Date of Award:

5-1952

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Wildland Resources

Department name when degree awarded

Wildlife Management

Committee Chair(s)

William F. Sigler

Committee

William F. Sigler

Abstract

There are today many areas and types of water storage. The uses to which these are put are many, and the prospect for the future can only be that there will be an increase in the number of these reservoirs. These areas are usually operated with regard only for power production, irrigation, or storage, but there is a growing concern about the effects on wildlife which this type of operation may have. Fluctuating water levels, and falling water levels are not restricted to man-made impoundments tut are characteristic of many of then. Biologists have observed that these variations in water levels are often harmful to some forms of wildlife. Fluctuating water levels generally were found to cause damage to waterfowl nests. The amount of damage, the amount of water rise and the time involved are values which have generally remained unknown, largely perhaps because some other aspects was of greater importance in the nesting studies.

There is a descending scale of values which have been placed on natural resources, and it is generally agreed that the waterfowl concerned would rank below the value derived from the impounded waters. Where it is practical, the management of these impoundments should take wildlife into consideration.

To have intentions of good management is not sufficient to effect conservation; these intentions must be implemented with the proper tools. This study was designed to discover magnitudes of cause and effect, and perhaps it will point the way to a more efficient utilization of associated resources. It was possible that the results of this study would show that there was little damage to waterfowl. On the other hand, if significant damage were to be discovered, contributing causes could be more closely delimited and so point the way toward corrective measures.

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