Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'NATURE / Animals / Wildlife'

ABSTRACT EFFECT OF A WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CAMP EXPERIENCE IN CHINA ON STUDENT KNOWLEDGE OF ANIMALS, CARE, PROPENSITY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, AND COMPASSIONATE BEHAVIOR TOWARD ANIMALS by Sarah M. Bexell The goal of conservation education is positive behavior change toward animals and the environment. This study was conducted to determine whether participation in a wildlife conservation education camp was effective in positively changing 8-12 year old students’: (a) knowledge of animals, (b) care about animals, (c) propensity for environmental and wildlife stewardship, and (d) compassionate behavior toward animals. During the summer of 2005, 2 five-day camps were conducted at 2 zoological institutions in Chengdu, China. The camp curriculum was influenced by theory and research on the following: conservation psychology, social learning theory, empathy and moral development theory, socio-biological theory, constructivist theory, and conservation science. Camp activities were sensitive to Chinese culture and included Chinese conservation issues. Activities were designed to help children form bonds with animals and care enough about them to positively change their behavior toward animals and the environment. This mixed methods study triangulated quantitative and qualitative data from six sources to answer the following: 1. Did camp increase student knowledge of animals? 2. Did camp increase student caring about animals? 3. Did camp increase student propensity for environmental and wildlife stewardship? 4. Did camp affect student compassionate behavior toward animals? A conservation stewards survey revealed significant increases on pre-post, self-report of knowledge, care, and propensity. Pre-post, rubric-scored responses to human-animal interaction vignettes indicated a significant increase in knowledge, and stable scores on care and propensity. Qualitative data from student journals, vignettes, and end-of-camp questionnaires demonstrated knowledge, caring, and propensity, and revealed the emergent theme empathy. To address question 4, instructors tallied campers’ behavior toward animals using a student behavior ethogram. Occurrence of positive behaviors was inconsistent, but negative behaviors decreased, indicating campers were more conscious of behaviors to avoid. Field notes helped determine that camps were implemented as planned, therefore not interfering with goals of the camp. This study contributes to an emerging and critical knowledge base of effective strategies to promote conservation behavior.

European immigrants once regarded wolves as the "devil in disguise" (Lopez, 1978, p.40). With our growing awareness of other cultural perspectives and flourishing body of scientific knowledge with regard to wolves' behavior, our perceptions of wolves have become more complicated and nuanced. Our collective awareness of the environment in which we live also gathers complexity. I examine these issues in this study. Wolves are returning to Oregon. The arrival of wolf B-45 in 1999 heralded the beginning of the return of wild wolves to Oregon. More wolves are expected to cross the border as young sub-adults disperse from the growing population in Idaho. This study explores our perceptions of wolves using empirical, qualitative methodology. Running in parallel with this main goal, I also seek to understand how these perceptions relate on a larger scale to the ways we understand nature. In exploring these questions qualitatively, I seek to answer the following questions: (a) What ways can story play a role in defining people’s perceptions, in particular, of wolves? (b) What lessons can be learned to inform future ecological educators' work to communicate on this or other similarly complex topics? (c) What is the collective story that we can tell each other on the eve of wolves' presence in the Oregon landscape becoming an acknowledged reality once again? (d) Finally, how can what is learned inform future ecological educational programs regarding wolves in the state? This study explores the above questions. In considering people's perceptions, I attempt to examine whether the desires to exterminate wolves are really gone. Perhaps, as we learn more about the complex ways that wolves interact in the landscape and the various ways that humans react to the idea of wolves, we may recognize the greater complexities in the ways we inter-relate with them.

