Digital Commons Network^™

A Hierarchical Bayesian Approach For Handling Missing Classification Data, Alison C. Ketz, Therese L. Johnson, Mevin B. Hooten, N. Thompson Hobbs

United States National Park Service: Publications

1. Ecologists use classifications of individuals in categories to understand composition of populations and communities. These categories might be defined by demo- graphics, functional traits, or species. Assignment of categories is often imperfect, but frequently treated as observations without error. When individuals are observed but not classified, these “partial” observations must be modified to include the missing data mechanism to avoid spurious inference.

2. We developed two hierarchical Bayesian models to overcome the assumption of perfect assignment to mutually exclusive categories in the multinomial distribu- tion of categorical counts, when classifications are missing. These models incorporate auxiliary information to adjust the posterior …

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Quality Assurance Plan For Monitoring White-Tailed Deer In The Heartland Inventory And Monitoring Network, United States National Park Service, Heartland Inventory And Monitoring Network

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

In accordance with guidelines set forth by the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Division, a quality-assurance plan has been created for use by the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network in the implementation of the White-tailed Deer Monitoring Protocol (HTLN 2018). This quality-assurance plan documents the standards, policies, and procedures used by the Heartland Network for activities related to the collection, processing, storage, analysis, and publication of monitoring data. The policies and procedures documented in this quality-assurance plan complement the quality-assurance plans for other monitoring activities conducted by the Heartland Network and supplement the National Inventory and Monitoring Division …

Late Holocene Expansion Of Ponderosa Pine (Pinus Ponderosa) In The Central Rocky Mountains, Usa, Jodi R. Norris, Julio L. Betancourt, Stephen T. Jackson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Aim: Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) experienced one of the most extensive and rapid post-glacial plant migrations in western North America. We used plant macrofossils from woodrat (Neotoma) middens to reconstruct its spread in the Central Rocky Mountains, identify other vegetation changes coinciding with P. ponderosa expansion at the same sites, and relate P. ponderosa migrational history to both its modern phylogeography and to a parallel expansion by Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma).

Location: Central Rocky Mountains, Wyoming and Montana, and Black Hills, Wyoming and South Dakota, USA.

Methods: Plant macrofossils were analysed in 90 middens …

Prehistoric Human Impact On Tree Island Lifecycles In The Florida Everglades, Traci Ardren, Justin P. Lowry, Melissa Memory, Kelin Flanagan, Alexandra Busot

United States National Park Service: Publications

The current study provides a fine-grained analysis of evidence for sustained pre-Columbian human occupation and socio-ecological interaction within Everglades National Park. Utilizing archaeological data on dietary and cultural patterns recovered from recent excavations at a prehistoric tree island site, we argue the role of ancient human populations in the formation or augmentation of tree islands should be incorporated into environmental models of the tree island lifecycle. High phosphorus levels in human waste, especially the largely organic waste of prehistoric populations, as well as other anthropogenic factors have not been adequately factored into current environmental models of tree island formation or …

Hydrothermal Monitoring In Yellowstone National Park Using Airborne Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing, C. M.U. Neale, C. Jaworowski, H. Heasler, S. Sivarajan, A. Masih

United States National Park Service: Publications

This paper describes the image acquisition and processing methodology, including surface emissivity and atmospheric corrections, for generating surface temperatures of two active hydrothermal systems in Yellowstone National Park. Airborne thermal infrared (8–12 μm) images were obtained annually from 2007 to 2012 using a FLIR SC640 thermal infrared camera system. Thermal infrared image acquisitions occurred under clear-sky conditions after sunset to meet the objective of providing high-spatial resolution, georectified imagery for hydrothermal monitoring. Comparisons of corrected radiative temperature maps with measured ground and water kinetic temperatures at flight times provided an assessment of temperature accuracy. A repeatable, time-sequence of images for …

