Matching Items (6)
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- All Subjects: Ecology
- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Creators: Miller, William
Description
Modified and artificial water sources can be used as a management tool for game and non-game wildlife species. State, federal, and private agencies allocate significant resources to install and maintain artificial water sources (AWS) annually. Capture mark recapture methods were used to sample small mammal communities in the vicinity of five AWS and five paired control sites (treatments) in the surrounding Sonoran desert from October 2011 to May 2012. I measured plant species richness, density, and percent cover in the spring of 2012. A Multi-response Permutation Procedure was used to identify differences in small mammal community abundance, biomass, and species richness by season and treatment. I used Principle Component Analysis to reduce 11 habitat characteristics to five habitat factors. I related rodent occurrence to habitat characteristics using multiple and logistic regression. A total of 370 individual mammals representing three genera and eight species of rodents were captured across 4800 trap nights. Desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus) was the most common species in both seasons and treatments. Whereas rodent community abundance, biomass, and richness were similar between seasons, community variables of AWS were greater than CS. Rodent diversity was similar between treatments. Desert pocket mouse abundance and biomass were twice as high at AWS when compared to controls. Biomass of white-throated woodrat (Neotoma albigula) was five times greater at AWS. Habitat characteristics were similar between treatments. Neither presence of water nor distance to water explained substantial habitat variation. Occurrence of rodent species was associated with habitat characteristics. Desert rodent communities are adapted for arid environments (i.e. Heteromyids) and are not dependent on "free water". Higher abundances of desert pocket mouse at AWS were most likely related to increased disturbance and debris and not the presence of water. The results of this study and previous studies suggest that more investigation is needed and that short term studies may not be able to detect interactions (if any) between AWS and desert small mammal communities.
ContributorsSwitalski, Aaron (Author) / Bateman, Heather L (Thesis advisor) / Miller, William (Committee member) / Alford, Eddie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Once considered an abundant species in the eastern United States, local populations of red-shouldered hawks, Buteo lineatus, have declined due to habitat destruction. This destruction has created suitable habitat for red-tailed hawks, Buteo jamaicensis, and therefore increased competition between these two raptor species. Since suitable habitat is the main limiting factor for raptors, a computer model was created to simulate the effect of habitat loss in central Maryland and the impact of increased competition between the more aggressive red-tailed hawk. These simulations showed urban growth contributed to over a 30% increase in red-tailed hawk habitat as red-shouldered hawk habitat decreased 62.5-70.1% without competition and 71.8-76.3% with competition. However there was no significant difference seen between the rate of available habitat decline for current and predicted development growth.
ContributorsMurillo, Crystal (Author) / Whysong, Gary (Thesis advisor) / Alford, Eddie (Committee member) / Miller, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Human recreation on rangelands may negatively impact wildlife populations. Among those activities, off-road vehicle (ORV) recreation carries the potential for broad ecological consequences. A study was undertaken to assess the impacts of ORV on rodents in Arizona Uplands Sonoran Desert. Between the months of February and September 2010, rodents were trapped at 6 ORV and 6 non-ORV sites in Tonto National Forest, AZ. I hypothesized that rodent abundance and species richness are negatively affected by ORV use. Rodent abundances were estimated using capture-mark-recapture methodology. Species richness was not correlated with ORV use. Although abundance of Peromyscus eremicus and Neotoma albigula declined as ORV use increased, abundance of Dipodomys merriami increased. Abundance of Chaetodipus baileyi was not correlated with ORV use. Other factors measured were percent ground cover, percent shrub cover, and species-specific shrub cover percentages. Total shrub cover, Opuntia spp., and Parkinsonia microphylla each decreased as ORV use increased. Results suggest that ORV use negatively affects rodent habitats in Arizona Uplands Sonoran Desert, leading to declining abundance in some species. Management strategies should mitigate ORV related habitat destruction to protect vulnerable populations.
ContributorsReid, John Simon (Author) / Brady, Ward (Thesis advisor) / Miller, William (Committee member) / Bateman, Heather (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
A functioning food web is the basis of a functioning community and ecosystem. Thus, it is important to understand the dynamics that control species behaviors and interactions. Alterations to the fundamental dynamics can prove detrimental to the future success of our environment. Research and analysis focus on the global dynamics involved in intraguild predation (IGP), a three species subsystem involving both competition and predation. A mathematical model is derived using differential equations based on pre-existing models to accurately predict species behavior. Analyses provide sufficient conditions for species persistence and extinction that can be used to explain global dynamics. Dynamics are compared for two separate models, one involving a specialist predator and the second involving a generalist predator, where systems involving a specialist predator are prone to unstable dynamics. Analyses have implications in biological conservation tactics including various methods of prevention and preservation. Simulations are used to compare dynamics between models involving continuous time and those involving discrete time. Furthermore, we derive a semi-discrete model that utilizes both continuous and discrete time series dynamics. Simulations imply that Holling's Type III functional response controls the potential for three species persistence. Complicated dynamics govern the IGP subsystem involving the white-footed mouse, gypsy moth, and oak, and they ultimately cause the synchronized defoliation of forests across the Northeastern United States. Acorn mast seasons occur every 4-5 years, and they occur simultaneously across a vast geographic region due to universal cues. Research confirms that synchronization can be transferred across trophic levels to explain how this IGP system ultimately leads to gypsy moth outbreaks. Geographically referenced data is used to track and slow the spread of gypsy moths further into the United States. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used to create visual, readily accessible, displays of trap records, defoliation frequency, and susceptible forest stands. Mathematical models can be used to explain both changes in population densities and geographic movement. Analyses utilizing GIS softwares offer a different, but promising, way of approaching the vast topic of conservation biology. Simulations and maps are produced that can predict the effects of conservation efforts.
