Life Sciences Commons^™

Investigating Cause-Specific Mortality Of Sheep To Determine The Impacts Of Carnivores On Domestic Livestock, Nathan Jacob Floyd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Livestock and carnivores interact in ways that are considered conflict throughout the world. In the western United States, livestock are often grazed on public lands in close proximity to predators in their natural habitat, and can be killed as prey. Livestock losses to predators can threaten rancher’s livelihoods. Sheep and lambs are especially vulnerable to predators due to their small size and lack of defensive abilities. To reduce the impacts that predators have on livestock, it is important for ranchers and wildlife biologists to have an accurate understanding of how many livestock die and are killed by predators when grazing …

Reproductive Rates, Kitten Survival, And Den Site Selection Of Bobcats (Lynx Rufus) In The Black Hills, South Dakota, Erin E. Morrison

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is an important furbearer in South Dakota. However, management of bobcats can be difficult because of their elusive nature and lack of demographic information. In particular, managers lack information on abundance, survival, and reproductive rates necessary to ensure sustainable harvests and stable populations through time. Additionally, cause-specific mortality can provide insight into the factors influencing bobcat kitten survival rates, as well as reveal actions managers could take to improve survival. Bobcat resource selection can vary depending on spatial scale and it is important to understand how denning may result in different selection patterns at …

Monitoring Populations And Movement Of Bobcats (Lynx Rufus) On The Eastern Slope Of The Sierra Nevada Mountains Of California, Michael Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Monitoring the spatial ecology and population densities of carnivores is critical for effective management and conservation of these populations and the ecosystems in which they exist. However, effective monitoring of carnivore populations through estimates of space use, habitat selection and densities can be difficult due to their relatively low densities and wide ranging, elusive behaviors. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are medium sized, top-level predators which are widely distributed across North America. Quantifying space use, habitat selection and developing effective population monitoring strategies for this species will have important implications for wildlife management.

My first objective was to use telemetry …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Sympatric Bobcats (Lynx Rufus) And Coyotes (Canis Latrans) In An Agricultural Landscape, Marlin M. Dart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bobcat (Lynx rufus) populations experienced declines in the Midwest during the 20th century due to land conversion for agriculture and over exploitation and were practically nonexistent in areas by the 1970-80s. Populations have been recovering following changes in land-use practices and habitat improvement. Eastern South Dakota was closed to bobcat harvest in 1977 but reopened in 2012 to select counties. Bobcats are elusive, have large home ranges, and occur at low densities, making monitoring their populations difficult. Camera trapping is an effective tool for monitoring elusive carnivores but can be burdened by low detection rates. Researchers often employ …

Recreation, Vegetation Management, And Disease Impact Sympatric Carnivore Activity In California's East Bay Parks, Leigh J. Douglas

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

East Bay Regional Park District designated over 1000 ha of protected wildland-urban interface habitat in the hills of California’s East Bay Area for invasive tree removal to reduce fire risk and restore native habitat over a 10-year period starting in 2016. From June to November 2019, 36 camera traps were deployed using a stratified two-pronged detection approach of surveying recreation and wildlife trails to assess the impact of vegetation management on the spatiotemporal distribution of sympatric carnivore species while accounting for potential impacts of human activity and proximity to development. The sampling effort resulted in 5,191 cumulative trap nights, 2,739 …

Population Genetic Structure Of Bobcats (Lynx Rufus) In South Dakota: Using Harvested Samples To Inform Management, Stuart C. Fetherston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A primary objective of state wildlife management agencies is to establish sustainable harvest levels for game species. An important component of sustainable management practices is the identification of appropriate management units for monitoring and establishing defensible harvest levels. Across their range, bobcats (Lynx rufus) are an ecologically and economically important species. Despite their importance, little is known about the genetic structure of bobcat populations in South Dakota. We used tissue sampled from n = 1,215 bobcats harvested across the state from 2014–2019 to infer population genetic structure. We used 17 microsatellite loci and a sex identification marker to assign individuals …

Urban Bobcat (Lynx Rufus) Ecology In The Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Metroplex, Julie M. Golla

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Urban landscapes are quickly replacing native habitat around the world. As wildlife and people increasingly overlap in their shared space and resources, so does the potential for human-wildlife conflict, especially with predators. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are a top predator in several urban areas across the United States and a potential contributor to human-carnivore conflicts. This study evaluated the movements and habitat use of bobcats in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Texas metroplex. Spatial data were collected from 10 bobcats via Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) for approximately one year. Average home range size was 4.60 km² (n=9, SE=0.99 km …