Search

Bats are critically important for their control of insects but are experiencing populationdeclines. The biggest reason for these declines is anthropogenic land use. Despite negativeimpacts, anthropogenic land use has variable impact on bats, with tolerance for more developed areas being species dependent and varying depending on the spatial or temporal scale. Previous studies on land use and bats lack spatial variability and are often single year. My goal was to determine how habitat factors related to human land use impact bat activity and species richness at multiple spatial scales over a period of several years. This research was conducted in the Oak Openings Region, which is a highly developed mixed-use region with high biodiversity that serves as important bat habitat. Specific objectives included determining (1) changes in bat activity and species richness over time, (2) differences in bat activity and species richness between protected and non-protected areas, (3) how factors related to human land use impact bat activity and species richness, and (4) to map current bat habitat suitability and see how it may change in the future. Calls increased each subsequent year during the 2019-2021 period, showing a trend of consistently increasing bat activity. However, during 2011-2019 bat activity significantly decreased. Protected areas had higher species richness and activity than unprotected areas. Higher activity and species richness were found in areas with greater percent upland prairie, sand barrens, and savanna and less floodplain and conifer forest and wet prairie. Activity was higher with less structural clutter at 3-6.5 m, lower understory height, taller canopy height, more canopy cover, and more structural clutter 0-3 m. Number of habitats was positively associated with bat species richness and activity along transects, but negatively associated with activity at stationary points. An opposite trend was observed for cropland. Activity and species richness along transects was higher when at least one side of the road had natural habitat.Variables having high impact on suitability included percent savanna and upland forest, distance to agriculture, May NDVI, total annual precipitation, mean diurnal range, and mean annual air temperature. Total percent suitable habitat did not change much between current models and 2050 predicted climate change models, although suitable habitat patches changed in location and level of suitability. These results demonstrate that measuring bat activity and species richness using a variety of spatial and temporal scales allows detection of changes in populations over time and identification of the habitat and environmental variables that are most important to bat populations.

With the expansion of the human population, new roads are continually being built, leading to an increase in fragmentation or loss of natural habitats. These roads can act as corridors for vertebrates connecting natural habitats or aiding in migration, but they can also act as barriers or boundaries leading to fragmentation, isolation, and/or mortality on roadways. Research has focused mainly on larger highways, outside of the U.S., and away from larger urban areas. The Oak Openings Region, a biodiversity hot spot in northwestern Ohio, is a matrix of human dominated land use and remnant natural patches. This research focused on identifying vertebrate mortality hot spots and the spatial and temporal variables associated with vertebrate road mortality. From mid-April to the end of September 2019, we surveyed 38 road transects within and around three protected (natural) areas to record diversity, abundance, and distribution of roadkilled vertebrates and to identify influencing factors (e.g., land use, canopy cover, environmental data, road characteristics). We found an uneven spread of roadkill, with 45% of roadkill found on nine out of the 38 (24%) surveyed transects, highlighting potential areas to prioritize for mitigation. During the spring months (April 14 - June 20), nine of the transects had no roadkill, but in the summer months (June 21 - September 18), only one transect had no roadkill. This suggests that seasonality influenced the abundance and distribution of roadkill. As transects moved northward, there was a positive trend of more roadkill with increased developed land use. We found a total of 297 roadkill on or around the roads, with all vertebrate taxa included. Mammals made up 49.8% of the roadkill found. Mammal roadkill showed a significant positive trend with average canopy cover (p < 0.0001). Amphibians made up the second largest roadkill group, but showed a seasonal peak in August. These results can help land managers predict where animal dispersal is occurring, which roads negatively impact vertebrates, and identify where better connectivity of the landscape could improve conditions for vertebrate populations. This study suggests that human dominated land use increases mortality and seasonality influences roadkill abundance and distribution.

The distribution, abundance, and movement of mammals can be heavily influenced by the configuration of the landscape, including boundary effects. Management practices are commonly used by park managers to restore and conserve certain natural habitats (e.g., prairies, savannas), and may produce distinct edges. The challenge is that there can be unintended detrimental consequences to the organisms that depend on these managed habitats and the adjacent areas. Research on the effects of management usually focuses on vegetation or a specific focal species of management, but this research focused on the effects of management on native terrestrial mammals that are not usually the target species for early successional habitat management. My research focused on surveying nonvolant small mammals and bats at the managed and unmanaged level, site level, and landscape level and evaluating the effects of these managed edges on native mammals. I used tracking tubes to survey small mammals and stationary acoustic monitors to survey bats. I focused on prescribed burning as the main form of management for this project since prescribed burns produced the most distinct boundaries compared to herbicide and mechanical vegetation removal. My study took place in the Oak Openings Preserve in northwestern Ohio. My goal was to investigate how prescribed burning impacted wildlife, what structures and characteristics were the most important for organisms, and which could be maintained or created by burning. The results provide guidelines to help managers reach their goals of creating and maintaining viable natural remnants for native biodiversity. My results suggested that both groups of mammals value open areas and certain vegetation characteristics such as sapling and crypto-biotic crust that result from the prescribed burns. My study emphasizes the importance of having an unburned area adjacent to a burned area to allow for dispersal and resource availability, and the importance of studying a variety of organisms for management research. Most importantly, my research suggests that habitat heterogeneity should be the main goal for management.

