No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Bats are crucial to ecological function and provide key ecosystem services to people but face a variety of significant threats. One current threat to North American bats is white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by the invasive fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) that has killed millions of hibernating bats across the continent. Remnant populations of affected bat species persist but are so depleted that they may now be highly vulnerable to new threats, or to the synergistic effects of multiple existing threats. The emergence of novel or opportunistic pathogens in bat hosts is a particular concern for the survival of these small, isolated colonies. Apart from studies of WNS and zoonotic pathogens of humans, however, bat diseases remain poorly understood. In this paper, I describe the pathology of a new, highly aggressive bat disease affecting hibernating little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) and identify candidate microbes as possible causative agents. The pathological signs that were observed diverged from those of WNS, and included blue fluorescence in the wings when trans-illuminated with ultraviolet light, and the rapid development of wing necroses and mortality within weeks of the onset of hibernation. Pathology, wing swab cultures, post-mortem analyses, and hemolysis testing identified an array of candidate species, but suggest that a possible cause is a polymicrobial infection involving two etiological agents – Trichosporon yeast and Serratia bacteria. Both species have been documented as part of the mycobiota and microbiota of healthy bats, and cave environments. They are also opportunistic pathogens, known to cause infection in other wild animals and immunocompromised humans. Opportunistic pathogens have been increasingly implicated as a cause of mass mortality events in wildlife. The disease identified here has, to my knowledge, not previously been described, and could represent a new threat to North American bats, compounding concerns for populations facing an already precarious situation. / Biology

Attitudes of Virginia citizens toward wildlife management programs were studied using a survey questionnaire mailed to 2,000 randomly selected households. The response rate was 56%. Wildlife's ecological, viewing, cultural, existence, and scientific benefits were valued by most of the respondents (81-96%)- Fewer respondents (44-57%) valued wildlife for hunting recreation, food and furs, and economic benefits; 48% valued wildlife because they believed animals have souls. Most respondents (81-96%) participated in nonconsumptive activities which required little time, money, or knowledge of the wildlife resource. Fewer respondents (26-43%) participated in activities which require greater commitments such as photographing wildlife, traveling to see wildlife, and hunting. Most respondents (77%) felt that active management of wildlife was necessary, and most (79%) agreed that management should benefit wildlife populations rather than humans. Similarly, when asked to assign nongame budget percentages to various activities, respondents gave priority to programs benefitting wildlife rather than people. We suggest that most people prefer the intangible benefits they receive from knowing that wildlife populations exist and are being preserved, to the tangible benefits they receive from direct use of the wildlife resource. A second sample of 400 Virginia nongame fund contributors was compared to self-declared hunters from the general public sample. Contributors to Virginia's nongame fund are more likely than hunters to be single, suburban males, with advanced educations and white-collar jobs. Contributor preferences and values are similar to those of hunters except they are less likely to value wildlife for utilitarian purposes. / M.S.

This study examines the free rider effect and other voluntary contribution behavior in an actual public goods funding situation. Because the traditional neoclassical economic model of consumption behavior does not adequately explain behavior with respect to voluntary contribution to the funding of public goods. A model is developed that expands upon the traditional model and which incorporates several aspects of behavior. These aspects include strategic behavior such as strong and weak free riding, non-voting, and protest voting, as well as utility received from contributing. Most studies of voluntary contribution behavior involve the use of hypothetical or contingent markets and use the traditional neoclassical model. Therefore, a study of contribution behavior that incorporates an expanded neoclassical model including factors such as contribution utility would be desirable in order to examine actual contribution behavior. To this end, a model is developed which explains the behavior of contributors and noncontributors to a tax checkoff program. The case study is the Virginia nongame wildlife tax checkoff for taxable year 1987. A survey was developed and administered to a random sample of Virginia taxpayers who were eligible to contribute to the program. The survey results do not support the strong free rider hypothesis, although many people apparently contributed less than their total willingness to pay for nongame wildlife management or preservation. Non-voting behavior was not a significant factor, in contrast to protest voting, which was a significant reason for noncontribution. Many contributors indicated that they were receiving utility from giving to a perceived good cause rather than from nongame wildlife per se. Finally, other factors appeared to be important to the contribution decision, including the institutional setting in Virginia and assurance about the use of funds. / Ph. D.

