Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Fire Regimes Of Utah: The Past As Prologue, Joseph D. Birch, James A. Lutz

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

(1) Background: Satellite monitoring of fire effects is widespread, but often satellite-derived values are considered without respect to the characteristic severity of fires in different vegetation types or fire areas. Particularly in regions with discontinuous vegetation or narrowly distributed vegetation types, such as the state of Utah, USA, specific characterization of satellite-derived fire sensitivity by vegetation and fire size may improve both pre-fire and post-fire management activities. (2) Methods: We analyzed the 775 medium-sized (40 ha ≤ area < 400 ha) and 697 large ( ≥ 400 ha) wildfires that occurred in Utah from 1984 to 2022 and assessed burn severity for all vegetation types using the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio. (3) Results: Between 1984-2021, Utah annually experienced an average of 38 fires ≥ 40 ha that burned an annual average of 58,242 ha with a median dNBR of 165. Fire was heavily influenced by sagebrush and shrubland vegetation types, as these constituted 50.2% (17% SD) of area burned, a proportion which was relatively consistent (18% to 79% yr^-1). Medium-sized fires had higher mean severity than large fries in non-forested vegetation types, but forested vegetation types showed the reverse. …

How Behavior Of Nontarget Species Affects Perceived Accuracy Of Scat Detection Dog Surveys, Karen E. Dematteo, Linsey W. Blake, Julie K. Young, Barbara Davenport

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Detection dogs, specially trained domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), have become a valuable, noninvasive, conservation tool because they remove the dependence of attracting species to a particular location. Further, detection dogs locate samples independent of appearance, composition, or visibility allowing researchers to collect large sets of unbiased samples that can be used in complex ecological queries. One question not fully addressed is why samples from nontarget species are inadvertently collected during detection dog surveys. While a common explanation has been incomplete handler or dog training, our study aimed to explore alternative explanations. Our trials demonstrate that a scat’s genetic …

Anthropogenic Food Subsidy To A Commensal Carnivore: The Value And Supply Of Human Faeces In The Diet Of Free-Ranging Dogs, James R. A. Butler, Wendy Y. Brown, Johan T. Du Toit

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

As the global population of free-ranging domestic dogs grows, there is increasing concern about impacts on human health and wildlife conservation. Effective management of dog populations requires reliable information on their diet, feeding behavior, and social ecology. Free-ranging dogs are reliant on humans, but anthropogenic food subsidies, particularly human faeces (i.e., coprophagy) have not previously been fully quantified. In this study we assess the contributions of different food types to the diet, and their influences on the social behaviour of free-ranging dogs in communal lands of rural Zimbabwe, with a focus on coprophagy. Free-ranging dog diets, body condition, and sociology …

How To Quantify The Temporal Storage Effect Using Simulations Instead Of Math, Stephen P. Ellner, Robin E. Snyder, Peter B. Adler

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The storage effect, originally a theoretical hypothesis to explain how ecologically similar species could coexist by responding differently to environmental variability (Chesson & Warner, 1981; Shmida & Ellner, 1984), has developed into a core concept in community ecology (Mittelbach 2012)with empirical support from communities of prairie grasses (Adler et al., 2006), desert annual plants (Pake & Venable, 1995; Angert et al., 2009), tropical trees (Usinowicz et al., 2012) and zooplankton(Caceres, 1997). An essential step in this maturation was mathematical analysis (Chesson, 1994, 2000a) that identified the conditions required for the storage effect to help stabilize coexistence of competitors. For the …

Utah's Southwest, Robert J. Johnson, R. Douglas Ramsey

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

This map of Utah's Southwest features a cartographic illustration created by draping four cross-blended hypsometric tint ramps over a grayscale hillshade. A hypsometric tint ramp is essentially a blend of one or more colors that is associated with an elevation range. A cross-blended hypsometric tint derived image consists of two or more color ramps with at least one ramp presenting the terrain in a "dry" condition and the other in a "moist" or vegetated condition. The addition of a satellite image derived vegetation index allows vegetation colors to appear where the terrain is vegetated irrespective of elevation.

Bear River Watershed, Robert J. Johnson, R. Douglas Ramsey

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

A map outlining the drainage basin of the Bear River, Utah with topography and a satellite image as the base layers. This was produced by the Remote Sensing and GIS Laboratory, Department of Wildland Resources, Quinney College of Natural Resources in support of research conducted by faculty in the Department of Environment and Society in the same college.

Canyonlands National Park, Robert J. Johnson, R. Douglas Ramsey

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Satellite image map of Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Great Salt Lake Watershed, Robert J. Johnson, R. Douglas Ramsey

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

A map outlining the drainage basin of the Great Salt Lake, Utah with shaded topography as the base layer. This was produced by the Remote Sensing and GIS Laboratory, Department of Wildland Resources, Quinney College of Natural Resources.

Mojave Desert - Land Ownership And Administration, Robert J. Johnson, R. Douglas Ramsey, Alan Falconer

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Produced for the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program under the United States Department of Defense Legacy Program in cooperation with the Department of the Interior.

Cartography and image processing by:

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Laboratory

Department of Geography and Earth Resources

College of Natural Resources

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 84322–5240

Cartographic preparation and printing by U.S. Geological Survey, 1998.

Land ownership compiled from 1:100,000-scale Bureau of Land Management Surface Management Status maps.

Populated places produced from USGS Geographic Names Information System.

Roads and water bodies produced from USGS 1:100,000-scale Digital Line Graph data.

Project boundary based on the …

Mojave Desert - Shaded Relief, Robert J. Johnson, R. Douglas Ramsey, Alan Falconer

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Produced for the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

under the United States Department of Defense Legacy Program in cooperation with the Department of the Interior.

Cartography and image processing by:

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Laboratory

Department of Geography and Earth Resources

College of Natural Resources

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 84322–5240

Cartographic preparation and printing by U.S. Geological Survey, 1998.

Shaded Relief derived from U.S> Geological Survey (USGS) National Elevation Database.

Solar elevation 25°, azimuth 315°, exaggeration 5x, ambient light 0.5

Land ownership compiled from 1:100,000-scale Bureau of Land Management Surface Management Status maps.

Populated places produced from USGS …

Mojave Desert - Satellite Image Map, Robert J. Johnson, R. Douglas Ramsey, Alan Falconer

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Produced for the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program under the United States Department of Defense Legacy Program in cooperation with the Department of the Interior.

Cartography and image processing by:

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Laboratory

Department of Geography and Earth Resources

College of Natural Resources

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 84322–5240

Cartographic preparation and printing by U.S. Geological Survey, 1998.

Image map produced from 15 Landsat Thematic Mapper images recorded from 1991–1993, provided by U.S.

Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the Multi–Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium Activities.

Bands 7, 4, 2. Simulated natural color composite.

Land ownership compiled from …