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Identifying factors influencing kill rates or predation risk is crucial to relate predator effects on prey populations. In multi-predator landscapes, some predators may also perceive predation risk which may not only influence their distributions but also their effects on prey populations across landscapes. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exist in a multi-predator landscape which includes black bears (Ursus americanus), bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and gray wolves (C. lupus). The objectives of this research were to examine spatial relationships among predators and their prey by identifying: 1) competition between wolves and coyotes, 2) factors influencing kill rates of predators, and 3) predator-specific predation risk for white-tailed deer fawns. We quantified the degree of temporal, dietary, and spatial overlap of wolves and coyotes at the population level to estimate the potential for interference competition and identify the mechanisms for how these sympatric canids coexist. We observed significant overlap across resource attributes yet the mechanisms through which wolves and coyotes coexist appear to be driven largely by how coyotes exploit differences in resource availability in heterogenous landscapes. We examined how heterogeneity in landscapes, search rate, and prey availability influence the time between kills for black bears, bobcats, coyotes, and wolves. Spatial heterogeneity in prey availability appeared to be a unifying extrinsic factor mediating time-to-kill across predators, potentially a consequence of more frequent reassessments of patch quality, which can reduce kill rates. We used white-tailed deer fawn predation sites to identify predator-specific predation risk with consideration for active predator occurrence, adult female white-tailed deer occurrence, linear features which may influence prey vulnerability, and habitat characteristics including horizontal cover and deer forage availability. Predator occurrence alone was a poor metric for predation risk. We identified differing landscapes of risk among ambush and cursorial foraging strategies which were more important for defining spatial variation in predation risk than predator density. These findings suggest that in a multi-predator landscape some predators may benefit from greater landscape heterogeneity due to availability of niche space, even though resource heterogeneity reduced predator efficacy and habitat complexity reduced predation risk for prey.

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This dissertation continues the tradition of identifying the effects of economic shocks to financial intermediaries. Its main contribution is to estimate the size of credit market disruptions in the form of government intervention, asset market crises, and competitive pressures, while using methods that are more novel and appropriate than those of previous work. Chapter 1 examines the effect of the elimination of U.S. banking regulations, which are intended to expand the access of financial services within states and across state-lines, on entrepreneurship activity. It finds that there was increase in small business formation following the deregulation of interstate banking, but not intrastate banking. Results indicate allowing banks to lend and take deposits across state lines increases small business formation by up to 8%. There is a delayed impact following the passage of legislation indicating credit markets require time to adjust to the new regulatory environment. Heterogeneous effects exist across firm sizes in terms of economic impact magnitude and timing. The main contribution of the chapter is that examines the impact on entrepreneurship in separate periods after the initial passing and on subsets of small businesses. Whereas Chapter 1 estimates the effect of a foreseen event, Chapter 2 focuses on the impact of unexpected housing crisis on financial intermediaries loan servicing decisions. As the housing market worsened mortgage lenders could not rely solely on foreclosure processes to reduce losses on homes in default, rather many found the need to engage in modifying loan terms to allow borrowers to continue making mortgage payments. Modifications that increased the affordability of monthly payments were effective at halving the cumulative 36-month redefault rate for mortgages between 2008 and 2011. Findings indicate the improving economy and mortgage risk characteristics are not enough to explain the reduction in redefault. Instead, results find evidence of “learning –by-doing” i.e., servicers become better at targeting borrowers for modification and providing the appropriate payment relief over time. Voluntary government modification programs serve as guidelines for servicers to design and invest in their own modification processes. The impact of this learning by doing is evident before and after controlling for macroeconomic conditions, borrower characteristics, and loan terms. Previous studies do not effectively isolate the improvement in post-modification with an econometric model using a control group similar to this one. Furthermore, other studies consider only particular servicer subsets of mortgage modifications, such as private securitized, whereas the sample here considers all servicer types and payment reducing modifications. Ultimately, the results indicate mortgage modifications were an effective non-foreclosure alternative to keep homeowners in their homes and monthly payments flowing to mortgage servicers. Chapter 3 examines the impact of changes in bank competition on bank capital in the United States. Allen et al. (2011) proposes excessive capital holdings, i.e., capital holdings above regulatory requirements, are attributable to market discipline arising from banks’ asset side. Theory predicts competition incentivizes banks to hold higher levels of capital because this indicates a commitment to monitoring to encourage bank stability. I examine heterogeneous impacts of competition on capital over the business cycle and across bank size. Economic downturns usually bring significant changes to bank concentration, which can cause a different impact than during economic booms. Smaller banks can feel different competitive pressures than larger banks due to a focus on local lending activities. I have two main results. More intense competition is associated with higher bank capital ratios at all times (before, during, and after the financial crisis) for small, medium, and large banks. All banks see a larger impact during the crisis period compared to the pre- and post-crisis periods. The findings of this paper can have significant policy implications for the application of anti-trust regulation, since capital ratios are commonly used to restrain individual and systemic bank risk. / Economics

