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Anthropogenic disturbances, such as military training, potentially affect mountain ungulate populations. Assessing the spatiotemporal occupancy or habitat use of a wildlife population can assist with planning of potentially disrupting activities. Currently, military training is expanding into potential Dall's sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) habitat within 2 training areas of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. The 2 study areas included Molybdenum Ridge, a 10‐km long geologically isolated granite ridgeline on the northern periphery of the Alaska Range and Black Rapids Training Area, a steeper and smaller area within the mountain range and bordered by the Delta River. The United States Army requires a better understanding of sheep habitat use in these 2 areas to identify how training could affect the population and to reduce overlap of training and high sheep occupancy. We used an array of 54 spatially balanced camera traps, taking triggered and hourly time lapse images, to determine Dall's sheep habitat use based on seasonal and site covariates. Camera traps operated for a continuous 15‐month sampling period and captured nearly 8,000 images of sheep. Our occupancy models indicated that abiotic covariates such as slope, snow depth, and distance to escape terrain were the most important factors determining habitat use. Seasonal differences in habitat use indicated higher use during winter and spring for Molybdenum Ridge, and higher habitat use during the summer for Black Rapids Training Area. Detection probabilities were constant temporally and were higher if the camera was positioned on a wildlife trail versus off trail. Our results suggest that the best opportunity to minimize training interactions with Dall's sheep is to conduct training in early‐July to early‐September, specifically in areas with <60% slope and >500 m from escape terrain. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

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Interior Alaska, USA, is the least‐studied region in Alaska for breeding shorebirds because of challenging accessibility and expectations of low densities and abundances. We estimated lowland and upland shorebird population sizes on 370,420 ha of military lands in interior Alaska boreal forest from May–July 2016 and 2017. We modified the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM) protocol used elsewhere in Alaska and incorporated a probability‐based sampling design and dependent double‐observer methods. We pooled all lowland shorebird and all upland shorebird observations and estimated abundance using Huggins closed captures models in Program MARK. Estimated abundances of all lowland and upland shorebirds were 42,239 ± 13,431 (SE) and 3,523 ± 494, respectively. The survey area is important for shorebirds in Alaska. We estimate that military lands in interior Alaska support 45,762 ± 13,925 shorebirds, including 7 species of conservation concern. Higher abundance of lowland shorebirds was best explained by lower elevation, lower percent scrub canopy, and higher percent water on plots. Higher abundance of upland shorebirds was best explained by higher elevation and increased distance to wetland. Our modified Arctic PRISM protocol was effective for surveys in the boreal forest and we recommend continued use of method modifications for future shorebird surveys in boreal forests. Identifying baseline abundances of shorebirds using interior Alaska is an important step in monitoring distributional shifts and potential future population declines. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

Acting under the auspices of the US Endangered Species Act, we quantified wind erosion and its effects on rare and common plant species on a semi-arid military installation in Hawaii. Our goal was to develop management strategies, based on local data, to aid the conservation of rare and common indigenous plants and their habitats. We collected windblown soil coming off of roads and other disturbed soils to assess likely impacts to plants occurring at certain heights and distances from disturbed surfaces. We then subjected plants in a glasshouse to windblown dust treatments, designed from our field data to simulate erosion events, and evaluated the effect of these treatments on photosynthesis and survival. We also designed several field experiments to examine the in-situ effects of windblown soil and soil substrate on germination, growth rate, and survival of indigenous and nonindigenous plants. We conclude from these experiments that most direct effects of windblown soil to plants can be effectively mitigated by locating roads and training areas at least 40 m from sensitive plant habitats and through vegetation management to maintain at least 11% aerial cover on disturbed surfaces. Effects of soil type on germination, growth, and survival was species-specific, emphasizing the importance of species trials prior to, or during, rehabilitation efforts.

Evaluating sympatric habitat use of a mammal community can help determine intra- and inter-guild interactions and identify important habitats, potentially improving the management of these communities with a changing climate. Increasingly variable climatic patterns in Alaska, USA, are raising concerns of mismatched phenologies and altered ecosystem structures. We studied the occupancy of 10 mammal species over 15 months, via camera traps, occupying alpine areas of the Alaska Range in interior Alaska, from 2013 to 2014. We tested hypotheses about how habitat use of these species within and between groups varied by spatial and temporal covariates. Furthermore, we modeled two-species occupancy of brown bears (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) and gray wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) against different potential prey species. Our results suggest that medium-sized and large herbivore use was positively correlated with fine-scale covariates including rock, forb, and graminoid coverage. Large herbivore habitat use was also correlated with abiotic landscape covariates. Detection probabilities of predators and Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli dalli Nelson, 1884) was improved by camera traps on wildlife trails. Two-species models suggested co-occurrence of habitat use between brown bear – caribou (Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758)) and gray wolf – caribou. Results demonstrate the sympatric habitat use by multiple groups of mammals within Alaskan alpine ecosystems and the importance of incorporating multiple groups and spatial scales when making management decisions.