<p> Soil respiration is a major flux of carbon to the atmosphere in terrestrial ecosystems. If belowground carbon cycling processes are disrupted, as by N deposition in northern hardwood forests, there could be feedbacks to atmospheric CO₂. Despite its importance in the global carbon budget, soil respiration is not widely studied across different levels of nutrient availability in soils. In this study, we measured soil respiration across northern hardwood forest sites of differing fertility and age in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. </p><p> Across the range of soil nutrient availability, soil respiration and belowground carbon allocation were lower in sites with relatively low nutrient availability compared with sites categorized as medium or high fertility. Soil respiration and belowground carbon allocation did not differ significantly with forest age. </p><p> Summer soil respiration rate was not correlated to soil P and Ca availability, but was low in soils with high N availability. This result suggests that greater N availability in soils may contribute to less belowground carbon allocation in northern hardwood forests. </p><p> To further study single and synergistic nutrient effects on soil or microbial respiration, nitrogen and phosphorus were applied in treatments of: N-only, P-only, N+P, and control. There were no significant N or P fertilization effects on soil or microbial respiration after two years of fertilization treatment. </p><p> To study microbial respiration alone, five stands (4 plots in each stand) were selected in which living roots were severed by digging trenches. Although total soil respiration did not change after fertilization, the contribution of microbial respiration to soil respiration increased significantly in N+P plots compared to N-only and control plots with trenches. Microbial respiration in laboratory incubations also suggested that there were no discernible changes in Oe and Oa horizons after fertilization. </p><p> Data from this study suggest that nutrient availability, particularly N, can affect soil respiration. The two-year study period was not long enough to detect fertilization effects on soil and microbial respiration, hence long-term tracking of the fertilization treatments in this study will be necessary to determine if belowground carbon flux changes in response to increased N and P availability in soils.</p>

<p> Throughout the United States, and globally, there has been recent interest in large-scale monitoring of bats, driven largely by the many threats that bats currently face such as climate change, white nose syndrome, habitat loss, and wind energy development. Additionally, many human activities generate sensory disturbances including anthropogenic light and noise pollution that have been shown to affect habitat use and foraging efficiency in bats and other wildlife. My research took place in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado, where there has been considerable development of natural gas resources in recent years. During the drilling phase for natural gas, drill rigs run continuously for weeks to months at each well development site. In addition to the physical disturbance and increased human presence at the well pad, drill rigs are brightly lit, and also emit high amplitude anthropogenic noise. The light and noise from active drill rigs can travel many miles from the source, far beyond areas where wildlife habitat has been physically disturbed. The goal of my research was to isolate noise from the other associated forms of disturbance, and investigate what, if any, effects drilling noise is having on the bat community. </p><p> My dissertation is comprised of three stand-alone chapters, as follows. In Chapter 1, I test two different strategies for deploying bat detectors to determine which strategy yields higher detection and species identification rates. In Chapters 2 and 3, I present the results of noise playback experiments. Chapter 2 compares bat activity levels at control sites, and at treatment sites where noise was added experimentally. In Chapter 3, I monitor bat activity patterns both during and after a noise playback experiment to determine how rapidly activity levels recover post-exposure. A brief summary of each chapter follows. </p><p> In Chapter 1, I focus on the methods for recording bat echolocation calls, and identifying free-flying bats in the field. Unlike capture techniques, current acoustical methods for bat monitoring do not provide information about unique individuals, age, sex, or reproductive status. What acoustical monitoring can provide is information about bat activity levels, habitat use, and species identification in some cases, without interfering with bat movement, foraging, or other activities. The commercially available technology for recording bat echolocation calls has rapidly advanced, and there are many ultrasound detector&ndash;recorder systems (hereafter, &lsquo;bat detectors&rsquo;) available with a wide range of recoding options. Due to rapid attenuation of ultrasound signals, one of the challenges to acoustical monitoring is the relatively limited recording range of bat detectors. To increase this range, I took advantage of a bat detector that had the ability to record on two channels (in stereo). By attaching microphone extension cables, I was able to increase the distance between the left and right channel microphones, thereby increasing the acoustical sampling space. When this data collection effort took place, the SM2BAT+ detector from Wildlife Acoustics, Inc. was the only commercially available bat detector that had the two-channel recording capability. I deployed two identical bat detectors at each study site, and compared the recordings made using the stereo option to recordings made from a single channel. </p><p> In general, the stereo setup outperformed the single-channel systems. With the stereo microphones separated by approximately 10 m, the bat detectors that recorded in stereo produced 2.7 times more recordings overall. The increased number of recordings resulted in a higher number of calls that could be identified to species. The benefit of the stereo setup was not equal for all species. With the stereo microphones only about 10 m apart, there was some overlap between the calls that were identified on the left and right channels. The highest rate of overlap (19.5%) was in big brown bats (<i>Eptesicus fuscus </i>). Rates of overlap for species in the Myotis genus were all less than 5%, and none of the recordings of pallid bats (<i>Antrozous pallidus </i>) were identified on both channels for the same bat-pass-event. The stereo option is a promising way to increase the number of bat recordings, which may be a particularly useful when surveying for rare species. </p><p> In Chapter 2, I used a noise playback experiment to isolate noise from other forms of anthropogenic disturbance, and monitored the bat activity level response. I recorded the sounds of an active drill rig, and played these recordings at treatment sites. I measured sound pressure levels at the drill site, and estimated the sound pressure levels at the noise playback sites. Using outdoor speakers, I was unable to project the drill rig noise at the same amplitude of an actual rig, but I was able to significantly elevate the sound levels at treatment sites. The noise levels at treatment sites roughly corresponded to noise levels that can be experienced approximately 100 m from a drill rig. This distance from a drill rig is typically beyond the well pad, in habitat that is not physically disturbed. There is widespread recognition that noise, light, and other sensory disturbances can affect the behavior and physiology of wildlife. The goal of the experiment was to determine if noise alone impacted the activity levels of bats, after being separated from the other forms of disturbance at a drilling site. I projected noise at treatment sites that were not already developed, and paired these treatment sites with control sites with no added noise. I conducted this experiment in 2013 and 2014, and present the results from 20 sites each year (10 control-treatment pairs annually). </p><p> Both years, there was an overall decrease in bat activity at treatment sites, when compared to control sites. In 2013, 8 of the 10 treatment sites had lower estimated bat activity levels. In 2014, all 10 treatment sites had lower estimated activity levels, although for some control-treatment pairs there was overlap in the credible intervals. Multiple species showed signs of reduced activity at treatment sites. For both years, <i>M. ciliolabrum </i> and <i>L. cinarius</i> had reduced activity levels at treatment sites. The response of other species was more idiosyncratic, with reduced activity in one field season, and inconclusive or no response during the other year. The species that did respond to the noise treatment have very different life histories, making it difficult to generalize about how any given species may respond to noise. </p><p> Chapter 3 focuses on bat activity level trends over time during a two period cross-over experiment. The classic two-period crossover experiment consists of two treatments (i.e., treatments &lsquo;A&rsquo; and &lsquo;B&rsquo;), where each site is exposed to both treatments, and the order of the treatments is randomly assigned. For this study, &lsquo;A&rsquo; refers to no added noise, and &lsquo;B&rsquo; refers to a noise treatment consisting of the projected recording of drilling noise. A total of 12 sites were randomly assigned to the A:B sequence, and 13 sites were assigned to the B:A sequence. I acoustically monitored bat activity throughout the experiment, with particular interest in understanding the activity level dynamics post-exposure to the noise treatment. Most studies that investigate the impacts of noise on wildlife have focused on the response to noise during a noise treatment period, or noise event. Only a handful of previous studies have addressed the post-exposure period after noise ends. In these studies, noise treatments or events were relatively short in duration (a few minutes), and the corresponding recovery period was monitored over a similarly brief timeframe. My study differs in both the duration of the noise treatment (continuous noise over six days/nights), and in the duration of the post-exposure monitoring period (also six days/nights). I focused on the response of four bat species, <i>Myotis ciliolabrum, Myotis evotis, Lasiurus cinareus,</i> and <i>Taderida brasiliensis.</i> </p><p> Of the four focal species, <i>M. evotis</i> showed no substantial response to the noise treatment. The responses of <i>M. ciliolabrum</i> and <i>T. brasiliensis</i> were somewhat challenging to interpret. The overall activity levels of these species were lower during the treatment period in the A:B sequence, but they also had declining activity levels throughout the pre-exposure period. The activity patterns of <i>L. cinareus</i> provided the most convincing evidence of noise avoidance. Furthermore, <i> L. cinareus</i> activity levels did not show signs of recovery after the noise treatment ended in the B:A sequence. This suggests that after the six-day post-exposure period, there were still lingering effects of noise on <i>L. cinareus</i> activity levels. This study provides evidence that the effects of noise can linger for multiple days post-exposure. Future wildlife studies that assess periods of post-exposure could contribute meaningfully to this area of research, and aid in the development of conservation and mitigation efforts.</p>

<p> This thesis looks at how ecotourists can become aware of biocultural diversity (the intersection of biological and cultural diversity) and help contribute to sustainable development, which considers the needs of both present and future generations. The thesis will address the ecotourism industry and how people who travel with companies that cater to ecotourists can contribute to biocultural diversity and sustainable development. It will utilize a sustainable development framework and a critical theory approach for considering biological and cultural perspectives including human rights and social justice, the contribution of traditional knowledge, community involvement, and the effects of human impact and globalization. The primary audience of my research is people who travel the globe in search of the earth&rsquo;s natural wonders. I highlight issues related to minimizing environmental impact, respecting local cultures, building environmental awareness, and providing direct financial benefits for conservation. My central research question is: <i>How can travelers help to preserve the environment, be sensitive to local cultures, and contribute to a sustainable future?</i> I ask: <i>By understanding the distinct correlation between biological and cultural diversity, how can we utilize both traditional (and local) knowledge combined with scientific knowledge to help sustain and preserve our natural ecosystems?</i></p><p> I conclude with findings that point to the need for shared community authority, management, and decision making; mutual benefits; recognition of the rights, values, norms, power structures, and dynamics of local populations; respect for belief systems as well as traditional and local ecological knowledge; and the importance of contextual adaptation.</p>

<p> Survival of the endangered Light-footed Ridgway&rsquo;s Rail (Rallus obsoletus levipes) depends on marsh conservation and restoration efforts that supply suitable nesting habitat. Previous research indicates that rails preferentially nest in low marsh areas with tall, dense Spartina foliosa (Pacific cordgrass). While canopy architecture (e.g. height and density) is important, additional microhabitat and landscape-level metrics may be involved in nest-site selection. This project characterized microhabitat parameters (e.g. vegetation and food availability) and landscape-level parameters (e.g. spatial configuration) for 40 nests and 40 non-nest sites in two California wetlands, Upper Newport Bay and the Tijuana Slough, to identify habitat features that predict reproductive success. Assessment of the microhabitat and landscape-level parameters suggests that vegetation structure (e.g. height, stem density) is important, but that invertebrate density and composition, tidal connectivity, and elevation are also important to Light-footed Ridgway&rsquo;s Rail nesting.</p>

This dissertation presents the suspicions and tensions encountered during ethnographic fieldwork with (what I call) the Predator Project Zambezi (PPZ), a WWF-funded research and conservation organization based in Zambia. It extrapolates the broader contexts of this uneasiness and situates it within global conservation discourses. The distrust that manifests between the wildlife authorities in Zambia, the residents of rural areas, and PPZ epitomizes postcolonial contentions over state sovereignty and the continued hegemony of Euro-American environmental ideologies. Moreover, the objective perspective that is claimed by PPZ as a scientific organization is challenged through analysis of its daily epistemic contradictions. In this ethnography, I show how the priorities of conservation institutions as communicated through PPZ ultimately work to arrest the post-colonies in a continuous state of catching up to the eco-modern condition that is ascribed to the global North.

Advances in technology and molecular methodologies now provide an unprecedented view into the complex realm of natural populations by elucidating the degree and distribution of genetic variation, historical and contemporary processes driving differentiation, and individual behavior patterns. These critical biological parameters create a framework to enhance wildlife management initiatives, as illustrated here through the implementation of a model approach for the systematic genetic assessment of a group of scarlet macaws Ara macao under threat in La Selva Maya, a tri-national system of protected areas in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. A total of 2172 base pairs across four mitochondrial data partitions were employed to test the current hypothesis of subspecific diversification. Phylogenetic reconstruction uncovered two phylogeographic units exhibiting distinct and complex evolutionary histories, emphasizing the importance of Central American populations to intraspecific diversity. Focusing on A. m. cyanoptera, mitochondrial control region sequences of 850 base pairs were examined within a hierarchical context to investigate patterns of genetic substructure at varying spatial scales and extent of molecular variation, including potential temporal shifts in response to anthropogenic pressures. Population-level statistical tests detected evidence of recently restricted gene flow among nest sites in La Selva Maya, a stark contrast to the historical state of panmixia across the region; although overall levels of genetic variation remain high, a decrease in diversity was noted among modern samples originating in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Belize. Multilocus genotypes based on eight microsatellite markers were combined with haplotypic data to evaluate whether focal nest sites in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala represent distinct genetic clusters. Results from population genetic analyses argue against the presence of site fidelity at fine geographic scales. Examination of pairwise relative relatedness indices supports the observation of genetic connectivity across local breeding areas, while also revealing important insights into recent demographic trends, movement patterns, and breeding behaviors. In summary, this work demonstrates the continuity of biological and ecological influences across individual, local, regional, and continental scales, thus creating an empirical framework to refine population management goals and prioritize mitigation strategies in order to maximize conservation outcomes and foster long-term survival of wild scarlet macaws in La Selva Maya.

