Assessment Of Vegetation Response To Wildfire At Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico: Case Study Of The Las Conchas Fire, Gladys Valentin-Gonzalez

Geography ETDs

In the past couple of decades, there has been an increase in the occurrence of wildfire events in the United States. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that over 73,000 wildfires on average occur annually in the U.S., burning about 7.3 million acres of land. Bandelier National Monument, in northern New Mexico, has been affected by several wildfires in the past 40 years, one of the most recent being the Las Conchas Fire in 2011, which burned over 60,700 hectaresin Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve. This research explores a remote-sensing based assessment of vegetation response to and recovery …

Fungi Of Forests: Examining The Diversity Of Root-Associated Fungi And Their Responses To Acid Deposition, Donald Jay Nelsen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Global importance of forests is difficult to overestimate, given their role in oxygen production, ecological roles in nutrient cycling and supporting numerous living species, and economic value for industry and as recreational zones. Fitness of the forest-forming trees strongly depends on microbial communities associated with tree roots. In particular, fungi impact tree fitness: mycorrhizal species provide water and nutrients for the trees in exchange for C, endophytic fungi play key roles in host defense against pathogenic organisms, and saprotrophic fungi decompose dead organic matter and facilitate nutrient cycling. In addition, pathogenic fungal species strongly affect forest fitness. Despite their importance, …

Population Dynamics Of Ouachita Dusky Salamanders (Desmognathus Brimleyorum) In A Managed Forest Landscape, Kelly Marie Halloran

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With anthropogenic alteration of landscapes increasing world-wide, managed forests are increasingly important as providers of ecosystem services including habitat for numerous wildlife species. It is crucial to maintain a balance between timber production and conservation of biodiversity on managed landscapes. Salamander populations can play key roles in the function and diversity of temperate forest ecosystems. Several studies have reported negative effects of forestry on terrestrial plethodontid salamanders, but less research has focused on stream-dwelling species, evaluated mechanisms driving observed shifts in abundance, or described the dynamics of populations residing in managed forests. Using a Before-After-Control-Impact design, we examined the effects …

A Risk-Based Method For Estimating The Carbon Sequestration Budget For A Mixed Hardwood Forest, Erin Cooper

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) levels in the atmosphere have risen from approximately 310 ppm in the 1950’s to over 400 ppm as of 2015. This rise in CO₂ has likely resulted in the observed warming trend of the earth’s atmosphere in the same time frame, causing significant concern in the scientific community. Several mitigation strategies have arisen to combat the upward trend of CO₂ emissions in recent decades, among them being carbon sequestration- the process of capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere and holding it for an extended period of time. This study used the U.S. Forest …

Perceptions Affecting Tree Valuation: An Analysis Of Recently Sold And Leased Properties In Tampa, Florida, Cody R. Winter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The urban forest is a structure that is fluid in both species composition and how it is integrated in our cities and suburban areas. Much like the fluidity in its structure, the urban forest provides ecosystem services and disservices in many forms. These services and disservices can often come in the form of temperature regulation, lower crime rates, and even higher property values. The latter, which is associated with the economic value of trees, is a part of the hedonic pricing literature which suggests that there is a disparity in the value associated with trees to house prices. With the …

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

Influence Of Prescribed Burning On Upland Soil Properties In Mark Twain National Forest, Southeast Missouri Ozarks, Megan Lynn Hente

MSU Graduate Theses

In the Mark Twain National forest there is a collaborative effort to restore parts of the forest to its original shortleaf pine-oak woodland areas by using a combination of silviculture and prescribed fire. The purpose of this project is to assess the effects of prescribed burning on upland forest and soil physical properties that influence erosion processes across a gradient of burned sites of different ages and unburned sites. A combination of geospatial, field, laboratory, statistical (one-way ANOVA) and modeling (USLE) methods were used to assess the effects of prescribed burns on forest and soil characteristics in Big Barren Creek …

