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• 1411. [Article] Effects of a Wind Energy Development on Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Selection and Population Demographics in Southeastern Wyoming

  Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. and Wyoming Wildlife Consultants, LLC initiated a greater sage-grouse radio-telemetry study at an existing wind energy development in southeastern Wyoming in 2009. The ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Effects of a Wind Energy Development on Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Selection and Population Demographics in Southeastern Wyoming Author: LeBeau, Chad W. Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. and Wyoming Wildlife Consultants, LLC initiated a greater sage-grouse radio-telemetry study at an existing wind energy development in southeastern Wyoming in 2009. The University of Wyoming joined this collaborative effort in January 2010, and the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative joined the effort in March 2011. The overall goal of the research was to establish the population-level effects of wind energy development on female sage-grouse seasonal habitat selection and demography. This study represents the only situation in the US where the responses of greater sage-grouse to the infrastructure associated with a wind energy development has been investigated. Our primary objective was to discern the relationship between sage-grouse nest, brood-rearing, and summer habitat selection patterns and survival parameters and the infrastructure of an existing wind energy facility. The Seven Mile Hill (SMH) study area was located north of Interstate 80 and south of the Shirley Basin in Carbon County, Wyoming, US. A control and treatment area was included in the SMH study area, with boundaries of each of these areas determined from lek locations and radio-marked female sage-grouse distributions. The Seven Mile Hill Wind Energy Facility (SWEF; located in the treatment area) consisted of 79 General Electric 1.5-MW wind turbines and approximately 29 km of access roads. The facility became fully operational in December 2008. In addition to the SWEF, other anthropogenic features present in this portion of the study area included approximately eight km of paved roads and 26 km of overhead transmission lines. The control study area had no wind turbines and was adjacent to the SWEF and south of US Highway 30/287. There were approximately 50 km of paved roads and 17 km of overhead transmission lines in this area. The treatment area had four leks that had an average distance of 1.93 km from the nearest SWEF turbines (range = 0.53 to 4.15 km), while the control group consisted of 6 leks with an average distance of 10.99 km from the nearest SWEF turbine (range = 7.09 to 16.16 km). We captured and radio-equipped 346 (160 treatment; 186 control) female sage-grouse within an area consisting of a wind energy development and a control area absent of wind energy development in southeastern Wyoming from 2009–2014. We relocated each radio-marked female approximately twice a week during the nesting, brood rearing, and summer periods. We developed a suite of anthropogenic, vegetation, and environmental covariates to estimate habitat selection and survival for all sage-grouse during the nesting, brood rearing, and summer periods. We used a discrete choice habitat selection model to estimate the relative probability of sage-grouse nest site, brood-rearing, and summer habitat selection within both the control and treatment areas during the post-development period. We did not detect a negative impact of the wind energy facility on nest site selection during the study period. Sage-grouse rearing broods generally avoided suitable brood-rearing habitat near anthropogenic infrastructure that includes wind energy development, major paved roads and transmission lines. Although avoidance was consistent across the years of our study, avoidance of wind turbines was more pronounced in 2012-2014 compared to 2009-2011, suggesting a lag period in the ultimate population-level response to the development of a wind energy facility. Although distance to turbine was not strongly associated with summer habitat selection, the percentage of disturbance associated with wind energy infrastructure did appear to influence summer habitat selection. In addition, we estimated survival during each seasonal period to estimate the effect of the SWEF on population fitness. The SWEF did not have a negative effect on sage-grouse nest survival within the study area over the six-year period, and nest survival did not differ between nests of females captured at treatment and control area leks over the study period. The SWEF did not have a negative effect on sage-grouse brood survival within the study area over the six-year period. Survival was related to habitat features and anthropogenic features that have existed on the landscape for >10 years. Lastly, the SWEF did not have a negative effect on female sage-grouse summer survival within the study area over the six-year period. After controlling for annual and natural variability, we observed a positive effect of the SWEF on female survival when the percentage of disturbance within 0.81 km of a sage-grouse location increased from 0% to 3%. Our study is the first to estimate the impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse habitat selection and fitness parameters. Female sage-grouse selection of seasonal habitats was variable relative to the infrastructure associated with wind energy facility, but fitness parameters did not appear to be influenced to a great degree by the infrastructure. This pattern of effect is similar to greater prairie-chicken response to a wind energy facility in Kansas but opposite of sage-grouse response to oil and gas development. Ideally, we would have preconstruction data to identify changes in the population and decipher mechanisms in sage-grouse response to infrastructure; however, we are confident that if such impacts to habitat selection and survival did occur then we would have been able to detect these changes over the 6-year study period. The lack of other studies investigating impacts from wind energy development to sage-grouse habitat selection and survival limits our ability to make inferences about the cumulative impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse, but we were able to describe some of the impacts that wind energy developments may have on sage-grouse populations. Although we attempted to account for possible confounding factors, there is the chance that we did not detect important interactions between environmental features and habitat selection and survival patterns. Future wind energy developments should consider the potential impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse habitat selection patterns and survival parameters. We recommend facilities similar in size that occupy similar habitats as our study be placed 1.20 km from any occupied sage-grouse nesting, brood-rearing, or summer habitats. We recommend that future research consider predator-prey mechanisms by estimating both avian and mammalian predator densities to better understand the impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse fitness parameters and to develop appropriate mitigation measures. Title: Effects of a Wind Energy Development on Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Selection and Population Demographics in Southeastern Wyoming Author: LeBeau, Chad W. Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. and Wyoming Wildlife Consultants, LLC initiated a greater sage-grouse radio-telemetry study at an existing wind energy development in southeastern Wyoming in 2009. The University of Wyoming joined this collaborative effort in January 2010, and the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative joined the effort in March 2011. The overall goal of the research was to establish the population-level effects of wind energy development on female sage-grouse seasonal habitat selection and demography. This study represents the only situation in the US where the responses of greater sage-grouse to the infrastructure associated with a wind energy development has been investigated. Our primary objective was to discern the relationship between sage-grouse nest, brood-rearing, and summer habitat selection patterns and survival parameters and the infrastructure of an existing wind energy facility. The Seven Mile Hill (SMH) study area was located north of Interstate 80 and south of the Shirley Basin in Carbon County, Wyoming, US. A control and treatment area was included in the SMH study area, with boundaries of each of these areas determined from lek locations and radio-marked female sage-grouse distributions. The Seven Mile Hill Wind Energy Facility (SWEF; located in the treatment area) consisted of 79 General Electric 1.5-MW wind turbines and approximately 29 km of access roads. The facility became fully operational in December 2008. In addition to the SWEF, other anthropogenic features present in this portion of the study area included approximately eight km of paved roads and 26 km of overhead transmission lines. The control study area had no wind turbines and was adjacent to the SWEF and south of US Highway 30/287. There were approximately 50 km of paved roads and 17 km of overhead transmission lines in this area. The treatment area had four leks that had an average distance of 1.93 km from the nearest SWEF turbines (range = 0.53 to 4.15 km), while the control group consisted of 6 leks with an average distance of 10.99 km from the nearest SWEF turbine (range = 7.09 to 16.16 km). We captured and radio-equipped 346 (160 treatment; 186 control) female sage-grouse within an area consisting of a wind energy development and a control area absent of wind energy development in southeastern Wyoming from 2009–2014. We relocated each radio-marked female approximately twice a week during the nesting, brood rearing, and summer periods. We developed a suite of anthropogenic, vegetation, and environmental covariates to estimate habitat selection and survival for all sage-grouse during the nesting, brood rearing, and summer periods. We used a discrete choice habitat selection model to estimate the relative probability of sage-grouse nest site, brood-rearing, and summer habitat selection within both the control and treatment areas during the post-development period. We did not detect a negative impact of the wind energy facility on nest site selection during the study period. Sage-grouse rearing broods generally avoided suitable brood-rearing habitat near anthropogenic infrastructure that includes wind energy development, major paved roads and transmission lines. Although avoidance was consistent across the years of our study, avoidance of wind turbines was more pronounced in 2012-2014 compared to 2009-2011, suggesting a lag period in the ultimate population-level response to the development of a wind energy facility. Although distance to turbine was not strongly associated with summer habitat selection, the percentage of disturbance associated with wind energy infrastructure did appear to influence summer habitat selection. In addition, we estimated survival during each seasonal period to estimate the effect of the SWEF on population fitness. The SWEF did not have a negative effect on sage-grouse nest survival within the study area over the six-year period, and nest survival did not differ between nests of females captured at treatment and control area leks over the study period. The SWEF did not have a negative effect on sage-grouse brood survival within the study area over the six-year period. Survival was related to habitat features and anthropogenic features that have existed on the landscape for >10 years. Lastly, the SWEF did not have a negative effect on female sage-grouse summer survival within the study area over the six-year period. After controlling for annual and natural variability, we observed a positive effect of the SWEF on female survival when the percentage of disturbance within 0.81 km of a sage-grouse location increased from 0% to 3%. Our study is the first to estimate the impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse habitat selection and fitness parameters. Female sage-grouse selection of seasonal habitats was variable relative to the infrastructure associated with wind energy facility, but fitness parameters did not appear to be influenced to a great degree by the infrastructure. This pattern of effect is similar to greater prairie-chicken response to a wind energy facility in Kansas but opposite of sage-grouse response to oil and gas development. Ideally, we would have preconstruction data to identify changes in the population and decipher mechanisms in sage-grouse response to infrastructure; however, we are confident that if such impacts to habitat selection and survival did occur then we would have been able to detect these changes over the 6-year study period. The lack of other studies investigating impacts from wind energy development to sage-grouse habitat selection and survival limits our ability to make inferences about the cumulative impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse, but we were able to describe some of the impacts that wind energy developments may have on sage-grouse populations. Although we attempted to account for possible confounding factors, there is the chance that we did not detect important interactions between environmental features and habitat selection and survival patterns. Future wind energy developments should consider the potential impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse habitat selection patterns and survival parameters. We recommend facilities similar in size that occupy similar habitats as our study be placed 1.20 km from any occupied sage-grouse nesting, brood-rearing, or summer habitats. We recommend that future research consider predator-prey mechanisms by estimating both avian and mammalian predator densities to better understand the impacts of wind energy development on sage-grouse fitness parameters and to develop appropriate mitigation measures. Close

