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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Using New And Long-Term Multi-Scale Remotely Sensed Data To Detect Recurrent Fires And Quantify Their Relationship To Land Cover/Use In Indonesian Peatlands, Yenni Vetrita Jan 2021

Using New And Long-Term Multi-Scale Remotely Sensed Data To Detect Recurrent Fires And Quantify Their Relationship To Land Cover/Use In Indonesian Peatlands, Yenni Vetrita

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Indonesia has committed to reducing its greenhouse gases emissions by 29% (potentially up to 41% with international assistance) by 2030. Achieving those targets requires many efforts but, in particular, controlling the fire problem in Indonesia’s peatlands is paramount, since it is unlikely to diminish on its own in the coming decades. This study was conducted in Sumatra and Kalimantan peatlands in Indonesia. Four MODIS-derived products (MCD45A1 collection 5.1, MCD64A1 (collection 5.1 and 6), FireCCI51) were initially assessed to explore long-term fire frequency and land use/cover change relationships. The results indicated the product(s) could only detect half of the fires accurately. …


Vulnerability Of Protected Areas To Human Encroachment, Climate Change And Fire In The Fragmented Tropical Forests Of West Africa, Francis Kwabena Dwomoh Jan 2018

Vulnerability Of Protected Areas To Human Encroachment, Climate Change And Fire In The Fragmented Tropical Forests Of West Africa, Francis Kwabena Dwomoh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Upper Guinean region of West Africa is home to some of the most globally significant tropical biodiversity hotspots, providing ecosystem services that are crucial for the region’s socio-economic and environmental wellbeing. Nonetheless, following decades of human-caused destruction of natural habitats, protected areas currently remain the only significant refugia of original vegetation relics in landscapes that are highly fragmented. Aside from having strong geographic variation in land use, climate, vegetation, and human population, the region has also experienced remarkable biophysical and socio-economic changes in recent decades. All these factors influence the fire regime and the vulnerability of forests within protected …


Effects Of Visitors And Enrichments On Behavior Of Captive Red Wolves’ (Canis Rufus) At The Great Plains Zoo, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Kylee S. Shotkoski Jan 2016

Effects Of Visitors And Enrichments On Behavior Of Captive Red Wolves’ (Canis Rufus) At The Great Plains Zoo, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Kylee S. Shotkoski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Red wolves (Canis rufus) are the first animals to maintain a wild population from captive, released individuals. A captive breeding program for red wolves was started before complete extirpation, and 4 breeding pairs were released in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (North Carolina) in 1987 and a small wild population still exists there. Currently, there are several captive breeding facilities for red wolves within the Species Survival Plan (SSP) program. The Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota participates in the SSP program. My study was initiated to create a natural history background and evaluate interaction between …


Evaluation Of Bison (Bison Bison) Ecology At The Olson’S Bison Conservation Ranches, Pine River Ranch, Manitoba, Canada, Joshua L. Leonard Jan 2016

Evaluation Of Bison (Bison Bison) Ecology At The Olson’S Bison Conservation Ranches, Pine River Ranch, Manitoba, Canada, Joshua L. Leonard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bison (Bison bison), the largest mammalian species in North America, historically numbering in the tens of millions (Roe 1970, McHugh 1972, Dary 1989, Shaw 1995), was nearly extirpated at the turn of the 19th century (Knapp et al. 1999; Gates et al. 2010). At the time, estimates of less than 1,000 bison remaining in North America are widely accepted (Hornaday 1889; Seton 1927; Gates et al. 2010). The decline of bison includes factors such as disease (Flores 1991; Isenberg 2000), sport hunting (Danz 1997; Dary 1989; Hewitt 1919; Isenberg 2000; McHugh 1972), and unofficially funded commercial hunting by the U.S. …


Developing Management Guidelines That Balance Cattle And Timber Production With Ecological Interests In The Black Hills Of South Dakota, Kurt M. Chowanski Jan 2016

Developing Management Guidelines That Balance Cattle And Timber Production With Ecological Interests In The Black Hills Of South Dakota, Kurt M. Chowanski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forested lands contribute to the United States (US) economy by providing livestock and timber production. Livestock grazing of forested lands has been widespread throughout the western US since the settlement era, and currently occurs on 51.4 million hectares (ha) representing 16% of all US grazing land and 22% of all US forested land (Nickerson et al. 2011). While livestock grazing and timber harvest are occurring on a substantial amount of forested land, relationships between management practices, tree stocking, timber production, forage production, livestock grazing, wildlife, aesthetics, and ecological integrity are not well documented. Whether considering timber or cattle, finding a …


Sagebrush Ecosystem Characterization, Monitoring, And Forecasting With Remote Sensing: Quantifying Future Climate And Wildlife Habitat Change, Collin G. Homer Jan 2013

Sagebrush Ecosystem Characterization, Monitoring, And Forecasting With Remote Sensing: Quantifying Future Climate And Wildlife Habitat Change, Collin G. Homer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems constitute the largest single North American shrub ecosystem and provide vital ecological, hydrological, biological, agricultural, and recreational ecosystem services. Disturbances continue to alter this ecosystem, with climate change possibly representing the greatest future disturbance risk. Improved ways to characterize and monitor gradual change in this ecosystem are vital to its future management. A new remote sensing sagebrush characterization approach was developed in Wyoming which integrates three scales of remote sensing to derive four primary continuous field components (bare ground, herbaceousness, litter, and shrub), and four secondary components (sagebrush, big sagebrush, Wyoming sagebrush, and shrub …