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether or not the combination of normobaric hypoxia and exercise training would enhance adaptations in skeletal muscle over and above that which occurs with the same amount of training under normoxic conditions. Also investigated was the effect of such training conditions on performance as assessed by V0_2max and maximal aerobic capacity (MAC). Ten males performed unilateral cycle ergometry training 3 times per week for 8 weeks so that one leg was trained under normoxic conditions and the other while breathing an hypoxic gas mixture (FI0_2= 13.5%; equivalent to an altitude of 3,292 meters). Absolute power output was kept constant for both conditions and subjects performed both continuous (75% pre-training maximal power output) and interval (100% pre-training maximal power output) training. Needle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis of both legs to assess pre- and post-training differences in morphometric and biochemical data. Performance measures included V0_2max and MAC (time to fatigue at 95% pre-training maximal power output) for each leg. Significant increases in V0_2max (p <0.05) occurred in both legs with higher peak ventilation and blood lactate concentrations (p <0.05) post-training. Marked improvements (p <0.05) in MAC were also seen with an increase of 402% in the normoxically-trained leg and 513% in the hypoxically-trained leg. Citrate synthase (CS), succinate dehydrogenase, and phosphofructokinase activity was significantly (p <0.05) higher in both legs following training with a significantly greater (p <0.05) increase in CS in the hypoxically-trained leg. There were no differences in capillary/fiber ratio, capillary density, fiber area, fiber type, and mitochondrial volume density for either condition, pre- or post-training. It is concluded that hypoxia enhanced the muscle oxidative capacity (as marked by cs activity) but was unable to improve performance over and above that which occurs with the same training at sea level. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

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No / Demand for water in the Usangu Basin is driven by a number of competing uses. These include domestic supplies, irrigated agriculture, livestock, fishing, maintenance of the Usangu wetland, a National Park and major hydroelectric system downstream. As a result of a number of driving forces including the growing population, the water resources of the basin are becoming increasingly stressed, and downstream flows have now reduced to zero during the dry season. The paper is based on recent work to study to situation and work with local stakeholders to develop a sustainable management plan for the basin. Irrigated rice is by far the biggest user of water in the basin. The paper traces the successful development of irrigation there since the 1950s, based both on state-managed mechanised farms and on smallholder production. However, the expansion of irrigation has been a major factor in the change in water availability downstream, particularly as the cropping calendar expands into the dry season, when river flows are at their lowest. A number of initiatives are under way to try to reduce the impact of irrigation on the basin's water resources. These include projects to increase irrigation efficiency in smallholder systems, and improvements to water management institutions and processes. The aim is to restore dry season flows for downstream users by the year 2010.

The practice and study of public administration has long included questions of efficiency, effectiveness, and economy. In the literature of the last decade, the New Public Management (NPM) movement argues that government should be run like a business and that entrepreneurial-based techniques should be utilized in an effort to enhance government performance. The normative perspective, however, raises counter ideas. The primary purpose of this research is to examine the impact of managed competition, a NPM technique, on four primary study areas including (1) democratic governance, (2) the politics administration dichotomy, (3) organizational effects, and (4) accountability. The study findings indicate that the economic model has had a significant impact on the four study areas to varying degrees. The theoretical propositions posed in the study center around principal-agent theory, public choice theory, and the market model and aid in reconciling the NPM perspective with normative considerations applicable to local government practice. Examining managed competition allows us to see how Charlotte has evolved in its attempt to meet demands from both perspectives. / Ph. D.