Genetic analyses of increasing power are now regularly incorporated into wildlife management assessments of threatened and endangered species. Genetic data provide valuable information regarding taxonomy, kinship, and population size and structure. Recently transformed by the advent of powerful technologies that expand our view from single genes to the entire genome, the field of conservation may be on the verge of another revolution with the emergence of epigenetics as a promising means of surveying environmental response in natural populations. In this dissertation, I present my doctoral research upon population genetics and epigenetics of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana). Considerable effort has been undertaken to conserve pronghorn, particularly in the periphery of its range in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Translocation is regularly used to supplement and re-establish populations of the wide-ranging A. a. americana subspecies while captive breeding has been established for two endangered pronghorn subspecies, A. a. sonoriensis found in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico and A. a. peninsularis of the Baja Peninsula. The primary goal of my doctoral work was to provide pronghorn managers with current estimates of genetic diversity, relatedness, and structure within and between pronghorn subspecies in the desert southwest. My work shows that conservation measures for A. a. sonoriensis have successfully maintained genetic diversity within this endangered subspecies. My estimates of population structure within A. a. americana in northern Arizona reveal the influence of translocation and habitat fragmentation and demonstrate the successful reestablishment of gene flow following the removal of highway fences. With the purpose of guiding future release of captive pronghorn, I explored the subspecies status of pronghorn extirpated from a portion of their range in southern California and northern Baja California. My analyses of museum specimens indicate that the historical range of A. a. peninsularis may have extended as far north as the international border while specimens collected just north of the border share more genetic identity with A. a. sonoriensis. To follow my interests in epigenetics, I also conducted the first ever conservation epigenetics study with Arizona pronghorn. I found that pronghorn are more epigenetically than genetically diverse and this is an indicator that further epigenetic study will reveal the signature of response to environmental factors, as it has with other species demonstrating this pattern.

This study investigated alarm calls given by Uinta ground squirrels (Spermophilus armatus) in the presence of a ground predator. I observed predator responses of 18 groups of three to four squirrels each for an average of three trials apiece. r~y objectives were: (1) to describe prey-predator interactions resulting in alarm calls, and (2) to test the following hypotheses: 1. Each Uinta ground squirrel (by sex and age) has an equal probability of giving an alarm call at any time of the season. 2. All Uinta ground squirrels are equally likely to call regardless of their distance to a burrow, closest conspecific, and the predator. 3. Alarm calls are as likely to occur in the search stage of predation as in the pursuit stage. 4. Callers and noncallers are equally vulnerable to predation. I found that: ( 1) each Uinta ground squirrel (by sex and age) in the experimental population had an equal probability of giving an alarm call in the presence of a predator through the season, (2) callers and noncallers were equally close to burrows at the time of the call, (3) the caller was typically located farther away from its closest conspecific than noncallers at the time of the cal l, (4) the caller was significantly closer to the predator than were noncallers at the time of the call, (5) alarm calls occurred significantly more often in the pursuit stage of predation than in the search stage, and (6) noncallers suffered significantly more predation than did callers. There appeared to be little risk and energetic cost associated with calling. Squirrels that called usually were being pursued by the predator and were very close to a burrow when they called. The callers had little to lose and could increase their inclusive fitness by warning relatives of the presence of danger. This study dealt only with responses to ground predators. Squirrels are likely to respond differently to avian predators. It is suggested that responses of animals to avian and terrestrial predators should vary with the potential threat that the predator poses. The apparent inhibition of secondary calls is discussed. Once animals are aware of the presence of danger, there is no need for another animal to repeat the message and reveal its location to the predator.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. Directed by Terry L. Maple. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-226).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Abraham Pizam. Includes bibliographical references (p. 224-246).

Thesis (M.S.)--North Carolina State University, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Dec. 18, 2005). Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The behaviour of 48 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) was studied over 27 months in Liberia, West Africa. The chimpanzees were first studied while they were housed in groups in enclosures in a medical research institute, and then after their release onto a 9.7 ha offshore island. When the chimpanzees were observed in captivity, data on social behaviour were collected with the use of check sheets and ad libitum notes. Data were collected on aggression, social grooming, social play, sexual behaviour, and individual spacing. After release onto the island, data on both social and subsistence behaviour were collected with the use of ad libitum notes. Both changes in social behaviour and in the development of subsistence behaviour were observed following release of the chimpanzees onto the island. Rates of aggression decreased following release, whereas rates of social grooming increased. Rates of social play decreased overall, but this was due to a decrease in social play by adults. Stereotyped or abnormal behaviour shown by some subjects declined. Subsistence behaviours which were observed following release were foraging for naturally occurring foods (leaves, fruits, seeds, and nuts), ant-eating, and tool-use for nut-cracking. Some subjects were also seen building sleeping-nests in trees. The chimpanzees also split into subgroups (including consortships) which showed similar trends in size and composition to those observed in wild populations of chimpanzees. Some techniques found to be useful during the release process are discussed, and the study is compared to previous primate release projects.

