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Book Ecology and Effects of Fire mediated Habitat Alterations for Bighorn Sheep Translocated to the Seminoe Mountains Wyoming

Download or read book Ecology and Effects of Fire mediated Habitat Alterations for Bighorn Sheep Translocated to the Seminoe Mountains Wyoming written by Justin G. Clapp and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadesis) populations drastically declined throughout North America during the early 1900's, with many populations extirpated from historic ranges. Bighorn reintroductions or supplementations via translocation efforts has been a primary tool used to reestablish and support bighorn sheep. However, translocations are financially, biologically, and logistically challenging, with many bighorn translocation efforts ultimately considered unsuccessful. Because of these challenges, wildlife managers continue to investigate factors that may improve the likelihood of translocation success, including conducting habitat improvements and increasing monitoring efforts of translocated bighorn sheep. Beginning in 2009, translocations of bighorn sheep to the Seminoe Mountains were conducted in south-central Wyoming by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD). Bighorns from 3 translocation efforts were released and monitored in the Seminoe area, where no known remnant bighorns remained from previous translocation attempts. Global positioning system (GPS) data recovered from a sample of radio-collared bighorns shortly after translocations revealed bighorns were distributed toward the perimeter of the area intended for occupancy, and it was postulated that habitat improvements through prescribed burning may open restrictive habitat and promote increased bighorn use of the study area. Prescribed burning was scheduled to occur in the study area in 2011. I developed research objectives in relation to bighorn sheep translocations to investigate 1) how long bighorn take to acclimate to new surroundings after translocation events, and 2) provisional impacts of fire-mediated habitat alterations on bighorn distribution, habitat selection, and demography. To achieve my objectives, I monitored bighorn sheep in the Seminoe Mountains from 2009-2013. I also used GPS location data gathered from 40 bighorn sheep (F = 32, M = 8) that were radio-collared during initial translocation events from 2009-2011, and after the initiation of habitat alterations in 2011 I gathered additional data from another capture effort in the study area where 25 bighorns (F = 20, M = 5) were collared and released on site, collecting GPS data through 2013. In Chapter 2 I conducted an analysis investigating the temporal aspect of bighorn acclimation by measuring the amount of time for daily movement rates to stabilize for each bighorn after being released. I found it took approximately 30 days for bighorns to acclimate after being translocated, but only about 5 days if animals were captured and released in the same area where they were familiar with their surroundings. Also, animals that were released where no extant bighorns existed took 57% longer to acclimate, indicating that releasing bighorns with conspecifics reduces the time it takes to acclimate to novel environments. These findings may assist managers in developing efficient monitoring protocols after bighorn translocations occur. To accomplish my second objective I used a suite of techniques to analyze bighorn distribution, habitat selection, and bighorn demographics in response to fire-mediated habitat alterations. In Chapter 3 I compared bighorn utilization distribution size, overlap, and similarity across a spectrum of home range contours before and after treatments, identifying how changes occurred across varying home range levels. I found bighorns expanded distributions after fires by approximately 200%, and that core home ranges were altered to a higher degree than full home range extents. In Chapter 4, I next modelled resource selection of bighorns in the study area using a negative binomial general linear regression model to specifically identify if bighorn selected for fire-treated areas. Resource selection models showed no selection for fire-treated areas overall, although mean proportion of bighorn locations within areas treated with prescribed burning increased after treatment, lending some evidence toward selection for prescribed burns. Finally, in Chapter 4 I compared bighorn fire responses to bighorn survival throughout the study. Kaplan-Meier estimates showed bighorn survival was high early in the study, and I found some support that bighorns that expanded distribution after prescribed burns increased use of treated areas. However, bighorn survival decreased precipitously (~30%) after a wildfire event in 2012 that removed much vegetation and that coincided with severe drought conditions in the study area, delaying plant phenological response into the winter season. This event likely caused bighorns to expand distribution in an attempt to gain access to forage (no habitat selection identified), and bighorns that died in association with poor body condition had higher overlap with burned areas than those that survived. Given these results, it is likely that bighorns may respond positively to small-scale prescribed burns, but that large-scale fires, especially those that coincide with drought conditions and that encompass large areas currently occupied by bighorn sheep, may reduce bighorn fitness. Therefore, it is most likely best to conduct habitat alterations prior to translocation events.

