Year of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Science (MS)
Degree Name
Wildlife Biology
Department or School/College
Wildlife Biology Program
Committee Chair
Dr. Joshua Millspaugh
Committee Co-chair
Dr. Michael Schwartz
Commitee Members
Dr. Jody Tucker, Dr. Sarah Sells
Keywords
population trends, mesocarnivores, collaborative research, species interactions, power analysis, occupancy
Subject Categories
Population Biology
Abstract
Whether from human impacts, climate change, or extreme fires, landscapes around the world are rapidly changing (Foley et al. 2005, Grimm et al. 2008, Bowman et al. 2020). As these landscapes change, it is clear that many ecosystems and species are being negatively affected (Laliberte and Ripple 2004, Butchart et al. 2010, Freeman et al. 2018, Li et al. 2022). With an expanding number of species facing extinction risks, it is critical for agencies to know when and where to focus their limited resources and conservation efforts (Martin et al. 2012, Auerbach et al. 2014, Bal et al. 2018). To do this, agencies may establish thresholds of specific population metrics that will trigger specific conservation actions. Monitoring programs can then track populations to determine when thresholds are crossed (Nichols and Williams 2006, Martin et al. 2012, Lindenmayer et al. 2013).
Wildlife population monitoring programs consist of long-term repeated sampling which track metrics of a population through time (Schwartz et al. 2015). However, establishing and maintaining effective monitoring can be difficult due to funding structures, frequent turnover of staff, and the extensive scale of sampling that is required (Field et al. 2005, Lindenmayer et al. 2012, Moussy et al. 2022). In addition, defining thresholds for populations requires a strong understanding of a species’ biology, its role in the ecosystem, and the risks that different populations face, information that is unavailable for many species (Nie and Schultz 2012, Addison et al. 2016).
On a local scale, agencies conduct small scale monitoring and research to inform conservation actions (Cash and Moser 2000, Schultz 2010). Often there are many of these programs scattered across the range of a species, with each potentially collecting information on a range of species. By harnessing these existing efforts, agencies and researchers could monitor wildlife populations at broader scales and develop a better understanding of many wildlife species. This thesis explores this type of cooperative monitoring and research through two examples. In the first chapter, I investigated the statistical strength of using variable existing monitoring programs to assess population trends on a broad-scale. This analysis was conducted through a series of simulations that mimic the ways local monitoring projects change in space and time. Through these simulations I was able to identify the effects of this variation on the statistical strength of wildlife occupancy monitoring.
A variable that can often be critical to the statistical power of a monitoring program is an accurate and broad scale representation of the species’ habitat. For my second chapter I examined the use of ‘bycatch’ data to produce a broad scale understanding of habitat selection and species interactions of a wide ranging mesocarnivore. All data for this analysis was sourced from other projects that were not targeting red foxes, also known as ‘bycatch’ data. By making use of existing bycatch data, I was able to develop inferences regarding the impacts of coyote presence on red fox occupancy while also investigating habitat characteristics that influence red fox occupancy across the Rocky Mountains.
Recommended Citation
Heiman, Jordan Lee, "Better Together: Leveraging Existing Research to Evaluate Population Trends, Habitat Selection, and Species Interactions of Mesocarnivores" (2025). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12459.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12459
© Copyright 2025 Jordan Lee Heiman