Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Land Use Planning
- Creators: Wu, Jianguo
Description
The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) is an iconic species of the temperate grasslands of Europe and Asia, a habitat that is among the least protected ecosystems in the world. A distinct subspecies, the Asian Great Bustard (O. t. dybowskii), is poorly understood due to its wary nature and remote range in Siberia, Mongolia, and northern China. This subspecies is now endangered by rapid development.
Using satellite telemetry and remote sensing, I investigated three aspects of the Asian Great Bustard’s ecology critical to its conservation: migratory routes, migratory cues, and habitat use patterns. I found that Asian Great Bustards spent one-third of the year on a 2000 km migratory pathway, a distance twice as far as has previously been recorded for the species. Tracked individuals moved nomadically over large winter territories and did not repeat migratory stopovers, complicating conservation planning. Migratory timing was variable and migratory movements were significantly correlated with weather cues. Specifically, bustards migrated on days when wind support was favorable and temperature presaged warmer temperatures on the breeding grounds (spring) or advancing winter weather (fall). On the breeding grounds, Asian Great Bustards used both steppe and wheat agriculture habitat. All recorded reproductive attempts failed, regardless of habitat in which the nest was placed. Agricultural practices are likely to intensify in the coming decade, which would present further challenges to reproduction. The distinct migratory behavior and habitat use patterns of the Asian Great Bustard are likely adaptations to the climate and ecology of Inner Asia and underscore the importance of conserving these unique populations.
My research indicates that conservation of the Asian Great Bustard will require a landscape-level approach. This approach should incorporate measures at the breeding grounds to raise reproductive success, alongside actions on the migratory pathway to ensure appropriate habitat and reduce adult mortality. To secure international cooperation, I proposed that an increased level of protection should be directed toward the Great Bustard under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). That proposal, accepted by the Eleventh Conference of Parties to CMS, provides recommendations for conservation action and illustrates the transdisciplinary approach I have taken in this research.
Using satellite telemetry and remote sensing, I investigated three aspects of the Asian Great Bustard’s ecology critical to its conservation: migratory routes, migratory cues, and habitat use patterns. I found that Asian Great Bustards spent one-third of the year on a 2000 km migratory pathway, a distance twice as far as has previously been recorded for the species. Tracked individuals moved nomadically over large winter territories and did not repeat migratory stopovers, complicating conservation planning. Migratory timing was variable and migratory movements were significantly correlated with weather cues. Specifically, bustards migrated on days when wind support was favorable and temperature presaged warmer temperatures on the breeding grounds (spring) or advancing winter weather (fall). On the breeding grounds, Asian Great Bustards used both steppe and wheat agriculture habitat. All recorded reproductive attempts failed, regardless of habitat in which the nest was placed. Agricultural practices are likely to intensify in the coming decade, which would present further challenges to reproduction. The distinct migratory behavior and habitat use patterns of the Asian Great Bustard are likely adaptations to the climate and ecology of Inner Asia and underscore the importance of conserving these unique populations.
My research indicates that conservation of the Asian Great Bustard will require a landscape-level approach. This approach should incorporate measures at the breeding grounds to raise reproductive success, alongside actions on the migratory pathway to ensure appropriate habitat and reduce adult mortality. To secure international cooperation, I proposed that an increased level of protection should be directed toward the Great Bustard under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). That proposal, accepted by the Eleventh Conference of Parties to CMS, provides recommendations for conservation action and illustrates the transdisciplinary approach I have taken in this research.
ContributorsKessler, Aimee (Author) / Smith, Andrew T. (Thesis advisor) / Brown, David (Committee member) / Franklin, Janet (Committee member) / McGraw, Kevin (Committee member) / Wu, Jianguo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The science community has made efforts for over a half century to address sustainable development, which gave birth to sustainability science at the turn of the twenty-first century. Along with the development of sustainability science during the past two decades, a landscape sustainability science (LSS) perspective has been emerging. As interests in LSS continue to grow rapidly, scholars are wondering what LSS is about and how LSS fits into sustainability science, while practitioners are asking how LSS actually contributes to sustainability in the real world. To help address these questions, this dissertation research aims to explore the currently underused problem-driven, diagnostic approach to enhancing landscape sustainability through an empirical example of urbanization-associated farmland loss (UAFL). Based mainly on multimethod analysis of bibliographic information, the dissertation explores conceptual issues such as how sustainability science differs from conventional sustainable development research, and how the past, present, and future research needs of LSS evolve. It also includes two empirical studies diagnosing the issue of urban expansion and the related food security concern in the context of China, and proposes a different problem framing for farmland preservation such that stakeholders can be more effectively mobilized. The most important findings are: (1) Sustainability science is not “old wine in a new bottle,” and in particular, is featured by its complex human-environment systems perspective and value-laden transdisciplinary perspective. (2) LSS has become a vibrant emerging field since 2004-2006 with over three-decade’s intellectual accumulation deeply rooted in landscape ecology, yet LSS has to further embrace the two featured perspectives of sustainability science and to conduct more problem-driven, diagnostic studies of concrete landscape-relevant sustainability concerns. (3) Farmland preservationists’ existing problem framing of UAFL is inappropriate for its invalid causal attribution (i.e., urban expansion is responsible for farmland loss; farmland loss is responsible for decreasing grain production; and decreasing grain production instead of increasing grain demand is responsible for grain self-insufficiency); the real problem with UAFL is social injustice due to collective action dilemma in preserving farmland for regional and global food sufficiency. The present research provides broad implications for landscape scientists, the sustainability research community, and UAFL stakeholders.
