Charcoal is a fundamental component for the available carbon in a forest system and is most commonly produced through fire events. Factors controlling the net amount of black carbon in the form of charcoal have yet to be well understood in mixed-conifer forest ecosystems. Fire events produce charcoal through incomplete combustion of vegetative material. To understand the influence of fire on a landscape's potential charcoal production, samples were taken at ten sites where an initial fire burned at high severity in 2003 with ten corresponding sites of the same initial fire that experienced a repeat burn in 2011 and 2013. Samples were cross-sections of coarse woody debris present on the ground where charcoal depth was measured along transects. The volume of charcoal on coarse woody debris was calculated using the diameter of the coarse woody debris compared to the charcoal depth at each site. The total volume of charcoal produced was greater in sites that experienced a repeat burn with the mean of the repeat burn sites accumulated charcoal equaling 11.8 m3/ha compared to the once-burned mean of 6.4 m3/ha. From a Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test for the charcoal comparison between site types the p-value equaled 0.09. Charcoal volume varied in sites that experienced only the initial high severity fire. The charcoal production appeared different between the two types of sites, indicating that repeat burns of various severity types may produce differences in charcoal availability. Management practices allowing repeat burns may increase available black carbon that may be sequestered into soils to contribute to soil productivity and fertility as well as positively contribute to nutrient cycling in forests.

Context: Dynamic stretching has become a universally accepted practice used to increase flexibility, reduce muscle injury, and improve performance. In addition to stretching, deep heating modalities such as pulsed shortwave diathermy have been used to increase range of motion through deep heating. The premise for this study was to see if combining a dynamic stretching routine with a diathermy treatment would improve range of motion (ROM) and postural control. Purpose: The purpose of this repeated measures study was to assess the effectiveness of both pulsed shortwave diathermy and dynamic stretching on hip flexor range of motion and postural control. Participants: Four males and six females between the ages of 18 and 30 completed the study. All of the participants were moderately active and had not sustained an injury to their dominant leg six months prior to the study. Methods: Each participant completed all four trials (diathermy alone, dynamic stretching alone, diathermy and dynamic stretching combined, and a control trial) over the course of a month. Active hip extension and the Y- Star Excursion Balance Test (Y-SEBT) were completed before and after each trial. Results: The 2 X 4 (time by trial) repeated measures ANOVA revealed no statistical significance for hip extension and Y-SEBT (p=0.817 and p=0.367 respectively). However, there was a main effect for time from pre- to post (p=0.001 and p=0.003 respectively). Conclusion: This research intended to determine diathermy’s outcomes on increasing ROM and postural control in the hip flexors and how these effects could be enhanced by a dynamic stretching routine. All of the participants regardless of trial improved however, this was due to a practicing effect. Therefore results of this study were found to be inconclusive for all trials performed.

Context: Cryotherapy is the most common modality used after acute injury to reduce edema. One of the most beneficial uses of cold is for its analgesic effects. Typically, following the application of cold, exercises are completed as part of the rehabilitation plan, a technique termed “cryokinetics”. Current literature reveals that exercise immediately following cold application leads to rapid rewarming, reducing the overall effectiveness of the treatment. However, there are no studies examining the rewarming trends of different cooling modalities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the rewarming trends of ankle skin surface temperature following a cryokinetics protocol consisting of one of three cryotherapy modalities combined with rehabilitative ankle exercises. By comparing the results, we hope to determine if one modality is more effective than the others for use with cryokinetics. Participants: Eleven college aged University of Montana students (age 18-35) participated in this study. Methods: A repeated measures design was used for this study whereby all participants underwent three 15 minute trials consisting of cold whirlpool, ice pack, and an ice water immersion treatments. Following each cryotherapy treatment, participants completed a series of rehabilitative ankle exercises. The temperature of the dominant ankle was measured at the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) prior to treatment, immediately post-treatment, and immediately post exercise. Results: A 3X3 repeated measures ANOVA revealed statistical significance between the cooling modalities and ankle surface temperature (p= 0.05). Pairwise comparisons revealed statistical significance among the different cooling modalities immediately after treatment and immediately after exercise. Ice water immersion cooled the ankle the most and for the longest duration. Conclusion: Ice pack and ice water immersion produced more cooling than cold whirlpool. Ice water immersion provided slightly greater cooling when compared to an ice pack, which suggests that it is the most effective modality for use in cryokinetics.

