Turkey raising has become big business. During the period 1942 to 1946, the average annual return in Utah amounted to about nine and one half million dollars (4). This amount would have been increased considerably if the death loss among poults had been lower. As an example, using the percentages of mortality given by Miner (9, P. 5), it is estimated that the death-loss of turkeys in 1944 resulted in a loss of gross income by the farmers of Utah of more than four million dollars provided that the price the farmer received had remained the same.

The sage grouse or sage hen Centrocercus urophasianus (Bonaparte) was formerly the most important upland native game bird of the Western States, but has steadily been declining in numbers over most of its range in recent years. This reduction in numbers has aroused the interest of the conservationists of the nation, who, for the past decade or more, have been proposing that something be done for this game species. In recent years along with this interest of the conservationists, there has been an increasing local interest among the sportsmen of the West, with the result that several groups have become interested in making a study of the sage grouse and determining reasons for the marked decline in its numbers. Partly because of this aroused interest, the study of the sage grouse was selected as a research project.

Channel morphology in alluvial rivers results from the interactions among the flow of water and sediment, the grain size distribution of the material in transport, and the characteristics of the materials making up the channel boundary. Many modern river management problems depend upon the ability to predict channel behavior in response to changes in the delivery of sediment. Sediment budgets provide a framework for explicitly evaluating the links between sediment delivery to and export from a river, and changes in storage. In the work presented here I have developed sediment budgets at three different spatial and temporal scales in an effort to gain insight to channel response to a change in sediment supply. In Chapter 2, I present a bed load budget for the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), Wyoming. The analysis was designed to evaluate the effects of 50 years of flow regulation on net sediment flux and, thus, sediment storage for the Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam. In Chapter 3 I present a sediment mass balance constructed for a single flood on an aggrading 4-km reach of the middle Provo River, Utah. Sediment accumulation in the Provo River had driven significant point bar growth, and the sediment budget was designed to explicitly link patterns in sediment flux with morphologic change. In Chapter 4, I present the results from a physical experiment designed to further evaluate the effect of changing sediment supply on point bar morphology in a single meander bend. The experiment was conducted in a field-scale flume, the Outdoor StreamLab (OSL), at the University of Minnesota. In each of the cases I present here, the channel was subject to sediment accumulation due to either an increase in sediment supply (Provo River and OSL) or a decrease in transport capacity (Snake River). The analyses provide insight into processes governing channel response to changes in sediment supply and highlight the inherent challenges and uncertainties associated with sediment budgets, regardless of the scale of the analysis.

Plant secondary compounds abound in every plant mother nature has to offer. From common garden vegetables to poisonous plants, there are secondary compounds in every plant any animal, as well as we, chooses to eat. In the past, secondary compounds were mostly considered waste products of plant metabolism, but over the last several decades research has shown that these compounds play an active role in plant and animal behavior, health, and productivity. Though often seen only in terms of their negative impacts on intake and production, we are becoming increasingly aware of their beneficial roles in plant, animal, and human health. Providing herbivores with a diversity of plants to make up their diet allows them to regulate and mix foods so as to better utilize primary and secondary compounds, as well as enhancing economic and ecological performance. The secondary compound gramine is an alkaloid found in reed canarygrass that is proteinaceous in nature. Endophyte-infected tall fescue contains the alkaloids perlolidine, perloline and ergotamine, which are all steroidal in nature. Tannins have a high affinity for binding proteins, and saponins are non-polar steroidal compounds with a high affinity for binding to lipids in the gastro-intestinal tract of animals. These findings suggest that animals ingesting foods with alkaloids may increase their preference for tannin or saponin-containing foods to reduce the negative impacts of these secondary compounds. Moreover, tannins and saponins hasten alkaloid excretion from the body, which might also allow animals to eat more high-alkaloid forages when presented with tannins first. I tested the hypothesis that cattle and sheep foraging behavior is influenced by eating different combinations and sequences of forages containing secondary compounds. In pen and pasture trials, I showed that 1) sheep fed basal diets high in alkaloids (gramine or ergotamine) ate more when supplemented with food containing either tannins or saponins ; 2) cattle that ate a 30-minute meal of tall fescue(alkaloid) subsequently preferred birdsfoot trefoil(tannin) to alfalfa (saponin), while cattle that first ate reed canarygrass(alkaloid) subsequently preferred alfalfa(saponin) to birdsfoot trefoil (tannin) ; and 3) cattle spent more time grazing tall fescue and reed canarygrass when they first ate birdsfoot trefoil (high in tannins) and alfalfa (high in saponins), respectively, than when they ate these forages in the reverse sequence.

