Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 273-309).

The San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta (SJSRD) of California is a riparian habitat that sadly represents the destructive forces and consequences of human impacts. A tributary to the SJSRD, the Calaveras River in Stockton, California, is a par1icularly degraded riparian system that recently has not been the focus of restoration effor1s. This study provides data about the current fish and mammals found in the Lower Calaveras River prior to any restoration efforts. Fish were sampled from February 2008 to February 2009 using a seine net and gill net. Fish were identified to species and length measurements and abundance were recorded. A total of 15 species were documented, only one of which was native (Sacramento sucker, Catostomus occidentalis). Dominant species throughout the sampling period included mostly those in the Family Centrarchidae. Other fish observed were golden shiners (Notemigonus crysoleucas), threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense), and western mosquitofish (Gambusia aj]inis). Fish assemblage varied with changes in season and percent coverage of submerged aquatic vegetation (SA V). Bluegill and redear sunfish abundances were positively correlated. Largemouth bass and redear sunfish abundances were positively related to the percentage of SA V and to changes in season. Presence of mammals was documented using several techniques including livetrapping, soot track plates, photography, and remote sensor infrared trail cameras. Native mammals included North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), raccoon (Procyon lotor), Botta's pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae), Califomia vole (Microtus californicus), California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi), desert cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus auduboni), and beaver (Castor canadensis). Introduced species included house mouse (Mus musculus), black rat (Rattus rattus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). House mice were only captured in traps October 2008 through March 2009, and more males were captured than females. Most organisms in this ripmian habitat were found to be non-native, likely due to the habitat degradation and future work will track whether flora and fauna can be restored.

This thesis is an examination of the reaction of a human population to a new and disturbing environment. It deals with the disintegration of the aboriginal Indian culture of northern Mendocino County under the influence of American settlers and military personnel. As such it is concerned with the factors and responses inherent in, and resulting from the interaction of two civilizations, the one old and static, the other ew and dynamic.

The biogeography and ecology of P. balfouriana, a subalpine conifer endemic to California, were studied. Direct gradient-analysis, classification, and ordination were combined to identify the primary factors controlling the tree community in the southern Sierra Nevada. Competition, disturbance, and temperature were inferred as the most important factors regulating the tree community. Pinus balfouriana responded strongly to variation in soil drainage, distrubance, and temperature. Wildfire was the most important chronic disturbance agent in southwestern Inyo National Forest. Stochastic models of wildfire probability in space and time were developed. Evidence of thunderstorm genesis zones in the vicinity of Overlook Mountain and Ball Mountain in the Golden Trout Wilderness was found. A gradient in wildfire ignition probability was identified. Wildfire ignition is most likely at 2700 m elevation on submesic sites. Wildfire return interval is long enough to permit the coexistence of P. balfouriana and P. murrayana; and, short enough that it has important fitness consequences for P. balfouriana. Wildfire disturbance may limit the geographic range of the species in the southern Sierra Nevada. There was a close negative correlation between the abundance of P. balfouriana near the lower-forest-border and the wildfire disturbance gradient. However, the northern range boundary is probably not determined solely by wildfire disturbance. The canopies of mature P. balfouriana were found to be highly elliptic (when viewed from above) with the major axis of the ellipse oriented exactly north-to-south. This trait permits maximum photosynthesis in the early morning and late afternoon. It simultaneously minimizes evaporative demands during midday. Elliptic canopies minimize solar interception during winter and maximize it during summer. This is important for carbon-balance since the photosynthetic apparatus is only active for a brief period during mid-summer. The lower-forest-border was accurately predicted with a carbon-balance model strongly suggesting carbon-balance limitations. The dispersal potential of P. balfouriana, in the absence of vertebrate seed dispersers, was studied. Anemochory under modern climatic conditions would permit closure of the disjunction in P. balfouriana within a single (120,000 year) glacial cycle.

