Considerable research on ticks has been done since it was discovered that the Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni Stiles, was a principal vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fevero Additional disease agents of man are also transmitted by D. andersoni. This tick and a closely related species, Dermacentor parumapertus Neuman, occur commonly in Utah. The two species are often closely associated, although D. andersoni is believed to occur in the mountains, whereas D. parumapertus is in the desert valleys. Diseases affecting animals in nature are transmitted by ticks of both species. Consequently, any interaction between the two may be influential in the maintenance of diseases in nature communicable to man and his domestic animals.

Checking stations operated during the deer hunting season serve a two-fold purpose. It has long been recognized that such inspection stations aid greatly in the enforcement of hunting laws through the detection of illegal practices, and in many cases have been set up with this as a primary purpose. A more far reaching objective, however, is the collection of information to aid in the solution of the problems of maintenance of the range and the deer herd, and determination of the quality and quantity of the deer removal.

High-severity disturbances are the primary drivers of Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir ecosystems in the southern Rocky Mountain. Recently, an unprecedented, landscape-wide (at least 250 km2) spruce beetle outbreak killed virtually all the Engelmann spruce on the Markagunt Plateau in southwestern Utah, USA. Results from dendroecological analyses suggested the combination of antecedent disturbance history and drought-driven stand development was responsible for creating suitable host conditions prior to the recent outbreak. Multiple and consistent lines of evidence suggested mixed- and high-severity fires shaped the development of the Markagunt Plateau. Subsequent stand development, influenced by species-specific differential tree-ring response to drought, resulted in the gradual increase of Engelmann spruce dominance across the landscape. Spatiotemporal outbreak dynamics included the early, independent and spatially synchronous building of beetle populations in moist sites with large Engelmann spruce across the landscape. As the outbreak evolved over time, it is likely temperature anomalies accelerated beetle population growth, leading to more rapid spruce mortality. In the wake of the spruce beetle outbreak, results from simulated potential fire behavior suggested there was a reduction in probability of active crown fire for one or two decades on near-pure Engelmann spruce sites after the outbreak. This counterintuitive result suggested extreme fire behavior is not an inevitable consequence of spruce beetle outbreaks. Regardless of the occurrence of fire, forest response is likely to be dominated by advance regeneration in the seedling bank. Furthermore, because spruce was virtually absent from the understory, forest reorganization is likely to be dominated by subalpine fir. In response to recent outbreaks such as the Markagunt Plateau, silviculturists are questioning what they can do to limit the loss from these likely inevitable spruce beetle outbreaks. Concepts of resistance and resilience can be used in planning vegetation management intended to indirectly control beetle populations by manipulating their habitat (vegetation). Resilient landscapes will ideally have spruce age class diversity and size class diversity in spatially discontinuous patches.

No description available.

The objectives of this study were to determine (1) the prevalence of adult ticks of Dermacentor andersoni in national forest recreational sites of Utah, and (2) the incidence of spotted fever rickettsia, Rickettsia rickettsii, in the ticks of these areas. With the use of a white flannel cloth, 358 adult D. andersoni (135 males and 223 females) were collected from 48 recreational sites during the spring and summer of 1964. Ticks from each collection were put in pools, preserved in non-fat skim milk at -30° C, and subsequently tested for the presence of spotted fever rickettsia by guinea pig inoculations. The average collection rate (population density) for all collections was 6.8 per hour, but populations varied between sites. Populations were greater in the middle and southern parts of the state than in the northern. The greatest populations were at elevations between 6,000 and 8,000 feet with the upper limit just under 9,000 feet. The elevational distribution varied with the latitude--greater populations were found at higher elevations in southern than in northern Utah. The season of peak abundance was between the last week of May and the last of June. Populations were greater at lower elevations early in the season and at higher elevations later. Male ticks were more abundant early in the spring whereas females predominated later. The preferred habitat was open, unshaded areas of short, scanty, young grass. Ticks were collected in greater numbers in the afternoon than in the morning. Temperatures between 12° and 38° C apparently had little effect on tick activity. Activity was slightly greater on partly cloudy and cloudy days than on clear days, and increased proportionately relative to an increase in wind velocity. Spotted fever rickettsia were found in 3.6% of the ticks collected. These were from 13 different recreational sites, over half of which are in the northern half of the state near human population centers. Ticks positive for spotted fever were probably infected with avirulent type U or type T strain of R. rickettsii.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Blake M. Belanger / The main streets of the Rocky Mountain West are the social, economic, and cultural centers of their respective communities. Often, these main streets may deteriorate or become abandoned as a result of edge shopping malls and strip style economic development. Thus, a downtown or main street redevelopment effort by the community can help to ensure these economic centers remain. Yet, too often, the redevelopment efforts are oversimplified and fail to integrate the most current street development principles and design initiatives that can benefit not only the community but also the surrounding environment. I n the modern American city, almost half of all daily trips are less than three miles and a third are under one mile. (McCann 2010) “These are distances easily traversed by foot or bicycle, yet 65 percent of trips under one mile are made by automobile.” (McCann 2010) This mobility trend has led to the foundation of programs and organizations that try to promote non-motorized travel. Although these initiatives respond to the human/physical environment, they are far from comprehensive. Today, an integration of smart ecological ideals is essential. How can the revitalization efforts of Rocky Mountain communities be guided to ensure they consider not only the built environment; but also the natural environment? The face of the future main street will be multi-modal and ecologically responsible. Yet, there is presently no clear method of combining the two. A union of the multi-modal principles behind Complete Streets and the ecologically responsible ideals green infrastructure can provide a framework for a new and more inclusive redevelopment approach. The merging of modern ecological and street design principles can lead to a comprehensive Main Street redevelopment program and therefore successfully guide the revitalization efforts of small Rocky Mountain communities in a way that is responsive to future development needs as well as the cultural and ecological aspects of the region. Main Street Evolved will provide a set of tools to guide Colorado Rocky Mountain Main Street redevelopment efforts by providing strategies and implementation guidelines that focus on balancing multi-modal ideals and ecological stormwater management techniques within a small-town mountain context.

No description available.

Climate change is currently a central problem in ecology, with far-reaching effects on species that may be diffcult to quantify. Ectothermic species which rely on environmental cues to complete successive stages of their life history are especially sensitive to temperature changes and so are good indicators of the impacts of climate change on ecosystems. Based on data collected in growth experiments for the alpine butterfly Parnassius smintheus (Rocky Mountain Apollo), a novel mathematical model is presented to study developmental rate in larval insects. The movement of an individual through larval instars is treated as a discrete-time four-outcome Bernoulli process, where class transition and death are assigned temperature-dependent probabilities. Transition and mortality probabilities are estimated using maximum likelihood estimation techniques. This adult emergence model is then integrated into a reproductive success model, and multi-year implications of climate change on the population dynamics of P. smintheus are explored. / Applied Mathematics

Visitor use in parks and protected areas inevitably leads to resource impacts. In order to effectively manage for resource impacts, it is important for managers to not only understand ecological aspects of their system but sociological aspects as well. The two papers presented in this thesis used integrated approaches to better understand the current level of resource impacts within the Bear Lake Road Corridor of Rocky Mountain National Park and to explore visitor perceptions of these impacts. The first paper used traditional monitoring and assessment techniques, as well as recently developed methodologies, to determine the current level of resource impacts and examine areas for potential future resource change. Findings showed that there is significant impact in the trail system, particularly at popular hiking destinations. At two of these popular hiking destinations, with current use levels, there is potential for future resource change. Integration with measures of social norms showed that visitors are frequently experiencing resource conditions within the Bear Lake Road Corridor that are considered unacceptable.

No description available.