The Intersections of Health and Wealth: Socioeconomic Status, Frailty, and Mortality in Industrial England

Socioeconomic status (SES) is considered one of the most powerful predictors of mortality today. However, studies of health in living populations and bioarchaeological studies of health in the past often oversimplify the connection between SES and mortality and overlook heterogeneity in frailty within a population and the potential for multiple types of marginalization to be layered within a single individual. This dissertation project uses skeletal samples to examine the interactions of SES, demographic characteristics (e.g., age and sex), exposure to physiological stressors, and mortality in the context of industrialization in 18th- and 19th-century England. Skeletal data from four industrial-era cemeteries (St. Bride\u27s Fleet Street, Coach Lane, St. Peter\u27s Wolverhampton, and New Bunhill Fields) were analyzed with paleodemographic approaches (hazard modeling, hierarchical log-linear analysis, and analysis of variance) to (1) determine how morbidity and mortality patterns in industrial England differed between SES groups; (2) investigate how physiological stressors throughout life interacted with socially meaningful categories such as age and sex to produce layered marginalizations that influenced frailty and mortality in industrial England; and (3) evaluate the potential of stressors underrepresented in bioarchaeology to enhance our understanding of marginalization, intersectionality, and mortality in the past. Generally, the results of the hierarchical log- linear analyses and the analyses of variance suggest that marginalized identities (i.e., low SES or female sex) were associated with earlier ages at death. Furthermore, several skeletal indicators of early life stress (cribra orbitalia, tooth size, and the anteroposterior diameter of the lumbar vertebral neural canal) were associated with low SES and earlier age at death, providing additional bioarchaeological support for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis. The results of the hazard analyses, the analyses of the transverse diameter of the lumbar vertebral neural canal, and the fluctuating asymmetry analyses underscore the importance of considering the issues associated with the Osteological Paradox (e.g., selective mortality) when interpreting patterns of frailty and mortality observed in skeletal samples. This project provides a novel model for exploring intersectionality and the effects of social identity in bioarchaeological studies

The National Fire and Fire Surrogate Study: Effects of Fuel Reduction Methods on Forest Vegetation Structure and Fuels

Changes in vegetation and fuels were evaluated from measurements taken before and after fuel reduction treatments (prescribed. re, mechanical treatments, and the combination of the two) at 12 Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) sites located in forests with a surface. re regime across the conterminous United States. To test the relative effectiveness of fuel reduction treatments and their effect on ecological parameters we used an information-theoretic approach on a suite of 12 variables representing the overstory (basal area and live tree, sapling, and snag density), the understory (seedling density, shrub cover, and native and alien herbaceous species richness), and the most relevant fuel parameters for wild. re damage (height to live crown, total fuel bed mass, forest floor mass, and woody fuel mass). In the short term (one year after treatment), mechanical treatments were more effective at reducing overstory tree density and basal area and at increasing quadratic mean tree diameter. Prescribed. re treatments were more effective at creating snags, killing seedlings, elevating height to live crown, and reducing surface woody fuels. Overall, the response to fuel reduction treatments of the ecological variables presented in this paper was generally maximized by the combined mechanical plus burning treatment. If the management goal is to quickly produce stands with fewer and larger diameter trees, less surface fuel mass, and greater herbaceous species richness, the combined treatment gave the most desirable results. However, because mechanical plus burning treatments also favored alien species invasion at some sites, monitoring and control need to be part of the prescription when using this treatment

