The introduction of Sitka black-tailed deer, Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis Merriam, to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C., Canada) in the late 19th century provides a valuable opportunity to understand the long-term effects of deer populations on the vegetation of the North American temperate rain forest. We conducted two island-based experiments to investigate the effect of Sitka black-tailed deer on the forest understorey vegetation of this archipelago. In the first experiment we used a set of seven small islands (<15 ha) with different browsing histories (more than 50 years of deer presence, less than 20 years of deer presence, and no evidence of any deer presence) to test the effects of deer on plant cover, species richness and community composition. Browsing history was inversely proportional to both vegetation cover and plant species richness. Modification of the forest understorey plant communities followed a series of steps towards a greatly simplified community of plants possessing mechanisms to keep developing plant tissue inaccessible to deer. In the second experiment we utilized the cull of Sitka black-tailed deer from two large islands (295 ha and 170 ha) to investigate the release of forest plant communities from deer browsing. Using a paired-island approach, deer were culled on two experimental islands but remained on three adjacent control islands. Clear increases in species richness and cover as well as changes in the community composition of the forest understorey of experimental islands in the five years following the initiation of culls suggested a quick return to the forest understorey communities thought to exist before deer modification. However, failure of key shrub species to establish, coupled with the development of closed canopy stands of Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis, suggests possible alternate stable-states for some communities.

Although the unprotected lands of northern Tanzania support large numbers of elephants, and provide critical linkages for wildlife movements across the region, there is little information on the dispersal patterns of elephants in these unprotected lands. Our home range measures (100% MCP) of 21 elephants with satellite collars in four study regions were highly variable (191 to 3,698 km2). Home range sizes (95% fixed kernel) of bulls were typically larger than those of females, and wet season ranges were typically larger than dry season ranges. There were large differences in average home range sizes reflected varying strategies for obtaining food and water and avoiding humans. All eight radio-collared elephants (3 bulls, 5 females) in the West Kilimanjaro study region crossed the Tanzania-Kenya border, but typically elephants crossed more frequently in the wet than the dry season, and bulls crossed 47% more frequently than females. These extensive transboundary movements indicate that the elephant populations of West Kilimanjaro and Amboseli NP constitute a single transboundary population. Based upon 14,287 fixes from eight collared elephants, the vast majority of time was spent in unprotected (X¯ =91.5%) versus protected (X¯ =8.5%) areas. Amboseli NP was visited by all eight elephants and was the protected area most utilized (X¯ =8%, range 2-24%). Based upon the movements of 15 GPS-collared elephants in northern Tanzania, we identified eight areas that we considered important for wildlife conservation corridors/linkages for elephants. Our conservation priorities for these corridors were based upon the levels of threats and conservation potential. Community interviews and hilltop surveys were used in two Maasai villages to determine the extent of wildlife conflict, community attitudes towards elephants, and if elephants were using a vegetation corridor to move between Tanzania and southern Kenya. Elephants were the most problematic wildlife species and were considered a nuisance. However, they believed they attracted tourists, and generally did not believe elephant numbers should be reduced. Based upon elephant conflict and use and the communities' need to maintain areas for cattle grazing and medicinal plant collection, the two communities established the first wildlife conservation corridor in Tanzania.

Mole salamanders (Ambystoma) and woodfrogs ( Lithobates sylvaticus) are abundant in New England and depend on ephemeral wetlands for breeding. Their aquatic habitats have been well studied and are protected by several local and regional regulations. State endangered species laws also protect mabled salamanders (A. opacum), Jefferson salamanders (A. jeffersonianum), and blue-spotted salamanders (A. laterale). However, these amphibians spend most of their adult lives in terrestrial habitats that remain poorly protected and elusive to researchers. In chapter 1, I developed a novel technique using passive integrated transponders for tracking small animals. I used this technique to track marbled salamanders walking up to 200 m from their breeding pond during post-breeding migrations. In Chapter 2, I examined the importance of multiple habitat variables for controlling the distributions of woodfrogs and spotted salamanders at 455 ponds in western Massachusetts. Based on a variable-comparison technique I developed, the best predictor for either species of amphibian was the amount of forest in the surrounding landscape. Both species were found more frequently in upland forests where the ponds are least protected by state and federal wetland regulations. In chapter 3, I used my data from chapter 2 and three other similar data sets to conduct an analysis of spatial scale and to parameterize a recently published resistant kernel model. The complex model parameterized by an expert panel did significantly worse than the null model. The distributions of both amphibians were best predicted by measuring the landscape at very large scales (over 1000 m). The most effective scales for conservation may be largest for organisms of intermediate dispersal capability. In chapter 4, I explored the evolution and genetics of the Jefferson/blue-spotted/unisexual salamander complex. I framed research into the fascinating unisexual reproductive system with a model that relates nuclear genome replacement, positive selection on hybrids, and biogeography of the species complex. I parameterized this model using genetic data taken from salamanders spanning Massachusetts and an individual-based breeding simulation. If paternal genomes are transmitted to offspring with the frequencies reported from laboratory experiments, then my model suggests that there must be strong selection favoring unisexuals with hybrid nuclei.