• 1412. [Article] Constraints to urban park visitation: Conceptual connections and spatial attributes for traditionally well-served and underserved residents

  Connecting with nature is associated with social, physical, and emotional benefits such as stress relief, improved physical health, and lower crime. Parks and other natural areas offer spaces in which ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Constraints to urban park visitation: Conceptual connections and spatial attributes for traditionally well-served and underserved residents Author: Rushing, Jaclyn R. Connecting with nature is associated with social, physical, and emotional benefits such as stress relief, improved physical health, and lower crime. Parks and other natural areas offer spaces in which to connect with nature and reap these and other benefits (e.g., family bonding, social events, learning). Despite increasing populations of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States of America, these groups are underrepresented in many outdoor recreation activities and in visitation to many parks and other protected areas. This underrepresentation and other attributes of park visitation can be partially explained through the theoretical lens of constraints to recreation. Constraints are factors that limit participation, affect leisure preferences, and / or reduce enjoyment and satisfaction with recreation experiences. Examples of constraints include inability to afford park fees, fear of crime in parks, and lack of available leisure time. This thesis contains two standalone articles focusing on resident constraints to visiting urban parks and other natural areas in the Portland, Oregon (USA) metropolitan region. These articles examine: (a) the most common constraints to visiting these parks and natural areas, and whether these constraints vary between traditionally well-served (i.e., white majority residents) and underserved (i.e., ethnic and racial minorities) populations; (b) relationships among constraints, park visitation, and place attachment for both of these groups of residents; and (c) how constraints groups, different types of constraints, and resident characteristics (e.g., minorities) are distributed spatially across this metropolitan region. Data were obtained from mail and online questionnaires completed by two samples of residents in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties: (a) a proportionate random sample of residents mostly targeting the following groups: African Americans / Blacks, American Indians, Asians, Hispanics / Latinos, Middle Eastern peoples, and Slavic / Eastern European peoples (i.e., probability sample); and (b) a convenience sample of Opt-In panel members (i.e., nonprobability sample). Questionnaires were completed by a total of 3,328 residents across these samples, and the data were weighted by the most recent Census based on county, age, sex (male, female), and education to be representative of adult residents in this region. Race and other demographics were consistent with the Census after weighting. Results of the first article showed that the primary constraints to visiting parks and natural areas in this urban region were being too busy to visit, limited knowledge about Metro parks, and lack of access to these places (Metro parks are managed by Metro, which is the main regional government for Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties). There were no differences in these constraints and most other constraints between traditionally underserved and well-served populations. Traditionally underserved residents, however, were significantly more constrained than the well-served residents were by race and cultural issues at parks, as well as lack of facilities and services at Metro parks. Traditionally well-served residents visited all parks and natural areas in the region significantly more often than did the underserved residents, but there were no differences in visitation to Metro parks or their favorite park. There were also no differences between the two groups in their attachment to their favorite park. Constraints and visitation explained 15% of the variance in attachment for well-served residents and 38% for underserved residents, and constraints explained 4% of the variance in visitation for well-served residents and 26% for underserved residents. The strongest negative predictor of attachment for well-served residents was Metro parks are not the best places, followed by limited access to these places and disinterest in visiting parks and natural areas. The strongest positive predictor for well-served resident attachment was frequency of visitation, followed by race and cultural issues at Metro parks, and lack of facilities and services in these areas. For underserved residents, the strongest negative predictor of attachment was costs followed by Metro parks are not the best places and limited knowledge about these places. Positive predictors of attachment for these residents included frequency of visitation and lack of facilities and services at Metro parks. The only predictor of visitation to their favorite park for well-served residents was fear of visiting other areas (positive relationship), whereas visitation for underserved residents was negatively associated with limited access to Metro parks and positively associated with costs of visiting other areas. The second article used a Geographic Information System (GIS) and hot spot analysis of the survey data to determine any spatial patterns in constraints groups, different types of constraints, and resident characteristics (e.g., minorities). Results revealed two major trends: (a) in the northeast area of the region, there is a clustering of minority residents overlapping with the most constrained hot spots and these residents were most affected by constraints associated with health and lack of recreation partners; and (b) residents in the southwest area of the region were most affected by constraints associated with limited knowledge and access to parks. Specific implications of these results for both management and research are discussed in this thesis. In general, however, these results may inform local agency objectives associated with reaching and engaging various populations, including ethnic and racial minorities. These findings also contribute to the literature by exploring relationships among constraints, park visitation, and attachment between traditionally well-served and underserved populations, and also by applying a GIS analysis of survey data to understand spatial aspects of constraints for each of these populations. Title: Constraints to urban park visitation: Conceptual connections and spatial attributes for traditionally well-served and underserved residents Author: Rushing, Jaclyn R. Connecting with nature is associated with social, physical, and emotional benefits such as stress relief, improved physical health, and lower crime. Parks and other natural areas offer spaces in which to connect with nature and reap these and other benefits (e.g., family bonding, social events, learning). Despite increasing populations of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States of America, these groups are underrepresented in many outdoor recreation activities and in visitation to many parks and other protected areas. This underrepresentation and other attributes of park visitation can be partially explained through the theoretical lens of constraints to recreation. Constraints are factors that limit participation, affect leisure preferences, and / or reduce enjoyment and satisfaction with recreation experiences. Examples of constraints include inability to afford park fees, fear of crime in parks, and lack of available leisure time. This thesis contains two standalone articles focusing on resident constraints to visiting urban parks and other natural areas in the Portland, Oregon (USA) metropolitan region. These articles examine: (a) the most common constraints to visiting these parks and natural areas, and whether these constraints vary between traditionally well-served (i.e., white majority residents) and underserved (i.e., ethnic and racial minorities) populations; (b) relationships among constraints, park visitation, and place attachment for both of these groups of residents; and (c) how constraints groups, different types of constraints, and resident characteristics (e.g., minorities) are distributed spatially across this metropolitan region. Data were obtained from mail and online questionnaires completed by two samples of residents in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties: (a) a proportionate random sample of residents mostly targeting the following groups: African Americans / Blacks, American Indians, Asians, Hispanics / Latinos, Middle Eastern peoples, and Slavic / Eastern European peoples (i.e., probability sample); and (b) a convenience sample of Opt-In panel members (i.e., nonprobability sample). Questionnaires were completed by a total of 3,328 residents across these samples, and the data were weighted by the most recent Census based on county, age, sex (male, female), and education to be representative of adult residents in this region. Race and other demographics were consistent with the Census after weighting. Results of the first article showed that the primary constraints to visiting parks and natural areas in this urban region were being too busy to visit, limited knowledge about Metro parks, and lack of access to these places (Metro parks are managed by Metro, which is the main regional government for Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties). There were no differences in these constraints and most other constraints between traditionally underserved and well-served populations. Traditionally underserved residents, however, were significantly more constrained than the well-served residents were by race and cultural issues at parks, as well as lack of facilities and services at Metro parks. Traditionally well-served residents visited all parks and natural areas in the region significantly more often than did the underserved residents, but there were no differences in visitation to Metro parks or their favorite park. There were also no differences between the two groups in their attachment to their favorite park. Constraints and visitation explained 15% of the variance in attachment for well-served residents and 38% for underserved residents, and constraints explained 4% of the variance in visitation for well-served residents and 26% for underserved residents. The strongest negative predictor of attachment for well-served residents was Metro parks are not the best places, followed by limited access to these places and disinterest in visiting parks and natural areas. The strongest positive predictor for well-served resident attachment was frequency of visitation, followed by race and cultural issues at Metro parks, and lack of facilities and services in these areas. For underserved residents, the strongest negative predictor of attachment was costs followed by Metro parks are not the best places and limited knowledge about these places. Positive predictors of attachment for these residents included frequency of visitation and lack of facilities and services at Metro parks. The only predictor of visitation to their favorite park for well-served residents was fear of visiting other areas (positive relationship), whereas visitation for underserved residents was negatively associated with limited access to Metro parks and positively associated with costs of visiting other areas. The second article used a Geographic Information System (GIS) and hot spot analysis of the survey data to determine any spatial patterns in constraints groups, different types of constraints, and resident characteristics (e.g., minorities). Results revealed two major trends: (a) in the northeast area of the region, there is a clustering of minority residents overlapping with the most constrained hot spots and these residents were most affected by constraints associated with health and lack of recreation partners; and (b) residents in the southwest area of the region were most affected by constraints associated with limited knowledge and access to parks. Specific implications of these results for both management and research are discussed in this thesis. In general, however, these results may inform local agency objectives associated with reaching and engaging various populations, including ethnic and racial minorities. These findings also contribute to the literature by exploring relationships among constraints, park visitation, and attachment between traditionally well-served and underserved populations, and also by applying a GIS analysis of survey data to understand spatial aspects of constraints for each of these populations. Close

