Smaller turtles were found to be more active in the fall as 37.3 percent of the turtles captured during September and October weighed less than 300 grams as compared to 23.3 percent during July and August and 16.6 percent during April through June. Individual turtles generally had a peak in weight in the latter part of the summer. The average home range diameter was estimated to be 248 feet for 76 turtles captured three or more times. The adult population density was estimated to be between 7.6 and 9.2 turtles per acre.

Five turtles were trailed from 21 October to 31 January. These turtles remained somewhat active until 13 December from which time there was no movement until 24 January. The average depth of the hibernacula during January was about 6.0 inches below the surface of the leaf litter.

This is a study of vegetation change on these three grassy balds. Special interest is given to the rate of encroachment of woody species. This is a preliminary step in understanding the fate of the balds over time if nothing is done to preserve them.

In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park herbaceous species were the most common food items in the spring. When berries of shrub species matured, bears at large qunatities of Rubus sp., Vaccinium sp., and Gaylussacia sp., A saprophyte, Conopholis americana, was also an important food item during the summer and early fall seasons. Fruits of Prunus serotina, Fagus grandifolia, and Quercus sp. became the dominant foods of bears in the early and late fall seasons.

Although black bears are omnivores, animal foods were not consumed in great quantities. Colonial insects were frequently found but in small amounts. Mammals are even less important and are probably eaten only as carrion.

Scat and stomach samples collected in North Carolina from wildlife management areas (in similar Southern Appalachian terrain) revealed similar results as samples from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Samples of stomach contents collected in North Carolina and scat remains from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were also similar in food content.

Results of analyses of six cub scat indicate food habits of cubs were similar to older bears.

A direct relationship was found between garbage consumption by bears and increased camping and picnicing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Data were collected for three test sites within the boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park between January 1980 and October 1980. The selected areas were easily accessible and were studied in the field by the author. Landform characteristics were obtained from United States Geological Survey topographic maps of the region. Cover characteristics were obtained from field research and from ancillary data of the National Park Service, the Uplands Research Laboratory, and the University of Tennessee Department of Forestry.

Landsat spectral data were analyzed in a two step method. The first step consisted of visual and photo-mechanical enhancement techniques. This included obtaining Landsat image scenes from the Earth Resources Observations System Data Center (EROS). It was hoped that by utilizing numerous photo-processing techniques previously obscurred data could be enhanced, analyzed, and classified.

The second step consisted of applying a supervised computer classification program to a Landsat digital tape of the study area. The supervised classification program analyzes a Landsat scene on the basis of established training sites that correspond to known locations studied in the field. The computer classification proved more adaptable to enhancing and classifying discrete regions than did photo-mechanical techniques.

The study suggests that more research into the feasibility of utilizing Landsat multispectral data in areas of low accessibility or mountainous terrain needs to be developed. It also suggests that numerous factors influence scene spectral levels and that the best means of examining these factors is through computer classifications based on selected test sites.

This study had two objectives: (1) to determine if significant associations exist among density and shoot growth of Fraser fir seedling, density/biomass of Rubus canadensis, canopy closure, and soil chemical parameters, and (2) to determine the effects of removal of aboveground Rubus stems on fir seedling shoot growth.

Eighty 1 x 1 m plots were used on Mount Collins, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, to characterize the understory habitat of Fraser fir seedlings. Terminal and lateral shoot lengths of the 1983-1987 growth were measured on fir seedlings. Seedlings were classified according to substrate type, surface type, substrate form, presence of adelgid damage, and age. Soil samples were taken for analyses of pH, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium. Overstory composition was characterized with prism plots. Fourteen 2 x 2 m plots were established to determine effects of Rubus removal on fir seedling growth, herbaceous cover, shrub/seedling counts, and soil parameters.

Rubus canadensis density was highest on the southwest-facing slope and lowest on the northeast-facing slope of Mount Collins. Fraser fir seedling density was highest on theortheast-facing slope and lowest on the southwest -facing slope. The spearman rank correlation between Rubus density and fir seedling density was -0.376 (P < 0.01); a graph of these data showed variability in fir density to decrease with increasing Rubus density. Most years of fir terminal shoot growth showed positive associations with Rubus density (0.309-0.396, P < 0.01); a graph of these data showed no pronounced relationship. Rubus density and biomass were significantly correlated with soil phosphorus and potassium concentrations. All years of terminal shoot growth of fir seedlings measured showed positive associations with soil pH and potassium concentration.