Nesting distributions of animals vary from isolated individuals to large colonies of breeding individuals and they can be influenced by numerous factors, including environmental conditions, relatedness and social interactions. Parrots are one of the most threatened orders of birds. Factors that influence their nesting success in natural habitat have been the focus of previous research. However, these past studies operated in systems limited in nest sites, which may also have influenced population dynamics. In contrast, the Bahama Parrot nests underground in abundant limestone solution cavities in the karst pine forest of Abaco Island, The Bahamas. This situation allows exploration of environmental and social factors that may influence nest success and breeding productivity without the limitation of the availability of nesting site resources. The objective of this study is to investigate the causes and consequences of semi-colonial nesting aggregations in the Bahama Parrot, addressing the influence of local habitat, relatedness of nesting neighbors, social behavior, and success of neighboring nests. The results of this information can be used in the management of habitat and parrot populations on Abaco Island, The Bahamas. The research was carried out on Great Abaco Island during the parrot breeding season (April - September) in 2010 – 2013. Nests were found by traversing logging roads. A number of ecological features were measured around nesting cavities and unused limestone cavities with the same dimensions as parrot cavities to identify favored characteristics. Nearest neighbors were identified for a subset of nests. Behavioral observations included time budgets of vocalization and movement to and from nests at focal and comparison nests (nearest neighbors and more distant nests) to determine if parrots were synchronizing behavior with close-nesting individuals. Predator simulations were conducted to elicit defense responses from focal and nearest neighbor nesting pairs. Using DNA collected from adults and chicks, I assessed whether spatially aggregated nests reflected kin clusters. Bahama Parrots on Abaco were distributed in aggregated spatial patterns in the nesting area. They nested in cavities found in more open areas. One contributing factor for the nest distribution was the uneven distribution of limestone cavities. Greater numbers of nests were found in areas with higher cavity concentrations. However, areas with high cavity concentrations but no parrot nests indicated that additional factors also were involved in concentrating nests in an area. Relatedness did not influence the aggregated nesting pattern. Close nesting neighbors were not more closely related than nesting individuals at other nest sites. No evidence of extra pair paternity was found within the small sample of nests that had full families sampled. However, genotypes of chicks raised in the same cavity in different years did provide support for the general belief that monogamous parrot pairs often reused the same nesting cavities over multiple years. Distances between neighbors had no effect on vocal synchrony. When a predator was introduced to a nest, the vocal response by the nesting pair and the nearest neighbor nesting pair increased, however no other behaviors provided nest defense. An effective defense against feral cats as predators was the predator control program carried out by the Bahamas National Trust. Nest success was higher in years with the predator control program underway. I did detect a relationships between nest success at a focal nest and its neighbor. Finally, I reviewed the taxonomic status of the Cuban parrot (Amazona leucocephala) complex. My review suggested that the two Bahama populations of the Cuban parrot (Amazona leucocephala bahamensis) should be classified as separate species (Amazona abaconensis and Amazona inaguanensis) and that the two Cuban populations should be a single subspecies (Amazona leucocephala leucocephala). These parrots use limestone cavities in the ground in open pine woodland as nest sites, and areas with higher densities of these cavities are used to a greater extent. As populations are expected to increase due to the success of a predator control program, sites with high cavity density are expected to be prime habitat for new nesting individuals. I therefore recommend the continuation of the prescribed burning to maintain the open understory that these parrots select. Furthermore, given the effectiveness of a current feral cat removal program in increasing nesting success, I recommend that predator control continue. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2016. / June 23, 2016. / Amazona leucocephala, Bahama Parrot, Group Nesting, Nesting Neighbors, Predator Impact, Relatedness / Includes bibliographical references. / Emily H. DuVal, Professor Directing Dissertation; Peter Beerli, University Representative; Kimberly A. Hughes, Committee Member; Brian Inouye, Committee Member; Frances C. James, Committee Member; Thomas E. Miller, Committee Member.

