Thesis (M.S.)---University of Idaho, 2003. / Title from PDF cover (viewed Aug. 24, 2006). "January, 2003." Includes bibliographic references (leaves 89-100).

Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, 2006. / In pocket: Wilderness food storage survey, Yosemite National Park, 2005 ([10] p. ; 22 cm.). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-60). Also available via Humboldt Digital Scholar.

This study was conducted to identify aspects of the ecology of the grizzly bear (Ursus aretos) and black bear (Orsus americanus) in coastal British Columbia for both research and management purposes. Information on the feeding ecology and habitat use of black and grizzly bears was collected during field studies conducted in 1976 and 1977. Trails were cut into the study area and systematically travelled to collect scats and other sign. Bears were trapped and subsequently monitored with telemetry. The study of black and grizzly bear movements was constrained by the logistic difficulties of the coast. Five grizzlies were located a total of 36 times and four black bears a total of 42 times. Extensive overlap in the use of space occurred. Movement between watersheds in coastal British Columbia occurs, but the extent of travel is unknown. Marking behaviour of bears on trees and on the ground was described. No reliable method was found to distinguish individual bears from other bears using their tracks. Two criteria were found which separate the tracks of grizzlies from those of black bears. The toes in grizzly tracks are either very close together or joined, whereas the toes in black bear tracks are separate. A less reliable criteria is that the fifth toe in a grizzly track does not register below the midline of the other four toes, whereas in a black bear it does.. Scats collected from May through September averaged 88 percent vegetable matter and 12 percent salmon (Qncorhynchus sp.) and insects. The bears in the study area consumed 21 different recognizable foods. The bulk of the diet came from eight of these foods: sedge (Carex sp.), ladyfern (Athyrium filix-femina), spiny wood fern (Dryopteris austriaca), huckleberry (Vaccinium sp.), salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis), devil's club (Oglopanax horridum), insects, and salmon. The spring and early summer diet consisted of sedge, herbs and ferns, and the current year growth of shrubs. Fruits and salmon were used extensively in August and September. As the green bear foods mature, the levels of crude protein, crude fat, soluble carbohydrates, and moisture content decreased, while crude fibre increased and gross energy and total ash remained constant.. For salmonberry, devil's club, and huckleberry, the fibre:protein ratio was lower in the part of the plant which the animal consumed than in that which it did not consume. As the berries matured, the levels of crude protein and crude fibre decreased, and the levels of crude fat, soluble carbohydrate, and moisture content increased. A simple model was presented which discusses the energetic importance of salmon and berries to the coastal grizzly bear. The vegetation in the study area was grouped into types and the bear foods in these types were described. The implications of the results of this study to the future management of bears on the coast of British Columbia were discussed. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leave 209-233). Also available via the World Wide Web.

This dissertation attempts to improve the understanding of spatial distribution and evolution of snow-covered sea ice as related to polar bear habitat. This will be accomplished at both the local (i.e. 1m spatial resolution) and regional scales (i.e. 100 km spatial resolution) for various types of first-year sea ice (FYI) through four primary objectives. The first primary objective (i.e. Chapter 3) examines the observed and modeled temporal evolution of snow over smooth FYI, as well as the estimation of on-ice meteorological conditions. Results suggest that increases in observed snowdrifts and changes to the orientation of the drifts are related to snowfall and drifting events. Modeling these changes over time using a spatially distributed snow model is not able to accurately estimate the snow distribution. As well, only the on-ice temperature and humidity can be estimated from land-based station data, limiting the modeling of snow over sea ice. The second primary objective (i.e. Chapter 4) extends this research to rough FYI types, more relevant to polar bear habitat. More specifically this objective studies the spatial pattern of snow distribution over rough ice and ridges and the relationship between ice roughness and meteorological conditions. Results suggest that ice roughness influences the magnitude of snow depth, while the wind direction during periods of snow deposition and/or blowing snow events will impact the spatial pattern. The third primary objective (i.e. Chapter 5) focuses on developing a more feasible method of deriving surface roughness. This objective attempts to use satellite imagery and texture analysis to derive surface roughness for snow-covered sea ice. Results suggest that a Gamma speckle reduction filter, coupled with a grey-level co-occurrence matrix texture measure (Entropy or Angular Second Moment) is able to account for more than 88% of the variability in the surface roughness. The final primary objective (i.e. Chapter 6) examines the temporal evolution and factors controlling the changes in sea ice characteristics over regional scale for a period from 1978 to 2002. Observed anomalies in sea ice characteristics within some of the polar bear subpopulations may be explained by thermodynamic and/or dynamic factors. Results suggest that published reduction in polar bear population and condition within the subpopulations co-occur with these observed changes in sea ice characteristics.

