Scholarship & Research
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Item Spatiotemporal patterns of resource use and density of American black bears on Yellowstone's northern range(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Bowersock, Nathaniel Roth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Andrea Litt; Andrea R. Litt, Kerry A. Gunther, Jay J. Rotella, Jerod A. Merkle and Frank T. van Manen were co-authors of the article, 'Influence of resource waves on American black bears during Spring in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park' which is contained within this thesis.; Andrea R. Litt, Kerry A. Gunther, Michael A. Sawaya, Jay J. Rotella and Frank T. van Manen were co-authors of the article, 'Factors associated with varying density of black bears on Yellowstone National Park's northern range' which is contained within this thesis.The availability of resources, such as food and cover, can directly influence the movement and distribution of wildlife populations. The abundance and seasonal timing of many resources have changed in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), which has influenced populations of American black bears (Ursus americanus), an opportunistic omnivore. Previous studies have focused on how changes in resources have influenced black bears in the central and southern regions of YNP, however little work has focused on black bears in the northern part of the park. In 2017-2018, we used GPS collars and non-invasive genetic sampling to understand resource selection and variation in densities of black bears on the Northern Range. We sought to 1) assess whether black bears were following seasonal pulses of resources (resource waves) in the spring, such as the green wave and elk (Cervus canadensis) calving wave and 2) evaluate how densities of black bears varied based on landscape features, generating a baseline abundance estimate to help track changes in the population over time. We found evidence that black bears followed the green wave, prioritizing forage quality over quantity when selecting patches of green vegetation in early spring. However, black bears were less likely to select areas near historical elk calving grounds, suggesting that consumption of neonates is more opportunistic. Densities of black bears varied among vegetation communities, with the highest densities in forested communities dominated by Douglas fir. Our study provides the first baseline density estimates for black bears on the Northern Range, with an average density of 12.8 bears/100km 2 (95% CI = 9.4 - 17.5), which is higher than other regions in YNP. Availability of high-quality resources may allow for higher densities of black bears, with potential ramifications for other wildlife populations on the Northern Range. Information about resource selection and variation in estimated densities could be used to guide management decisions to continue to reduce human-bear conflicts and provide safe wildlife viewing experiences for the growing number of visitors to YNP.Item Cultural super volcano: a cultural history of Yellowstone's hot spot via eco-paranoia(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Atwood, Erin; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Brett WalkerPeople who experienced previous natural disasters later develop a characteristic of miscalculating risk in current and future natural disasters due to the emotional intensity of fear clouding their capability to estimate their true danger in such scenarios. Eco-Paranoia is termed in this thesis as a foundational reasoning for the miscalculation. The oversight of risk due to overrunning fear currently elevates anxiety towards Yellowstone National Park's anticipated super eruption. What fuels these fears and causes humans to exhibit irrational decisions during natural disasters? Outside influences such as the mass media, first-hand disaster experience, historic response to cultural shifts in ideologies, and human response to fear and insecurities generate the miscalculated risk that results in a shift in human thinking and behavior. An analysis into the experiences of Mt. St. Helens survivors is included to help interpret modern human response to volcanic eruptions into a speculation of reaction with a Yellowstone eruption. The need to understand the function of fear as it activates human thought and behavior is elaborated on to analyze its influencing impact. Culturally, the public attuned their attention to other characteristics of the park besides the massive hot spot below when the park was first established. Fear of a destructive explosion lingered far off in their minds. All of these historical factors lead to further understanding how and why the current public is attuned, anxious, and paranoid about destructive volcanic activity in Yellowstone National Park. Eco-Paranoia, as exhibited through this thesis discusses the influence of people's constructed beliefs and ideologies that ultimately cause them to be fearful and paranoid for something that does not necessarily deserve such worry; the clouding of calculating risk due to fear during natural disasters. By nature, humans succumb to their emotions of fear and ultimately are the cause of their distress in natural disaster situations.Item The impact of farm-level variables on federal crop insurance coverage level selection(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2019) Boyd, Mark Weiderspon; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Eric BelascoThis thesis evaluates the significance of farm-level variables related to cash flow on coverage level selections as a potential explanation for the well-documented behavioral anomaly in producers' federal crop insurance coverage level selection choices. The current crop insurance literature appears to lack a clear explanation of why producers choose to insure at lower or less than economically optimal coverage levels. To inform this question, the relationship between liquidity factors and insurance coverage level selection are estimated empirically using linear and fixed effects models with data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey, Risk Management Agency Summary of Business, and the Risk Management Agency Actuarial Data Master. Specifically, this research endeavors to evaluate the associations between variables related to cash flow and coverage level selection, as well as isolate the effect of premium rates on coverage selection, in order to provide evidence that constrained cash flow may be the reason for the appearance of nonutility maximization in coverage level selection. The results indicate that variables directly related to cash flow such as higher costs are associated with significant differences in coverage level selection, though the direction of the association is dependent on the type of costs, whether fixed or variable, while higher revenue higher acreage farms insure at higher coverage levels. In addition, higher premium