• 1413. [Article] Treatment and Characterization of Valvular Pulmonic Stenosis and Coronary Artery Anatomy in English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs

  Pulmonic stenosis (PS) is one of the most commonly encountered congenital cardiac defects in canine patients. English bulldogs have an increased risk of PS as compared to other dog breeds and have a higher ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Treatment and Characterization of Valvular Pulmonic Stenosis and Coronary Artery Anatomy in English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs Author: Smith, Courtney C. (Courtney Catherine) Pulmonic stenosis (PS) is one of the most commonly encountered congenital cardiac defects in canine patients. English bulldogs have an increased risk of PS as compared to other dog breeds and have a higher reported prevalence of type II/type B/dysplastic pulmonic valve morphology. It has been shown that the dysplastic PS morphology may carry a more guarded prognosis and be less amenable to percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty (BV) procedures in canine and human patients. Due to the potentially decreased success of BV procedures in canine patients with a more dysplastic valvular phenotype, the ideal treatment for these cases may not be fully determined based on the currently published literature. There are breed predispositions observed with PS and French bulldogs may be more frequently affected with PS. Evaluation and characterization of the specific PS morphology observed in French bulldogs is lacking in veterinary medicine. Case reports have provided evidence that English bulldogs and boxer dogs have an increased risk for anomalous coronary artery anatomy that may cause or complicate PS treatment. There is a possible association with coronary artery anomalies in the French bulldog breed, although information on prevalence in this breed is lacking in the currently available veterinary literature. The primary aim of this research study was to assess the pulmonic valve morphology and prevalence of coronary artery aberrancy in English and French bulldogs with severe PS (trans- pulmonic valve pressure gradient >80mmHg based on Doppler echocardiography) using echocardiography, angiography, and computed tomography (CT) imaging modalities. A secondary study aim was to evaluate demographic data for all English and French bulldogs with PS (mild, moderate, or severe) that presented to the Oregon State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital as compared to the population of non- bulldog breeds diagnosed with PS (mild, moderate, or severe) in the same time frame. These populations were further analyzed to specifically evaluate the bulldog and non- bulldog breeds with severe PS that underwent BV procedures. Data collection and evaluation included population characteristics, electrocardiography, echocardiography, and surgical records. A third study aim was to investigate BV procedural success and survival data between bulldog and non-bulldog breeds undergoing BV for severe PS. Medical records were reviewed for French and English bulldogs presented to Oregon State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (OSU VTH) for heart murmur evaluation or imaging prior to BV. Dogs were included if they had severe PS (pressure gradient >80 mmHg estimated via Doppler echocardiography) and confirmation of their coronary artery anatomy by either left-sided angiography or CT imaging. Echocardiographic, angiographic, and CT images were reviewed. The pulmonic annulus (PA), aortic annulus (Ao), PA:Ao and Ao:PA ratios, valvular anatomy, and coronary anatomy were assessed on each imaging modality by three observers (CS, KS, DDS) and averaged. The echocardiographic images were reviewed and measurements of right ventricular (RV) systolic function, chamber dimensions, and wall thickness were performed by 1 reviewer (CS). All non-bulldog breeds that were diagnosed with severe PS were also identified and echocardiographic data was assessed in the group that underwent BV procedures. Owners, referring veterinarians, or both were contacted to obtain outcome and survival information on all included patients to determine if they were alive/dead, date and cause of death if available, and if clinical signs of cardiac disease were observed. Data were tested for normality using the D’Agostino & Pearson omnibus normality test. Continuous variables were compared by Mann-Whitney U tests, ANOVA, or unpaired t-tests as indicated and categorical data was compared using a Fisher’s exact test. Survival times were calculated from the date of birth reported in the medical records to the date of natural death or euthanasia within the observational study period. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to compare cardiac and all-cause mortality. The results of this study show that in the population of French and English bulldogs that presented to the OSU VTH, there was an increased prevalence of markedly dysplastic pulmonic valve morphology with the majority of cases displaying mild annular hypoplasia, which was different than the non-BD population. None of the French bulldogs (0/13) that underwent definitive coronary artery imaging had evidence of coronary artery anomalies while 6/8 English Bulldogs were definitively diagnosed with an R2A coronary artery anomaly. Within the group of dogs diagnosed with an R2A coronary artery anomaly, BV procedures were not performed in any of the patients and they had a poor mean long-term prognosis of 26 months. Indices of RV systolic function were decreased in the BD breeds in comparison to the non-BD breeds. There were significant differences observed in procedural success at the 1-month post-BV echocardiographic recheck and long-term follow up with the BD group having lower BV success than the non-BD group. The results of this study indicate that BV performed on French and English bulldogs has a lower success rate then non-bulldog breeds. This lower success rate may be related to difference in valve morphology identified on echocardiographic, CT, and angiographic images. In addition, bulldogs appear to have a shorter survival time compared to non-bulldog breeds and this may be related to the differences in RV systolic function identified by echocardiography. Lastly, French bulldogs did not have the same high prevalence of anomalous coronary artery anatomy as English bulldogs in the population of dogs evaluated at the OSU VTH. Title: Treatment and Characterization of Valvular Pulmonic Stenosis and Coronary Artery Anatomy in English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs Author: Smith, Courtney C. (Courtney Catherine) Pulmonic stenosis (PS) is one of the most commonly encountered congenital cardiac defects in canine patients. English bulldogs have an increased risk of PS as compared to other dog breeds and have a higher reported prevalence of type II/type B/dysplastic pulmonic valve morphology. It has been shown that the dysplastic PS morphology may carry a more guarded prognosis and be less amenable to percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty (BV) procedures in canine and human patients. Due to the potentially decreased success of BV procedures in canine patients with a more dysplastic valvular phenotype, the ideal treatment for these cases may not be fully determined based on the currently published literature. There are breed predispositions observed with PS and French bulldogs may be more frequently affected with PS. Evaluation and characterization of the specific PS morphology observed in French bulldogs is lacking in veterinary medicine. Case reports have provided evidence that English bulldogs and boxer dogs have an increased risk for anomalous coronary artery anatomy that may cause or complicate PS treatment. There is a possible association with coronary artery anomalies in the French bulldog breed, although information on prevalence in this breed is lacking in the currently available veterinary literature. The primary aim of this research study was to assess the pulmonic valve morphology and prevalence of coronary artery aberrancy in English and French bulldogs with severe PS (trans- pulmonic valve pressure gradient >80mmHg based on Doppler echocardiography) using echocardiography, angiography, and computed tomography (CT) imaging modalities. A secondary study aim was to evaluate demographic data for all English and French bulldogs with PS (mild, moderate, or severe) that presented to the Oregon State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital as compared to the population of non- bulldog breeds diagnosed with PS (mild, moderate, or severe) in the same time frame. These populations were further analyzed to specifically evaluate the bulldog and non- bulldog breeds with severe PS that underwent BV procedures. Data collection and evaluation included population characteristics, electrocardiography, echocardiography, and surgical records. A third study aim was to investigate BV procedural success and survival data between bulldog and non-bulldog breeds undergoing BV for severe PS. Medical records were reviewed for French and English bulldogs presented to Oregon State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (OSU VTH) for heart murmur evaluation or imaging prior to BV. Dogs were included if they had severe PS (pressure gradient >80 mmHg estimated via Doppler echocardiography) and confirmation of their coronary artery anatomy by either left-sided angiography or CT imaging. Echocardiographic, angiographic, and CT images were reviewed. The pulmonic annulus (PA), aortic annulus (Ao), PA:Ao and Ao:PA ratios, valvular anatomy, and coronary anatomy were assessed on each imaging modality by three observers (CS, KS, DDS) and averaged. The echocardiographic images were reviewed and measurements of right ventricular (RV) systolic function, chamber dimensions, and wall thickness were performed by 1 reviewer (CS). All non-bulldog breeds that were diagnosed with severe PS were also identified and echocardiographic data was assessed in the group that underwent BV procedures. Owners, referring veterinarians, or both were contacted to obtain outcome and survival information on all included patients to determine if they were alive/dead, date and cause of death if available, and if clinical signs of cardiac disease were observed. Data were tested for normality using the D’Agostino & Pearson omnibus normality test. Continuous variables were compared by Mann-Whitney U tests, ANOVA, or unpaired t-tests as indicated and categorical data was compared using a Fisher’s exact test. Survival times were calculated from the date of birth reported in the medical records to the date of natural death or euthanasia within the observational study period. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to compare cardiac and all-cause mortality. The results of this study show that in the population of French and English bulldogs that presented to the OSU VTH, there was an increased prevalence of markedly dysplastic pulmonic valve morphology with the majority of cases displaying mild annular hypoplasia, which was different than the non-BD population. None of the French bulldogs (0/13) that underwent definitive coronary artery imaging had evidence of coronary artery anomalies while 6/8 English Bulldogs were definitively diagnosed with an R2A coronary artery anomaly. Within the group of dogs diagnosed with an R2A coronary artery anomaly, BV procedures were not performed in any of the patients and they had a poor mean long-term prognosis of 26 months. Indices of RV systolic function were decreased in the BD breeds in comparison to the non-BD breeds. There were significant differences observed in procedural success at the 1-month post-BV echocardiographic recheck and long-term follow up with the BD group having lower BV success than the non-BD group. The results of this study indicate that BV performed on French and English bulldogs has a lower success rate then non-bulldog breeds. This lower success rate may be related to difference in valve morphology identified on echocardiographic, CT, and angiographic images. In addition, bulldogs appear to have a shorter survival time compared to non-bulldog breeds and this may be related to the differences in RV systolic function identified by echocardiography. Lastly, French bulldogs did not have the same high prevalence of anomalous coronary artery anatomy as English bulldogs in the population of dogs evaluated at the OSU VTH. Close

