Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on July 23, 2009). "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2003. / Title from title page screen (viewed Mar. 18, 2004). Thesis advisor: Lisa I. Muller. Document formatted into pages (v, 61 p. : col. ill., maps (some col.)). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-60).

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1957 B76 / Master of Science

The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) is endangered due to habitat destruction with less than 3500 individuals remaining in isolated fragments of South-West India. Lion-tailed macaques do not reproduce readily in captivity and captive breeding may be relied upon for future conservation. Poor welfare can have negative effects on reproduction so it is important that lion-tailed macaque welfare is examined in captive groups. The aims of this thesis were to understand certain aspects of lion-tailed macaque welfare (behaviour and HPA physiology) in captive populations, with the view to making suggestions for management to promote the species' welfare and reproduction. Behaviour (188 hours), urine (n=133) and faecal samples (n=294) were collected from 38 lion-tailed macaques housed in four groups at the North of England Zoological Society (Chester Zoo), Bristol Zoological Gardens, Assiniboine Park Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park. The study successfully developed and validated assays to detect cortisol in lion-tailed macaque urine and faeces. The assays were then subsequently used to explore behaviour and HPA activity in these endangered primates. The institution in which the individuals were housed and basic life history parameters (age and sex) were explored to further understand the interplay between behaviour and physiology. Social relationships were assessed by measuring proximity (inter-individual distances and time spent in "arms-reach"). Finally the effect of visitors on behaviour, HPA activity and enclosure use was explored. There was significant variation between institutions in behaviour and HPA activity but not proximity. The age of lion-tailed macaques modified their behaviour, but not their HPA activity or proximity. The sex of lion-tailed macaques did not modify behaviour, HPA activity or proximity. The effect of visitors on lion-tailed macaques in the current study is not clear and confirms previous research on the visitor effect on captive primates. It can be concluded from this research that lion-tailed macaques are sensitive to the environment in which they are housed, indicating factors which may have negative effects on their captive breeding rates and ability to cope with habitat fragmentation for population's in-situ. The study has highlighted the need for each captive and wild group of lion-tailed macaques to be considered and monitored separately with regard to welfare and breeding.

Mirror image stimulation (MIS) is reported to elicit persistent social responses in monkeys, in contrast to most humans and great apes, who exhibit self-recognition. The abnormal features of a mirror image as a social stimulus have generally been ignored in monkey reports, whereas research with other animals has identified some important differences between MIS and other stimuli. Differential agitation during separations in peer-reared and mirror-reared infant stumptail monkeys suggests that even the limited opportunity for physical contact with a reflection renders it a sub- optimal attachment-eliciting stimulus. Mirror-rearing appeared to only slightly diminish responsiveness to pictures of conspecifics, compared to peer-rearing. Animals reared with no form of social stimulation exhibited less responsiveness to pictorial stimuli, and engaged in more abnormal and self-directed behaviours than mirror- or peer-reared animals, indicating that a mirror can at least partly compensate for the absence of a true social companion during rearing. The extent of abnormal behaviours in alone-reared stumptail monkeys appears to be considerably less than that reported in rhesus monkeys. The mirror was reacted to as a social partner by mirror-reared animals, and correlations between behaviours, and between measures of a single behaviour, were similar in mirror- and peer-reared groups. However, a live cagemate received 50% more social behaviour than did a reflection, with play behaviours producing group differences in rate, duration, bout length, and variability. MIS or a peer behind Perspex reduced separation agitation in pair-reared but not group-reared infants. In comparison to a peer behind Perspex, MIS received positive responses in mirror-reared and pair-reared animals, whereas group-reared animals reacted more ambivalently to the abnormal animal represented in the mirror. Those mirror-reared animals who received additional experience of a peer behind Perspex during rearing reduced responding to the mirror, whereas responsiveness in mirror-only-reared animals persisted. Peer-only-reared animals were also highly responsive to MIS, possibly due to novelty. Alone-reared subjects, when tested in a familiar setting, were the most responsive of all the subjects to MIS. None of the subjects exhibited self-recognition, even although some had approximately 3,500 hours of experience of a triple mirror image effect, and an additional six months group mirror experience. Some results were obtained with small numbers of subjects, so caution is required in interpretation.

