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Listen To The Bones: An Analysis Of The Variation Within The Faunal Remains At The Bridge River Site, Ogden Wyatt Ward

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Analysis of faunal material from the 2008 and 2009 excavations at the Bridge River site (EeR14) show that variation exists within the assemblages, particularly through time between the occupation phases of Bridge River 2 and Bridge River 3. The data show that reliance on anadromous salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.) remain an important food source between Bridge River (BR) 2 and Bridge River 3 occupation phases, while reliance on important secondary resources, particularly deer (odocoileus sp.) increases. A shift in the distribution of elements from deer remains suggests a change in subsistence strategies that were used to harvest theses animals. It is …

Microbial Community Assembly And Diversification Of The Genus Chloroflexus Along An Alkaline Hot Spring Gradient, Michael Louis Weltzer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research aims to achieve a greater understanding of the structure of bacterial communities present in alkaline hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. I focus specifically on White Creek and Rabbit Creek in the Lower Geyser Basin. I show that, overall, the bacterial communities of both creeks are non-randomly assembled. However, at finer taxonomic scales, bacterial groups differ in their community assembly patterns. Specifically, phototrophic groups show the strongest evidence for non-random assembly, most likely due to competition for light. A major exception to this pattern is the genus Chloroflexus, a major member of these communities. Members of this genus …

A Case Study Of Problems And Possibilities In The Establishment Of A Guide Training Institute In Uttarakhand, India, Benjamin Schwartz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project sought to explore the problems and possibilities experienced during the establishment of a guide training institute in Uttarakhand, India. As originally proposed by the Mountain Shepherds Initiative, a small tourism organization based in Uttarakhand, the aim of the guide training institute was to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to gain employment as guides within, and expand the extent of, high quality/low quantity birdwatching tourism within northern Uttarakhand. This project was undertaken in conjunction with the Mountain Shepherds Initiative and the problems and possibilities were identified during a six month stay in the region from May-November, …

Assessing Efficacy Of Restoration Treatments In Juniper Savannas Using Spatial Wavelets And Dot Grids On Aerial Photography, Erik James Apland

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Across much of their diverse natural range in the Western US, species of the genus juniperus are expanding onto open grass and shrublands and infilling open woodland areas. In Southern Arizona’s Clifton Ranger District, landscape-scale restoration treatments have been used to stall this expansion and reduce canopy-cover. This study utilizes and compares two techniques – dot- grid sampling and spatial wavelet analysis (SWA) – to estimate the efficacy of these treatments by measuring canopy-cover change pre-and post-treatment. Further, using the SWA dataset, the study explores the potential of SWA for landscape-scale ecological attribute estimation. This study found that restoration treatments …

Can Sheep Control Leafy Spurge Without Compromising Efforts To Restore Native Plants?, Eva S. Masin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis includes two studies on the ecological effects of using sheep to control Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge). While sheep can effectively reduce E. esula when used as a long-term management strategy, little is known about their impacts on native plants. The efficacy of sheep grazing for restoration depends both on its potential for controlling undesirable plants and its ability to promote native species that provide key ecosystem goods and services. I investigated the effects of sheep grazing on native plants at both seed and mature-plant stages. To assess impacts on seedling establishment, I measured density of forb and graminoid …

Painting For The Eye: Carle Vanloo's Drunken Silenus And The 18th Century French Academy, Anna Buxton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Buxton, Anna, M.A., Spring 2012 Major Art Painting for the Eye: Carle Vanloo’s Drunken Silenus and the 18th Century French Academy Chairperson: Dr. Valerie Hedquist In 1747, newly appointed Directeur general des Bâtiments du Roi, Charles – François Le Normand de Tournehem organized a concours, or competition, in the French Royal Academy. He hoped to reinvigorate history painting at a time when Rococo themes dominated. With this challenge before him, Tournehem invited ten of the better known academic painters to produce works which challenged the norms of the popular frivolous style. De Tournehem expected edifying subject matter, such as the …

Staphylococcus Aureus Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (Pvl) Alters Human Neutrophil Viability And Function, Shawna Graves

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are the leading cause of community bacterial infections in the United States. Genes encoding Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) are present in most Staphylococcus aureus strains that cause CA-MRSA infections. Despite an association of PVL with the most abundant CA-MRSA strains, its role in pathogenesis--if any--remains unknown. PVL is a pore-forming toxin with specificity for myeloid cells, including polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs or neutrophils). It is widely assumed that PVL-mediated pore formation in the plasma membrane of PMNs leads ultimately to cytolysis. However, this hypothesis has not been tested and previous studies indicate that levels of PVL …