This dissertation attempts to improve the understanding of spatial distribution and evolution of snow-covered sea ice as related to polar bear habitat. This will be accomplished at both the local (i.e. 1m spatial resolution) and regional scales (i.e. 100 km spatial resolution) for various types of first-year sea ice (FYI) through four primary objectives. The first primary objective (i.e. Chapter 3) examines the observed and modeled temporal evolution of snow over smooth FYI, as well as the estimation of on-ice meteorological conditions. Results suggest that increases in observed snowdrifts and changes to the orientation of the drifts are related to snowfall and drifting events. Modeling these changes over time using a spatially distributed snow model is not able to accurately estimate the snow distribution. As well, only the on-ice temperature and humidity can be estimated from land-based station data, limiting the modeling of snow over sea ice. The second primary objective (i.e. Chapter 4) extends this research to rough FYI types, more relevant to polar bear habitat. More specifically this objective studies the spatial pattern of snow distribution over rough ice and ridges and the relationship between ice roughness and meteorological conditions. Results suggest that ice roughness influences the magnitude of snow depth, while the wind direction during periods of snow deposition and/or blowing snow events will impact the spatial pattern. The third primary objective (i.e. Chapter 5) focuses on developing a more feasible method of deriving surface roughness. This objective attempts to use satellite imagery and texture analysis to derive surface roughness for snow-covered sea ice. Results suggest that a Gamma speckle reduction filter, coupled with a grey-level co-occurrence matrix texture measure (Entropy or Angular Second Moment) is able to account for more than 88% of the variability in the surface roughness. The final primary objective (i.e. Chapter 6) examines the temporal evolution and factors controlling the changes in sea ice characteristics over regional scale for a period from 1978 to 2002. Observed anomalies in sea ice characteristics within some of the polar bear subpopulations may be explained by thermodynamic and/or dynamic factors. Results suggest that published reduction in polar bear population and condition within the subpopulations co-occur with these observed changes in sea ice characteristics.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 64). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-162).

The diet of Pleistocene cave bears (Ursus spelaeus, U. deningeri) is debated extensively. Traditionally, cave bears were thought to be herbivorous, but more recent studies have proposed that they were more omnivorous. To test this, their skull morphology and that of their confamilials were analysed using 3D geometric morphometrics. The eight extant Ursidae occupy various dietary niches, which are expected to affect the functional morphology of the skull; the resulting dietary morphospace is used to determine the position of cave bears. Landmarks for 3D digitisation were chosen to reflect functional morphology. Extant and extinct Ursidae were digitised with a Microscribe G2. Generalised Procrustes superimposition was performed on the raw coordinates and allometry removed by regressing these onto the log (ln) centroid size pooled per species. Principal component analyses (PCA) and two-block partial least squares analyses (2B-PLS) were conducted on the regression residuals, and (multivariate) analyses of (co)variance ((M)AN(C)OVA) and discriminant function analyses (DFA) performed on the PC scores. PCA and 2B-PLS differentiate between known dietary niches in extant Ursidae. (M)AN(C)OVA and DFA results suggest that cave bears were herbivorous. Differences in the results between the temporalis and the masseter are seen primarily in the position in morphospace of the extant spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), probably due to the influence of its premasseteric fossa on the morphology of the masseteric fossa. Additionally, ANOVAs suggest that there was intraspecific variation within U. spelaeus contradicting lineages proposed on the basis of mitochondrial DNA. This variation may be attributable to environmental factors, such as timberline altitude, influencing the cave bears’ diet.

