Relationships among climate, tree-ring widths and grass production on the Santa Rita Experimental Range

Abstract

I am indebted to many people for their advice and assistance in the completion of this thesis. At the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Dr. Thomas P. Harlan aided and encouraged me in cross dating the sample cores; Linda G. Drew guided me through the data processing; Dr. Harold C. Fritts was kind enough to read an early copy of the thesis and to alert me to many of its weaknesses; Dr. Terence J. Biasing read and commented on the section on climate; James M. Burns measured the band-width series; Malcolm K. Cleaveland introduced me to the dendroclimatic potential of separate earlywood and latewood measurements and generously offered me his collection of literature on the subject. Dwight R. Cable of the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Santa Rita Experimental Range, provided the grass production data. His comments on grassclimate relationships in general, and on the response surfaces developed here in particular, were very valuable. I appreciate the patience and guidance given me by the members of my degree committee, Dr. Charles W. Stockton, Dr. Allen M. Solomon, and Marvin A. Stokes. I am especially grateful to Dr. Stockton, the director of this thesis, for his confidence in the study, for the degree of independence he allowed me, and for his thoughtful criticism. My sister, Susan W. Mills, labored mightily on the illustrations, and I find myself once again in her debt. Much appreciation is due Deborah R. Sliz for her careful review of the manuscript. None of these people are, of course, responsible for any errors of fact or interpretation which I may have committed.