I examined streams in the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock wilderness to determine if streams responded to logging following 75 y of recovery. Joyce Kilmer was never logged and the Slickrock wilderness was logged from 1917 until 1922. Wood was common in unlogged streams and averaged 417 m³ of wood/ha of streambed. Logged streams had significantly less wood (1.1 m³ of wood/ha of stream), probably because of the construction of railroads in streambeds used to remove timber. Fine substrates (<5.6 mm diameter) were less abundant in logged streams and the retention of fines decreased as wood volume decreased. Species diversity was similar between streams in unlogged and logged catchments; however, the abundance of several taxa and functional feeding groups did differ. Streams in unlogged catchments had significantly greater proportions of shredders while streams in logged catchments had significantly greater proportions of scrapers. Ecosystem parameters showed that the linkages between streams and the forests they drain were weaker in logged than unlogged streams and that unlogged streams derived a greater proportion of fixed carbon from riparian vegetation. Stream-forest linkage strength increased as debris dam abundance increased, while the use of riparian vegetation inputs increased as moss increased. Contrary to predictions, solute storage was significantly greatest in logged catchments and negatively related to debris dam abundance that decreased streambed permeability. Additionally, phosphorus retention, instead of being enhanced by solute storage, was negatively related to transient storage. Uptake velocity was significantly greater in unlogged than logged streams and significantly related to debris dam abundance. Mean breakdown rate of experimental leaf packs and wood veneers was not significantly different between unlogged and logged streams. Leaf breakdown was strongly related to shredder colonization, while wood breakdown was unrelated to variables measured. Much of the persisting disturbance to streams by past logging was directly or indirectly related to differences in wood volume, debris dam frequency, and streambed substrate composition. Results support the hypothesis that logging results in a downstream shift from the headwaters in ecosystem function and that logging disturbance to streams likely persists for centuries. / Ph. D.

This study examines the spatial distribution of surface charcoal after a managed fire and its relationship to fire intensity and site characteristics. Such studies are lacking for the southern Appalachian Mountains. In April 2010, The Nature Conservancy conducted a ~150ha prescribed burn in pine- and oak-dominated forests on the eastern slope of Middle Mountain in western Virginia. Data were from three randomly located transects totaling 2751m from the base of the slope extending to the highest elevations. At 50m intervals I collected 400cm° surface samples (n=56) down to mineral soil, and recorded the nearest four trees, their diameters and bole char height, and other site and understory characteristics. Charcoal fragments >2mm were wet-sieved from 200mL subsamples of the surface material, dried, and weighed. Charcoal deposition and char heights on trees examined in this study showed high spatial variability in fire intensity. Average charcoal deposition across all samples was 103 kg/ha, with individual samples ranging from 0-884kg/ha, which was in the range of findings from other studies. Char height was weakly correlated with charcoal abundance suggesting a relationship between fire intensity and charcoal production. Slope was moderately correlated with charcoal deposition, with higher deposition on steeper slopes. Average char height for all trees and species was in the range of 1-3m, but char height on pines averaged 7.3m, where fires intensity appeared to increase. This work can inform land managers on fire behavior and carbon flux and has implications for reconstructions of long-term fire history from soil charcoal. / Master of Science

The White Mountain shear zone (WMSZ) is a zone of intense penetrative deformation that lies along the western front of the northern White-Inyo Range in eastern-most California and western-most Nevada. The northern half of the WMSZ is characterized by a NNE to NNW-striking steeply dipping foliation and associated shallowly plunging NNE to NW-trending stretching lineations. S-C fabrics observed in outcrop, microstructural shear sense indicators and kilometer-scale foliation geometry all indicate dextral movement. Localized discrete zones of coeval steeply plunging stretching lineations are present in the northern half of the WMSZ. Microstructural data from these domains indicate a high component of pure shear within a separate coeval kinematic framework and hence a transpressional history. The WMSZ appears to be tectonically related to both the Sierra Crest shear system to the west and the Santa Rita shear system to the south. Correlation between the WMSZ and the Santa Rita shear system indicates that Late Cretaceous dextral transpression may extend up to ~120 km along the western front of the White-Inyo Range. Cross-cutting relationships with Late Cretaceous plutons bracket the age of the WMSZ at between 72-92 Ma. A lack of annealing recrystallization in deformed quartz and the presence of high temperature crystallographic fabrics near the margins of the ca. 72 Ma Boundary Peak pluton indicate significant strain accumulation within the WMSZ subsequent to emplacement of the Boundary Peak pluton. These observations extend the duration of Late Cretaceous dextral transpression in eastern California to at least as recent as 72 Ma. / Master of Science

This research aims to analyze the spatial and temporal characteristics of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) over the Southern Appalachian Region from 2008 to 2023, utilizing Meteorological Terminal Aerodrome Report (METAR) stations across six USGS-defined physiographical provinces. IMC is defined as visibility less than three statute miles and/or cloud ceiling heights less than 1,000 feet above ground. Percentage of hours reporting IMC are considered on an annual, seasonal, and hourly basis. The greatest increase in IMC over the period occurs in the Piedmont province, and the greatest decrease in the Interior Low Plateaus province. All provinces experience the greatest amount of IMC in wintertime, and the season with the fewest IMC hours varies by province. All provinces see a maximum hour of IMC within three hours following sunrise except summertime in the Interior Low Plateaus, which experiences the highest frequency of IMC within two hours prior to sunset.

Application of economic base analysis at a multi-level scale illustrates the usefulness of this approach to tracking and measuring the economic flows and linkages between three defined areas. A census survey of employers in six rural communities of the White Mountain Region of Arizona is used to collect employment and sales data at a high level of specificity. These data serve as the basis for bifurcation of basic and nonbasic components necessary for estimating the multiplier. Measurement of these data determine the extent of economic dependence and spatial interaction which exist between communities, and between the region and the outside world. In addition, the study refines established procedures and applies a full range of adjustments to primary and secondary data sources to produce highly refined multipliers for the region and each community.

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