Mole salamanders (Ambystoma) and woodfrogs ( Lithobates sylvaticus) are abundant in New England and depend on ephemeral wetlands for breeding. Their aquatic habitats have been well studied and are protected by several local and regional regulations. State endangered species laws also protect mabled salamanders (A. opacum), Jefferson salamanders (A. jeffersonianum), and blue-spotted salamanders (A. laterale). However, these amphibians spend most of their adult lives in terrestrial habitats that remain poorly protected and elusive to researchers. In chapter 1, I developed a novel technique using passive integrated transponders for tracking small animals. I used this technique to track marbled salamanders walking up to 200 m from their breeding pond during post-breeding migrations. In Chapter 2, I examined the importance of multiple habitat variables for controlling the distributions of woodfrogs and spotted salamanders at 455 ponds in western Massachusetts. Based on a variable-comparison technique I developed, the best predictor for either species of amphibian was the amount of forest in the surrounding landscape. Both species were found more frequently in upland forests where the ponds are least protected by state and federal wetland regulations. In chapter 3, I used my data from chapter 2 and three other similar data sets to conduct an analysis of spatial scale and to parameterize a recently published resistant kernel model. The complex model parameterized by an expert panel did significantly worse than the null model. The distributions of both amphibians were best predicted by measuring the landscape at very large scales (over 1000 m). The most effective scales for conservation may be largest for organisms of intermediate dispersal capability. In chapter 4, I explored the evolution and genetics of the Jefferson/blue-spotted/unisexual salamander complex. I framed research into the fascinating unisexual reproductive system with a model that relates nuclear genome replacement, positive selection on hybrids, and biogeography of the species complex. I parameterized this model using genetic data taken from salamanders spanning Massachusetts and an individual-based breeding simulation. If paternal genomes are transmitted to offspring with the frequencies reported from laboratory experiments, then my model suggests that there must be strong selection favoring unisexuals with hybrid nuclei.

Montane forests provide habitat for unique assemblages of flora and fauna that contribute significantly to a region's biodiversity. Previous work indicates that montane forest ecosystems are exceedingly vulnerable to a host of anthropogenic stressors including climate change, atmospheric deposition, and recreation, to name a few. Montane forests and other high elevation ecosystems are considered to be among the first and most severely impacted by climate change. It is therefore, imperative to evaluate anthropogenic impacts on montane ecosystems and maintain reliable monitoring methods that are capable of tracking potential shifts in the distribution of species dependent on these systems. I surveyed birds at various distances from hiking trails in the White Mountain National Forest from 2006–2009 to determine whether existing monitoring programs, all of which are based on trail-centered surveys, are accurately reflecting bird abundance, abundance stability and recruitment. Contrary to previous studies, I found that recreational trails generally did not alter estimates of abundance, recruitment, abundance stability, and detection probability for five species of birds considered to be indicators of montane forest ecosystem integrity in northeastern North America. Therefore, trail-based monitoring programs for montane birds appear to accurately reflect dynamics of bird communities undisturbed by hiking trails. These conclusions were supported by my finding that the daily nest survival of a montane spruce-fir indicator species, blackpoll warbler (Steophaga striata), did not vary as a function of distance from trail. I then used data from the White Mountain National Forest's montane bird monitoring program from 1994 through 2009 to assess potential shifts in the elevational distribution of montane birds in conjunction with documented habitat shifts in the region. My results provide evidence that low elevation forest birds have expanded their upper elevational boundary while high elevation birds have expanded their lower elevation boundary. These results highlight the complicated relationship between habitat, climate, and other anthropogenic stressors such as atmospheric deposition and that even in the face of climate change other stressors may be playing a significant role in shifts of species distributions. Understanding how climate affects the reproductive ecology of montane organisms is an important step toward unraveling the potential mechanisms by which climate change will alter the distribution of these species. I used blackpoll warbler breeding data from the Green Mountains, VT from 1994 to 2003 to determine if temporal variation in climate influenced blackpoll nesting initiation and found that years with warm Mays and typical precipitation lead to earlier nest initiation. I also examined the effect of spatial variation in climate on blackpoll reproductive ecology and demography. I found a gradient in habitat quality associated with the spatial variation in climate along an elevation gradient. Blackpolls were less abundant, younger, had lower pairing success, lower daily nest survival, higher nest predator occupancy, and lower fecundity at lower elevations. The climatic conditions at these lower elevations represent the climatic conditions predicted to encompass increasingly larger portions of montane areas. Collectively, these findings contribute to filling in a dearth of knowledge regarding management and an understanding of how species dependent on montane ecosystems are responding to climate change.