ContributorsWedekin, Lauren (Author) / Kang, Yun (Thesis advisor) / Green, Douglas (Committee member) / Miller, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
ABSTRACT The elephant tree, Bursera microphylla, is at the northern limit of its range in central Arizona. This species is sensitive to frost damage thus limiting its occurrence in more northern areas of the southwest. Marginal populations of B. microphylla are found in mountain ranges of Central Arizona and are known to occur in the rugged mountain range system of the South Mountain Municipal Park (SMMP). Little is known of the distribution of this species within the park and details relevant to the health of both individual plants and the population such as diameter and number of trunks, height, and presence of damage have not been examined. This study was designed, in part, to test the hypothesis that favorable microhabitats at SMMP are created by particular combinations of abiotic features including aspect, slope, elevation and solar radiation. Data on abiotic factors, as well as specific individual plant locations and characteristics were obtained for 100 individuals. Temperature data was collected in vertical transects at different altitudinal levels. Some of these data were used in spatial analyses to generate a habitat suitability model using GIS software. Furthermore, collected data was analyzed using Matlab© software to identify potential trends in the variation of morphological traits. In addition, for comparative purposes similar information at one hundred computer-generated randomly chosen points throughout SMMP was obtained. The GIS spatial analyses indicated that aspect, slope, elevation, and relative solar radiance are strongly associated as major climatic components of the microhabitat of B. microphylla. Temperature data demonstrated that there are significant differences in ambient temperature among different altitudinal gradients with middle elevations being more favorable. Furthermore, analyses performed using Matlab© to explore trends of elevation as a factor indicated that multiple trunk plants are more commonly found at higher elevations than single trunk plants, there is a positive correlation of trunk diameter with elevation, and that canopy volume has a negative correlation with respect to elevation. It was concluded that microhabitats where B. microphylla occurs at the northern limit of its range require a particular combination of abiotic features that can be easily altered by climatic changes.
ContributorsCordova, Cesar, M.S (Author) / Steele, Kelly P. (Thesis advisor) / Tridane, Abdessaman (Committee member) / Miller, William (Committee member) / Brady, Ward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a critical component of the global carbon (C) cycle, accounting for more C than the biotic and atmospheric pools combined. Microbes play an important role in soil C cycling, with abiotic conditions such as soil moisture and temperature governing microbial activity and subsequent soil C processes. Predictions for future climate include warmer temperatures and altered precipitation regimes, suggesting impacts on future soil C cycling. However, it is uncertain how soil microbial communities and subsequent soil organic carbon pools will respond to these changes, particularly in dryland ecosystems. A knowledge gap exists in soil microbial community responses to short- versus long-term precipitation alteration in dryland systems. Assessing soil C cycle processes and microbial community responses under current and altered precipitation patterns will aid in understanding how C pools and cycling might be altered by climate change. This study investigates how soil microbial communities are influenced by established climate regimes and extreme changes in short-term precipitation patterns across a 1000 m elevation gradient in northern Arizona, where precipitation increases with elevation. Precipitation was manipulated (50% addition and 50% exclusion of ambient rainfall) for two summer rainy seasons at five sites across the elevation gradient. In situ and ex situ soil CO2 flux, microbial biomass C, extracellular enzyme activity, and SOC were measured in precipitation treatments in all sites. Soil CO2 flux, microbial biomass C, extracellular enzyme activity, and SOC were highest at the three highest elevation sites compared to the two lowest elevation sites. Within sites, precipitation treatments did not change microbial biomass C, extracellular enzyme activity, and SOC. Soil CO2 flux was greater under precipitation addition treatments than exclusion treatments at both the highest elevation site and second lowest elevation site. Ex situ respiration differed among the precipitation treatments only at the lowest elevation site, where respiration was enhanced in the precipitation addition plots. These results suggest soil C cycling will respond to long-term changes in precipitation, but pools and fluxes of carbon will likely show site-specific sensitivities to short-term precipitation patterns that are also expected with climate change.
ContributorsMonus, Brittney (Author) / Throop, Heather L (Thesis advisor) / Ball, Becky A (Committee member) / Hultine, Kevin R (Committee member) / Munson, Seth M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019