In terrestrial habitats with a history of mining activity and previous or ongoing reclamation efforts, understanding the effects of acidification on the ecology of amphibians is an important part of the restoration process and the conservation of local amphibian populations. Pond-breeding amphibians spend much of their post metamorphic life history in direct contact with the soil in upland habitat adjacent to aquatic breeding sites. I reared recently metamorphosed marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) to evaluate the role of soil acidity on determinants of fitness such as growth and survival. My results indicate that a substrate of pH 4 was lethal to recent A. opacum metamorphs. Among animals surviving the higher pH treatments, we found that individuals reared on a pH 5 substrate suffered a reduction in total length and snout vent length by the end of the experiment. The mechanisms of acidity are complex; both hydrogen ions and anions contribute to negative effects on amphibians. Sulfuric acid has larger negative effects than other acids and sulfates can cause reductions in growth without a change in pH. I reared larval spotted (Ambystoma maculatum) and Jefferson salamanders (Ambystoma jeffersonianum) to evaluate the effects of pH and sulfates on two species with differential acid resistances. My results indicate that a pH of 4 is lethal to larval salamanders of both species. In high sulfate treatments there was an early reduction in growth in the spotted salamander, but not in the Jefferson salamander showing that acid resistance applies to the effects of sulfates as well as hydrogen ions. Together, our results suggest that acid and sulfate deposition can affect the fitness of Ambystoma salamanders through direct mortality and a decrease the growth rate of salamanders both as larvae and subsequent to metamorphosis.

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Nearly extirpated from the Central Appalachians, USA by the mid-1900s as a result of human persecution, loss of forests, and absence of large mammal carrion, remnant populations of common ravens (Corvus corax) have recolonized portions of their historical range. One such area of recolonization is southeastern Kentucky where the species is listed as state threatened. Southeastern Kentucky appears to have extensive suitable breeding habitat, but raven records remain relatively rare with sightings and a few nests being confirmed during the past three decades. Because little is known about local ecology or population status of this reclusive corvid in Kentucky, I assessed distribution and occupancy of ravens in available cliff habitat to quantify factors that affect detectability of ravens, identify landscape attributes important to raven breeding locations at multiple scales, and develop a protocol for monitoring occupancy of potential raven breeding habitats in Kentucky. Based on surveys of 23 cliff sites during 2009–2010, I found that ravens are highly detectable (p=0.90 (95% CI = 0.81–0.95)) at known occupied cliff sites, suggesting a survey effort consisting of two visits, each lasting one hour, will enable occupancy to be determined with 95% confidence. Using this and the habitat information associated with occupancy (cliff area and horizontal strata orientation), a monitoring protocol was developed and initiated in 2011 that should be useful to wildlife managers and land stewards interested in long-term monitoring, management, and conservation of common ravens in Kentucky’s cliff habitat.

A twenty-one year (1952-72) accumulation of banding data for Canada geese in Utah was studied to determine the distribution and chronology of the harvest of the geese and the effects that hunting regulations have had upon harvests and population parameters. The banding data were also used in an attempt to develop a population model capable of predicting population trends and desirable survival rates. Within Utah, the bulk of the annual harvest (78 percent) takes place in the northern portion of the State in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake marshes. In Northern Utah the harvest peaks on the opening weekend, and approximately 50 percent of the annual harvest takes place by day 21 of an average hunting season of 82 days. Most of the harvest in Northern Utah is made up of geese produced in Utah. Peak harvests in Southern Utah do not occur until well into the average season, and non- Utah produced geese comprise a larger proportion of the harvest in Southern Utah than in Northern Utah. The harvest in Eastern Utah appears to be largely dependent on geese produced outside of the State. Outside Utah, harvests of Utah produced Canada geese have increased. Prior to 1950, over 80 percent of the recoveries of Utah-banded geese were made in Utah. The percentage steadily declined to less than 50 during the early 1970s. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that only one hunting regulation, the daily bag limit, had a statistically significant relationship with estimates of annual harvests and band recovery rates . No regulations had statistically significant relationships with estimates of annual survival rates. Annual estimates of band recovery rates declined significantly during the period 1952-72, but estimates of annual survival rates for the same period showed no significant trend and were comparable to pre-1950 estimates. The attempt to formulate a population model was a failure. This was due in part to calculation errors associated with critical input to the model. However, the failure was largely due to the lack of a theoretically sound foundation.

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