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Abstract This thesis is derived from the conservation biology field of study and seeks to chronicle and characterize the history of wolf conservation in the US, with a focus on post-ESA listing and present day events. The compelling question this thesis seeks to address is how to make long-term wolf conservation effective and feasible in the United States. An overview of wolf life history is provided, as well as a brief overview of early wolf-human interactions in Europe and the US, before reviewing the following regions in the US: Yellowstone, Idaho/Montana/Wyoming, Alaska, and Arizona. The trend identified in all regions is described as a hostile political atmosphere with particular resentment by some stakeholders towards the federal enforcement of wolf conservation via the ESA. A comparative section on Italy is provided in contrast to this US theme, as Italy tends to have a much more relaxed attitude towards wolf conservation. For success in the future of wolf conservation three suggestions are made. First, efforts to protect wolves through federal regulation are to be dismissed. Second, efforts should instead focus on education of key demographics regarding responsible environmental management and wolf management specifically. Thirdly, conservationists must actively strive to remarket the wolf as a symbol of the freedom of the west as opposed to the symbol of Washington's encroachment on state's rights.
ContributorsCampini, Conner Pennington (Author) / Smith, Andrew (Thesis director) / Gerber, Leah (Committee member) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Globally, many species of shark are facing rapid population decline. This is due to increasing fishing pressures, primarily from the booming demand in China for shark fins for soup. In recent years there has also been an increase in international shark conservation efforts, but there is still a long way to go in gathering support for those efforts. Public perception of sharks in America has been greatly influenced by negative media representations of them, Jaws being one of the most influential. Many of these representations are based on inaccurate information that has been disproven by science, but still lingers in popular culture. Symbolic Interactionism Theory proved to be a useful framework for unpacking the connections between public perception, mainstream culture and media, and conservation regarding sharks. A social psychological theory, Symbolic Interactionism describes the ways that people construct meaning about a topic through direct and indirect interactions, and how this meaning can change on individual, social, and cultural levels. By changing the way sharks are perceived and represented to the public, these important and incredible animals may gather the support they need to continue living in the world's oceans.
ContributorsCressler, Christina Nancy (Author) / Minteer, Ben (Thesis director) / Gerber, Leah (Committee member) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Consumption of seafood poses a substantial threat to global biodiversity. Chemical contamination found in both wild-caught and farmed seafood also presents significant health risks to consumers. Flame retardants, used in upholstery, plastics, clothing, and other products to reduce fire danger, are of particular concern as they are commonly found in the marine environment and permeate the tissues of fish that are sold for consumption via multiple pathways. By summarizing various metrics of sustainability and the mercury content in consumed species of fish and shellfish, researchers have found that high levels of chemical contamination was linked with lesser fishery sustainability. I conducted a literature review of flame retardant content in seafood to further compare contamination and sustainability in addition to the initial analysis with mercury. My review suggests that the widespread issue of fishery collapse could be alleviated by demonstrating to stakeholders that many unsustainable fish stocks are mutually disadvantageous for both human consumers and the environment. Future research should address the need for the collection of data that better represent actual global contaminant concentrations in seafood.
ContributorsNoziglia, Andrea Joyce (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Smith, Andrew (Committee member) / Pratt, Stephen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Protein is an essential macronutrient in the human diet, but the source of this protein has both human health and environmental impacts. Health complications can result from protein deficiency, but the practices by which protein sources are raised, grown, or harvested have environmental consequences, potentially reducing biodiversity, essential habitat, and crucial stocks of natural resources. Terrestrial cultivation encroaches on natural habitats and consumes resources inefficiently, while overfishing has greatly depleted wild fishery stocks. These environmental factors, along with concerns about nutrients, contaminants and the ethics of animal protein has led to confusion about weighing the risks and benefits associated with alternative sources of protein. Providing consumers \u2014 and policy makers \u2014 with a comprehensive account of major protein sources and their impacts in an understandable form is crucial to reducing environmental degradation and improving human health. Here I provide a general framework to compare the health and environmental impacts of livestock, seafood, and plant protein, and illustrate the application of this framework with case studies for each of these categories.
