Understanding energetic potential of habitat patches is important for management designed to provide adequate habitat for wildlife species. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) has a high density of black bears that have been studied intensively from 1968-1997; habitats within the Park are relatively undisturbed, and similar vegetative cover types can be found throughout the southern Appalachian mountains. Black bear reproduction in the Park has been correlated to hard mast production, however little work has been done to assess the importance of soft mast. Geographic Information System (GIS) based habitat use models have been developed for bears in the Park, yet the importance of foods in determining habitat selection, and the possibility of sexual habitat segregation due to food availability have not yet been determined. The primary objectives of the study included estimation of the location, timing, and amount of caloric production by 19 important black bear foods and determination of the significance of caloric production by mast type, season, overstory vegetation type, and plant species. Secondary objectives were to test for correlation of bear habitat use with estimated caloric production from mast, and to test for sexual segregation of habitats based on caloric production. This study was limited to the northwest quadrant of GSMNP during 1995.

Fire, logging, livestock grazing, and insect outbreaks are disturbances that have significantly influenced both the historic and present fire regimes. The composition and structure of vegetation communities within Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) have likely changed in response to these disturbances. Two study sites (CRX, the near site, and CRT, the far site) were chosen along the Cooper Road Trail based on topographic separation, presence of mixed oak-pine communities, presence of fire-scarred yellow pine trees, and GSMNP land acquisition records. To quantify and evaluate fire regimes, individual fire histories were developed for each site from fire-scarred yellow pine trees, and two 1000 m2 (0.1 ha) study plots were established for vegetation surveys. Fire history analysis yielded mean fire intervals of 6.2 years at the near site, 3.4 years at the far site, and 3.2 years when combined. Spatial analysis showed significant differences in fire activity between study sites. Temporal analysis showed significant differences in mean fire intervals between the pre-settlement (1720–1818) and post-settlement periods (1819–1934). Superposed epoch analysis showed the over-riding influence of climate at these sites. At the near site, trees displayed greater species diversity, larger diameter, and older age. Eastern white pine, pitch pine, red maple, and black gum were the dominant species. At the far site, tree species diversity was lower and trees were generally younger. Mixed oak-pine communities are succeeding to a canopy dominated by shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive species such as eastern white pine and red maple. Without fire disturbance, yellow pine communities will cease to regenerate, as will oak species that prefer a fire-maintained habitat.

Understanding energetic potential of habitat patches is important for management designed to provide adequate habitat for wildlife species. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) has a high density of black bears that have been studied intensively from 1968-1997; habitats within the Park are relatively undisturbed, and similar vegetative cover types can be found throughout the southern Appalachian mountains. Black bear reproduction in the Park has been correlated to hard mast production, however little work has been done to assess the importance of soft mast. Geographic Information System (GIS) based habitat use models have been developed for bears in the Park, yet the importance of foods in determining habitat selection, and the possibility of sexual habitat segregation due to food availability have not yet been determined. The primary objectives of the study included estimation of the location, timing, and amount of caloric production by 19 important black bear foods and determination of the significance of caloric production by mast type, season, overstory vegetation type, and plant species. Secondary objectives were to test for correlation of bear habitat use with estimated caloric production from mast, and to test for sexual segregation of habitats based on caloric production. This study was limited to the northwest quadrant of GSMNP during 1995.

Fire, logging, livestock grazing, and insect outbreaks are disturbances that have significantly influenced both the historic and present fire regimes. The composition and structure of vegetation communities within Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) have likely changed in response to these disturbances. Two study sites (CRX, the near site, and CRT, the far site) were chosen along the Cooper Road Trail based on topographic separation, presence of mixed oak-pine communities, presence of fire-scarred yellow pine trees, and GSMNP land acquisition records. To quantify and evaluate fire regimes, individual fire histories were developed for each site from fire-scarred yellow pine trees, and two 1000 m2 (0.1 ha) study plots were established for vegetation surveys. Fire history analysis yielded mean fire intervals of 6.2 years at the near site, 3.4 years at the far site, and 3.2 years when combined. Spatial analysis showed significant differences in fire activity between study sites. Temporal analysis showed significant differences in mean fire intervals between the pre-settlement (1720–1818) and post-settlement periods (1819–1934). Superposed epoch analysis showed the over-riding influence of climate at these sites. At the near site, trees displayed greater species diversity, larger diameter, and older age. Eastern white pine, pitch pine, red maple, and black gum were the dominant species. At the far site, tree species diversity was lower and trees were generally younger. Mixed oak-pine communities are succeeding to a canopy dominated by shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive species such as eastern white pine and red maple. Without fire disturbance, yellow pine communities will cease to regenerate, as will oak species that prefer a fire-maintained habitat.