• 1414. [Article] How Do Population Growth, Land-use Regulations, and Precipitation Patterns Affect Water Use? A Fine-scale Empirical Analysis of Landscape Change

  A growing body of literature exists on how human population growth and changes in climatic factors influence the availability of water (Elliot et al. 2014, Prudhomme et al. 2014). These studies typically ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: How Do Population Growth, Land-use Regulations, and Precipitation Patterns Affect Water Use? A Fine-scale Empirical Analysis of Landscape Change Author: Bigelow, Daniel P. A growing body of literature exists on how human population growth and changes in climatic factors influence the availability of water (Elliot et al. 2014, Prudhomme et al. 2014). These studies typically conclude that climate change is expected to have negative consequences on water availability, an effect that is magnified or exceeded by continued growth in human populations (Vorosmarty et al. 2000, Mcdonald et al. 2010). However, there are several deficiencies associated with how these existing studies from the natural science literature analyze the interconnectedness of the human-water-climate system. For one, the scale of the models that are employed often precludes researchers from accounting for the location-specific nature of how water is used. Failing to recognize the inherently spatial nature of water use compounds the inability of researchers to analyze the role of other spatially-dependent behavioral processes that are associated with population growth, and hence water use. The same can be said for the treatment of climate change in the existing literature. If the effects of climate change on water use are transmitted through intermediate human behavioral processes, ignoring the indirect nature of the relationship will not accurately convey the true localized outcomes that may be realized. Moreover, there may be policies in place that govern how certain spatial processes operate, which again cannot be accounted for without recognition of the fine-scale spatial aspects of water use. In this dissertation, I analyze the effects of population growth, land-use regulations, and climate change on localized consumptive water use through the lens of land-use change, an inherently spatial process. Intuitively, as a city's population expands and more land is developed at its extensive margin, the total amount of water consumed by the residential sector will correspondingly increase. However, I show that the net effect of land development on the total amount of water used by the agricultural and residential sectors combined depends primarily on three factors: (1) the amount and location of rainfed versus irrigated agricultural land within the vicinity of the city, (2) the rate of population growth occurring within the city, and (3) the spatial pattern associated with where new land development occurs. Somewhat counterintuitively, what I find is that under certain conditions more sprawl-like development patterns are associated with lower total water use. This result stems from the fact that low-density development patterns tend to be associated with increased conversion of irrigated agricultural land. Given the fact that irrigated agricultural land requires relatively more intensive water use when compared with urban land, lower density urbanization patterns can result in a reduction in total water use if the city expands into lands that are predominantly used for irrigated agriculture. My empirical approach combines fine-scale econometric and simulation methods in order to accommodate the spatial heterogeneity associated with land and water use in my study area, Oregon's Willamette Valley. In Chapter 3, I estimate a series of parcellevel hedonic property value models for land in developed, agricultural, and forest uses using a novel panel data set on land values for our study area, Oregon's Willamette Valley. Although the hedonic models are not an end in themselves, several policy applications are examined vis-a-vis the estimated property value relationships for each land use. First, for developed lands, I explore the effects of Oregon's comprehensive land-use plan, with specific focus on urban growth boundary designation, through the use of a variety of panel data estimators. Second, I analyze the relationship between agricultural land values and climatic influences, with particular emphasis on the interactions between the holding of irrigation rights and the effect of growing-season precipitation. The third application of the hedonic models pertains to how forest land values are influenced by transportation costs, represented by distance to the nearest processing mill, which change over time due to the large number of mill closures during my study period, partly in response to the old-growth harvest restrictions imposed by the Northwest Forest Plan. In Chapter 4, the estimated hedonic relationships are used to predict the values associated with land in selected and unselected uses in my land-use change data set, which comes from the US Geological Survey's Land Cover Trends (LCT) project. In a similar fashion to Bockstael (1996), I then use the land value predictions as explanatory variables in a set of discrete-choice urbanization models. In generating the predicted land values with the estimated hedonic relationships, I confront the sample selection issue inherent in applying the developed land hedonic model to lands that start in undeveloped uses using econometric methods suitable for panel data. I also compare the results generated with the coupled hedonic-urbanization approach with those from a reducedform model, which is more commonly found throughout the modern land economics literature. Additionally, using a Monte Carlo analysis, I illustrate the efficiency of the two-stage approach, and demonstrate how this property depends of the frequency of observed land development decisions. With my fully estimated econometric framework, I construct a spatially-explicit landscape simulation model in Chapter 5, which is used to analyze total water use over the period 2000-2070. The landscape simulations feature exogenous growth in population and income as the predominant drivers of urban land value dynamics. Agricultural water use is determined by spatial data on the location of irrigation water rights administered through the prior appropriation doctrine. Citywide urban demands are determined by the size of the city, demographic characteristics, water prices, pricing structure, and the demand for outdoor water use, which is influenced by precipitation. To generate my main results, I analyze three sets of scenarios in which I alter: (1) the area upon which land development is possible and (2) the city-specific population growth trajectory, and (3) the opportunity cost of land development for agricultural landowners. The first scenario set relates to the stringency of land-use regulations, which directly affects both the density of population growth and the urban composition of the city. Population growth, which is featured in the second set of scenarios, has several competing influences on total water use, among which are a direct influence on citywide residential water demand, and also the indirect effects that come about through the incentives to develop individual land parcels. In my third set of scenarios, I hold the land-use regulatory environment constant and impose permanent changes in precipitation patterns. Growing season precipitation indirectly influences total water use through its direct effect on the opportunity cost of land development for the owners of rainfed agricultural land. A novel feature of the simulation framework is that population density, which enters the developed land hedonic function, is treated as endogenous, as it is a function of development patterns and the permitted levels of development under different urban containment policies. Additionally, the simulation design is stochastic in that I treat land development decisions in a probabilistic fashion, facilitating an analysis of the distribution of results, including my main results for total water use, in each of the simulated scenarios. My results indicate that under situations that stimulate increased land development, the distribution of total water use is characterized by a lower mean if there is a sufficient amount of irrigated agricultural land in the vicinity of the city boundary, and if population growth is not prohibitively high. Further, the variance of total water use is decreasing in population density, as more sprawl-like development outcomes have a relatively wider array of potential spatial patterns associated with new land development. In the broadest sense, my dissertation highlights the interplay between population growth, climate change, land-use regulations, and the spatial patterns associated with both non-urban water endowments and new land development. The intermediate link that land-use change provides between climate change and population growth and water use has yet to be acknowledged and given proper treatment in the existing literature. Moreover, the connection between land-use change and water use emphasizes the inherent spatial heterogeneity in how water is used. Given the ubiquity of policies worldwide that impose location-specific constraints on water use, my analysis suggests that spatial considerations should be taken into account in subsequent studies that aim to analyze localized patterns of water use and how they may evolve in the future. Title: How Do Population Growth, Land-use Regulations, and Precipitation Patterns Affect Water Use? A Fine-scale Empirical Analysis of Landscape Change Author: Bigelow, Daniel P. A growing body of literature exists on how human population growth and changes in climatic factors influence the availability of water (Elliot et al. 2014, Prudhomme et al. 2014). These studies typically conclude that climate change is expected to have negative consequences on water availability, an effect that is magnified or exceeded by continued growth in human populations (Vorosmarty et al. 2000, Mcdonald et al. 2010). However, there are several deficiencies associated with how these existing studies from the natural science literature analyze the interconnectedness of the human-water-climate system. For one, the scale of the models that are employed often precludes researchers from accounting for the location-specific nature of how water is used. Failing to recognize the inherently spatial nature of water use compounds the inability of researchers to analyze the role of other spatially-dependent behavioral processes that are associated with population growth, and hence water use. The same can be said for the treatment of climate change in the existing literature. If the effects of climate change on water use are transmitted through intermediate human behavioral processes, ignoring the indirect nature of the relationship will not accurately convey the true localized outcomes that may be realized. Moreover, there may be policies in place that govern how certain spatial processes operate, which again cannot be accounted for without recognition of the fine-scale spatial aspects of water use. In this dissertation, I analyze the effects of population growth, land-use regulations, and climate change on localized consumptive water use through the lens of land-use change, an inherently spatial process. Intuitively, as a city's population expands and more land is developed at its extensive margin, the total