Range-Wide Prevalence And Impacts Of Pseudocercosporella Inconspicua On Lilium Grayi And An Assessment Of L. Superbum And L. Michauxii As Reservoirs, Cindy L. Barrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lilium grayi (Gray’s Lily), a southern Appalachian endemic species, is threatened by a Lilium-specific fungal pathogen, Pseudocercosporella inconspicua. The disease is characterized by tan lesions that can cause early senescence, while also lowering seed production and viability. This project tested for P. inconspicua conidia and accessed health at nine locations. The disease was present and ubiquitous across the range of L. grayi. Through identification of P. inconspicua conidia in the field, L. superbum (Turk’s Cap Lily) was identified as an additional host, while L. michauxii (Michaux’s Lily) was disease-free. However, infection was inducible in both species. With …

The Influence Of Aspen Chemistry And The Nutritional Context On Aspen Herbivory, Kristen Y. Heroy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumption of aspen by herbivores is one major force causing aspen decline in North America. In this Dissertation, I aimed to determine why herbivores prefer browsing on certain aspen stands over others, and why they prefer consuming aspen that contains chemical defenses over understory forages like grasses, forbs, and shrubs. I explored the influence of nutrients and chemical defenses within aspen on aspen intake and preference by lambs in pen experiments. I also explored drivers of aspen preference on the landscape by looking at relationships between aspen herbivory, indicators of aspen health, amount of nutrients available in the understory, and …

Effect Of Foliage And Root Carbon Quantity, Quality, And Fluxes On Soil Organic Carbon Stabilization In Montane Aspen And Conifer Stands In Utah, Antra Boča

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Soil organic carbon (SOC) positively affects many soil properties (e.g., fertility and water holding capacity), and the amount of carbon (C) in soil exceeds the amount in the atmosphere by about three times. Forest soils store as much C as is found in trees. Tree species differ in their effect on SOC pools. Quaking aspen forests in the Western US often store more stable SOC in the mineral soil than nearby conifers. During the last decades a decline in aspen cover, often followed by conifer encroachment, has been documented. A shift from aspen to conifer overstories may negatively affect the …

“Fence-Line” Contrast Soundscape Study Of Forested Lands In Allegany State Park And Allegheny National Forest: Is There An Impact Of Oil And Gas Development On An Eastern Forest Soundscape?, Kasey Lynne Osborne

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

“Natural resources”—an inclusive term indiscriminate of splendor or conservation status – require proper management, be it for forest, oil, water, wildlife, or even soundscapes. The soundscape, or all sounds (biophony, anthrophony, geophony) characterizing an area, is both an ecological monitoring tool and a resource itself—a component of the landscape. As energy demands surge, the oil/gas region of the Appalachian Plateau adjusts to unconventional extraction concurrent with traditional drilling operations. Energy development leaves enduring spatial footprints on the landscape, such as fragmentation from well-pad matrices. Soundscape patterns may not be as readily observed as visual cues, but their analysis can reveal …

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 …

Carbon Stocks In Shade Coffee: Strategies For Enhancing Carbon Storage In Smallholder Systems In Jinotega, Nicaragua, Vanessa Katheryn Kichline

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

Climate change has recently shifted focus to adaptation and mitigation strategies in coffee production. Shade coffee systems, already widely recognized for their contribution to biodiversity and soil conservation, are now drawing attention for their role in carbon storage. Researchers have generally assumed that high carbon storage must come at the expense of reduced crop yields, implying that farmers must choose between sustainability and profit. This study uses field inventories of 70 farms in Jinotega, Nicaragua to estimate this tradeoff in smallholder shade coffee systems. Field inventories were used to develop three typologies representing different shade management strategies in use in …

The Effects Of Disturbance And Species Specific Interactions On Diversity In An Agent Based Forest Simulation, Matthew E. Mills

