The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of the coping strategies used by dairy-farm couples. The independent variables of size of farm, where the respondents grew up, off-farm employment, age, amount of formal education, and debt-to-asset ratio of the farm are analyzed to determine their impact on the use of coping strategies by the dairy-farm husbands and wives. A sample of 116 dairy farm-couples was drawn from five counties in Northern Utah. The farm husbands and wives were each interviewed separately using a structured questionnaire. Due to the racial and religious composition of the sample and to its specific nature , the results of the study cannot be generalized to other populations of dairy farmers in other states or to other types of farms. The F-COPES (Family Crisis oriented Personal Evaluation Scales) developed by McCubbin, Larsen, and Olson in 1982 were used to categorize the dairy-farm couple's coping strategies into the following subscales: Passive Appraisal , Reframing, Mobilizing the Family to Acquire and Accept Help, Acquiring social Support, and Seeking Spiritual support. The results of the study indicated there were significant differences between the scores of farm husbands and wives on the coping strategies . The husbands scored statistically higher on the coping strategies Reframing, Passive Appraisal, and Acquiring Social Support than did the wives. Additional results indicated there were also significant differences between spouses in the correlation of coping strategies with the independent variables. Reframing was substantively correlated with age for farm husbands. The farm's debt-to-asset ratio was correlated statistically with Reframing for farm husbands. Mobilizing the Family to Acquire and Accept Help was statistically correlated with age for farm wives. Acquiring Social Support was statistically related to the amount of formal education for farm wives.

Practical assessments of range production and utilization are based on forage weight estimates. In preparing these estimates moisture content in green vegetation offers some problems. The moisture component is not likely to be constant for a given species. Diurnal, seasonal and site variability have been well illustrated for agronomic and tree species (Salisbury, 1848; Jenkins, 1879; Miller, 1917; Pearson, 1924; Watkins, 1940; Parker, 1951; Ackley, 1954; Werner, 1954; Zohary and Orshan, 1956; Slatyer, 1959; Kozlowaki, 1965 and Jame son, 1966). Since variability is also likely for range plants, computations made on green weights are apt to be fallacious. It is a common practice, therefore, to express production on "water free" or "dry weight" basis. But the estimates of dry weight are made difficult by variations in herbage moisture. A variety of factors, relevant both to the vegetation and the site it occupies, would seem to account for variable moisture content. The prevalent methods for estimating moisture, however, seem to be more of a legacy from the past than an appreciation of ecological influences. Earlier investigators of pastures and fodder crops were largely agronomists interested in comparing yields. They were concerned primarily with irrigated crops where soil moisture is not a limiting factor and the ecological influences, such as humidity, rain, cloudy weather, dew, shade, exposure etc. are far from dominant (Atwater, 1869; Collier, 1881; Richardson , 1884; Ladd, 1888; Richardson, 1889; Morse, 1891 and Widstoe, 1897). The variations in water content and other components were accordingly related to stage of growth. Taking a cue from these studies agencies such as the United States Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service came to use certain reducing factors to convert green weight of range forage into dry weight. In developing these factors the type of vegetation and growth phases have been considered but ecological features and context have been neglected. The methodology adopted from pasture conditions became the accepted basis for making range management decisions (Range Memo, SCS-8, Soil Conservation Service, 1963; Range Analysis, Region IV, Forest Service, 1964). The influence of features of environment, particularly aspect, on growth differential, has long been recognized by foresters (Schlich, 1905; Champion, 1928 and Tourney, 1928). Plant physiologists have been aware of the significance of time-of-day on plant water for some time (Shreve, 1914; Miller, 1917). It is very probable that these influences express themselves in moisture content of herbage also. The investigations reported herein were conducted to define and assess the scope and intensity of some of these ecological features in modification of the moisture component of herbage. The objective is to determine whether differences in ecological context influence range herbage moisture to a sufficient extent to warrant consideration in developing conversion factors for deriving dry weights from green weights of vegetation samples. The appraisal should reaffirm present assumptions applied or yield more accurate adjustments for estimating forage production. In either circumstance the results should enhance the scientific basis of range management decisions.

