Mammalian predators have been liberated on many islands to control pests but the desired results have rarely been achieved. The liberation of mongooses on islands in the Caribbean and Pacific is an excellent example of a liberation which had serious repercussions. These were liberated to control rats which caused serious damage in the sugar cane fields and although they reduced the numbers of rats, they also exterminated many species of small mammals and birds. Stoats, ferrets and weasels were liberated in New Zealand in the early 1880's to control rabbits. They appear to have had little effect on rabbit populations and stoats quickly spread into forest areas. It is not now possible to determine the effect these predators had on the native bird populations as the changes in fauna and habitat were complex. Unfortunately no studies of mustelids were made until 1948 when Wodzicki (1950) made a brief study as part of his survey of introduced mammals in New Zealand. The two periods of greatest change for mustelids have been during their spread throughout the country in the 1880's and in the early 1950's when rabbits were successfully controlled. There is little information on changes in density or feeding habits of mustelids during these times. Detailed investigation of the ecology of mustelids in New Zealand was begun by Dr W.H. Marshall, Fulbright Research Scholar from the University of Minnesota, with Animal Ecology Division, D.S.l.R. from September 1960 until June 1961. He examined their ecology in the light of his experience of mustelids in North America where conditions differ markedly from those in New Zealand. I joined Animal Ecology Division in November 1960 to assist Dr. Marshall throughout the remainder of his study, and continued the work after his return to the United States. The ecology of stoats, ferrets and weasels has been investigated in terms of their adaptation to food supplies which differ markedly from those in their native range in the Northern Hemisphere.

Mammalian predators have been liberated on many islands to control pests but the desired results have rarely been achieved. The liberation of mongooses on islands in the Caribbean and Pacific is an excellent example of a liberation which had serious repercussions. These were liberated to control rats which caused serious damage in the sugar cane fields and although they reduced the numbers of rats, they also exterminated many species of small mammals and birds. Stoats, ferrets and weasels were liberated in New Zealand in the early 1880's to control rabbits. They appear to have had little effect on rabbit populations and stoats quickly spread into forest areas. It is not now possible to determine the effect these predators had on the native bird populations as the changes in fauna and habitat were complex. Unfortunately no studies of mustelids were made until 1948 when Wodzicki (1950) made a brief study as part of his survey of introduced mammals in New Zealand. The two periods of greatest change for mustelids have been during their spread throughout the country in the 1880's and in the early 1950's when rabbits were successfully controlled. There is little information on changes in density or feeding habits of mustelids during these times. Detailed investigation of the ecology of mustelids in New Zealand was begun by Dr W.H. Marshall, Fulbright Research Scholar from the University of Minnesota, with Animal Ecology Division, D.S.l.R. from September 1960 until June 1961. He examined their ecology in the light of his experience of mustelids in North America where conditions differ markedly from those in New Zealand. I joined Animal Ecology Division in November 1960 to assist Dr. Marshall throughout the remainder of his study, and continued the work after his return to the United States. The ecology of stoats, ferrets and weasels has been investigated in terms of their adaptation to food supplies which differ markedly from those in their native range in the Northern Hemisphere.

No description available.

Siberian weasel, Mustela sibirica is a widespread carnivora mammal in Eurasia. In Taiwan, it inhabits a variety of environments restricted to altitude above 800 m. Based on mitochondrial control region sequences, I constructed phylogeography and analyzed population interflow about the species in Taiwan. The mean length of D-loop in Siberian weasel is 1038.9 bp. The D-loop structure can be divided into ETAS, CD and CSB domain. Among these, CD is the most conserved region while the two flank domains are variable. There are tandem repeat sequences in CSB domain, common in other carnivores. In phylogenetic analyses, three major lineages were found in phylogenetic trees and MSN topology. In general, haplotypes in clades are correlated to geographic distribution. The haplotypes of clade I were sampled from southern Taiwan, while the majority of those clade II and clade III were from northern Taiwan. The gene flow among clades were low. However no significant geographic boundaries existed between clades. It is speculated that the genetic isolation among clades may have been resulted from bottleneck effect, like other high altitude mammals in Taiwan, and not from geographic barriers mainly.

