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The floodplains of the Southeast's stream network once hosted immense brakes of rivercane (Arundinaria gigantea), a disturbance-dependent native bamboo with both cultural and ecological significance. Ecologically, rivercane alters its local environments, boosts biodiversity and biomass, and protects streambanks from erosion and storm damage. Indigenous peoples of the Southeast have used rivercane for millennia, for material and cultural purposes, and formerly maintained its health and extent through harvesting and fire. Settler-colonial incursions largely destroyed rivercane, through the more intense disturbance of different land management practices, and brakes now exist mainly in relatively small areas. While numerous rivercane restoration projects are in process throughout its natural range, no comprehensive inventory of living rivercane exists. In this paper, we present both human context and the results of LiDAR analysis that identifies canebrakes based on the physical characteristics of the plant and brake. In our study area on the Little Tennessee River in western North Carolina, we found rivercane on about 9 percent of the floodplain area, based on QL1 LiDAR data available from the state of North Carolina. The technique can be applied in any part of rivercane's range, and the resulting inventory used in support of both cultural and ecological goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ramifications of a tenancy in common or heirs’ property ownership are extensive. This kind of tenuous ownership affects not only individual families but also the economic health of the typically minority and lower-wealth communities where these properties tend to cluster. Very little research has identified heirs’ property extent at a broad scale, however. We present results of our approach to identifying heirs’ parcels for every county and census tract in the United States, using geospatial methodologies and aggregated parcel records acquired from LightBox. The method estimated 444,172 heirs’ parcels for the U.S., not including territories. The combined acreage is 9,247,452 worth $41,324,318 billion. We discuss shortcomings of secondary parcel data and the problems this presents for accurately assessing heirs’ property extent, while the spatial location aspect allows us to analyze for spatial patterns such as clustering, which supports new analyses of issues associated with heirs’ property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study begins to unpack the association between involuntary neighborhood transiency (i.e., forced household moves) and civic environmental stewardship, focusing on four neighborhoods adjacent to urban forest patches in the City of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The patches emerged on the sites of former public housing communities after the city razed housing projects in the first decade of the 2000s. Given intense competition for city land, e.g., affordable housing needs versus greenspace preservation, we might expect neighborhood-level inquiry regarding plans for these properties; however, there is no indication of popular interest in the sites. We suggest that such engagement is inhibited, in part, by involuntary neighborhood transiency as the neighborhoods surrounding the patches are inhabited mostly by low-income African American renters, a highly transient population. This is the first phase of a study that will eventually examine the association between transiency and greenspace civic engagement. In this exploratory step, we examine involuntary neighborhood transiency as an a priori social condition that necessarily influences people's engagement with urban greenspaces. Building on input from community members, research by Stephanie DeLuca and colleagues, and Matthew Desmond's work on evictions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we operationalize transiency in terms of Housing Choice Voucher units and eviction rate to assess the extent to which these indicators localize in the four urban patch neighborhoods. A geospatial cluster analysis indicated that both measures concentrate in the neighborhoods adjacent to the forest patches, and they are positively associated. Given these associations, we recommend further research examining how various forms of involuntary moving may ultimately inhibit civic environmental stewardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clean water from forests is commonly used to supply drinking water to communities both within and outside basin boundaries through inter‐basin transfers (IBTs). Here, we modified the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) model to provide estimates of mean water yield and the proportion of mean flow originating on forested lands at the 12‐Digit Hydrologic Unit Code scale across the conterminous United States (CONUS). We accounted for the benefits of forests for drinking water supply and receiving populations through IBTs by incorporating a new IBT database, surface intake location information for public drinking water systems, and modeled water yield from forests. We compiled the new database of 594 IBTs ranging from 0.01 million m3 yr−1 to 8,900 million m3 yr−1, for a total transferred volume of 116,894 million m3 yr−1. According to our results, forested lands comprised 28.7% of the total land area across CONUS, but contributed 46% of the total surface water yield. Approximately 125.5 million people derived more than 10% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands, and 83.1 million people received more than 50% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands. Of those 83.1 million people receiving more than 50% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands, 19.4 million people obtained some (≥0.01%) of that water through IBTs. We conclude that accounting for IBTs is critical to accurately assess the contribution of forested watersheds for surface drinking water supply. Hydrologic models for assessment and decision making must include IBTs to fully account for the effects of climate change and human population dynamics on water resource availability at watershed to regional scales. Results from this study can aid water resource and forest managers in developing integrated watershed management plans at a time when climate change, population growth, and land use change threaten water supplies. Key Points: National Forest System and other forested lands comprised 28.7% of the total land area but contributed 46.0% of the total water yieldApproximately 125.5 million and 83.1 million people received more than 10% and 50% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands, respectivelyWithout considering inter‐basin transfer, benefits of forests to water supply would be underestimated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2010.00660.x Byline: G. Rebecca Dobbs (1) Author Affiliation: (1)University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUSA

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2010.00656.x Byline: G. Rebecca Dobbs (1) Author Affiliation: (1)University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUSA

Like historians, historical geographers rely on primary source materials held in archival collections as their main data sources, yet approach these materials from a different perspective. The author's experiences teaching students the practice of historical geography form the basis of this discussion of the role of archival materials in historical geography. Suggestions for improving archival access for historical geography students and professionals are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal's special section on the historical geography of slavery in the United States is presented, noting contributions on the theory of slavery in history, historical methodology in studying the institution of slavery, and the interventionist approach to historical study.

During the 18th century, the Southern backcountry underwent both rapid settlement by Europeans and a period of intense urbanization, in contrast to other parts of the South where town building continued to lag. This article examines one Southern backcountry region, the North Carolina Piedmont, and describes the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze spatial and temporal pattern in the 18th-century granting of land in this region in relation to the emergence of towns. The results support the idea that initial conditions, including the presence of indigenous landscape features such as the Indian Trading Path, must be considered to understand town formation in the backcountry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]