Life Sciences Commons^™

Habitat Selection By Desert Carnivores: How Water, Intraguild Predation, And Prey Impact Animal Space Use, Nadine A. Pershyn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Across North America large carnivores have lost nearly half of their historic range, creating openings for smaller (< 15 kg) carnivores to take over their ecological roles. Coyotes (Canis latrans) have seen a significant range expansion, including into arid deserts. It was believed that the addition of artificial water sources by humans allowed coyotes to expand into desert ecosystems where they were previously unable to survive. The kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) is a small, desert-adapted carnivore with declining populations that faces threats from coyotes of intraguild predation. This is when carnivores compete over the same prey, and the larger carnivore (intraguild predator) kills the smaller carnivore (intraguild …

Dehydration And Mortality Of Feral Horses And Burros: A Systematic Review Of Reported Deaths, John Derek Scasta, Eric Thacker, Jacob D. Hennig, Karl Hoopes

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Water is a requirement for all organisms, including equids. Dehydration-caused mortality of feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) is often cited as a cause of concern and as justification for management of feral horses, yet a paucity of information exists on the matter. We conducted a systematic review from September 1, 2020 through January 15, 2021 of available news reports of feral horse and burro (E. asinus) dehydration mortalities and public interventions to save horses using a public search engine with a priori defined search term combinations and additional snowball sampling. We found 15 uniquely reported mortality …

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 …