Life Sciences Commons^™

Choices And Preferences Of Vermont Master Gardeners - Do Socio-Demographics Matter?, Grace Matiru

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to characterize the choices, preferences and motivations of fruit and vegetable gardeners in Vermont, and to determine whether socio-demographic characteristics affect some of these choices, preferences and motivations. Using a survey of Vermont Extension Master Gardeners (EMGs), data were gathered over a 3-year period (2011-2013). The findings show most EMGs (>90%) garden in private home gardens, and the most popular vegetables grown were tomatoes, herbs, and salad greens. Beans, cucumbers and peppers sere also popular and among fruits, blueberries, apples, raspberries and strawberries were grown by over 40% of EMGs. Approximately 10% of EMG …

Using Multiple Methodologies To Understand Within Species Variability Of Adelges And Pineus (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha), Tav Aronowitz

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The species of two genera in Insecta: Hemiptera: Adelgidae were investigated through the lenses of genetics, morphology, life cycle and host species. The systematics are unclear due to complex life cycles, including multigenerational polymorphism, host switching and cyclical parthenogenesis. I studied the hemlock adelgids, including the nonnative invasive hemlock woolly adelgid on the east coast of the United States, that are currently viewed as a single species. I used multivariate morphometric analyses to identify morphological differences among hemlock adelgid lineages. With principal component analyses and MANOVA, the six lineages that were used in this study were found to be significantly …

Regeneration Responses To Management For Old-Growth Characteristics In Northern Hardwood-Conifer Forests, Aviva Joy Gottesman

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Silviculture practices interact with multiple sources of variability to influence regeneration trends in northern hardwood forests. There is uncertainty whether low-intensity selection harvesting techniques will result in desirable tree regeneration. Our research is part of a long-term study that tests the hypothesis that a silvicultural approach called "structural complexity enhancement" (SCE) can promote accelerated development of late-successional forest structure and functions. Our objective is to understand the regeneration dynamics following three uneven-aged forestry treatments modified to increase postharvest structural retention: single-tree selection, group selection, and SCE. In terms of regeneration densities and composition, how do light availability, competition, seedbad, and …

Early Feeding In Lake Trout Fry (Salvelinus Namaycush) As A Mechanism For Ameliorating Thiamine Deficiency Complex, Carrie L. Kozel

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Recruitment failure of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in the Great Lakes has been attributed in part to the consumption of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) by adult lake trout, leading to Thiamine Deficiency Complex (TDC) and early mortality in fry. The current understanding of thiamine deficiency in lake trout fry is based on information from culture and hatchery settings, which do not represent conditions fry experience in the wild and may influence the occurrence of TDC. In the wild, lake trout fry have access to zooplankton immediately following hatching; previous studies found that wild fry begin feeding before complete yolk-sac absorption. However, …

Lasting Legacies Of Hurricane, Harvesting, And Salvage Logging Disturbance On Succession And Structural Development In An Old-Growth Tsuga Canadensis-Pinus Strobus Forest, Emma Sass

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Disturbance events affect forest composition and structure across a range of spatial and temporal scales, and forest development may differ after natural, anthropogenic, or compound disturbances. Following large, natural disturbances, salvage logging is a common yet controversial management practice around the globe. While the short-term impacts of salvage logging have been studied in many systems, the long-term effects remain unclear. Further, while natural disturbances create many persistent and unique microsite conditions, little is known about the long-term influence of microsites on forest development. We capitalized on over eighty years of data on stand development following the 1938 hurricane in New …