Most fir seedlings were ≤25 cm tall. Only 38% were <5 years old. More seedling than expected occupied dead wood substrates, and more than expected were found on bryophyte-covered surfaces. More than 25% of seedlings showed adelgid damage; adelgid damage was more prevalent among seedlings ≥5 years old. Most seedlings showed a trend of increasing gains of terminal shoot growth over previous years of growth.

Removal of Rubus stems produced no significant effect of fir seedling shoot growth over one season. No Rubus-removal effects were found on any other understory variable measured; Rubus itself responded to removal by rapid appearance and growth of new stems. Large seasonal changes in bryophyte cover and red spruce seedling density (from germination) occurred, but these changes were not affected by Rubus removal.

Germinal Fraser fir seedlings are scarce and are not likely to appear in large numbers unless existing understory firs reach reproductive age. Rubus appears to inhibit the establishment of fir seedlings. Fir shoot growth does not appear to be associated with Rubus density or biomass. Fir Shoot growth trends are probably consequences of normal growth patterns and recovery from adelgid infestation.

This general picture is duplicated time and again along he mountain road from Park Headquarters to Newfound Gap. At about 3800 feet the hemlocks on the ridges have become interspersed with spruce. Along the North Carolina-Tennessee state line between Newfound Gap and Clingmans Dome, occurring in the gaps between peaks and on the upper slopes of coves, are found stands of northern hardwoods, often of "orchard" type (Cain 1935). These high altitude gaps and coves are of the beech type with spruce and fir on the ridges surrounding them (Russell 1953).

When one walks through these gaps and coves in the spring he finds certain constant species, forming, in places, a mat of ground cover. From 2000 to 4000 feet Phacelia fimbriata so completely blankets the sunny floor under the naked deciduous canopy in certain areas that it is impossible to avoid crushing innumerable fragile, white petals. Associated with the Phacelia are Claytonia, Caulophyllum, Dicentra, Erythronium, Houstonia, and various species of Trillium and Dryopteris.

Most of these plants are not found under the evergreen canopy. It is like stepping into a new world - a world that is sometimes barren, other times a dense tangle of rhododendron and fallen trees. This is true on the steeper slopes of the cove floor as well as on the ridge leads.

Since this pattern seemed to be so consistent, not only in the park but in other places in the Appalachians, such as described by D. M. Brown (1941) on Roan Mountain and by Coile (1938) in Randolph County, West Virginia, an attempt was made by the author to make a comprehensive study of plant distribution pattern at a mid-altitude location near the Alum Cave parking area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This study began in the spring of 1950 with a general reconnaissance from the Chimneys Camp Ground up one of the valley to the top of Sugarland Mountain with the idea of using this area for such an investigation.

The region used for the most extensive part of this survey occupies about eleven acres of cove and adjacent ridges south of Tennessee Highway Number 71, one-half mile east of the Alum Cave parking area (Fig. 1). The site was originally chosen because it included an isolated stand of spruce and fir unusual for such a low elevation. A study was made of this spruce-fir "island" to find out if its floristic composition was the same as that of its high altitude counterpart, how it came to be there, and if it would persist. A survey of the relationship of this community to the surrounding vegetation was made, and the problem expanded to include consideration of the pertinent geologic, edaphic, and climatic factors.

Following the approval and promise of co-operation of the State Department of Education, it was decided to make a series of surveys or rural communities for the purpose of determining conditions in the different counties and of offering suggestions for their improvement. The first of the series was that of Union County, made in the fall of 1922. Following this were surveys of Lewis, Crockett, Pickett, Monroe, Bledsoe, and Jackson counties.

At the request of the County Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools for a study of the economic, social, and educational conditions in Blount county, this survey was conducted. The purpose of the survey was to ascertain existing conditions in the county and with the aid of the University, to devise some plans for improving these conditions.

The information to be presented in this survey has been taken from reports of fifty-one of the sixty-one rural school communities. Although not mathematically correct in every detail, it is believed that the data included in this survey are fairly representative of conditions in the county.

Debris slides were divided into vertical zones as horizontal zones based upon slide shape, slope angle and profile in cross-section. The first of the three vertical zones studied was the head zone at the top of the slide; the next lowest zone was the erosion-transportation zone; the lowest zone studied was the next one, the transportation-gully zone. A terminal zone, the deposition zone, was located below the transportation-gully zone but was not studied. Two horizontal zones, a center and margin at each lateral edge, were recognized.

The effects of time on debris slide recovery and revegetation were noted. With increasing age, soil depth increased, bare rock cover decreased, and cover vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens increased on most parts of each debris slide.

