Biodiversity Commons^™

Understanding Stakeholder Attitudes And Involvement In Habitat Conservation Plans And The Endangered Species Act, Kyle Andrew Rodgers

Masters Theses

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), established in 1973, was a landmark piece of environmental legislation and remains the standard for endangered species conservation. Implementation of the ESA has often been framed as pitting economic development against species conservation, inciting passions for and against endangered species conservation. The strength of opposing public opinions is highlighted by high-profile controversies such as those around the snail darter, northern spotted owl and the greater sage grouse. In an attempt to reduce conflict, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) increasingly seeks to utilize collaborative, stakeholder-based processes that address stakeholder interests, attitudes, and values.

In …

Estimating Avian Populations With Passive Acoustic Technology And Song Behavior, Stephanie C. Prevost

Masters Theses

The need for improvements in avian wildlife monitoring efficiency, accuracy, and scope has led to use of new technologies such as autonomous recording units (ARUs). As a monitoring tool, passive acoustic recording has numerous benefits, but it is still limited to use in human-accessible areas. There is also need for monitoring technologies in areas that are inaccessible. Military installations, which host a disproportionately large number of threatened, endangered, and at-risk species compared to other federal lands, pose the accessibility problem with sizeable impact areas that are too hazardous for humans to access. This thesis introduces the Balloon Aerial Recording System …

Urbanization Impacts On Land Snail Community Composition, Mackenzie N. Hodges

Masters Theses

Urbanization has tremendous impacts on most native species. Urban ecosystems are becoming increasingly prevalent, while urban ecology is a relatively underdeveloped field. This is especially true for terrestrial mollusks, which are a surprisingly understudied organism. Due to their low mobility and dispersal potential, land snails are valuable indicators of ecosystem disturbance. For this study, land snails were collected in 54 city parks along an urban gradient to understand influences of urbanization on snail communities. Sampled parks include small extensively landscaped downtown parks, neighborhood and community parks, district parks, and large nature parks, each with variable vegetation, soil characteristics, disturbance regimes, …

Genetic Structure And Diversity Of Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Punctatus) In Three Large Midwestern Rivers, Vaclav Alexei Sotola

Masters Theses

Little information is available regarding the genetic structure and diversity of sportfishes in large rivers, which can be vital to continuing the sustainable exploitation of these fisheries. Additionally, impoundments often have vast impacts on riverine systems. These impacts include altering the flow regime, changing the nutrient load, and preventing migratory fish from reaching their spawning grounds. If fishes are prevented from reaching their spawning grounds, their genetic diversity and structuring could begin to change relative to historic measures, potentially decreasing their fitness and ability to survive. I screened microsatellite loci to assess the genetic population structure and diversity of channel …