Graduate Program in Geography, University of Missouri

The Physical Environment

Physical geography analyzes the Earth's environment from the perspectives of biogeography, geomorphology and climatology. Physical geographers at MU focus primarily on connections between vegetation, streams, and a changing climate, with a particular emphasis on the human role in modifying these natural systems:

The human role in changing the physical landscapes of the American Midwest Cowell, C.M. and Jackson, M.T. (2002) Vegetation change in a forest remnant at the eastern presettlement prairie margin. Natural Areas Journal 22: 53-60. Urban, M. A. and B. L. Rhoads (2003) Catastrophic human-induced change in stream channel planform and geometry in an agricultural watershed, Illinois, USA. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 93: 783-796. Rouse, Karen (2005) The impacts of dam closure on downstream wetlands: A headwater perspective. Masters Thesis, University of Missouri. Hunt, Kevin (2009) Land Cover Change (1815 to 2007) in the Central Missouri River Hills. Masters Thesis, University of Missouri.
Modification of rivers and its ecological impacts Chin, Anne., Melinda D. Daniels, Michael A. Urban, et al. (2008) Perceptions of Wood in Rivers and Challenges for Stream Restoration in the United States. Environmental Management 41 (6): 893-903. Cowell, C.M. and Dyer, J. M. (2002) Vegetation development in a modified riparian environment: Human imprints on an Allegheny River wilderness. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92:189-202. Cowell, C.M. and Stoudt, R. (2002) Dam-induced modifications to upper Allegheny River streamflow and their biodiversity implications. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 38: 1-10. Urban, Michael A., and M. Daniels (2006) Exploring the links between Geomorphology and Ecology. Geomorphology Special Issue - Linking Geomorphology and Ecology, ed. M.A. Urban, M. Daniels, and M. Doyle. 77: 203-206.
Vegetation change from presettlement to present M.J. Batek, A.J. Rebertus, W.A .Schroeder, T.L. Haithcoat, E. Compas, and R.P. Guyette. (1999) Reconstruction of early nineteenth-century vegetation and fire regimes in the Missouri Ozarks." Journal of Biogeography 26:397-412. Elliott, G.P. and Larson, E.R. 2009. Disturbance and successional dynamics in an old-growth white pine-mixed hardwood forest in the Great Lakes region of Minnesota. The Geographical Bulletin 50: 17–35. Cowell, C.M. and Hayes, J.J. (2007) Structure, history and dynamics of a mature oak-beech forest in western Indiana. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 134: 215-222. Holmes, Trent (2006) Four Decades of Change in an Old-growth Beech-Maple Forest in Indiana. Masters Thesis, University of Missouri. Hamilton, Jennifer (2003) Historic Distribution of Shortleaf Pine in the Missouri Ozarks. Masters Thesis, University of Missouri. Elliott, G.P. and Baker, W.L. 2004. Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) at treeline: a century of change in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, U.S.A. Journal of Biogeography, 31: 733–745. Cowell, C.M. (1998) Historical Change in Vegetation and Disturbance on the Georgia Piedmont. American Midland Naturalist 140:78-89.
Climatic controls of vegetation distribution Elliott, G.P. and Kipfmueller, K.F. 2009. Multi-scale influences of slope aspect and spatial pattern on ecotonal dynamics at upper treeline in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research. Ziegler, S.S., Larson, E.R., Rauchfuss, J., and Elliott, G.P. 2008. Tree establishment during dry spells at an oak savanna in Minnesota. Tree-Ring Research 64: 53–60.

Graduate Program in Geography

Research