The eastern spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrookii) is an ephemeral wetland breeding amphibian that ranges from southern Florida north and westward to southeastern Missouri and northward along the Atlantic coastal plain to Massachusetts. This species is listed as either "threatened" or "endangered" in the four states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island) in the northeastern United States where it is known to exist. Population declines and extirpations throughout the region over the past century have been documented and are largely believed to be the result of habitat loss and/or alteration. Very limited empirical results exist on many life history attributes of S. holbrookii anywhere in its range, including movement patterns, upland habitat selection, and breeding habitat preferences. These are critical information gaps that must be filled in order to effectively conserve and manage for this rare species in the northeastern U.S. While S. holbrookii is extremely rare throughout most of the Northeast, it is locally common in specific areas of Cape Cod National Seashore, most notably in an extensive sand-dune ecosystem known as the Province Lands located at the northern terminus of the Cape Cod peninsula. During 2005 and 2006, we conducted larval trapping surveys at 102 wetlands in the Province Lands primarily to: 1) identify breeding wetlands and 2) to assess breeding habitat use and preferences of S. holbrookii with respect to a suite of selected abiotic and biotic covariates. We captured S. holbrookii larvae at 140/652 (~21.5%) trap locations and 41/102 (~40.2%) wetlands sampled. Model results identified a number of additional habitat covariates that exhibited a statistically significant relationship with larval S. holbrookii abundance including: the percent cover of 1) cranberry (positive relationship), and 2) woody shrub (positive relationship) at a 4m radius from the trap location; 3) percent woody shrub cover at the wetland-scale (negative relationship); 4) percent canopy cover at the wetland-scale (positive relationship); 5) wetland pH (positive relationship); 6) distance to the closest paved road (positive relationship); and the kernel density cover of 7) deciduous shrubland edge (positive relationship), 8) deciduous shrubland (negative relationship), 9) pine (positive relationship), and 10) open dune (positive relationship) in the uplands surrounding the study wetlands. During 2006 and 2008 we radio-tracked adult S. holbrookii in the Province Lands using surgically implanted radio-transmitters to: 1) describe movement patterns and estimate home range sizes, and 2) assess upland habitat preferences of S. holbrookii. We tracked 19/20 individuals (11 males and 8 females) and 12/20 individuals (7 males and 5 females) for at least the first 30 and 100 days post-surgery, respectively, during 2006. During 2008 we successfully tracked 15/25 individuals (10 males and 5 females) and 5/25 individuals (3 males and 2 females) for at least the first 30 and 100 days post-surgery, respectively. In addition to results obtained on a suite of movement attributes we identified a number of upland habitat preferences for S. holbrookii. Use locations were: 1) closer to the nearest deciduous shrub edge, 2) had a greater percent cover of ground-running pitch pine branches at a 1 m scale, 3) had a greater percent cover of deciduous shrubs at a 1 m scale, and 4) had a greater percent cover of reindeer lichen at a 5 m scale. Results from this research provide much needed empirical results on these critical life history attributes related to the movement and breeding ecology of S. holbrookii. These results will aid biologists and Park management staff at Cape Cod National Seashore in more effectively employing conservation and management strategies aimed at enhancing the long-term persistence probability of this regionally rare species in the Province Lands.

