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 …

Water Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, Augustina Yaa Oye Odame

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation is made up of three separate studies under the unifying theme of “Water Decision-Making under Uncertainty.” The first study analyzed a farmer’s decision to invest in a more efficient irrigation system given uncertainty about future water supplies and his post-investment efficiency. It found the price at which farmers would no longer produce to be a bigger consideration in irrigation investment than previously thought. It also found support for a careful identification and consideration of all significant sources of uncertainty in order to create better policy incentives for irrigation technology investments.

The second study extended the first to allow …

An Investigation Of The Utilization Of Soil Water And Nitrogen Among Diverse Forage Plant Species And Mixtures, Sallee Reynolds

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Species diversity achieved by adding novel functional groups (warm-season grasses and non-leguminous forbs) to pasture land, along with traditional grasses and legumes, could aid in the capture of nutrients and water in pasture systems by offering complementary rooting architecture to aid in water and nitrogen uptake and decrease nitrogen leaching. Because these species may differ from commonly used grasses and legumes in their seasonal pattern of productivity, they could also extend or enhance growing-season productivity. The goal of this project is to better understand the role of plant diversity in 1) nitrogen use and 2) distribution of rooting dynamics and …

The Regulation Of Epithelial Sodium Channels In Mammalian Taste Receptor Cells, Arian F. Baquero Gonzalez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nutrient recognition is one of the main physiological roles of the gustatory system. In mammals, it is well established that the taste of sodium salts is primarily mediated by sodium influx through the epithelial sodium channel. The epithelial sodium channel is a sodium-specific ion channel that is expressed across a wide range of transporting epithelia such as colon, kidney, and taste. In addition to its role as a salt taste receptor, sodium influx through the epithelial sodium channel is important systemically for maintaining sodium balance and blood pressure. Following our earlier work on the endocrine regulation of salt taste at …

Growth And Water Relations Of Native Wheatgrass Populations, Brian P. Bell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Screening populations for development into released plant materials can be done inexpensively and in a timely manner. A common approach has been to quantify the amount of shoot dry mass produced as a surrogate for competitiveness. Besides dry mass production , other morphological characteristics have been employed , but physiological parameters have received less emphasis. Dry mass production may be an important characteristic, but identifying the traits responsible can be just as imperative . Populations with greater drought tolerance may be less impacted by competition for water from weeds, which could lead to greater establishment of desirable grasses on disturbed …

The Influence Of Fat And Water On The Melted Cheese Characteristics Of Mozzarella Cheese, Robert Lloyd Fife

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effect of reducing the fat content of low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese from 19% to less than 5% on melted cheese properties, i.e., apparent viscosity, cheese melt, and cook color, was investigated. Functional properties of melt and stretch and cook color were evaluated at d 1, 7, 14, and 28. A rapid microwave oven method underestimated the moisture content of the low fat cheeses by approximately 10%. Low fat cheese did not melt as well as did the low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese although the moisture content of the low fat cheese (moisture content ranged from 62.5% to 63.6%) was greater …

Nutrient And Water Interrelationships Between Crested Wheatgrass And Two Shrub Species, Paul B. Baker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

When crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum) grows in mixture with sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), its production declines. Its production increases when grown in mixture with fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), according to previous reports. This study investigated soil water extraction and potassium (K) nutrition of the two shrubs to identify possible causes of the differential responses of crested wheatgrass.

Crested wheatgrass had reduced, rather than increased, nitrogen (N) and K yield in mixture with fourwing saltbush. No differences in N and phosphorous (P) concentrations were observed between sagebrush and fourwing saltbush, but fourwing saltbush had a much …

Effect Of Short Duration Grazing On Soil Moisture Depletion And Plant Water Status In A Crested Wheatgrass Pasture, Jon M. Wraith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A short duration grazing system was utilized to determine the effects of intensive periodic defoliation during spring on soil moisture depletion patterns and plant water status in a crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum and A. desertorum) pasture in central Utah. Exclosures were constructed to compare grazed and ungrazed responses. Soil moisture was monitored to a depth of 193 cm at one to two week intervals from mid-April to late-September using a neutron moisture gauge. Predawn and midday leaf water potentials were estimated using a pressure chamber technique. The two paddocks included in the study were grazed three times between …

Growth And Water Relations Of Mountain Big Sagebrush On Reclaimed Mine Soils In Southwestern Wyoming, Alan T. Carpenter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mined-land reclamation practices in shrub-steppe ecosystems can be augmented by planting seedlings of locally dominant shrubs, e.g., mountain big sagebrush. Dispersion pattern could affect sagebrush performance by influencing amounts of windborne snow, soil and litter which accumulate around shrubs and by influencing water withdrawal by roots. Mountain big sagebrush seedlings were planted in plots on a reclaimed coal strip mine in two dispersion patterns: singly and in clumps of four at the same overall density.

