I radio-tagged and followed 5 and 9 male Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) during the breeding seasons of 1991 and 1992, respectively, to evaluate their use of different forest conditions in managed ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests. Sufficient data for habitat analyses were collected for 11 birds. Minimum convex polygon home-ranges averaged 1,758 ha (SD = 500 ha, range 896-2528 ha) and harmonic mean home ranges averaged 1,530 ha (SD = 477 ha, range 859-2,321 ha). I compared use (i.e., number of hawk locations) and availability (i.e., % of area of home range) for three different forest conditions (canopy closure, edge, and diversity) generated from LANDSAT data. Most (≥6) of the 11 birds used the categories in the three overlays in proportion to their availability. Six of the 11 birds used at least one category on one of the overlays nonrandomly. When the categories of canopy closure were ranked for each bird on the basis of relative preference, these ranks increased with increasing canopy closure.

<p> Breeding bird surveys were conducted on 7 properties belonging to 2 ranches in South Texas. Using these data I calculated temporal trends, and tested the effects of total May&ndash;April precipitation and cattle stocking rate on avian abundance. Trends were calculated for each ranch, the East Foundation and King Ranch, individually due to different range and wildlife management practices. Total avian abundance increased significantly on the 3 East Foundation properties between 2008 and 2015. During 39 breeding bird surveys, 16,441 individual birds of 88 species were recorded. Non-breeding bird surveys were also conducted on East Foundation properties, an increasing trend in total avian abundance was also calculated from these data. Total breeding bird abundance was stable on the 4 King Ranch properties between 2005 and 2013. A total of 19,162 individual birds of 87 species were recorded during 40 breeding bird surveys. The combined effect of livestock use and precipitation had a significant effect on total avian abundance on all King Ranch properties, and on the abundance of some individual species and groups. </p>

This study was instigated by the lack of human dimensions research undertaken in New Zealand, and seeks to investigate the knowledge and values New Zealanders hold about New Zealand wildlife within three distinct groups of the New Zealand public. These groups were the Royal Forest and Bird Society of New Zealand Inc, the New Zealand Ecological Society (Inc.), and the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. A questionnaire administered via Association list-serv's was utilised and a total of 52 questionnaires were completed by members of the three stakeholder groups. These were then analysed to investigate the values and knowledge New Zealanders hold toward wildlife in New Zealand. The findings of this study suggest that New Zealander's hold strong utilitarian and negativistic values toward wildlife while the humanistic, moralistic, and naturalistic values were expressed by the majority of respondents. This result could be due to the high level of respondents who were from the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. Conversely, whiled the data suggests that New Zealander's hold the ecologistic/scientific value only weakly, overall they have a high level of factual knowledge about wildlife. Because of this, it may be suggested that wildlife managers should generate education programmes that specifically address the negativistic value by making them imaginative and interesting. Demographic factors were found to be influential in the ways in which New Zealander's value wildlife and the knowledge they hold although these were not as significant as indicated by studies undertaken in other countries. The lowest levels of knowledge were shown by respondents who were over 60 years of age; and higher income levels corresponded with the negativistic value being held more highly. Several areas of this study showed transgressions from other studies undertaken overseas. Unlike other studies, which suggested that females hold the naturalistic value more strongly than males, this study showed that both males and females held the naturalistic value only weakly. This indicates that findings from studies conducted overseas may not be transferable to the New Zealand situation and therefore, for New Zealand managers to effectively incorporate human dimensions information in decision-making processes, human dimensions research must be undertaken in the New Zealand context. Furthermore, wildlife managers should not make assumptions based on other studies and communities as these can lead to ineffective communication and implementation of wildlife management policies and education programmes.