ContributorsGeren, Sarah Lindsey (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Smith, Andrew (Committee member) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Bottlenose dolphins, or Tursiops truncates, have captured the attention of humans for centuries leading people to keep them in captivity. However, people's love and an increase in knowledge for these creatures have sparked many ethical debates on whether dolphins should be kept in captivity. In this paper, I discuss the different dimensions of bottlenose dolphin captivity focusing on the physiological, psychological, ecological and ethical concerns raised when comparing captive to wild bottlenose dolphins. In an analysis of the scientific literature, I found that captive bottlenose dolphins experience negative physical and psychological effects, including a shorter life span and a decrease in brain size. They also engage in more risky and harmful behaviors. Preexisting brain structures in bottlenose dolphins indicate enhanced emotional processing possibly leading to a more difficult life in captivity. Furthermore, modeling of bottlenose dolphin social networks have found that removal of dolphins from existing populations have negative repercussions for ecological communities, particularly effecting present and future pods due to their complex social systems called fission fusion societies. Furthermore, removal can have a deleterious effect on the environment due to their role as top predators. Available data suggest that bottlenose dolphins should be classified as non-human persons due to their cognitive abilities such as self-awareness, intentionality, creativity, and symbolic communication. This moral classification demands significant human duties and responsibilities to protect these cetaceans. Due to their similarities to humans, these results suggest that keeping bottlenose dolphins in captivity is ethically questionable and perhaps unjustifiable as captivity violates their basic rights.
ContributorsCoonrod, Sarah Mae (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Smith, Andrew (Committee member) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Minority women continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields and in STEM related degrees, leading to a lack of diversity in the research conducted and voices advocated for in STEM. To understand why there continues to be a lack of representation of minority women in STEM, I conducted a survey of approximately 20 high school girls who identified as minorities and had an interest in science and conservation to ask questions about their hesitancy to attend college and the different barriers they face. The results of this survey show that these minority girls have low hesitancy when considering applying to and attending college. The biggest barrier these girls face is cost, with 74% of respondents citing college expense as a source of hesitancy when considering applying to college. I then discuss possible interventions that would lead to an increase in the representation of minority women in STEM in higher education. I suggest that colleges and universities should highlight scholarships, financial aid, and programs available and that minority women are eligible for, or they should reduce the cost of tuition.
ContributorsClark, Amelie (Author) / Iacona, Gwen (Thesis director) / Gerber, Leah (Committee member) / Bisgrove, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
In the Alto Mayo Protection Forest (AMPF) of San Martín, Peru, unsustainable farming practices in coffee agroecosystems are the main drivers of deforestation and habitat loss. Previous studies indicate that across Latin American coffee farms, using shade-grown coffee result in higher biodiversity on the farms with a larger abundance of floral and faunal species. In AMPF, conservation agreements have been implemented between cultivators and Conservation International to ameliorate the environmental damages incurred by poor farming practices, as well as to increase cultivator livelihoods. To measure the effectiveness of these agreements, we compared camera trap data to drone-captured shade cover data to find the correlation between higher shade cover and biodiversity among subscriber plots. While our results showed no interrelationship between shade cover and species abundance or richness, this study was a small subset of the larger study, representing only 15% of the total subscriber plots and 24% of the overall sectors. Therefore, we predict that the results of the larger study will be more conclusive and will better indicate the predicted positive relationship between biodiversity and agroecology in AMPF.
ContributorsDelaune, Celeste Rose (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Ahumada, Jorge (Committee member) / Summers, Percy (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In recent years, the Maine lobster industry, researchers, and policy makers have attempted to come together to set new regulations into place that will help slow the decline of right whale populations off the North Atlantic coast. Like many species, right whales were once abundant in the Atlantic before commercial whaling practices decimated populations to near extinction by the 1900’s (Fujiwara et al., 2001). Today’s populations total to approximately 450 individuals worldwide and continue to decline despite conservation efforts (Pace et al., 2017). Though commercial whaling no longer poses a threat to right whales, there are other factors that have proven to be detrimental to their survival. In particular, ship strikes and entanglement in fishing rope are the main causes for continued population decline (Knowlton et al., 2012).
One may ask, how is all of this connected specifically to the Maine lobster industry? It has been determined that approximately 80% of right whales currently have scars along their bodies as a result of being entangled in fishing rope. More specifically, the rope that right whales are becoming entangled in is the vertical line used by lobstermen that connects the lobster trap lying on the seafloor to a buoy at the surface. Not only can this entanglement lead to the drowning of individuals, but also a decreased birth rate among females due to stress should they successfully free themselves (Knowlton et al., 2012).
In an attempt to decrease entanglement rates and bring the decline in right whale populations to a halt, the state of Maine has been in the process of creating and implementing new policies, many of which will have an impact on the lobster industry. Regulations that have been considered include weakened vertical lines, modified gear marking, a change in rope color, reduction in traps, or even the introduction of new ropeless technology.