Wild Collaboration: Ecological Restoration, Religion, And The Reformation Of The Human/Nature Relationship, Adam Carl Lohrmann

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

ABSTRACT Lohrmann, Adam, M.S., May 2011 Environmental Studies Wild Collaboration: Ecological Restoration, Religion, and the Reformation of the Human/Nature Relationship Chairperson: Dr. Daniel Spencer In recent years, the field of ecological restoration has gained momentum as an academic discipline, a scientific profession, and as a community-based form of environmental activism and land stewardship. At the same time, the number, scope, complexity, and diversity of restoration projects has expanded, and restoration is now being practiced in every corner of the globe. Witnessing this surge of activity and interest, many restorationists now believe that the practice of restoration can serve as a …

Psyc 270.01: Fundamentals Of Learning, Kathryn Gwen Lamp

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Recent Decisions Affecting The Montana Practitioner

Montana Law Review

Recent Decisions Affecting the Montana Practitioner

Regional Differences In South American Monsoon Precipitation Inferred From The Growth And Isotopic Composition Of Tropical Trees, Ashley P. Ballantyne, P. A. Baker, J. Q. Chambers, R. Villalba, J. Argollo

Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences Faculty Publications

The authors present results on the relationship between tree-ring proxies and regional precipitation for several sites in tropical South America. The responsiveness of oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸O) and seasonal growth as precipitation proxies was first validated by high-resolution sampling of a Tachigali myrmecophila from Manaus, Brazil (3.1°S, 60.0°W). Monthly growth of Tachigali spp. was significantly correlated with monthly precipitation. Intra-annual measurements of cellulose δ¹⁸O in Tachigali spp. were also significantly correlated with monthly precipitation at a lag of approximately one month. The annual ring widths of two tropical tree taxa, Cedrela odorata growing in the Amazon …

Human Activity Differentially Redistributes Large Mammals In The Canadian Rockies National Parks, James Kimo Rogala, Mark Hebblewhite, Jesse Whittington, Cliff A. White, Jenny Coleshill, Marco Musiani

Wildlife Biology Faculty Publications

National parks are important for conservation of species such as wolves (Canis lupus) and elk (Cervus canadensis). However, topography, vegetation conditions, and anthropogenic infrastructure within parks may limit available habitat. Human activity on trails and roads may lead to indirect habitat loss, further limiting available habitat. Predators and prey may respond differentially to human activity, potentially disrupting ecological processes. However, research on such impacts to wildlife is incomplete, especially at fine spatial and temporal scales. Our research investigated the relationship between wolf and elk distribution and human activity using fine-scale Global Positioning System (GPS) wildlife telemetry locations and hourly human …

Distribution And Abundance Of The Kittlitz's Murrelet Brachyramphus Brevirostris In Selected Areas Of Southeastern Alaska, Michelle L. Kissling, Paul M. Lukacs, Stephen B. Lewis, Scott M. Gende, Katherine J. Kuletz, Nicholas R. Hatch, Sarah K. Schoen, Susan Oehlers

Wildlife Biology Faculty Publications

We conducted boat-based surveys for the Kittlitz’s Murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris during the breeding season in southeastern Alaska from 2002 to 2009. We completed a single survey in seven areas and multiple annual surveys in three areas. Although surveys spanned a broad geographic area, from LeConte Bay in the south to the Lost Coast in the north (~655 km linear distance), roughly 79% of the regional population of Kittlitz’s Murrelet was found in and between Icy and Yakutat bays (~95 km linear distance). The congeneric Marbled Murrelet B. marmoratus outnumbered the Kittlitz’s Murrelet in all areas surveyed except Icy Bay; in …

Coordinative Aerobic Exercise Does Not Enhance Attention And Concentration In College Students, Meryl Heather Epstein

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a historic and recently growing body of research that shows physical activity and fitness both have a positive effect on cognitive function, improved memory, and learning. The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute moderate to vigorous coordinative aerobic activity carried out prior to taking the d2 Test of Attention positively affected attention and concentration measures in a sample of college students at the University of Montana. The results of this investigation found no acute physical activity effect on the test scores. The results did demonstrate that there was a significant learning effect to the d2 …

Future Potential Net Primary Production Trends Of Contiguous United States Rangelands, Adam Lasalle Moreno

