Unusually wet spring seasons in the Intermountain West (IW) have been linked to a wind fluctuation in higher levels of the atmosphere near the equator. Strong westerly winds during October-January often result in unusually wet conditions in the following spring. Average winds near the equator at 75,000 feet above the earth’s surface can be split into different categories according to wind direction: westerly (positive), easterly (negative), and transitional. Composites of winter and spring precipitation anomalies based on these different categories show that strong westerly winds occur in October-January prior to most extreme spring precipitation events. Drier springs tend to occur after easterly winds the preceding fall. Analysis of the atmospheric processes causing this wind pattern suggests that the intensity of spring precipitation in the IW may be forecast, based on winds in the upper atmosphere months in advance. These findings are useful for the IW because extreme wet springs could lead to floods, such as those in spring 1983 and 2011, and affect the amount of water available from spring runoff.

Graduation from high school has become the accepted educational goal for most Americans and stands as the minimum requirement not only for higher education but also competitive positions in the employment market. The general public, the government, business, industry and education have great interest in the plans and decisions of high school graduates.

The purpose of this research is to provide quantitative and limited qualitative analysis for the United States Intermountain West on the economic effectiveness of risk management alternatives in an agricultural operation. This research is not meant to be an exhaustive comparison of every potential combination of alternatives and risk scenarios. Instead, specific parameters such as farm size, crops grown, risk attitudes and risk management strategies are set to guide the research and offer a basis of comparison. This research evaluates several levels of coverage using Multiple Peril Crop Insurance, Crop Revenue Coverage Insurance, Adjusted Gross Revenue - Lite Insurance and a limited interaction of the futures market. Microsoft Excel and the add-in Simetar was used to perform the quantitative analysis. A set of spreadsheets were created to allow a variety of data to be easily input and manipulated. The values used in this research were based on the 2002 Census of Agriculture to create a "typical" farm considered in Box Elder County, Utah. The results generated were sorted and ranked according to four decision criteria in relation to the net income observed in each simulated scenario. These include: the probability that net income will exceed $0; a maxi-min; a maxi-max; and the maximum positive net income at a probability of occurrence of 0.5, resembling a Safety-First criterion. The later three decision criterion used correspond to risk attitudes that may be possessed by a producer: risk adverse, risk preferring or seeking, and risk neutral respectively. The quantitatively "best" observed results were then qualitatively compared to the next "best" result. In general the conclusion is made that some strategy is better than no strategy and the "best" risk management strategy is one compatible with the risk attitude of the producer and the parameters of the farm in consideration. There is no single strategy for all decision criterions that consistently outperforms all other strategies considered in this research.

Until the last half century, land development patterns in the Intermountain West were designed after the Mormon settlement pattern. With its gridiron streets and in-town farmsteads, this pattern gave families the opportunity to grow crops and raise a few animals on their one acre or less in town with the added advantage of having a social life. Over the last century, small farms have dwindled and large farms have increased in size. However, in the Intermountain West the farmstead tradition continues with families who grow gardens and raise animals on their large city lots, who value self-sufficiency, and who thrive in wide open spaces. To better understand the land uses and preferences of this population, a research survey was mailed to a sample pool of residents of Cache Valley, Utah who live on large lots with animal rights. They contributed an array of data about their backgrounds and how they are specifically using their land. Their responses validated the existence of a continued agrarian culture and gave insight on how they felt about trends in conservation subdivisions and common open space. A range of opinions about ideal lot size supported rural planners' suggestions to develop lots of varying sizes to meet the needs of a diverse population. Small farms on large lots can be a valuable part of a sustainable urban and rural environment. Local vegetables and agricultural products bring nature and natural processes back to an urban setting and reduce the environmental footprint imposed by extensive shipping. Culturally, small farmers provide a connection to the past and fulfill a lifestyle choice for a rural-minded population. Particularly in the Intermountain West, planners need to integrate these small farms into their developments to preserve the rural character of towns and cities of the region.

The relationship of various measures of high school performance and a measure of the self-concept were examined for the 1970-71 senior male students at Intermountain School, Brigham City, Utah. Some significant correlations were found. Their junior year vocational training grade and grade point average were found to be significantly correlated to their self-definition score, as ere all but one of the teachers' subjective evaluations. General aptitude, reading ability, previous years at Intermountain, and class grouping were not found to show any significant correlation with the self-definition test score. Age was found to be correlated at the .01 level with the younger students having the higher self-definition scores.

