Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1995. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-183). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Graduation date: 1995

Pollen and packrat midden data from the Great Basin indicate that the Pleistocene vegetation of the region was a combination of subalpine conifers on coarse substrates and steppe plants on finer valley bottom soils. While some of the modern dominants of the woodland zone were apparently absent from this region, other woodland and montane plants apparently persisted through the late Pleistocene. Some features of the Pleistocene environment, such as the large pluvial lakes, apparently disappeared by 12,000 yr B.P., while subalpine plants remained well below their modern elevational limits after 11,000 yr B.P. Limber pine and Rocky Mountain juniper apparently did not retreat from the lower mountain slopes until after 6500 yr B.P. Montane and woodland conifers, rare or absent in the region during the Wisconsin, dispersed across the region in the Middle Holocene. Other plants apparently did not reach their modern geographic limits until after 3000 yr B.P. The low elevational occurrences of subalpine species suggest that the late Pleistocene climate of the Great Basin was characterized by summer temperatures that were as much as 10°C cooler than those of today, and that there was some augmentation in the level of mean annual precipitation. The vegetational records provide no evidence of greater than modern levels of summer precipitation. While the persistence of montane plants at relatively low elevations implies cool or moist conditions through the Early Holocene, evidence from lacustrine systems suggests that there was a trend toward increasingly dry conditions during this period. The main period of migrations of woodland plants seems to slightly postdate the warmest and/or driest part of the Holocene, and these migrations may have been related to relatively high levels in summer temperatures, summer precipitation, and/or winter temperatures. Pollen data from a high elevation site, in conjunction with changes in water level in lower elevational lakes, suggest a return to cooler and/or moister conditions after 4000 yr B.P.

xvi, 187 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT E99.N97 B74 2003 / The culture history of the northeastern Great Basin, as currently written by the archaeological profession, is silent as to the view of Gosiute and Shoshone natives about their own ancestors. The goal of this dissertation is the infusion of Punown (interrelated Numic speaking peoples) epistemology into mainstream anthropological interpretation, as provided through North American Desert West prehistory. The hypothesized Numic expansion into the Northeast Great Basin, according to which the Punown natives now resident throughout the region are very recent immigrants, is problematic on several grounds. In the dissertation I show that late population movement into this region by Numic ancestors has not been demonstrated. After a hundred years of research no consensus yet exists as to the origins of the Northern Uto-Aztecan speaking Numic peoples (Punown). In spite of that, and in spite of the fact that it takes no account of the natives' own view of their origins, the Numic Expansion Hypothesis is being used in a way by some archaeologists and cultural resource managers that denies to the Punown their cultural heritage. The archaeological record of the region, extending back into deep time, is rich in the similarities it shows with the native Punown cultures of the contact-historic period. The epistemology and spiritual beliefs of the Punown also assert their cultural continuity with the ancient traditions documented in that archaeological recoret;It is not acceptable that a scientific hypothesis impedes native people's role in the care and stewardship of sites and places throughout the region that their own spiritual traditions tell them they are responsible for. The mainstream anthropological concept of science and the epistemology of the Punown are opposed diametrically. Punown view the world and its people as interconnected through the Sacred Earth Matrix, while anthropologists see the human world as bifurcated from nature. Punown understand archaeology and relatedness spiritually, while archaeologists see dead objects in an "objectified" way. Conformity to the existing paradigm, with its persistent building and rebuilding of earlier untenable Euroamerican views of Numic origins, makes the Punown outsiders to the region in which they live. This goes on even though many scholars, reviewing the case for a Numic Expansion, find it seriously lacking. Infusion of Punown epistemology into current archaeological practice offers a basis for pooling Punown and mainstream anthropological approaches to the prehistory of the Desert West. A mutually enhancing research partnership based on beneficial objectives is advocated; this will go far to repair a strained relationship that now exists between Punown and archaeological researchers, and result in a fuller and richer history for all to contemplate. / Committee in Charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Jon Erlandson; Dr. Lawrence Sugiyama; Dr. Scott DeLancey

