The Western Cape population of Blue Cranes (Anthropoides paradiseus) is the largest and most stable population for the species. The population is primarily threatened by high mortality due to collisions with power-lines and the development of wind farms. Yet, little is known about how this population uses the agricultural landscape and their movements. Thirteen Blue Cranes were fitted with trackers to collect Global Position System data and tracked for 3 – 18 months in the Overberg region of the Western Cape. With the provided spatial-temporal information, I estimated the home range size, daily flight distances, and distance travelled throughout the day of breeding and non-breeding cranes to determine whether the breeding status/season influences their ranging behaviour. There was no significant difference of the home range size between breeding cranes and non-breeding cranes (p > 0.05). There was also no significant difference of the home range size of breeding cranes between their seasons (p > 0.05). Breeding cranes travelled significantly shorter daily flight distances than non-breeding cranes (p < 0.05). Breeding cranes also travelled significantly shorter daily distances during the breeding season than the non-breeding season (p < 0.01). All cranes, regardless of breeding status or season, travelled further distances in the morning, decreasing distance during the midday and early afternoon with an increase in the late afternoon. Breeding cranes travelled shorter distances throughout the day than non-breeding cranes during the breeding season (p < 0.001). Lastly, breeding cranes travelled significantly shorter distances throughout the day in the breeding season than the non-breeding season (p < 0.001). From this study the results suggest that factors other than breeding status influence the ranging behaviour of these cranes. Factors such as the availability of roost and forage sites, the agricultural landscape of the Overberg and the presence of other Blue Cranes could also affect ranging behaviour. Although this study does not give clear guidelines on the movement of the population, it establishes a baseline for further studies into factors that affect their ranging behaviour and can still be used to aid in conservation strategies for the species. Future studies should focus on recording their time budgets, including overnight GPS fixes and assessing ranging behaviour over multiple years.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of climatic variations upon the daily activities of grazing cattle. The activities of individual cows on a partially seeded salt desert shrub range were observed and recorded during three grazing periods. Two of the periods were during consecutive winters and the other during the spring. Climatic variations during the second winter period were quantified and compared to changes in the daily activity patterns of the cattle. Distinctly different daily routines of cattle activities were evident for the winter and spring seasons. In the spring, the cattle grazed, traveled, and drank more each day than they did during the winter months. The increase in these activities was attributed to the more temperate climatic conditions and the higher energy demands of lactation. Air temperature, changes in barometric pressure, windspeed, precipitation, snow depth, and radiation all influenced cattle activities in the winter. Decreasing air temperature and rapid fluctuations in barometric pressure both correlated significantly with increased grazing time. Increasing windspeed and greater snow depth caused the cattle to travel less distance daily. The cattle ceased grazing during snowstorms. They oriented themselves at right angles to the sun while standing and lying. The modifications which occurred in daily activity patterns were shown to be apparently directed toward the conservation of energy during periods of climatic stress.

Northern Elkhorn Mountain was unmapped previous to this investigation. The mapped area is located north of Malad City, Idaho, in the Bannock Range. It is within the Basin and Range Province. The mapped area measures 5.4 mi. in the north-south direction and 8.9 mi. in the east-west direction. The oldest exposed stratigraphic unit, within the mapped area, consists of orthoquartzite and is of Early Cambrian age. Cambrian formations of the mapped area, in ascending order, are as follows: Camelback Mountain Quartzite, Gibson Jack Formation, Elkhead Formation, Bloomington Formation, Nounan Formation, and St. Charles Formation. Units of Ordovician age are the Garden City and Swan Peak Formations. The youngest unit of Paleozoic age, found within the mapped area, is the Fish Haven-Laketown Formation of Ordovician-­Silurian age. Rock types comprising the Paleozoic units are orthoquartzite, limestone, dolostone, and shale. Tertiary units present, within the area, are the Salt Lake Formation and volcanic rocks with the composition of andesite. These units occur only in isolated parts of the mapped area. Colluvial and alluvial deposits of Quaternary age are present in the valley west of Elkhorn Mountain and in the southeastern and northeastern parts of the mapped area. Numerous high-angle normal faults dominate the structure of the area. They trend generally north and northwest. A major high-angle normal fault extends along the western side of Elkhorn Mountain and is responsible for the present topographic relief. Several small asymmetrical anticlines and a low-angle thrust fault are also present. The structural features, within the area, resulted from two major periods of crustal deformation. The first event was the Laramide orogeny. Compressional forces, generated during this event, produced the anticlines and the thrust fault. Movement was eastward. The second event was Basin and Range faulting. It produced the high­-angle normal faults. Basin and Range faultinq has been active from Oligocene to Holocene. The marginal normal fault, west of Elkhorn· Mountain, is probably active at the present time.

The intimate relationship between vegetation and soil has long been a subject of interest. Ecologists, soil surveyors, and ranchers have recognized that vegetation differences are often accompanied by variation in soil types.

