I designed a suite of studies in coordination with Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) to evaluate waterfowl use of the GSL in winter and ecological aspects associated with GSL use. These studies provided insight into key information gaps previously identified by UDWR regarding management of GSL resources. Population surveys indicated total duck abundance was low when GSL surface elevations were low and wetland resources diminished because of persistent drought in the system. Also, ducks appear to use hypersaline parts of GSL more when freshwater habitats are limited from either drought or ice conditions. Common goldeneye, northern shoveler, and green-winged teal exhibited the most use of hypersaline areas. Dietary evaluations indicated all three species feed on hypersaline invertebrates from GSL to meet energetic and nutritional needs in winter. Brine shrimp cysts were important foods for northern shoveler and green-winged teal. Fat levels of ducks are important determinants of survival and fitness. Fat reserves of goldeneye were generally lower in the winter when both GSL and wetland habitat resources were lower. Results suggest brine fly larvae productivity, freshwater habitat availability, and temperature and wind speed likely play a more prominent role in goldeneye fat reserves than osmoregulation. Also, common goldeneye and northern shoveler using the GSL apparently accumulated biologically concerning amounts of mercury and selenium during winter. However, further research is needed to evaluate the effect of these elements on GSL ducks.

Diet of cougars (Felis concolor) was studied from December 1978 to August 1981, on a 4500 km2 study area near Escalante, Utah. Prey eaten was determined from analysis of 112 animals consumed as prey, and from 239 cougar scats. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) were the major prey item, comprising 81% of biomass consumed. Lagomorphs, large rodents, and smaller predators were also important components. Cattle comprised Motion-sensitive radio-transmitters were placed on 15 cougars, from 3 months to 7-9 years of age. Three parameters of the radio signal were used to determine activity levels during 6843 1-minute sampling periods: number of changes in pulse rate, predominant pulse mode, and signal integrity, based on 308 minutes of "known" acti vity. Cougars showed distinct crepuscular (sunrise, sunset ± 2 hrs) activity peaks (P Estimates of energetic costs of basal metabolism, and of activity, growth, and reproduction were used in a predictive model of energy cost of free-existence. Information on dietary composition, live weight and energy content of prey animals, and assimilation efficiencies were used to provide estimates of the frequency at which deer were killed (deer/day) and consumed (kg/day). Single adults were estimated to kill 1 deer per 8-16 days. Females with 3 large cubs would kill 1 deer as often as every 2-3 days. A known population of 8 adult cougars was predicted to consume 417 deer per year.

Wildfires have caused concern as they have increased in severity and intensity over the last few decades. Land managers have sought management actions to mitigate the risk of wildfire by reducing fuel loads, thus decreasing wildfire intensity. Camp Williams is a National Guard camp near Bluffdale, Utah, where small arms and artillery training occurs. Managers at Camp Williams have created fuel breaks by implementing targeted sheep and goat grazing to remove fine fuel and thin brush. Management objectives set utilization of fine fuels (herbaceous) at 80% by weight. Questions arose regarding the ecological impact of the prescribed grazing rates in these fuel breaks. This study evaluated three fuel breaks and quantified the impacts of targeted sheep and goat grazing at 80% utilization. During the summer of 2015, herbaceous cover, shrub cover, shrub density, and bunch grass density was collected along eight paired (inside fuel break and outside fuel breaks) transects. Results indicate that the current management grazing plan could lead to an increase of invasive annual grasses, which may be counterproductive in fuel breaks. Often fine fuel treatments rely on high levels of grazing utilization (> 80%). However, high levels of utilization can lead to ecological degradation by reducing or eliminating native bunchgrasses. The objectives of the second study conducted were to determine how different levels of grazing utilization (30%, 50%, and 80%) relate to fuel characteristics and subsequent fire behavior. Results suggest that moderating grazing utilization levels (50%) may allow for more sustainable fuel reduction treatments while still reducing wildfire risks.

Body size was estimated by multiplying the average of the hip and chest widths by body length and chest depth in 208 ewes of three genotypes: Targhee x Targhee (TXT), Finn x Targhee (FXT), and Suffolk x Targhee (SXT), and two seasons, fall (pre-breeding) and spring (post-lambing). The estimated ewe body size did not fluctuate with season, body condition or physiological stress and proved to be a constant measure of size. Measuring linear body dimension is time consuming; and hence ewe body size can best be approximated by the chest depth in a regression equation. In the absence of linear measurements, the ewe body weight remained to be the best measure of size. In evaluating relationships, there was a tendency for ewe body size and weight to be positively (P<.05) related to reproductive traits and body condition to be negatively (P<.05) related. The heavier ewes were more prolific in the FXT ewes and the lighter ewes in the SXT ewes, the TXT ewes being intermediate. Lamb production on per unit size or weight bases tended to be negatively (P<.05) related with weight and/or size in all the three genotypes. This relationship was stronger in the SXT ewes than in the TXT ewes, which in turn was stronger than in the FXT ewes, suggesting that the heavier/larger the ewe the less she produced in relation to her weight or size.