amount of water consumed by the residential sector will correspondingly increase. However, I show that the net effect of land development on the total amount of water used by the agricultural and residential sectors combined depends primarily on three factors: (1) the amount and location of rainfed versus irrigated agricultural land within the vicinity of the city, (2) the rate of population growth occurring within the city, and (3) the spatial pattern associated with where new land development occurs. Somewhat counterintuitively, what I find is that under certain conditions more sprawl-like development patterns are associated with lower total water use. This result stems from the fact that low-density development patterns tend to be associated with increased conversion of irrigated agricultural land. Given the fact that irrigated agricultural land requires relatively more intensive water use when compared with urban land, lower density urbanization patterns can result in a reduction in total water use if the city expands into lands that are predominantly used for irrigated agriculture. My empirical approach combines fine-scale econometric and simulation methods in order to accommodate the spatial heterogeneity associated with land and water use in my study area, Oregon's Willamette Valley. In Chapter 3, I estimate a series of parcellevel hedonic property value models for land in developed, agricultural, and forest uses using a novel panel data set on land values for our study area, Oregon's Willamette Valley. Although the hedonic models are not an end in themselves, several policy applications are examined vis-a-vis the estimated property value relationships for each land use. First, for developed lands, I explore the effects of Oregon's comprehensive land-use plan, with specific focus on urban growth boundary designation, through the use of a variety of panel data estimators. Second, I analyze the relationship between agricultural land values and climatic influences, with particular emphasis on the interactions between the holding of irrigation rights and the effect of growing-season precipitation. The third application of the hedonic models pertains to how forest land values are influenced by transportation costs, represented by distance to the nearest processing mill, which change over time due to the large number of mill closures during my study period, partly in response to the old-growth harvest restrictions imposed by the Northwest Forest Plan. In Chapter 4, the estimated hedonic relationships are used to predict the values associated with land in selected and unselected uses in my land-use change data set, which comes from the US Geological Survey's Land Cover Trends (LCT) project. In a similar fashion to Bockstael (1996), I then use the land value predictions as explanatory variables in a set of discrete-choice urbanization models. In generating the predicted land values with the estimated hedonic relationships, I confront the sample selection issue inherent in applying the developed land hedonic model to lands that start in undeveloped uses using econometric methods suitable for panel data. I also compare the results generated with the coupled hedonic-urbanization approach with those from a reducedform model, which is more commonly found throughout the modern land economics literature. Additionally, using a Monte Carlo analysis, I illustrate the efficiency of the two-stage approach, and demonstrate how this property depends of the frequency of observed land development decisions. With my fully estimated econometric framework, I construct a spatially-explicit landscape simulation model in Chapter 5, which is used to analyze total water use over the period 2000-2070. The landscape simulations feature exogenous growth in population and income as the predominant drivers of urban land value dynamics. Agricultural water use is determined by spatial data on the location of irrigation water rights administered through the prior appropriation doctrine. Citywide urban demands are determined by the size of the city, demographic characteristics, water prices, pricing structure, and the demand for outdoor water use, which is influenced by precipitation. To generate my main results, I analyze three sets of scenarios in which I alter: (1) the area upon which land development is possible and (2) the city-specific population growth trajectory, and (3) the opportunity cost of land development for agricultural landowners. The first scenario set relates to the stringency of land-use regulations, which directly affects both the density of population growth and the urban composition of the city. Population growth, which is featured in the second set of scenarios, has several competing influences on total water use, among which are a direct influence on citywide residential water demand, and also the indirect effects that come about through the incentives to develop individual land parcels. In my third set of scenarios, I hold the land-use regulatory environment constant and impose permanent changes in precipitation patterns. Growing season precipitation indirectly influences total water use through its direct effect on the opportunity cost of land development for the owners of rainfed agricultural land. A novel feature of the simulation framework is that population density, which enters the developed land hedonic function, is treated as endogenous, as it is a function of development patterns and the permitted levels of development under different urban containment policies. Additionally, the simulation design is stochastic in that I treat land development decisions in a probabilistic fashion, facilitating an analysis of the distribution of results, including my main results for total water use, in each of the simulated scenarios. My results indicate that under situations that stimulate increased land development, the distribution of total water use is characterized by a lower mean if there is a sufficient amount of irrigated agricultural land in the vicinity of the city boundary, and if population growth is not prohibitively high. Further, the variance of total water use is decreasing in population density, as more sprawl-like development outcomes have a relatively wider array of potential spatial patterns associated with new land development. In the broadest sense, my dissertation highlights the interplay between population growth, climate change, land-use regulations, and the spatial patterns associated with both non-urban water endowments and new land development. The intermediate link that land-use change provides between climate change and population growth and water use has yet to be acknowledged and given proper treatment in the existing literature. Moreover, the connection between land-use change and water use emphasizes the inherent spatial heterogeneity in how water is used. Given the ubiquity of policies worldwide that impose location-specific constraints on water use, my analysis suggests that spatial considerations should be taken into account in subsequent studies that aim to analyze localized patterns of water use and how they may evolve in the future. Close

• 1415. [Article] Linking Moral Obligations, Assumption-based Research, and Structured Decision Making to Inform Bull Trout Recovery

  More than 1500 species of plants and animals in the United States are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Departments of Interior and Commerce are required, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Linking Moral Obligations, Assumption-based Research, and Structured Decision Making to Inform Bull Trout Recovery Author: Brignon, William R. More than 1500 species of plants and animals in the United States are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Departments of Interior and Commerce are required, under Section 4(f)(1) of the ESA, to develop recovery plans for ESA-listed species under the respective agency jurisdictions. However, developing recovery plans that are both scientifically defensible and consistent with a diversity of stakeholder (e.g., states, tribes, private landowners) values is often difficult. Structured decision making is a framework that resource managers can use to integrate diverse, and often conflicting, stakeholder value systems into species recovery planning. Within this framework difficult decisions are deconstructed into the three basic components: 1) explicit, quantifiable objectives that represent stakeholder values; 2) mathematical models used to predict the effect of management decisions on the outcome of objectives; and 3) management alternatives or actions. The goal of my dissertation was to acknowledge and understand the uncertainty of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus reintroduction strategies and provide an ethical and scientific foundation for an enduring and biologically sound conservation program. My objectives were to (1) describe how incorporating stakeholder values into scientifically defensible recovery planning using structured decision making will fulfill legal and moral obligations to recover species, (2) determine how captive rearing environments affect the development and survival behaviors of bull trout and how these effects may influence the efficacy and ultimate success of reintroduction and recovery programs, and (3) use structured decision making to evaluate the tradeoffs of alternative bull trout reintroduction decisions. I developed this research project to be multifaceted by incorporating components of philosophy (Chapter 2), assumption-based research (Chapter 3), and statistical modeling (Chapter 4). The collective results my research should serve as an example of how to incorporate diverse stakeholder value systems, assumption-based research, and evaluations of alternative management actions into species recovery and reintroduction decisions. This approach promotes transparency and consensus in decision making. Recognizing these benefits, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has adopted a similar approach to manage species and their habitats into the future (i.e., Strategic Habitat Conservation). The impediments to species recovery are numerous. Some of the biggest impediments to recovery planning are conflicting values and interests among stakeholders. I believe that these types of conflicts and related issues are best addressed by integrating the diverse values and interests of stakeholders with the best scientific information available, and doing so in a clear and transparent manner that will broaden acceptance for enduring recovery planning. Science, in and of itself, cannot dictate which management decisions ought to be made; it purely offers a biological and physical basis for estimating the outcomes of decisions. An understanding of humanities is needed to provide context for the myriad of societal obligations. Three moral philosophies; consequentialism, deontology, and virtue theory, suggest that structured decision making is a justified method that can guide natural resource decisions in the future, and will honor legal and moral obligations to recover ESA listed species and their habitats. The ability to recover and delist species in the future depends on an increased understanding of natural ecosystems through scientific discovery and the ability to incorporate stakeholder values into the recovery planning process in a manner that is objective, systematic, and transparent. Animals reared in barren captive environments exhibit different development and behaviors than wild counterparts. Hence, the captive phenotypes may influence the success of reintroduction and recovery programs for threatened and endangered species. I collected wild bull trout embryos from the Metolius River Basin, Oregon and reared them in differing environments to better understand how captivity affects the bull trout phenotype to aide in the development of informed recovery strategies for the species. I compared the development of the brain and eye lens, and boldness and prey acquisition behaviors of bull trout reared in conventional barren and more structurally complex captive environments with that of wild fish. I found that wild bull trout exhibited a greater level of boldness and prey acquisition ability, followed by captive reared bull trout from complex habitats, and finally fish reared in conventional captive environments. In addition, the eye lens of conventionally reared bull trout was larger than complex reared captive fish or that of wild fish. Unexpectedly, I detected wild fish had a smaller relative cerebellum than either captive reared treatment. My results add to the existing literature that suggests rearing fish in more complex captive environments can create a more wild-like phenotype than conventional rearing