Qualitative Research and Quilting: Advice for Novice Researchers

This paper relates how the author, a novice qualitative researcher, uses the familiar process of quilting to help her clarify the research process. Other novice researchers are advised to look around for similar connections they can make in their lives to assist with their research

Groups and Mortality: Their Effects on Cooperative Behavior and Population Growth in a Social Carnivore

Cooperative breeding refers to the cooperative care of related, or even unrelated, young. Helpers can increase the survival or reproduction of the breeders in the group which increases helper fitness indirectly. We have a poor understanding of how mortality, particularly human harvest, affects cooperative breeders. Given their complex social structures, territorial defense that relies on group size, and persistent harvest regimes, gray wolves (Canis lupus) are an ideal species for studying the ecological relationships between mortality, group size and composition, and population growth in a cooperative breeder. Chapter 1: How does group size affect vital rates of individuals and population growth? Furthermore, how do density and immigration of individuals into groups influence the effect of group size on population growth? I used historic data from Idaho and Yellowstone National Park as well as the scientific literature to populate a metapopulation model and explore the simultaneous influences of group size, density, and immigration on population growth. Chapter 2: What is the effect of harvest on recruitment in a cooperative breeder? Are there both direct (i.e., mortality from harvest) and indirect effects (i.e., reduced survival because of breeder turnover, reduced group size) of harvest on recruitment? I used a natural experiment and genetic sampling to assess the influence of harvest on pup recruitment. I compared genotypes of sampled pups to harvested pups to determine whether harvest had both direct and indirect effects on recruitment. Chapter 3: How does mortality, in the form of persistent public harvest, affect group size, composition, and ultimately recruitment in a cooperative breeder? I genetically sampled wolves across a broad range of human-caused mortality in western North America. I used the resulting data to assess the influence of harvest on group size, group composition, breeder turnover, and ultimately recruitment. Chapter 4: How do individual, group, and environmental factors influence helping behavior in a cooperative breeder? I used location data from satellite-collared wolves in western North America to explore the influences of sex, individual status within a group, group size, and predation risk on pup-guarding behavior

How To Trick A Wolf: Manipulating Pack Movements With Biofencing

Wolves (Canis lupus) have a relatively wide distribution in the northern Rockies and can conflict with livestock production in certain areas. Tools currently available to mitigate wolf/ livestock conflict can be short-lived in their effectiveness or altogether ineffective. Wolves use scent-marking to establish territories and avoid intraspecific conflict. We hypothesized that human-deployed scent-marks could be used to manipulate wolf pack movements in Idaho. We deployed 64.7 km of biofence within three wolf pack territories during summer 2010. Location data from collared wolves showed little to no trespass of the biofence. Sign surveys at predicted rendezvous sites yielded little to no recent wolf use of exclusion areas. Lastly, a habitually depredating wolf pack was not implicated in any depredations. Our pilot test provides preliminary evidence that wolf movements can be manipulated using humandistributed scent-marks

An Analysis of the Organizational Patterns of North Carolina School Districts

School system organization has been described as the skeleton that outlines the structure and determines the form of a school district. (Grove, 2002). Organizational charts are the manifestations of these skeletons. Some are simple; others are more complex – more like nervous systems than skeletons. Whatever metaphor is chosen, understanding the underlying organization of the complex multiple functions of a social group such as a school district is important. Our schools are being asked to educate our children in an ever-increasingly complex and global society. Surely the organization of a school district has an impact on how students are educated and how well they achieve curricular goals. With today’s emphasis on accountability, the ability of the school district organization to help students achieve and meet testing goals is critical. But what is the best way to organize a school district? How do superintendents make the decisions needed to organize a district? This study is a necessary first step in determining this. In this study, we analyzed the organization of public school districts in the state of North Carolina. We were interested in the similarities and differences in the administrative structures driving these organizations serving children in a diverse geographical state. We addressed two questions: (1) What organizational patterns are found in public school districts in North Carolina? (2) How do organizational patterns differ in districts serving different numbers of students

Determining School District Organization in North Carolina

The current study sought to answer the next question, “How are the organizational structures of North Carolina school districts determined?” We wanted to understand what factors influenced the organization of school district