Various physical and biological factors affecting annual productivity in a Red-tailed Hawk population in north-central Oregon were investigated. The percentage of the population successfully fledging one or more young was the most important factor in determining the number of young fledged per pair in a given year. Neither clutch size nor the number of young fledged per successful nest varied significantly. Percent pair success was correlated with several January weather variables. A cold and dry January is positively correlated with Red-tailed Hawk productivity. This is apparently related to the onset of rapid vegetative growth and this in turn is positively correlated with the timing of the emergence and reproductive cycle of the principal prey, Belding’s and Townsend's ground squirrels, (Turner 1972). Because a cold and dry January delays the emergence of ground squirrels, the period of emergence and dispersal of the young squirrels more closely corresponds to the time of peak food needs of the young Red-tailed Hawks, and greater pair success is observed. This relative abundance of prey appears to be of greater importance than actual abundance. Red-tailed Hawk productivity was found to correlate significantly with two habitat variables & the presence of adequate numbers of dispersed hunting perches and relative ground squirrel abundance. The presence of one or more perches per sixteenth section provided the best single correlation. Neither territory size nor competition from interspecifically territorial Swainson's Hawks were correlated with productivity of Red-tailed Hawk territories. Red-tailed Hawks with inhabited dwellings within their territories fledged significantly more young than those without.

