Bannister 110

Archaeology of “Empty Spaces” in the Southern Andes

The highlands of SW Bolivia, NW Argentina, and N Chile are the most arid part of the Andes. In this area, opportunities for human settlement concentrate in deep river valleys, piedmont oases, and to the lowest basins of the Altiplano (highplateau). This environmental structure has resulted in a long-term pattern of discontinuous settlement, with relatively small populations concentrated in favorable areas, separated by vast expanses of unpopulated mountain heights and deserts.

The Role of Invasive Earthworms as Ecosystem Engineers and the Associated Implications for Tree-Ring Research in the Great Lakes Region of North America

European earthworms have only recently been recognized as an invasive threat to the hardwood forests of the Great Lakes Region of North America, yet mounting evidence indicates that the invasion of earthworms into forests that had been earthworm-free since at least the last glacial maximum is profoundly and fundamentally altering nutrient cycling, soil structure, and the forest floor communities of these ecosystems. Less attention has been given to how earthworm invasions influence tree growth and productivity.

Climate and Community Assembly in Central Appalachian Forests

The speaker is using dendrochronology to build species-specific growth models that describe how climate influences tree growth in a region where competition for light tends to dominate regeneration and community assembly dynamics.

A continental-scale approach to understanding climate-sensitivity in Douglas-fir

Douglas-fir is the most widespread commerical conifer species in the US and occurs across almost all mountain ranges in the western US.  I have built a network of chronologies across the US range of Douglas-fir to (1) identify where the species is water-limited versus energy-limited, and (2) understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of any quantifiable differences in limiting factors.

POSTPONED: Expanded Fire History for the Chiricahua Mountains

An expanded network of tree-ring sites is used to create an updated and extended fire history for the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona.

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