{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/120215"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/120215","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Dryland state transitions, trophic interactions, and the restoration of a keystone species","abstract":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2023-09-01 without embargo terms","abstract_html":"Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2023-09-01 without embargo terms","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wagnon, Casey John"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Natural Res & Env Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Schooley , Robert L","Miller, James R","Benson, Thomas J","Cosentino, Bradley J"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-05","date_published":"2023-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:57Z","subjects":["Drylands","Shrub Encroachment","Habitat Restoration","Trophic Interactions","Landscape Of Fear","Animal Personality","Keystone Species","Structural Equation Modeling","Lagomorphs","Canids","Chihuahuan Desert"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2023 Casey Wagnon"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120215","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Schooley , Robert L","Miller, James R","Benson, Thomas J","Cosentino, Bradley J"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wagnon, Casey John"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2023-05","2023-03-16"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Natural Res & Env Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Drylands","Shrub Encroachment","Habitat Restoration","Trophic Interactions","Landscape Of Fear","Animal Personality","Keystone Species","Structural Equation Modeling","Lagomorphs","Canids","Chihuahuan Desert"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2023 Casey Wagnon"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120215"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2023-09-01 without embargo terms","The student, Casey Wagnon, accepted the attached license on 2023-03-16 at 07:12.","The student, Casey Wagnon, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2023-03-16 at 07:22.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2023-03-16 at 11:38.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #18880 on 2023-09-01 at 17:07:32","Shrub encroachment is a global driver of ecosystem change impacting grass-dominated drylands, with consequences for trophic interactions. Such state transitions have prompted shrub removal efforts in attempts to reverse the process and restore encroached grasslands. However, we lack adequate understanding of how trophic food webs respond to shrub encroachment or how habitat restoration actions impact animal behavior, including shrub removal. My research examined how shrub encroachment and grassland restoration efforts in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico shapes the trophic and behavioral ecology of mammals. I first evaluated how shrub encroachment affects trophic interactions and the landscape of fear in a canid-lagomorph system. Lagomorph prey responded strongly to bottom-up pulses during years of high summer precipitation but only on sites with moderate to high shrub cover. This outcome is inconsistent with the hypothesis that bottom-up effects should be strongest in grasslands because of greater herbaceous food resources. Instead, this pattern is consistent with changes in the landscape of fear because perceived predation risk in lagomorphs is reduced in shrub-dominated habitats. I then examined the behavioral response of a keystone rodent of grasslands, Dipodomys spectabilis, to extensive shrub removal efforts by comparing personality traits and movement behavior between restoration and remnant habitats. Personality traits were present in D. spectabilis but did not strongly differ between environments. Notably, D. spectabilis exhibited personality-dependent movement through artificial shrubs in a movement experiment, suggesting a mechanistic pathway affecting colonization dynamics of shrub removal sites. My research reveals the varied and complex ways that wildlife populations may respond to ecosystem change in drylands. Future research should consider the landscape of fear and animal personality when evaluating wildlife responses to global change drivers and habitat restoration."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Dryland state transitions, trophic interactions, and the restoration of a keystone species"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Schooley , Robert L","Miller, James R","Benson, Thomas J","Cosentino, Bradley J"],"dc:creator":["Wagnon, Casey John"],"dc:date":["2023-05","2023-03-16"],"dc:description":["Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2023-09-01 without embargo terms","The student, Casey Wagnon, accepted the attached license on 2023-03-16 at 07:12.","The student, Casey Wagnon, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2023-03-16 at 07:22.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2023-03-16 at 11:38.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #18880 on 2023-09-01 at 17:07:32","Shrub encroachment is a global driver of ecosystem change impacting grass-dominated drylands, with consequences for trophic interactions. Such state transitions have prompted shrub removal efforts in attempts to reverse the process and restore encroached grasslands. However, we lack adequate understanding of how trophic food webs respond to shrub encroachment or how habitat restoration actions impact animal behavior, including shrub removal. My research examined how shrub encroachment and grassland restoration efforts in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico shapes the trophic and behavioral ecology of mammals. I first evaluated how shrub encroachment affects trophic interactions and the landscape of fear in a canid-lagomorph system. Lagomorph prey responded strongly to bottom-up pulses during years of high summer precipitation but only on sites with moderate to high shrub cover. This outcome is inconsistent with the hypothesis that bottom-up effects should be strongest in grasslands because of greater herbaceous food resources. Instead, this pattern is consistent with changes in the landscape of fear because perceived predation risk in lagomorphs is reduced in shrub-dominated habitats. I then examined the behavioral response of a keystone rodent of grasslands, Dipodomys spectabilis, to extensive shrub removal efforts by comparing personality traits and movement behavior between restoration and remnant habitats. Personality traits were present in D. spectabilis but did not strongly differ between environments. Notably, D. spectabilis exhibited personality-dependent movement through artificial shrubs in a movement experiment, suggesting a mechanistic pathway affecting colonization dynamics of shrub removal sites. My research reveals the varied and complex ways that wildlife populations may respond to ecosystem change in drylands. Future research should consider the landscape of fear and animal personality when evaluating wildlife responses to global change drivers and habitat restoration."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120215"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2023 Casey Wagnon"],"dc:subject":["Drylands","Shrub Encroachment","Habitat Restoration","Trophic Interactions","Landscape Of Fear","Animal Personality","Keystone Species","Structural Equation Modeling","Lagomorphs","Canids","Chihuahuan Desert"],"dc:title":["Dryland state transitions, trophic interactions, and the restoration of a keystone species"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Natural Res & Env Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:57Z"}