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rangelands are an important ecosystem covering nearly 24% of the earth’s terrestrial vegetation. Climate change is predicted to affect many of the factors that influence the production of rangeland vegetation. Understanding future trends and patterns in net primary production (NPP) requires projected potential NPP to better understand how rangelands will be affected by a changing climate. Here, I used climate data projected from a global climate model (GCM) to drive the biogeochemical model (Biome-BGC) in an attempt to simulate future potential NPP trends in rangelands of the contiguous United States from 2001-2100 on a 100 km2 scale. In response to …

Green Roofs In The Garden City: Exploring The Opportunities For Green Roof Policies In Missoula, Montana, Matthew Ryan Hodges

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Global climate change is expected to have adverse impacts on the Rocky Mountain West, including impacts on water and land use, energy consumption, weather patterns, and wildlife stewardship. The State of Montana, Missoula County and the City of Missoula all have recognized these threats and are taking steps to address climate change impacts. In response to the unique challenges posed by urban environments, the practice of green, or vegetative, roofing has been promoted through policy measures by a number of cities in the United States and abroad. This project explores green roofing and the policies used to encourage the practice …

Incentives And Disincentives Of Adolescent Girls Participation In Outdoor Activities And Recommendations For Practitioners, Sarah Anne Megyesi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In order to increase adolescent girls’ participation in and enjoyment of outdoor activities (OAs), with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of future advocates and stewards of our natural environment, outdoor activity practitioners and other interested parties must gain an understanding of adolescent girls and their perceptions of the outdoors and outdoor activities. Every girl has unique insight and perceptions related to their own as well as other girls’ participation in outdoor activities. In order to best serve adolescent girls through outdoor activity, research must seek answers to how families, schools, mentors, and outdoor activity practitioners can best encourage …

Interactive Effects Of Wildfire And Disturbance History On Amphibians And Their Parasites, Blake Roger Hossack

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate-driven changes in wildfire and other disturbance regimes are expected to affect populations and communities worldwide. Understanding how these changes will affect native species is critical for future conservation efforts, especially on managed forests. Using data from several wildfires that burned between 1988 and 2003 in and next to Glacier National Park, Montana, I examined how fire affected the distribution, abundance, and infection status of 3 native amphibians. In Chapter 1, I used long-term data on wetland occupancy to show the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) and Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) were resistant to change during the first 6 years …

Modeling Risk Of Hunting Pressure On Large Mammals In Northwestern Argentina, Loretta Kathleen Baker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The subtropical Yungas and Chaco forests of northwestern Argentina are two of the most biodiverse and threatened biomes in South America. It is unclear how development pressure and increased human presence may be affecting wildlife in this increasingly fragmented and degraded landscape. We initiated a broad-scale analysis of the spatial distribution and magnitude of anthropogenic factors that may influence large mammal mortality due to potential human hunting pressure in a landscape linkage connecting these threatened forests. We conducted a literature review of Neotropical study sites that reported hunting of large mammals by indigenous people or colonists, and used this information …

Opposition And Barriers To Conservation Easements: Insights From Montana Landowners, Alayna S. Dupont

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A conservation easement (CE) is a voluntary agreement that perpetually limits development on private land in order to protect open space, agricultural land, and scenic amenities, as well as ecological or historic resources. Due to the fact that CEs are voluntary, an understanding of the landowner’s decision about whether or not to participate in conservation easement programs is imperative if CE use is to continue and expand. Moreover, understanding how non-participating landowners view CEs, how they regard the incentives, and how CEs fit or do not fit with their ideas regarding private property and conservation is of critical importance for …

Predicting Amphibian Occurrence Based On Wetland And Landscape Level Factors In Montana, Catherine Anne Mcintyre

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Amphibians have a complex life history that requires a mosaic of habitats, including breeding, foraging, and over-wintering areas. Historically, regulators have focused on wetland breeding habitat quality to explain amphibian presence. Recently, other habitat requirements including landscape level factors have been examined. Data collected from amphibian surveys in Montana were used to determine if wetland quality factors or landscape level factors were better determinants of amphibian occurrence at breeding sites. Twenty-six habitat models were constructed a priori for eight species of amphibians in Montana. This included five models containing parameters associated with wetland quality, ten landscape level models, and ten …

Winter Habitat Use By Mule Deer In Idaho And Montana, Sonja M. Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Winter survival for species such as Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) depends on an energy conservation strategy where they use habitats at lower elevations and on south facing slopes with adequate thermal or canopy cover. However, not all mule deer habitats are equivalent in components or weather conditions, which contribute to differences in habitat use patterns and behavior among wintering populations. We examined winter habitat use by mule deer on the East Front of the Rocky Mountains, Montana and Warm Springs and Sink Creek, east-central Idaho to determine how weather and vegetation affect habitat use in different winter …

Development's Victim Or Its Beneficiary?: The Impact Of Oil And Gas Development On The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, Raymond Cross

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article assesses whether oil and gas development on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, given the critical geographic, legal, and socio-cultural differences which set it apart from the rest of North Dakota, will bring with it potentially devastating and unmanageable impacts that may overwhelm the tribal people of that reservation. The article seeks to fill an analytic gap in the existing oil and gas scholarship that has not, in the author's estimation, given sufficient regard to development's unique rights and impacts in Indian Country.

