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.

Blood samples were collected from 602 white-tailed deer (WTD) (Odocoileus virginianus) between October 2008 – October 2009, from 15 different counties throughout Texas. White-tailed deer were evaluated for serum biochemical parameters (total protein, albumin, calcium serum, phosphorus, glucose, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, total bilirubin, creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, globulins, albumins to globulins ratio, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and magnesium) and the following variables were recorded: age, gender, county of collection, season, capture method, and status based on captive or free-ranging. The 14 biochemical parameters were compared for WTD among age groups fawns (<12 months), yearlings (≥12 months - <24 months) and adults (≥24 months), gender, season (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter), status (captive or free-ranging) and capture method (physical restraint, anesthetized using physical restraint method of drug administration, anesthetized using dart gun method of drug administration, drop-netted, net-gunned, or hunter harvested). The data collected for these parameters was used to establish normal ranges for a comprehensive metabolic panel (serum chemistry panel) for WTD in Texas. These reference ranges will be used for both captive and free-ranging WTD to improve diagnostic screening and disease monitoring. Captive vs. free-ranging status was statistically significant in WTD for 7 of the 14 physiological parameters. Significant differences and trends were observed among the three age groups. Calcium and phosphorus had an inverse relationship with age, while glucose had a direct relationship with age. Gender was statistically significant for 7 of 14 parameters. Anesthetized WTD vs. non-anesthetized had the greatest impact on mean blood chemistry values. Values for total serum protein, albumin, calcium, phosphorus, and globulins were higher for non-anesthetized WTD. Glucose, BUN, and AST mean values for higher for anesthetized WTD.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in the United States have increased in recent years, particularly in urban and suburban landscapes where traditional measures of population control are difficult to implement. As a result of rapid urban development in the last several years, the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) located southeast of the Houston, Texas metroplex has become a refuge for an increasing, isolated urban white-tailed deer population. The use of the immunocontraceptive SpayVac™ has been proposed as a feasible measure in controlling the JSC deer population; however, the potential effects of the vaccine on deer movements are unknown. Furthermore, there is a need to estimate deer densities when using intensive management practices (e.g., contraceptive program) which requires an assessment of methods to estimate urban deer densities. The objectives of my study were to (1) compare female movements and ranges between deer treated with SpayVac™ versus non-treated (control) deer, (2) determine if the timing of SpayVac™ treatment affected efficacy, and (3) compare mark-resight and distance sampling methodologies in estimating urban deer densities. I captured and radio-marked 59 adult female deer at JSC. I found annual ranges between treated (mean 95% kernel = 82 ha, mean 50% kernel = 11 ha) and control (mean 95% kernel = 77 ha, mean 50% kernel = 11 ha) deer were similar (P > 0.05). Furthermore, I found daily movements between treated (mean = 430 m) and control (mean = 403 m) deer also were similar (P > 0.05). The use of SpayVac™ did not alter movements and ranges of treated deer, and is unlikely to increase deer-vehicle collisions due to increased movements. I found the timing efficacy (i.e., time needed for vaccine to prevent pregnancy) of SpayVac™ was 0% for does treated closer to the breeding season than previously believed. For JSC, this expands the application time for SpayVac™ treatment to a 5-6 month window rather than the 2-3 month window as previously recommended. I found mark-resight estimates (160-174 deer) were congruent with minimum known alive estimates at JSC (158), whereas distance sampling estimates (83-114) were biased low. The use of non-random road counts likely resulted in the low estimates using distance sampling. I recommend that future efforts to monitor population densities at JSC use mark-resight estimates along with the on-going contraceptive program.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 19, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-167). Also available in PDF format via the Internet.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references.

No description available.

No description available.