There is currently widespread concern about the impact of continuing climate change on the distribution, and ultimately persistence of species across all the major taxa. While much previous work has focussed on using climate envelope models to make projections of the location of potential future suitable climate space for a variety of species, these can at best give an indication of the likely direction and potential magnitude of distributional change. They lack information on spatial population dynamics, dispersal, habitat suitability, local adaptation and inter-specific interactions. The aim of this thesis was to explore how some of these other factors might alter projections regarding species’ distributional change in response to climate change, using both theoretical models, and garden warbler (Sylvia borin) as a model system. A key aspect which has been largely over-looked until very recently is the complex range dynamics which can result from spatial variation in population dynamics, and the impacts of inter-annual variability rather than simply mean climate, both of which can impact extinction risk. Much insight into future impacts of climate change can also be gained through studies of past distributional changes, such as that observed in the British breeding population of garden warbler in the last three decades. In many cases, studies at smaller-scales are necessary to elucidate the mechanisms of climate change impacts and further explore potential synergies with other drivers of ecosystem change such as habitat loss and species invasions. The particular combination of factors which should be included to make projections of distributional change will be species-specific and scale-dependent, therefore modelling exercises should be carefully designed depending on the intended outcome for conservation.

Masters of Art
The rapid increase in urbanisation and tourism in the Cape Peninsula has increased the rate of human-wildlife interaction. The Cape Peninsula is unique in terms of placing urban areas next to protected natural areas with no physical barriers, thus allowing animals, especially baboons, to travel between the two areas, occasionally leading to conflict between humans and wildlife. Visitors to popular tourist sites may also actively participate in feeding baboons or through negligence by leaving food items in the open. As a result, changing the habits of the baboons as human food and food waste are seen as the preferred option in terms of dietary habits. The main aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions and social construction of visitors in the Cape Peninsula towards baboons at tourist sites. Social constructionist theory was used as the theoretical framework for the study, which looks at the way people perceive nature and wildlife, which is unique to each person. The study uses an exploratory sequential mixed methods design, with a qualitative section that includes three semi-structured interviews, followed by a quantitative section consisting of a questionnaire survey, with 201 questionnaires being completed. The survey was conducted at key tourist sites around the Cape Peninsula that are well known for baboon sightings, including Bordjiesrif Picnic Site, Buffels Bay viewpoint, Cape of Good Hope/Cape Point and Dias Beach. The study used discourse analyses and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyse the data, which allowed for ideas to be labelled and linked to opinions in the literature, and patterns identified during the data collection. Visitors viewed tourism spaces as anthropocentric areas, and thus perceived baboon-visitor interactions through conditional acceptance. Visitor perceptions and social construction of baboon-visitor interactions may be positive when conditional acceptance is adhered to, and negative when conditional acceptance is broken. Recommendations for further research includes more research on non-consumptive tourism activities and its impact on human-wildlife interactions, with a need for more literature on the influence of education on people’s attitudes towards wildlife, and finally, more research that focuses on the changing behavioural ecology of baboons, due to an increase in tourism/visitation.

La conservation des populations animales autour desquelles existe une controverse passe entre autres par une compréhension de l’écologie de l’espèce, mais également par une analyse des attitudes humaines vis-à-vis de sa présence. Cependant, ces deux aspects sont rarement mobilisés ensemble au sein de travaux combinant sciences de l’environnement et sociologie. Nous proposons ici une étude portant sur la population d’ours brun (Ursus arctos) résidant dans les Pyrénées, intégrant à la fois dynamique de la population et de sa distribution, et une analyse de l’attitude des Pyrénéens vis-à-vis des plantigrades. Nous conduisons également une réflexion sur les méthodes à employer afin d’intégrer ces résultats au sein d’une approche socio-écologique. Nos modèles écologiques, qui utilisent des données de suivi obtenues dans le cadre d’un partenariat transfrontalier entre France, Andorre et Espagne, mettent en évidence une augmentation des effectifs et une réduction de la distribution de la population entre 2008 et 2014. Si ces conclusions ne semblent pas aller dans le sens d’une dégradation rapide de leur état de conservation, les ours pyrénéens restent menacés du fait de leurs faibles effectifs et du fort taux de consanguinité au sein de la population. Notre enquête sociologique, réalisée dans les communes sur lesquelles l’ours est ou a été présent entre 2008 et 2013, a mis en évidence une hétérogénéité spatiale dans l’attitude des habitants des Pyrénées sur la question de l’ours, avec notamment des variations significatives en fonction de leurs lieux de naissance et de résidence. Nous discutons ensuite d’une approche intégrant résultats de sociologie et d’écologie avec le but de créer un modèle pouvant servir d’outil à un responsable chargé de la gestion ou de la résolution du conflit, en analysant les méthodes à notre disposition, leurs avantages et leurs limites. Nous concluons sur l’intérêt des approches pluridisciplinaire dans la gestion des controverses autour de la conservation de populations animales
The conservation of controversial animal populations requires an understanding of the species’ ecology, but also an analysis of the human attitudes towards its presence. However, those two aspects are rarely studied together through a combination of environmental sciences and sociology. Here we study the brown bear (Ursus arctos) population residing in the Pyrenees mountains, analyzing both population dynamics and distribution, and the attitudes of Pyrenean people towards the species. We also ponder on the methods to use to combine these results in a socio-ecological approach. Our ecological models, which use monitoring data obtained through a crossborder partnership between France, Andorra and Spain, highlight an increase of population size and a reduction of its distribution between 2008 and 2014. If those conclusions do not seem to indicate a quick degradation of their conservation status, Pyrenean brown bears remain threatened by low numbers and high inbreeding in the population. A sociological study was performed in the municipalities where bear was or had been present between 2008 and 2013. We found spatial heterogeneity in the attitudes of Pyrenean people regarding bears, with significant variations depending on where they were born and where they currently live. We follow by discussing an approach that combines sociological and ecological results, with the goal of building a model that can be used as a tool for someone responsible for managing or solving the conflict; to do this, we analyze the methods available, their strengths and limits. We conclude on the importance of interdisciplinary approaches when managing controversies over wildlife conservation

