Process to Monitor and Manage Ungulate Browsing Pressure

Plant communities are monitored to prevent ungulate browsing from having an adverse effect on habitat. The monitoring process described in this paper applies to plant species capable of growing through the browse zone, and uses two measurements (percent intensely browsed and LD Index) to determine if browsing will prevent the height growth of a young plant. To determine the potential effect of browsing on habitat structure, two variables are compared: 1) Existing browsing pressure is the percent of young plants that browsing is predicted to prevent from growing to full height. 2) Threshold browsing pressure is the percent of young plants that must grow to full height to attain a specified habitat structure. The process includes specifying target conditions, data collection and analysis, and refinement based on that analysis. The process requires a long-term commitment, but a minimal investment of time each year. By repeating the process over a period of years, the effects of browsing are documented and steps in the process are refined

Landscape Level Habitat Survey of Mule Deer Winter Range in Eastern Montana

In 2006 and 2007 Environmental Solutions Group, LLC (ESG) conducted landscape level surveys of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) winter range to test new field methods for assessing degree of browse utilization, browse species condition, and large animal distribution patterns. In 2007, a site was surveyed on Big Sheep Mountain in the Cherry Creek mule deer census area north of Terry in eastern Montana, covering approximately 6,400 ac (2,590 ha). Methodology followed Frisina and Knapp (2006). Data were collected along foot travel routes in a quarter mile pattern to cover the study area, totaling approximately 54 mi (86 km) of route at each site. Each data point represents a route segment up to 0.25 mi (0.4 km) long having a single type of vegetation. Data were collected for canopy cover and utilization level by individual browse species, canopy cover of other major individual plant species, amount of bare ground, and frequency of fecal pellet group observed for each ungulate species. Potential users of this methodology may now assess whether it offers useful and cost-effective application for their purposes

EFFECTS OF CATTLE GRAZING ON SMALL MAMMAL COMMUNITIES AT RED ROCK LAKES NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, MONTANA

Cattle grazing is a common land-use on public land in the Intermountain West that often has varied and complex effects on wildlife. We undertook the current study to better understand the response of small mammals to the frequency of cattle grazing in wet meadow habitats on Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Three adjacent grazing units were selected for study that provided a range of rested grazing units (one, three, and eight years of rest). We captured and marked 363 individuals, and had 174 recaptures on six 1.8 ha grids over 27 days. Voles (Microtus spp.) comprised 99 percent of individuals captured, with two deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), and one common shrew (Sorex cinereus). Vole abundance increased with increasing rest from grazing. Nearly 61 percent (221) of voles were captured in the unit with 8 years of rest from grazing; 26 percent (94) and 13 percent (48) of total captures were in units of three and one year of rest, respectively.  Apparent 8 day survival probability estimates were 0.45 (±0.12 SE), 0.62 (±0.12) and 0.35 (±0.09) for treatments with one, three and eight years of rest, respectively. Litter depth and physiognomic classes litter, and forb, and bare ground approached an asymptote after three years rest from grazing

Fine Scale Nest Site Selection of Greater Sage-Grouse In The Centennial Valley, Montana

The purpose of this study was to determine fine scale nest site selection of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Centennial Valley, MT. A total of ninety nests were found during 2014-2015 using radio-collared sage-grouse. Vegetation surveys were conducted at nests and random sites that measured the nest shrub and the cover available within 3m of the nest. Length of the branch over the nest (Lgth.LB), average axis width of the nest shrub (AvgAxis), lateral cover of the nest shrub (LCShrub), aerial cover of the nest shrub (ACShrub), and height of the lower branch over the nest (Ht.LB) were the habitat variables that received the most support. All habitat variables that were included in the top model were nest shrub morphological characteristics and cover provided by the nest shrub. Therefore, there is strong support that sage-grouse in the Centennial Valley are selecting nest sites based on the morphology of the nest shrub and the cover provided by that nest shrub. None of the habitat variables associated with herbaceous cover received much support for inclusion in our models. On average, residual cover (i.e. grass from previous year) provided concealment for only 4% of the nest bowl. The relative probability of a shrub being selected for a nest site is maximized when Lgth.LB >75cm long, AvgAxis >130cm wide, LCShrub >80%, and ACShrub > 70%. Managers should focus on conserving mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana) and three-tip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartita) habitats because they were more likely to meet those shrub characteristics

15th Wildland Shrub Symposium - Shrublands: Wildlands and Wildlife Habitats, 2008 June 17-19, Bozeman, MT

The 35 papers in this proceedings are divided into four sections; the first includes an introduction to the symposium theme of Shrublands as wildlands and wildlife habitat, along with keynote addresses discussing geographic affiliations of eastern Montana\u27s great Plains Flora and methodology for surveying mule deer winter range habitat use and condition. The next two sections cluster papers on wildlife habitat and ecological relationships. These sections provide a diverse sampling of topics examining the nature and impacts of intra- and inter-trophic relationships among plants and associated species of western North American shrublands. Papers in the final section present assessments of various sampling and monitoring methodologies applicable to shrublands

A conceptual framework toward identifying and analyzing challenges to the advancement of pharmacy

Background: Pharmacists and healthcare professionals are faced with increasing and changing health care needs around the world. In order to meet these demands, they are required to continuously upgrade and develop their professions. Reprofessionalization drives are therefore crucial to the successful delivery of health services, but traditional theories of the professions provide little practical guidance to evaluating the overall status of a profession. Objective: This study proposes a new conceptual framework of three interrelated professional sectors: education, regulation and practice, and uses it to identify and analyse challenges facing the pharmacy profession in Jordan. Methods: A multiple-method qualitative study comprised of semi-structured interviews and focus groups was conducted in Amman, Jordan. To explore and identify the challenges, apurposively recruited cross-sector sample of fifty-three key informants, stakeholders and pharmacists were interviewed. Interview transcripts were translated and then analysed using QSR NVivo 10. Thematic analysis identified eight main challenges facing pharmacy in Jordan. The original participants were then invited to participate in focus groups, the purpose of which was to validate the interview findings, map them against the conceptual framework and discuss recommendations for development. Results:The eight validated challenges span the following areas: graduates preparedness for practice, pharmacy education accreditation and quality assurance, pre-registration requirements, workforce development, workforce planning, remuneration and wage rate, pharmacy assistants, and PharmD pharmacists. Focus group participants used the framework to map each of the challenges to the primary sector-to-sector disconnect that they perceived to explain it. A list of recommendations addressing each of the challenges was also devised. Conclusions: The framework was found to offer valuable insight as an explanatory and diagnostic tool in policy-relevant research. By emphasizing the processual and contextual nature of reprofessionalization, the framework presents an alternative approach to traditional theories. This study also raises important questions regarding the status of pharmacy in Jordan and aims to provide guidance for local development and much-needed reprofessionalization drives

Fall Diet of Red and Fallow Deer, Black Buck, and Mouflon Sheep on Argentina's Patagonian Steppe

This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management, the National Agricultural Library, and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202

Elk Habitat Use within a Rest-Rotation Grazing System

This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management, the National Agricultural Library, and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202

Book Review: Keeping the Wild, Against the Domestication of Earth, George Wuerthner, Eileen Crist, Tom Butler (Eds.)

Book Review: Keeping the Wild, Against the Domestication of Earth, George Wuerthner, Eileen Crist, Tom Butler (Eds.). Island Press, Washington, DC, USA (2014).The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202

Western and Inner Mongolian Grasslands: Feeling at Home on the Range

This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management, the National Agricultural Library, and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202