Fruit producers in Northern Utah face several challenges to their production, urbanization, decreased availability of agricultural land, and competition from domestic producers and imports. As consumers are willing to pay premiums for foods differentiated by production method, such as eco-friendly and organic, conversion to these methods may increase the profitability of fruit growing operations. This study found that consumers in Northern Utah are willing to pay a premium for peaches grown using organic and eco-friendly production practices over conventionally grown peaches. The study also found that of the three methods of peach production examined (conventional, eco-friendly, and organic), organic had the highest average grower net returns and had the lowest associated risk, while conventional peach production had the potential for the highest net returns. These results may guide producers when making orchard management decisions and in the profitability assessment of alternative production methods.

Nitrogen is the most widely needed and the most widely used of the fertilizer elements. Yet, in spite of the voluminous research work of evaluating the nitrogen status of soils, laboratory tests for the purpose of predicting need of nitrogen fertilizer are not very widely used. In general, laboratory tests for nitrogen supplying power have not given satisfactory results. Methods currently employed by a few laboratories can be classified either as biological or chemical. In the former method, the soil is incubated under optimum conditions and the amount of nitrate released over a given period of time is measured and used as an index to the nitrogen supplying power of the soil. In the latter method a portion of the total nitrogen is released by chemical means and measured. An attempt is made using chemical methods to release the same amount or a constant portion of the amount of nitrogen that normally would be furnished to a growing plant by the soil during one season.

Structure of songs and organization of singing in 133 Fox Sparrows Passerella iliaca were studied during 2 breeding seasons in 3 geographically separate populations in northern Utah and southern Idaho. The structure of songs was analyzed with the aid of an audiospectrograph. The organization of the singing of songs in 56 birds was analyzed by applying Markov chain analyses to the sequences of songs uttered. Songs were composed of sy lla bl e- types , of which 49 were recognized. Syllabl e- types could occur sing ly or be seria lly repeated within songs, but they were never fractured so that onl y a portion of one wo ul d be in evidence. Songs were categorized into 5 major types (A, B, C, D, and E) on the basis of the uniformity amo ng individuals in the sequences of sy llable-types which were used to form so ngs . Most song-types were easily characterized by a particular sequence of syllable- types used in forming the terminal portions of the songs, but song-type D was most easily characterized by a sequence of syllable-types near the beginning of the song. Although the sequences of syllable-types forming songs were sufficiently distinct so that the songs could be assigned to a particular major song-type, there were consistent variations among individuals in the sequences of syllable-types composing their songs. Such variants were termed song-versions. The variation in the syllable-types composing songs tended to be restricted to the first halves of the songs. About one half of all the individuals recorded sang more than one version of some particular song-type, usually B or C. Individual birds used a mean number of 8.2 syllable-types in the formation of each song. The mean number of syllable-types used in forming song-types A, B, C, D, and E in 1973 and 1974 were 7.5 -7.7, 8.5-7.6, 7.8-7.8, 9.4-9.4, and 9.0-7.5, respective ly. Few variations were evident among individuals in the mean number of syllable-types or song-types that constituted their repertoires. Differences in the mean number of syllable-types composing similar song-types were al so of little magnitude. Significant differences were evident in the number of syllable-types possessed by individuals having repertories of 2, 3, and 4 songs. Those birds which possessed the largest repertoires of songs exhibited the greatest number of syllable-types. Six color-banded individuals did not change the size or structure of their syllable-type or song-type repertoires during the year or between years. Singing was organized into discrete bouts in which each song of an individual tended to be presented with equal frequency of occurrence. The ordering of songs within singing bouts occurred in particular sequences, with each song being sung once. After a bird had sung all of its songs once, it would begin the sequence over again. The order in which a bird presented its songs did not change with the passage of time, it was not related to the song-types the bird possessed, and it did not appear to be affected by the sequence of songs being sung by neighboring Fox Sparrows. Markov cha in analysis of the ordering of songs described the sequencing as a first-order Markov chain in all but three birds. A higher order Markov chain was most appropriate for those three birds which were not described by a first-order Markov chain. Intra- and interpopulation variations in most of the parameters of song which were considered demonstrated little variation within any of the 3 populations between years or among populations in either of the 2 years . Cluster analyses of the geographic distribution of syllabletypes and song-types reiterated that the incidence of syllable-types and song-types tended to be uniform within and among the populations. The most distinctive group of individuals, based upon the presence or absence of syllable-types and song-types, was the northernmost population. The southernmost population of birds tended to demonstrate the most variability in their possession of syllable-types and song-types. Comparison of the structure of song in Fox Sparrows with other species of the Emberizidae showed that Fox Sparrows' song structuring was not directly analogous to that of any other emberizid, although the structures of Fox Sparrow songs and syllable-types were not sufficiently different that they could not be recognized as belonging to a member of the Emberizidae. The structure of Fox Sparrow song is most similar to that of their nearest relatives, Melospiza, especially M. melodia, whereas song structuring in Fox Sparrows is less similar to that in the species of the genera Zonotrichia and Junco. The variations which were present in the structure of individuals' songs and the geographic distributions of syllable-types and song-types were considered to reflect geographic variation rather than dialects. It is proposed that Fox Sparrows learn their songs early in life, as does Zonotrichia leucophrys, and that song may encode messages which allow others to recognize the singer's sex, location, marital status, motivation, and species and individual identity. It is suspected that Fox Sparrow songs do not have great capability of conveying the population affiliation of the singer. It is proposed that the various songs of individual Fox Sparrows are of equal valence with respect to intraspecific interactions, and that this suspicion associated with other factors concerning the organization of singi ng in Fox Sparrows indicates the order in which a bird presents its songs is learned early in life and it is retained unaltered.

