Research has shown that women perceive, use, and experience space differently than men, in part, because of gender issues and fear of victimization for violent crimes. Recent research has focused on the built environment, violence against women, and the social context of a university. The research study described here investigated women's perception of and actual safety from assault and rape on The University of Arizona campus. Sites perceived as safe and unsafe were identified from responses of 100 women students and administrators. Police reports of 132 campus assaults of women were used to identify sites of past rapes and assaults. Two outdoor sites were assessed in a preliminary study of two environmental audit methods. Findings from this study indicated that respondents perceived the campus as being very safe during the day but unsafe at night. Sites of previous assaults on women overlapped little with the areas women associated with fear.

Ecologists suspect that owls select specific areas based on prey availability. My objective was to determine and compare distributions and abundances of Mexican spotted owl prey species' within different vegetation types in the canyons and mesas of the Manti-LaSal National Forest in Utah. I conducted live-trapping during summer and fall, 1994-95. Woodrat species (Neotoma spp.) are the Mexican spotted owls primary prey species as determined by percent biomass. Peromyscus spp. are also important in terms of frequency. Woodrats were only captured in the canyons and were primarily captured within the pinyon (Pinus spp.) - juniper (Juniperus spp.) vegetation type. The Mexican spotted owls in southeastern Utah spend >75% of their time within the canyons and forage within pinyon-juniper stands in the canyons. Maintaining the present state of pinyon-juniper stands within the canyons may benefit Mexican spotted owl populations in the Manti-LaSal National Forest.

The international border region of the Sonoran Desert is unique in that it is the site of three Man and the Biosphere Reserves in two countries. Unlike national parks and other means of conservation, biosphere reserves provide a unique approach to resource protection by encouraging the sustainable development of outlying communities. The concept of sustainable development is examined as are its implications for regional planning. The international border region adjacent to the biosphere reserves is profiled and planning issues outlined. The efforts of others to incorporate sustainable development are reviewed as are the experiences of those who have applied their efforts to the region in question. A methodology for the protection of the natural attributes of the region is proposed.

The purpose of this study was to reconstruct historical fire regimes along an elevation and vegetation gradient in the Sacramento Mountains, NM. I cross-dated fire-scarred specimens to reconstruct the fire history within two mixed-conifer, four ponderosa pine, and two pinon-juniper stands. Prior to Euro-American settlement, historical fire intervals were estimated at 6 years in ponderosa pine, 10 years in mixed-conifer, and 27 years in pinon-juniper forests. To evaluate whether Native Americans may have influenced historical fire regimes, I cross-dated scars from peeled trees found within the study area. Comparison between scar dates, historical records, and variations in fire frequencies did not show a regional effect on historical fire regimes by Mescalero, but suggested that they may have had a local impact on fire frequencies of the late 1700's. Following Euro-American settlement (ca. 1880) fire was nearly absent from the study area due to livestock grazing and fire suppression.

Little is known about habitat selection by elf owls (Micrathene whitneyi) and western screech-owls (Otus kennicottii). From 1994 to 1996 in the Sonoran Desert, I used point counts and nest searches to examine habitat selection by both species at multiple spatial scales. The abundance of both species had a positive association with percent cover of washes and mesquite (Prosopis spp.) at the scale of the study area. At both the scale of the study area and the nesting area, elf owls selected areas with high densities of mature saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea) and saguaro cavities. Elf owls nested only in woodpecker cavities in saguaros, whereas western screech-owls nested in both saguaro cavities and in natural cavities in mesquite. Western screech-owls nested nearly exclusively in gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) cavities when they nested in saguaros. Patterns of nest cavity selection by elf owls suggest they may choose cavities that provide thermoregulatory advantages. I give management recommendations based on my findings.

I monitored and recorded human activities in bighorn sheep habitat to determine the role of human activity in the decline of an indigenous population of bighorn sheep in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness, Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona. I recorded hiker activity, sound levels, presence of dogs, and hunting activity in off-trail areas of bighorn sheep habitat from June 1995 to June 1996. Eighteen percent of hiker-groups entering the study area hiked off-trails in bighorn sheep habitat, and 8% were accompanied by dogs. Although I observed very little hunting activity in the area, noise disturbance may be a factor in the decline of the population. The cumulative affect of these and other activities probably contributed to the decline of the herd.

With Anglo settlement of southern Arizona in the late 1800s, fire regimes were altered dramatically. Currently, desert scrub has experienced a dramatic rise in frequency and size of wildfire which may remove fire-intolerant perennials that define the community structure. On the contrary, woodlands and forests now contain excessive fuel build up and require prescribed burning to restore the system's balance. These opposing attitudes reflect the conundrum of how to manage naturally occurring fires, or where and when to initiate prescribed burning to recreate each vegetation community's "natural" fire regime. To resolve this dilemma, there is need to discern natural fire histories by collecting specific baseline data such as where, when and how the landscape has burned. This research has been focused on the design and development of a relational database, and the incorporation of a geographic information system to develop a system that can be used to fulfill this need.

Landscape perception research has attempted to explain how people see and perceive landscapes, as well as, why people tend prefer some landscapes over others. An understanding of public perceptions and preferences is important for making appropriate decisions in the planning and management of our landscapes. Landscape perception research has focused on four major paradigms--expert, psychophysical, cognitive, and experiential--and has shown a wide variety of variables related to the landscape perceptions and preferences of the public. A comprehensive review of journal literature published over the last fifteen years revealed a total of 32 variables that, through empirical study, have been found to be important predictors of people's preferences for landscape. These important predictor variables are grouped into five categories and characterized to assist planners, landscape managers, and decision-makers in selecting appropriate variables for landscape assessment and evaluation. Recommendations for selecting predictor variables are provided.

The dynamics of crappie populations in southwestern reservoirs are not well documented. In order for managers to enhance a crappie fishery, they need to understand the factors that control populations. I examined potential limiting factors for black crappie in 4 sequential reservoirs on the Salt River, Arizona. Only in Roosevelt Reservoir, the uppermost reservoir, were crappie relatively abundant. I identified 3 possible limiting factors. Apache, Canyon, and Saguaro reservoirs lacked sufficient spawning substrates. All 4 reservoirs lacked sufficient cover. Finally, the lower 3 reservoirs are less productive during the fall according to chlorophyll a levels than Roosevelt Reservoir. Low productivity may have resulted in fewer zooplankton and possibly a limited forage base for juvenile crappie. Options such as spawning platforms, artificial cover, fertilization, and stocking are discussed as ways to improve the crappie fishery in these reservoirs.

Penetrometer soil strength and the depth of packstock hoofprints were studied in two subalpine meadows in an attempt to develop a method for determining the seasonal readiness of wilderness meadows for packstock grazing at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, California. Soil and vegetation parameters (bulk density, water content, percent gravel, sand, silt, clay, and organic matter, above-ground biomass, and below-ground biomass in two diameter size classes) were also studied in order to understand their influence on soil strength and hoofprint depth. Of the four penetrometer tip sizes tested on a Lang penetrometer, a 9/16" diameter tip was found to be a good predictor of hoofprint depth. Both 9/16" soil strength and hoofprint depth were well predicted by soil water content and meadow vegetation type.