The Allium tricoccum Aiton (ramps, aka wild leeks), a native spring ephemeral, is a cultural keystone species in Appalachia, a mountainous physiographic region encompassing 205,000 square miles of the eastern United States. People in Appalachia have long harvested ramps in the wild. However, growing demand for the plant in and outside the region has increased harvesting, resulting in threats to native populations. Agroforestry cultivation techniques and technical support for sustained-yield forest farming practices are needed to conserve ramps and meet increasing demand. Various techniques for assessing suitable production practices for ramps were explored in this dissertation, particularly examining best-suited ramp ecotypes, mycorrhizal treatment, and habitat suitability determination. In the first study, bulbs and seeds from diverse Appalachian locations were gathered and transplanted to a common experimental site to investigate the effects of different ramp ecotypes on growth, survival, and stress responses. Plant characteristics and stress measurements were recorded before transplantation and post-transplantation assessments. Specifically, the study investigated the germination rate of three ramp seed ecotypes and the growth, survival, and stress responses of eight native ramp bulb ecotypes and three commercially obtained seedling samples. Results indicated that above-ground growth, survival, and stress response on the ramp ecotypes differed significantly. The second study explored the impact of mycorrhizae on ramps and was evaluated by assessing the impact of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) inoculation on Allium tricoccum. Four measurements, collectively referred to as parameter categories, were assessed. These included measures of 1) above-ground plant growth: leaf length, and leaf width; 2) stress measurement: transplant stress after a few days of transplant, and photosynthetic performance stress after a year of transplant; 3) survival analysis; and 4) mycorrhizal colonization rate. For each parameter category, three treatment comparison categories were conducted: 1) Positive control treatments: bulbs were planted from their native environment without treatment; 2) Negative controls: bulbs were treated with fungicide before planting to eradicate existing AMF in roots; and 3) The test group: bulbs were inoculated with commercial AMF (Atriva 500). Results indicated that mycorrhizal inoculation could increase ramp leaf length (P≤0.03). However, the impact varied by ecotype, highlighting the importance of considering local environmental conditions and ramp ecotype. Mycorrhizal inoculation did not impact ramp growth at the seedling stage. Mycorrhizal treatment increased the transplanted ramp's survival and stress tolerance (P≤0.001). The third study used multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP), and weighted linear combinations to model suitable habitats for ramps production. Ten habitat criteria were chosen (including five soil properties, three topographic parameters, and two land use properties) to assess the potential for growing ramps in seven counties in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. The percentage of highly suitable areas for ramps production in the studied counties ranges from 21.5% in Haywood County to 49.6% in Macon County. Similarly, moderately suitable areas range from 36.7% in Macon County to 54.5% in Lawrence County. Ground truthing was performed to validate the model. Ramp patch locations within each county were geocoded in the final suitability maps. Existing ramp patches were within the model's estimate of moderate to high site suitability ranges, suggesting the model is valid. Results of the study suggest that site suitability modeling could be useful for producers interested in growing ramps in forest farm settings across Appalachia. / Doctor of Philosophy / The ramp, also known as the wild leek, is an important food, medicinal and cultural resource for the people of Appalachia. However, increasing demand for ramps beyond this region has led to over-harvesting and threatens the plant's native populations. Appropriate cultivation techniques and technical support for sustained-yield forest farming practices are needed to conserve ramps and meet growing demand. This dissertation explores various techniques for assessing suitable production practices for ramps, including examining ramp ecotypes, mycorrhizal treatments, and habitat suitability determination. The first study evaluated the ecotypic variation among ramps collected from different geographic regions and their impact on plant performance. Ramp ecotypes displayed differences in above-ground growth, survival, and stress response. The second study examined the impact of mycorrhizae on ramps and found that mycorrhizal inoculation can increase ramp leaf length and survival and stress tolerance of transplanted ramps. However, this impact varied by ecotype, highlighting the importance of considering local environmental conditions and ramp ecotype. The third study involved developing a model to identify suitable habitats for growing ramps. The model was tested for seven counties across Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. The percentage of land predicted as highly suitable for ramps production ranged from 21.5% in Haywood County, NC, to 49.6% in Macon County, NC. Moderately suitable lands ranged from 36.7% in Macon County, NC to 54.5% in Lawrence County, PA. Ground truthing confirmed the model's accuracy as geocoded existing ramp patch locations fell within the estimated suitable ranges. Site suitability modeling could be useful for people interested in growing ramps in forest farm settings across Appalachia. Overall, this research provides insights into best practices for ramp cultivation that help conserve a cultural keystone species and meet the growing demand for ramps.

Social disorganization theory proposes that neighborhood characteristics, such as residential instability, racial and ethnic heterogeneity, concentrated disadvantage, and immigrant concentration contribute to an increase in crime rates. Informal social controls act as a mediator between these neighborhood characteristics and crime and delinquency. Informal social controls are regulated by members of a community and in a disorganized community these controls are not present, therefore, crime and delinquency flourish (Sampson, 2012). Researchers have focused on these measures of social disorganization and the ability to explain a variety of crimes, specifically public crimes. Recently, researchers have focused their attention to characteristics of socially disorganized areas and the ability to predict private crimes, such as domestic violence. This study contributes to the research on social disorganization theory and domestic violence by examining domestic offenses at three different units of analysis: Chicago census tracts, Chicago neighborhoods, and Illinois counties. Demographic variables from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey were utilized to measure social disorganization within Chicago census tracts, Chicago neighborhoods, and Illinois counties. Data on domestic offenses in Chicago were from the City of Chicago Data Portal and data on domestic offenses in Illinois counties were retrieved from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA). This study incorporated geographic information systems (GIS) mapping to examine the relationships between locations of domestic offenses and the measures of social disorganization in each unit of analysis. Results of this study indicate that different measures of social disorganization are significantly associated with domestic offenses in each unit of analysis.

