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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Physical and Environmental Geography
Age, Size, And Composition Of Selected Old-Growth Shortleaf Pine Stands In The Upper Buffalo River, Arkansas, Willa Avery Thomason
Age, Size, And Composition Of Selected Old-Growth Shortleaf Pine Stands In The Upper Buffalo River, Arkansas, Willa Avery Thomason
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) approaches the westernmost limits of its range in the Arkansas Ozarks. Despite heavy logging of shortleaf pine throughout its range during the 19th and 20th centuries, the species was not easily accessible for harvest and transportation in the most rugged areas of the Boston Mountains and, as a result, there are a few extant stands of old-growth shortleaf pine in the region. The shortleaf pine stands in the interior Boston Mountains are unusual in that they exist primarily above bluff lines at topographic breaks in the hardwood canopy and are not disturbed by fire as frequently …
An Explorative Study Of The Methods Used In Dendrochronology And Its Applications, Matthew Bowery
An Explorative Study Of The Methods Used In Dendrochronology And Its Applications, Matthew Bowery
Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference
The science of dendrochronology involves the dating of tree rings and analysis of their annual growth rates. It is important to conduct field studies to determine what tree species in a given area are suitable for analysis. This project began by coring Acer plantanoides, Acer saccharinum, Acer saccharum, and Picea abies from the Fanshawe Conservation Area in London, Ontario. Each core was prepped using standard procedures and analyzed for the visibility of annual rings. The tree rings of Acer plantanoides and Acer saccharinum were inadequate for accurate dating, and thus, only Acer saccharum and Picea abies were …
Can Stable Isotopes From Tree Rings Improve Our Understanding Of Past Variability In The Southern Annular Mode?, Zachary Grzywacz
Can Stable Isotopes From Tree Rings Improve Our Understanding Of Past Variability In The Southern Annular Mode?, Zachary Grzywacz
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Few annually dated stable isotope records exist across Oceania. In mid- to high-latitude locations in South America, tree-ring stable isotopes provide information about past climate dynamics such as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). The SAM drives latitudinal shifts in Southern Hemisphere westerly winds, influencing temperature and moisture delivery across the mid- to high-latitudes, including Tasmania. Combinations of paleoclimate proxies from across the Southern Ocean might provide insight into dynamic processes like the SAM that are difficult to measure with a single proxy. Measuring stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios from tree rings in Tasmania could provide complementary data to contribute …
Analysis And Conservation Of Native Forests At Kessler Mountain Fayetteville, Arkansas, Alan James Edmondson
Analysis And Conservation Of Native Forests At Kessler Mountain Fayetteville, Arkansas, Alan James Edmondson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Kessler Mountain in Fayetteville Arkansas has long been recognized for its beauty and natural resources. Parts of Kessler Mountain have been homesteaded and developed in the past, but most of the mountain has remained relatively undisturbed. The planned development of over 4,000 housing units to cover Kessler Mountain stimulated controversy and consideration of other management alternatives. A twist of fate involving an economic recession, a dedicated group of outdoor recreation enthusiasts, and environmental conservationists led to the permanent protection of 384 acres in the Kessler Mountain Regional Park. To help evaluate the natural resources at Kessler Mountain, forest composition, structure, …
Southern Annular Mode Drives Multicentury Wildfire Activity In Southern South America, Andrés Holz, Juan Paritsis, Ignacio A. Mundo, Thomas T. Veblen, Thomas Kitzberger, Grant J. Williamson, Ezequiel Aráoz, Carlos Bustos-Schindler, Mauro E. González, H. Ricardo Grau, Juan M. Quezada
Southern Annular Mode Drives Multicentury Wildfire Activity In Southern South America, Andrés Holz, Juan Paritsis, Ignacio A. Mundo, Thomas T. Veblen, Thomas Kitzberger, Grant J. Williamson, Ezequiel Aráoz, Carlos Bustos-Schindler, Mauro E. González, H. Ricardo Grau, Juan M. Quezada
Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations
The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the main driver of climate variability at mid to high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, affecting wildfire activity, which in turn pollutes the air and contributes to human health problems and mortality, and potentially provides strong feedback to the climate system through emissions and land cover changes. Here we report the largest Southern Hemisphere network of annually resolved tree ring fire histories, consisting of 1,767 fire-scarred trees from 97 sites (from 22 °S to 54 °S) in southern South America (SAS), to quantify the coupling of SAM and regional wildfire variability using recently created …
Using Spatial Analysis To Evaluate Fire Activity In A Pine Rockland Ecosystem, Big Pine Key, Florida, Usa, Lauren Ashley Stachowiak
Using Spatial Analysis To Evaluate Fire Activity In A Pine Rockland Ecosystem, Big Pine Key, Florida, Usa, Lauren Ashley Stachowiak
Doctoral Dissertations
Pine rocklands are fire-prone ecosystems with limited spatial extent, and have experienced reduced area in the previous decades through habitat conversion and urbanization. The purpose of this dissertation research was to evaluate the historical range of variability of fire activity and spatial patterns of fires in a pine rockland ecosystem in the National Key Deer Refuge (NKDR) on Big Pine Key in the Lower Florida Keys. To investigate the temporal and spatial patterns in fire activity, I (1) evaluated the temporal patterns for fires in my study area in the NKDR, (2) analyzed differences in standard fire history metrics since …
Dendrogeomorphic Analysis Of Debris Slides On Mt. Le Conte, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S.A., Maegen Lee Rochner
Dendrogeomorphic Analysis Of Debris Slides On Mt. Le Conte, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S.A., Maegen Lee Rochner
Masters Theses