Book A Bibliography to Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Literature

Download or read book A Bibliography to Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Literature written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Desert Bighorn Sheep

Download or read book Desert Bighorn Sheep written by Norman S. Smith and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Seasonal Habitat Selection and Impacts of Backcountry Recreation on a Formerly Migratory Bighorn Sheep Population in Northwest Wyoming USA

Download or read book Seasonal Habitat Selection and Impacts of Backcountry Recreation on a Formerly Migratory Bighorn Sheep Population in Northwest Wyoming USA written by Alyson B. Courtemanch and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The persistence of many migratory ungulate populations worldwide is threatened due to anthropogenic impacts to seasonal ranges and migration routes. Very little is known about the ability of migratory ungulates to adapt to migration disruption or loss. We proposed the Alternative Foraging Strategies Hypothesis (AFSH) as a framework for identifying various seasonal behavioral strategies that ungulates may use to cope with migration loss. We tested the AFSH using the formerly migratory Teton bighorn sheep population in northwest Wyoming, which ceased migrating over 60 years ago, but has persisted as resident. We used global positioning system (GPS) data to evaluate winter and summer habitat selection and seasonal elevational movements for 28 adult female bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) from 2008-2010. Resource selection functions revealed that Teton bighorn sheep have altered their winter foraging strategies to survive as residents by seeking out rugged, high elevation, windswept ridgelines. Seasonal movement analyses indicated that bighorn sheep undergo a newly documented "abbreviated migration" strategy that is closely synchronized with vegetation green-up patterns within their one range. We also investigated the long-term behavioral responses of bighorn sheep to backcountry skiing and snowboarding, which pose an additional challenge to surviving in their new high elevation habitats. We found that bighorn sheep avoided areas of backcountry recreation, even if those areas were otherwise relatively high quality habitat. Avoidance behavior resulted in up to a 30% reduction in available high quality habitat for some individuals. Bighorn sheep avoided areas with both low and high recreation use. Individual bighorn sheep exposed to high levels of recreation exhibited increased daily movement rates and home range sizes compared to sheep exposed to low or no recreation. These results reveal that bighorn sheep appear to be sensitive to forms of recreation which people largely perceive as having minimal impact to wildlife, such as backcountry skiing. The identification of alternative foraging strategies, the habitats that support them and the additional challenges to ungulates after migration loss, such as human recreation, can help reveal the underlying benefits of migration and help conserve ungulate populations after migration loss.

Book Master s Theses Directories

Download or read book Master s Theses Directories written by and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Wildlife habitat Relationships in Oregon and Washington

Download or read book Wildlife habitat Relationships in Oregon and Washington written by David H. Johnson and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 764 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides information about the terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats of Oregon and Washington and the wildlife that depend upon them; it also supports broader and more consistent conservation planning, management, and research. The 27 chapters identify 593 wildlife species, define some 300 wildlife terms, profile wildlife communities, review introduced and extirpated species and species at risk, and discuss management approaches. The volume includes color and bandw photographs, maps, diagrams, and illustrations; and the accompanying CD-ROM contains additional wildlife data (60,000 records), maps, and seven matrixes that link wildlife species with their respective habitat types. Johnson is a wildlife biologist, engineer, and habitat scientist; and O'Neill is director of the Northwest Habitat Institute; they worked together on this publication project as its managing directors. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Book Habitat Nutrition and Population Ecology of Two Transplanted Bighorn Sheep Populations in Southcentral Wyoming

Download or read book Habitat Nutrition and Population Ecology of Two Transplanted Bighorn Sheep Populations in Southcentral Wyoming written by John G. Cook and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Validation of Winter Concentration Area Guidelines and Winter Habitat Ecology for Greater Sage grouse in the Red Desert Wyoming