A series of grazing trials were conducted on high elevation summer range near Cedar City, Utah . Cattle and sheep were stocked alone and in common in .4 hectare (ha) paddocks. Stocking rates were .76 ha/AUM in 1981 and .60 ha/AUM in 1982. Vegetation measurements were taken before and after grazing treatments to quantify vegetation disappearance. Diet samples were collected from esophageally fistulated sheep in the paddocks before grazing treatments were applied. After a predetermined level of forage utilization was achieved, the paddocks were re-sampled by the esophageally fistulated sheep to examine diets consumed from the forage-reduced vegetation. Behavioral observations were made throughout the trials on sheep grazing alone and with cattle. The length of time sheep spent at a feeding station, feeding station interval, was measured. Sheep ate less grass and more forbs and shrubs than cattle. Cattle showed a strong reluctance to browse snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus) even when the herbaceous vegetation was greatly reduced. Utilization of grasses, forbs and shrubs in the common use paddocks did not represent an average of the utilization by cattle and sheep each grazing alone. Cattle and sheep grazing together used more forage, especially snowberry, than calculated from single use averages. The diets of esophageally fistulated sheep were altered by the various grazing treatments. Diets consumed from previously ungrazed paddocks were higher in forbs, in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and crude protein (CP) and lower in fiber than those diets consumed after paddocks had been grazed. Sheep consumed diets higher in IVOMD but lower in CP in paddocks previously grazed by sheep than where cattle had grazed alone or in commonly grazed paddocks. Sheep selected diets from the remaining herbaceous layer when grazing after sheep but ate mostly snowberry when grazing after cattle. Diets of sheep consumed subsequent to common use grazing were intermediate containing both snowberry and grasses. Sheep adjusted their feeding behavior as the grazing trials progressed by increasing the number of brief feeding station intervals. This trend was consistent regardless of whether sheep grazed alone or in common with cattle. However, when sheep grazed with cattle, longer feeding station station intervals persisted further into the grazing trials indicating that amounts of acceptable forage per feeding station were not reduced as quickly as when sheep grazed alone.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease that significantly affects quality of life and lifespan. There are currently no effective animal models of CF that mimic the human disease state. This prevents the development of pharmaceutical treatments for patients. Sheep have been considered for a useful animal model because of their size, life expectancy, and similarities in their anatomy and physiology. In order to generate a sheep transgenic model to study CF we have produced two Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene targeting DNA vectors containing large regions of homology to the CFTR gene in sheep. One of these targeting vectors (ΔF508Neo) contains sequences designed to delete the phenylalanine at amino acid position 508 of CFTR. Another targeting vector (G27XDTNeo) contains sequences designed to introduce an early stop codon into the CFTR gene such that no CFTR is produced. These two targeting vectors were used to transfect White Romney fibroblast cells. Donor sheep oocytes were collected for use in somatic cell nuclear transfer (scNT) with the two genetically modified cell lines. Embryos produced from scNT were transferred to recipient ewes which resulted in the birth of 11 ΔF508 heterozygous lambs and 3 G27XDT heterozygous lambs

Forty-four alfalfa hays from different cuttings, maturities, and locations were fed to sheep in a digestion study. Subsamples of the hays along with corresponding fecal samples were ground and analyzed for dry matter, (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and permanganate lignin. In vivo digestibility (IVDMD) were also determined fro each hay. The hay and fecal samples were scanned with a near infrared reflectance spectrophotometer. Chemical and digestible data for each hay and fecal sample were entered into the computer and separate multiple regression equations developed. Fifteen other alfalfa hays with known chemical and digestible data were used to test the alfalfa equation. Standard errors of analysis (%) and corresponding r2s were: 3.55 and 0.81, 0.23 and 0.99, 2.44 and 0.94, 0.85 and 0.98, 1.33 and 0.96, 1.13 and 0.96, 1.13 and 0.80 for DDM, CP, IVDMD, ADF, NDF, and lignin, respectively. Thirty fecal samples with known chemical data were used to test the fecal equation. Standard errors of analysis and corresponding r2s were: 0.13 and 0.96, 0.41 and 0.93, 0.87 and 0.96, 1.79 and 0.90, 2.10 and 0.91, 1.46 and 0.90 for DM, OM, CP, ADF, NDF and lignin, respectively. Using the spectral information from fecal samples and the chemical composition of alfalfa samples to analyze other alfalfa samples was examined. Twelve other alfalfa hays with known chemical and digestible data were used to test the fecal equation. Standard errors of analysis (%) and corresponding r2s were: 4.05 and 0.01, 1.54 and 0.48, 1.63 and 0.71, 13.16 and 0.55, 1.43 and 0.35, 6.52 and 0.13, 4.30 and 0.63, 2.36 and 0.09, 5.75 and 0.49 for DM, OM, CP, IVDMD, ash, NDF, ADF, lignin, and DDM respectively. Hay fecal samples were sieved to study the utility of using sieving as a procedure to support chemical data in predicting DDM. Use of sieving (alfalfa and fecal) and chemical data (other than IVDMD) increased the precision of predicting DDM (R2 = 0.76), over using IVDMD and ash concentrations to predict DDM (R2 = 0.66).