Many taxa suffer from habitat loss, spread of invasive species, and climate change; however, reptiles are especially vulnerable because they are constrained physiologically from their ectothermic nature in addition to global population declines. Like other taxa, reptilian basic ecology requirements are influenced by ecological neighborhoods, which shape the abundance of critical resources and their movement patterns. My goal was to better understand reptilian movement patterns across spatial and temporal scales to facilitate conservation efforts within Oak Openings Region (OOR), of northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan, using a combination of field surveys, remote sensing data and modeling. My research examined (1) climate change, (2) distribution patterns, (3) habitat use, and (4) movement patterns. At the regional scale, we found moderate increases in suitable habitat for box turtles within the future scenarios based on climatic suitability models. Individuals may be more displaced or vulnerable from temperature change during the driest quarter of the year. Dispersal is feasible; box turtles, based on tracking of individuals, can move large distances within their lifetime but the physical barriers, like roads, on the landscape may greatly hinder these movements. I modeled habitat suitability for a suite of reptiles based on occupancy data and climate, habitat, elevation, and structural features. Currently, suitable habitat was less than half the area within OOR and was more restricted for two species of concern. There is a need to examine the range of limitations, i.e., minimum and maximum models, when planning conservation efforts for a suite of species, especially emphasizing the protection of wet and dry forest. At the local scale, I found using radio telemetry that box turtles displayed typical average home range sizes; however, some were much larger than other studies. This is likely a difference in landscape heterogeneity where home range size increased with greater shape complexity and decreased as it became more physical connected. Movements within preferred patch types may be more costly resulting in larger home ranges. Fine-scale tracking for box turtles and garter snakes was conducted using fluorescent powder. I found that they responded differently to the local environment as seen by trail curvature and distance traveled and were distinct from those found in other studies. Multi-species approaches are critical for conservation efforts. Combining field data with spatial modeling provides a dynamic tool for land management and informing conservation decisions.

Understanding how the result of the mutualistic interaction between the Karner BlueButterfly (Lycaeides Melissa samuelis) (KBB) and the Allegheny mound ant (Formicaesectoides) changes with temperature and how Allegheny mound ants modify potential KBBhabitat is crucial to the persistence of the federally endangered Karner Blue Butterfly. A changein conservation techniques and an emphasis on new conservation plans will occur if there areadvantages to maintaining a mutualistic relationship between these species. This researchexamined how the mutualistic interaction between KBB and the Allegheny mound ant buffersthe negative effects of climatic changes by manipulating temperature and Allegheny antpresence. In an experimental study, I manipulated temperature and ant presence via infraredheating lamps and a connective tubing system to an ant mound on KBB larvae. I found thatlarvae distance from lupine soil decreases with increasing temperature and decreases with antpresence. KBB mortality, days to pupation, and days in the pupal stage did not change withchanges in temperature and ant presence. I also examined how Allegheny ant mounds in the OakOpenings region influenced abundance of invertebrates found near ant mounds and thecommunity structure of the surrounding vegetation. I found a significant interaction betweendistance from ant mounds and spider abundance: the highest concentration of spiders was foundthe farthest sampling locations away from ant mounds. The abundance of other ground-dwellinginvertebrates found near Allegheny ant mounds did not change with varying distance. Vegetationdensity and vegetation ground cover did not change with varying distance from ant mounds. Theapplication of this research proposes the mutualistic interaction between KBB and Alleghenymound ants—which provide reduction in predation as well as improved use of microclimate—tobe implemented as a conservation tool, in hopes bolster KBB populations.

Species are threatened daily by human activities, the most devastating of which are habitat destruction and fragmentation, which can drastically decrease population size. One of the most severe consequences of these decreases in population sizes is the decrease in genetic diversity, which may affect fitness and reduce the adaptive potential of natural populations. These consequences, however, may not affect all species equally due to their past evolutionary history, migratory habits, and current demographic factors. This study focuses on the potential role of migratory habit on the maintenance of genetic diversity of avian species that live in a fragmented habitat. The mitochondrial control region sequences of six Passerine species that breed within the Oak Openings area of Northwest Ohio were compared based upon the species' migratory habit while controlling for the effects of phylogenetic history. Consistent with results from previous studies, species that migrate long distances showed higher levels of genetic diversity (higher numbers of haplotypes and average p-distance) than species that do not migrate. An analysis of variance based on within-population estimates of DNA sequence variation revealed a significant contribution of both phylogenetic history and migratory habit to species' genetic diversity. Overall, 50.72% of the total variation observed across multiple species could be explained by differences in migratory habit. These results emphasize the important role of migratory habit in determining overall levels of genetic diversity, an important consideration for the management and conservation of species that breed within fragmented habitats.

