Landscape characteristics can strongly influence demographic and genetic processes in wildlife populations. Climate change and human land use are causing many landscapes to change rapidly, and the effects on wildlife populations must be understood to properly manage these threats and design effective conservation strategies. In this dissertation, I explored the...
The amount and distribution of neutral and adaptive genetic diversity are often assumed to follow similar patterns. However, natural selection on adaptive loci may cause divergence from patterns observed for loci which are only influenced by selectively neutral processes such as genetic drift. The interaction between selection and neutral processes...
The status of wild sheep in North America typifies the plight of many wildlife species in modern times: wild sheep have declined to 10-40% of their numbers during pristine times and on a global scale approximately 31% of Caprine are considered threatened or critical. As human populations and the number...
Management practices and options to provide habitat for wildlife in the Great Basin of southeastern Oregon deal with both vegetation treatment and protection, livestock management, maintenance or distribution of water developments, protection of wildlife areas through road closures or fencing, and direct manipulation of wildlife through hunting, trapping, or other...
A herd of California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana),
re-introduced to the area of Hell Creek on the Sheldon National
Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada, was studied from 15 June 1978
to 20 August 1980.
Major vegetation and physiographic types were delineated and
described. Habitat preferences were determined from field...
A herd of re-introduced California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis
californiana) was studied from 15 June 1976 to 31 August 1977.
Thirteen major and seven minor habitats were delineated and described.
Habitat use by bighorns was observed throughout the study and
a habitat preference value (H.P.V.) was calculated based on use...
California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana) were studied on Hart Mountain, Oregon, during the summer and fall of 1976, and the spring of 1977. The population consisted of a minimum of 196 sheep in June, 1977. The high number of lambs observed and high lamb:ewe ratios throughout both years of...