Single-tree selection harvesting is frequently used in the tolerant hardwood forests of North America but relatively little is known about how this silvicultural system affects wildlife, including many avian species. I investigated Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus leudovicianus) habitat use, survival, and nestling provisioning behaviour in twelve hardwood stands in Algonquin Provincial Park which had been harvested by single-tree selection 0-5, 16-20, 21-25, and > 50 years previously. Density, pairing success, and the number of fledglings per successful nest were all significantly lower in the > 50 years post-harvest stands than in at least one other post-harvest treatment. Density and pairing success were significantly higher in the 16-20 year post-harvest stands than in other treatments. Neither nest nor fledgling survival differed significantly among post-harvest treatments, but all stands were population sinks except those cut 16-20 years previously. Nests that were initiated earlier in the season and built in areas with higher basal area were more likely to survive, whereas fledgling survival increased with days since fledging. Nest sites had higher cover from regenerative growth, saplings, and understory, and lower basal area than random locations. During their first week out of the nest, fledglings used locations with significantly higher cover from regenerative growth, saplings, small shrubs, and raspberry and elderberry bushes than were present at random locations. Habitat characteristics at nest and fledgling locations were significantly different, and estimates of nest and fledgling survival were not correlated among harvested stands. Nests attended by after-second-year (ASY) males were initiated significantly earlier, and territory density and productivity were significantly higher for ASY males than for second-year (SY) males. Nestling provisioning rates, male contribution to nestling provisioning and nest attendance, and mean nestling weights at the time of fledging were also significantly higher at nests attended by ASY males than at nests with SY males. This study found that single-tree selection did not have significant negative effects on Rose-breasted Grosbeaks breeding in a predominantly forested landscape, but like many other species of birds, experienced breeders were more successful than less experienced breeders were.

In Canada’s eastern boreal forest region, partial-harvest silviculture has garnered increasing support for maintaining wildlife species and habitat structure associated with late-successional forests. If late-successional species can find suitable habitat in managed stands that retain a certain number, type, and pattern of live trees, then partial harvesting might represent a viable tool for maintaining species associated with old and complex forests. I used several indirect forms of inference to evaluate whether late-successional vertebrate species can be maintained within partially harvested stands in the eastern boreal forest. A meta-analysis of studies across North America showed that no bird species decreased in abundance by half where light harvesting retained at least 70% of live trees. However, adverse effects occurred at lower levels of retention, with some bird species unlikely to use harvested stands with less than 50% retention until appropriate habitat structure returned. A spatially explicit stand dynamics model showed that while partial harvesting can promote development of understory saplings, downed wood, and heterogeneity, it can also induce long-term decreases in the abundances of large trees and snags. Consequently, species dependent on the latter, such as brown creepers (Certhia americana) and northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus), were projected to be more susceptible to partial harvesting than those associated with other types of structure. At a more detailed scale, a neighbourhood model developed from live-trapping data revealed that southern red-backed voles (Myodes gapperi) exhibited local associations with several late-successional features within boreal mixedwood stands. Their associations with some features depended on stand-level habitat conditions, which suggested that vole habitat in managed stands could be improved by retaining live trees and downed wood. A spatially explicit model of optimal home range establishment that incorporated these relationships fit vole abundance data marginally better than an aspatial habitat model. When the home range model was applied to simulated partially harvested stands, it predicted that spatial heterogeneity could have a positive effect on vole abundance, but only at harvest intensities of 70-90% with suppressed shrub cover. With careful attention to issues such as these, partial-harvest silviculture could be useful in maintaining vertebrate biodiversity within eastern boreal forests.