Different trends in vegetation composition were noted among plots of the horizontal and vertical zones and among slides of different ages. Some species, such as Carex misera, were more frequent in the head zone rather than in the other two zones, while others, such as Saxifraga michauxii, occurred throughout. Individuals of certain species, for example, Carex misera, appeared with greater frequencies in young slides; other taxa, for example, Calamagrostis cainii, were found established only in older slides. Forbs and graminoids were the life forms occurring most frequently. Trees and shrubs were present less frequently in younger slides; numbers of individuals and cover increased from younger to older slides.

Analysis of variance indicated significant differences among vertical zones and horizontal zones as well as among slide age classes. Data used were mean values of depth to rooting obstruction, bare rock cover, bryophyte cover and lichen cover.

Seven community types were separated at the 45 percent dispersion level using cluster analysis. Three of these types, the Saxifraga michauxii type, the mixed herb type, and the Carex misera types were found in young slides and highly disturbed areas of somewhat older slides. Four community types, the Solidago glomerata type, the Diervilla sessilifolia type, the Rubis canadensis type, and the Calamagrostis cainii type, were found only in recovering, older slides.

Debris slides are dynamic areas but subject to ongoing natural disturbance. Successful colonizers appear to be stress-tolerant species able to withstand recurrent disturbance. Several rare vascular plant species, such as Gentiana linearis, Krigia montana, and Calamagrostis cainii, which require non-forest sites at high elevations were found in these debris slides.

The denning period averaged 94 days with most bears entering dens between the last week in December and the first week in January and emerging from dens between the last week in March and the first week in April. Adult females entered dens first, adult males next, and subadults of both sexes denned last. Emergence was in reverse sequence. Females with newborn cubs exited dens later (P < .002) and denned longer (P < .0107) than other females.

Weather, principally increased precipitation, and lower maximum and higher minimum daily temperatures, provided the proximate stimulus to den but food availability also apparently influenced entrance of bears into dens since bears denned earlier (P < .0004) in years (1972-1974) with a fair to poor mast yield than in years (1976-1978) with excellent mast yields. A circannual (endogenous) rhythm as the ultimate mechanism encompasses the observed variations in environmental factors affecting the denning period of bears over their broad geographic range and diverse ecological conditions.

Significant increases in inactivity occurred in the pre- and postdenning periods with the transition into and out of dormancy occurring gradually over a period of about one month. This may be a physiological transition period. The frequency of head movements increased (P < .005) prior to den emergence indicating movements within dens and readjustment to normal behavior.

Preferred den sites were cavities high above ground (x^- = 11.15m) in large (x^- dbh = 94.8 cm) yellow birches (Betula alleghaniensis), eastern hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis), red maples (Acer rubrum) and northern red oaks (Quercus rubra). The majority of ground dens (78%) were cavities under root systems of wind-tilted trees or in association with stumps. Dens generally occurred on steep slopes (x^- = 33°) at high elevations (x^- = 1104 m). This was probably related to the inaccessibility of these areas to pre-Park logging activities and the importance of wind damage to den formation.

Adult females and sub-adults of both sexes more often (P < .078) selected tree cavities above ground than did adult males. Tree dens offered seclusion from ground disturbances and superior energy conservation over ground dens and likely serve as important maternity denning areas and centers of dispersal. Population data from the watershed with the majority of active tree dens showed a higher concentration (P < .0102) of adult females and higher density than the study area wide population of wild bears. Tree dens may afford the extra protection necessary to maintain viable black bear populations in islands of dwindling and often marginal habitat.

Application of the Poisson distribution to 30 random transects (60 ha) yielded an estimate of 2140 ± 92 (two standard deviations) tree dens in the study area which has an estimated population of 129 bears (range 93 to 174, CI = 95%). However, the clumped distribution of tree dens results from the pre-Park logging history results in tree cavities being less available to bears in certain watersheds and especially at low elevations. Consequently, ground dens are more frequently selected (P < .005) and indications are that bear densities are generally lower in these areas. No use or reuse of potential and active tree dens further indicated an abundant supply of tree cavities available to bears in the virgin portions of the GSMNP. Ground dens were 4.7 times more abundant than tree dens.

Discrete differences of site and vegetation parameters at tree and ground dens enabled classification through discriminant function analysis of areas with the highest den potential. Preservation of tree den habitat, as well as the specific den sites, could then be incorporated into forest management outside the Park. A productive approach for the future would be to coordinate black bear sanctuary and wilderness establishment with areas identified as having high tree den potential.

