Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Testing the effects of anthropogenic pressures on African lions and their prey in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem, Zambia(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Vinks, Milan Alexander; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Scott Creel; Scott Creel, Paul Schuette, Wigganson Matandiko, Elias Rosenblatt, Carolyn Sanguinetti, Kambwiri Banda, Ben Goodheart, Matthew S. Becker, Clive Chifunte, and Chuma Simukonda were co-authors of the article, 'Testing the effects of anthropogenic pressures on a diverse African herbivore community' in the journal 'Ecosphere' which is contained within this thesis.; Scott Creel, Paul Schuette, Matthew S. Becker, Elias Rosenblatt, Carolyn Sanguinetti, Kambwiri Banda, Ben Goodheart, Kim Young-Overton, Xia Stevens, Clive Chifunte, Neil Midlane, and Chuma Simukonda were co-authors of the article, 'Response of lion demography and dynamics to the loss of prey and changes in prey community composition' submitted to the journal 'Ecological Applications' which is contained within this thesis.Rapid human population growth across Africa has put tremendous pressure on large herbivore and large carnivore populations, and most of these large terrestrial species are now limited to residing within or adjacent to protected area (PA) networks. However, high rates of human encroachment and associated activities around and within PAs are jeopardizing their effectiveness and have become a major conservation concern. High rates of illegal harvest are linked to human encroachment and can have devastating effects on large herbivore and large carnivore populations. Large herbivore declines are often greatest in areas with high rates of illegal offtake and ensuing prey depletion can be a primary driver of large carnivore declines. Kafue National Park (KNP) of central Zambia supports a diverse large herbivore community and the country's second largest lion population. However, KNP is thought to be experiencing human-caused wildlife declines, providing a unique opportunity to evaluate anthropogenic effects on both the large herbivores and large carnivores of this system. Here, we evaluated the status and major anthropogenic and environmental drivers of KNP's large herbivore populations and lion population. First, we estimated population densities and distribution of the ten most abundant large herbivore species using stratified ground-based surveys conducted from 2012 - 2018. These data indicated that population densities were consistently low across species and areas, though there was ecologically important variation among species and size classes. Moreover, densities of larger-bodied herbivores were greatly depressed relative to smaller species. Second, we evaluated population density, survival rates, and demography for the KNP lion population from 2013 - 2018. These data indicated that age- and sex-specific survival rates for settled individuals were generally high, and factors known to correlate with local prey density had small effects on lion survival. In contrast, average lion density was low and recruitment of cubs was poor. These findings suggest that low recruitment might be a better signal of low prey density than survival. Overall, large herbivores and lions appear to be limited by human activities in KNP. Increased resource protection and reducing the underlying drivers of prey depletion are urgent conservation needs to facilitate the recovery of these economically and ecologically valuable species.Item Factors influencing the density and distribution of breeding waterfowl in North-Central Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2011) Fields, Sean Patrick; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jay J. RotellaContinental waterfowl population declines in the early 1980s led to the development and implementation of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The plan identified wetland and grassland losses in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of Canada and the United States as the major causes of low continental duck populations. North-central Montana is the only remaining PPR area in the United States without a ground-based annual survey to monitor breeding duck populations and quantify breeding duck habitat. The purpose of this study was to establish an annual breeding duck survey in north-central Montana to 1) develop species-specific breeding pair predictive models, and 2) apply the models to estimate the density and distribution of breeding ducks and identify priority areas for conservation actions. 1969 indicated breeding duck pairs were observed on approximately 700 wetland basins in 2008 and 2009. A competing model analysis was used to identify local- and landscape-scale habitat characteristics to predict breeding duck pairs on wetland basins. The five most commonly observed species were modeled separately; those species were mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), northern pintails (A. acuta), gadwall (A. strepera ), northern shoveler (A. clypeata) and blue-winged teal (A. discors). At the local scale, wetland basin area, the square root transformation of wetland basin area and wetland basin class were important predictors for all species. Northern pintail, gadwall and blue-winged teal exhibited a strong location effect, occurring more in the northern and eastern portions of the study area. At the landscape scale, the proportion of agricultural lands surrounding a sample basin was associated with the greater abundance of all species. Northern pintail and blue-winged teal breeding pair abundance increased when the proportion of seasonal and semipermanent basin wetland surface area in the landscape around sample basin decreased. Results from this study provide land managers with initial information on where breeding waterfowl are settling across the PPR landscape of north-central Montana. The continuation of this research for several more breeding seasons will enable conservation partners to efficiently target important breeding waterfowl habitat for conservation actions.