For a number of years Virginia wildlfe biologists have thought that a critical review of past and game conditions in Virginia would serve as an excellent background tor planning future game management activities in the state. No study such as this has been attempted in Virginia; however, other states (e.g., Vermont and New Hampshire, have compiled historical summaries of past wildlife conditions within their borders. Generally these works have been limited to the compilation of historical facts; no ideas for future management plans were rpoposed. No historical summary and critical review based on such a summary has been undertaken so fas as is known. In order to collect the most pertinent information on the history of Virginia's wildlife... / Ph. D.

Attitudes of Virginia citizens toward wildlife management programs were studied using a survey questionnaire mailed to 2,000 randomly selected households. The response rate was 56%. Wildlife's ecological, viewing, cultural, existence, and scientific benefits were valued by most of the respondents (81-96%)- Fewer respondents (44-57%) valued wildlife for hunting recreation, food and furs, and economic benefits; 48% valued wildlife because they believed animals have souls. Most respondents (81-96%) participated in nonconsumptive activities which required little time, money, or knowledge of the wildlife resource. Fewer respondents (26-43%) participated in activities which require greater commitments such as photographing wildlife, traveling to see wildlife, and hunting. Most respondents (77%) felt that active management of wildlife was necessary, and most (79%) agreed that management should benefit wildlife populations rather than humans. Similarly, when asked to assign nongame budget percentages to various activities, respondents gave priority to programs benefitting wildlife rather than people. We suggest that most people prefer the intangible benefits they receive from knowing that wildlife populations exist and are being preserved, to the tangible benefits they receive from direct use of the wildlife resource. A second sample of 400 Virginia nongame fund contributors was compared to self-declared hunters from the general public sample. Contributors to Virginia's nongame fund are more likely than hunters to be single, suburban males, with advanced educations and white-collar jobs. Contributor preferences and values are similar to those of hunters except they are less likely to value wildlife for utilitarian purposes. / M.S.

This study examines the free rider effect and other voluntary contribution behavior in an actual public goods funding situation. Because the traditional neoclassical economic model of consumption behavior does not adequately explain behavior with respect to voluntary contribution to the funding of public goods. A model is developed that expands upon the traditional model and which incorporates several aspects of behavior. These aspects include strategic behavior such as strong and weak free riding, non-voting, and protest voting, as well as utility received from contributing. Most studies of voluntary contribution behavior involve the use of hypothetical or contingent markets and use the traditional neoclassical model. Therefore, a study of contribution behavior that incorporates an expanded neoclassical model including factors such as contribution utility would be desirable in order to examine actual contribution behavior. To this end, a model is developed which explains the behavior of contributors and noncontributors to a tax checkoff program. The case study is the Virginia nongame wildlife tax checkoff for taxable year 1987. A survey was developed and administered to a random sample of Virginia taxpayers who were eligible to contribute to the program. The survey results do not support the strong free rider hypothesis, although many people apparently contributed less than their total willingness to pay for nongame wildlife management or preservation. Non-voting behavior was not a significant factor, in contrast to protest voting, which was a significant reason for noncontribution. Many contributors indicated that they were receiving utility from giving to a perceived good cause rather than from nongame wildlife per se. Finally, other factors appeared to be important to the contribution decision, including the institutional setting in Virginia and assurance about the use of funds. / Ph. D.