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The Virginia Runoff Reduction Method (RRM) was adopted in 2014 as a compliance tool for evaluation of stormwater volume and quality, and necessitates use of urban stormwater best management practices (BMPs) to meet regulatory standards. Coastal Virginia is characterized by flat terrain, shallow water tables, and low permeable soils that may limit the application of BMPs as recommended by state regulations. Soil morphological features are often used to estimate the seasonal high water table (SHWT) for initial feasibility, but existing soil data misrepresented expected SHWT depths in the Virginia Beach, VA, study area. A GIS-based methodology relying on perennial surface water elevations and USGS groundwater monitoring data was developed to estimate the SHWT depth in Virginia Beach. The SHWT map was shown to be consistently more reliable than available predictions based on soil morphology, and was used as input to a BMP siting tool. The tool, known as BMP Checker, was developed to explore how flat terrain, shallow water tables, and poor soils influence BMP siting in coastal Virginia. The BMP Checker algorithm was validated on 11 Virginia Beach sites before application on 10,000 ft2 (929 m2) area sections across the city. Citywide application showed that the most widely applicable BMPs in the study area include wet ponds that intercept groundwater and constructed wetlands. Conversely, sheet flow to conservation area and infiltration practices are the least applicable. Because the RRM assigns more credit to infiltration-based practices, sites in Virginia Beach may find it difficult to meet regulatory standards. / Master of Science

The Rockfall Management System developed for Tennessee DOT (TennRMS)integrates a customized rockfall risk rating system, web-based GIS application, and rockfall database to provide a robust single interface for interacting with rock slope information. The system should prove to be a valuable tool for the proactive management of rock slopes. The most important use of the system will be to identify and prioritizing rock slopes with the greatest potential for rockfall in order to provide decision makers with all the necessary information they need to plan remediation efforts. Over time, TennRMS can be used to track costs and effectiveness of different remediation methods used on problem rock slopes. Three papers have been developed for publication in peer reviewed journals. The papers describe the work done in support of developing Tennessee's Rockfall Management System (TennRMS) and its components. The system can be described by its conceptual framework and actual implemented components. Asset management incorporating risk & decision analysis and knowledge management makes up the conceptual framework. The system components include a field data collection system using PDA's, a rockfall database and a web-based GIS interface. The papers articulate the development and implementation of the various components and to provide a detailed review of rockfall management systems as implemented over the past 15 years. / Ph. D.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a worldwide growing technology, however it is not yet completely accepted. Of all of the business processes in an organization, marketing is perhaps one of the natural fitting-processes to apply GIS. Even though there is recent research regarding applications of GIS in the wood products industry, those applications are mostly related to biomass mapping and logistics issues. Little research has been conducted on the utilization of GIS as part of the marketing strategic plan in this industry. Thus, the main goal of this project is to understand GIS uses on marketing application in the wood products industry, specifically in the marketing mix strategic plan. The approach of this project consisted of the collection and analysis of data from secondary wood products industries in the state of Virginia. In addition, a case of study on current users of GIS applications was conducted. Once the data from the survey and the case study were collected, validated, and analyzed; applications and guidelines for the use of GIS in marketing activities were developed. The first application was the creation of a relational database to organize the information and to create an industry directory for secondary wood products industries. Secondly, clustering techniques were used to test if wood products companies cluster around certain geographical regions. Confirmation of the clustering led to the construction of an online map. Finally, guidelines were developed to describe how to use GIS in the marketing process of wood products firms. By increasing the knowledge and developing guidelines on GIS uses on marketing mix applications this study will help the wood products industry, other practitioners and the academic community, by providing insight of the industry, possible uses to simplify the strategic process and gain understanding of the environment among other. / Master of Science

Local communities and regional networks are currently exploring the strategy of developing local and regional food systems in order to enhance food security. The relationship between food consumption and production must be tested at various scales and across geographies in order to describe how place-based diets influence agricultural land use and the degree to which a discrete agricultural land base can feed a population. This thesis used two models to integrate data from across the agricultural and nutritional sciences to test the capacity of regional food systems to meet complete diet food need in the south-central Appalachian foodshed. First, a complete diet approach was applied to the entire foodshed to test the influence of animal product and fat consumption on the land requirements of food production. The quantity of specific regionally-adapted food commodities for six diet patterns were estimated following USDA recommendations and compared to county-based Census of Agriculture land use data to determine agricultural carrying capacity. Second, a sub-regional geospatial foodshed model used site-specific soil and current land cover datasets to estimate the spatial distribution of food production capacity relative to the per capita food needs determined by the complete diet model. Together, these studies contribute information from a data-user perspective for stakeholders and planners interested in quantifying the capacity of regional food systems to meet total food needs. / Master of Science