The Asiatic black bear, or 'moon bear', has inhabited Japan since pre-historic times, and is the largest animal to have roamed Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu since mega-fauna became extinct on the Japanese archipelago after the last glacial period. Despite this, the bear features only rarely in the folklore, literature and arts of Japan's mainstream culture. This relative cultural invisibility in the lowland agrarian-based culture of Japan contrasts markedly with its cultural significance in many upland regions where subsistence lifestyles based on hunting, gathering and beliefs centred on the mountain deity (yama no kami) have persisted until recently. However, in recent decades the bear has been propelled from its position of relative cultural obscurity into the forefront of mainstream society's attention. As more and more of the bear's habitat is destroyed or degraded through forestry and development, the bear is increasingly encroaching onto human territory in its search for food, leading to pestilence and bear attacks. This thesis examines the nature of the contemporary human-bear relationship in Japan, dominated by human-bear conflict, or the so-called 'bear problem'. To better understand the contemporary response to the bear, the thesis explores the historical relationship of the Japanese with both the bear and its habitat, the forested uplands. The thesis further seeks to understand how cultural, historical, social and geographic factors influence a society's response to wildlife conflict and what can be learnt from the Japanese example which can be applied to the understanding of human society's response to wildlife conflict elsewhere.

This qualitative multiple case study explored human-elephant conflict-coexistence relationships and issues of conservation in Namibia (Damaraland) and Sri Lanka (Wasgamuwa) from a posthumanist, multispecies perspective. Within each region, conflict between humans and elephants is considered high, elephants are considered endangered and are of high conservation priority, the human population has grown significantly, and community-based organizations are implementing holistic approaches to increase positive relations between humans and elephants. This study was guided by research questions that explored the current landscape of the human-elephant-conservation nexus within each region, the shared histories between humans and elephants over time, and the value in utilizing more-than-human theoretical and methodological frameworks to enhance human-elephant relationships and support conservation efforts. Data collection methods included participant observation, naturalistic observation, interviews, visual data, and documents. Data was triangulated and analyzed within each case, as well as across cases. Major themes were identified within each case that describe unique contexts, cultures, and shared histories. These findings were then analyzed comparatively. Emergent themes across cases identified ways that a more-than-human framework may be useful in fostering coexistence between humans and elephants and supporting conservation efforts. This study contributes to the evolving scholarship on multispecies approaches to inquiry and methodology from the position of conflict resolution scholar, supports a more inclusive framework for analyzing human-wildlife conflicts, discusses theoretical and methodological implications in multispecies research, and provides recommendations for future research.