ABSTRACT The epidemiological study of intestinal helminths and ticks of Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) was conducted from June 2001 to May 2002 in Shan-Ping, southern Taiwan. Nine helminths were found, including seven nematodes, Filaroides sp. (prevalence 94.4%), Ancylostoma sp. (77.4%), Uncinaria sp. (35.5%), Trichuris sp. 1 (35.5%), Trichuris sp. 2 (19.3%), Capillaria sp. (6.5%) and Physaloptera sp. (3.2%); one trematode, Platynosomum sp. (74.1%) and one acanthocephalans, Macracanthorhynchus sp. (10%). There was a significant seasonal difference of intensity of the Platynosomum sp. Two species of ticks were observed, Ixodes ovatus (prevalence 55.56%) and Haemaphysalis sp. Seasonal differences were significant in the prevalence and intensity of the Ixodes ovatus infection. The intensities of ticks and helminths in different sampling area were similar. The diet composition was possibly the factor affecting the seasonal change of intensity of the Platynosomum sp. and host availability affecting the seasonal change of ticks, Ixodes ovatus.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Donald J. Mrozek / During the Cold War, the United States’ foreign policy relied heavily on its ability to project military power. More often than not, the central component of force projection rested on the United States military’s effectiveness in employing air power both by establishing air superiority and through accurate delivery of ordnance. As the primary service tasked with conducting aerial warfare, the United States Air Force (USAF) was expected to maintain this capability either to achieve deterrence or, when necessary, to military action. In January 1973, the USAF seemed incapable of performing the latter task due to the North Vietnamese Integrated Air Defense System’s (NV-IAD’s) effectiveness in Operation Rolling Thunder and its successor, Operation Linebacker. Eighteen years later, Air Force aircraft spearheaded the Coalition’s air attack on the Iraqi Integrated Air Defense System (I-IADS) in January 1991. Considered by many to be the most effective air defense system outside the Soviet Union’s, the I-IADS was expected to exact heavy casualties from the allied forces. Instead, in less than twenty days, the USAF’s dominance was so complete that politicians, analysts and military historians quickly proclaimed a “Revolution in Military Affairs” (RMA). The majority of the current historiography credits advances in precision-guided munitions (PGMs), airframes, and computer technology as the impetus for the RMA. Others have claimed that the USAF’s training methodology and construction of advanced training sites such as the Red Flag complex at Nellis Air Force Base were the primary drivers for the Air Force’s success. While acknowledging the role all of these factors played, this dissertation also demonstrates the key role played by the development of Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) doctrine from January 1973 through August 1991. In the aftermath of the American war in Vietnam, the Air Force considered defense suppression a tactical task that was secondary to the primary mission of putting ordnance on target. At the end of Desert Storm, proponents of the Air Force’s SEAD doctrine had convincing evidence that an enemy IADS was not just an ancillary weapons array, but functioned a critical national system just like manufacturing, government, or the people’s will. The process by which this viewpoint changed had effects on the development of the United States Air Force’s Cold War conventional capability in general, and the development of training methods, electronic warfare platforms, and modern airframes specifically.