Theses and Dissertations

In ecology literature, there is much data which suggests that conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) and abiotic disturbances increase biodiversity in forests. This thesis elucidates the notion that not only do these two forces increase diversity, but they may also interact with one another in order to achieve higher levels of biodiversity. Abiotic disturbances, like fires and hurricanes, can indirectly impact conspecific effects because when these forces remove individuals from the landscape, the role of the conspecific effects will change. The interaction of these two factors in biodiversity are explored in an agent based forest simulation through a resource surface. …

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 …

Quantifying Tree Response To Alterations In Pollution Deposition And Climate Change In The Northeastern Us, Alexandra M. Kosiba

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Understanding tree physiological responses to climate change is critical for quantifying forest carbon, predicting species' range change, and forecasting growth trajectories. Continued increases in temperature could push trees into conditions to which they are ill adapted -- such as decreased depth of winter snow cover, altered water regimes, and a lengthened effective growing season. A complicating factor is that in the northeastern United States, climate change is occurring on a backdrop of acid deposition and land-use change. In this dissertation, I used three studies to investigate the spatiotemporal nuances of resultant tree and sapling physiology to environmental change.

First, I …

Dynamics Of Wild Red Raspberry (Rubus Idaeus L.) And The Influence On Tree Regeneration Within Silvicultural Openings In A Northern Hardwood Stand, Matthew J. Widen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Previous studies have investigated how the abundance of raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) impacts tree regeneration, but few have linked these impacts to location within canopy openings with a legacy tree. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the presence, abundance, and location of raspberries within openings containing legacy trees and the resulting impacts on tree regeneration. During the winter of 2003, 49 openings were created of three sizes: small, medium, large and 20 reference single-tree selection sites in a northern hardwood stand in Ford Forest near Alberta, Michigan. Tree regeneration and vegetative species cover were recorded in 2005 and …

The Effects Of Early Pruning On The Near-Ground Branch Density Of Four Live Fencing Species, Aric Devens

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Crop losses in home gardens greatly impact the wellbeing of rural West African families. Herbivory by migratory or local livestock represents a significant source of crop loss. Live-fencing gardens with thorny hedges is a low-cost and sustainable strategy for reducing losses due to herbivory. However, guidance on the establishment of thorny hedges is inconsistent, poorly publicized, and often anecdotal. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of three early pruning treatments on near-ground branch density of four thorny species: Vachellia nilotica, Senegalia laeta, Senegalia mellifera, and Prosopis juliflora. Physical measurements and photographic data indicated that after one growing season, V. …

Reconstructing Coastal Forest Retreat And Marsh Migration Response To Historical Sea Level Rise, Nathalie Schieder

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Climate change assessments predict that rates of relative sea level rise will increase in the future, leading to enhanced inundation of low-lying coastal regions and a 20 – 50 % decline in salt marsh area by 2100. Global sea level rise began accelerating in the late 19th to early 20th century, and local rates along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast are twice as fast as global estimates. Frequent flooding and salt stress associated with sea level rise lead to coastal transgression, and the survival of ecosystems depends on their ability to migrate inland faster than they erode and submerge. Here, I …

Finding Nondestructive Parameters For Root-To-Shoot Ratios In Douglas-Fir, Grand Fir, And Redwood Saplings In Northwest California For Biomass And Carbon Storage Estimates, Walter A. Kast

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

ABSTRACT

FINDING NONDESTRUCTIVE PARAMETERS FOR ROOT-TO-SHOOT RATIOS IN DOUGLAS-FIR, GRAND FIR, AND REDWOOD SAPLINGS IN NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA FOR BIOMASS AND CARBON STORAGE ESTIMATES

Walter A. Kast

There is a need for better understanding of how woody biomass is allocated above and belowground and how this allocation might differ among tree species. In this field of research, investigators face challenges such as the laborious task of removing trees from the soil with destructive sampling, and the cleaning, drying, and weighing of belowground biomass (BGB). Therefore, researchers and practitioners most often rely on existing models to predict BGB from easily-measurable aboveground variables …