La gestion de la faune sauvage hors des ENP pose en premier lieu la question de la connaissance des milieux qu'elle fréquente et de l'évolution de leur capacité d’accueil. Aboutir à une description détaillée de la répartition qualitative et quantitative des espèces, avec comme seuls collecteurs de données des professionnels formés à ces fins, peut sembler utopique. L’immensité des espaces de la campagne banale combinée à la mobilité des espèces supposent une présence régulière et un relevé assez fréquent d'indices de présence lorsque des suivis sont nécessaires. Si certains chercheurs et gestionnaires n’hésitent désormais plus à utiliser l’écologie participative comme un moyen de collecte de ces données, cette méthode souffre parfois d’un manque de bénévoles, donc d'un défaut d’informations sur certaines parties des maillages qu'il faudrait renseigner. Dans ce contexte, envisager de solliciter ceux qui façonnent ces milieux naturels, donc qui séjournent longuement et utilisent cette nature, semble une alternative plausible pour acquérir des informations et des savoirs nécessaires à la gestion de la faune sauvage. Or, la qualité de ceux-ci est à interroger pour en mesurer la richesse et la fiabilité, et donc les possibilités ou non de les mobiliser dans des processus de suivis ou de gestion. Afin de conduire cette recherche, un objet et un terrain d’étude appropriés étaient nécessaires. Le choix s’est porté sur les savoirs locaux des chasseurs de gibier d’eau des zones humides girondines. La pratique de la chasse de la nuit a été plus particulièrement ciblée, ces adeptes disposant de carnets sur lesquels ils enregistrent parfois depuis longtemps des observations de l’avifaune, et l’activité en elle-même imposant de se tenir dans un poste fixe. Au-delà de leurs observations, des savoirs locaux potentiellement importants ont donc pu être accumulées. Dans les deux cas, l’accès à ces items est complexe et impose de créer une relation de confiance, que nous avons acquise grâce à l’échange d’informations. Il a ainsi été possible de poursuivre notre recherche en nous intéressant à l’aspect « observations » grâce aux carnets, puis à l’aspect « savoirs » en menant des entretiens en situation avec ces locaux. Notre travail interroge d’abord à la nature des informations nécessaires à la gestion de différentes espèces de la faune sauvage, et à la variabilité des moyens qui sont utilisés pour les collecter. La mobilisation de savoirs appartenant parfois à des ruraux amène ensuite à s’interroger sur leur pertinence scientifique. Il apparaît que ces derniers peuvent s’avérer être des contributions probantes qui concourent à une meilleure gestion de la faune sauvage. Ainsi, on montre ensuite en quoi différentes pratiques cynégétiques mobilisent des savoirs qui semblent pouvoir contribuer à la gestion de la faune sauvage. Les caractéristiques de la chasse de nuit au gibier d’eau la rendent plus propice à la collecte d’observations et de savoirs originaux, dont certains pourraient contribuer à la gestion de l’avifaune migratrice. Les zones humides girondines apparaissent alors comme un terrain d’étude approprié. Puis, on regarde de manière détaillée en quoi consiste la pratique de la chasse au gibier, et on montre que ces pratiquants sont susceptibles de collecter des informations originales sur l’avifaune et les milieux humides. La fiabilité des informations collectées et donc la qualité des observateurs pouvant être hétérogènes suivant les affinités de ces pratiquants, les meilleurs d’entre eux doivent être identifiés. On s’attache alors à déceler, en utilisant leurs carnets, les chasseurs qui, parmi la masse de ces individus, s’avèrent être des observateurs fiables. Au-delà, les informations qu’ils ont accumulées sont susceptibles de s’être combinées en savoirs. A travers une série d’entretiens puis d’évaluations, c’est la nature et la richesse de leurs savoirs qu’on interroge, pour identifier les plus experts et compétents d’entre eux
The wildlife management outside the protected natural area asks the question of knowledge of the environments it attends and the evolution of their capacity. Achieve to a detailed description of the qualitative and quantitative distribution of species, with the only professionals as data collectors trained for these purposes, seems Utopian. The immensity of spaces of trivial campaign combined with the mobility of species involved a regular presence and a fairly common statement for presence indices when monitoring is necessary. While some researchers and managers are now more reluctant to use the participatory ecology as a way of collecting these data, this method can sometimes suffer from a lack of volunteers. A lack of information can exist on some parts that it would inquire. In this context, consider seeking those who shape these natural environments, staying long and using this nature seems a plausible alternative to acquire information and knowledge necessary to wildlife management. But the quality of these collectors is to ask to measure wealth and reliability, and thus the opportunities or not to engage in follow-ups or management process. To conduct this research, an object and a field of appropriate study were required. The choice fell on local knowledge of waterfowl hunters of the Gironde wetlands. The practice of hunting at night was particularly targeted, these enthusiasts have books on which they sometimes long record observations of birds, and the activity itself imposing to stand in a fixed position. Beyond their observations, potentially significant local knowledge could therefore be accumulated. In both cases, access to these items is complex and requires to create a relationship of trust that we have gained through the exchange of information. It was thus possible to continue our research by focusing on the aspect of "observations" through books, and then to the aspect of "knowledge" by conducting interviews with these locals hunters. Our work first examines the nature of the information necessary for the management of different species of wildlife and variability wherewithal that are used to collect. The mobilization of knowledge sometimes belonging to rural then raises questions about their scientific relevance. It appears that these may contribute to better management of wildlife. Thus, we show how various hunting practices mobilize knowledge that appear to contribute to the management of wildlife. The characteristics of the night hunting waterfowl make it more conducive to the collection of observations and original knowledge, some of which could contribute to the management of migratory birds. Wetlands Gironde appear as an appropriate field study. Then, we look in details what constitutes the practice of hunting game, and show that these practitioners are likely to collect original information on birds and wetlands. The reliability of information collected and therefore the quality of the observers may be heterogeneous according to the affinities of these practitioners, the best of them should be identified. The last part then attaches to detect, using their notebooks, hunters who among the mass of these individuals turn out to be reliable observers. In addition, the information they are likely to have accumulated combined knowledge. Through a series of interviews and evaluations, it is the nature and the richness of their knowledge that asks to identify the most expert and competent of them