The Role Of Forage Availability On Diet Choice And Body Condition In American Beavers (Castor Canadensis), William J. Severud, Steve K. Windels, Jerrold L. Belant, John G. Bruggink

United States National Park Service: Publications

Forage availability can affect body condition and reproduction in wildlife.Weused terrestrial and aquatic vegetation sampling, stable isotope analysis, and livetrapping to investigate the influence of estimated forage biomass on diet, body condition, and reproduction in American beavers (Castor canadensis) in the Namakan Reservoir, Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA, May 2008–September 2009. Available terrestrial and emergent aquatic forage varied greatly among territories, but floating leaf aquatic forage was low in abundance in all territories. Variation in estimated biomass of available emergent and terrestrial vegetation did not explain variation in respective assimilated diets, but variation in floating leaf vegetation explained …

The Analysis Of A Late Holocene Bison Skull From The Ashley National Forest, Utah, Kenneth P. Cannon

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

In 2003 a partial bison skull was recovered by Ashley National Forest archeologist Brian Storm from an elevation of 3840 m (12,600 ft) AMSL in the Uinta Mountains. The partial skull consists of a portion of the frontal, occipital region, and horn cores including horn sheaths. The presence of the horn sheaths is of particular interest for the ecological information they can provide. Through the analysis of the individual cones of the horn sheath a record of the animal’s dietary and migration patterns can be obtained.

The skull was recovered downslope of Gilbert Peak in an alpine environment. …

Constraints On Frugivory By Bears, Christy A. Welch, Jeffrey Keay, Katherine C. Kendall, Charles T. Robbins

United States National Park Service: Publications

Bears consuming wild fruits for fall energy accumulation are constrained by several factors, including intake rate, the physiological capacity of the gastrointestinal tract, and the metabolic efficiency of gain in body mass. We measured these relationships through foraging and feeding trials using captive and wild black bears (Ursus americanus) and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos). Four fruit types covering a range of sizes and clustering were offered to captive bears to determine the effect of density, size, and presentation on intake rate. Intake rate (in grams per minute) and bite rates (in bites per minute) increased curvilinearly …

Restoration Of Woodland Caribou To The Lake Superior Region, Peter J. P. Gogan, Jean Fitts Cochrane

United States National Park Service: Publications

Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) historically occupied the boreal forest zone across the North American continent. The distribution and abundance of the species has declined in the past century. In particular, it has been extirpated from much of the southern limits of its historical range on both sides of the boundary between Canada and the United States (Bergerud 1974). Translocation of animals from extant populations may be used to reestablish populations in portions of the species' former range. Recently, wildlife biologists in Ontario have translocated woodland caribou to a number of sites in or adjacent to Lake Superior. …

An Ecological Rationale For The Natural Or Artificial Regulation Of Native Ungulates In Parks, Glen F. Cole

United States National Park Service: Publications

The results from studies of both naturally and artificially regulated ungulate populations in four Rocky Mountain parks are reviewed. Study findings on population regulation processes, the role of predators, natural mortality and natality, and ungulate habitat and food relationships suggest that previous assumptions which were the basis for artificially regulating ungulates over-estimated the regulatory effects of predators and did not always distinguish natural from human-influenced conditions or changes. The suggested rationale for artificially regulating native ungulates in Rocky Mountain parks is: a human influence that causes unnatural successional trends by restricting ungulates from freeranging over an ecologically complete habitat (1) …

The Role Of Fire In Managing Red Fir Forests, Bruce M. Kilgore

United States National Park Service: Publications

Fire has long been a major factor in the ecology of forests in North America (Ahlgren and Ahlgren, 1960). Its role in the red fir forest of the Sierra Nevada, however, has received little study. Investigations in mixed conifer forests in Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks by Biswell (1961), Hartesveldt (1964), and Reynolds (1959) lead to the conclusion that fires have been less numerous during the past 50 years than they were in primitive forests. Estimates of frequency in such primitive forests range from a fire every year or two to one every 21 years (1961), with a …