The Use Of Ct Analysis To Assess The Ages Of A Modern Human Tooth Sample: A Comparision With Dental Attrition And The Lamendin Method, Kristina Galdes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

An analysis of 81 contemporary adult human teeth was conducted in order to determine which of three methods best determines age at death. The teeth were loaned from the University of Tennessee body farm to the University of Michigan’s Biomedical Research Laboratory and were comprised of central incisors, lateral incisors and canines. Each tooth was of known age and most were also associated with sex and ancestry. Three observers used Lovejoy’s (1985) method of dental attrition, the Lamendin et al. (1992) periodontosis method and micro computed tomography to determine how accurately each method was able to assess the ages at …

Wildland Firefighter Health And Safety, Joseph Wimand Domitrovich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Over the past fifty years the University of Montana, in conjunction with the United States Forest Service, has been investigating the job demands of wildland firefighters. This document is a combination of three research projects with a connection of health and safety of wildland firefighters.

Smokejumpers are unique because they parachute into remote fires and are used primarily as initial attack wildland firefighters. Studies have shown that initial attack is the most energy intensive part of wildland firefighting. The first study identifies maximal and sustainable aerobic fitness possessed by US Smokejumpers. The maximal aerobic characteristic of US smokejumpers is well …

The Dwellers Between: Yup'ik Shamans And Cultural Change In Western Alaska, Ahnie Litecky

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper examines the history of the Yup'ik Eskimos of western Alaska and explores how their shamans shaped the response to introduced epidemic disease. As in the experiences of so many other Native American groups, disease epidemics played an important role in the history of relations between the Yup'ik Eskimos and white settlers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I argue here that while the Yup'ik Eskimos grappled with the devastating effects of introduced diseases, they did not repudiate their shamans and traditional faith, which sets the Yup'ik people apart from other Native Americans. Before contact with Europeans, the Yup'ik …

Cultural Landscapes In Conflict: Addressing The Interests And Landscape Perceptions Of Native Americans, The National Park Service, And The American Public In National Parks, Emily Anne Eide

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Prayer and Fasting Project of 2010 from Glacier National Park produced startling results indicating that many areas which have cultural significance to Native American peoples have been adversely impacted by national park recreationalists. This thesis addresses the significance of these impacts along with other management issues associated with conflicting landscape perceptions of national park lands. These concerns are explored through the examination of past and present archaeological theories along with cultural resource management approaches to landscapes. The need to identify and consider different cultural perceptions of landscapes in research and management scenarios is stressed throughout this work. The inclusion …

Crescent Hill Chert: A Geological And Cultural Study Of A Raw Material Procurement Area In Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Jacob Strong Adams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2009/2010 the Montana Yellowstone Archaeological Project (MYAP) conducted survey of the Crescent Hill chert outcrop (site 48YE729) in the northern portion of Yellowstone National Park. Occurring in a variety of colors and qualities, the chert precipitated within the Eocene-era Crescent Hill basalt formation. The procurement area encompasses 2,124.8 acres, with nine surface outcrops, five of which were clearly utilized by Native Americans during prehistory. With the materials previously being uncharacterized, hand samples representative of the outcrop areas were collected and analyzed using macroscopic, petrographic, and geochemical techniques. In doing this, the provenance of artifacts found in archaeological assemblages can …

Developing Successful Wilderness Stewardship Partnerships, Heather Day

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Partnerships between federal land management agencies and non-profit organizations have existed in various forms for decades, benefiting public lands in myriad ways. However, the consistent decline in agency budgets and available staffing dedicated to Wilderness stewardship have created a need for and subsequent boom of Wilderness stewardship -focused nonprofit organizations across the country. Previous literature addresses the elements of a successful partnership in a more generalized fashion, leaving a need for more empirical examination of the key components of a successful Wilderness stewardship partnership. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with Wilderness stewardship nonprofit staff and staff from the Forest Service, …

Indirect Interactions And Plant Community Structure, Erik Aschehoug

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

no abstract