The history and survival of traditional heirloom vegetable varieties in the southern Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Veteto
Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas K. Miller ◽  
Chelcy Ford Miniat ◽  
Richard M. Wooten ◽  
Ana P. Barros

Previous examination of rain gauge observations over a five-year period at high elevations within a river basin of the southern Appalachian Mountains showed that half of the extreme (upper 2.5%) rainfall events were associated with an atmospheric river (AR). Of these extreme events having an AR association, over 73% were linked to a societal hazard at downstream locations in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Our analysis in this study was expanded to investigate AR effects in the southern Appalachian Mountains on two river basins, located 60 km apart, and examine their influence on extreme rainfall, periods of elevated precipitation and landslide events over two time periods, the ‘recent’ and ‘distant’ past. Results showed that slightly more than half of the extreme rainfall events were directly attributable to an AR in both river basins. However, there was disagreement on individual ARs influencing extreme rainfall events in each basin, seemingly a reflection of its proximity to the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the localized terrain lining the river basin boundary. Days having at least one landslide occurring in western North Carolina were found to be correlated with long periods of elevated precipitation, which often also corresponded to the influence of ARs and extreme rainfall events.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 283-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas K. Miller ◽  
David Hotz ◽  
Jessica Winton ◽  
Lukas Stewart

Abstract Rainfall observations in the Pigeon River basin of the southern Appalachian Mountains over a 5-yr period (2009–14) are examined to investigate the synoptic patterns responsible for downstream flooding events as observed near Knoxville, Tennessee, and Asheville, North Carolina. The study is designed to address the hypothesis that atmospheric rivers (ARs) are primarily responsible for the highest accumulation periods observed by the gauge network and that these periods correspond to events having a societal hazard (flooding). The upper 2.5% (extreme) and middle 33% (normal) rainfall events flagged using the gauge network observations showed that half of the heaviest rainfall cases were associated with an AR. Of those extreme events having an AR influence, over 73% had a societal hazard defined as minor-to-major flooding at the USGS river gauge located in Newport, Tennessee, or flooding observations for locations near the Tennessee and North Carolina border reported in the Storm Data publication. Composites of extreme AR-influenced events revealed a synoptic pattern consisting of a highly amplified slow-moving positively tilted trough, suggestive of the anticyclonic Rossby wave breaking scenario that sometimes precedes hydrological events of high impact. Composites of extreme non-AR events indicated a large-scale weather pattern typical of a warm season scenario in which an anomalous low-level cyclone, cut off far from the primary upper-tropospheric jet, was located in the southeastern United States. AR events without a societal hazard represented a large fraction (75%–88%) of all ARs detected during the study period. Synoptic-scale weather patterns of these events were fast moving and had weak low-level atmospheric dynamics.


1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 1226-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Montagnini ◽  
B. L. Haines ◽  
W. T. Swank ◽  
J. B. Waide

This paper summarizes data on nitrification at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, in the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, U.S.A., focusing on effects of watershed treatment and vegetation type. At Coweeta, as at other United States sites, oak–hickory forests gave the lowest nitrification potentials. Nitrification potentials and nitrifier numbers were lower in oak–hickory forests of undisturbed watersheds than in disturbed watersheds. Nitrification potentials were also low in a white pine plantation, although higher than in other pine forests in the United States. In a regenerating clear-cut and in a 17-year-old successional forest at Coweeta, nitrification potential was higher in dense stands of black locust (Robiniapseudoacacia L.) than in areas where black locust was absent. In the undisturbed forests at Coweeta, low nutrient availability probably limits the size of nitrifier populations; the influence of soil pH on nitrification was unclear. In the disturbed forests, nitrification is apparently controlled by the availability of ammonium nitrogen and other nutrients.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie N. Wells ◽  
Eric A. Smith

We present four summers (2006–2009) of field observations of the Diana fritillary, Speyeria diana (Cramer, 1777), throughout the Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA, in the eastern portion of its distribution. We describe our observations of resource use by S. diana in sites located in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. Butterflies imbibed nectar from five genera (>11 species) of flowering plants and also imbibed liquid from dirt roads and horse manure. The majority of butterflies (57%) were observed feeding on milkweed, Asclepias spp., a high-quality nectar-producing plant which is known to be an important resource for many Lepidoptera. We documented 14 species of Viola spp., the larval host plant used by Speyeria, in our survey sites. All butterflies were marked to observe their movement. Recapture rates ranged from 17% to 56%, suggesting that dispersal of S. diana out of suitable habitat was somewhat limited.


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