The Bureau of Land Managements (BLM) Emergency Fire Rehabilitation (EFR) policy was developed in 1985 to encourage protection of sites from soil erosion and to minimize potential changes in vegetation communities that may result from the dominance of weedy species. To achieve the goals of EFR policy, managers often used introduced perennial grasses that established quicker and competed better with introduced annuals than did native plants. However, the change of sagebrush-grass communities to communities dominated by introduced forage grasses has led to concerns for wildlife habitat. This concern contributed to a policy change encouraging the use of native species, when available, for rehabilitation projects. This study attempts to assess the effectiveness of BLM EFR projects in meeting the stated goals of the BLM EFR policy in the Great Basin. To do this, two field offices per state were randomly selected from an inclusive list of all Great Basin field offices. In 2001, we randomly selected three EFR projects per field office from those projects that used native species. On each project site, we used a common monitoring technique in association with monitoring techniques implemented by the BLM to assess if national EFR objectives were being met. A semi-structured survey was developed to determine the potential reasons why native and introduced plants were either used or not used, why monitoring was and was not proposed, and whether monitoring was implemented in rehabilitation projects. BLM monitoring techniques did not adequately evaluate EFR goal achievement. The time it took to implement any of the BLM methods did not differ significantly from the time needed to implement the common protocol on the two projects where BLM had implemented monitoring and used native plants (F[subscript 3,12]=1.63, P=0.23). Cost to implement the common monitoring technique was minimal and it directly measured aspects of stated EFR policy goals. Vegetative cover of all natives, seeded and volunteers, contributed half of the overall cover on EFR projects and was significantly higher than sown introduced species. Invasive species were intermediate and did not differ significantly from either the natives or the introduced. The seeded species were a subset of the native or introduced classes. Composition by cover between sown native, sown introduced, and invasive species did not differ significantly. Vegetation cover increased the surface soil stability 39% of the time and subsurface stability 56% beneath the vegetation. Respondents of the survey stated that they generally use more natives and more complex seed mixtures than they did historically. Many also stated that they prefer to use native over introduced species. However, most felt that introduced species are more effective in meeting EFR goals on the degraded sites than native species. All respondents would like to access a summarized report of other rehabilitation projects. The respondents were split between accessing it through the World Wide Web or through a written report. We believe that a common database could be created and maintained on the World Wide Web if a common sampling protocol was implemented. / Graduation date: 2004

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Anthropology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Terminal Report submitted to Regional Forester, U.S. Forest Service, Ogden, Utah / In accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Forest Service and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at University of Arizona for a joint inventory and dendrochronological study of bristlecone pine. / In the Administrative Study Plan, as set forth 10 August 1966 and approved 16 August 1966, it was proposed that a joint inventory and dendrochronological study of bristlecone pine, Pinus aristata Engelm., be conducted by the Forest Service and the University of Arizona on the Snake, Mt. Moriah, Ward Mountain, and the Schell Creek divisions of the Humboldt National Forest in Nevada. Through a closely integrated inventory and dendrochronological program designed to take full advantage of the unique scientific resources available at the University of Arizona, the proposed study was expected to yield maximum information on the age, volume, growth, extent, and area of bristlecone pine and to provide authoritative data for interpretive and future planning uses. Dr. J. O. Klemmedson of the Department of Watershed Management, for the inventory phase, and Dr. C. W. Ferguson of the Laboratory of Tree -Ring Research, for the dendrochronological phase, were co- investigators of the project.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2007. / "May 2007" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-151). Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2008]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. Online version available on the World Wide Web.

The apatite crystal structure-A5(TO4)3X-allows for complex substitutions of various minor and trace elements including volatile constituents, rare earth elements, and redox sensitive elements (e.g., As, Mn, Fe, S) (Piccoli and Candela, 1994; Piccoli and Candela, 2002; Pan and Fleet, 2002; Teiber et al., 2015; Harlov, 2015). In this study, apatite grains from 19 intrusions across northeastern Nevada with varied petrogenetic and metallogenic properties were analyzed by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) to obtain major and trace element abundances. Systematic variations in Sr and REE concentrations in apatite grains from granitic host rocks are the result of competition with pre-existing and coexisting minerals in silicate melts. The presence of zoning in cathodoluminescence colors combined with high Sr concentrations in apatite from many of the Eocene granodiorite rocks suggest magma mixing affected the geochemical evolution in many of the Eocene igneous systems. In addition, high Sr concentrations in apatite grains from Late Cretaceous two-mica granites may reflect significant magmatic input from lower crustal and/or mantle sources despite the felsic nature of these intrusive rocks.A new EPMA analytical routine to measure arsenic down to detection limits of approximately 20 ppm allowed a more extensive characterization of As concentration in igneous apatite than has previously been published. Still, correlations between As and other trace-element concentrations are not evident, which may reflect the simple substitution of As5+ for P5+ in the apatite structure. Petrologic controls on As content include redox state, indicated by the high Asapat/Asbulk-rock in relatively oxidized intrusive rocks. An additional control is competition among other magmatic phases, exsolving aqueous fluids, or sulfide melts, indicated by enrichment of As in apatite cores relative to apatite rims. Past studies on redox-sensitive elements in igneous apatite have focused on Mn and S, but with further investigation, As may also prove to be a key redox-sensitive trace element in apatite for interpreting igneous and hydrothermal processes.