The purpose of this study was to provide basic ecological information on an important but little studied major vegetation type through autecological investigations of the dominant species. Data include climate and soils where this species occurs, root distribution, phenology and growth, seed germination requirements and seedling survival. Percent ground cover provided by blackbrush and other dominant plants as well as the composition of herbaceous understory vegetation was presented. Leaf and stem anatomy of blackbrush revealed features typical of desert shrub species with stem splitting appearing to be a characteristic of this species. Blackbrush is characterized as a poor forage species of low palatability. Nutrient content analysis provided data on ether extract, carotene, phosphorus, acid detergent fiber, crude protein, and lignin. Nutrient deficiencies occur during the winter when blackbrush ranges are grazed by domestic livestock. Brush beating or same similar method which will remove the old woody material from the plants was proposed as a method of increasing the forage quality without changing the entire community as is done with burning.

Studying long-term ecological studies allows for a better understanding of processes driving populations and communities, and this understanding can be used to improve conservation eorts. These studies can describe how changes in the environment have led to current states of populations and communities, and indicate if the current state or trend falls within expectations based on past dynamics. Studies of long-term datasets also help ecologists predict how populations may shift with climate, water, or land-use change and determine necessary management action to maintain sustainable populations and community interactions. Serving as a \test of time," long-term monitoring can provide insight into the in uence of predation, intra- or interspecic competition, and other interactions on system dynamics. Studies need to explicitly include these drivers and sources of autocorrelation in data (e.g., spatial autocorrelation) to obtain unbiased estimates of ecological processes for guiding management. Fortunately, new statistical analyses for ecological applications are available that help ecologists make full use of the information present in long-term studies while properly accounting for sampling error and autocorrelation. In this study, I use advanced statistical methods to analyze a long-term dataset, the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey, and address questions about waterfowl population and community dynamics. In Chapter 2, I use multi-state occupancy models to determine how the presence of lesser and greater scaup (Aythya anis and A. marila) has changed on their breeding grounds in North America since 1955. In Chapter 3, I use a Bayesian hierarchical model to determine the drivers of the breeding scaup population in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Lastly, in Chapter 4 I incorporate more waterfowl species into the hierarchical model from Chapter 3 to determine the drivers of the pochard duck community, along with the role of species interactions. My results indicate that the occupancy of scaup has decreased in the boreal forest of Canada and increased in the prairie parklands. Additionally, scaup in the Northwest Territories are largely in uenced by density dependence and snow cover extent. Finally, the pochard community in the Northwest Territories is regulated more by environmental drivers than intra- or interspecic interactions. These results indicate that management of the species through hunting regulations likely deserves further study, as scaup likely exhibit some sort of compensation in response to hunting.

Proof that public hunting on private lands is a growing Utah problem is, perhaps, most easily found by driving down any country lane. “No Trespassing" signs come one to a fence post or so it must seem to the pheasant hunter. His quarry is the most popular of Utah's farm game species and, unfortunately, the most popular subject of farmer-sportsmen disputes. Reasoning that short seasons reduce hunter nuisances and property damage, landowners have long advocated three to five day pheasant seasons. And because of this and a former game department concern about overshooting the birds (Utah Fish and Game Commission, 1941) Utah has had traditionally short pheasant hunting seasons. When biologists found it practically impossible to overshoot pheasants with rooster-only hunts (Allen, 1947 , 1956) Utah's game technicians and some sportsmen began advocating longer hunts. The longer seasons they felt, would increase the harvest of cocks and the public's recreational opportunity. Farmers have not been receptive to increased public recreation on their farms and have resisted pheasant hunts that are longer than, if as long as the standard three days. Some landowner groups have even rejected the three-day seasons and set their own, shorter seasons. Other upland game birds (partridges, quail and mourning doves) frequent private lands, and while they are not as popular with hunters as pheasants are, they figure in hunting-season problems. This has been particularly true of mourning doves. Attempts were made during the 1957 session of the Utah State Legislature to prohibit mourning dove hunting (Stokes I 1957). Advocates of this legislation felt that dove seasons led to property damage and nuisance and also encouraged pheasant poaching. The concern with these, as well as other problems stemming from upland bird hunting on private lands, revealed a need for more detailed information about the se problems. Therefore, a survey of farmers was initiated which had these specific objectives: 1. Determine the amount of upland bird habitat open to public hunting. 2. Learn the reasons why landowners close their property to public hunting. 3 Establish the number of landowners suffering from hunter caused nuisance and damage and the cost of such damage. 4 Find what, if any, method of hunter control held property damage and nuisance to farmers at an acceptable minimum. A review of the literature on farmer-sportsman relations reveals that few states have tried to study their problems carefully before attempting to solve them. The review also disclosed that much of what has been done is so specialized or based upon such limited information that it cannot honestly be compared to problems in other states or even to other areas in the same state. At the outset, I should mention that certain aspects of this criticism will apply to attempts to use this survey as a blanket generalization for the entire State.