What perceptions do lobstermen in Maine have regarding the conservation of right whales and the possible regulations that could be put into place? To address this question, I posted a Google Forms survey link on a local Maine fishermen’s Facebook page in late December 2018 that remained open until the end of February 2019. The five-minute survey was to be completed on a voluntary basis to gather a convenient sample from the 15,000 members on the group page, of which not all were lobstermen. There was a total of 39 participants. The survey asked about opinions regarding a series of possible regulations that could possibly impact the lobster industry, should they be implemented. Additionally, the survey provided space for lobstermen to explain how past regulations had impacted them personally, as well as space for recommendations they thought would help conserve right whale populations while simultaneously creating little negative impact on the lobster industry.
One may ask, how is all of this connected specifically to the Maine lobster industry? It has been determined that approximately 80% of right whales currently have scars along their bodies as a result of being entangled in fishing rope. More specifically, the rope that right whales are becoming entangled in is the vertical line used by lobstermen that connects the lobster trap lying on the seafloor to a buoy at the surface. Not only can this entanglement lead to the drowning of individuals, but also a decreased birth rate among females due to stress should they successfully free themselves (Knowlton et al., 2012).
In an attempt to decrease entanglement rates and bring the decline in right whale populations to a halt, the state of Maine has been in the process of creating and implementing new policies, many of which will have an impact on the lobster industry. Regulations that have been considered include weakened vertical lines, modified gear marking, a change in rope color, reduction in traps, or even the introduction of new ropeless technology.
What perceptions do lobstermen in Maine have regarding the conservation of right whales and the possible regulations that could be put into place? To address this question, I posted a Google Forms survey link on a local Maine fishermen’s Facebook page in late December 2018 that remained open until the end of February 2019. The five-minute survey was to be completed on a voluntary basis to gather a convenient sample from the 15,000 members on the group page, of which not all were lobstermen. There was a total of 39 participants. The survey asked about opinions regarding a series of possible regulations that could possibly impact the lobster industry, should they be implemented. Additionally, the survey provided space for lobstermen to explain how past regulations had impacted them personally, as well as space for recommendations they thought would help conserve right whale populations while simultaneously creating little negative impact on the lobster industry.
ContributorsBolduc, Madison Creed (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Jenkins, Lekelia (Committee member) / Bernard, Miranda (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Anthropogenic climate change caused by increasing carbon emissions poses a threat to nearly every living organism. One consequence of these emissions is ocean acidification (OA). While OA has been shown to directly inhibit growth in calcifying animals, it might also have negative effects on other marine life. I conducted a systematic quantitative literature review on the effects of OA on fish behavior. The review consisted of 29 peer-reviewed, published journal articles. Most articles report some degree of negative impact of OA. Impacts include sensory impairment, erratic swimming patterns and attraction to predators. Many studies report insignificant impacts, thus continued research is needed to understand the consequences of human behavior and assist in mitigating our impact.
ContributorsKubiak, Allison Noelle (Co-author) / Kubiak, Allison (Co-author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Eikenberry, Steffen (Committee member) / Kelman, Jonathan (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The status of Earth’s diversity is deteriorating quickly which will continue to impact humans’ way of life, as well as every other living creature, in all regions of the world. However, there are organizations taking action to protect biodiversity on our planet. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of those organizations and includes 196 signatories from around the world who are committed to strategies to preserve their biodiversity (Secretariat). Indeed, 98% of the parties which have participated in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have created national biodiversity strategies (NBS) and action plans (NBSAPs) (Secretariat). Yet, there are still countries that have yet to partake in these efforts. America continues to hold out against ratifying the CBD and remains the only developed country without a National Biodiversity Strategy. As an NBS for the U.S. is under consideration, my goal is to understand what works from previous plans. In particular, I focus on stakeholder engagement in Conservation Biodiversity Action Plans. Stakeholder engagement is important because, without it, there may be insufficient levels of integration of the action plans, which can lead to the failure of the CBDs conservation efforts. To address this question, I analyze the 193 strategies created for countries across the globe. My review describes the ways that stakeholders are engaged in National Biodiversity Strategies for CBD member countries. All plans mention some form of engagement. The most common types mentioned are ‘Education’, ‘Communication’, and ‘Training’. Examining the plans further reveals that most forms of engagement often are just mentioned and not completed. Close to 58% of the engagement forms are only completed about 50% of the time. Exceptions are surveys, interviews, and workshops, which are each completed in over 70% of plans that mention them. I then use this information to provide practical recommendations for creating an effective NBSAP for the United States.
ContributorsOlofsson, Elisa (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Kroetz, Kailin (Committee member) / Sterner, Beckett (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-12