This thesis examines the impact of governance process development on engagements between onshore and offshore subsidiaries of multinational IT services organisations. Offshoring is a significant global phenomenon. Over the last decade, there has been substantial growth in the number of organisations setting up ‘captive’ (wholly owned subsidiaries) centres in offshore locations. The desired benefits of greater coordination, leveraging and sharing of knowledge have, in many instances, failed to materialise for these IT services organisations. These failures arise from a variety of causes including a lack of intra-organisational processes to coordinate and manage work, weak alignment between the parent organisation’s strategic objectives and those of the subsidiary, and the inability to navigate cross-organisational and cultural barriers. This thesis comprises three interrelated projects. The first established that organisations develop offshore subsidiaries in order to obtain one or more of a number of complex and interrelated set of strategic objectives. The second project, through the use of grounded theory, demonstrates that within one IT services organisation, imposed governance processes do not facilitate communication and engagement between the onshore and offshore subsidiaries. Cross-cultural and organisational differences inhibited the engagement between the subsidiaries, thus contributing to the failure to achieve the desired benefits of offshoring. Organisations engaged in captive offshoring are faced with two apparently contradictory sets of issues: a set of highly desirable and interrelated strategic benefits and a variety of operational challenges that arise from the imposed nature of the governance processes. The third project, a case study of a similar IT services organisation, examines how these apparently contradictory issues were resolved. The results show that it is the co-development and implementation of governance processes based on the informal working practices of both the onshore and offshore teams that enable the operational challenges established in the second project to be resolved and thus provide reconciliation between these and the achievement of the strategic benefits that drive offshoring. This thesis concludes that co-developed and implemented governance processes are a key factor in the mitigation of the deleterious effects of cross-organizational and cultural working and adds the notion of co-development and implementation of governance processes to the academic literature on the governance of outsourcing.

DNA fingerprinting was used to assess levels of genetic variation within the captive colony of pedigreed American kestrels (Falco sparverius) which have been maintained for over twenty years at the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University. Several instances of apparent linkage and allelism were observed. The high probability of fortuitous co-segregation of parental bands as if linked or allelic resulting from the small number of offspring was most likely responsible. Otherwise, the kestrel fingerprints displayed germ-line stability and high levels of heterozygosity characteristic of other species. A positive linear and quasi-linear relationship was found between pedigree-based and DNA fingerprint-based relatedness coefficients. High levels of genetic variation and minimal inbreeding were detected via genetic analyses. Genetic similarity coefficients between colony-bred and free-ranging American kestrels were not significantly different (P $>$ 0.5), indicating minimal genetic drift within the colony. Managed mating combined with immigration of new members into the breeding pool can maintain genetic diversity within a captive population of 200 to 300 American kestrels for a long term management scale. The captive-bred kestrel population can be fully exploited for general research, management and care techniques and as a genetic and demographic reservoir.

This thesis examines the impact of governance process development on engagements between onshore and offshore subsidiaries of multinational IT services organisations. Offshoring is a significant global phenomenon. Over the last decade, there has been substantial growth in the number of organisations setting up ‘captive’ (wholly owned subsidiaries) centres in offshore locations. The desired benefits of greater coordination, leveraging and sharing of knowledge have, in many instances, failed to materialise for these IT services organisations. These failures arise from a variety of causes including a lack of intra-organisational processes to coordinate and manage work, weak alignment between the parent organisation’s strategic objectives and those of the subsidiary, and the inability to navigate cross-organisational and cultural barriers. This thesis comprises three interrelated projects. The first established that organisations develop offshore subsidiaries in order to obtain one or more of a number of complex and interrelated set of strategic objectives. The second project, through the use of grounded theory, demonstrates that within one IT services organisation, imposed governance processes do not facilitate communication and engagement between the onshore and offshore subsidiaries. Cross-cultural and organisational differences inhibited the engagement between the subsidiaries, thus contributing to the failure to achieve the desired benefits of offshoring. Organisations engaged in captive offshoring are faced with two apparently contradictory sets of issues: a set of highly desirable and interrelated strategic benefits and a variety of operational challenges that arise from the imposed nature of the governance processes. The third project, a case study of a similar IT services organisation, examines how these apparently contradictory issues were resolved. The results show that it is the co-development and implementation of governance processes based on the informal working practices of both the onshore and offshore teams that enable the operational challenges established in the second project to be resolved and thus provide reconciliation between these and the achievement of the strategic benefits that drive offshoring. This thesis concludes that co-developed and implemented governance processes are a key factor in the mitigation of the deleterious effects of cross-organizational and cultural working and adds the notion of co-development and implementation of governance processes to the academic literature on the governance of outsourcing.

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