Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)

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    A comprehensive study on forest management and wildfire trends in dry western coniferous regions of the United States
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2024) Schonenberg, Richard Herman; Co-chairs, Graduate Committee: Anthony Hartshorn and William Kleindl
    In response to the growing concern over the escalating severity of wildfires in dry coniferous forests across the Western United States, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Managed Fire Operations (MFO) in mitigating wildfire severity. By leveraging satellite-derived fire severity data, specifically the Difference Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR), I conducted a comprehensive analysis comparing fire severity between forest lands with and without MFO, subsequently affected by wildfires. Employing a paired study design, I analyzed wildfire events from 1985 to 2021 within dry coniferous forests, limited to south-facing slopes with moderate terrain gradients, using fire perimeter data from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) program. Geospatial analysis identified areas where wildfire perimeters intersected with MFO-designated zones, enabling the delineation of new burn perimeters for each wildfire. The results revealed that regions subjected to MFO before wildfires experienced a statistically significant decrease in fire severity compared to areas without MFO (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, p-value < .01). Ecoregion stratification revealed notable variations, with the Northwestern Forested Mountains showing an estimated median fire severity difference nearly three times greater than the Temperate Sierras. Further stratification by time since MFO implementation displayed consistent, modest reductions in fire severity across two intervals (0-15 years and 15-40 years), with minimal variations between the temporal categories. These results highlight the effectiveness of MFO in mitigating wildfire severity and emphasize the importance of regional context and temporal factors in evaluating MFO efficacy in Western U.S. dry coniferous forests over the past four decades.
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    Evaluating grazing and defoliation effects on ponderosa pine grassland following the lodgepole complex wildfire
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2020) Williams, Amanda Rae; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Clayton B. Marlow; Lance T. Vermeire, Richard C. Waterman and Clayton B. Marlow were co-authors of the article, 'Evaluating grazing effects on ponderosa pine grassland following the lodgepole complex wildfire' submitted to the journal 'Rangeland ecology and management' which is contained within this thesis.; Lance T. Vermeire, Richard C. Waterman, Clayton B. Marlow were co-authors of the article, 'Season of defoliation effects on ponderosa pine grassland following the lodgepole complex wildfire' submitted to the journal 'Rangeland ecology and management' which is contained within this thesis.
    Previous research indicated rangelands need rest from grazing after fire, while others show grazing the first year following fire has no negative effects on the plant community. This caused uncertainty around post-fire grazing management. In July 2017, the Lodgepole Complex fire burned ponderosa pine grasslands of the northern Great Plains, including areas burned in 2003 for fuels mitigation. We examined effects of post-fire grazing and season of defoliation. For the grazing study we wanted to determine 1) plant community response to grazing or rest the first growing season after fire in ponderosa pine grassland communities, and 2) whether prescribed fire alters plant community response to subsequent wildfire. For the season of defoliation study we wanted to determine 1) timing of defoliation effects on the plant community one growing season after fire and 2) whether defoliation effects are altered by prescribed fire preceding the fire. Eight exclosures (25 x 15 m) were built, 4 reburned sites and 4 wildfire sites. A non-grazed (15 x 10 m) section inside each exclosure was paired with a grazed section outside the exclosure. Plots (5 x 10 m) were mowed in the exclosure to 10 cm in June, July, or August, or not mowed during 2018. In 2019, biomass samples were clipped at peak production, with species composition and diversity measured by point-intercept transects. We observed a trend for reduced cool-season grasses (P =0.0675) and annual grasses (P =0.0071) if defoliated earlier; a trend for reduced forbs (P =0.0699) if defoliated later; and reduced total current-year biomass (P =0.0362) if defoliated. Functional group composition was not changed, but some individual species were shifted due to fire history. The grazing study only showed a trend for greater old dead biomass on non-grazed sites (P = 0.0600), higher composition of forbs on reburn sites (P = 0.0324), and a trend for a higher composition of Psoralidium tenuiflorum (Pursh) Rydb. on reburn sites (P = 0.0559). Results indicate mowing the first year following fire shifts the plant community, but the community is resistant to post-fire grazing. Prescribed fire 14 years before wildfire had small impacts on community composition.
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    Model implementation and image data compression in a decision support system
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 1997) Wang, Xiaobei
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    Breeding bird communities in mature and old-growth Douglas-fir forests in southwest Montana
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1997) Sparks, James Robert
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    Change assessment of the Gallatin Petrified Forest, Montana
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1990) Wilbur, James Roy
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    The national forest imperative : a historical geography of national forest landscapes, northern Rockies, Montana
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2014) Fockler, Matthew Neil; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William Wyckoff
    The United States Forest Service manages over 193 million acres of American public land. Management of these landscapes is often contentious. National forests have emerged as landscapes where conflicting ideas about nature and complex value systems are displayed in tangible ways. Current research concerning public lands of the American West has recognized the necessity of attaching material, social, and landscape changes to larger theoretical and cultural structures. This dissertation informs these dialogues by exploring national forest landscape change along the Rocky Mountain Front region of the Crown of the Continent ecosystem in north-central Montana. Using the current Rocky Mountain Division of the Lewis and Clark National Forest as a case study, this research reconstructs landscape change associated with Forest Service management and connects these tangible landscape changes to larger national political, economic, and cultural drivers that shaped agency policies, the national economy, and American society. Furthermore, it explores how local forest users have influenced and shaped forest management and landscape change. In doing so, it draws parallels between these changes and larger American attitudes towards nature, suggesting in this process the role played by the national forests in that larger national narrative. Finally, this dissertation provides a methodology in which these place-based changes on the land can be stored and assessed within a historical geographic information systems (HGIS) database schema. By incorporating significant archival, landscape, and HGIS methodologies, this research finds that national forest landscapes are shaped by national and local cultural trends. The Forest Service has modified its management imperative to address these changes. National forest landscapes are therefore the result of a largely informal negotiation process between the Forest Service, other federal and state agencies and authorities, the public, and the natural world. National forest landscapes are shown to be meeting points where diverse and complex social relations and value systems are transferred to the landscape. This dissertation therefore provides a meaningful set of interpretive tools and a methodology for examining how America public land resources and the ecological world are valued and understood.
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    Co-habitate
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2009) Evans, Meaghan Terese; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mike Everts; Tad Bradley (co-chair)
    This Thesis reinforces the natural characteristics in the zone of civilization's periphery and reverses the negative human impact on the natural world by developing a controlled experiential interaction between people and their environment. Explorations in spatial overlap, flexibility, and human activities resulted in three installations that define architectural space as a dynamic relationship between the human lifestyle, the dwelling unit, and its environment.
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