As a tool in discriminating basic rocks from different tectonic settings, a type of diagram was developed that employs three ratios of trace elements. The diagram separates basic rocks formed in mid-ocean ridge, intra-plate, and volcanic arc settings. It can be used to differentiate basalts from marginal basin, forearc, and arc rift zone settings. A second application of this type of diagram, employing major elements, distinguishes tholeiitic, calcalkaline, and boninitic series volcanic rocks. The southern part of the Foothills terrane, western Sierra Nevada, California, is composed chiefly of Jurassic-Triassic(?) metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of lower greenschist grade. Major tectonism affecting the terrane, associated with the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Nevadan orogeny, was sinistral transpression with shearing along the Bear Mountains and Melones fault zones. The line of slip in high shear strain regions is approximated by the modal stretching lineation, which is at a rake of approximately 45° SE to the general shear zone orientation, suggesting sub-equal components of strike slip and dip slip. The sense of shear from kinematic indicators is consistently east side to the northwest. The terrane hosts three types of syngenetic massive sulfide deposits: Cyprus-type Cu deposits, Kuroko-type Zn-Cu-Pb deposits, and Besshi-type Cu-Zn deposits. The Cyprus-type deposits lie at the top of a Triassic(?) tholeiitic - basalt sequence in the lower Penon Blanco Formation. The deposits are part of an ophiolitic sequence that appears to have formed in an open-ocean spreading center environment. Felsic lava facies host the Kuroko-type deposits at the top of the Middle to Late Jurassic upper Gopher Ridge Formation, a dominantly bimodal sequence of meta-rhyolitic lavas and tuffs and meta-basaltic lavas. The tectonic setting appears to have been an arc-rift zone that formed during the transition from arc volcanism forming the lower Gopher Ridge Formation to younger basinal sedimentation forming the Mariposa Formation. The Besshi-type deposits are sediment-hosted in the Late Jurassic Mariposa Formation. They appear to have formed in the median part of a long linear basin between rifted arc segments. The inferred tectonic setting of the sulfide deposits was an early back-arc or interarc basin, which may have been related to transtensional tectonics.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / High Frequency (HF) radar backscatter instruments are under development and testing in the marine science and defense science communities for their abilities to remotely sense surface parameters in the coastal ocean over large areas. In the Navy context, the systems provide real-time mapping of ocean surface currents and waves critical to characterization and forecasting of the battlespace environment. In this study, HF radar, aircraft and satellite information were used to investigate and describe surface current in Monterey Bay, California, for a period of ten months, from June 01st, 2003 to March 31st, 2004. A network of five CODAR-type HF radar instruments measured hourly surface currents over the bay. The measurements were averaged over one-hour intervals and total surface velocities were mapped on a grid in the Monterey Bay. From the M1 Buoy located in the middle of the bay, an uninterrupted time series of wind intensity and direction was obtained for the whole period. Major upwelling events were observed during the period of June 14 to June 27, July 4 to July 19, August 8 to August 18 and other upwelling events were observed until late October. These periods of upwelling favorable winds are common during summer with durations of 10 to 20 days. Often they are interrupted by periods of relaxation state of just a few days as the winds veer to the northwest or northeast. Cyclonic circulation cells are developed on shore during upwelling conditions and an anticyclonic circulation in the middle of the bay is observed when the wind shifts to the southwest producing a strong flow out of the bay close to the coastline off Point Piǫs. Downwelling conditions are much common less than upwelling, with occurrences during winter and early fall storms with events lasting between two to five days. When the wind blows to the northeast with an intensity of 4 m/s or more for more than 12 hours, a well developed anticyclonic gyre forms in the middle of the bay. This is associated with a strong current, 35 to 40 cm/s, which flushes out in the southern part of the bay close to the coast off Point Piǫs. This flow reverses when the winds veer to the southwest and enter into the Bay with less intensity. / First Lieutenant, Chilean Navy

No description available.

Texte remanié de: Ph. D. / Bibliogr. p. 303-312. Index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Planning and Public Policy." Includes bibliographical references (p. 240-251).

Thesis (M.S.)--California State University, Chico. / Includes abstract. "Located in the Chico Digital Repository." Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-51).