ContributorsZhou, Bingbing (Author) / Wu, Jianguo (Thesis advisor) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Committee member) / Anderies, John Marty (Committee member) / Janssen, Marcus Alexander (Committee member) / Turner II, Billie Lee (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Context – Urbanization can have negative effects on bat habitat use through the loss and isolation of habitat even for volant bats. Yet, how bats respond to the changing landscape composition and configuration of urban environments remains poorly understood.
Objective – This study examines the relationship between bat habitat use and landscape pattern across multiple scales in the Phoenix metropolitan region. My research explores how landscape composition and configuration affects bat activity, foraging activity, and species richness (response variables), and the distinct habitats that they use.
Methods – I used a multi-scale landscape approach and acoustic monitoring data to create predictive models that identified the key predictor variables across multiple scales within the study area. I selected three scales with the intent of capturing the landscape, home range, and site scales, which may all be relevant for understanding bat habitat use.
Results – Overall, class-level metrics and configuration metrics best explained bat habitat use for bat species associated with this urban setting. The extent and extensiveness of water (corresponding to small water bodies and watercourses) were the most important predictor variables across all response variables. Bat activity was predicted to be high in native vegetation remnants, and low in native vegetation at the city periphery. Foraging activity was predicted to be high in fine-scale land cover heterogeneity. Species richness was predicted to be high in golf courses, and low in commercial areas. Bat habitat use was affected by urban landscape pattern mainly at the landscape and site scale.
Conclusions – My results suggested in hot arid urban landscapes water is a limiting factor for bats, even in urban landscapes where the availability of water may be greater than in outlying native desert habitat. Golf courses had the highest species richness, and included the detection of the uncommon pocketed free-tailed bat (Nyctinomops femorosaccus). Water cover types had the second highest species richness. Golf courses may serve as important stop-overs or refuges for rare or elusive bats. Urban waterways and golf courses are novel urban cover types that can serve as compliments to urban preserves, and other green spaces for bat conservation.
Objective – This study examines the relationship between bat habitat use and landscape pattern across multiple scales in the Phoenix metropolitan region. My research explores how landscape composition and configuration affects bat activity, foraging activity, and species richness (response variables), and the distinct habitats that they use.
Methods – I used a multi-scale landscape approach and acoustic monitoring data to create predictive models that identified the key predictor variables across multiple scales within the study area. I selected three scales with the intent of capturing the landscape, home range, and site scales, which may all be relevant for understanding bat habitat use.
Results – Overall, class-level metrics and configuration metrics best explained bat habitat use for bat species associated with this urban setting. The extent and extensiveness of water (corresponding to small water bodies and watercourses) were the most important predictor variables across all response variables. Bat activity was predicted to be high in native vegetation remnants, and low in native vegetation at the city periphery. Foraging activity was predicted to be high in fine-scale land cover heterogeneity. Species richness was predicted to be high in golf courses, and low in commercial areas. Bat habitat use was affected by urban landscape pattern mainly at the landscape and site scale.
Conclusions – My results suggested in hot arid urban landscapes water is a limiting factor for bats, even in urban landscapes where the availability of water may be greater than in outlying native desert habitat. Golf courses had the highest species richness, and included the detection of the uncommon pocketed free-tailed bat (Nyctinomops femorosaccus). Water cover types had the second highest species richness. Golf courses may serve as important stop-overs or refuges for rare or elusive bats. Urban waterways and golf courses are novel urban cover types that can serve as compliments to urban preserves, and other green spaces for bat conservation.
ContributorsBazelman, Tracy C (Author) / Wu, Jianguo (Thesis advisor) / Chambers, Carol L. (Thesis advisor) / Smith, Andrew T. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016