The fracture-dominated Tony Grove alpine karst system in the Bear River Range in north-central Utah, has caves ranging from 5m deep, consisting of solution-enlarged single fractures, to the large, 374m deep, Main Drain Cave, characterized by a series of vertical drops and horizontal passages. The caves int he Tony Grove area are developed throughout the 510m thick Fish Haven and Laketown Dolomites. The Swan Peak Formation, consisting of orthoquartzite and shale, underlies the dolomites. Surface fracture measurements (n=3502) yielded two distinctive sets of fractures. The northeast-southwest sets had a mean orientation of 41±0.7° and the northwest-southeast set with a mean of 133±5°. Of the sixteen caves surveyed for fractures and passages, fifteen were controlled by fractures, although some caves had both facture-and non-fracture-controlled passages. Only one cave was entirely non-fracture controlled, likely due to a change in lithology. Main Drain Cave, the only cave with long horizontal passages, was surveyed for both fracture and stratigraphic influences on horizontal cave development. Results indicate some sections are controlled by southeast-trending-fractures and other sections are controlled by southwest-dipping-bedding planes. Alternatively, parts of the down-dip-oriented sections may be influenced by southwest-oriented fractures. Stratigraphic control in this cave includes cherty layers that appear to hinder down-cutting of passages into lower stratigraphic units. Surface mapping determined that there is a southeast-oriented fold pair east of the Logan Peak Syncline, consisting of the Naomi Peak Syncline and the Cottonwood Canyon Anticline. The anticline merges with the Logan Peak Syncline near the head of Cottonwood Canyon. The Naomi Peak Syncline continues north-northeast through the Tony Grove area and may divert water from the Tony Grove area to Wood Camp Hollow Spring in Logan Canyon. The anticline acts as a divide between groundwater traveling southwest to Dewitt Spring and south-southeast to Wood Camp Hollow Spring. The Swan Peak Formation appears to act as a barrier to groundwater movement into the underlying formations, separating the Tony Grove system from underlying systems.

Near Logan, Utah, the Fish Haven Formation is a thick-bedded, dark-gray dolostone. The Laketown Formation, which rests on the Fish Haven, is a less resistant, medium-gray dolostone. The Ordovician-Silurian boundary has been placed locally at the top of the Fish Haven by stratigraphers, and in the lower Laketown Formation by paleontologists. Four sections of the Fish Haven and Laketown dolostones were measured near Logan, Utah. The samples from these four sections were examined using petrography, insoluble residue analyses, x- ray diffraction, quantitative and qualitative x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and statistical analysis. Petrography appears to be the best lab technique for distinguishing the two dolostones. This technique shows the grain size decreases in going from the Fish Haven Formation to the Laketown Formation. This decrease in grain size is also seen in the field. All other laboratory techniques show that the two dolostones are very similar and cannot, in general, be distinguished. To summarize, the percent insoluble residue and the percent of quartz and illite found in each formation are independent of formational boundaries. X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, and statistical analysis all show that the two formations are geochemically similar. A comparison of dolostones shows that they may, in general, be divided into two categories of pure and impure. The Fe2O3 content of pure dolostones may be less than the Fe2O3 content of impure dolostones. Other than the change in Fe2O3 content dolostones tend to be the same geochemically. This suggests that the process of dolomitization tends to obliterate any differences which may have originally existed and make all dolostones essentially uniform in composition.

Wellsville Mountain forms the extreme northern end of the Wasatch Range in northern Utah. It lies at the western margin of the Middle Rocky Mountain province and is bordered by valleys of the Basin and Range province. Many geologic investigations have been made in this region. Much of the Wasatch Range has been studied and mapped as well as parts of the Bear River Range, east of Cache Valley, and the Malad Range which extends north from Wellsville Mountain; however, the geology of Wellsville Mountain has not been studied or mapped in detail. Some reconnaissance mapping has been done and sections of Cambrian and Pennsylvanian formations have been measured on the western mountain front (Maxey, 1941; Williams, 1943), but little is known about the middle Paleozoic formations and the structural geology of the northern part of the mountain.

Seeding deteriorated range lands efficiently and economically has become one of the most promising means of improving the agricultural economy of the western range states. By providing the most rapid means of increasing the quantity and improving the quality of forage for livestock, and aiding in the prevention of soil erosion, artificial seeding contributes directly to the stability of agriculture.

The economic effects, to the Utah range-sheep operation and to the economy of the state of Utah, of predation upon sheep were studied by use of a personal interview survey. This survey sampled 20 percent of the range-sheep operations in Utah. The sheep and lamb death loss from predation was found to be 61.0 sheep and lambs per 1,000 head of ewes in fiscal 1969. The survey. also showed that 71.36 percent of the losses were lambs and 28.64 percent were ewes. The total economic·lpss to Utah sheep ranchers was calculated to be 1,062,502 dollars as a result of predation, in fiscal year 1969. Using the Type II multiplier of 4.330 for the livestock industry, published by the University of Utah, the total economic loss, resulting from predation upon sheep and lambs, to all sectors of the economy of the state of Utah, was determined as 3,901,854 dollars The bounty system was found to be the least costly method of controlling predators, followed by private control methods. The Utah District, Division of Wildlife Services, had the highest control cost per predator, and this increased drastically when a change of name and changes in personnel and policies were instituted for this federal predator control agency.

The United States Government controls about 359 million acres of land in the 11 Western States. This vast acreage produces recreation for vacationers, timber for lumbermen, water for city and rural consumption, forage for livestock and wildlife, and minerals for miners. In many cases, the users of these products are competing and are clamoring for a large share of this land. Consequently, land use is continually changing. Since 1941, the amount of timber cut has tripled, recreation has doubled, watersheds now yield a better quality of water (Clawson, 1957), forage for wildlife has increased but forage for livestock use has decreased. The public agencies (especially the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management) that administer this federally controlled land are vitally concerned about being able to effectively and fairly allocate its use. In order that decisions may be made in the light of economic criteria, these agencies are promoting studies in the area of each of the land uses listed above. In cases where society demands other than the greatest economic good, the costs of satisfying the "right" use needs to be determined.