In cases where refuge acquisition or captive breeding programs are not practical or justifiable, wild caught animals are frequently translocated into areas of suitable habitat. Such management programs seldom are designed to account for the behavioral responses of translocated animals to an unfamiliar habitat, breakup of social units, and/or interactions with existing social units in the new habitat. Ongoing efforts to translocate threatened Utah prairie dogs (Cynomys parvidens) from areas where conflicts with other land uses are occurring to public land sites have met with limited success. This could be due, in part, to behavioral responses associated with disrupting social units and placing animals in an unfamiliar environment. The purpose of this research was to test a series of hypotheses regarding the behavioral responses of Utah prairie dogs to translocation. Focal animal sampling was used to estimate the durations and frequencies of five behavioral variables and five interaction types at four treatments: control, new site, supplemental site, and new population. In Chapter 1, activity budgets were compared among control animals, animals released into a new site versus a supplemental site, and animals already present at a supplemental site. The objective was to evaluate the relative effects of new and supplemental translocations and the effects of translocations on resident animals. In Chapter 2, the frequencies of interactions were compared among these same treatments to evaluate the effects of translocation on the sociality of Utah prairie dogs as reflected by changes in the frequencies of greeting displays, dominance/subordinance displays, and amicable and agonistic interactions. Chapter 3 compares the activity budgets of animals released at a site containing natural burrows (i.e., new population) and animals released into a site containing artificial burrows (i.e., new site) to a control. Habitat measurements for these treatments were also compared to evaluate the importance of habitat characteristics typical of prairie dog colonies to translocated animals. Hotelling's T2 analyses were used to compare behavioral durations between treatments and log-linear analyses were use to compare behavioral frequencies among treatments. Activity budgets were altered by translocation through tradeoffs between the amount of time spent foraging, being vigilant, exploring the unfamiliar habitat, and minimizing conspicuousness. Predicted changes in interactions frequencies as a result of translocations were not observed. Activity budgets of animals released into the site containing natural burrows did not differ from those of control animals . The most important behavioral consideration is the effects of burrow and habitat characteristics in providing centers of activity and effective predator detection and avoidance.

Western Whiteface and Navajo-Churro Ewes, two types of sheep present in the Intermountain West, were compared for their milk production ability. Amount of milk produced per individual and the group milk composition were analyzed for butterfat, lactose, somatic cell count, protein, calcium, and phosphorous. Ewes were fed ad libitum alfalfa hay and had access to free-choice grain while in the milking parlor. Lambs were weaned at 35 d of age and removed to another holding area and placed on creep feed . Ewes were milked for 90 d following the weaning of the lambs. Western Whiteface ewes had a much higher milk production level than the Navajo- Churro ewes (P < 0.05). Western Whiteface ewes were almost double in their overall level of production versus the Navajo-Churro ewes. Half of the Western Whiteface ewes completed the 90-d lactation period, producing an average of . 83 kg of milk per day. Navajo-Churro ewes did not complete the full lactation period, with I 000/o of them ceasing milk production before completion of the 90-d milking period. The criterion for being considered dry consisted of completing six consecutive milkings while producing 50 ml or less of milk. Overall production for the two groups of ewes was .83 kg/day of milk for the Western Whiteface ewes and .52 kg/day for the Navajo-Churro. The average number of days in production for the Western Whiteface ewes was 69.5 d and 50 d for the Navajo-Churro. Western Whiteface ewes consistently exhibited higher milk production levels than the Navajo- Churro ewes and they adapted well to the milking barn. Navajo-Churro ewes did not produce an adequate quantity of milk for a dairy setting.

Gregarious behavior of ungulates was considered in four ways. The first concern was W. D. Hamilton's hypothesis that a simple movement rule could reduce predation risk and encourage grouping behavior. Simulations showed little effect of this nearest-neighbor rule on predation risk. Similar, more complicated rules reduced predation risk by up to two thirds. The second focus was on the accuracy of ground observers in diagramming individual animal locations in small herds of elk. A remotely controlled airplane was used to photograph the herds from above. A substantial distance discrepancy was found between "true" and "observed" animal locations. This discrepancy increased with group size and was different between observers but not between herds. Observers were better at predicting relative animal locations than absolute animal locations. The third consideration was interanimal spacing in bison herds photographed from an airplane during a three-month period. At later dates photographed herds were located, and cover-sampling methods were adapted to estimate bison visibility in each area. These data were used in linear regression models which explained over two-thirds of the variance in nearest-neighbor distance. Important indicator variables were the number of animals in the herd, a cover measurement, the north and east location of herds, the time photographed, and the fraction of the animals standing. The fourth focus was the development of simulations of simple movement rules used to mimic grouping behavior. Individuals moved according to two simple first nearest-neighbor rules: if within a minimum distance, move directly away, and if outside a maximum distance, move directly toward. Four other rules were used to determine individual states. Two different measurements were made for each simulation run: the overall mean nearest-neighbor distance and the overall mean subgroup size. Results showed that the means and variances of near-neighbor distances decreased as the number of individuals in the simulation increased. Different near-neighbor rules had little effect on mean nearest neighbor distance. All rules produced results similar to each other and different from bison data. A random model was more similar to the bison data.