In the Canadian prairies, native grasslands have been largely replaced by an agricultural landscape with a mosaic of habitats now better described as aspen parkland. Although habitat requirements of true prairie Buteo species, Swainson's (Buteo swainsoni) and ferruginous hawks (B. regalis), are relatively well identified, little is known about habitat use by red-tailed hawks (B. jamaicensis ) in this ecoregion. This study, evaluating productivity and habitat selection of red-tailed hawks breeding in aspen parkland, was conducted on Prairie Habitat Joint Venture (PHJV) assessment sites in central Saskatchewan in 1997 and 1998. Red-tailed hawk nesting densities and productivity were determined at three sites. Home ranges were mapped. Macrohabitat use and availability data were generated from digitized aerial photographs of PHJV assessment sites using a Geographic Information system. Microhabitat variables were measured in 0.04 ha plots centered on nests and random locations. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Chaerephon (Dobson, 1874), an Old World genus belonging to the family Molossidae, is part of the suborder Vespertilioniformes. Members of this genus are distributed across mainland Africa (sample sites; Tanzania, Yemen, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland), its offshore islands (Zanzibar, Pemba and Mozambique Island), Madagascar and the surrounding western Indian Ocean islands (Anjouan, Mayotte, Moheli, Grande Comore, Aldabra and La Reunion). A multifaceted approach was used to elucidate the phylogenetic and population genetic relationships at varying levels amongst these different taxa. Working at the subspecific level, I analysed the phylogenetics and phylogeography of Chaerephon leucogaster from Madagascar, based on mitochondrial cytochrome b and control region sequences. Cytochrome b genetic distances among C. leucogaster samples were low (maximum 0.35 %). Genetic distances between C. leucogaster and C. atsinanana ranged from 1.77 % to 2.62 %. Together, phylogenetic and distance analyses supported the classification of C. leucogaster as a separate species. D-loop data for C. leucogaster samples revealed significant but shallow phylogeographic structuring into three latitudinal groups (13º S, 15 - 17º S, 22 - 23º S) showing exclusive haplotypes which correlated with regions of suitable habitat defined by ecological niche modelling. Population genetic analysis of D-loop sequences indicated that populations from Madagascar have been expanding since 5 842 - 11 143 years BP. At the infra-generic level, I carried out analyses of sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and control region, and the nuclear RAG2 region, to resolve the evolutionary history and taxonomy of the C. pumilus species complex from Africa and the western Indian Ocean islands. The nominate form comprised C. pumilus from Massawa, Eritrea, and this was genetically distinct from all other forms of Chaerephon. Our molecular evidence does not support that the syntype of C. limbatus and the holotypes of C. elphicki and C. langi and topotype of C. naivashae are specifically distinct from C. pumilus s.s. There is evidence of introgression of both C. pusillus and C. pumilus s.l. (south eastern Africa) mitochondrial haplotypes into C. leucogaster. The C. pumilus species complex has several attributes of a ring species, but appears to differ from this model in some important respects. It occurs on the African mainland and western Indian Ocean Islands, including Madagascar, ringing a potential barrier to gene flow, the Mozambique Channel. The taxa within the species complex form a ring in which the differentiated terminal forms, C. pusillus and C. leucogaster, occur in sympatry on Mayotte (Comoro Islands). Although there is evidence of isolation by distance around the ring, there is also a relatively high degree of genetic structure and limited gene flow. It appears that the island-based component species may have differentiated in allopatry, with some gene flow by over water dispersal, whereas the African mainland species may have differentiated through isolation by distance. A further study was aimed at re-examining the phylogeny of C. pumilus sensu lato from south eastern Africa based on a considerably larger sample set with a wider geographic range; I confirmed the previously-reported phylogenetic structure, and identified an additional strongly-supported control region clade. Discriminant Function Analysis based on four echolocation parameters could not discriminate between these clades. The hypothesised existence of cryptic species with distinct echolocation characteristics was not supported. Indices of diversity and neutrality, combined with a ragged multimodal mismatch distribution, are inconsistent with demographic expansion of a single C. pumilus south eastern African population and suggest that the control region lineages are stable populations at demographic equilibrium that were established during the late Pleistocene between 60 000 and 13 000 years ago. Further, more variable markers (microsatellites) were employed for finer-scale resolution of population genetic structure among the five genetic lineages of C. pumilus sensu lato found in the Durban area of KwaZulu-Natal, and to search for hybridization between these lineages. We recovered strong mitochondrial genetic structure, with 90% of the molecular variance occurring among four phylogenetically-defined groups, and a high significant Fst (0.897). Microsatellite data recovered three admixed populations with 3% of the nuclear variance occurring among populations, and global (Fst=0.037) and pairwise Fst values among populations were low and not significant. This is indicative of little genetic structure among the groups of C. pumilus s.l., which appear to comprise a single interbreeding population. Such high levels of mitochondrial genetic structure in the absence of significant nuclear structure are consistent with social isolation mechanisms such as female philopatry, and may reflect introgression of mitochondrial genes due to past hybridisation events with mitochondrially-distinct forms from outside the sampled area. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.