Survival and Recruitment of Gray Wolf Pups Before and after Harvest

Knowledge about recruitment in a population can be critical when making conservation decisions, particularly for harvested species. Harvest can affect population demography in complex ways and this may be particularly true for species whose successful reproduction is linked with complex social dynamics. We used noninvasive genetic sampling and a natural experiment to estimate recruitment in gray wolves (Canis lupus) before and after harvest in the northern Rocky Mountains, Idaho USA (2008-2013). We hypothesized that recruitment would decline after hunting and trapping began and that the decline in recruitment would be attributable to the harvest of pups and not subtler mechanisms associated with group dynamics and reduced reproductive success. We collected fecal samples from wolves in 10 packs for 6 consecutive years, extracted DNA, and genotyped 154 individual pups across 18 microsatellite loci. Population harvest rates averaged 23.8% (SD = 9.2). Our hypothesis that recruitment would decline was supported; survival from 3 – 15 months of age decreased from 0.60 (95% CI: 0.48-0.72) without harvest to 0.38 (95% CI: 0.28-0.48) with harvest and recruitment declined from 3.2 (95% CI: 2.1-4.3) to 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1-2.1) pups per pack after harvest was initiated. We attributed just 18-38% of pup mortality directly to harvest and suggest that there are indirect effects of harvest on recruitment that may be associated with changes in group size and structure. Models that do not include both direct and indirect effects of harvest on recruitment may underestimate the potential impact of harvest on population growth in social species

Developing a Monitoring Framework to Estimate Wolf Distribution and Abundance in Southwest Alberta

Gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations are difficult to monitor because wolves can be elusive and occur in low densities.  Traditional radiotelemetry-based monitoring methods have limited application when turnover is high within the wolf population and resources to maintain long-term collaring programs are limited.  We worked collaboratively with Alberta Environmental Sustainable Resource Development between 2012 and 2014 to develop techniques for monitoring gray wolf populations in the absence of radiotelemetry in southwest Alberta.  We surveyed potential rendezvous sites and collected DNA samples from wolf scats for genetic analysis and surveyed hunters for wolf sightings made during the hunting seasons. We fit false-positive occupancy models to annual detection data derived from genetic results and hunter surveys with Program PRESENCE.  We found percent forest cover and human density positively influenced pack occupancy whereas detection probabilities varied by survey method, sampling effort, and sampling season.  The model predicted wolf pack occupancy well and distribution and abundance estimates were consistent with agency predictions.  While developing the monitoring framework, questions arose regarding pack turnover and population growth under widespread human harvest.  Previous studies have focused on population recovery following wolf control actions but little emphasis is put on populations that exist under regular harvest.  We will use genetic data to determine how immigration contributes to wolf population trends under a long-term harvest regime and tie this into pack occupancy through colonization and local extinction probabilities.  This will expand the application of our occupancy model and will further clarify how wolf populations respond to long-term regulated harvest

Immigration as a Compensatory Mechanism to Offset Harvest Mortality in Harvested Wolf Populations

In less than a decade the U.S. Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf (Canis lupus) population has experienced large shifts in management practices, from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act to increasingly liberal hunting and trapping seasons in many portions of their range after delisting.  As a result, there is interest in how current wolf management practices will affect this population over time.  Recent research suggests wolf pup recruitment in central Idaho has declined since harvest was initiated, yet wolf densities appear stable in many regions of the state, suggesting other compensatory mechanisms are offsetting the effects of harvest mortality.  Our objective was to evaluate immigration as a compensatory mechanism that may offset the effects of harvest mortality and facilitate population persistence in a heavily harvested wolf population.  Using noninvasively sampled DNA we identified dispersers into two focal study areas in central Idaho prior to and after harvest was initiated.  We measured genetic relatedness within and among wolf packs using three different metrics to assess how immigration has changed with changing management practices.  Our results suggest that at current harvest rates immigration is not acting as a compensatory mechanism to offset the effects of harvest mortality.  Local dispersal may be unaffected by harvest pressure whereas harvest has negative effects on long-distance dispersal.  Our research can help managers consider the effects of immigration on local wolf populations when making harvest management decisions

Wolf Pack Distribution in Relation to Heavy Harvest in Southwest Alberta

Gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations are difficult to monitor because wolves can be elusive and occur in low densities.  Harvest can further complicate wolf monitoring by affecting wolf behavior, altering pack structure, and potentially reducing probability of detection.  Currently, Montana and Idaho use patch occupancy models to monitor wolves at state-wide scales.  These models were originally developed prior to the initiation of wolf harvest and there is growing concern that current occupancy estimates are becoming less reliable as harvest continues.  Our objectives were to determine whether we could estimate wolf distribution for a heavily harvested wolf population and assess how harvest may be affecting that distribution.  We surveyed potential rendezvous sites and collected DNA samples from wolf scats for genetic analysis and surveyed hunters for wolf sightings in southwestern Alberta from 2012 to 2014. We used a Bayesian approach to fit dynamic occupancy models to the encounter histories while accounting for false-positive detections using JAGS and Program R.  We found both habitat and anthropogenic factors influenced wolf occupancy parameters in southwestern Alberta and detection probability varied by survey method.  Our preliminary results suggest wolf pack distribution is fairly consistent but that source-sink dynamics may be occurring in certain regions of the study area.  Despite heavy harvest pressure, southwestern Alberta appears to maintain a stable wolf population, although this is possibly due to immigration from nearby regions