Master of Arts / Department of History / Donald J. Mrozek / On March 30, 1972 the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) launched a conventional offensive, dubbed the Easter Offensive, against South Vietnam. In response to this act President Richard Nixon ordered the United States Air Force (USAF) and Navy (USN) to resume bombing North Vietnam. For the next nine months, USAF conducted offensive operations against the whole of the DRV in an attempt to accomplish four major objectives. First, USAF units sought to interdict sufficiently the North Vietnamese Army's (NVA's) supply lines to preclude continued conventional operations in South Vietnam. Second, President Nixon had directed the Air Force to inflict sufficient punishment on North Vietnam in order to deter further aggression against its southern neighbor. Third, as implied by the Nixon Doctrine, USAF was to establish convincingly its ability to conduct conventional operations in support of an allied nation during a major conflict. Finally, with the introduction of B-52 bombers in December 1972, the Air Force was to maintain the credibility of manned strategic aircraft as part of American nuclear deterrence policy. Historically, the United States Air Force and many civilian observers have maintained that the United States Air Force succeeded in all four tasks. However, the evidence strongly indicates that the United States Air Force not only failed to achieve all but the interdiction objective during the course of operations against North Vietnam, but that this defeat stemmed from the decision not to develop a comprehensive Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) doctrine from 1968 through 1972. In choosing this course of action, USAF's military and civilian leaders guaranteed that American forces would be unable to bring sufficient force to bear to achieve President Nixon's goals. Furthermore, by choosing this course of action and, in addition, refocusing the Air Force on nuclear delivery rather than enhancing USAF's capability to penetrate an integrated air defense (IADS), these same leaders ignored the results of Operation Rolling Thunder. The consequence of this choice, as will be shown in the following pages, was an outcome that had serious implications for the United States' Cold War conventional and nuclear military policy.

Data derived largely from ecclesiastical (mostly churchwardens') accounts, foxhunting statistics, local scientific society records and 19th and 20th century literature sources from a wide range of published material, have provided detailed evidence of the status and changes in distribution over the past four centuries in Yorkshire for fox (Vulpes vulpes), badger (Meles meles), otter (Lutra lutra), pine marten (Martes martes), stoat (Mustela erminea), weasel (M. nivalis), polecat (M. putorius), American mink (M. vison), wildcat (Felis silvestris) and domestic cat (Felis catus). In the case of the domestic cat, questionnaire surveys quantified population sizes and predatory activity in rural, suburban and urban situations. Evidence of the former distribution of all the carnivores studied provides a credible historical basis for biodiversity action planning and the substantial archived database and bibliography provide further research opportunities.

Data derived largely from ecclesiastical (mostly churchwardens¿) accounts, foxhunting statistics, local scientific society records and 19th and 20th century literature sources from a wide range of published material, have provided detailed evidence of the status and changes in distribution over the past four centuries in Yorkshire for fox (Vulpes vulpes), badger (Meles meles), otter (Lutra lutra), pine marten (Martes martes), stoat (Mustela erminea), weasel (M. nivalis), polecat (M. putorius), American mink (M. vison), wildcat (Felis silvestris) and domestic cat (Felis catus). In the case of the domestic cat, questionnaire surveys quantified population sizes and predatory activity in rural, suburban and urban situations. Evidence of the former distribution of all the carnivores studied provides a credible historical basis for biodiversity action planning and the substantial archived database and bibliography provide further research opportunities.

Using trap data the Hawdon, Poulter and South Branch valleys, a spatial distribution model was created for Stoats (Mustela erminea), Ship Rats (Rattus rattus) and Weasels (Mustela nivalis) in the North Branch of the Hurunui River. Ten spatial attributes were analysed in this thesis as potential spatial predictors of Stoats, Ship rats or Weasels; four of which were distance related measurements (distance from ecotonal edge, distance from river, distance from river tributary and distance from trapping edge); three were climate based variables (mean maximum temperature, mean minimum temperature and mean precipitation) and three were topographical based variables (elevation, aspect and slope). Relationships that existed between each spatial attribute and the number of Stoats, Ship Rats and Weasels caught were quantified by comparing the significance of the mean trapping rate with each spatial attribute and expressed spatially as maps in a Geographical Information System (GIS). Results from this thesis found elevation, aspect and distance from ecotonal edge as potential spatial predictors of Stoat populations. Elevation and aspect were found to be potential predictors of Ship rat and Weasel populations. GIS is able to predict the spatial distribution of pest species to a similar (or better) level compared to more formal associative models. The potential of GIS is however, restrained by the same limitations associated with these models. By using a larger trapping data set and identifying a number of social interactions between Stoats, Ship Rats and Weasels, one can improve the accuracy of spatially modelling each species within a Beech forest environment. Therefore, improve our understanding how landscapes influence the distribution of each pest species.