practices. Rearing fish in captivity is an important tool that can be used to accomplish a suite of management objectives including providing fish for research and reintroduction programs, or in worst case scenarios maintaining refuge populations. An understanding of the effects of captivity on the development and behavior of bull trout is important if life in captivity is the only option to ensure existence of some populations, and can inform rearing and reintroduction programs through prediction of the performance of released individuals. Stakeholders can be divided on what is the optimal reintroduction strategy to use (i.e., translocation, captive rearing, or artificial production) or how many individuals to collect for a program. These decisions are further complicated by a limited understanding of how captivity affects an animal’s phenotype and how well animals will survive upon release. Structured decision making allows natural resource decisions to be made in spite of uncertainty by linking reintroduction goals with alternative management actions through predictive models of ecological processes. Predictive models represent competing hypothesis that describe the belief of the structure and function of the ecological system and can be updated as new information is generated by monitoring and research (i.e., adaptive management). I developed a structured decision model to evaluate the tradeoffs between six bull trout reintroduction alternatives with the goal of maximizing the number of adults in the recipient population, up to 300 individuals, without reducing the donor population to an unacceptable state. The six alternative decisions that were evaluated are to 1) do-nothing, 2) translocate 1000 juveniles, 3) translocate 60 adults, 4) translocate 1000 juveniles and 40 adults, 5) captive rear 20,000 wild embryos, or 6) artificial production of 60 wild adults. The model was parameterized with published demographic parameters where available and consists of three stage-based Leslie matrix models that represent the donor, captive, and recipient populations. A state dependent policy was created that identifies the optimal decision over a combination of possible donor and recipient adult abundance states. One-way sensitivity analysis suggests that the value of the decision outcome was most influenced by survival parameters that resulted in increased adult abundance in the recipient population, and increased juvenile survival in the donor and recipient populations. The decision outcome was also sensitive to small and large adult fecundity rates and sex ratio. The outcome was least sensitive to survival parameters associated with the captive population, a survival reduction of naive reintroduced individuals, and juvenile carrying capacity of the reintroduced population. Two-way sensitivity analysis with all combinations of model parameters identified interactions that influence the decision outcome and identity. For example, a comparison of the juvenile density dependent parameters for the donor population indicated that when above a maximum egg survival of 0.14, the juvenile carrying capacity had a greater influence on the expected outcome of the decision. When juvenile carrying capacity in the donor population was less than ~5500 individuals, the optimal strategy was to do nothing, which most likely avoided an unacceptable reduction in the donor population. Whereas, translocating adults was the optimal decision when both density dependent parameters (i.e., juvenile carrying capacity, maximum egg survival) were in the upper end of their range and resulted in a decision outcome of greater than 60 adults in the recipient population. The optimal decision was to captive rear embryos when there was minimal effect of captive rearing and translocation on the survival of released fish. Whereas, translocating adults was the optimal decision when the probability of survival was less than 0.75 for captive reared fish as compared to translocated fish. As the survival penalty for captive reared fish neared 1.00, which indicated little to no effects of captivity on a fish’s survival after release, artificial production became the optimal decision regardless of the effects of a translocation on post-release survival. This model and sensitivity analyses can serve as the foundation for formal adaptive management and improved effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency of bull trout reintroduction decisions. Ongoing bull trout reintroductions and research will continue to lessen uncertainty and new information can be incorporated into decision models to guide future reintroduction decisions and maximize the benefit from limited resources available for bull trout recovery. Title: Linking Moral Obligations, Assumption-based Research, and Structured Decision Making to Inform Bull Trout Recovery Author: Brignon, William R. More than 1500 species of plants and animals in the United States are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Departments of Interior and Commerce are required, under Section 4(f)(1) of the ESA, to develop recovery plans for ESA-listed species under the respective agency jurisdictions. However, developing recovery plans that are both scientifically defensible and consistent with a diversity of stakeholder (e.g., states, tribes, private landowners) values is often difficult. Structured decision making is a framework that resource managers can use to integrate diverse, and often conflicting, stakeholder value systems into species recovery planning. Within this framework difficult decisions are deconstructed into the three basic components: 1) explicit, quantifiable objectives that represent stakeholder values; 2) mathematical models used to predict the effect of management decisions on the outcome of objectives; and 3) management alternatives or actions. The goal of my dissertation was to acknowledge and understand the uncertainty of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus reintroduction strategies and provide an ethical and scientific foundation for an enduring and biologically sound conservation program. My objectives were to (1) describe how incorporating stakeholder values into scientifically defensible recovery planning using structured decision making will fulfill legal and moral obligations to recover species, (2) determine how captive rearing environments affect the development and survival behaviors of bull trout and how these effects may influence the efficacy and ultimate success of reintroduction and recovery programs, and (3) use structured decision making to evaluate the tradeoffs of alternative bull trout reintroduction decisions. I developed this research project to be multifaceted by incorporating components of philosophy (Chapter 2), assumption-based research (Chapter 3), and statistical modeling (Chapter 4). The collective results my research should serve as an example of how to incorporate diverse stakeholder value systems, assumption-based research, and evaluations of alternative management actions into species recovery and reintroduction decisions. This approach promotes transparency and consensus in decision making. Recognizing these benefits, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has adopted a similar approach to manage species and their habitats into the future (i.e., Strategic Habitat Conservation). The impediments to species recovery are numerous. Some of the biggest impediments to recovery planning are conflicting values and interests among stakeholders. I believe that these types of conflicts and related issues are best addressed by integrating the diverse values and interests of stakeholders with the best scientific information available, and doing so in a clear and transparent manner that will broaden acceptance for enduring recovery planning. Science, in and of itself, cannot dictate which management decisions ought to be made; it purely offers a biological and physical basis for estimating the outcomes of decisions. An understanding of humanities is needed to provide context for the myriad of societal obligations. Three moral philosophies; consequentialism, deontology, and virtue theory, suggest that structured decision making is a justified method that can guide natural resource decisions in the future, and will honor legal and moral obligations to recover ESA listed species and their habitats. The ability to recover and delist species in the future depends on an increased understanding of natural ecosystems through scientific discovery and the ability to incorporate stakeholder values into the recovery planning process in a manner that is objective, systematic, and transparent. Animals reared in barren captive environments exhibit different development and behaviors than wild counterparts. Hence, the captive phenotypes may influence the success of reintroduction and recovery programs for threatened and endangered species. I collected wild bull trout embryos from the Metolius River Basin, Oregon and reared them in differing environments to better understand how captivity affects the bull trout phenotype to aide in the development of informed recovery strategies for the species. I compared the development of the brain and eye lens, and boldness and prey acquisition behaviors of bull trout reared in conventional barren and more structurally complex captive environments with that of wild fish. I found that wild bull trout exhibited a greater level of boldness and prey acquisition ability, followed by captive reared bull trout from complex habitats, and finally fish reared in conventional captive environments. In addition, the eye lens of conventionally reared bull trout was larger than complex reared captive fish or that of wild fish. Unexpectedly, I detected wild fish had a smaller relative cerebellum than either captive reared treatment. My results add to the existing literature that suggests rearing fish in more complex captive environments can create a more wild-like phenotype than conventional rearing practices. Rearing fish in captivity is an important tool that can be used to accomplish a suite of management objectives including providing fish for research and reintroduction programs, or in worst case scenarios maintaining refuge populations. An understanding of the effects of captivity on the development and behavior of bull trout is important if life in captivity is the only option to ensure existence of some populations, and can inform rearing and reintroduction programs through prediction of the performance of released individuals. Stakeholders can be divided on what is the optimal reintroduction strategy to use (i.e., translocation, captive rearing, or artificial production) or how many individuals to collect for a program. These decisions are further complicated by a limited understanding of how captivity affects an animal’s phenotype and how well animals will survive upon release. Structured decision making allows natural resource decisions to be made in spite of uncertainty by linking reintroduction goals with alternative management actions through predictive models of ecological processes. Predictive models represent competing hypothesis that describe the belief of the structure and function of the ecological system and can be updated as new information is generated by monitoring and research (i.e., adaptive management). I developed a structured decision model to evaluate the tradeoffs between six bull trout reintroduction alternatives with the goal of maximizing the number of adults in the recipient population, up to 300 individuals, without reducing the donor population to an unacceptable state. The six alternative decisions that were evaluated are to 1) do-nothing, 2) translocate 1000 juveniles, 3) translocate 60 adults, 4) translocate 1000 juveniles and 40 adults, 5) captive rear 20,000 wild embryos, or 6) artificial production of 60 wild adults. The model was parameterized with published demographic parameters where available and consists of three stage-based Leslie matrix models that represent the donor, captive, and recipient populations. A state dependent policy was created that identifies the optimal decision over a combination of possible donor and recipient adult abundance states. One-way sensitivity analysis suggests that the value of the decision outcome was most influenced by survival parameters that resulted in increased adult abundance in the recipient population, and increased juvenile survival in the donor and recipient populations. The decision outcome was also sensitive to small and large adult fecundity rates and sex ratio. The outcome was least sensitive to survival parameters associated with the captive population, a survival reduction of naive reintroduced individuals, and juvenile carrying capacity of the