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Anthropogenic Factors Affecting Common Raven Occurrence And Depredation Of Artificial Nests Within Greater Sage‐Grouse Habitat In Southern Utah, Zoë S. Moffett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Certain species of wildlife are more generalist and adaptive than others. These species often flourish when supported by human activities that provide additional food and habitat for them. The common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter raven) is one such species; their populations have risen and spread throughout the Intermountain West. As generalist scavengers and predators, ravens have been found to pose a severe threat to several threatened or sensitive species, including the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse). The purpose of my research was to determine the specific anthropogenic and habitat factors that may increase the threat …

Industrial Hemp As A Resource For Birds In Agroecosystems: Human–Wildlife Conflict Or Conservation Opportunity?, Emily A. Kotten, Iona Hennessy, Bryan M. Kluever, Zachary T. Brym, Bradley F. Blackwell, Lee A. Humberg, Page E. Klug

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.; hemp) is an emerging crop in the United States with little known about bird use or the potential for birds to become an agricultural pest. We identified birds associated with hemp fields, using repeated visits to oilseed plots in North Dakota, USA (n = 6) and cannabinoid (CBD) plots in Florida, USA (n = 4) from August to November 2020. We did not control for plot area or density; our observations were descriptive only. We observed 10 species in hemp, 12 species flying over hemp, and 11 species both foraging in and …

Utah's Own Habitat Guidelines For Sage-Grouse, David K. Dahlgren, Michel Kohl, Eric Thacker, S. Nicole Frey, Terry Messmer

All Current Publications

Those living and working within western North America’s sagebrush landscapes have most likely been exposed to sage-grouse issues for many years now and may have felt anxiety concerning the potential impacts that could result from implementing conservation measures designed to help this iconic species persist. Society’s challenge to seek the delicate balance between the conservation of nature and the growth related to human endeavors exemplifies the need to use the best available science as we move forward. Representative information, especially at the landscape level related to sage-grouse, has been hard to come by. However, due to the vast amount of …

Integrating A Traditional 4-H Youth Program With Stem Programming Using Market Show Hog Dna To Evaluate Meat Quality, Denton Perkins, Joshua Dallin

Student Research Symposium

Junior livestock projects provide excellent opportunities for education and positive agricultural experiences for 4-H youth. As genetic testing advances become widely available to livestock producers, youth benefit by learning the benefits and applications of genetic testing. Porcine stress syndrome (PSS), which springs from the HAL gene, is an inherited neuromuscular disorder in pigs that is triggered by stressful situations, such as exercise, fighting, marketing, vaccination, castration, parturition, hot weather, etc. The symptoms exhibited by pigs experiencing PSS include muscle and tail tremors, labored and irregular breathing, blanching and reddening of the skin, rapid rise in body temperature, collapse, muscle rigidity …

Soap Box Reprioritizing Avian Conservation Efforts, Travis L. Devault

Human–Wildlife Interactions

No abstract provided.

Marek's Disease (Md, Range Paralysis, Gray Eye), David D. Frame, Sarah Tilley, Mark C. Bland

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases of backyard chickens. The clinical signs of Marek's Disease are descriptively illustrated, and an objective plan for diagnosis and control are discussed in a format understandable to the general small flock and/or backyard chicken owner.

Environmental Assessment Bird Damage Management In The Wyoming Wildlife Services Program, United States Department Of Agriculture, Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Wildlife Services (WS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), and Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) propose to continue the current bird damage management program in Wyoming. WS, USFWS, FAA, WGFD, and WDH use an adaptive integrated wildlife damage management (IWDM) approach to reduce bird damage to property, agricultural resources, natural resources, and to protect human health and safety. In addition, under the current program, the USFWS would continue to issue depredation permits based on need and …

Catalase Activity Mediates The Inhibitory Actions Of 24,25 Dihydroxyvitamin D3, Sven L. Peery

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The steroid hormone 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ [1,25(OH)₂D₃] rapidly stimulates the uptake of phosphate in isolated chick intestinal cells, while the steroid 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ [24,25(OH)₂D₃] inhibits the rapid stimulation by 1,25(OH)₂D₃. Earlier work in this laboratory has indicated that a cellular binding protein for the 24,25(OH)₂D₃ is the enzyme catalase. Since binding resulted in decreased catalase activity and increased H₂O₂ production, studies were undertaken to determine if pro-oxidant conditions mimicked the inhibitory actions of 24,25(OH)₂D₃, and anti-oxidant conditions …

Rapid Effects Of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 On Calcium Uptake In Isolated Chick Enterocytes, Ruta Phadnis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