<p> The Roat&aacute;n Spiny-tailed Iguana (<i>Ctenosaura oedirhina </i>) is endemic to the 146-km² island of Roat&aacute;n, Honduras. Harvesting for consumption, fragmentation of habitat, and predation by domestic animals threaten this lizard. It is currently listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as threatened by the Honduran government, and is on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This species has been geographically fragmented and genetically isolated into small subpopulations that are declining in density. With data gathered from use/availability surveys, resource selection functions were used to identify habitats and environmental variables associated with their presence. Results indicate that protection from harvesting is the most important factor in determining their distribution. These high-density populations are currently restricted to &sim;0.6 km². Organisms living in small, isolated populations with very restricted ranges are at higher risk of extirpation due</p><p> to various direct and indirect forces. Mark-recapture-resight surveys and distance sampling have been used to monitor the populations since 2010 and 2012 respectively. The data show that the high-density populations are declining. The current population size is estimated to be 4130-4860 individuals in 2015. A population viability analysis (PVA) was conducted to identify the most pressing threats and specific life history traits that are affecting this decline. The analysis estimates that if current trends persist, the species will be extinct in the wild in less than ten years. Adult mortality is a main factor and female mortality specifically characterizes this decline. In order for this species to persist over the next fifty years, adult mortality needs to be reduced by more than 50%. A lack of enforcement of the current laws results in the persistence of the main threat, poaching for consumption, thus altering the species distribution and causing high adult mortality. This is complicated by social customs and a lack of post primary education. Management changes could mitigate this threat and slow the population decline. Recommendations include an education campaign on the island, increased enforcement of the current laws, and breeding of <i>C. oedirhina in situ</i> and <i> ex situ</i> for release into the wild.</p>

Raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus Temminck) were used as a model species to study wildlife management and conservation issues in the countryside of Japan. Radio-tracking data were used to analyse habitat use, movements, home range configuration and stability, social aspects, and factors influencing raccoon dog behaviour. Comparisons were drawn with European badgers (Meles meles Linnaeus) in the UK in order to highlight aspects of movements and habitat use of omnivorous Carnivores. Two key issues concerning the conservation of raccoon dogs in Japan were investigated: road-kills and agricultural damage. The Japan Highway Public Corporation provided road-kill data on the National Expressways, and a questionnaire survey was conducted on agricultural damage to local governments, authorities of wildlife administration. Socio-cultural issues on wildlife conservation in Japan were critically reviewed and discussed. Two types of habitat users appeared to exist in the study area. One type of raccoon dogs ('mountain type') inhabited a more semi-natural environment, including secondary forest and herbaceous areas, whereas a second type ('village type') inhabited more managed environments, such as rice fields and cropland. The results suggested that habitat selection occurred at home-range and location scales and differed between the two types of raccoon dogs. The mean size of home range of the raccoon dogs was 111 ± 16.9 ha (95% kernel estimate) and 160±34.5ha (95% maximum convex polygon (MCP)). There was no significant difference in home-range size between age classes or sexes. Seasonal home ranges were larger in yearlings than adults, and largest in autumn; and there was no difference between sexes. Season affected nightly movements, i.e. mean inter-fix speed, mean 100% MCP, and mean range span over the night; however, sex and age did not. All variables of nightly movement were smallest in winter. The mean fractal dimension of movements, i.e. degree of 'tortuousity' with self similarity, was 1.226 and significantly differed from 1.0 (a straight line) and 2.0 (a Brownian random movement). The mountain type had significantly larger fractal dimension than the village type, possibly reflecting habitat complexity and/or heterogeneity. Badgers generally preferred pasture and avoided arable habitat, but showed some variability by year and at scales of selection. A Badger Removal Operation may have influenced habitat selection of the badgers. The mean size of home range of badgers was 56.1 ± 7.7 ha (95% kernel estimates) and 56.2 ± 7.3 ha (95% MCP). The mean fractal dimension of the badgers' movements was 1.198 and was significantly different from 1.0 and 2.0. The raccoon dogs and the badgers showed similarities in movements, such as nightly home range, range span over night, and fractal dimension of movements. Sexual differences in spatial use existed in badgers but not in raccoon dogs. Road-kills of raccoon dogs appeared to be the highest, in percentage terms, of all wildlife species in Japan and this figure was linearly related to the traffic. Some road-features, such as whether the road was in a cutting and its proximity to water, were positively associated with road-kills, while the presence of coniferous plantations as roadside habitat was dissociated with road-kills. Nationwide estimates of road-kills of raccoon dogs, based on available data for National Expressways only, were made with different assumptions. Conservative estimates put the number of road-kills at 110,000 - 370,000 per year. The potential for road-kill numbers to be used, after controlling for traffic data, as an index of population trends, is discussed. In a questionnaire survey of agricultural damage sent to 46 prefectures, all respondents (96%) reported some damage by wildlife, and over 80% of respondents reported macaque and boar damage, while nearly 70 % reported raccoon dog and deer damage. Sixty-nine agricultural products were reported to have been damaged by wildlife, and 41 of these by raccoon dogs. Maize and fruits were major crops damaged by raccoon dogs. Although about a half of respondents employed culling, its effectiveness is unclear. Although Japan seems far behind other developing countries in its approach to wildlife conservation issues, the situation could be substantially improved through increased scientific understanding and education. Radical changes may be also required in the legal status of wildlife and its management schemes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Louisville, 2009. / Department of Teaching and Learning. Vita. "August 2009." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 304-320).