Sectioning of fire scars, field observations, historical accounts, and fire control records indicated that the fire disturbance regime has changed dramatically during the last 200 years. Man-caused fires have probably been an important disturbance since Indians migrated into the area over 12 thousand years ago. Between 1790 and 1940, Euro-American man frequently burned the landscape. On south facing upper slopes the mean fire interval between 1860 and 1940 was 12.7 years. Field observations suggested that south facing upper slopes burned most frequently while north facing lower slopes and ravines burned least frequently. The interval between fires increased with increasing elevation. Under the present fire suppression policy, the fire disturbance regime probably resembled on other period in the last thousands of years. Estimates of lightning-caused fire frequency and potential size indicated that a policy which allows some natural fires to burn unhindered will not maintain the current or the historical vegetation pattern.

Fire disturbance severity was found to be a function of fuel, topography and weather. South facing upper slopes appeared to be the topographic positions most prone to severe fires. Disturbances to the canopy such as southern pine bark beetle attack also increased the chances of severe fire. Canopy closure, litter depth, species richness, basal area and stem density all decreased immediately following fire. Fire disturbance can be considered both a product of the community (endogenous) and a product of the environment (exogenous). The ability of trees to survive fires was a function of severity, species, diameter at breast height, bark thickness and the ability to initiate epicormic branches. Rapid growth rates were also of survival value when fire intervals were short.

Seedlings, seedling sprouts and root collar sprouts were important reproductive form one and two years after fire. The relative importance of each reproductive form was a complex function of position along the topographic-moisture gradient, litter depth, canopy closure, fire severity and community structure prior to disturbance. The ability of most species to generate sprouts indicated few species were actually eliminated from a site by fire. Yellow poplar, pine, sumac, sourwood, devil's walking stick, black locust and princess tree seedlings where most abundant in severely burned forests.

Forest canopy data from 100 permanent plots were examined using indirect ordination, direct ordination and community classification. Slope position, aspect, slope steepness, potential solar beam irradiation (SBI), concavity, elevation, disturbance by man and the time since last fire were all important in determining species distributions. Forests which were not recently cleared by man for agriculture or timber were divided into 7 cover types. From mesic to xeric sites these were included: cove hardwoods, hemlock, mixed hardwoods, mixed oak, white pine, chestnut oak-scarlet oak and yellow pine. Forests cleared by man had old-field pine on xeric sites and successional hardwood on mesic sites. Major successional change is expected in the old-field pine, successional hardwoods and yellow pine cover types. Continued fire suppression will lead to a substantial decrease in the yellow pine cover type in the next 50 years. Allowing some lightning-caused fires to burn unhindered will probably not maintain the present extent of the yellow pine cover type.

The majority of recent African-American archaeological research has focused on the plantation life of the South, particularly in South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia (see Singleton 1995). While slavery was perpetuated due to the plantation system, other forms of slavery existed throughout the United States. The frontier settlements of Kentucky and Tennessee produced an unusual relationship between slave and master. Slaves and masters worked side by side forcing the wilderness into a livable habitat. If any of these early settlers from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina brought slaves with them, it was usually less than a handful and, many times, just one slave. Frontier families lived in close proximity to their slaves and their living spaces as opposed to plantation life where slaves and slave houses were often far removed from the plantation house (McCormack 1977). The soil and climate of eastern Kentucky and east Tennessee did not support labor-intensive cash crops such as cotton and rice. The large plantations that sustained slavery in many of the other Southern states did not develop in this area. The result was a form of slavery that had African-American slaves primarily working as laborers on small farms or as domestic servants who cared for the children, cooked the meals, and cleaned the homes. Consequently, the relationships between slave and master as well as overall lifeways on the frontier were different than those found in the "classic" plantation system (McCormack 1977).

There has been little archaeological research conducted on frontier slavery largely because frontier slave sites are not as conspicuous as in the former system. One site on the Tennessee frontier where slaves lived in the last 18th and early 19th will be the subject of this thesis research. This is Blount Mansion, an historic site in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee where archaeological excavation was conducted from 1985-1996.

Before a bald management program can be logically considered, factors involved in the natural maintenance must be determined. This particular study was conducted to examine possible factors. An intensive climatic documentation to two of the grassy balds and one field was undertaken, soil and vegetational transplants between forest and bald were made, growth rates of Abies fraseri, (peripheral old-growth as well as that of the newly invading species) were determined and successful trends studied. Permanent seedling plots were established for initial counts of woody seedlings and for later determination of survival rates, germination and survival of Picea rubens Sarg. were followed through one growing season, and possible shrub invasion was examined. Climatic data were gathered from three areas within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Andrews Bald, Gregory Bald, and Spence Field. The other phases of the study were carried out on Answers Bald.

