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Landscape Patterns And Patch Dynamics In Hamilton County Over A Forty Year Period: Applicability To The Conservation Of The Eastern Box Turtle, Marie Colson
Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
Exurban development is the fastest growing form of land use in the southeastern US and the primary driver of habitat and biodiversity loss. Species with long generation times such as the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) can persist in an urbanizing environment but have higher mortality than in forested habitat and show a response lag which delays detection of population decline. I quantify land use and land cover change over a forty year period by photo interpreting historic imagery that is orthorectified using a direct linear transformation model. A GIS database is created for three study sites and landscape …
Incomplete Concerted Evolution In The Non-Hybrid Diploid Clematic Fremontii S. Watston (Rananculaceae), Meredith C. Montgomery
Incomplete Concerted Evolution In The Non-Hybrid Diploid Clematic Fremontii S. Watston (Rananculaceae), Meredith C. Montgomery
Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
Clematis fremontii S. Wats. (Ranunculaceae) is a diploid perennial forb with strict habitat requirements that occurs in isolated populations in the cedar glades of Missouri and the mixed-grass prairies of Kansas and Nebraska. Based on geographical isolation and morphological differences, this species was formerly subdivided into two varieties, the autonymic prairie variety and the glade variety, C. fremontii var. riehlii Erickson. Interestingly, two disjunct populations of C. fremontii inhabit cedar glades have been recently located in Rome, GA and Chattanooga, TN. Initially, the focus of my research was to gain insight into whether the two eastern populations are recent introductions …
An Oral History Of The American Chestnut In Southern Appalachia, Bethany N. Baxter
An Oral History Of The American Chestnut In Southern Appalachia, Bethany N. Baxter
Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
This oral history research explored and examined the experiences and memories of people who lived in the Southern Appalachian region during the years preceding and following the chestnut blight pandemic. The project examined experiences from an environmental history perspective, addressing the economic and cultural significance of chestnut pre and post blight, and attitudes and feelings concerning American chestnut restoration efforts. The American Chestnut Oral History Collection includes forty-five interviews, recorded between May and December 2008. Twenty-seven of them were recorded with people who have memories of the importance of American chestnut in southern Appalachia. These interviews were conducted across Kentucky, …
Understanding Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Degradation By Soil Microbial Communites: The Concentration And Distribution Of Aromatic Dioxygenase Genes, Inigo Walker Howlett
Understanding Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Degradation By Soil Microbial Communites: The Concentration And Distribution Of Aromatic Dioxygenase Genes, Inigo Walker Howlett
Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
The ability to individually identify and enumerate bacterial genes in the environment is an important development in the field of microbial ecology. Researchers are now able to quantify and map populations and communities, the presence of which could only be inferred until recently. Knowledge of this ecology is critical to understanding microbial responses to environmental pollutants, thereby contributing information useful in devising and monitoring bioremediation strategies. The following thesis therefore compares two aromatic dioxygenase genes, nidA and nahAc, which confer the ability for the bacteria carrying the genes to metabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), persistent pollutant byproducts of coal coking. …
Local Effects Of Culverts On Habitat Features And Fish Assemblages In Blue Ridge Streams, Daniel Huser
Local Effects Of Culverts On Habitat Features And Fish Assemblages In Blue Ridge Streams, Daniel Huser
Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
I studied environmental conditions, fish assemblages, and culvert features in 11 headwater streams (Tennessee and Conasauga river drainages) in Cherokee National Forest (Blue Ridge ecoregion), Tennessee, May-August 2008. Culvert-related effects on instream habitat and fish assemblages were measured at 10 stream sites: five sites contained culverts with artificial bottom substrates and five sites contained culverts with natural bottom substrates. On each stream, paired sampling reaches (reach length ~35 times mean reach width, drainage area <11 km 2) were established 50 m upstream and 50 m downstream of the culvert. Reaches downstream of culverts with artificial substrates (compared to upstream reaches; related-samples t test) exhibited greater water depths, lower gravel/sediment depths, and higher percentages of bedrock and boulder substrates (P < 0.10). Reaches downstream of natural substrate culverts (compared to upstream reaches) exhibited faster current velocities (P < 0.10). Fish abundance (predominantly western blacknose dace Rhinichthys obtusus) was consistently higher downstream than upstream (P < 0.10), regardless of the culvert type. In addition, reaches downstream of artificial substrate culverts exhibited reduced species evenness compared to upstream reaches. Mark-recapture experiments on two streams documented fish movements through a natural substrate culvert (similar to those in reference areas); however, movements through a perched pipe culvert were not detected. Data collected i n the present study suggest that culverts had localized effects on instream habitat and fish assemblages, and that certain types of culverts may impede fish dispersal.
Effects Of Urbanization On Instream Habitat And Fish Assemblages In The Chattanooga Metropolitan Area, Tennessee-Georgia, Joshua Smith
Effects Of Urbanization On Instream Habitat And Fish Assemblages In The Chattanooga Metropolitan Area, Tennessee-Georgia, Joshua Smith
Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
Twenty-one stream sites in the Ridge and Valley ecoregion of Tennessee and Georgia were studied in 2008 to evaluate the effects of watershed urbanization on instream environmental parameters and fish assemblages. I also investigated changes in urbanization and stream conditions at 10 sites over a 10-year period (1998-2008). Electrofishing yielded 12,329 fish, composed of 38 species from eight families. Urbanization in the study watersheds was measured (using ArcGIS 9.3; released June, 2008) by calculating the building density and percent urban land use. Correlation analysis revealed that more urbanized watersheds were characterized by increased proportions of fine sediments and pool areas, …