25-Hydroxyvitamin D₃[25(OH)D₃] is a metabolite of vitamin D₃ that has long been considered to be an inactive precursor of the hormonally active metabolite 1,25- dihydroxyvitamin D₃[l,25(OH)₂D₃]; consequently very few studies have addressed the potential biological activity of 25(OH)₂D₃. However, it is known that 100 nM 25(OH)₂D₃ increases calcium transport in the perfused duodenal loop of the chicken to 200% of controls within 20 minutes. The hypothesis of the current study is that 25(OH)₂D₃ may be a hormonally active metabolite …

Physiological Importance Of 1,25(Oh)2D3 Membrane-Initiated And Nuclear Actions In Chickens As A Function Of Growth, And Maturation In Male And Female Chickens, Birgitta Larsson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is well established that l,25(OH)₂D₃ is a major regulator of calcium homeostasis. The steroid exerts its effects on its target organs by two mechanisms, a slow mechanism mediated by nuclear vitamin D receptors (nVDR), and a rapid mechanism mediated by the l,25(OH)₂D₃ membrane-associated rapid response steroid binding protein (l,25D₃-MARRS bp). In this dissertation, the physiological relevance of membrane initiated steroid signaling was investigated by studying the correlation of age in male and female chickens with the magnitude of responses to l,25(OH)₂D₃ in duodena from 7-, 14-, 28-, and …

Rapid Actions Of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 On Phosphate Uptake In Isolated Chick Intestinal Cells, Bin Zhao

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ [1,25(OH)₂D₃] has been shown to promote phosphate transport rapidly in the perfused duodenal loop, relative to controls, reaching treated/av basal at T = 40 min = 1.82 ± 0.42 and 1.11 ± 0.21, respectively.

By using isolated chick enterocytes, studies were undertaken to determine whether 1,25(OH)₂D₃ has a direct effect on isolated intestinal cells that is manifested by either enhanced uptake or extrusion of phosphate.

In time course studies, with 4- to 8-wk-old chicks, ³²P uptake in enterocytes at 10 min after addition of test substance was 0%, 130%, …

Development Of A Bird-Avoidance Model For Naval Air Facility El Centro, California, Edward J. Zakrajsek

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bird strikes (collisions between birds and aircraft) pose a significant threat to aviation safety. For example, Naval Air Facility El Centro, California, lost an F-18 jet to a bird strike in October 1995. To help combat the bird-strike threat at Naval Air Facility El Centro, I developed a bird-avoidance model as a risk-management tool for the installation. It can be used to schedule flights at NAF El Centro and its two associated practice-bombing ranges during times of low-bird activity. I calculated bird-strike risks and published them in web-page format on both the installation's server and the USGS/Utah State University, College …

All About Eggs, Unknown Unknown

All Archived Publications

This publication contains information about eggs including varieties and various recipes using eggs.

Modeling Habitat Attributes Of Cavity-Nesting Birds In The Uinta Mountains, Utah: A Hierarchical Approach, Joshua J. Lawler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Birds may have the ability to view their environments at a wide range of spatial scales; accordingly, they may make habitat-selection decisions at multiple spatial scales. I investigated the implications of hierarchy theory and a landscape perspective on nest-site selection in cavity-nesting birds in the Uinta Mountains in northeastern Utah. I used three different approaches to address the concept of a multi-scaled nest-site selection process. First, I conducted an exploratory study in which I investigated nest-site selection at three spatial scales for Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis), Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), and …

Fall 1998 Raptor Migrations Study In The Wellsville Mountains Of Northern Utah, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Elusive Documents

The Wellsville Mountains raptor migration study in northern Utah is an ongoing effort to monitor longterm trends in populations of raptors using this northern Rocky Mountain migratory flyway. Raptors feed atop food pyramids, inhabit most ecosystems, occupy large home ranges, and are sensitive to environmental contamination and other human disturbances. Therefore, they serve as important biological indicators of ecosystem health (Cade et al. 1988; Bednarz et al. 1990a; Bildstein and Zalles 1995). For example, long-term migration counts in the eastern United States documented declines in several raptor species and helped us understand the deleterious effects of organochlorine pesticides (Spofford 1969, …

Nongame Birds Of The Rocky Mountain Spruce- Fir Forests And Their Management, Kimberly G. Smith

T.W. "Doc" Daniel Experimental Forest

Spruce-fir forests in the Rocky Mountains consist mainly of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. The breeding avifaunas in these forests show remarkable consistency in composition along a latitudinal gradient from Montana to Arizona and New Mexico, and with avian communities in the Hudsonian life zone in Washington, Oregon, and California. Woodpeckers, corvids, and seed-eating finches are the most common components. Only the Golden Eagle and a few other raptors are threatened or endangered. Few species winter in these high mountain forests. The distribution of many species is controlled primarily by the vegetation physiognomy, a variable under the control of the …

Water In Relation To The Establishment Of Chukar Partridge In Utah Deserts, James R. Messerli

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects artificial watering devices (guzzlers) have on chukar (Alectoris graeca) populations were studied in Juab County, Utah.