Game management has been defined as the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use (Leopold, 1939). Game is a product of the land; thus the successful practice of game management is dependent upon the manipulation of the land so as to meet most adequately the needs of any animal species. Natural habitats are constantly undergoing many changes in response to external influences. These changes are usually very slow but almost invariably take place in a series of integrating, but well defined steps when the pattern is unaltered by the activities of man. This sequence or plant changes has associated with it an animal population which is probably governed by floristic alterations. There are few quantitative data available on the relationship of these plant successional changes on the associated animal populations. Whereas the effect of plant succession on the animal population of a habitat is not susceptible to exact measurements, this effect probably may be measured in relative terms. In Virginia alone, an average of 50,000 acres of land has been abandoned each year for the past fifty years (United States Department of Commerce, Agricultural Census, 1950). In the state this represents approximately two and one half million acres of wildlife habitat which is in a state of dynamic change. Such abandoned areas may be among the more important wildlife producing areas 1n the state as the production of wildlife on such areas is not in conflict with agricultural or forestry interests and, therefore, may be given top priority in a game management program. On the 40,000 acres of the three state forests here in Virginia, large sums of money are spent annually on a wildlife management program and a majority of the activities under this program is devoted to the reclamation of abandoned areas or the holding of such areas at a stage of ecological succession so as to produce the maximum crop of wildlife. A similar wildlife management program is in effect on the approximately 1,500,000 acres in the two Virginia National Forests. In addition, there is a statewide farm game program sponsored by the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries and a majority of work under this program also is concerned With holding ecological succession at a stage where game supposedly is produced in reasonable quantities. Basic data on the influence of ecological succession on game populations are needed for these programs if they are to be carried out intelligently and effectively. It is the purpose of this project to attempt to supply such data. The primary objectives of the project were fourfold: (1) To follow the trend of natural plant succession in abandoned areas in Cumberland County, Virginia in the Piedmont Region of the state, (2) to determine the influence of natural plant succession on the cottontail rabbit and bobwhite quail on abandoned areas in Cumberland County, Virginia, (3) to determine those stages in ecological plant succession which are best suited to the requirements of the cottontail rabbit and the bobwhite quail, (4) to develop a basis for predicting the tenure of animal and plant species in areas in which natural succession is undisturbed. A study or this nature should indicate the type of habitat changes which might be normally expected on abandoned land and the associated shifts in animal populations which may be concurrent with these habitat changes. If these successional data are accurately analyzed, they may indicate in general what has happened, is happening, or may be expected to happen on much of the approximately two and one half million acres of abandoned land in Virginia. This study was largely concerned with the trend or plant changes on abandoned land rather than with the underlying causes for these changes. In addition to the primary objectives of the study, three secondary objectives were considered in this investigation in Cumberland County. These objectives were: (1) To determine rabbit utilization of land use types other than abandoned land by means of trapping, (2) to collect population data, age ratios, and call indices for the bobwhite quail and to attempt to relate these data to land use types, (3) to determine small manal utilization of land use types other than abandoned land by means of trapping. / Ph. D.

Coal surface mining and associated reclamation practices have had an immense impact on the landscape of the Appalachian region of the United States. However, their effect on floral and faunal conservation has been poorly documented. Lepidopteran communities, vegetation, and nectar resources were studied on 19 mine sites reclaimed 0-30 years previously and five sites in the surrounding hardwoods in southwestern Virginia. The goals of this work were to characterize vegetational and lepidopteran communities of these sites; to understand the relationships between the two; and to assess the role of mine reclamation in regional conservation efforts. Vegetational community composition of the reclaimed sites appeared to be approaching that of the hardwood sites as time since reclamation increased. However, it will take a number of years, if ever, before the vegetational community composition and structure approximate that of the hardwoods. Between-site variation in vegetational communities was greater in the hardwoods, than the reclaimed sites. Recently reclaimed mined sites hosted a large number of both individuals and species of diurnal lepidoptera, comprising mostly widespread, generalist species. Multivariate analysis suggested that lepidopteran community composition of reclaimed sites was approaching that of the hardwoods and that lepidopteran communities of later successional reclaimed sites were fairly similar to those of the surrounding hardwoods. Moth community composition closely reflected vegetational community composition and species richness, while butterflies were poor indicators of vegetational communities. Reclaimed sites provided much more abundant and diverse nectar resources than hardwood forests. Results of nectar studies and butterfly behavioral observations suggested that adult butterfly community composition was strongly influenced by nectar abundance, but that nectar was not a limiting resource. While reclaimed sites hosted a number of the more common plant and lepidopteran species, it remains questionable whether reclaimed areas will ever host the entire complement of the biota present prior to disturbance. In order to further conservation efforts, rehabilitation projects must be designed and monitored over larger spatial and longer temporal scales. / Ph. D.