Estimates of production and related parameters (growth rate, density, standing crop) were made for populations of mountain whitefish in altered and "unaltered" areas of the Glacksmith Fork and Logan River, UtJh from spring 1975 through summer 1976. Capture records of marked whitefish were also analyzed to describe fish movement and check on assumptions implicit in the population estimator. Mean weights and instantaneous growth rates of whitefish were similar at all sites for comparable size/age groups. Among sites, differences in production per sampling interval and annual production were due mainly to differences in standing crop and/or age structure. Estimates of mountain whitefish density varied by site and season and ranged from 0 to 3,467 fish/ha, with the highest densities occurring during the fall and winter (spawning season) and the lowest during the summer when streamflows were low. Estimates of standing crops of whitefish followed a pattern similar to density. In the sites where fish remained during the summer most production occurred during the spring and summer. A bulldozed reach of the Logan River (including an "unstable" section) had the highest annual production of mountain whitefish (51.85 kg/ha/yr)--almost double the annual production for the same reach when the unstable section was not included (31.85 kg/ha/yr). The highest annual production of whitefish in sites in the Blacksmith Fork River (51.23 kg/ha/yr) occurred in a reach that had been recently dredged but still contained a riffle and pool structure. Annual production of whitefish was low in a recently bulldozed reach (5.47 kg/ha/yr) and an old bulldozed reach (10.08 kg/ha/yr) of the Blacksmith Fork River where suitable habitat (pools and glides) was lacking, especially during the summer months. Mountain whitefish remained or returned to reaches after channel alterations as long as water depth remained sufficient. This study illustrated the necessity of frequent sampling when attempting to evaluate the effects of perturbations on fish populations or in production studies in general.

Until the last half century, land development patterns in the Intermountain West were designed after the Mormon settlement pattern. With its gridiron streets and in-town farmsteads, this pattern gave families the opportunity to grow crops and raise a few animals on their one acre or less in town with the added advantage of having a social life. Over the last century, small farms have dwindled and large farms have increased in size. However, in the Intermountain West the farmstead tradition continues with families who grow gardens and raise animals on their large city lots, who value self-sufficiency, and who thrive in wide open spaces. To better understand the land uses and preferences of this population, a research survey was mailed to a sample pool of residents of Cache Valley, Utah who live on large lots with animal rights. They contributed an array of data about their backgrounds and how they are specifically using their land. Their responses validated the existence of a continued agrarian culture and gave insight on how they felt about trends in conservation subdivisions and common open space. A range of opinions about ideal lot size supported rural planners' suggestions to develop lots of varying sizes to meet the needs of a diverse population. Small farms on large lots can be a valuable part of a sustainable urban and rural environment. Local vegetables and agricultural products bring nature and natural processes back to an urban setting and reduce the environmental footprint imposed by extensive shipping. Culturally, small farmers provide a connection to the past and fulfill a lifestyle choice for a rural-minded population. Particularly in the Intermountain West, planners need to integrate these small farms into their developments to preserve the rural character of towns and cities of the region.

Following its introduction to North America in the late nineteenth century, Bromus tectorum L., an inbreeding invasive winter annual grass, has become dominant on millions of hectares of sagebrush steppe habitat throughout Intermountain Western North America. It appears that within the last 30-40 years, B. tectorum has expanded its range southward into the Mojave Desert and also into more climatically extreme salt desert environments. Previous research using microsatellite markers and experimental studies has suggested that lineages found in desert habitats are genetically distinct from those found in the sagebrush-steppe habitat and possess suites of traits that pre-adapt them to these environments. To provide additional support for our hypothesis that desert habitat-specific haplotypes dominate and are widely distributed across warm and salt desert habitats, we genotyped approximately 20 individuals from each of 39 B. tectorum populations from these habitats and adjacent sagebrush steppe habitats using 71 single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers. Our data clearly demonstrate that populations throughout the Mojave Desert region, as well as in salt desert habitats further north, are dominated by a small number of closely related SNP haplotypes that belong to the desert clade. In contrast, populations from adjacent environments are largely dominated by haplotypes of the common clade, which is widely distributed throughout the North American sagebrush steppe. Populations across all habitats were usually dominated by 1-2 SNP haplotypes. This suggests that inbreeding B. tectorum lineages can often maintain their genetic integrity. It also explains the strong association between marker fingerprints and suites of adaptive traits in this species.