The effect of water was determined by a comparision of chukar populations near guzzlers with water to guzzlers without water. The closure of two guzzlers had a pronounced effect on the distribution of chukars and the number of chukars decreased significantly at the two guzzlers after their closure.

Water concentrated the chukars, therefore, influencing their activities. During the water-critical period, between 1 July and 1 October, frequent, possibly daily, trips were made to water by chukars.

Reproduction and chick survival …

The Social Organization Of Wild Turkeys On The Welder Wildlife Refuge, Texas, Charles Robert Watts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study is of the social organization of the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia Sennett) on the Welder Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas.

The earliest turkey nests hatched in April, with the peak of hatching a month or more later. These poults may remain with their mother until winter. This brood flock, however, often combined with other brood flocks to form composite brood flocks when the poults were a few weeks old. Hens not successful in rearing young combined into broodless flocks.

The juvenile males left the brood flocks in late fall or winter. They remained a distinct unit, …

Artificial Pothole And Level Ditch Development As A Means Of Increasing Waterfowl Production, Charles H. Lacy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The glaciated prairie pothole country of the Midwest forms a vital segment of the most important waterfowl breeding habitat in North America. Here are hatched three-quarters of all the ducks raised in the United States. During a recent seven-year period the three-state area of Minnesota and the Dakotas produced an average of 4 to 5 million ducks annually (Janzon, 1947). This wetland region which once comprised 115,000 square miles in five states had shrunk to about 56,000 square miles by 1956 (Lynch, 1956). To maintain the present rate of waterfowl production in the face of continued destruction of habitat through …

Bulletin No. 135 - A Study In Annual Egg Production: Based On The Records Of A Flock Of Seven-Year-Old Hens And Their Progeny, E. D. Ball, Geo. Turpin, Byron Alder

UAES Bulletins

Experimental work in breeding for egg production was started with this flock of Single Comb White Leghorns in 1907. The flock of 1907 was hatched from eggs from a small flock that had been introduced into the plant two or three years before.

After two years' records of these flocks had been completed and studied it was found that nearly three-fourths of the first flock had made better records the second year than they did the first and that there was a great variation in the two years' records of individual hens. This raised the question of whether the first …

Bulletin No. 102 - Poultry Experiments, James Dryden

UAES Bulletins

There are many problems connected with the housing of poultry. Among them the question of egg fertility is one of the most important. We have begun investigations at this Station to learn if possible what kind or method of housing is most conducive to a high percentage of fertility in the eggs. It is a serious question with many poultrymen how to maintain the percentage of fertile eggs, and there have been cases where the poultryman has been driven out of the business because of inability to renew his flock. There is little doubt that the artificial methods, both in …

Bulletin No. 92 - Poultry Experiments, James Dryden

UAES Bulletins

This bulletin reports experiments extending over several

years on the following subjects:

1. The egg-type in hens.

2. Breeding to increase egg yield.

3. Cost and profit of egg production.

4. Weight and cost of food eaten.

5. The value of exercise for the laying hen.

6. The relative value of different breeds.

7. The most profitable age of the hen.

8. The relative value of different forms of animal food.

9. The value of fat in poultry foods.

10. Feeding color into the egg.

11. Incubator experiments.

12. Tests of evaporation of eggs during incubation.

13. Tests of carbonic …

Bulletin No. 67 - Poultry Experiments, James Dryden

UAES Bulletins

The results of the third year's work in egg production at this Station, together with the summing up of the results of the three years, are given herewith. The third year's work began Nov. 7,1898, and ended Nov. 1,1899. Some of the experiments originally planned have run the full period of three years. In addition to a continuation of the original work a set of feeding experiments was conducted during the third year. This latter work was made possible by the erection of an addition to the poultry house which doubled the experimental capacity of the building and made possible …

Bulletin No. 60 - Poultry Experiments, James Dryden

UAES Bulletins

The experiments in egg production outlined in Bulletin No. 51 of this Station, were, in the main, continued during the year ending November 7, 1898. The results of this second year's work are reported herein.

Bulletin No. 51 - Poultry Experiments, James Dryden

UAES Bulletins

In November, 1896, experiments in egg production were begun at this station.