify phytoplankton groups in lakes and coastal sea areas
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)All members of the aquatic food web rely either directly on indirectly on the autotrophic phytoplankton. The distribution and dynamics of phytoplankton groups reflects a number of things: rate of eutrophication, biogeochemical ... -
Organic matter in temperate lakes – monitoring and connections with catchment
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)Organic matter (OM) has an important role in lakes as a pH buffer in low alkalinity waters and acting as an energy source for heterotrophic microorganisms. Increasing OM concentrations in lakes have been reported as a ... -
Determination of emission factors from anthropogenic particle sources for air emission and health impact assessment
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2019)There is substantial exposure to coarse particles (PM10) and fine particles (PM2.5) in major Estonian cities that cause a considerable amount of health effects, mainly in the form of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. ... -
Virtual reality in support of sustainable tourism. Experiences from Eastern Europe
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2018)This study is concerned with the questions: how tourism players perceive sustainable tourism and whether sustainable tourism planning practices include virtual travel as a means to improve visitor experiences. Furthermore, ... -
Effect of host plants and land use on cabbage seed weevil infestation and associated parasitoids
(Eesti Maaülikool, 2018)The need for more sustainable pest management strategies has been increasing in light of the harmful effects that insecticides have on non-target organisms and recent regulation changes. This study aimed to provide a basis ...