World-wide amphibian declines sparked concern and encouraged investigation into potential causes beginning in the 1980’s. Infectious disease has been identified as one of the major potential contributors to amphibian declines. For example, Ranavirus has caused amphibian die-offs throughout the United States. Investigators isolated Ranavirus from dead or moribund amphibians during large-scale die-offs of amphibians in the Cades Cove area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1999-2001. In 2009, after nearly a decade without follow-up monitoring, I undertook an investigation to determine if the virus persisted in the area, and if so, to assess spatial, temporal, and taxonomic patterns in prevalence. Three amphibian breeding ponds, including Gourley Pond, the site of these earlier mortality events, were monitored for Ranavirus during the 2009 amphibian breeding season. A peak in prevalence occurred at Gourley Pond corresponding to a massive amphibian die-off. Prevalence varied among three different taxonomic groups during this mortality event with the highest prevalence, 84%, detected in larval Ambystomatids, 44.4% prevalence in adult Newts, and no virus detected in adult Plethodontids. I did not detect virus at either of the other two breeding ponds despite equivalent sampling effort, similar community composition, and close proximity to Gourley Pond. These results suggest that the severity and spatial extent of Ranavirus in Cades Cove remains unchanged since its initial detection a decade ago. Also, despite the observed massive die-offs there is no evidence of local amphibian extinction at Gourley Pond.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2008. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Mar. 12, 2009). Thesis advisor: Carol Harden. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2007. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 24, 2008). Thesis advisor: Randall Gentry. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Nov. 3, 2009). Thesis advisor: Joseph Clark. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The hemlock-silverbell (Tsuga canadensis-Halesia tetraptera) forest type is known to exist in only two places, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) and the Joyce Kilmer National Memorial Forest. The hemlock component of this forest type is currently threatened by the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelgis tsugae), an invasive aphid-like insect native to Japan. This current status has given rise to the need to investigate the ecological resources of this rare forest type before the hemlock component dies out. The objectives of this study were to determine the nature of the plant/environment and plant/plant associations within this forest type. Within this forest type hemlock was negatively related to protection, aspect, and slope steepness and silverbell was positively related to aspect and slope steepness. This study also identified some interspecific associations such as the negative relationship in the understory between hemlock and striped maple, and provided evidence that understory stems are exhibiting a growth response to hemlock decline in these stands. The information obtained from this study characterizing the plant/environment interactions and even the structural and species components of this forest type will serve as a baseline of data from which to measure change and will provide insight into the mechanisms of species distribution and perhaps into short term scenarios of forest response to hemlock decline and mortality.

Master of Science / Department of Biology / Martha E. Mather / Understanding the empirical relationships between biotic diversity and components of the environment is crucial for effective research and management, particularly in highly disturbed watersheds. The Smoky Hill River is a semi-arid prairie stream with a historic native fish community that is adapted to the extreme and highly variable climatic and hydrological conditions characteristic of the Great Plains streams. Following a literature review on environmental variables, diversity responses, and analysis methods, I evaluated the importance of land use, flow, discontinuities (dams, confluences), and stream type (mainstem-tributary) variables in explaining fish richness using AICc model selection with multiple linear, Poisson and negative-binomial regressions. I then compared these results from 48 sites across three watershed regions to those from a long-term monitoring dataset (ST) using the same candidate variables. Finally, I examined phylogenetic patterns of the fish community using ordination analyses. Patterns and drivers of biodiversity differed with watershed region, land use, stream type, and flow. Fish species richness in the Smoky Hill watershed was negatively correlated with percent developed land in the Lower region of the watershed, but positively correlated with percent herbaceous grassland, the reference prairie condition, in the Upper region of the watershed. Summer mean flow was consistently and positively related to species richness in the Middle and Upper regions of the watershed where flow was limited. In the Lower region of the watershed, species richness was higher in the more flow-moderate tributaries relative to high-flow mainstem sites. In the Middle and Upper flow-limited regions, species richness was lower in the low-flow tributaries than main stem sites. Families of fish species were also related to region and stream type (mainstem vs. tributary). A comparison of two databases showed how different goals, questions, and methods result in different insights, emphasizing the need for establishing a priori goals before sampling.