The Koala bears housed and maintained by the Pretoria Zoo are relying on 20 different Eucalyptus species in the Eucalyptus arboretum in Pretoria for food. Species of the Botryosphaeriaceae are well known endophytes and pathogens of Eucalyptus in South Africa and elsewhere. This study was aimed at characterizing the Botryosphaeriaceae infecting these trees planted for the Koala bears. The experimental set-up also provided the opportunity to broaden our knowledge regarding the Eucalyptus species preferences of the Botryosphaeriaceae, as well as to reveal their potential movement to and from surrounding trees. In Chapter 1, the literature is reviewed regarding the biology of fungal endophytes, with a specific focus on Botryosphaeriaceae on Eucalyptus. Such a review clearly shows that, despite much previous work, we still only have a limited understanding of the biology and ecology of most fungal endophytes. This is particularly true for tree endophytes. Botryosphaeriaceae are clearly important and widespread canker and dieback pathogens of Eucalyptus. The taxonomic confusion that plagued the group, however, hindered a clear understanding of their diversity and biology. The use of molecular tools together with morphological characteristics has improved the ability to separate these fungi at species level. These tools are important for future work to better understand the true diversity. This would be a prerequisite if we are to gain a better understanding of the biology of these fungi and design with management strategies to control them. In Chapter 2, five species of Botryosphaeriaceae were identified from Eucalyptus species in the Pretoria arboretum, South Africa. Two species were described here as new species of Botryosphaeriaceae, within Neofusicoccum, namely N. ursorum prov. nom. and N. crypto-australe prov. nom. This is the first report of the latter species on Eucalyptus in South Africa. The other species included N. parvum, N. eucalypti comb. nov. (previously known as Dichomera eucalypti) and B. dothidea. Neofusicoccum parvum was the most common species isolated, followed by N. ursorum and N. eucalypti. The identifications were all based on the morphological characteristics, including cultural and conidial morphology, and DNA sequence data of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS 1 and 4), and the translation elongation factor 1-α. The closely related species N. parvum and N. ribis were distinguished using a previously designed PCR-RFLP technique. As for the distinction between the cryptic species N. crypto-australe and N. australe, it was necessary to analyze a third gene region (β- tubulin) to confirm their separation using the phylogenetic species concept. All isolates obtained from this study produced lesions on stems of Eucalyptus camaldulensis (clone ZG-14) in the pathogenicity trial conducted under green house conditions. Of all species, N. eucalypti and N. crypto-australe were found to be the most pathogenic and B. dothidea the least pathogenic. There was, however, also significant variation in virulence between isolates of the same species. The results clearly show the potential threat of species of Botryosphaeriaceae to Eucalyptus. Field trials should be conducted in future studies to validate the findings in the greenhouse trials. Isolates representing different species identified in Chapter 2, were used for designing molecular tools for the in vitro and in vivo identification of Botryosphaeriaceae (Chapter 3). Sequences of the translation elongation factor 1-α were compared, and unique polymorphisms identified. Species specific primers were designed around these polymorphisms. All the primers designed were proven to be specific enough to distinguish the five different species from each other. The sensitivity of all primers were shown to detect fungal DNA concentration between 50 ng/μL and 0.01ng/μL. Preliminary tests of these primers on Eucalyptus leaves were done, and latent infections of N. parvum (the most common species) could be identified. More samples are likely to reveal the latent infections of other species using these tools. Future studies could now use these tools for the rapid identification of the fungi on Eucalyptus. It could be expanded to other hosts and more species of the Botryosphaeriaceae as well. The results presented in this study provided detailed information on species of the Botryosphaeriaceae from the 20 different species of Eucalyptus in a Pretoria arboretum. It yielded unique species, as well as well known pathogens of this host. All species isolated in this study were found to be pathogenic on Eucalyptus. The knowledge foundation, data and tools provided by this study can now be applied to characterize the infection biology, fine scale distribution and population diversity of these fungi. It is likely to bring new insights into the ecology of these organisms, their potential origin and movement between hosts. The presence of these fungi in other parts of South Africa should also be considered. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / Unrestricted