En Afrique centrale, la chasse commerciale contribue fortement au ravitaillement en protéines des ménages en milieu villageois comme en milieu urbain. Elle est accusée de surexploiter la ressource faune, d'avoir un impact très négatif sur la biodiversité animale et sur la régénération forestière et de faire naître des risques importants de développement de maladies émergentes. A partir du cas centrafricain, nous voulons montrer que : la chasse commerciale s'inscrit dans une histoire longue, qui débute avec la colonisation européenne et se poursuit sans rupture, mais avec des acteurs différents, jusqu'à nos jours ; les prélèvements portent principalement sur la faune petite et moyenne qui présente une dynamique naturelle de reproduction très forte et qui supporte bien des pressions de chasse élevées ; la venaison, surtout la viande boucanée, joue un rôle important pour la sécurité alimentaire des ruraux et des urbains les plus pauvres ; la distribution de ce produit vivrier fait intervenir différents acteurs de l'économie informelle ; la filière est illégale, mais jamais criminelle ; la viande de chasse n'est pas en accès libre, mais la filière est fortement régulée par des contraintes sociales, économiques, géographiques et techniques. A partir de ces constats, nous proposons une nouvelle approche politique de la gestion de la faune en Afrique centrale, privilégiant une gestion adaptative de la faune commune sur la base des territoires villageois, recentrant l'Etat sur ses fonctions régaliennes d'organisation de la sécurité alimentaire globale de la population et réorientant la recherche vers la biologie de la petite faune et l'appui technique aux collectivités locales.

Thesis (DTech. degree in Nature Conservation.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012.
Wildlife crop raiding is a pervasive and widespread problem. The purpose of the study is to investigate and understand underlying processes and structures associated with the crop raiding problem in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia in order to technically and scientifically support decisions by farmers and other stakeholders regarding crop raiding.