The problems associated with habitat loss and habitat fragmentation are larely responsible for a decline in biodiversity around the world, yet there are relatively few studies targeting declining populations to determine which aspects of resource availability actually limit population size. The endangered south-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhychus banksii graptogyne is highly specialised, feeding almost entirely on seeds of the closely related stringybark eucalypts Eucalyptus arenacea and Eucalyptus baxteri. The primary objective of the present study was to assess the effects of prescribed burns on food availability to the cockatoos. The problem was approached by first, identifying the key components of food availability (capsule quantity, food value per capsule and tree characteristics) influencing the selection of trees and sites for foraging by the cockatoos, and second, by assessing the impact of prescribed burns on these components and levels of habitat use by the cockatoos. The issue of fire management was thus considered in the context of food availability for the cockatoo population, and in relation to other factors such as periodicities between seed crops and edge effects. Phenology was monitored at six sites to assess patterns of seed production for the two species of stringybark, within and between years. Years of high seed production were followed by years of negligible seed production for both species, but the two species did not produce seed crops in the same year. E. baxteri fruited on an approximate two-to-four year cycle while E. arenacea fruited more consistently on a three year cycle. Sightings records for the south-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo population indicated that the cockatoos moved from regions dominated by E. arenacea into those dominated by E. baxteri following the production of a new seed crop on the latter species. These results suggest that the cockatoos fed almost entirely on the species that had fruited most recently, presumably because new seed crops were depleted to a lesser extent than old seed crops. Comparison of various resource characteristics between feed trees and other trees suggested that aspects of capsule quantity such as capsule density (capsules per branch), crop size (capsules per tree) and cluster size (capsules per pedicel) were more important than aspects of capsule profitability (food value per capsule) in determining food supply for the cockatoos. Foraging observations further demonstrated that cockatoos feeding on branches with high capsule density (> 100 capsules per branch) processed 17 % more capsules per unit time than those feeding on branches with low capsule density (< 100 capsules per branch). These results confirmed that the cockatoos forage less efficiently when feeding on branches with low capsule density. Moreover, the percentage of the day spent foraging increased as the seed crop aged from 52 % for February 2001 to 73 % for February 2002 and 88 % for July 2002, suggesting that foraging efficiency declined as the seed crop aged and was depleted. An extensive survey comparing aspects of capsule availability and levels of habitat use between sites varying in time since fire (3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and > 25 years since fire) was used to assess the effects of prescirbed burns on food availability. The survey indicated that prescribed burns have a prolonged and substantial impact on all measures of capsule availability, with effects lasting approximately ten years. It was estimated that trees burnt in the last ten years produced approximately half as much seed as those in long unburt areas. Correspondingly, the percentage of trees used by cockatoos was much lower in burnt areas thatn unburnt areas, increasing steadily as time since fire progressed. An additional survey comparing measures of capsule availability between trees with different levels of canopy scorch (100 %, 50 %, 10-20 % and unburnt groups) was used to determine the effect of fire intensity on subsequent capsule availability. The standing crop of trees (crop size) was approximately inversely proportional to the percentage of canopy scorched. This finding suggests that reducing canopy scorch by lowering the intensity of prescribed burns is an effective way to reduce the effects of prescribed burns on seed availability to the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo. Comparisons of edge trees with interior trees showed that trees at edges produced approximately twice as many capsules per tree. However, the edge effect was restricted to the outermost fringes of remnants, and the cockatoos only used edge trees slightly more intensively than interior trees, but the effect would provide little compensation for the extensive loss of feeding habitat previously incurred. There was substantial evidence in the present study to suggest that food availability may be limiting the south-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo population. This evidence was as follows : ( 1 ) the high percentage of time spent foraging when compared with other Black Cockatoo species, which increased as the seed crop aged and was depleted ; ( 2 ) the high rates of habitat use ( 100 % of unburnt sites were used by cockatoos ; 64 % of trees were used per site ) : ( 3 ) The use of nearly all burnt sites, despite their generally lower productivity : and ( 4 ) the observation that individual sites were re-visited by flocks of cockatoos several times over the course of the study. Therefore, it is essential that the habitat be managed to maximise seed availability. In particular, the study demonstrated that reducing the intensity of prescribed burns has the potential to significantly increase food supply to the cockatoos. Improvements to fire management, when combined with strategic revegetation programmes, have the potential to secure and improve the conservation status of the endangered south-eastern Red-tailed Black Cockatoo. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, 2005.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is an intensively managed game species throughout Texas and the United States. Modeling is a tool that has been used to evaluate various management practices and their potential impacts on wildlife populations; however, many existing models are complicated for the average land manager, require a significant amount of demographic data that may not be readily available, or require expensive software. I developed a white-tailed deer (WTD) harvest model, Texas Deer Manager (TDM), using STELLA® (High Performance Systems, Inc., Version 7.0.3) and NetSim Creator® (High Performance Systems, Inc. Version 2.0), that incorporates the field data that are currently collected and/or can be easily collected, and can be used by interested landowners and state biologists. Unlike other population models specific for WTD, my TDM simulation model has an easy-to-use interface and is available on-line via the Internet. Age classes in the model are represented as fawns (<12 months), yearlings (1-2 years), and adults (>2 years) for each sex. Harvest is controlled by the model user. Currently the parameters such as survival and fecundity rates are set for an average year in the Edwards Plateau Ecological Region of Texas; however, model users can adjust survival and fecundity based on the specifics of their land management area. The website also provides general information about WTD biology and management. I conducted an on-line survey (n = 29) to evaluate the perceived usefulness and satisfaction of the TDM and website. I found that overall participants found the TDM and website were useful with 59% responding they would “probably” or “definitely” use it as a tool to help them determine their harvest plans. There seems to be a strong interest and need for a tool like the TDM and website. It would be beneficial to continue to develop the website and make it applicable for all the regions in Texas. Also, since the TDM model is easily accessible via the Internet and simple to use, it could be incorporated as a tool to teach population dynamics in the classroom.

This paper considers the high-moments and uses the skew generalized error distribution (SGED) to explain the financial market data which have leptokurtic, fat-tailed and skewness. And we compare performance with the commonly used symmetrical distribution model such as normal distribution, student¡¦s t distribution and generalized error distribution (GED). To research when returns of asset have leptokurtic and fat-tailed phenomena, what model has better predictive power for volatility forecasting? The empirical procedure is as follows: First step, make the descriptive statistics of raw data, and know that the GARCH effect should be considered, followed by selecting the optimal order of ARMA-GARCH. The second steps, make the parameter estimations of full-sample, and pick up the best model. Finally, forecast out-of-sample volatility for 1-day, 2-day, 5-day, 10-day and 20-day respectively, not only use different loss function to measure the performance, but also use DM test to compare the relative predictive power of the models under the different error distribution.