The historical data for the investigation were gathered from both interviews and written and pictorial material. Interviews included bear hunters, National Park Service employees, and former resident of the area. Written material was taken from diaries, journals, newspapers, National Park Service records, records of companies that operated in the area, and old historical documents. Photographs from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park archives and from private sources yielded additional information.

All data gathered were combined and categorized into major topics and time sequences. The material for each section (topic) was then assessed and summarized. Pre-Park hunting characteristics, major vegetation changes, and problems of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in regard to bears were considered separately.

It was found that there were no obvious limiting factors on the bear population before the settlement of the Great Smoky Mountains. Since 1880, primarily vegetation change, and secondarily hunting, have apparently acted to decrease the bear population. With the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the bear density temporarily increased. However, the death of the American chestnut (Castenea dentata) left the bear population vulnerable to mast failures; this combined with increased poaching resulted in a decline in the black bear population where it remains. However, the decline was apparently not as serious as in the early 1900's.

The majority of the problems currently concerning the black bear within the Park involve the relatively low production of mast associated with earlier vegetation disturbances, high numbers of Park visitors with a concomitant disregard by a few for regulations regarding bears, and the hostile attitude of some residents on the Park periphery. It was thought that black bear habitat within the Park may improve as more stands of mast-producing species mature. Finally, it was concluded that the National Park Service should improve programs of visitor education, adopt stricter law enforcement standards, and establish better regulations with peripheral communities.

A more detailed description of LeConte Creek has been attempted, and the area has been zoned according to the kind of vegetation that appears to be dominant.

A detailed discussion of the methods and technique are given to enable the reader to surmise the immensity of the problem attacked.

The animals peculiar to the various zones have been discussed briefly.

The animal dominant in the Balsam Zone seems to be the Red-gilled salamander, Plethodon jordani; that of the Birch Zone, a snail, the species not determined; that of the Transitional Zone, a large semi-aquatic drab-colored salamander, Desmognathus sp.; and that of the Chestnut Zone, snails, most of which are of the genus Helix.

As a whole, the animals of LeConte are scarce compared to those of the lower altitudes, but in general a great number exist in their various habitats.

An intended Favorskii rearrangement-divinylcyclopropane rearrangement to lead to the bicyclo[4.3.1] decadiene ring system was not accomplished. An envisioned tandem cyclopropanation-divinycyclopropane rearrangement of 2,3-divinyhex-2-enol did not furnish the desired bicyclo[4.4.1]undecadiene system, either, because cyclopropane occurred on the exocyclic double bond.

In the course of cyclopropanation studies on various cyclohexenols, an α-silyl-α-diazoethyl acetate was employed as tether. It could be removed by protodesilylation or oxidative cleavage to give a 1-(carboxylic ester)-cyclopropane or a 1-(carboxylic easter)-1-hydroxy cyclopropane derivative, respectively. Cyclopropanation general occurred on the less substituted more electron rich double bond.

Epoxidation of 2,3-divinylhex-2-enol with subsequent Cope rearrangement furnished the anti-Bredt oxabicyclo[4.4.1]undecadiene system that could be transformed into its regioisomer by Ireland-Claisen rearrangement.

Studies of the ring-closing metathesis of a cobalt carbonyl complexed ynediene to give a 10- or 11-membered ring failed. Ring-closing metathesis of a vinylsilane furnished an eight-membered ring.

From April, 1971, through March, 1972, the monthly occurrence and extent of European wild hog rooting and wallowing at different elevations and in different vegetation types were studied along established trails, cross-country trails, and roads in three watersheds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (65.7 miles) and in three watersheds in the Tellico Wildlife Management Area, Cherokee National Forest (34.4 miles).

European wild hog rooting and wallowing were found to occur most frequently and most extensively at the higher elevations in the warmer months and at the lower elevations in the cooler months. Fluctuations in the elevational occurrence of rooting and wallowing were greater in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park than they were in the Tellico Wildlife Management Area due to the greater elevational range available to this animal in the Park. The elevational movement of European wild hogs appeared to be a thermoregulatory response to increasing temperature and to food availability.

The vegetational occurrence of rooting appeared to be related to the elevational movement in response to increasing temperature, to food availability, and to the peaks in farrowing activity. The vegetational occurrence of European wild hog wallows appeared to be related to the more mesic site characteristics of the cove hardwood forest type and the northern hardwood forest type, with wallows being observed in the cove hardwood type during the cooler months and in the northern hardwood type during the warmer months.

In the lower elevations, the monthly extent of rooting (REI) appeared to be determined by the average monthly temperature, by food availability, and by a European wild hog control program, whereas in the higher elevations, the REI appeared to be determined by the average monthly temperature and the extent of elevational range available to wild hogs.