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IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF WATERFOWL PRESENCE GREATER ON CONSERVED LANDS?
by
Brian Vance Kearns
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
(GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)
May 2012
Copyright 2012 Brian Vance Kearns
Object Description
| Title | Is the likelihood of waterfowl presence greater on conserved lands? |
| Author | Kearns, Brian Vance |
| Author email | brian.v.kearns@gmail.com;bkearns@usc.edu |
| Degree | Master of Science |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Geographic Information Science and Technology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2012-03-24 |
| Date submitted | 2012-04-18 |
| Date approved | 2012-04-18 |
| Restricted until | 2012-04-18 |
| Date published | 2012-04-18 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Longcore, Travis R. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Kemp, Karen K. Vos, Robert O. |
| Abstract | Waterfowl are one of our Nation’s most precious and abundant natural resources, and preserving habitat well suited to their needs has long been a goal of private and public entities alike. In this study, I focused on the American Black Duck (Anas rubripes), a species seeing a large decline in numbers since the mid 20th century. Using a satellite telemetry dataset collected by Ducks Unlimited during 2008 and 2009 in the context of the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD), I addressed the land use habits of A. rubripes to assess the efficacy of costly conservation efforts implemented through conservation easements and the maintenance of wildlife refuges and management areas. Most analyses were conducted at the stopover level, grouping telemetry points within a 0.5 decimal degree diameter. By creating distributions and studying correlations, this study finds that during wintering months A. rubripes registered more telemetry points in PAD lands where hunting is allowed in-season; during migration, lands outside of the PAD were more frequently used. This could be attributed to waterfowl specific management practices creating prime habitat during wintering and food needs being fulfilled by residual agricultural products during migration. This suggests an increased importance of management efforts in wintering habitats. Climate variables were also assessed to test reported influences of temperature and precipitation on distribution and stopover behaviors, but study data did not demonstrate a correlation between stopover length and temperature or precipitation at arrival and departure. A finer scale geospatial analysis using more detailed information about hunting status and protection level is recommended to further interpret available data. |
| Keyword | waterfowl; migration; GIS; conservation; land easements; land use |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Kearns, Brian Vance |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume1/etd-KearnsBria-619.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF WATERFOWL PRESENCE GREATER ON CONSERVED LANDS? by Brian Vance Kearns A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF SCIENCE (GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) May 2012 Copyright 2012 Brian Vance Kearns |
