This dissertation focuses on science relevant to the design and implementation of marine reserves. The chapters explore a range of topics related to among-site variation in population, community, and ecosystem dynamics. My results demonstrate the value and feasibility of integrating this knowledge into more comprehensive conservation and management approaches. While...
"... One goal of this document is to synthesize the literature on the effects of mechanical thinning on understory plant species. A second goal is to document the effect of prescribed burning on rare, threatened, or endangered species. We review current literature on studies that address effects of prescribed fire...
The overall goal of the Greater Sage-grouse Comprehensive Conservation Strategy (Strategy) is to maintain and enhance populations and distribution of sagegrouse by protecting and improving sagebrush habitats and ecosystems that sustain these populations. This Strategy outlines the critical need to develop the associations among local, state, provincial, tribal, and federal...
T cell-dependent immune responses are highly sensitive to suppression by
exposure to the environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin
(TCDD), yet direct effects of TCDD on T cells have been difficult to demonstrate.
Because the activation of naive T cells is initiated by dendritic cells (DC), the studies
presented in this dissertation were...
Pheromones are chemical cues produced by organisms that affect the behavior and/or physiology of conspecifics. The orchestration of reproductive behaviors in many animals depends on the expression of sex pheromones. In insects, intraspecific variation in sex pheromone expression is commonly observed and often influences social interactions between individuals. To what...
The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program conducts an annual inventory throughout the United States. In the western United States, 10% of all plots (one panel) are measured annually, and a moving average is used for estimating current condition and change of forest attributes while alternative methods are sought in...
Chlordecone belongs to the class of persistent organochlorine pesticides that are remarkably resistant to environmental degradation. Even though their use was banned in the United States in 1978, these compounds can still be detected in both humans and wildlife throughout the world. Previous work has shown that the pretreatment of...
My thesis explored the effects of and potential mediating mechanisms for an important environmental stressor, ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation. UVB radiation has negative effects on organisms in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. I used meta-analysis to quantify the effects of UVB radiation on a diversity of aquatic organisms (Chapter 2). UVB...
Understanding how wetland birds use habitat is pivotal to developing successful and
beneficial conservation strategies. Although it has been an ardent topic in forest
research for some time, how species interact with the spatial patterning of habitat
across a landscape (i.e., landscape structure) has been more or less neglected in...
Invasive plants have the potential to reduce the diversity of species in plant and animal communities. I examined the negative effect of two invasive wetland plants, purple loosestrife and reed canary grass, on the species richness and diversity of plant and moth communities within 24 wetland study sites in the...