Glossy and common buckthorn (Frangula alnus and Rhamnus cathartica) are invasive woody shrubs that formed dense monoculture thickets in the Oak Openings Region of NW Ohio. Conventional techniques of vegetation mapping are expensive and time-consuming. Thickets were identified using remotely sensed land surface phenology of buckthorn, that leafs out earlier and senesces later than native plant species. A tasseled-cap greenness index, which correlates with vegetation health and biomass, was calculated for 49 Landsat images across two time steps (2001-2006 and 2007-2011) to determine annual phenology. Areas of known thicket and aerial photography were used to classify buckthorn thicket. The satellite image classification showed a 37% increase in thicket extent (690 hectares to 945 hectares) between 2001-2011. P-plots were used to determine buckthorn thicket species composition and density. Sixty field sites were surveyed for presence/absence of thicket to determine accuracy and a kappa hat value of 0.73 was obtained. The classification image was used to model the spatial distribution of buckthorn in order to determine drivers causing monoculture thickets. A logistic regression was used against presence/absence of thicket as a function of the variables: height above river centerline, density of groundwater wells, and distance to agricultural sources. The model showed a pseudo-R2 value of 0.13 and predicted a 10-20% increase in likelihood of buckthorn thicket for each decrease of 30 cm elevation toward river center with a p-value of

Oak savannas of the Midwestern U.S. are among the most imperiled North American plant communities. The 478-km2 Oak Openings region of Northwestern Ohio is one of the few landscape-scale savanna systems remaining in the Midwest. Despite conversion of large portions of the Oak Openings for human land uses, the region still supports high levels of floristic diversity. However, regional patterns of Oak Openings plant diversity within the modern landscape are not well understood. My research objectives were 1) to determine the current extent and distribution of Oak Openings plant communities, 2) to quantify multiscale patterns of plant species richness within the context of the surrounding landscape, and 3) to build predictive species distribution models of rare plants to evaluate regional patterns in habitat suitability. First, using multi-seasonal Landsat images, I determined that

Habitat requirement studies of endangered species often examine only one spatial scale since more lengthy multi-scale studies can delay conservation. However, not considering multiple scales could cause crucial habitat components to be overlooked, reducing the chances of successful conservation.I designed a single season, multi-spatial-scale study of the habitat use of the state endangered Lark Sparrow in the Oak Openings Region of Northwest Ohio. This rapid assessment technique can be applied to species of concern to gain a detailed assessment of habitat requirements in a short amount of time. I assessed Lark Sparrow habitat requirements at three spatial scales: landscape, habitat patch, and territory. To characterize Lark Sparrow habitat, I compared the landscape context and vegetation structure of presence sites and absence sites. Presence sites were active breeding sites, and absence sites were former breeding sites that Lark Sparrows abandoned. The results suggest that Lark Sparrows responded to different habitat parameters at different spatial scales. At the landscape scale, patch size and shape were important. At the habitat patch scale, percent tree cover and vegetation height-density were important. At the territory scale, percent tree cover, percent shrub cover, vegetation height-density, and proximity to occupied territories were important. Studying a single spatial scale would have produced an incomplete picture of breeding Lark Sparrow habitat.The habitat Lark Sparrows use in the Oak Openings is Midwest sand barrens, a globally rare early-successional plant community. I assessed the effectiveness of restoration efforts for Midwest sand barrens and Lark Sparrow habitat by comparing the land management histories of active breeding sites and abandoned breeding sites. The number of management events (i.e. mowing and prescribed burns) in the most recent three years was significantly higher for active sites. These results suggest that habitat change happens quickly in Midwest sand barrens. If a site is not managed at least once every three years, it will cease to function as an early-successional habitat, and Lark Sparrows will abandon it. Managing sand barrens frequently enough to support successful Lark Sparrow populations will benefit the suite of early-successional specialists that inhabit the unique Midwest sand barren plant community.

Prescribed burning is a major management technique used to restore oak woodlands to previous oak savanna conditions. Burning alters biotic and biophysical variables by combusting the litter layer and heating the soil; however, the net effects of these cool fires on ecosystem processes like soil respiration (SR) are not well understood. This study examined immediate and seasonal responses of biotic variables, biophysical variables, and SR to prescribed burning in Northwest Ohio successional oak woodlands. A chronosequence of treatments (0, 1, 3, and 5 years after burning) was compared with unburned woodland to estimate the duration of fire effects. A paired design limiting landscape variability was incorporated by maintaining a burn exclusion area within the freshly burned treatment (0yr). The relationship between SR and its biotic and biophysical predictors, and the temperature sensitivity of SR (Q10) were also examined across treatments. Measurements were taken weekly between March 2005 and January 2006. Data were primarily analyzed with repeated measures analysis of variance. This study suggested that repeated fires had persistent impacts on forest structure and species composition, and transitory impacts on litter biomass, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil nutrients, SR, and Q10. Generally, changes caused by fire were not significantly different across the chronology; instead, fire effects were only visible within the first year after burning, and were most evident by comparing the paired sites. Fire effects changed by season so that spring SR at the freshly burned site was 18% higher than the paired site, summer SR was 36% lower, and fall SR recovered to unburned rates. Relationships between SR and its predictors changed slightly after burning, but soil temperature remained the dominant predictor across all treatments and seasons. Therefore, the effects of a single fire on successional woodland SR were seen to be weak and short-lived.