reintroduced population. Two-way sensitivity analysis with all combinations of model parameters identified interactions that influence the decision outcome and identity. For example, a comparison of the juvenile density dependent parameters for the donor population indicated that when above a maximum egg survival of 0.14, the juvenile carrying capacity had a greater influence on the expected outcome of the decision. When juvenile carrying capacity in the donor population was less than ~5500 individuals, the optimal strategy was to do nothing, which most likely avoided an unacceptable reduction in the donor population. Whereas, translocating adults was the optimal decision when both density dependent parameters (i.e., juvenile carrying capacity, maximum egg survival) were in the upper end of their range and resulted in a decision outcome of greater than 60 adults in the recipient population. The optimal decision was to captive rear embryos when there was minimal effect of captive rearing and translocation on the survival of released fish. Whereas, translocating adults was the optimal decision when the probability of survival was less than 0.75 for captive reared fish as compared to translocated fish. As the survival penalty for captive reared fish neared 1.00, which indicated little to no effects of captivity on a fish’s survival after release, artificial production became the optimal decision regardless of the effects of a translocation on post-release survival. This model and sensitivity analyses can serve as the foundation for formal adaptive management and improved effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency of bull trout reintroduction decisions. Ongoing bull trout reintroductions and research will continue to lessen uncertainty and new information can be incorporated into decision models to guide future reintroduction decisions and maximize the benefit from limited resources available for bull trout recovery. Close

• 1416. [Article] Students as pro-social bystanders : opportunities, past behaviors, and intentions to intervene in sexual assault risk situations

  Sexual assault is a major public health concern in the U.S, and college students are particularly vulnerable to victimization. A health issue that affects nearly one in four women (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Students as pro-social bystanders : opportunities, past behaviors, and intentions to intervene in sexual assault risk situations Author: Hoxmeier, Jill C. Sexual assault is a major public health concern in the U.S, and college students are particularly vulnerable to victimization. A health issue that affects nearly one in four women (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000; Karjane, Cullen, & Turner, 2005) and that is associated with severe negative health outcomes, including depression substance abuse, suicide ideation, and risky sexual behaviors (CDC, 2012), warrants effective prevention programs. Moving away from traditional prevention efforts, which target females as potential victims in risk reduction programs and males as potential perpetrators in attitudinal-shifting programs, bystander engagement programs have become increasingly more widespread. These programs aim to engage all students on the college campus as potential bystanders who can intervene to prevent a sexual assault or reduce the harm of an assault that has already occurred (Banyard, Moynihan & Plante, 2007). Burn (2009) investigated potential barriers to pro-social bystander intervention using the Situational Model of Bystander Intervention, a model based on the original research of bystander behavior of Latanè and Darley (1970). The model outlines five barriers that influence students' intent to intervene as witnesses to sexual assault: failure to notice the situation, failure to identify the situation as high risk, failure to take intervention responsibility, failure to intervene due to skills deficit, and failure to intervene due to audience inhibition (Burn, 2009). She found that students' perception of barriers negatively correlated with intervention behaviors as bystanders to sexual assault (Burn, 2009). Although bystander engagement programs have shown initial promise in increasing students' intent to intervene, more needs to be known about the opportunities students have to intervene, their past intervention actions, and their intent to intervene in the future across the wide range of situations that encompass sexual assault risk. In addition, to develop effective programs that aim to increase pro-social behavior, understanding the salient influences of students' intent is critical. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1991) to examine the influences of students’ intent to perform 12 different pro-social bystander behaviors. The TPB asserts that individuals' behavior is most proximally influenced by their behavioral intentions, and intentions are influences by their perceived behavioral control to perform the behavior, subjective norms that support performing the behavior, and attitudes toward the behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1991). The four primary aims of this study were: 1) to examine the demographic correlates of students' opportunities, past intervention actions, and reported intent to intervene; 2) to examine any differences in students' intent to intervene based on the level of intervention (pre-, mid-, and post-assault) and type of intervention (with the potential or actual victim compared to the potential or actual perpetrator); 3) to examine the influences of perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes on students' intent to intervene as bystanders; and 4) to compare the TPB-based model to the Situational Model of Bystander Intervention (Burn, 2009) in its ability to explain students' intent to intervene as bystanders. In the Fall of 2014, a sample of 815 undergraduate students at Oregon State University completed the Sexual Assault Bystander Behavior Questionnaire (SABB-Q), a tool comprised of items to measure students' opportunities, past behaviors, and future intent, in addition to measures assessing the influences of students' intent in line with the Theory of Planned Behavior and Burn's (2009) Situational Model of Bystander Intervention. Students who participate in Greek communities (fraternities and sororities) reported significantly greater odds of having the opportunity to perform four of the 12 intervention behaviors compared to non-Greek students, while student-athletes reported significantly greater odds of having the opportunity to perform two of the 12 intervention behaviors. Females reported significantly more past pro-social intervention behaviors (x̄ = 0.87) compared to males (x̄ = 0.79; p = 0.007). Regarding intent to intervene in the future, females reported significantly greater intent to intervene compared to males (x̄ = 6.07 vs. 5.68; p = 0.007). Students with friends who have been victims of sexual assault reported greater intent to intervene compared those without friends who have been victims (x̄ = 6.04 vs. 5.89; p = 0.02). Students with a personal history of victimization reported significantly greater intent compared to those without a personal history (x̄ =6.13 vs 5.93; p = 0.03). Students reported significantly greater intent to intervene with the potential or actual victim compared to the potential or actual perpetrator (x̄ = 6.19 vs. 5.74, p < 0.001). Females reported significantly greater intent to intervene with both the potential or actual victims and perpetrators (x̄ = 6.31 and 5.84, respectively) compared to males (x̄ = 5.88 and 5.49, respectively). Both males and females reported the greatest intent to perform post-assault intervention behavior (x̄ = 6.23), followed by pre-assault (x̄ = 6.08) and mid-assault behaviors (x̄ = 5.57). Females reported significantly greater intent to perform nine of the 12 pro-social intervention behaviors compared to males. A multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes explained a significant proportion of the variance in intent to intervene (R² = 0.55, F(3, 771) = 315.68, p < 0.000). Perceived behavioral control was highly significant (β = 0.48, p < 0.001), as were subjective norms (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) and attitudes (β = 0.30, p < 0.001). Gender differences were also observed. For females, perceived behavioral control was highly significant (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), as were subjective norms (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) and attitudes (β = 0.29, p < 0.001). For males, perceived behavioral control was highly significant (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), as were attitudes (β = 0.29, p < 0.001). However, males' subjective norms were not significantly related (β = 0.07, p = 0.199) to their intent to intervene. Further analysis revealed a significant interaction between gender and subjective norms (β = -0.28; p = 0.039). The TPB-based model including this moderation effect explained a significant proportion of the variance in students' intent to intervene (R² = 0.57, F(6, 766) = 168.46, p < 0.000). Interveners reported significantly greater perceived behavioral control than non-interveners for seven of the 12 intervention behaviors; more supportive subjective norms than non-interveners for six of the 12 intervention behaviors; more positive attitudes than non-interveners for only one of the 12 intervention behaviors; and greater intent to intervene in the future for six of the 12 intervention behaviors. However, differences in the three TPB variables between interveners and non-interveners were not consistent for the 12 intervention behaviors. Regarding Burn's (2009) Situational Model of Bystander Intervention, a multiple regression analysis revealed two of the five barriers were significantly related to students’ intent to intervene: the failure to take intervention responsibility barrier (β = -0.29, p < 0.001) and the failure to intervene due to audience inhibition barrier (β = -0.22, p < 0.001). The model in whole explained a large proportion of the variance (R2 = 0.25, F(5, 768) = 50.14, p < 0.000). Gender differences were also observed. For females, failure to take intervention responsibility (β = -0.23; p < 0.000) and failure to intervene due to audience inhibition (β = -0.23; p < 0.001) both had a significant, negative influence on their intent to intervene. For males, failure to take intervention responsibility (β = -0.21; p < 0.014) had a significant, negative influence on intent to intervene. Additional analysis revealed no significant interactions between gender and any of the five barriers. The TPB-based model explained a greater proportion of the variance (R2 = 0.55) compared to Situational Model of Bystander Intervention (R² = 0.25) in the multiple regression analysis using all 12 intervention behaviors. All three variables in the TPB-based model were significantly related to students’ intent, whereas only two of the five barriers were significantly related. A final multiple regression analysis was conducted using all three significant TPB variables and the two significant barriers to explain students' intent to intervene. The combined model explained a significant proportion of variance in students' intent (R² = 0.58 F(5, 756) = 206.19, p < 0.000) and significantly improved upon the TPB-based model (Δ R² = 0.03; p < 0.000). The results of this study have several implications for future research and public health practice. First, it is important to ask students about their opportunities to intervene in addition to their actual intervention behaviors because this information helps paint a clearer picture of bystander engagement. This assessment could also help identify high-risk groups: students who have greater opportunities to intervene as bystanders and/or report fewer intervention behaviors compared to their reported opportunities. Second, students may conceptualize intervention behaviors differently depending on the phase of the assault and with whom the intervention behavior requires intervening. Accordingly, programs aimed at encouraging students to intervene should take these differences into consideration. Third, the Theory of Planned Behavior, used to explain and change other health-related behaviors, can effectively be applied to help uncover determinants of pro-social bystander behaviors. Perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes appear to be salient influences in students' intent to intervene. Therefore, bystander engagement programs should incorporate activities to heighten students' skills to intervene, change social norms that support bystander intervention, and shift attitudes toward the benefits of intervening. This study