Economic impact analyses were conducted on waterfowl hunting and the logging industry in Mississippi to determine the validity of the Impact Analysis for Planning (IMPLAN) input-output software model and associated 2007 databases. Detailed expenditure profiles were collected separately for the two studies through mail, electronic, and face-toace surveys and analyzed with separate models using default data within IMPLAN itself. Additionally, for the logging industry, total economic impacts (i.e., direct, indirect, induced) were estimated within the IMPLAN model by removing the total employment for the relevant sector and calculating the impact on the state economy. This procedure was recommended by Minnesota IMPLAN Group, Incorporated (MIG, Inc.). Economic impact results derived from replicating this method were first compared to economic impact results derived with a population size of (N=2,471) loggers and second, with a sample size of (n=33) loggers. The top 20 output sectors in the state economy from both waterfowl hunting and logging expenditures were determined from model results. In turn, new data were acquired and used in each model that was more localized to the state, to replace one, two, three, and four of the top 20 sectors of importance for each industry, respectively. Multiple IMPLAN models were then reconstructed to determine economic outputs. The Mississippi default models and survey-based data default models, and survey-based data replacement models were compared, and differences in total economic outputs derived. Results using sector changes yielded different results for both industries in comparison to default values used within the model, making the case that the IMPLAN model has the potential to both understate and overstate economic impacts to Mississippi or any state economy for recreation and industry activity.

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No description available.

Human presence and recreational activities can negatively impact wildlife. Due to the popularity of human recreation along bodies of water, waterfowl populations are frequently impacted. Non-consumptive recreation can impact waterfowl by leading to unnecessary expenditure of energy, and exclusion from important feeding areas. These consequences can ultimately impact overwintering and migratory survival as well as breeding success. With recreational demands expected to increase, it is important for waterfowl and habitat managers to understand the immediate and additive impacts of recreational activities and how landscape and seasonal covariates can influence these impacts. Additionally, the presence of researchers and the popular methods used to monitor waterfowl themselves can be intrusive. As advances have been made in optics and other monitoring technologies, wildlife researchers have implemented new methods to minimize disturbance to their study organisms as well as increase efficiency and access remote areas. I conducted waterfowl distribution and behavioral surveys across 13 sites in southern Illinois during the non-breeding season (Oct-Feb) of 2020-2021. I also tested the efficacy of an affordable remote video surveillance systems compared to in-person waterfowl counts to monitor distribution and abundance of waterfowl. In person counts and proportion of behaviors were recorded every 5 minutes as well as before and after a given disturbance to 1) assess the impacts of specific recreational activities on waterfowl and 2) examine patterns in daily site usage, distribution and behavior in relation to daily numbers of disturbances events. Remote video surveillance derived counts were inaccurate and rarely detected birds when present (n=8 out of 5,754 total comparisons). When waterfowl were detected, counts often were less than the in-person counts (n=6). Major reasons for a lack of detection were limited camera resolution and field of view, weather and user error. Boating and lawn maintenance/construction had the greatest immediate impacts on waterfowl distribution and proportions of flight response. Exercise, wildlife observation, and fishing also had significant immediate impacts on waterfowl behavior and distribution but to a lesser extent. When looking at daily patterns, increasing the daily number of water-based disturbances led to lower rates of site usage by waterfowl and increased daily rates of evasive behaviors at the expense of feeding and resting. Increases in land-based disturbances (exercise, wildlife observation, and fishing) had no significant impact on daily patterns of local site usage and behaviors, suggesting birds are capable of acclimation to terrestrial recreation. Vehicular traffic had no effect on any immediate responses or daily patterns in site usage, distribution or behavior. Covariates such as cover type, urbanization, hunting season, distance from shore, and buffer size influenced how impactful non-consumptive recreation is on waterfowl. Some of the most significant findings were that larger buffer zones often minimized the immediate and additive impacts of terrestrial recreation, and birds were less likely to flee disturbance events during the hunting season. Although recreation overall does impact waterfowl, land managers can still provide opportunities for many terrestrial recreational activities, specifically by having trails and other areas of recreation further from waterfowl habitat. Partial and temporary closures to high impact activities like boating may be needed. Also, when studying waterfowl populations, remote video surveillance systems do not appear to be a viable alternative to in-person waterfowl monitoring; however, with more time for technology to improve, this method may need to be revisited.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Texas Tech University, 1986. / Title from caption (viewed on Aug. 28, 2009). Title from document title page. Includes bibliographical references. Available in PDF format via the World Wide Web.

The meta-ecosystem concept is an attempt to combine metacommunity, ecosystem and landscape ecology. In meta-ecosystems, both organismal dispersal and material movement between patches can have important effects on communities. This concept provides a more realistic framework of natural systems by considering both processes jointly. My dissertation presents a case-study of natural metaecosystems by studying the role of waterfowl in structuring zooplankton communities in prairie pothole wetlands in South Dakota. I use observations of natural wetlands, microcosm and mesocosm experiments to show how dispersal of materials and organisms by waterfowl can affect zooplankton abundance and community composition. Waterfowl are conspicuous, behaviorally adaptable, highly mobile and economically important members of wetland habitats. They are thought to have possible effects on zooplankton communities either by dispersing zooplankton propagules among wetlands or by moving nutrients into (via defecation) or out of (via consumption of macrophytes and invertebrates) wetlands. In this dissertation, I show evidence that waterfowl disperse a limited subset of locally rare zooplankton species between wetlands. I also provide experimental evidence that these dispersed species may have impacts on zooplankton community assembly. I also show how input of waterfowl excreta may sometimes have strong impacts on the local community. Very large inputs of goose excreta promote abundance and diversity of zooplankton. However, inputs at more modest levels, such as those routinely found in nature, are rarely detectible. Additions of excreta at levels five-times that typically found in nature produce a possible shift in zooplankton community structure away from both no-excreta communities and communities fertilized with comparable amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. I postulate that most excreta quickly sinks to the benthos and only a small fraction becomes available for use by zooplankton. On the time scales used in my dissertation, it is only with very large additions of excreta that shifts in the zooplankton community become apparent. My dissertation is one of the first to apply the meta-ecosystem concept to a natural system. It also shows that waterfowl impacts on the zooplankton community may be most important in small wetlands or early in community assembly. / text

No description available.

Thesis (M.S. - Renewable Natural Resources)--University of Arizona, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-87).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 18, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-63).