Human influence on the environment is becoming increasingly pervasive across the globe, and can drastically impact ecological patterns and processes. For many terrestrial wildlife species, human influence can fragment critical habitat, increase mortality, and threaten habitat connectivity and ultimately the persistence of wildlife populations. This dissertation aims to use multiple conservation ecology methods and tools to test the impact of human influence on the population dynamics of a large carnivore in a human-dominated landscape. To assess the impact of human activity on carnivore ecology, a series of empirical studies were conducted on a small population of American black bear (Ursus americanus) in the Western Great Basin, USA. A long-term dataset including geographic locations of animal habitat choices as well as mortality locations were used in multiple statistical models that tested the response of black bears to human activity. These analyses were conducted at multiple spatial and temporal resolutions to reveal nuances potentially overlooked if analyses were limited to a single resolution. Individual studies, presented as dissertation chapters, examine the relationships between human activity and carnivore ecology. Collectively, the results of these studies find black bear ecology to be highly sensitive to the magnitude and spatial composition of human activity in the Lake Tahoe Basin, observable at both coarse and fine spatial resolutions. The results presented in this study on the influence of human activity on large carnivore population dynamics allow for a more thorough understanding of the various ways common conservation ecology methods and tools can be used to evaluate human-wildlife relationships.

The oribi Ourebia ourebi is probably South Africa's most endangered antelope. As a specialist grazer, it is extremely susceptible to habitat loss and the transformation of habitat by development. Another major threat to this species is illegal hunting. Although protected and listed as an endangered species in South Africa, illegal poaching is widespread and a major contributor to decreasing oribi populations. This study investigated methods of increasing oribi populations by using translocations and reintroductions to boost oribi numbers and by addressing overhunting. Captive breeding has been used as a conservation tool as a useful way of keeping individuals of a species in captivity as a backup for declining wild populations. In addition, most captive breeding programmes are aimed at eventually being able to reintroduce certain captive-bred individuals back into the wild to supplement wild populations. This can be a very costly exercise and often results in failure. However, captive breeding is a good way to educate the public and create awareness for the species and its threats. Captive breeding of oribi has only been attempted a few times in South Africa, with varied results. A private breeding programme in Wartburg, KwaZulu-Natal was quite successful with the breeding of oribi. A reintroduction programme for these captive-bred oribi was monitored using radio telemetry to assess the efficacy of such a programme for the oribi. As with many reintroductions of other species, this one was not successful and resulted in many mortalities. However, many variables have been identified that contributed to the failure of this programme and they can be adapted to increase the chances that captive breeding and reintroduction be a viable conservation tool for oribi. Besides captive breeding and reintroductions, the translocation of wild animals can also be effective in sustaining wild populations. Translocations usually appreciate a higher rate of success than reintroductions. A translocation of wild oribi was attempted in this study. This involved the translocation of four males and eleven females and a year-long monitoring programme. This translocation proved to be extremely successful in establishing a sustainable wild population of oribi with few mortalities and several births. However, such translocations can only be attempted when there is suitable habitat and high security from poaching. One source of oribi for the translocation part of the study was from a housing estate that had a high density population of oribi. The existence of such a thriving population of animals on what is often a controversial type of development led to a case study investigation. Housing developments are increasing in size and in numbers in South Africa, and are rarely held accountable for the destruction caused to local habitat or wildlife. This case study used this housing estate as an example of development and conservation cooperating and enjoying the success of a thriving population of endangered oribi. Many variables have been identified that contribute to the success of this venture and that could be used as a requisite for planned housing developments in the future. In particular, clustering of houses to leave open wild areas that are managed ecologically. Finally, the issue of illegal hunting was identified as a very serious threat to oribi conservation. Using surveys, residents of rural settlements and landowners were probed about this issue so that a demographic profile of hunters could be created. This profile could then be used to make recommendations on ways to slow the spread of illegal hunting as well as educate hunters and conservation laws. The results showed that many rural people hunt on a regular basis and most hunt with dogs. It also III showed that there is a high level of ignorance amongst these people on the laws concerning conservation and wildlife species. It was concluded from this study that captive breeding and reintroduction of oribi might be a way to enhance wild populations, but might be more useful in creating public awareness. Translocation, on the other hand, was extremely successful as a way of saving doomed populations and augmenting stable ones. However, it requires suitable and protected habitat. Using housing estates as havens for endangered species is an option but only if the right legislation is passed and cooperation demanded with large portions of land remaining undeveloped. Addressing illegal hunting is the most important, and possibly the most difficult hurdle for oribi conservation besides habitat destruction. Finally, recommendations for oribi conservation and management were made based on the results from this study.
Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Nature Conservation.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010.
To a varying degree and for a variety of reasons black rhino require large areas of land but increasingly they are moved to smaller properties. Specific spatial and temporal problems are foreseen when keeping black rhino on small properties. The temporal problems under investigation on the Mokopane Biodiversity Conservation Centre where two black rhino are kept on 700 ha are: browse availability, browse utilisation as well as browse quality.