This study compared the effects of nitrogen sources on the available inorganic soil nitrogen, nitrogen movement, nitrogen losses, and wheat yields when nitrogen fertilizers were applied to soil planted to dryland winter wheat at the Blue Creek Experimental Station in northern Utah. In the fall 1973 soil samplings, the fertilizers producing the largest mineral nitrogen contents in the 0-30 cm soil depths were ammonium nitrate >ammonium sulfate > S-coated urea, when they were broadcast at the practical rate of 56 kg N/ha. There was no increase in the mineral nitrogen at the dee per depths in the fall or at any depth in the following spring. Statistically, the three nitrogen sources did not increase grain yield significantly but did increase grain protein content and nitrogen content in grain. Ammonium nitrate and potassium bromide at the rates of 400 kg N and 200 kg Br/ha were broadcast to soil planted to winter wheat in October 1974. Nitrate-nitrogen and bromide distribution patterns in the soil profile looked alike in May 1975. These showed that their movements were similar. Considerable nitrate-nitrogen (35 percent of the added nitrogen) had moved down below the 120 cm depth. The highest nitrate-nitrogen concentrations were found at the 45 to 90 cm depth. There seems to be evidence that nitrate-nitrogen and bromide had moved deeper than the 150 cm depth. Ammonia-nitrogen losses from nitrogen fertilized soils were conducted in the laboratory. Ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, or urea applied to the soil surface lost ammonia-nitrogen differently. From noncolcoreous soil, the ammonia-nitrogen loss was greatest from urea. From calcareous soil or soils receiving carbonates or high soil pH by the addition of sodium hydroxide solution, the greatest losses were from ammonium sulfate. High losses were favored by high temperatures and longer periods of moist soil. The total amounts of water lost from the soil was not closely related to the total ammonia-nitrogen loss during two weeks. No loss of ammonia-nitrogen occurred when nitrogen fertilizers were applied at a 2.5 em depth or deeper. The ammonia-nitrogen losses were also greatly reduced when nitrogen fertilizers applied to the soil surface was followed by irrigation or heavy rainfall. In the field, the higher temperatures increased the ammonia-nitrogen losses from ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, and urea when applied to both a noncalcareous and a calcareous soil. However, the loss from calcareous soil was reduced by irrigation following fertilizer application. No ammonia-nitrogen was observed when ammonium sulfate was applied to o 2.5 cm soil depth, despite of the high soil temperature during the day time in moist soil. Rapid drying of the moist soil surface quickly reduced the losses per day.

