Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Ecology Of Treeline Whitebark Pine (Pinus Albicaulis) Populations In Central Idaho: Successional Status, Recruitment, And Mortality, And A Spring Temperature Reconstruction From Whitebark Pine Tree Rings, Dana Lee Perkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research investigated the successional status of treeline whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) populations on 14 stands in central Idaho and used empirical statistical models to determine the principal factors affecting recruitment and mortality. The longest lived whitebark pines from four additional high-elevation sites were used to develop a tree-ring chronology to reconstruct over 1,000 years of average April-May temperature.

The assessment of stand structures using size-frequency distributions generally provides evidence that treeline whitebark pine populations are currently self-sustaining in areas of low to nonexistent incidence of white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola). However the presence of …

Energy, Fractal Movement Patterns, And Scale-Dependent Habitat Relationships Of Urban And Rural Mule Deer, Mark F. Mcclure

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I studied the behaviors, movement dynamics, habitat relationships, and population characteristics of Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) using urban and rural winter ranges in Cache Valley, Utah, from January 1994 to February 1998. There were 2 goals to my research endeavors. The first was to assess how and why the behaviors and demographic characteristics of urban deer differed from those of rural deer. The second was to assess the scale-dependent responses to habitat and the scale-dependent patterns of habitat use by deer living in each area. To accomplish the first goal, I compared the prevalence of migration, the spatial …

Morphometric Evaluation Of The Whitefish Complex In Bear Lake, Utah/Idaho, Alan Ward

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Whitefish populations around the world have long been difficult to categorize taxonomically. The whitefish of Bear Lake, Utah/Idaho are no exception. There are three recognized species of Prosopium that are endemic to the lake. Two of these species, Prosopium spilonotus and Prosopium abyssicota, have previously been indistinguishable outside of spawning times. Previous studies have proposed additional taxa within P. spi/onotus to further complicate the identification among these taxa.

Morphological characteristics were quantified on wild whitefish from Bear Lake, as well as from progeny reared in the laboratory from the wild adult fish. The purported taxa were separated in the field …

Effectiveness Of Earthen Escape Ramps In Reducing Big Game Mortality In Utah, Mary L. Hammer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One-way escape gates and earthen escape ramps are structures used to enable deer to exit the highway right-of-way along fenced roads. I compared the use of one-way escape gates and earthen escape ramps by mule deer on two highways in Utah to determine if deer exhibited a preference for either structure. Results showed that earthen escape ramps were used by mule deer 8-11 times more frequently than one-way gates. Highway mortality data suggest that the installation of the escape ramps likely reduced mortality of mule deer in both study locations, because we could not attribute reductions in mortality to decreased …

Intensification In A Risky Environment: The Case Of Improving Private Grazing Land For Beef Production In Utah, Louise D. Sainsbury

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah ranchers commonly face risks to their livelihoods. The objective of this work was to determine if ranchers could make profitable improvements to private land forage given the combined threat of low beef prices, drought, and possible loss of public grazing.

We used linear programming (LINDO) to identify the most profitable solutions for private land investment with an 11-year simulation. Operations were divided into small, medium, and large size classes. Various forage improvements and public permits were options. Two phases of a beef price cycle (peak and trough) and 2 precipitation patterns (wet and drought) were combined as joint favorable …