Year of Award
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Name
Fish and Wildlife Biology
Department or School/College
W.A. Franke College of Forestry
Committee Chair
Paul M. Lukacs
Committee Co-chair
Joshua J. Millspaugh
Commitee Members
Andrew Lindbloom, Kelly Proffitt, Hugh Robinson, Sarah Sells
Keywords
Abundance, Demographic Estimation, Habitat Quality, Population Modeling, Spatially Explicit, Survival
Abstract
In this dissertation, I aim to (i) advance the understanding of pronghorn ecology and population responses to environmental variability, and (ii) test analytical tools linking environmental habitat factors to demographic processes. In doing so, I answer the following questions: How should we expect pronghorn demographic rates to vary from year to year? How do environmental conditions influence pronghorn survival? How do long-term impacts from environmental conditions directly affect pronghorn demographic trends like survival or abundance? Do environmental conditions influence pronghorn density and distribution in the same way? If not, how do they differ? Finally, in an increasingly changing landscape, what tools can we use to continue to advance our understanding of pronghorn population and movement dynamics? In the following chapters, I explain how I approached these questions and discuss the various hypotheses we tested to evaluate the driving impacts on pronghorn demographics (e.g., abundance and survival) and distribution.
Recommended Citation
McDevitt, Molly Cutler, "WHERE AND WHEN THE ANTELOPE PLAY: DRIVERS OF PRONGHORN DISTRIBUTION AND DEMOGRAPHY ACROSS SPACE AND THROUGH TIME" (2024). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12416.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12416
© Copyright 2024 Molly Cutler McDevitt