Download or read book Validation of Winter Concentration Area Guidelines and Winter Habitat Ecology for Greater Sage grouse in the Red Desert Wyoming written by Caitlyn Powell Wanner and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winter in temperate zones often represents a period of greatest energetic demand for vertebrate species. Animals respond to seasonal scarcity through behavioral strategies such as migration and selecting specific habitats characteristics to maximize resource acquisition and/or minimize energy expenditures. Migration or differential habitat use in winter can complicate goals of defining and conserving core habitat for species across increasingly fragmented landscapes. Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter “sage-grouse”) is a species of conservation concern endemic to sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe whose populations are most threatened by anthropogenic disturbance and concomitant degradation to sagebrush communities. Conservation of sage-grouse habitat is complicated by a partially-migratory annual cycle in most populations. Seasonal ranges (spring, summer/fall, and winter) may be integrated to any degree or non-overlapping. Efforts to conserve core habitat for sage-grouse have focused primarily on breeding ranges, which may not capture the needs of sage-grouse during other seasons, with winter habitat being least protected. Greater understanding of winter habitat requirements is needed to improve conservation for sage-grouse throughout their annual cycle. My thesis focused on multi-scale winter habitat ecology of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Red Desert of southcentral Wyoming, using GPS location data from winters 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021. My research encompassed a 1) landscape-scale validation of management guidelines for winter concentration areas as the second phase to a state-wide analysis, 2) habitat selection and behavior within home- and population-range scales as influenced by winter weather conditions, and 3) a fine-scale evaluation of microhabitat within home- and population-range scales during winter 2020/2021. My results support consideration of winter habitats in conservation plans for sage-grouse populations in rapidly changing landscapes. In Chapter 1, I conducted a systematic review of literature published in the last 46 years (1977–2022) on sage-grouse winter habitat selection and survival. Out of 32 compiled publications, I found that 59.4% of sage-grouse winter habitat literature was published in the last 10 years (2013–2022) and 53.1% of articles over the last 46 years reported avoidance of anthropogenic disturbance by sage-grouse during winter. The most recent recommendations for defining year-round priority habitat for sage-grouse recommend implementation of resource selection modeling for all seasonal periods. In Chapter 2, my research fulfilled the second phase of a larger effort to answer questions posed by the Wyoming Sage-Grouse Implementation Team, through the Winter Concentration Area Subcommittee, regarding sage-grouse winter habitat selection and response to anthropogenic disturbance. Phase 1 used existing datasets of sage-grouse GPS locations from 6 regions across Wyoming to model winter habitat selection and avoidance patterns of disturbance statewide. Results from Phase I formed the basis for developing recommendations for management of sage-grouse winter concentration areas in Wyoming. The purpose of my research in Chapter 2 was to validate results of Phase I modeling and evaluate if the statewide model accurately described sage-grouse winter habitat selection and anthropogenic avoidance in regions not considered in that modeling effort. I used 44,968 locations from 90 individual adult female grouse identified within winter habitat from winters 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021 in the Southern Red Desert region (my study area) for out-of-sample validation. The intent of my validations was to assess if models generated statewide or from a nearby region (Northern Red Desert) would be more effective in predicting sage-grouse habitat selection patterns in areas with little information. The statewide model better predicted sage-grouse habitat use at within-population scales and the near-region model was more predictive at within-home-range scales. I found some variation between regions and the statewide model but similar trends in environmental characteristics and avoidance of anthropogenic features even at low densities. My results from the Southern Red Desert support the recommendation from Phase 1 that anthropogenic surface disturbance should be limited to low levels (≤ 2.5%) within winter concentration areas to conserve sage-grouse winter habitat. In Chapter 3, my research focused on shifting environmental conditions that influence patterns of sage-grouse winter habitat selection. Sage-grouse are physically well adapted to winter conditions; it’s a common assumption that winter weather has little effect on sage-grouse. However, research results have varied in support of this assumption, with significant die-offs correlated to periods of extreme winter weather. My research used daily winter weather conditions to explain sage-grouse winter behavior and habitat selection. I used sage-grouse GPS locations from the Southern Red Desert over winters 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 and obtained local weather conditions for each winter from SnowModel. SnowModel used available meteorological data, landscape characteristics, and snow physics to predict weather conditions at a 30-m resolution and daily scale. By comparing habitat selection and behavior across fine temporal scales, I found that sage-grouse responded to daily weather conditions by selecting refugia habitat more than altering daily activity levels. My results suggest that, in addition to landscape features, sage-grouse selected home ranges at the population scale for warmer wind chill temperatures and greater windspeed. Within home ranges, sage-grouse appeared to respond to harsher weather (lower wind chill temperature and high wind speeds) by selecting greater sagebrush cover and leeward sides of ridges. Our research underlines the importance of examining winter habitat at narrower temporal scales than the entire winter season to identify important refugia features that may only be used periodically. Additional research into quantifying weather refugia for wintering sage-grouse populations may provide greater insight to the future sustainability of winter ranges. In Appendix A, I compared winter microhabitat characteristics at 90 sage-grouse use sites from the 2019/2020 winter with 90 available sites within the population range and 90 available sites within home ranges. I predicted habitat characteristics at grouse use locations would be more similar to paired random locations within the home range than to random locations within the population range. I also predicted that, because sage-grouse select specific habitat characteristics, there would be fewer differences when comparing random available locations between the home and population range than comparisons of used and available habitat. I found no support for my first prediction and strong support for my second prediction. Sage-grouse dung piles were 7.0- and 9.9-times higher at used locations than random locations within home and population ranges, respectively. Our results suggested that sage-grouse are highly selective for microhabitat. Sage-grouse selected areas with higher big sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and overall canopy cover, big sagebrush height, and visual obstruction compared to random locations within home and population ranges. Our results indicate concealment cover is important to sage-grouse throughout their annual cycle.

Book Bighorn Sheep Responses to Fire

Download or read book Bighorn Sheep Responses to Fire written by and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 3 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Wildland Fire in Ecosystems

Download or read book Wildland Fire in Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: