@mastersthesis {652, title = {A comparative study of soil disturbance from uprooted trees, and mound and pit decay in Puerto Rico and Colorado}, volume = {PhD}, year = {2003}, school = {University of Arizona}, abstract = {The toppling of trees forms mounds of disturbed sediment and pits from which the mound removes sediment, rocks, and organic matter. Sites of uprooted trees in Puerto Rico and Colorado were examined (1) to compare areas and volumes of mounds and pits relative to tree size, (2) to compare areas and volumes of mounds and pits formed during catastrophic events at the landscape scale, and (3) to consider decay of mounds and pits after formation. For a given basal area, the analyses found no difference among sites in area and volume of freshly formed individual mounds and pits. For landscape-level catastrophic uprooting, the percent of toppled trees in a plot can explain 85\% and 87\% of the areas and volumes, respectively, of the quantity of soil uplifted. Exponential decay coefficients developed by monitoring mound/pit complexes indicate that mounds and pits at the humid tropical site in Puerto Rico decay in about 74\% and 57\% of the time, respectively, of mounds and pits at a temperate Colorado site. Decay coefficients developed for the Colorado site indicate that mounds and pits are reduced to 10\% of their original volume within 30 and 78 years, respectively. Coefficients for Puerto Rico suggest that a similar reduction in volume requires 17 years, whereas pits generally fill within a decade.}, keywords = {colorado, Mound and pit, Puerto Rico, Soil disturbance, Uprooted}, url = {http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=765017541\&sid=9\&Fmt=2\&clientId=43922\&RQT=309\&VName=PQD}, author = {Melanie Lenart} } @mastersthesis {910, title = {Stand Replacing Fire History and Aspen Ecology in the Upper Rio Grande Basin}, volume = {Master of Science}, year = {2003}, pages = {94}, school = {University of Arizona}, address = {Tucson}, abstract = {

Dendroecological techniques were applied to reconstruct stand-replacing fire history in mixed conifer and spruce-fir forests in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Stand-replacing fire dates with annual accuracy and precision were determined using four lines of evidence for each of twelve sites within a 75,000 square kilometer area. The four lines of evidence were: (1) aspen inner-ring dates, (2) conifer death dates, (3) tree-ring width changes, or other morphological indicators of injury, and (4) fire scars. The annual precision of dating allowed the identification of significant synchrony of stand replacing fires among the 12 sites and regional surface fire events previously reconstructed from the large network of fire scar collections in the Southwest. Nearly all of these synchronous stand-replacing and surface fire years coincided with extreme droughts. This suggests that stand-replacing fire activity occurred primarily when drought conditions allowed fires to ignite and spread within these high elevation forests and/or for the spread of surface fires between lower and upper elevations. Fifty percent of reconstructed stand-replacing fires pre-dated large-scale Euro-American settlement in this region. This may suggest that land use practices (such as logging and mining) were not as important in promoting stand-replacing fires in these study sites, as compared with other areas in Colorado.

}, keywords = {aspen, basin, colorado, conifer, dendrochronology, dendroecology, Ecology, fire, fire history, new mexico, rio grande, spruce fir, stand replacing, tree ring}, author = {Margolis, Ellis Quinn} } @mastersthesis {558, title = {Tree-Ring Reconstruction of Western Spruce Budworm Outbreaks in the Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado}, volume = {Master of Science}, year = {1999}, pages = {97}, school = {University of Arizona}, address = {Tucson}, abstract = {

Tree-ring records were used to reconstruct the spatial and temporal patterns of western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman) outbreaks in the Rio Grande National Forest (RGNF) of southern Colorado. Reconstructions at 11 host stands showed a synchronous pattern of outbreaks with a peak in the number of trees recording outbreaks over the entire RGNF on average every 24 years. These synchronous periods of outbreaks coincided with periods of increased moisture as indicated by an independently reconstructed summer Palmer Drought Severity Index, while relatively few trees recorded outbreaks during dry periods. The reconstruction on the RGNF does not support the hypothesis that human land use has significantly altered outbreak patterns. Tree response to outbreaks in the RGNF was different from prior studies as reductions in the growth were typically detectable only when growth was compared to that of nonhost tree species.

}, keywords = {colorado, dendrochronology, department of agriculture, forest service, national forest, outbreak, palmer drought severity index, RGNF, rio grande, tree ring, western spruce budworm}, author = {Ryerson, Daniel E.} } @mastersthesis {659, title = {New perspectives on settlement patterns: Sedentism and mobility in a social landscape}, volume = {Phd}, year = {1997}, school = {Arizona State University}, abstract = {Reconstructing the economic organization of ancient societies and unraveling the development of political complexity requires an understanding of sedentism and mobility. Southwestern archaeology has increasingly focused on sedentism and mobility using a conceptual framework derived from hunter-gatherer research, which emphasizes seasonal movement and the ecological factors that influenced mobility. While producing many valuable studies, this framework is inadequate for a full understanding of population movement. This dissertation addresses this problem by expanding the temporal and spatial scales examined and by viewing mobility as a socially negotiated activity. Residential mobility in the Mesa Verde region is examined by focusing on two social scales--households and communities--and three analytic scales--sites, localities, and regions. Household residential mobility is evaluated by determining the occupation span of residential sites; occupation span is measured by determining the total accumulation of cooking pot sherds and calibrating an annual accumulation rate per household. Community sedentism within a locality is examined through an analysis of structure and site abandonment, and the length of time that individual communities occupied their locality is measured by determining how continuously timbers were harvested. Finally, community mobility within the region is assessed using tree-ring dates and settlement pattern data. These data on household and community movement are interpreted in social terms by reconstructing the changing social landscape in which mobility occurred. Geographic information systems analysis is used to examine how the rugged terrain of the Mesa Verde region affected population movement and to analyze the catchments surrounding individual communities. Residential mobility is an essential part of the mode of production whereby individuals, households, and larger factions gained access to land and labor, the two most important resources for agricultural production. Thus, residential movement is an example of human agency, which occurred in the context of a social structure that developed historically. Land tenure, residence rules, and marriage rules are aspects of the structure that are particularly relevant to understanding population movement. This dissertation examines how the structure both enabled and constrained the practice of residential mobility, and how the practice of residential mobility both reproduced and transformed the structure. }, keywords = {colorado}, url = {http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=739774541\&sid=19\&Fmt=2\&clientId=43922\&RQT=309\&VName=PQD}, author = {Mark Varien} } @book {617, title = {Tree-Ring Dates from Colorado W Durango Area}, year = {1975}, publisher = {University of Arizona}, organization = {University of Arizona}, address = {Tucson}, keywords = {Archaeology, colorado, date, dendrochronology, durango, tree ring}, author = {Dean, Jeffrey S.} } @book {623, title = {Tree-Ring Dates from Colorado V Mesa Verde Area}, year = {1974}, publisher = {University of Arizona}, organization = {University of Arizona}, address = {Tucson}, keywords = {colorado, date, dendrochronology, mesa verde, southwest, tree ring}, author = {Robinson, William J. and Harrill, Bruce G.} } @article {642, title = {Boating Down the Colorado}, journal = {University of Arizona Monthly}, volume = {8}, year = {1907}, keywords = {boat, boating, colorado, Douglass, university of arizona}, author = {Douglass, A.E.} }