Performance of mountain big sagebrush was monitored during two growing seasons. Measures included plant survival, end-of-growing season aboveground biomass, leaf water potential components, soil water …

Temporal And Spatial Partitioning Of The Soil Water Resource Between Two Agropyron Bunchgrasses And Artemisia Tridentata, Halldor Thorgeirsson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Dynamics of soil water use by two cool-season Agropyron bunchgrasses during the warm season depletion of soil water reserves were monitored for two years in experimental plots in the field. Agropyron desertorum, an introduced, competitive species from Eurasia, extracted more water from the deeper ( > 50 cm) soil layers than the native, less competitive Agropyron spicatum. Agropyron desertorum both extracts this water earlier and to lower soil water potentials than Agropyron spicatum. From the water extraction dynamics of the grasses in monocultures and in their two-way (50:50) mixtures with a shrub they commonly co-occur with, Artemisia tridentata …

The Impact Of Surface Soil Removal On Plant Production, Transpiration Ratios, Nitrogen Mineralization Rates, Infiltration Rates, Potential Sediment Losses, And Chemical Water Quality Within The Chained And Reseeded Pinyon-Juniper Types In Utah, Steven M. Lyons

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During the period of October 1974 to August 1976, a study was conducted to measure the effects of surface soil removal on plant production, plant transpiration rates, nitrate nitrogen mineralization rates, and selected hydrologic parameters (infiltration rates, potential sediment production, and chemical quality of runoff water). The treatments were incremental 7.6 centimeter soil layers to a depth of 30.5 centimeters.

Plant production and transpiration ratios (or water use efficiencies) were measured in greenhouse studies using Agrogyron desertorum grown in the incremental 7.6 centimeter soil layers from five study sites throughout the state of Utah, (Blanding, Brush Creek, Milford, Huntington, and …

Toxicity, Selectivity, And Efficacy Of Squoxin (1,1'-Methylendi-2-Napthol) To Fishes In Utah Waters, Dexter R. Pitman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Squoxin (1,1'-Methylendi-2-napthol) was tested in laboratory and field bioassays to evaluate its biological activity to rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki), Utah chub (Gila atraria), carp (Cyprinus carpio), reside shiner (Richardsonius balteatus), and mountain sucker (Catostomus platyrhynchus) under various conditions of water quality and temperature. The compound was toxic to all species and most effective from greatest to least to mountain sucker, reside shiner, Utah chub, cutthroat trout, and rainbow trout and carp. Selectively and safety indices for Utah chub compared with the two species of …

The Relationship Between Matric Water And Related Physiological Properties, Hussain Ali Al-Saadi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Matric water was measured as the water retained by plant material on a pressure membrane or ultra filter after equilibration under 20 bars nitrogen gas pressure and the removal of free water. At increasing pressures lesser amounts of water are held by matric or colloidal surface forces. Twenty bars pressure, supplied by cylinder nitrogen for 48 hours, was used in this study. Matric water was expressed as a percent of either (a) the dry weight or (b) the original water content. Plant material was oven dried, ground, and then saturated with water prior to the determination.

The matric water values …

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 …

The Effects Of Available Water Upon Populations Of Chukar Partridge On Desert Mountains Of Utah, William W. Shaw

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The importance of surface water to chukar partridges (Alectoris graeca) and the feasibility of rain-catchment devices for improving chukar habitat were studied on the Thomas and Dugway Mountain Ranges in western Utah during 1969 and 1970.

Sources of surface water were removed from one mountain range, and chukar populations on that range were compared with populations on an adjacent range with permanent sources of water.

Providing drinking water did not improve chukar productivity, survival, or availability to hunters. Although most birds concentrated around water supplies in the summer, some chukars appeared to live completely independent of any permanent …

The Secondary Benefits Of Irrigation Water: An Economic Appraisal, Erik Bruce Godfrey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The secondary or external benefits of increasing the availability of water for irrigation and changing the allocation of an existing water supply was analyzed from a theoretical point of view.

"Input-output" models for Cache County, Utah, and for the state of Utah were used to indicate the intersectoral relationship of water used by agriculture and other sectors in each economy.

The indirect value of water used by agriculture in Cache County was estimated. A method that extended the procedure used in this thesis was proposed that could be used to estimate the value of water in ether sectors. A "water …

Simulation As A Technique For Evaluating Water In Competing Uses, Dennis Norman Detray

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is a methodological study of a technique of analysis known as simulation, with special reference to developing economic-cum-hydrologic models of complex real world water resource systems.

It is the eventual goal of this project to develop a complete economic and hydrologic computer model of Cache County, Utah, to further test the applicability of simulation to water resource problems. Although no modeling is carried out, Cache County is used as a foundation for judging the technique within this thesis.

Of the several approaches to simulation which were reviewed, Forrester's (1961) methods, and the use of DYNAMO as a simulation …

Irrigation Water Values In Cache County, Utah, Marlyn Fife

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In Utah all water, both on or below the ground surface, is considered public property. The right to use water is obtained by following certain subsiding procedures of appropriation through the office of the State Engineer. Any right to the use of water may be changed to some other beneficial use with the approval of the State Engineer; however, there must be no interference with other rights, unless proper compensation has been made.

Agriculture still uses most of the available water in Utah; However, farmers' needs for water are not exactly the same. When allocation per acre is the same …

The Consumptive Use Of Water In Milford Valley, Utah, Terrel R. Tovey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumptive use, as used in this thesis, is defined as the sum of the volumes of water used by the vegetative growth of a given area in transpiration and building of plant tissue and that evaporated from adjacent soil, snow, or intercepted precipitation of the area in any specified time, divided by the given area. If the unit of time is small, the consumptive use is expressed in acre-inches per acre or depth in inches, whereas, if the unit of time is large, such as growing season or a 12-month period, the consumptive use is expressed as acre-feet per acre …