During 1999-2001, potential den trees and denning success of black bears was investigated on industrial forest lands and national forest lands in Virginia and West Virginia. One hundred and fifty seven potential den trees were found on five study areas, 135 on national forest lands and 22 on the industrial forest lands. Twenty-seven hollow potential den trees were found, 22 on national forest lands and 5 on industrial forest lands. Densities of potential den trees ranged from 12.5/km2 to 437.5/km2 on the national forest lands and on the industrial forest lands the densities ranged from 0-187.5/km2. There were significantly higher densities (F1, 69=5.86, P=0.0181) of potential den trees on the national forest land than on the industrial forest land. There were also significantly (F=2, 68=7.86 P=0.0008) higher densities of hollow potential den trees based on the stand age class. Denning success for females expected to have cubs was 98% (n=46) in tree dens on national forest lands and 100% (n=8) on industrial forest lands. Denning success for females expected to have cubs was 76% (n=55) in ground dens on national forest lands and 80% (n=5) in ground dens on industrial forest lands. Females expected to have cubs on the national forest lands had an overall denning success of 89% (n=80) and on industrial forest lands there was overall, 92% (n=13) denning success. Chi-square tests showed that abandonment of dens by bears was significantly higher (x2=19.02, 1df) in ground dens than in tree dens. Litter sizes were not different from national forest lands and industrial forest lands (t=-0.36, 44df, P=0.84). The mean litter sizes on the national forest lands was 2.55 (SE=0.16) cubs per litter and on the industrial forest land 2.4 (SE=0.22) cubs per litter. / Master of Science

This project evaluated the influence of habitat parameters and distance from low-order streams on herpetofauna communities, in addition to evaluating the efficacy of 2 sampling methods. Amphibians were associated with mature hardwood forests with high density of large, highly decayed woody debris. Reptiles were associated with mixed pine-hardwood forests, woody debris, and vertical canopy structure. Overall, woody debris was an important habitat feature for amphibians and reptiles. Amphibians were detected in greater abundance and species richness near the stream. Reptiles were similar in abundance and species richness as distance increased from low-order streams. I recommend a SMZ width ¡Ý50 m on each side of the low-order streams in east-central Mississippi. Area-constrained and funnel-pitfall traps each detected species that the other method was unable to sample due to inherent biases. I recommend the use of both survey methods when investigating the entire terrestrial herpetofauna community in mature, riparian and upland forests.

Nuo 2010 m. liepos 1 d., kuomet įsigaliojo Žemės įstatymo ir Žemės reformos įstatymo pakeitimai, valstybės politiką žemės tvarkymo ir administravimo srityje įgyvendina ir dalyvauja ją formuojant pagrindinė institucija Nacionalinė žemės tarnyba. Lietuvos Respublikos žemės fondo administravimo nagrinėjimas turi tiek teorinę, tiek praktinę reikšmę. Svarbu pažymėti, kad valstybinės žemės tvarkymo ir administravimo reglamentavimas painus, sudėtingas, su egzistuojančiomis teisės aktų spragomis, todėl darbe išsamiai išnagrinėta žemės santykius reguliuojančių institucijų veikla, valstybinės žemės ūkio paskirties žemės pardavimo teisniais aspektai. Taip pat įvertinta ar apskričių panaikinimas užtikrino geresnį žemės fondo administravimą. / Since 1 July 2010 after the commencement of amendments of Land law and Land reform state policy in the area of Land resources management and administration has been implemented and led by the main authority National Land Service. The analysis of the Land fund administration of the Republic of Lithuania has both theoretical and practical significance. It is important to point out that state land management and administration regulation is rather intricate, complicated, with existing legal loopholes, therefore, the paper analyses in detail the work of institutions regulating land relations, and legal aspects of the sale of state agricultural land. The work also assesses whether the abolition of counties can ensure better Land fund administration.