Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 327-346). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

The vegetation history of the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts during the last millennium was investigated with particular focus on the occurrence and distribution of coastal sandplain grasslands prior to European settlement. The objectives of the research were (1) to examine by paleoecological methods the possibility that grasslands existed on Martha's Vineyard as a "natural" vegetation type before the introduction of European agriculture, (2) to address the effects of land use, fire, soils, and near-coastal location on the occurrence of grasslands across the island during the last 1000 years, and (3) to provide a historical perspective to grassland dynamics that may be relevant to conservation planning and management. To address these research objectives, 12 sediment cores were collected from Martha's Vineyard and analyzed for pollen and charcoal. Nine cores were recovered from the outwash plain, where coastal sandplain grasslands occur today or are known to have occurred historically, and 3 cores were collected from the moraine of the island. Sediments from multiple cores were analyzed to characterize spatial and temporal vegetation changes across the island that may be related to land-use history, fire occurrence, or soil conditions. Vegetation near study sites was sampled to characterize modern grassland and forested communities and to identify environmental gradients responsible for variations in species abundances. Modern vegetation types were also compared to surface pollen assemblages and analogous prehistoric pollen spectra. Results suggest that sandplain grasslands or associated vegetation types occurred on Martha's Vineyard prior to European settlement, at least in localized areas near coastal ponds on the outwash plain, and that these grassland types probably occurred in response to burning by native American Indians. The importance of prehistoric fire on the island is inferred from higher pre- than post-settlement charcoal content in sediments from most study sites. The near-coastal influences along the island's southern shoreline, where early successional communities occur today, may also have favored grassland vegetation types in the past.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 202-224). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boise State University, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-91).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-178). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Shale samples from three Upper Pennsylvanian assemblages overlying the Danville (No. 7) Coal Member in Sullivan County, Indiana were compared with respect to miospore content. Eight samples from each of the Hawthorn, Dugger and Minnehaha mines were chemically macerated and analyzed for pollen/spore content. A total of 108 species assigned to 40 genera were recovered. A comparison of the palynoflora from the three assemblages reveals 17 genera and 32 species found in common. The palynoflora is dominated by the following four genera: Lycospora, Laevigatosporites. Punctatisporites and Punctatosporites. Genera of secondary importance include: Spinosporites, Crassispora, Calamospora, Latosporites, Cycloqranisporitesand Thymospora. These findings are similar to other palynofloras of comparable age from the United States and Europe.Abundance data at each site from the three localities were analyzed using cluster analysis. This was achieved employing the Baroni-Urboni-Buser correlation coefficient (complete linkage, furthest neighbor strategy). This method uses presence-absence data to indicate association between sites. Results revealed few taxonomic differences within or between mines. The uniformity in palynoflora observed between all sites is indicative of contemporaneous deposition which represents a regional flora. Percentage of miospore components assigned to previously established plant affinities were arranged by major plant groups. This allowed indirect comparison with megaflora from the same area as reported by Pheifer (1979). Results were found to be complementary and corroborative. Data from the three mines revealed an abundance of arborescent lycopods, ferns and sphenopsids with few gymnosperms. This is suggestive of current paleoenvironmental models which indicate a wet swamp regime.It is likely that the three areas in this study represent a small portion of a vast freshwater swamp located on the eastern periphery of the Illinois Coal Basin. This interpretation is substantiated by species composition, uniformity in palynoflora and absence of species associated with saline environments. / Department of Biology