Drawing on anthropocentric, ecocentric and biocentric worldviews, I examine the use of research animals as a case to investigate human-animal interactions in science. Specifically, I investigate a case of potential tensions between eco- and biocentric worldviews by examining oversight mechanisms of animal care during research. Despite abundant focus on responsible care of laboratory animals, I argue that inattention to the treatment of wildlife constitutes an ethical shortcoming in contemporary animal research. I review significant shortcomings in legal and institutional oversight and argue for the relatively rapid and transformational potential of editorial oversight in preventing inhumane treatment to vertebrates studied in the field and outside the direct supervision of institutions. Straightforward changes to animal care policies in journals, which the analysis of 206 journals suggests are in many cases absent (34%), weak, incoherent, or neglected by researchers, could provide a practical, effective, and rapidly imposed safeguard against unnecessary suffering. The ARROW (Animal Research: Reporting on Wildlife) guidelines, an original contribution to the present work, coupled with strong enforcement, could result in significant changes to how animals involved in wildlife research are treated. The research process would also benefit. In many cases, reliability, validity, and replicability of data requires animal subjects to be physically, physiologically, and behaviorally unharmed. Accordingly, publication of methods that contravenes animal welfare principles risks perpetuating inhumane approaches and bad science. I conclude by assessing whether paradigms have shifted from anthropocentric to non-anthropocentric approaches to interacting with animals in research, and offer practical and conceptual suggestions for ensuring humane human-animal interactions. / Graduate / 2020-04-05

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 29-07, Section: B, page: 2252. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1968.

No description available.

Recent declines in reptile and amphibian populations across the globe have encouraged an increased desire to discover, document, and monitor these taxa. Arguably, the greatest cause is land-use change. Management interests for Bull Neck Swamp (BNS) encouraged research to inventory the reptile and amphibian community and to document possible impacts of land-use practices, such as silviculture and site preparation. Four habitat preserves were delineated based on plant community, leaving 1, 554ha (3, 841ac) available for management. Comparisons between habitat assemblages were used to determine if preserves were occupied by more vulnerable species and land-use effects on these species. However, variations in behavioral or environmental variables, and detection probabilities between capture techniques could provide misleading data for assemblage comparisons of community parameters. Therefore, 11 different capture techniques were employed to obtain better samples of habitat assemblages. To determine the accuracy of sampling techniques at inventorying species, techniques were categorized into primary (i.e., drift fence arrays with pitfall and funnel traps, visual encounter surveys, and coverboard arrays), secondary (i.e., road searches, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) piping grids, auditory surveys, and line transects), and tertiary (opportunistic encounters, aquatic funnel traps, crayfish traps, and basking traps) methodologies. All techniques had variable distributions and were evenly represented in all five areas when possible. All captured individuals were marked; snakes were double-marked with visible implant fluorescent elastomer to augment a concomitant laboratory experiment. Initial capture data were used to derive estimates of species richness (S) and modified Chao - Jaccard similarity indices (JSI). During May to August, 2005 and 2006, 1, 581 total captures represented 33 species, giving an estimated species richness of 34. Primary techniques sampled an estimated species richness of 14 and two unique species, species detected by only one sampling technique. Estimated species richness for secondary and tertiary techniques was 29 and 25, with three and seven unique species, respectively. If primary techniques alone were used, 59% of the reptile and amphibian community, including 10 unique species, would have been missed. Observed and estimated species richness for habitats ranged from 7 to 32 and 13 to 44, respectively. Chao â Jaccard similarity indices ranged from 0.59 to 1.0, with nine comparisons over 0.75, which indicated high similarity between habitat assemblages. These results suggested that land-use practices should be carefully planned and implemented to reduce effects to the reptile and amphibian community of BNS. Empirical results supported the use of elastomers for snakes. It is recommended that future inventory studies for all taxa employ as many capture techniques as logistically and spatially possible to derive accurate species richness. Also, assemblage comparisons should rely on species composition when determining conservation plans.