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<p>Wildlife species generate value through their consumptive and non-consumptive uses. Consumptive uses of these species include hunting and trapping, while wildlife watching is an example of a non-consumptive use. Understanding the value of various wildlife is imperative for public agencies’ management decisions regarding different wildlife areas (e.g., nature preserves, state forests/parks, reservoirs, county/city parks). Individuals’ values for wildlife interactions on public lands can depend on the context in which these interactions occur as well as the probability of an interaction occurring. We utilize a stated preference choice experiment to estimate Indiana residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a marginal increase in the chance of seeing white-tailed deer and five furbearing species (bobcat, coyote, river otter, raccoon, red fox) while engaging in their favorite activities at Indiana recreational areas. Our WTP estimates are analogous to value of statistical life (VSL) calculations, and hence we refer to them as the “value of a statistical species” (VSS). We find that the VSS of a bobcat ranges from $22.73 to $41.30, the VSS of a coyote ranges from -$1.94 to $9.74, the VSS of a raccoon ranges from $5.25 to $21.69, the VSS of a red fox ranges from $43.31 to $62.52, the VSS of a white-tailed deer ranges from $22.70 to $27.00, and the VSS of a river otter ranges from $23.18 to $45.98. Our analysis suggests that individuals’ values for wildlife depend on the activity they are undertaking when they see the wildlife.  </p>

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Flera markägare upplever att deras tallungskogar blir nedbetade av älgen. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka och utvärdera om betesskador och betestryck i tallungskog var högre, i områden med liten andel risväxter. Studien var en pilotstudie där förhoppningen att ett verktyg på sikt, skulle kunna tas fram för inventering av fodermängd i fältskikt.  Någon signifikant relation mellan inventerade variabler och variationen av betesskador kunde inte förklaras i studien, troligtvis p.g.a. för liten datamängd. Signifikanta skillnader mellan fastigheter återfanns för två variabler - tallstammar och täckningsgrad. De fyra sätten att mäta risväxter visade sig vara starkt korrelerade med varandra.  Genom denna studie kan en potentiell vägledning ges gällande metoder som gör det lättare för markägaren att själv inventera andelen viltfoder i form av risväxter på fastigheten.

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Hunting is often summarised to the act of searching for and killing an animal. Due to this fact, hunting has in recent years, come under scrutiny for its’ morality and lack of environmental consciousness. The thesis will be countering this idea, by demonstrating the entanglement of hunting in specific social and material circumstances what is referred to here as the assemblage of hunting. Following this thread, it will highlight the relationship between hunting, conservation, rewilding, rurality. To illustrate this point, the thesis will be analysing the case of hunting in Alsace. With the help of five interviewees, including three Alsatian hunters, and two members of a local conservation organisation, Alsace Nature, I discuss how the local Alsatian hunting system is experienced, perceived and produced, within a local and more global context. By using theories of Actor-Network-Theory, Assemblage Theory, Landscape Theory, Lefebvre’s production of space, and Disturbance Ecology, I analyse how hunting in Alsace has been shaped by the industrialisation of agriculture in the 20th century, how the activity connects to tradition and the creation of a wider Alsatian identity as Germanic, how hunting, conservation, and agricultural policy intertwine to produce a set of practices – or territorialisations but also how they continuously challenge each other. In addition, I trace the prey animals as deterritorialising agents. Overall results show that hunting in Alsace, while not static, has seen little change when it comes to the local hunting system. This creates conflict, as the local Alsatian landscape has changed heavily. Debates on hunting, such as the return of the lynx, or rural-urban divides can be tied to this perceived divide between hunting and the local landscape. Despite these conflicts, hunting stays an important activity in the Alsatian landscape, and a valuable way of managing the environment according to the interviewees.

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Master of Science / Department of Biology / David A. Haukos / The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is a species of prairie grouse native to the southwest Great Plains. Population declines and threats to populations of lesser prairie-chickens led U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species as “threatened” under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in May 2014. Lesser prairie-chickens are found within three distinct ecoregions of Kansas and Colorado and portions of the species’ range are affected by tree encroachment into grasslands. The effect of trees on lesser prairie-chickens is poorly understood. I evaluated habitat selection and reproductive success and across the northern portion of the species’ range. I captured female lesser prairie-chickens within the three different ecoregions in Kansas and Colorado to track nest and brood survival and measure nest and brood habitat. My findings show that there are regional and annual variations in nest and brood survival. Mean nest survival during 2013 and 2014 was estimated to be 0.388 (95% CI = 0.343 – 0.433) for a 35-day exposure period. Brood survival during 2013 and 2014 was estimated to be 0.316 (95% CI = 0.184 – 0.457) for 56 days. Chick survival was the lowest during the first week of life and is probably a limiting factor for population growth. Chick and brood survival decreased as Julian hatch date increased. Across the northern portion of the species’ range, females consistently select visual obstruction between 2-3 dm. Vegetation at the nest changes between regions and years to reflect environmental and regional conditions. Broods consistently selected habitats with greater percent cover of forbs than was expected at random across all study sites. Broods also selected against areas of bare ground. The threshold of lesser prairie-chicken use was 2 trees/ha throughout the year. No nests were located within areas with greater densities. Lesser prairie-chickens had a greater probability of use at greater distances from trees and at lower tree densities. To provide adequate nesting habitat managers should provide 2-3 dm of visual obstruction. Providing forb cover with visual obstruction between 2.5-5 dm near nesting habitat should provide adequate habitat for broods. Removing trees in core habitats and expand removal efforts outward should expand potential habitat for lesser prairie-chickens.