Treesearch

Factors considered most critical in selecting a specific wilderness environment in which to recreate are likely to vary depending upon the type of environment involved, the range and extent of experience of the recreationists, and the situational context of the decision (whether a real or a hypothetical decision was made). This study examines differences in factors considered in choosing a wilderness environment based upon whether the choice was an actual report of behavior or a hypothetical decision. A questionnaire requesting information concerning choices of wilderness areas in which to...

Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) in southwestern South Dakota frequently use the burrows of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) for nesting and escape cover. Coulombe (1971) emphasized the importance of understanding the role of burrow selection in relation to owl behavior, physiology, and overall ecology. He also suggested that availability of burrow sites may be the critical factor in Burrowing Owl population dynamics.

Plant communities of southeastern Montana were surveyed for rodents over a two year period. Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were the most abundant rodent species found on the study area. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus), sagebrush voles (Lagurus curtatus), Wyoming pocket mice (Perognathus fasciatus), thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus), least chipmunks (Eutamias minimus), and eastern fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) also were captured. Grassland, riparian, and sagebrush communities showed the greatest rodent abundance and...

In some areas, many aspen stands are all the same age, dating from a single great fire or a year of widespread fires (fig. 1). The 1879 fire in the Jackson Hole region of Wyoming (Loope and Gruell 1973) and the 1904 fires in Arizona's White Mountains (Kallander 1969) are examples. Choate (1966) found that almost all aspen stands in New Mexico were even-aged, many of them originating after fires dating since the mid-1800s. Some authors (Fetherolf 1917, Langenheim 1962, Marr 1961, Reed 1971), considered aspen to be climax in some habitats. Others, notably Baker (19251, felt that all aspen...

Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) were studied in a prairie dog town of southwestern South Dakota. Pellets regurgitated by Burrowing Owls contained a wide variety of prey remains. Insects, spiders, small mammals, and vegetation were the most frequent items identified in the pellets. Mammals were consumed most frequently during spring and early summer. Insects were consumed in large numbers during the entire period of this study, but they became more frequent in owl pellets during late summer and fall in association with a decline of mammal remains. Some prey items observed around owl...

Presents an overview paper and 11 contributed papers focused on the issue of the processes that underlie decision making by recreationists. The papers span a range of topics including the theory of choice behavior, empirical investigations of choice, and methodological approaches to the study of choice behavior.

The relevancy of a lexicographic semi-order model, as a basis for development of a microcomputer-based decision aid for backcountry hikers, was investigated. In an interactive microcomputer exercise, it was found that a decision aid based upon this model may assist recreationists in reduction of an alternative set to a cognitively manageable number.

Aspen's geographic and elevational ranges indicate a species that tolerates severe cold but does not tolerate sustained high temperatures, or semiarid or even dry, subhumid conditions. Much can be inferred from observation of the sites on which quaking aspen grows in the West. Aspen's distribution is related to its regeneration characteristics, its pathology, and its relations with other plants. Water and temperature, to some degree, affects each of these relationships.

This review discusses concepts and theories of substitution in recreation choice. It brings together the literature of recreation research, psychology, geography, economics, and transportation. Parallel and complementary developments need integration into an improved theory of substitution. Recreation decision behavior is characterized as a nested or sequential choice process. Examples are included from urban and dispersed recreation research.

Edaphic and climatic characteristics of a site quite well define the quality of that site for plant growth. The importance of soil characteristics to the growth and well-being of aspen in the West is apparent from observations by many authors, from inferences resulting from work with other trees and agricultural crops, and from detailed study of aspen soils and site quality in the Lake States. However, there are not many descriptions of aspen-soil-site relations in the West. Only in recent years has enough soil survey information been collected from the forested areas of the West to define...