SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF ASIAN ELEPHANTS (ELEPHAS MAXIMUS) IN SRI LANKA

Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are critically endangered and live in fragmented populations spread across 13 countries. Yet in comparison to the African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana), relatively little is known about the social structure of wild Asian elephants because the species is mostly found in low visibility habitat. A better understanding of Asian elephant social structure is critical to mitigate human-elephant conflicts that arise due to increasing human encroachments into elephant habitats. In this dissertation, I examined the social structure of Asian elephants at three sites: Yala, Udawalawe, and Minneriya National Parks in Sri Lanka, where the presence of large open areas and high elephant densities are conducive to behavioral observations. First, I found that the size of groups observed at georeferenced locations was affected by forage availability and distance to water, and the effects of these environmental factors on group size depended on site. Second, I discovered that while populations at different sites differed in the prevalence of weak associations among individuals, a core social structure of individuals sharing strong bonds and organized into highly independent clusters was present across sites. Finally, I showed that the core social structure preserved across sites was typically composed of adult females associating with each other and with other age-sex classes. In addition, I showed that females are social at all life stages, whereas males gradually transition from living in a group to a more solitary lifestyle. Taking into consideration these elements of Asian elephant social structure will help conservation biologists develop effective management strategies that account for both human needs and the socio-ecology of the elephants.

Estimating Population Trends in American Woodcock (Scolopax Minor) Using Population Reconstruction Models

The American woodcock (Scolopax minor) population index in North America has declined 0.9% a year since 1968 prompting managers to identify priority information and management needs for the species (Sauer et al 2008). Managers identified a need for a population model that better informs on the status of American woodcock populations (Case et al. 2010). Population reconstruction techniques use long-term age-at-harvest data and harvest effort to estimate abundances with error estimates. Four new models were successfully developed using survey data (1999 to 2013). The optimal model estimates sex specific harvest probability for adult females at 0.148 (SE = 0.017) and all other age-sex cohorts at 0.082 (SE = 0.008) for the most current year 2013. The model estimated a yearly survival rate of 0.528 (SE = 0.008). Total abundance ranged from 5,206,000 woodcock in 2007 to 6,075,800 woodcock in 1999. This study represents the first population estimates of woodcock populations.

Community-based Data Validation Practices in Citizen Science

Technology-supported citizen science has created huge volumes of data with increasing potential to facilitate scientific progress, however, verifying data quality is still a substantial hurdle due to the limitations of existing data quality mechanisms. In this study, we adopted a mixed methods approach to investigate community-based data validation practices and the characteristics of records of wildlife species observations that affected the outcomes of collaborative data quality management in an online community where people record what they see in the nature. The findings describe the processes that both relied upon and added to information provenance through information stewardship behaviors, which led to improved reliability and informativity. The likelihood of community-based validation interactions were predicted by several factors, including the types of organisms observed and whether the data were submitted from a mobile device. We conclude with implications for technology design, citizen science practices, and research.

Augmented Dissent: The Affordances of ICTs for Citizen Protest (A Case Study of the Ukraine Euromaidan Protests of 2013-2014).

This dissertation research project uses the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine to inform and shape a theory of augmented dissent to help explain the complex ways in which protest participants guided by the political, social, and cultural contexts engage in dissent augmented by ICTs in a reality where both the physical and the digital are used in concert. The purpose of this research is to conceptualize the use and perception of ICTs in protest activity using the communicative affordances framework. Through a mixed-method research approach involving interviews with protest participants, as well as qualitative and thematic analysis of online content from social media pages of several key Euromaidan protest communities, the research project examines the role ICTs played in the information and media landscape during the Euromaidan protest. The findings of the online content analysis were used to inform the questions for the 59 semi-structured, open-ended interviews with Euromaidan protest participants in Ukraine and abroad. The research findings provide in-depth insights about how ICTs were used and perceived by protest participants, and their role as vehicles for information and civic media content. The study employs the theoretical framework of social media affordances to interpret the data gathered during the interviews and content analysis to better understand how digital media augmented citizens’ protest activity through affording them new possibilities for dissent, and how they made meaning of said protest activity as augmented by ICTs. The findings contribute towards shaping a theory of digitally augmented dissent that conceptualizes the complex relationship between citizens and ICTs during protest activity as an affordance-driven one, where online and offline tools and activity merge into a unified dissent space and extend or augment the possibilities for action in interesting, and sometimes unexpected ways. Such a conceptual model could inform broader theories about civic participation and digital activism in the post-Soviet world and beyond, as ICTs become an inseparable part of civic life.