demonstrates the importance of using an established, evidenced-based theoretical framework to explain behavioral influences and strengthens the argument for continued use of theory to identify, and potentially change, salient influences in behavioral performance. Students as pro-social bystanders have the potential to make a positive impact on the reduction of sexual assault on the college campus. Although the responsibility for sexual assault rests on those who perpetrate such acts, and primary prevention strategies aimed at those demonstrating a risk for perpetration are imperative, sexual assault is a public health issue that warrants a multi-pronged approach to reduce its incidence and migrate its associated harms. Programs that engage students as pro-social bystanders have the potential to make a positive impact on the reduction of sexual assault incidence in the absence of effective primary prevention strategies. The findings of this study make a contribution to the literature examining influences of students' pro-social bystander intervention to sexual assault situations and provide suggestions for strategies to increase bystander engagement. Title: Students as pro-social bystanders : opportunities, past behaviors, and intentions to intervene in sexual assault risk situations Author: Hoxmeier, Jill C. Sexual assault is a major public health concern in the U.S, and college students are particularly vulnerable to victimization. A health issue that affects nearly one in four women (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000; Karjane, Cullen, & Turner, 2005) and that is associated with severe negative health outcomes, including depression substance abuse, suicide ideation, and risky sexual behaviors (CDC, 2012), warrants effective prevention programs. Moving away from traditional prevention efforts, which target females as potential victims in risk reduction programs and males as potential perpetrators in attitudinal-shifting programs, bystander engagement programs have become increasingly more widespread. These programs aim to engage all students on the college campus as potential bystanders who can intervene to prevent a sexual assault or reduce the harm of an assault that has already occurred (Banyard, Moynihan & Plante, 2007). Burn (2009) investigated potential barriers to pro-social bystander intervention using the Situational Model of Bystander Intervention, a model based on the original research of bystander behavior of Latanè and Darley (1970). The model outlines five barriers that influence students' intent to intervene as witnesses to sexual assault: failure to notice the situation, failure to identify the situation as high risk, failure to take intervention responsibility, failure to intervene due to skills deficit, and failure to intervene due to audience inhibition (Burn, 2009). She found that students' perception of barriers negatively correlated with intervention behaviors as bystanders to sexual assault (Burn, 2009). Although bystander engagement programs have shown initial promise in increasing students' intent to intervene, more needs to be known about the opportunities students have to intervene, their past intervention actions, and their intent to intervene in the future across the wide range of situations that encompass sexual assault risk. In addition, to develop effective programs that aim to increase pro-social behavior, understanding the salient influences of students' intent is critical. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1991) to examine the influences of students’ intent to perform 12 different pro-social bystander behaviors. The TPB asserts that individuals' behavior is most proximally influenced by their behavioral intentions, and intentions are influences by their perceived behavioral control to perform the behavior, subjective norms that support performing the behavior, and attitudes toward the behavior (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1991). The four primary aims of this study were: 1) to examine the demographic correlates of students' opportunities, past intervention actions, and reported intent to intervene; 2) to examine any differences in students' intent to intervene based on the level of intervention (pre-, mid-, and post-assault) and type of intervention (with the potential or actual victim compared to the potential or actual perpetrator); 3) to examine the influences of perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes on students' intent to intervene as bystanders; and 4) to compare the TPB-based model to the Situational Model of Bystander Intervention (Burn, 2009) in its ability to explain students' intent to intervene as bystanders. In the Fall of 2014, a sample of 815 undergraduate students at Oregon State University completed the Sexual Assault Bystander Behavior Questionnaire (SABB-Q), a tool comprised of items to measure students' opportunities, past behaviors, and future intent, in addition to measures assessing the influences of students' intent in line with the Theory of Planned Behavior and Burn's (2009) Situational Model of Bystander Intervention. Students who participate in Greek communities (fraternities and sororities) reported significantly greater odds of having the opportunity to perform four of the 12 intervention behaviors compared to non-Greek students, while student-athletes reported significantly greater odds of having the opportunity to perform two of the 12 intervention behaviors. Females reported significantly more past pro-social intervention behaviors (x̄ = 0.87) compared to males (x̄ = 0.79; p = 0.007). Regarding intent to intervene in the future, females reported significantly greater intent to intervene compared to males (x̄ = 6.07 vs. 5.68; p = 0.007). Students with friends who have been victims of sexual assault reported greater intent to intervene compared those without friends who have been victims (x̄ = 6.04 vs. 5.89; p = 0.02). Students with a personal history of victimization reported significantly greater intent compared to those without a personal history (x̄ =6.13 vs 5.93; p = 0.03). Students reported significantly greater intent to intervene with the potential or actual victim compared to the potential or actual perpetrator (x̄ = 6.19 vs. 5.74, p < 0.001). Females reported significantly greater intent to intervene with both the potential or actual victims and perpetrators (x̄ = 6.31 and 5.84, respectively) compared to males (x̄ = 5.88 and 5.49, respectively). Both males and females reported the greatest intent to perform post-assault intervention behavior (x̄ = 6.23), followed by pre-assault (x̄ = 6.08) and mid-assault behaviors (x̄ = 5.57). Females reported significantly greater intent to perform nine of the 12 pro-social intervention behaviors compared to males. A multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes explained a significant proportion of the variance in intent to intervene (R² = 0.55, F(3, 771) = 315.68, p < 0.000). Perceived behavioral control was highly significant (β = 0.48, p < 0.001), as were subjective norms (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) and attitudes (β = 0.30, p < 0.001). Gender differences were also observed. For females, perceived behavioral control was highly significant (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), as were subjective norms (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) and attitudes (β = 0.29, p < 0.001). For males, perceived behavioral control was highly significant (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), as were attitudes (β = 0.29, p < 0.001). However, males' subjective norms were not significantly related (β = 0.07, p = 0.199) to their intent to intervene. Further analysis revealed a significant interaction between gender and subjective norms (β = -0.28; p = 0.039). The TPB-based model including this moderation effect explained a significant proportion of the variance in students' intent to intervene (R² = 0.57, F(6, 766) = 168.46, p < 0.000). Interveners reported significantly greater perceived behavioral control than non-interveners for seven of the 12 intervention behaviors; more supportive subjective norms than non-interveners for six of the 12 intervention behaviors; more positive attitudes than non-interveners for only one of the 12 intervention behaviors; and greater intent to intervene in the future for six of the 12 intervention behaviors. However, differences in the three TPB variables between interveners and non-interveners were not consistent for the 12 intervention behaviors. Regarding Burn's (2009) Situational Model of Bystander Intervention, a multiple regression analysis revealed two of the five barriers were significantly related to students’ intent to intervene: the failure to take intervention responsibility barrier (β = -0.29, p < 0.001) and the failure to intervene due to audience inhibition barrier (β = -0.22, p < 0.001). The model in whole explained a large proportion of the variance (R2 = 0.25, F(5, 768) = 50.14, p < 0.000). Gender differences were also observed. For females, failure to take intervention responsibility (β = -0.23; p < 0.000) and failure to intervene due to audience inhibition (β = -0.23; p < 0.001) both had a significant, negative influence on their intent to intervene. For males, failure to take intervention responsibility (β = -0.21; p < 0.014) had a significant, negative influence on intent to intervene. Additional analysis revealed no significant interactions between gender and any of the five barriers. The TPB-based model explained a greater proportion of the variance (R2 = 0.55) compared to Situational Model of Bystander Intervention (R² = 0.25) in the multiple regression analysis using all 12 intervention behaviors. All three variables in the TPB-based model were significantly related to students’ intent, whereas only two of the five barriers were significantly related. A final multiple regression analysis was conducted using all three significant TPB variables and the two significant barriers to explain students' intent to intervene. The combined model explained a significant proportion of variance in students' intent (R² = 0.58 F(5, 756) = 206.19, p < 0.000) and significantly improved upon the TPB-based model (Δ R² = 0.03; p < 0.000). The results of this study have several implications for future research and public health practice. First, it is important to ask students about their opportunities to intervene in addition to their actual intervention behaviors because this information helps paint a clearer picture of bystander engagement. This assessment could also help identify high-risk groups: students who have greater opportunities to intervene as bystanders and/or report fewer intervention behaviors compared to their reported opportunities. Second, students may conceptualize intervention behaviors differently depending on the phase of the assault and with whom the intervention behavior requires intervening. Accordingly, programs aimed at encouraging students to intervene should take these differences into consideration. Third, the Theory of Planned Behavior, used to explain and change other health-related behaviors, can effectively be applied to help uncover determinants of pro-social bystander behaviors. Perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes appear to be salient influences in students' intent to intervene. Therefore, bystander engagement programs should incorporate activities to heighten students' skills to intervene, change social norms that support bystander intervention, and shift attitudes toward the benefits of intervening. This study demonstrates the importance of using an established, evidenced-based theoretical framework to explain behavioral influences and strengthens the argument for continued use of theory to identify, and potentially change, salient influences in behavioral performance. Students as pro-social bystanders have the potential to make a positive impact on the reduction of sexual assault on the college campus. Although the responsibility for sexual assault rests on those who perpetrate such acts, and primary prevention strategies aimed at those demonstrating a risk for perpetration are imperative, sexual assault is a public health issue that warrants a multi-pronged approach to reduce its incidence and migrate its associated harms. Programs that engage students as pro-social bystanders have the potential to make a positive impact on the reduction of sexual assault incidence in the absence of effective primary prevention strategies. The findings of this study make a contribution to the literature examining influences of students' pro-social bystander intervention to sexual assault situations and provide suggestions for strategies to increase bystander engagement. Close