Urbanization decreases the amount of natural habitat available to wildlife but some species are able to adapt to and even thrive in human-dominated landscapes. When humans and wildlife live in close proximity the number of conflicts increase. Natural resource and agricultural departments were not designed to handle urban problems or the number of complaints that arise in urban areas, and the nuisance wildlife control (NWC) industry has developed in response to the unmet demand for assistance. Members of the wildlife profession have expressed concerns over the impact the nuisance wildlife control industry may have on wildlife, the public, and wildlife management, but no national studies were found that examined the size, growth, and/or economic impact of the industry. The most recent national reviews of regulation and oversight took place ≥10 years ago. This study examines 2 broad features of the NWC industry: 1) size and economic impact of the industry in the U.S. (e.g., number of businesses, annual sales revenue generated); and 2) the national regulatory environment. A total of 3,153 NWC businesses were identified in the U.S., and a conservative annual sales figure of $140 million was estimated for the wildlife removal services only. Changes in the regulatory environment from 1997-2007 were examined using a 10-category scoring system developed during an earlier study, and comparing the results of both studies. Changes were observed (P ≤ 0.05) for 9 of 10 characteristics, and the average cumulative score rose from 2.20 to 4.28 out of 10.0.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--North Carolina State University, 1999. / Spiral bound. Includes vita. Also available on the Internet. Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-214) and abstract.

<p> Invasive phragmites (<i>Phragmites australis</i>) has encroached on the central Platte River in recent years potentially out-competing native stands of phragmites. Invasive stands are thought to have an overall negative impact on ecosystems, but do provide ecological benefits to some species as food or shelter. Little research has been conducted on its impacts on small mammals. The goals of this project were to identify potential native and invasive stands along the central Platte River and determine small mammals use of invasive phragmites. I examined 35 phragmites samples along the central Platte River using restriction fragment length polymorphism. I used molecular sequencing and morphological features to identify stands. All samples were determined to be invasive. Four study sites along the Platte River were selected to evaluate phragmites use and potential impacts on small mammals. Each study site was in a wooded grassland area and consisted of three patches of invasive phragmites and three patches of wooded grassland vegetation. Study sites were sampled using Sherman live traps from April to October 2014. I found no significant difference in overall small mammal use between vegetation types and no seasonal difference between use of phragmites and wooded grassland stands. I did, however, catch fewer individuals in both habitat types during August. Deer mice (<i> Peromyscus maniculatus</i>) selected native vegetation whereas the white-footed mouse (<i>Peromyscus leucopus</i>), meadow vole (<i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i>) hispid cotton rat (<i>Sigmodon hispidus</i>) and meadow jumping mouse (<i>Zapus hudsonius</i>) selected phragmites. Capture of hispid cotton rat was the first documentation of this species in Dawson County, Nebraska. Differences in selection by these species could be attributed to their different life histories or habitat preferences. The focus of management for invasive phragmites may not need to focus on total eradication. Additional sampling would be required to document the spatial extent of native phragmites stands along the central Platte River.</p>

<p> Interest in renewable energy and governmental mandates has motivated land managers to consider cellulosic feedstocks for bioenergy. I investigated plant community response to a system including switchgrass (<i> Panicum virgatum</i>) as a feedstock intercropped with loblolly pine (<i>Pinus taeda</i>). I estimated plant species evenness, richness, and diversity and biomass production, with emphasis on white-tailed deer (<i> Odocoileus virginianus</i>) forages. I detected 225 species in 2,220 1-m² quadrats, and 7,495 biomass samples (96.4 kg dry weight) from 960 quadrats. Intercropping reduced plant species diversity, total non-pine tree biomass, and biomass of deer forages during switchgrass establishment. These effects were no longer apparent at treatment level two years after switchgrass establishment, except that deer browse and total deer forage biomass remained less in intercropped interbeds. Intercropping in managed pines may temporarily effect plant communities but further studies are needed to examine longer term effects and to quantify effects on nutritional carrying capacity for deer.</p>

<p> The extent of human disturbance is increasing, even in protected areas. I evaluated human disturbance impacts in Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA), Uganda, a park in the Albertine Rift biodiversity hotspot, using two approaches. First, I quantified vegetation patterns and edge effects using remote sensing data in the MFCA interior, a boundary zone, and exterior zone. I observed abrupt changes in productivity between the park and adjacent unprotected areas, indicating a "hard edge", and found evidence of edge effects that extended 4-6 km into MFCA. Second, I evaluated the impact of restored oil pads, roads, the park boundary, and anthropogenic noise on mammal distribution using camera traps and occupancy modeling. Few species avoided, and some were attracted to, more disturbed sites, where restoration may have provided food resources. As human populations continue growing around MFCA and oil production begins, evaluating human disturbance impacts on the landscape will be increasingly important.</p>