Using the case of the Osceola Parkway Extension in Orange and Osceola Counties, this research examines how the legal geographies of expressway development and property rights claims intersect with gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) conservation efforts in Central Florida. Proposed and existing road infrastructure projects, such as the proposed Osceola Parkway Extension, continue to fragment gopher tortoise habitat in Florida. The Central Florida Expressway Authority rationalizes the road as a necessity, justifying appropriation of land for the parkway extension’s development. Thus, determining the route of the Osceola Parkway Extension has become the focus of road governance. The majority of the proposed road alignments for the extension transect Split Oak Forest and Wildlife Management Area, threatening the security of both the gopher tortoise population and gopher tortoise mitigation property within the forest. However, while the Central Florida Expressway Authority has jurisdiction over the governance of the road, it does not own the land needed to build it. This creates a relation between road governance and competing property rights, which then poses the question: what property rights must be ceded for right-of-way acquisition? Competing property rights holders have become enmeshed in the road governance process, as environmentalists seeking to protect conservation easements conflict with residential property owners. Thus, the mobilization of competing property rights claims structure the dialogue around road infrastructure encroachment onto conservation lands. How the competing values of suburban family homes and conservation easements, and the human and animal lives they support, are balanced will ultimately shape the road’s alignment. This suggests that legal and political conservation strategies need to be understood in dialogue with the governing rationalities of expressway and suburban development that continue to constitute enduring threats to the gopher tortoise and their local environments. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Geography in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / 2019 / November 8, 2019. / Circulation, Conservation, Expressway, Gopher Tortoise, Governance, Property / Includes bibliographical references. / Tyler McCreary, Professor Directing Thesis; Mabel Gergan, Committee Member; Ronald E. Doel, Committee Member.

Fishing, hunting and wildlife-associated recreation expenditures have played an important role in the U.S. economy. The 2006 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey reported 87.5 million people participated in wildlife-associated recreation activities, spending $122.4 billion on trips and equipment in U.S. Periodic assessment of economic impact of wildlife associated recreation provides a consistent perspective for forest and wildlife resource management. This research used input-output analysis to evaluate the economic impacts of wildlife associated recreation expenditures in the U.S. South. IMPLAN models were developed for each state to determine the direct, indirect and induced effects of these expenditures. The comparison revealed the differences in the individual states’ economies and levels of expenditures and illustrated the importance of understanding intra-regional variations in establishing wildlife programs and policies. Overall, this study shows that wildlife associated recreation expenditures had larger economic multiplier than of the other forest based industries in the U.S. South.

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A continental-scale study of historic wildfire data within and across ecoregion provinces was conducted and geographical gradients in seasonal measures of wildfire size and frequency were observed. In the conterminous United States, western ecoregion provinces show north-south gradients in duration of season (short-to-long) and peak of season (early-to-late). Across the continent a gradient of unimodal to bimodal seasonal distributions of wildfire size and frequency was shown: western ecoregions have a single summer fire season and eastern regions have spring and late-summer fire seasons separated by an intervening dip in wildfire activity. From the ecoregion provinces with the highest wildfire frequency, average size, and area burned values, eight federal land units (four from the western and four from the eastern conterminous United States) were selected for a study of geographical variation in interactions between wildfire variables and the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI). Daily KBDI values for each location were provided by the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS). Confidence intervals around the mean for both days on which wildfires ignited and for days on which no new wildfires ignited were generated for each location using a bootstrap resampling method. A greater difference existed between nonire and fire-start KBDI values in the western locations, indicating a stronger association between KBDI and wildfire potential. At eastern locations, the difference between mean nonire and fire-start KBDI was lower than the minimum western mean difference for three of the four locations. The exception, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, showed the second highest difference between nonire and fire-start KBDI values of all eight federal land units. These results indicate that across the southeastern United States, the soil moisture (and, by extension, fuel moisture) cycle from field capacity (saturation) to drought (wilting point) and back to field capacity does not follow the regular seasonal pattern shown in the western states, and neither do geographical characteristics of wildfires.