abstract: Despite years of effort, the field of conservation biology still struggles to incorporate theories of animal behavior. I introduce in Chapter I the issues surrounding the disconnect between behavioral ecology and conservation biology, and propose the use of behavioral knowledge in population viability analysis. In Chapter II, I develop a framework that uses three strategies for incorporating behavior into demographic models, outline the costs of each strategy through decision analysis, and build on previous work in behavioral ecology and demography. First, relevant behavioral mechanisms should be included in demographic models used for conservation decision-making. Second, I propose rapid behavioral assessment as a useful tool to approximate demographic rates through regression of demographic phenomena on observations of related behaviors. This technique provides behaviorally estimated parameters that may be applied to population viability analysis for use in management. Finally, behavioral indices can be used as warning signs of population decline. The proposed framework combines each strategy through decision analysis to provide quantitative rules that determine when incorporating aspects of conservation behavior may be beneficial to management. Chapter III applies this technique to estimate birthrate in a colony of California sea lions in the Gulf of California, Mexico. This study includes a cost analysis of the behavioral and traditional parameter estimation techniques. I then provide in Chapter IV practical recommendations for applying this framework to management programs along with general guidelines for the development of rapid behavioral assessment.
Dissertation/Thesis
M.S. Biology 2012

Human society is presently beset by an array of anthropogenic social-ecological crises that threaten the sustainability of the social-ecological systems that sustain our livelihoods. While research alone will not rectify these issues, it can help to answer key questions that must be addressed to develop effective solutions. To address such questions in a cohesive, compelling manner, social-ecological research can be bounded, structured, and distilled through innumerable organizing principles or theoretical frameworks. For this dissertation, I focused on the geographic region of Tierra del Fuego and sought to draw from the array of disciplines and methods that use sound as a lens for biological, ecological, and/or social inquiry. I also endeavored to consider various temporal, spatial, and organizational scales while investigating a selection of topics with a) specific importance in the social-ecological systems of Tierra del Fuego and b) general relevance to global social-ecological challenges. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the dissertation, and Chapter 6 serves as a conclusion.

The objective of Chapter 2, “Biogeographical and analytical implications of temporal variability in geographically diverse soundscapes”, was to provide some guidance to passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) practitioners on how to design appropriate temporal sampling schemes based on the temporal variability of the sounds one wishes to measure and the power and storage limitations of acoustic recorders. We first quantified the temporal variability of several soundscape measurements and compared that variability across sites and times of day. We also simulated a wide range of temporal sampling schemes in order to model their representativeness relative to continuous sampling.

For Chapter 3, “Sentinels for sentinels: passive acoustic and camera trap monitoring of sensitive penguin populations”, we tested the utility of PAM to monitor behavior and abundance of Magellanic (Spheniscus magellanicus) and southern rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) at different spatial and temporal scales. We conducted in situ observations of the acoustic behavior of each species, and we compared acoustic metrics with penguin counts from narrowly focused camera traps and larger-extent observations of colony density.

Chapter 4, “Acoustic monitoring shows invasive beavers (Castor canadensis) increase avian diversity in Tierra del Fuego”, is focused on impacts of the invasive North American beaver (Castor canadensis) on Fuegian bird communities. We sought to determine how bird communities might differ between intact riparian forests, beaver ponds, and beaver meadows created by pond drainage. We conducted PAM and classic avian point counts under each of these conditions across seasons to test for differences between impact conditions and to compare the two methodologies.

For Chapter 5, “Human-nature connection and soundscape perception: insights from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina”, we evaluated the relationship between soundscape perception and nature relatedness by conducting surveys and soliciting responses to soundscape audio prompts. We also examined the potential for any demographic influences on nature relatedness or soundscape perception in the context of local social tensions.