Single-tree selection harvesting is frequently used in the tolerant hardwood forests of North America but relatively little is known about how this silvicultural system affects wildlife, including many avian species. I investigated Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus leudovicianus) habitat use, survival, and nestling provisioning behaviour in twelve hardwood stands in Algonquin Provincial Park which had been harvested by single-tree selection 0-5, 16-20, 21-25, and > 50 years previously. Density, pairing success, and the number of fledglings per successful nest were all significantly lower in the > 50 years post-harvest stands than in at least one other post-harvest treatment. Density and pairing success were significantly higher in the 16-20 year post-harvest stands than in other treatments. Neither nest nor fledgling survival differed significantly among post-harvest treatments, but all stands were population sinks except those cut 16-20 years previously. Nests that were initiated earlier in the season and built in areas with higher basal area were more likely to survive, whereas fledgling survival increased with days since fledging. Nest sites had higher cover from regenerative growth, saplings, and understory, and lower basal area than random locations. During their first week out of the nest, fledglings used locations with significantly higher cover from regenerative growth, saplings, small shrubs, and raspberry and elderberry bushes than were present at random locations. Habitat characteristics at nest and fledgling locations were significantly different, and estimates of nest and fledgling survival were not correlated among harvested stands. Nests attended by after-second-year (ASY) males were initiated significantly earlier, and territory density and productivity were significantly higher for ASY males than for second-year (SY) males. Nestling provisioning rates, male contribution to nestling provisioning and nest attendance, and mean nestling weights at the time of fledging were also significantly higher at nests attended by ASY males than at nests with SY males. This study found that single-tree selection did not have significant negative effects on Rose-breasted Grosbeaks breeding in a predominantly forested landscape, but like many other species of birds, experienced breeders were more successful than less experienced breeders were.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Wildlife tourism, the viewing of wildlife in their natural environment, is a growing sector of tourism world wide. The presence of diverse and unusual wildlife is a major influence on visitors choosing Australia as a destination. Little is currently known about the short and long term impacts on the wildlife on which such tourism depends. This has resulted in management agencies making decisions on the suitability of human-wildlife interactions based on insufficient data. Given the diversity of possible impacts and responses, plus concerns surrounding sustainability, it is essential that good empirical scientific research is available to inform management. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand and hence improve the use of science and monitoring in the management of wildlife tourism. This study, using surveys, interviews and case study analysis, drew on tour operators, managers and scientists’ perspectives and understandings of the role of science in the management of wildlife tourism. From tour operators’ perspectives, accessed through a mail-based survey, insight into features of the wildlife tourism industry in Australia today was provided. It was identified as an industry characterised by diversity in destinations, activities and expectations. Furthermore, the levels of engagement by scientists with tour operators are low, raising concerns about the industry’s sustainability, if science is regarded as an essential component of sustainability. From managers’ and scientists’ perspective, accessed through personal interviews, several barriers were identified as hindering scientists from engaging in wildlife tourism science. These included scientists’ perceptions of power, their normative beliefs of science, and difficulties with transdisciplinary work. Today’s culture tends to show a shift away from scientific research. In the past researchers were able to receive funding by appealing to society’s faith in science. However, this is not the case today. Through being disengaged and objective scientists have experienced decreased power over funding allocations and in turn decreased funding. Another barrier was the dominant normative view of many biologists and ecologists that wildlife tourism science was not ‘real science’ because it is subjective. The final barrier was difficulties with the actual research due to the transdisciplinary approach needed. The case study analysis, of science and wildlife tourism science in the Antarctic region, illustrated how these barriers can be overcome under certain circumstances. Using actor-network theory and the broader sociology of science, this part of the study described the power relationships and potential transformations between scientists, wildlife and managers, which allowed the development of research into humanwildlife interactions. By highlighting the use of principles from the natural sciences, wildlife tourism scientists were able to enrol actors into their network. However, this actor network was not permanently ‘black boxed’ due to scientists’ adverse perceptions of the significance and necessity of wildlife tourism science together with their normative beliefs on science, with the network ultimately disbanding. Key findings from this study included the importance in recognising the epistemological and ontological position that scientists occupy. A broadening of training of natural scientists is required so that they can reflect on their paradigmatic position. Wildlife tourism scientists need to acknowledge and understand different scientific paradigms exist and be able to work across them. Furthermore, wildlife tourism scientists need to emphasise their affinity with the normative beliefs of the biological sciences in their research activities. As the scientific community is subject to values and bias just the same as any other human enterprise, wildlife tourism science would be more readily achieved and accepted by the use of methodologies developed by wildlife biologists to give scientific validity to wildlife tourism science. Only with the employment of the biological principles tied in with the social sciences (i.e. transdisciplinary) will the scientific community have higher regard for wildlife tourism science. Finally, there is a need for scientists to become more politically and socially engaged. Given the importance of science for managing wildlife tourism, mechanisms for increasing the use of science in human-wildlife interaction research are critical for the long-term sustainability of this industry.

Thesis (Ph. D. - Renewable Natural Resources)--University of Arizona, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2003. / Director: J. Michael Reed. Submitted to the Dept. of Biology. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-114). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2006. / "Major Subject: Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Nov. 2, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.