costs are associated with lower coverage level selection, despite subsidy incentives indicating expected cash flow plays a significant role in coverage level decisions.Item An eye scanning approach of exploring the experience level at which novice drivers exhibit hazard perception skill as good as their experienced counterparts(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2015) Imtiaz, Ahmed Salman; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Laura Stanley; Nicholas Ward (co-chair)Hazard perception is a key skill needed to drive a vehicle safely. Literature has shown that this skill improves with experience. Little is known regarding the time window in which novice young drivers start exhibiting essential hazard perception skills as efficiently as their experienced counterparts do. This research was an attempt to address this unknown through the use of a semi-naturalistic driving study employing eye tracking technologies and by examining the roadway eye scanning pattern of young and highly experienced drivers with respect to eight indicators: percentage of gaze duration, mean gaze duration, percentage of time taken to make the first gaze at the study region of interest, gaze rate, gaze heading, gaze pitch, head heading and head pitch. A total of 90 participants completed the study. Participants were split into six groups (15 each) on the basis of their driving experience, ranging from novice young drivers with less than 1 year of driving experience, to highly experienced drivers with more than 10 years of experience and asked to drive through two predetermined potentially hazardous scenarios. An observation time window, beginning at the first moment the potential hazard came into view through the moment it had passed, was extracted from the recorded eye-movement videos. Based on the time window, necessary data were collected and analyzed. The results of the study indicated that novice drives do not differ significantly with other young drives, but their visual search strategy remains inflexible even after two years of experience. However, with growing experience, young drivers learn to look farther ahead and scan more widely along their horizontal field of view. The study thus adopted Equivalence Testing procedure to quantify the transition time window from novice to experienced drivers. Each of the novice drivers' groups was compared against the highly experienced drivers. Based on the overall results and careful observation of descriptive statistics, the study concluded that after five years of driving experience young drivers' visual search pattern can be considered comparable to their experienced counterparts.Item Residential radon exposure : awareness and risk perception in rural Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2014) Warner, Amy Lynn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Wade G. HillRadon is a natural part of the environment representing significant potential health risks within the home. Variations in knowledge and perception of risk related to radon exposure exist among diverse populations and the known link to lung cancer is not known by all that are at risk. Both the World Health Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) conduct large efforts to raise awareness and educate residents how to lower indoor radon to an acceptable level. These efforts show variable efficacy and in some places radon awareness and testing rates remain very low. Montana is classified as a high-risk area for indoor radon concentrations of an unacceptable level according to the USEPA. In order to evaluate the efficacy of current educational efforts, it is important to measure the level of awareness and concern that exists especially in high-risk areas. This study uses data from a nursing-based environmental health hazard intervention to measure the perceived knowledge and risk perception surrounding radon exposure among residents of rural Montana. Findings indicate that awareness is low and the majority of residents lack strong feelings of concern about radon. These findings are discussed in relation to existing literature and studies related to radon and how the role of the advance practice nurse can be used to positively impact public health in relation to radon exposure prevention.Item Rural caregivers risk perceptions of environmental hazards(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2014) Rassi, Rebecca Lynn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Wade G. HillThe mounting scientific evidence linking environmental exposures to human health hazards has increased the need for effective environmental risk communication efforts to the public. One key component of providing effective environmental risk communication is risk perception: understanding how individuals and communities perceive environmental health risks. Risk perception research has shown that environmental risk perceptions are affected by social, cultural, and economic factors as well as other concepts such as power, trust, and mass media. Nested in the larger Environmental Risk Reduction through Nursing Intervention Evaluation project (ERRNIE), the purpose of this study was to describe how rural caregivers perceive the severity of environmental health exposures and to determine which environmental exposures were most concerning to rural caregivers. The study was guided by two aspects of the health belief model, perceived susceptibility and perceived severity. Findings indicated that uncontrollable exposures such as exotic infectious disease, water quality concerns, and radon were perceived as most concerning while common controllable exposures were least concerning. These findings were discussed as it applies to current risk perception theory and to risk communication efforts of nurses and nurse practitioners.Item The sensitivity of expected utility violations to the experimental design : how context affects risky choice(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1994) Roberts, Michael James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David E. Buschena.Expected Utility Theory is tested under different question contexts. It is hypothesized that previously cited independence violations may result from experimental biases rather than a shortcoming of the Theory. An experimental survey presents risky choice questions as lotteries and as "real life" scenarios to test the relative frequency of independence violations under different test conditions. Simple proportion-difference test statistics show that some choice pairs elicit significantly different choices under the scenario contexts. A more sophisticated analysis, using logit regression models, finds that the scenario contexts reduce choice biases caused by the similarity of the alternatives. Choices over scenario-contexts are found to be consistent with Expected Utility Theory. Violations of Expected Utility Theory over lottery contexts are attributed to the similarity of the alternatives.