No description available.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of New South Wales, 2001. / Also available online.

Introduction: In 2014,Lamar and Mary Fowler Holcomb donated a collection of artifacts from the Native American site of Long Swamp to the Cherokee County Historical Society. Holcomb property is on land associated with the Long Swamp site (9CK1), which has allowed the two to gather artifacts from the site throughout the years. The rest of 9CK1 is on the opposite side of SR372. Edwards Pitman Environmental Inc. (EPEI), a local archaeological firm, was contacted in 2007 to investigate 9CK1 on public land, due to damage resulting from an extension of SR372. The archaeologists recovered artifacts in association with Long Swamp. In contrast to the excavation conducted by EPEI, the Holcomb maintained a minimal record of the artifacts they collected, voiding most of context associated with each artifact. Without contextual information, I rely on stylistic variables and to type the pipes. To do this, I compare the pipes from the donated collection to the other materials from Long Swamp and other archaeological sites in Georgia to ascertain the typology and chronology of the artifacts from the Holcomb Collection. Methods: The collection contains sixty-six pipes and pipe fragments. These pipes were measured with plastic, dial calipers, 150 mm/0.0254 mm. Weights were taken using a scale, max weight, 200 g. The pipes were photographed using a Nikon DX AF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6g D 5.100. Analysis also included a literature review and the investigation of pipes from archaeological collections housed at the University of Georgia, Athens and the University of West Georgia. Results: My analysis resulted in the creation of a typology for the pipes in the collection. Although none of the clay for the pipes was sourced, a cursory study of the different pipes suggests that multiple types of clay were used. Some of the more overt variations among pipe structures are the ratios between height and weight. These variations could indicate different craftsman, throughout time. Conclusion: The Lamar and Mary Fowler Holcomb Collection is the result of several years of collecting. The pipes within the collection appear to span several occupational phases of the Long Swamp site. This supports the findings of the previous research conducted at the site. However, with little contextual support, this can only be inferred based on stylistic attributes that can be compared to the materials from other collections. Further research into sourcing the clay for the pipes may prove useful to learn more about this collection.

The plot of my novel in progress, Gentille Alouette, follows a sixteen-year-old female poltergeist named Alouette Tansy as she navigates her complicated relationship with her mother, Rhododendron “Rho” Tansy. Alouette is a violent entity, born out of her mother’s long simmering and manifested angry after Rho witnesses a catastrophic event as a child. Separated from her mother and raised by her grandmother, Elzina “Nona” Tansy, Alouette must come to grips with her otherworldly physicality and strange abilities all while trying to comprehend her own existence and sense of humanity. The short story, Rusalka Rusalka, follows a young girl named Remmie who is suspended from her high school after assaulting another student. She finds herself on work detail in the Great Dismal Swamp aiding Rusalka, the mysterious wife of a renowned marine biologist. Rusalka’s instability and affinity for exotic fish prove much more treacherous that Remmie could have ever imagined.

Reforestation of bottomland hardwood (BLH) forests has occurred within the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV), USA, to support a wide range of ecosystem services, but especially wildlife habitat enhancement. As ecosystem restoration efforts proceed in BLH ecosystems, managers and policymakers are seeking criteria to evaluate wildlife habitat enhancement goals. Specialist wildlife that evolved within forest ecosystems can be sensitive to the composition, structure, and function of an ecosystem in relation to the system's natural or historical range of variation and thereby serve as indicators of habitat quality. The swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) is a specialist of BLH forests throughout the LMAV and therefore may be an appropriate indicator species for this ecosystem. In Chapter 1, I reviewed peer-reviewed literature to evaluate the utility of swamp rabbits as an indicator species according to three commonly-used criteria: habitat factors defining swamp rabbit relationships to BLH forests, the importance of swamp rabbit habitat to other wildlife, and the efficiency of swamp rabbit monitoring. I concluded that the swamp rabbit is a suitable indicator of wildlife habitat quality in BLH ecosystems in the LMAV because they evolved and remain endemic to the ecosystem, use habitat that integrates desirable characteristics that positively influence wildlife biodiversity, and are easy to monitor routinely.

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-41).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution." Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-157).

Swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) in southern Illinois exist as a metapopulation due to loss and fragmentation of the bottomland hardwood forests in which they live, making their persistence in the state uncertain. I ran a spatially-explicit population viability analysis (PVA) on the metapopulation, using a habitat suitability map I created and life history parameters drawn from the literature. I varied parameters related to reproduction, survival, catastrophes, dispersal, and carrying capacity from 50 to 150% of the initial value of each parameter to compare their effects on extinction risk. I modified the map to test the effects of potential habitat loss, fragmentation, and the addition of dispersal corridors on the swamp rabbit metapopulation in southern Illinois. Under baseline conditions, the model suggested about a 20% chance of quasi-extinction (90% metapopulation decline) in 25 years. Changes in fecundity values and the effects of catastrophic flooding had the greatest effect on the risk of extinction, causing quasi-extinction probabilities to range from 0 to 100% and 0 to 87%, respectively. In contrast, changing dispersal values yielded the least impact on the risk of extinction (18-24%), and all other parameters had moderate impacts on the model. Removing groups of the largest habitat patches increased the risk of extinction, whereas removing groups of the smallest habitat patches decreased the risk of extinction, suggesting that small patches could act as population sinks with a negative impact on swamp rabbit persistence. Decreasing patch fragmentation per se reduced the risk of extinction slightly. The addition of dispersal corridors made no significant impact on the probability of extinction. My findings indicate that more research estimating fecundity and the effect of catastrophic floods on swamp rabbits in Illinois is required to more accurately predict swamp rabbit persistence in the state. I also suggest that managers should work to decrease the effect of flooding on the population by improving upland habitat, or decrease fragmentation by increasing the area of bottomland hardwood forests around existing habitat patches. Lastly, I suggest managers focus on preventing further habitat fragmentation into small patches, which will mitigate the creation of potential sink populations and will enable current populations to persist.

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of spruce swamp forest drainage and water regime restoration on soil organic matter (SOM) quality. Six localities of spruce swamp forests in Šumava Mountains were studied (2 drained, 2 restored and 2 pristine). SOM quality was affected by long-term drainage. Spruce swamp forest restoration (3-7 years) did not have significant effect on SOM quality although other parameters (pH, bulk density, water level, plant coverage) changed.

Globally, peatlands are vulnerable to degradation via drainage, with consequences for ecosystem structure and function such as increased fire vulnerability, soil oxidation, and altered vegetation composition. Peatland function is largely dependent on hydrologic regimes and their influences on the accumulation and properties of peat soil. Therefore, an understanding of soil-hydrology interactions is needed to inform management in drained peatlands, including expansive systems such as the Great Dismal Swamp (GDS; Virginia and North Carolina, USA) where hydrologic restoration is underway. Two physically distinct soil layers have been observed at GDS, the upper layer thought to be a result of past drainage and the lower layer more representative of an undisturbed state. To understand the occurrence and consequences of these distinct layers, we integrated continuous water level data, peat profile characterization, and analyzed soil physical and hydraulic properties. The transition from upper to lower peat soil layers typically occurred at depths below contemporary water level observations, suggesting that the upper layer may be a result of historical drainage with limited recovery following hydrologic restoration. We also found distinct differences between the properties of the two layers, where upper layers had lower fiber and organic matter contents and higher bulk densities. Further, upper layers had higher proportions of macropores, resulting in an overall lower water retention capacity. These differences in layer properties suggest the upper layer is more susceptible to drying, increasing fire vulnerability, oxidation, and shifts in vegetation composition that do not support current management objectives. / Master of Science / Peatlands provide many valuable ecosystem services, including carbon storage, water quality maintenance, and habitat provision. However, peatlands have been subjected to centuries of drainage (i.e., lowered water levels) to support timber harvesting, land conversion, and other land use actions. Drainage and the resulting drier conditions can lead to soil carbon loss, increased fire vulnerability, and changes in vegetation communities. Additionally, peatland drainage has consequences for peat soil properties and their role in ecosystem services. In an effort to restore peatland ecosystem services, hydrologic restoration, usually in the form of water control structures, is often implemented to reduce drainage and reestablish historical water levels. To guide restoration practices, research is needed to understand how drained peat soils respond to such hydrologic management. In this study, we investigated peat soil profiles, current water level regimes, and soil properties at the Great Dismal Swamp (Virginia and North Carolina, USA), a drained peatland currently undergoing hydrologic restoration. We found a visibly distinct upper soil layer, which we suggest developed as a result of past drainage and with little recovery under restored, wetter conditions. We also found that this upper layer has altered soil properties and thus is more vulnerable to drying, with implications for ecosystem function such as fire vulnerability, carbon sequestration and vegetation composition. Together, our findings will help inform restoration and water level management at GDS and our understanding of drained peatlands more broadly.