A project was completed that 1) developed a list of potential primary law enforcement objectives; 2) analyzed the arrest component of agency and agent objectives; and 3) developed a computer model that produced an agent arrest score. A methodology to select law enforcement objectives using a hierarchy was developed. The objective hierarchy and example objectives are shown. A crime wildlife related list was developed. Game wardens and wildlife biologists with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, foresters with the Virginia Department of Forestry, and members of 2 private interest groups were surveyed to determine the relative importance of the crimes. Respondents ranked violations on a scale from 1 ("not very wrong") to 9 (livery wrong") relative to a given standard violation. The survey contained 3 sections: (A) specific violation list, (8) species list, and (C) list of violation categories. Differences among groups, consistency in responses, and relative consensus about importance of violations were analyzed. / Master of Science

A decision-aid system. for determining and achieving optimal distributions of wildlife law enforcement manpower was developed. Manpower distributions were computed by means of a workload formula for a case study application in the J.E.B. Stuart Enforcement District, Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries. A linear programming model was used to determine least cost methods of achieving prescribed manpower distributions. Simulations of permanent relocations and hiring of personnel were performed to evaluate the impact of management decisions on costs of achieving prescribed distributions. In the case study, total transfer cost resulting from simulated permanent relocation of personnel was 73% that of the present distribution, total transfer cost of simulated hiring of new personnel was 94% that of the present distribution. A simulation of inappropriate location of new personnel resulted in an increase in total transfer cost of 22% over that of the present distribution. These findings were relevant only to the case study; however, the use of the system as a general purpose simulator was demonstrated. Studies were performed of the relationships of patrol area environmental attributes, agent personal background characteristics, enforcement methods, enforcement effort, and season with enforcement efficiency (quality arrest score per enforcement hour). A wildlife law violation seriousness scale was developed in order to compute the measure of enforcement efficiency. Observations were obtained from Virginia wildlife law enforcement agents during November 1977, February, May, and August 1978. Patrol area intensity of 20 environmental variables, 25 personal background variables, 5 enforcement methods variables, total enforcement hours, and 4 study periods were independent variables. Two and 3-way interactions were detected by automatic interaction detection (AID) among total quality arrest score (QAS) by patrol, total QAS by response to citizen notification, and total enforcement hours. Analysis of covariance by multiple regression procedures indicated that methods of enforcement, effort, and their interactions we.re more closely associated with enforcement efficiency than other major categories of independent variables. Total QAS by patrol, total QAS by investigation, an interaction of total QAS by patrol and total enforcement hours, total QAS by response to citizen notification, total QAS by stakeout, and effort showed the greatest association with the dependent variable. To a lesser degree, agent rank, months of service, and whether the agent had been fired from previous employment were also shown to be associated with enforcement efficiency. Only one environmental attribute, the intensity of water recreation in the patrol area, was associated with enforcement efficiency. These results generally supported assumptions employed in the decision-aid system. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / J. M. Shawn Hutchinson / Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) are social, ground-dwelling rodents native to North American short- and mixed-grass prairie. They are also the main prey of the Federally-endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). At the same time, prairie dog colonization is highly opposed by most agricultural landowners. Therefore nonlethal population management techniques must be investigated. This paper presents the results of research on the effectiveness of ungrazed vegetative barriers composed of native plants at limiting prairie dog dispersal away from a ferret reintroduction site in northwest Kansas. Data was collected on barrier quality and condition as well as estimates of population densities of immigrant prairie dogs, dispersing through the vegetative barrier to reoccupy previously extirpated colonies on properties surrounding the ferret reintroduction site. Using strip transects and aboveground visual counts to estimate population densities and visual obstruction ranking techniques to sample barrier condition, statistical analysis of the data indicated that while barrier condition increased over time, it was not effective at limiting prairie dog emigration from the black-footed ferret reintroduction site.