Many North American bat species are declining as populations face increasing pressure from disease and degradation or loss of habitat. Bats roost in natural and artificial structures with adequate crevices. It is important to document the structural and thermal characteristics of these roosts across the landscape in order to provide natural resource managers with tools to protect and conserve these species. Bat use of bridges has been well documented in the southwest United States, but bridges in northwest Montana were not surveyed because temperatures were thought to be insufficient for bats. This lack of knowledge was the basis for our survey of roadway bridges in Missoula, Ravalli, and Mineral Counties. In May-October 2014 we visited 412 bridges and categorized them as day roost, night roost, maternity colony, or no detectable use. We detected widespread use of bridges (45.9%) as night roosts used between foraging flights. Bats were detected in day roosts at a smaller number of bridges (2.7%) with use ranging from solitary bats to hundreds of females and offspring. Bridge type and structure appear to be significant in predicting bat use, and initial temperature data indicate that day roosts have a slightly higher temperature regime than unoccupied bridges. Survey and bat detection information is available to resource managers via the Montana Natural Heritage Program’s MapViewer web application (http://mtnhp.org/mapviewer). In consideration of the potential importance of these artificial roosts to bat species, we encourage the evaluation of roadway bridges for bat use prior to maintenance or replacement activities.

In the midst of a congressional address on the topic of conservation and restoration, President Lyndon B. Johnson stated, “This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through . . . a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.” It was 1965. One year prior, Congress had passed the Wilderness Act of 1964, defining wilderness as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” When the founders of the Wilderness Act wrote these words, they likely had no idea of the repercussions global climate change would bring to these designated areas, even with the issue’s tentative beginnings at the time. They did not understand how an altered atmosphere would threaten the core value of wilderness as untrammeled. Today, half a century later, both these definitions, of climate change and of wilderness, have hardly changed, but the debates surrounding them are vast and heated. Through analysis using existing literature in the fields, I examine the confluence of these two issues, focusing on the history and management of wilderness in the context of anthropogenic climate change. I use this scientific literature along with environmental and philosophical writings and personal experience to help understand the separation society places between wilderness and civilization, reflected in the Wilderness Act, and how that disconnect affects how we approach the issue of climate change.

The goal of my project is to investigate the process of genome reduction following speciation. We hypothesize that an apparently functional gene of an endosymbiont bacteria is in fact an incipient pseudogene. The long lifespan of cicadas has provided a unique opportunity to study the effects of genome reduction in endosymbiont bacteria. In the cicada Tettigades undata (TETUND), the endosymbiont Candidatus Hodgkinia lineage has split into two discrete genomic lineages, each isolated to distinct Hodgkinia cells. These two new genomes are smaller and have both lost genes compared with the single-genome ancestral Hodgkinia present in Τettigades ulnaria (TETULN). Interestingly, gene loss in metabolic contributions of the TETUND Hodgkinia, such as the synthesis of histidine, show interpathway complementation so that the ancestral genes encoded in Hodgkinia TETULN are retained on at least one of the new Hodgkinia TETUND genomes. As a result, the host cicada now relies on two species of Hodgkinia with a combined genome nearly twice the size of their single genome ancestor. Given the large number of pseudogenized genes in different states of degradation that Dr. John McCutcheon’s lab has observed in the TETUND genomes, some apparently functional genes may be incipient pseudogenes that have not yet acquired an inactivating substitution. To test this idea, I have cloned one of the histidine genes (HisB) for each the two TETUND lineages and the ancestral TETULN into the genome of E. Coli. I then induced expression of HisB in E. Coli and performed assays on the HisB proteins to determine if any are nonfunctional. This will provide evidence that this genomic reduction is following a pattern of interpathway complementation.