<p> Thirty-four percent of Earth&rsquo;s arable land has been converted to agricultural uses, and increased agricultural intensification has been correlated with contemporary decreases in avian abundance and functional diversity. Farm-scale biodiversity enhancement features such as native woody plant hedgerows have been planted in crop margins with the expectations of attracting beneficial predators and pollinators, and of improved pest control and pollination services in adjacent crops. Despite ongoing investment and perceived benefits of these types of enhancements for biodiversity, few evaluations have tested their effectiveness at increasing avian diversity. A growing body of research has quantified crop pest reduction by birds with indirect benefits for yield, yet few studies have evaluated whether farm-scale conservation activities improve effect sizes of these services. Further, whether or not crop margin habitats confer fitness benefits necessary for avian population viability (i.e., survival and reproduction) remains almost entirely unstudied. On each of these fronts, landscape effects can counteract or interact synergistically with the effects of local activities, and assessment of farmland habitat enhancement must be done with explicit reference to landscape context. I conducted field research in a system of extant woody hedgerows and semi-natural riparian habitat patches among farmlands of the Sacramento Valley of California&rsquo;s Central Valley, USA to investigate three questions. Does farm-scale biodiversity enhancement and retention of semi-natural landscape habitat 1) influence patterns in avian abundance and diversity, 2) increase the rate of pest reduction by birds in adjacent crops, and 3) provide quality habitat and confer fitness benefits for avian occupants? In Chapter 1, and with collaborators, I sampled birds and habitat characteristics in 111 crop margins and landscape buffers during two winter and breeding seasons. We found that margins with hedgerows, treelines, or remnant riparian habitat harbored 2&ndash;3 times as many bird species and 3&ndash;6 times greater abundance than bare or weedy margins. Margin habitat type interacted with distance from semi-natural woodlands; hedgerow or riparian margins further from woodlands harbored more bird species. In Chapter 2, I performed a sentinel prey exclosure experiment in walnuts to compare pest cocoon predation rates by birds in 10 orchards with and 10 orchards without woody vegetation patches in their margins, and I characterized semi-natural cover within landscape buffers. Avian predator richness and abundance was greater in habitat orchard margins than in bare margins, and birds were confirmed predators of 23&plusmn;29% pest cocoons per orchard (range 0 &ndash; 80%). Pest predation rates did not increase with the presence of woody margin habitat. Instead, predation rates increased with the increasing size of orchard trees, avian predator abundance, and percentage of semi-natural cover in the landscape. In Chapter 3, I used a suite of environmental, body condition, and population measures in long-distance migratory <i>Zonotrichia</i> sparrows to quantify habitat quality at hedgerows and natural reserves along a gradient of connectivity and landscape habitat amount. Abundance and within-winter apparent survival was highest in connected hedgerows and natural reserves with the most woodland landscape cover. Isolated hedgerows were of poor quality for first year Gambel&rsquo;s white-crowned sparrows <i>(Z. leucophrys gambelii)</i> and the differences in within-winter apparent survival between first year and adult birds decreased significantly with increasing woodland landscape cover. The combined results suggest that farm scale habitat enhancement can be beneficial for birds in terms of local abundance and diversity, and within-winter apparent survival if connected to and among a sufficient percentage of other similar habitats. Farm scale enhancements can also be beneficial to growers by increasing the number of avian predators of crop pests. Yet, growers appear to benefit most by having crops located in landscapes with greater percentages of semi-natural landscape cover, where avian predation rates of crop pests were highest.</p><p>

