Date of Award:

5-2021

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Environment and Society

Committee Chair(s)

Mark Brunson

Committee

Mark Brunson

Committee

Steve Young

Committee

Chris Monz

Abstract

Non-native invasive species (NNIS) are a major concern confronting land managers in and surrounding protected areas such as national parks. These areas are managed by a variety of entities, all of which have different mandates, management priorities, and resources that are allocated to NNIS programs. These differences can result in ecological divergences at land boundaries and can create barriers to cooperative management. Through interviews and ecological data collection, this research addresses three topics; 1. It identifies disparities in NNIS and disturbance occurrence between jurisdictions and tests the strength of correlations between these variables; 2. It seeks to determine what role elevation plays in occurrence of NNIS, and; 3. It identifies the current challenges and extent of cooperative interactions among entities. Coordination and communication were the dominant forms of cooperative management, while true collaboration was scarce. Ecological data and analysis did not find significant differences in occurrence of weeds or disturbances across jurisdictions, nor did it find a significant difference in the correlation between weeds and disturbances when controlling for site. Based on these findings, I provide recommendations on how to address collaboration challenges, while considering the effects of management related disturbances on NNIS.

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