Purpose of Study. The ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus torquatus Gmelin) is well enough known to need no introduction. It is at present undoubtedly the most abundant and most important gallinaceous game bird in northern Utah. Its abundance and its occurrence in agricultural areas has stimulated much general interest. Yet, aside from two food habits studies, both conducted in Utah County, no intensive research has been made into its ecological relationships or its general life history in Utah. In order to formulate sound management plans for the pheasant in Utah, the Utah Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit has felt the need for basic information regarding its mortality phases, movements, food habits, habitat preferences, interspecific relationships, and its effect on cultivated crops and the effect of farm practices upon its numbers and distributions.

Fifty-seven Trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) were translocated to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the Bear River Club Company in northern Utah. The purpose of this effort was to encourage dispersal of the Rocky Mountain population of Trumpeter swans during the winter, and to reestablish a migratory route to southern wintering grounds. I assessed the success of the translocation by evaluating 13 translocation criteria proposed in the literature. In this study I addressed two of these criteria in detail by evaluating habitat quality at the translocation sites and by analyzing potential competitive interactions with Tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus). Habitat quality was determined by analyzing the spatial distribution of sago pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus) tubers in wetland sediments before the fall and after the spring migration of Tundra swans. Sixty-four transects were established within the study sites with 10 sediment cores per transect. Geostatistical procedures were employed to account for autocorrelation between samples. Tuber biomass was not randomly distributed within the studied wetlands. In fact, discrete areas of high values appeared to exist before and after swan foraging . It is not likely that sago pondweed tubers are limiting swan abundance in this system. Thus, the habitat quality of the study sites is sufficient for Trumpeter swan translocation. Potential competitive interactions with Tundra swans were evaluated by examining differences in resource utilization patterns of the two species. I measured body size differences, dietary overlap, resource availability, and the efficiency of extracting available resources. Trumpeter swans appear to benefit from a larger body size and a longer neck because they are more efficient in extracting tubers from the sediment, and are able to exploit tubers to a greater sediment depth than Tundra swans. However, Trumpeter swans incur higher traveling costs due to the larger body size. The trade-off between higher foraging efficiency of Trumpeter swans and higher traveling efficiency of Tundra swans may be a potential mechanism for coexistence. Lack of support by governmental and non-governmental agencies did not allow for more than one year of translocation. Even though the Trumpeter swan translocation in 1996 was successful, I concluded that the Utah translocation program failed because the translocation did not meet translocation goals.

Aboveground biomass, litter biomass and root biomass of a crested wheatrgrass (Agropyron desertorum [Fisch.] Schult.) dominated community were inventoried in the fall of 1971, 1972, and 1973. In addition, energy, nitrogen, fats and ash determinations were made on the materials collected in 1972 and 1973. The sampling methods used generated data sufficiently precise to detect significant differences (α = .10) among biomass components among years. The chemical contents of the components were similar in the fall of 1972 and the fall of 1973 despite the large differences in growing season precipitation. A simple linear regression formula was generated from which aboveground biomass was predicted using individual plant volume as the independent variable. Regression techniques were tried in an effort to use aboveground biomass to predict root and litter biomass. This approach proved unsuccessful because of high variability within the data. Changes in the biomass of the components were analyzed with respect to differing precipitation regimes. Aboveground biomass responded positively and linearly to increasing growing season precipitation. Litter biomass decreased as current growing season precipitation increased. However, litter increased as a function of increasing previous-growing-season precipitation. Root biomass decreased with increasing previous-growing-season precipitation. It was found that both litter:shoot and root:shoot ratios decreased as a function of increasing growing season precipitation.

Mule deer provide recreational bunting to a large number of sportsmen in Utah, and also have a high aesthetic value. Prior to settlement, deer are believed to have wintered in the valleys and lower foothill areas. However, in northern Utah agricultural development bas removed many valleys and lower foothill areas from the available winter range. The winter deer range in this area has therefore been restricted to a relatively small area of foothill country, and low elevation mountain slopes and benches.