<p> Animal movement influences ecological and biogeographical dynamics, and studying it reveals helpful insights at a time when anthropogenic activities have accelerated rates of climatic and land cover change. This dissertation addresses three fundamental questions in ecology and biogeography linked to the movement and distribution of animals. First, how do animal movements affect their environments? Second, how do the effects of land use change interact with atmospheric climate change to alter species distributions? Third, how do organisms track their climatic niches through time and space? Each question is addressed with a separate study, each generating methods and results with implications for future academic work, management, and conservation. </p><p> In the first study, I tracked the daily movements of the common hippopotamus, <i> Hippopotamus amphibius</i>, a megaherbivore that transports nutrient-rich biomass between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. I developed a spatially explicit biomass transfer model that relates rates of ingestion and egestion to movement behavior states derived from the movement data. The biomass transfer model revealed the process by which <i>H. amphibius</i> generates patterned landscapes of nutrient removal and deposition hotspots. In addition, the model generated maps of these nutrient transfer landscapes, making it possible to explore the spatial dynamics of nutrient transfers, and showing that the amount of biomass transferred reaches levels equivalent to rates of aboveground net primary productivity. In addition to revealing the influences of <i>H. amphibius</i> on ecosystem ecology, this study also provided metrics of home range size, habitat use, and movement behavior useful for conservation planning. </p><p> The first study provides a method for nutrient transfer mapping which could be applied to many other species, and leverages increasing quantities of high-resolution movement tracking data to map transfers of nutrients across landscapes. This can help predict the landscape-scale ecological changes resulting from the loss of animal movements that provide nutrient transfers. The approach can also be used to map other material transport dynamics, such as animal-transported seed dispersal or the movement of persistent organic pollutants. </p><p> In the second study, I used species distribution modeling to identify the interacting effects of climate and land use change on the distribution of <i>H. amphibius</i>. Hydrologic change is likely to result from ongoing shifts from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture across much of sub-Saharan Africa, where <i>H. amphibius</i> occurs. A lack of spatial data on hydrology, especially data temporally consistent with atmospheric climate datasets, has made it difficult to build species distribution models for semiaquatic species, such as <i>H. amphibius</i>, which are physiologically dependent on surface water. I overcame this challenge by coupling a simple hydrologic model to scenarios of land use and climate change, identifying potential effects on <i>H. amphibius</i> distributions. I found that increased levels of streamflow abstraction from irrigation will lead to much greater declines in <i>H. amphibius</i> habitat suitability than arise from scenarios of climate change alone. I also contrasted predictions of <i>H. amphibius</i> distributions that incorporated only atmospheric climate variables to predictions that also incorporated hydrologic variables, and found significant improvements in model performance when hydrology was incorporated. </p><p> The second study provides support for using predictive variables with strong mechanistic links to the physiology or ecology of the focal species when building species distribution models. The study also outlines a way to generate surfaces of key hydrologic variables from the climate surfaces commonly used for species distribution modeling. These surfaces have the potential to greatly improve forecasts generated by other semiaquatic species distribution models. From a conservation perspective, the second study highlights the potential for substantial losses of <i>H. amphibius</i> habitat across Africa as a result of increases in irrigation development. Other semiaquatic species in the region, as well as those dependent on the keystone ecological role of <i>H. amphibius</i> and its nutrient-transporting movements, may be similarly affected. </p><p> In the third study, I explored the role of movement in shaping species distributions in variable climates. Climatic variability at multiple time scales causes suitable climatic conditions to shift across geographic space. Recent scholarship has proposed that two species traits, the ability to colonize suitable locations, referred to as dispersal, and the ability to continue to occupy an area with unsuitable conditions, referred to as persistence, facilitate niche tracking, the process by which species follow suitable conditions moving through geographic space. By developing a model that simulates niche tracking through historically observed patterns of temporal and spatial variability, I quantified how different dispersal and persistence abilities affect niche tracking potential. I found that both dispersal and persistence facilitate niche tracking, and that small increases in persistence ability result in surprisingly large increases in niche tracking potential. </p><p> The third study makes two main contributions to ecological niche theory and distribution modeling. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.) </p><p>