Pseudoroegneria spicata and Elymus wawawaiensis are two native perennial bunchgrasses of North America's Intermountain West. Frequent drought, past overgrazing practices, subsequent weed invasions, and increased wildfire frequency have combined to severely degrade natural landscapes in the region, leading to a decline in the abundance of native vegetation. Being formerly widespread throughout the region, P. spicata is a favorite for restoration purposes in the Intermountain West. Elymus wawawaiensis, which occupies a more restricted distribution in the Intermountain West, is often used as a restoration surrogate for P. spicata. However, since most restoration sites are outside the native range of E. wawawaiensis and as the use of native plant material may be more desirable than a surrogate, the use of E. wawawaiensis as a restoration plant material has been somewhat controversial. The main goal of my research was to identify plant materials of these species with superior seedling growth, drought tolerance, and defoliation tolerance, traits that may contribute to enhanced ecological function in restored rangeland plant communities. I conducted a growth-chamber study to evaluate morphological and growth-related traits of germinating seedlings of these two species. My study suggested that, while the two bunchgrasses are similar in many ways, they display fundamentally different strategies at the very-young seedling stage. While P. spicata exhibited greater shoot and root biomass to enhance establishment, E. wawawaiensis displayed high specific leaf area (SLA) and specific root length (SRL), two traits commonly associated with faster growth. According to the eco-physiology literature, plants with greater stress tolerance display lesser growth potential. However, my greenhouse study showed that E. wawawaiensis was relatively more drought tolerant than P. spicata, despite higher expression of growth-related traits, e.g., SLA and SRL. While the two species displayed similar water use efficiency when water was abundant, E. wawawaiensis was also more efficient in its water use when drought stress was imposed. In a field study, I found E. wawawaiensis to be twice as defoliation tolerant as P. spicata. This study showed that P. spicata is typically more productive in the absence of defoliation, but E. wawawaiensis was more productive after defoliation due to its superior ability to recover and hence is a better candidate for rangelands that will be grazed. Hence, my study showed that E. wawawaiensis, despite being regarded as a surrogate for P. spicata, exhibits superior seedling establishment, drought tolerance, and defoliation tolerance. Therefore, E. wawawaiensis has advantages as a restoration species for the Intermountain West.

This thesis explores the seed germination of seven wildflowers native to sub-alpine ecosystems. Wildflowers are an essential functional group in native plant ecosystems. Also known as forbs, these plants offer a myriad of benefits in addition to being aesthetically pleasing. They provide habitats for anthropods and small mammals, support native pollinator populations, and grow well with other plant functional groups (especially perennial grasses and shrubs). Healthy plant communities make use of the limited resources in our native ecosystems, competing with invasive species that can otherwise dominate the landscape. Germination involves the transition from seed to an actively growing plant. Following germination, the seedling relies on stored energy reserves until it becomes as an autotrophic organism. Because germination is irreversible, it is the most vulnerable period of the plant lifecycle. Seeds of sub-alpine plants typically have complex dormancy-breaking requirements before growth begins. Therefore, understanding factors that influence the germination is essential to understanding propagation for horticultural use as well as timing of seedings for ecological restoration. The first chapter investigates the germination behavior of two co-occurring Asteraceae species across an elevation gradient. Mules ear (Wyethia amplexicaulis) and arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata) seeds were collected at low, mid, and high elevation locations then subjected to a number of cold stratification treatment lengths (4-20 weeks) Both showed variance in germination behavior between elevation collection locations, with higher locations exhibiting a longer stratification requirement. The second study was developed to determine methods for breaking dormancy in five wildflower species for which existing literature is nonexistent or lacking. Delphinium nuttalianum (low larkspur), Delphinium exaltatum (tall larkspur), Frasera speciosa (green gentian), Polemonium foliosissimum var. alpinum (Jacob's ladder), and Mimulus grandifloras (monkey flower) were selected for this study because they all have the potential for use in horticulture and restoration ecology applications. Three species (low larkspur, tall larkspur, and green gentian) required long-term cold stratification to break dormancy. Jacob's ladder required physical scarification to break dormancy, and monkey flower required the combination of constant temperature with light exposure to germinate. These findings indicate that 1) six of seven species should be autumn-planted, and that propagation for horticulture use for five of the species is a lengthy process involving several months; 2) propagation of monkey flower seeds include strict temperature and light requirements; and 3) while seeds collected from different locations have the same type of dormancy-breaking requirements, variation in the degree of seed dormancy has ecological relevance.