Fire and gap dynamics over 300 years in an old-growth temperate forest

Questions What are the long-term patterns of wildfire occurrence and gap dynamics in an old-growth deciduous forest? Are there temporal patterns in fire and gap dynamics over the last ca. 300 yrs? How is drought related to fire occurrence? Are there temporal interactions between gap dynamics and fire? Location Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Research Station, Southeastern Kentucky, USA. LCW; 37°05′ N, 83°00′ W. Methods We cross-dated and analysed annually-resolved tree-ring data from 35 tree cross-sections in an old-growth deciduous forest to reconstruct historical fire and canopy disturbance and explore connections among these processes. Canopy disturbance patterns as indicated by tree growth release within this collection [fire history collection: (FHC)] were compared to cores from 26 trees collected in 1983 for the purposes of climate reconstruction [climate collection: (CC)]. Results Initiation dates in the FHC ranged from ca. 1670 to 1925. Thirty-three fire scars were identified from 1678 to 1956. The mean interval between fire events was 9.3 yrs, and there were many more fires after 1800 than before that date. Gap dynamics, as reconstructed through growth release detection, were relatively constant through the FHC record and were supported by a similar result in the CC. The mean number of years between detected release events was 5.2 yrs. Many individual trees, and the mean growth chronology for the FHC, indicate that many oak trees exhibit growth release after long periods of suppression and, after a final release, exhibit a step-change in growth rate suggesting canopy accession. Conclusions Fire and gap dynamics occurred through much of the last ca. 350 yrs in this old-growth forest. There was not evidence to support that these two processes were temporally linked – gap dynamics were ostensibly independent of fire occurrence. Even so, we posit that these two processes may have a synergistic effect on long-term dynamics, wherein fire ‘filters’ the seedling pool and gap openings provide canopy accession opportunities. We also note several instances where release events are associated with stand-wide growth increases suggesting large-scale canopy accession. These events could influence the overstorey composition of the forest for centuries

Ecological effects of alternative fuel-reduction treatments: highlights of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate study (FFS)

The 12-site National Fire and Fire Surrogate study (FFS) was a multivariate experiment that evaluated ecological consequences of alternative fuel-reduction treatments in seasonally dry forests of the US. Each site was a replicated experiment with a common design that compared an un-manipulated control, prescribed fire, mechanical and mechanical + fire treatments. Variables within the vegetation, fuelbed, forest floor and soil, bark beetles, tree diseases and wildlife were measured in 10-ha stands, and ecological response was compared among treatments at the site level, and across sites, to better understand the influence of differential site conditions. For most sites, treated stands were predicted to be more resilient to wildfire if it occurred shortly after treatment, but for most ecological variables, short-term response to treatments was subtle and transient. Strong site-specificity was observed in the response of most ecosystem variables, suggesting that practitioners employ adaptive management at the local scale. Because ecosystem components were tightly linked, adaptive management would need to include monitoring of a carefully chosen set of key variables. Mechanical treatments did not serve as surrogates for fire for most variables, suggesting that fire be maintained whenever possible. Restoration to pre-settlement conditions will require repeated treatments over time, with eastern forests requiring more frequent applications.Keywords: Oak, Prescribed fire, Frequent fire regimes, Pine, Mechanical treatment, Forest thinning, Dry forest management, Seasonally dry forest

Frailty, Famine, and Plague: Crisis Mortality in Medieval London

Famine can broadly be defined as a shortage of accessible foodstuffs that instigates widespread excess mortality due to starvation, infectious disease, and social disruption. Like other causes of catastrophic mortality, famine has the potential to be selective—it can primarily target biologically- and culturally-determined population subgroups that differ in their frailty, or risk of death compared to others. This study examines famine burials from medieval London and compares them to nonfamine (attritional) burials from the same time periods. The data analyzed come from St. Mary Spital cemetery (SRP98, c. 1120-1540), particularly burials from the 12th – 16th centuries A.D. Using data previously collected by Museum of London Archaeology researchers, this study uses hazard modeling and hierarchical log linear analysis to examine the associations between age, sex, and four skeletal indicators of stress (porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, linear enamel hypoplasia, and periosteal new bone formation). The results of this project indicate that age, sex, and previous stress affected the selectivity of famine mortality in the past. However, the results also highlight the importance of considering the Osteological Paradox in bioarchaeological studies and incorporating it into our interpretations of the past. Lastly, this project encourages reflection upon the ways that famine mortality has been selective in the past and continues to be selective today