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Neither Natchez Nor Tara: An Environmental Historial Geography Of The Upper Pearl River Basin Of Mississippi, Protohistoric Period To 1940., Frederick William Sunderman Jan 2001

Neither Natchez Nor Tara: An Environmental Historial Geography Of The Upper Pearl River Basin Of Mississippi, Protohistoric Period To 1940., Frederick William Sunderman

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the contrasting themes of land degradation and environmental stewardship of farming enterprises in the regional context of the Upper Pearl River Basin of Mississippi. Both the previous imagery and analysis of Southern Cotton Belt agriculture emphasize the profligate nature of farming practices. The contribution this study makes is to amend both the stock images and macro-analyses of Southern cotton culture. Analysis at the sub-regional level demonstrates that many farmers actually practiced sound land management techniques. Reconstructing the experiences of farmers in the Upper Pearl River Basin provides examples of ways in which regional distinctions amend widely conceived …


Analyzing Crime Spatial Patterns Using Remote Sensing And Geographical Information System Technologies: Investigating The Urban Opportunity Structure Model Of Jackson, Mississippi., Tian Wu Jan 2001

Analyzing Crime Spatial Patterns Using Remote Sensing And Geographical Information System Technologies: Investigating The Urban Opportunity Structure Model Of Jackson, Mississippi., Tian Wu

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Crime is a spatial phenomenon. This study has proposed an urban opportunity structure model to understand the spatial patterns associated with crime based on the opportunities defined by urban structure. Any site in an urban space presents crime opportunities; the crime probability at a site is determined by factors such as urban physical settings, the transportation network and land use types. The hypothesized model was tested through the approach of multi-scale spatial analyses comprised of units from precinct maps used by the Jackson Police Department. The scales were defined at different area aggregations. The first scale was set on individual …


Benthic Foraminifera In Two Stressed Environments Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico., Emil Platon Jan 2001

Benthic Foraminifera In Two Stressed Environments Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico., Emil Platon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This is a study of Foraminifera from two stressed environments of the northern Gulf of Mexico: one of coastal seasonal hypoxia, the other of hydrocarbon seeps in bathyal depths---oxygen depletion being the common stressor. Many species of benthic Foraminifera survive the extreme oxygen depletion of Louisiana shelf waters in spring and summer. The dominant species are infaunal and have an adaptive tolerance to near anoxia or anoxia. A census of foraminiferal species present in dated sediment core samples reveals significant changes in the composition of the Louisiana-shelf benthic foraminiferal community in the past century. Agglutinated and porcelaneous orders living in …


Spatial Variability And Isotopic Studies Of The Prairie -Forest Transition Soil In Louisiana., Asfaw Bekele Jan 2001

Spatial Variability And Isotopic Studies Of The Prairie -Forest Transition Soil In Louisiana., Asfaw Bekele

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The calcareous prairies of Louisiana are among the most endangered ecosystems in North America. The major threat to this ecosystem is the invasion by woody and herbaceous plants, primarily eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana ). The restoration and management of these rare plant communities require a thorough understanding of the soils supporting them. Geostatistical, fractal, and stable isotopic procedures were integrated to study the soil and vegetation spatial variability. The prairie soil was alkaline, the forest soil was acidic, and the transition soil was neutral. The spherical model described the spatial variability of virtually all the soil properties considered with …


Systematics Of Neotropical Satyrine Butterflies (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Euptychiina) Based On Larval Morphology And Dna Sequence Data And The Evolution Of Life History Traits., Debra Lynne Murray Jan 2001

Systematics Of Neotropical Satyrine Butterflies (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae: Euptychiina) Based On Larval Morphology And Dna Sequence Data And The Evolution Of Life History Traits., Debra Lynne Murray

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Although satyrine butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) are highly diverse and found worldwide in most terrestrial habitats, they have received little attention from systematists. This research focuses on one of the largest satyrine groups, the euptychiines, found from central United States to Argentina, with the greatest diversity in the Amazon. The subtribe Euptychiina has a troubled taxonomic history. Most genera were erected without diagnoses and placed within the subtribe without being examined. Before this project was initiated, little was known of their basic biology and morphology. Therefore, considerable attention was given to this area in my research. I describe the larvae …


Ecological Structure Of Estaurine Fish Communities: Habitat Linkages Among Dominant Species Groups In Terminos Lagoon, Mexico., Ana Laura Lara-Dominguez Jan 2001

Ecological Structure Of Estaurine Fish Communities: Habitat Linkages Among Dominant Species Groups In Terminos Lagoon, Mexico., Ana Laura Lara-Dominguez

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Terminos Lagoon in the southern Gulf of Mexico has 5 ecological subsystems: (1) fluvial lagoon systems (FLS) with permanent river discharge, low salinity, high turbidity and nutrients. (2) Central basin (CB) between marine and river conditions, intermediate salinity and variable transparency. (3) Inner littoral of Carmen Island (ILCI) with strong marine influence, high transparency and extensive seagrass meadows. (4) Carmen inlet (Estero Pargo, ESP) with a net outflow of water and high turbidity. (5) Puerto Real inlet (PR) with a net inflow of waters, high transparency and seagrasses. During a 15-month sampling, 13,691 individuals of 79 different species were collected …


The Effects Of Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) On Woody Understory Vegetation In Lowland Rain Forest Of Malaysia, Kalan Leonard Ickes Jan 2001

The Effects Of Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) On Woody Understory Vegetation In Lowland Rain Forest Of Malaysia, Kalan Leonard Ickes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An increasingly urgent task in the field of conservation biology is to identify changes in abiotic and biotic interactions that result when large areas of forest are converted to small fragments surrounded by anthropogenic landscapes. My research, conducted in lowland dipterocarp rain forest at the 2,500-ha Pasoh Forest Reserve in Peninsular Malaysia, investigated a novel but strongly negative edge effect - namely, a tremendous increase in the density of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) and the resulting deleterious impacts on the understory plant community. The absence of feline predators due to the small size of the reserve and the presence of …


Palm Community Development And Influence On Seedling Establishment In A Tropical Moist Forest, Panama, Krista Lynn Farris Lopez Jan 2001

Palm Community Development And Influence On Seedling Establishment In A Tropical Moist Forest, Panama, Krista Lynn Farris Lopez

LSU Master's Theses

Plants often modify microsite conditions important for seedling establishment. Palms may reduce light levels and produce deep leaf litter; both may suppress seedlings, affecting the local abundance, distribution, and species composition of tree seedlings. The abundance and composition of palms were examined along a tropical forest chronosequence at the Barro Colorado Nature Monument, Panama. Palms were sampled along transects in secondary (20, 40, 70, and 100 y in fallow) and old-growth forests. Palm abundance and basal area significantly increased with forest age. Palm distribution was driven by the most abundant palm, Oenocarpus mapora, which accounted for 60% of the total …