Thesis. 1977. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography : p. 114-115. / M.Arch.

Thesis. 1975. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / Bibliography: leaf 222. / M.C.P.

Recent histories of cultural encounters in colonial America emphasize how interactions between native Americans and Europeans altered both cultures. In order to facilitate such an investigation, scholars employ ethno history-a multidisciplinary approach that uses methods and sources from anthropology, archeology, and history. While it remains the dominant methodology for studying cultural encounters, others are critical of such studies pointing to the dangers of using European sources in order to understand native American culture. Some literary scholars argue that the only information that historians can gain from European texts and images are representations of the indigenous population. Using cultural encounters between English missionaries and Wampanoag Indians on Martha's Vineyard between 1642 and 1727 as my case study, I combine these seemingly incompatible methodologies to analyze relations in three cultural arenas: religion, gender, and literacy. I argue that through their resistance to English power, the Indians were able to continually adjust to life in their ever-changing new world. Even though their culture changed dramatically during this period, there were also able to resist full acculturation by maintaining a distinct Wampanoag identity. / Department of History

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 99-101. / by Amy Faye Philipson. / M.C.P.

As the sea rises in response to global climate changes, small islands will lose a significant portion of their land through ensuing erosion processes. The particular vulnerability of small island systems led me to choose Martha’s Vineyard (MV), a 248 km2 paraglacial island, 8 km off the south shore of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as a model system with which to analyze the interrelated problems of sea level rise (SLR) and coastal erosion. Historical data documented ongoing SLR (~3mm/yr) in the vicinity of MV. Three study sites differing in geomorphological and climatological properties, on the island’s south (SS), northwest (NW), and northeastern (NE) coasts, were selected for further study. Mathematical models and spatial data analysis, as well as data on shoreline erosion from almost 1500 transects, were employed to evaluate the roles of geology, surficial geology, wetlands, land use, soils, percent of sand, slope, erodible land, wind, waves, and compass direction in the erosion processes at each site. These analyses indicated that: 1) the three sites manifested different rates of erosion and accretion, from a loss of approximately 0.1 m/yr at the NE and NW sites to over 1.7 m/yr at the SS site; 2) the NE and NW sites fit the ratio predicted by Bruun for the rate of erosion vs. SLR, but the SS site exceeded that ratio more than fivefold; 3) the shoreline erosion patterns for all three sites are dominated by short-range effects, not long-range stable effects; 4) geological components play key roles in erosion on MV, a possibility consistent with the island’s paraglacial nature; and 5) the south side of MV is the segment of the coastline that is particularly vulnerable to significant erosion over the next 100 years. These conclusions were not evident from simple statistical analyses. Rather, the recognition that multiple factors besides sea level positions contribute to the progressive change in coastal landscapes only emerged from more complex analyses, including fractal dimension analysis, multivariate statistics, and spatial data analysis. This suggests that analyses of coastal erosion that are limited to only one or two variables may not fully unravel the underlying processes.

Restoration of abandoned, nonnative species-dominated agricultural lands provides opportunities for conserving declining shrubland and grassland ecosystems. Land-use legacies, such as elevated soil fertility and pH from agricultural amendments, often persist for years and can favor nonnative species at the expense of native species. Understanding the factors that limit native species establishment on abandoned agricultural lands can provide important insights for restoration and conservation of native species on human-modified lands. I conducted two field experiments on abandoned agricultural lands: a former pasture on Martha’s Vineyard, MA and a former citrus grove at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) in Titusville, FL. In these experiments I tested how soil chemical properties affect native and nonnative species abundance and how different methods of removing nonnative, invasive species affect native and nonnative species abundance. In the first experiment, specifically I tested how restoration treatments affect competition between existing nonnative agricultural plant species and native plant species that are targets for sandplain grassland restoration on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. At MINWR, I examined how lowering soil fertility with carbon additions and lowering soil pH by applying sulfur affects nonnative species richness and cover (in two former citrus groves that were historically scrub/ scrubby flatwoods. Overall, I found that biotic factors, such as competition with nonnative species, play a stronger role in limiting native species establishment than soil chemical properties. Likewise, control of nonnative, invasive species is most effective with mechanical treatments to physically reduce cover, rather than altering soil chemical properties