<p> For mule deer (<i>Odocoileus hemionus</i>) in the Intermountain West, alterations to habitat are outpacing strategies to mitigate human disturbance on critical seasonal ranges and migration routes. </p><p> Conserving mule deer habitat requires cooperation between a diverse group of stakeholders, state wildlife agencies, and federal land management agencies. The first chapter of this thesis explores the current and historical relationship between state wildlife agencies, citizen stakeholders, and federal agencies in order to highlight opportunities to improve cooperative habitat conservation in the United States. Conservation is a result of social, political, and economic action, but relies upon science to inform policy. The second chapter explores the seasonal habitat use of mule deer in southwestern Wyoming. In response to low fawn recruitment, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department deployed 15 GPS collars on adult female mule deer in an effort to enhance knowledge of mule deer population dynamics, migrations, and habitat use. The study captured two winter climate regimes, with greater winter severity during the 2010-11 winter compared to the winter of 2011-12. Deer migrated an average of 23.9 km (SE = 2.2) between seasonal ranges, and completed spring migrations nearly one month earlier following the milder winter of 2011-12 (<i>t</i>19 = 5.53, df = 19, <i>P</i> &le; 0.001). Pooled, the average area of winter ranges (1057 ha, SE = 103, <i>n</i> = 26) was larger than summer ranges (423 ha, SE = 51 ha, <i>n</i> = 25) (<i>t</i> = &minus;5.44, df = 49, <i>P</i> &amp;le; 0.001), with no increase or decrease in size of seasonal ranges detected between years (<i>P</i> = 0.243) according to a post-hoc Tukey HSD test. Between years, deer were observed to shift the geographic center of winter ranges (2.9 km, SE = 1.1, <i> n</i> = 12) to a larger degree than summer ranges (0.4 km, SE = 0.1, <i> n</i> = 12) (<i>t</i> = &minus;2.20, df = 22, <i>P</i> = 0.040). Survival and pregnancy rates (86% and 96%, respectively) correlated closely with other mule deer studies, and neither factor appears to negatively impact population growth. </p><p> Identifying seasonal ranges and migration routes, and quantifying seasonal habitat use, will assist Wyoming Game and Fish Department efforts to protect mule deer seasonal habitats and migration routes, and direct vegetation manipulations intended to improve the nutritional quality of habitats. On average, winter ranges included a later percentage of shrub-dominated habitat (83.8%, SE = 0.3, <i>n</i> = 26) than summer ranges (57.5%, SE = 2.0, <i> n</i> = 25) (<i>t</i> = &minus;4.42, df = 49, <i>P</i> &le; 0.001). Summer ranges averaged a greater proportion of agricultural lands (2.8%, SE = 1.1, <i>n</i> = 25) and aspen (<i>Populus tremuloides </i>) habitats (9.0%, SE = 2.2, <i>n</i> = 25) than winter ranges (0.1%, SE = 0.1, <i>n</i> = 26 and 0.2%, SE = 0.0, <i> n</i> = 26, respectively) (<i>t</i> = 3.03, df = 49, <i>P</i> = 0.004 and <i>t</i>= 3.86, df = 49, <i> P</i> &le; 0.001, respectively). Mule deer ranges are primarily located on Bureau of Land Management (73%, SE = 2.8, <i>n</i> = 51) and privately owned (17.3%, SE = 2.9, <i>n</i> = 51) lands, highlighting opportunities for cooperative partnerships for mule deer habitat conservation. </p>

<p>The Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) is an important region for wintering mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) in North America, yet little is known about their spatiotemporal habitat use and related survival in Mississippi. I tracked 126 radio-marked female mallards to quantify survival, habitat use, and use of wildlife management areas (WMAs) with experimental hunt regimes in the south MAV of Mississippi during winters 2010-2012. Daily survival was greatest in agricultural (0.997) and moist-soil (0.999) habitats in winters 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, respectively. Overall interval survival across both winters was 0.60 (SE = 0.02). Forested (40-54%) and moist-soil wetlands (41-59%) received greatest use diurnally and nocturnally, respectively. Mallards used WMAs similarly (P > 0.22) whether they were hunted 2- or 4-days/week. My data suggest that complexes of flooded cropland, forest, and moist-soil habitats are suitable habitats for mallards in the MAV, WMAs can be hunted 4-days/week, and sanctuaries should be revised at two WMAs.