The effects of herbicidal spraying upon a North Central Utah blue grouse population were studied. Baseline data were obtained in 1970 and 1971 prior to the spraying on June 2, 1972. The spraying was done to control wyethia (Wyethia amplexicaulis) and black sage (Artimesia nova) which covered 48 percent and 20 percent of the study area respectively. No differences in blue grouse numbers occurred following spraying with 17 to 20 broods using the area in 1972 compared to 18 to 20 broods in 1971. Total population of blue grouse each year was between 90 and 104 birds. Distribution of blue grouse changed, with the birds using areas with trees and shrubs following spraying rather than open areas that were sprayed. There was significantly more black sage on the control area than the spray area. These differences began before spraying, however, and cannot be attributed solely to the spray. No differences occurred in insect numbers or songbird use of the spray and control area.

Much of the decline of the U.S. sheep industry has been attributed to losses caused by predators. Most predatory losses are inflicted on lambs rather than ewes. Losses have historically ranged from 4-8% of lamb crops, inflicting significant financial loss on ranchers. However, most research providing data on sheep predation is over 20 years old. Changes in the sheep industry as well as predation rates may make previous loss rates inapplicable to current conditions. Coyotes (Canis latrans) are the primary predator of concern when it comes to sheep losses, but increasingly, cougars (Felis concolor) and black bears (Ursus americanus) are reported to be responsible for an increased proportion of lamb losses. I replicated a sheep depredation study conducted during the early 1970s in southwestern Utah and compared the results of the two studies to reassess losses and the predator species responsible for those losses. Total lamb losses to all causes in my study were comparable to losses reported in the 1970s as well as categories of verified and estimated predator losses. There was a significant variation in lamb losses between the 2 years of my study due to an increase in predator kills on sheep. Cougar and bear depredations occurred at significantly higher rates during my study than during the 1970s but did not produce an additive effect to overall predator losses. Most lambs killed by predators were located on or near pasture bed grounds as reported by other studies, but a large number were found >500 m from bed grounds. Rough terrain and scavenging by California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) made location of missing sheep difficult. The ability of cougars and bears to remove sheep carcasses from kill sites made the finding of sheep carcasses more difficult and caused an underreporting of sheep killed by these predators. I found that the loss of sheep to predation continues to be a problem for the sheep industry and its magnitude was unchanged from historic predation levels.

To date there are no studies focusing on the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and weight perceptions among young people. This study aims to fill this gap in current available literature by examining associations between youth’s family SSS and individual SSS with their gender, race, body mass index (BMI), and weight perceptions. Questionnaires and BMI data were collected from 1,171 youth participating in the 2008 Global Finals of Destination ImagiNation (DI) hosted by the University of Tennessee. Participants ranged in ages 11 to 18 years. Regression analyses indicated that gender, race and individual SSS were significant predictors of BMI. Gender was the only significant predictor of underweight perceptions, while gender, race, and individual SSS were predictors of overweight perceptions. Results for outcomes based on two grade levels, middle school and high school, are also discussed. Findings have implications of gender and racial differences for BMI and weight perception status. Lastly, individual SSS within the school community was a significant predictor of both BMI and overweight perception.