Research conducted during the past 30 years tested the use of tree rings to date mass movement events in the mountain areas of Europe and the western and southwestern United States, but few studies have been performed in the eastern U.S., where debris flows, landslides, and rock falls in the Appalachian Mountains pose a common threat to human life and property. One area of particular interest is Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). For this study, I tested mature red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) trees located on or near a debris slide boundary on Mt. Le Conte (LC01) in …
Climate Drivers Of Wildfire Activity In The Magdalena Mountains Of New Mexico, U.S.A., Elizabeth Anne Schneider
Climate Drivers Of Wildfire Activity In The Magdalena Mountains Of New Mexico, U.S.A., Elizabeth Anne Schneider
Masters Theses
In recent years, crown fires have raged through mixed-conifer forests in the American Southwest that historically experienced frequent, low-severity wildfires. Land management agencies now wish to restore wildfires to their historical range of variability, but this requires information on fire regimes before Euro-American disturbance took place. We characterized the historical fire regime of a high elevation, mixed-conifer forest in the Magdalena Mountains, New Mexico. This research evaluated the different climate drivers, represented by the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), that influence the occurrence of …
A Dendroecological Evaluation Of The Effects Of Coal Ash On Tree Growth, Kingston Fossil Plant, Harriman, Tennessee, U.S.A., Niki Ann Garland
A Dendroecological Evaluation Of The Effects Of Coal Ash On Tree Growth, Kingston Fossil Plant, Harriman, Tennessee, U.S.A., Niki Ann Garland
Masters Theses
Tree growth is a function of many environmental variables, and it is possible to detect differences between natural and human-related factors on tree growth. Radial growth of trees in one year and in subsequent years that follow is influenced not only by climate and other overarching multi-year processes, but also by pulse disturbance events. On December 22, 2008, an embankment at an impoundment for wet storage of fly ash at the Kingston Fossil Plant, Harriman, Tennessee collapsed, releasing 4,434,400 cubic meters of coal ash into the Clinch and Emory Rivers, impacting aquatic life as well as terrestrial flora and fauna. …
Fire Regimes Of Lower-Elevation Forests In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S.A., Lisa Battaile Laforest
Fire Regimes Of Lower-Elevation Forests In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, U.S.A., Lisa Battaile Laforest
Doctoral Dissertations
Disturbance is a natural part of any forest ecosystem. When disturbance regimes are altered, the forest stands will reflect those changes. Southern Appalachian xeric pine-oak woodlands are one forest type that has experienced such change, primarily in the form of fire suppression. The western side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains stands of large trees that escaped earlier intensive logging, show evidence of past fire, and provide an ideal setting for reconstructing stand histories. For three lower-elevation (ca. 500 m ASL) study sites, I used crossdated yellow pine tree-ring chronologies and records from cross-sections taken from living and dead …
Dendroclimatic Analysis Of Climate Oscillations For The Southeastern United States From Tree-Ring Network Data, Yanan Li
Masters Theses
Dendroclimatological research along a geographical gradient is important to understanding both spatial and temporal characteristics of climate influences on tree growth. In this study, three tree-ring width chronologies, obtained from field collection and previous research, were used to represent tree growth along a longitudinal transect from coast to inland in the southeastern U.S.: Hope Mills, located at the Atlantic Coastal Plain; Linville Mountain, located on the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains; and Gold Mine Trail, located on the western side of the Appalachians. The variations of ring width indices in chronologies reflect extreme climatic events such as severe droughts …
Influences Of Climate And Anthropogenic Disturbances On Wildfire Regimes Of The Zuni Mountains, New Mexico, U.S.A., Monica Tyson Rother
Influences Of Climate And Anthropogenic Disturbances On Wildfire Regimes Of The Zuni Mountains, New Mexico, U.S.A., Monica Tyson Rother
Masters Theses
This research examined the fire history of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) forests in northwestern New Mexico. The study area included three sites in the Zuni Mountains of Cibola National Forest and one site along the boundary of El Malpais National Monument. I crossdated over 800 fire scars on 75 samples to reconstruct spatial and temporal characteristics of historic wildfire regimes. The Weibull Median Interval, Weibull Modal Interval, and Mean Fire Interval ranged from five to eight years across all sites and percent-scarred classes (all fires, 10% scarred, and 25% scarred) and indicated that …
Fire History From Dendrochronological Analyses At Two Sites Near Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S.A., Ian C. Feathers
Fire History From Dendrochronological Analyses At Two Sites Near Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S.A., Ian C. Feathers
Masters Theses
Fire, logging, livestock grazing, and insect outbreaks are disturbances that have significantly influenced both the historic and present fire regimes. The composition and structure of vegetation communities within Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) have likely changed in response to these disturbances. Two study sites (CRX, the near site, and CRT, the far site) were chosen along the Cooper Road Trail based on topographic separation, presence of mixed oak-pine communities, presence of fire-scarred yellow pine trees, and GSMNP land acquisition records. To quantify and evaluate fire regimes, individual fire histories were developed for each site from fire-scarred yellow pine trees, …
Wither The Fruited Plain: The Long Expedition And The Description Of The "Great American Desert", Kevin Z. Sweeney
Wither The Fruited Plain: The Long Expedition And The Description Of The "Great American Desert", Kevin Z. Sweeney
Great Plains Quarterly
The view from Pikes Peak is breathtaking. Situated where the Great Plains meets the Rocky Mountains, one feels as if the whole nation is laid out before you. It is the perfect vantage point from which to write an inspirational anthem to the environmental magnificence of the United States. In the summer of 1893, Katherine Lee Bates, a Wellesley College English professor, sat on the summit of Pikes Peak, inspired by the panorama to pen the words to "America the Beautiful." Her poem was set to the tune "Materna" by Samuel Augustus Ward two years later to become one of …