Browsing by Subject "Behavior"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 21
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    Access, Aging, and Impairments Part A: Impairments and Behavioral Responses
    (Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2009) Schmöcker, Jan-Dirk
    This article introduces vol. 2, no. 1 issue of Journal of Transport and Land Use.
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    Actin Isoforms in neuronal structure and function
    (2011-07) Cheever, Thomas R.
    The actin cytoskeleton plays critical roles in nearly every aspect of neuronal development and function. During these processes, the localized polymerization of actin is one mechanism employed to carryout crucial tasks for normal neuronal function. While the activity of actin binding proteins is generally thought to be the primary mediator of spatially restricted actin polymerization, another prominent mechanism involves the local translation of β-actin, one of two actin isoforms expressed in neurons. The localized translation of β-actin has been shown previously to be essential for growth cone guidance in cultured neurons. Additionally, defects in the localization of β-actin have been implicated in the motor neuron disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). However, no study to date has directly examined the role of β-actin in a mammalian in vivo system. Although the functions of β-actin were thought to be critical for all neurons, the work described in this thesis indicates that specific functions of β-actin are surprisingly confined to select populations in the central nervous system (CNS). β-actin is not required for motor axon regeneration or motor neuron function, but is required for the proper structure of the hippocampus, cerebellum, and corpus callosum, as well as hippocampal-associated behaviors. Thus, the work described here provides the first direct demonstration of specific roles for β-actin in vivo and presents a model to translate provocative findings in cell culture to the mammalian CNS.
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    African American fathers’ social support and relationship quality with daughters’ physical activity beliefs and behaviors.
    (2022-08) Harris, Tony
    Across childhood and adolescence, physical activity (PA) levels decline more frequently for African American (AA) females. Parents are important socializing agents of childhood PA motivation through supportive and encouraging behaviors. Littleinformation, however, exists on parental influence of AA girls, especially related to fathers' beliefs and behaviors. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between AA fathers' social support and daughter PA self-efficacy, enjoyment, and PA behavior. Eleven father-daughter dyads participated based on in-person and online recruiting. Daughters responded to survey items related to father-daughter relationship quality, paternal support for PA, PA enjoyment, self-efficacy, and weekly PA levels. Due to the small sample size, descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were calculated between variables of parental influence and daughters' PA beliefs and behavior. Mean age was 43.8±4.6 and 11±0.8 years for fathers and daughters. Fathers' mean BMI was 30.8±4.8 kg/m2. Daughters' mean BMI-for-age percentile was 52.5±38.3 with almost half (46%) having healthy weight. Households were >80% dual parent, 73% included both biological parents, and 91% of fathers lived with daughters full-time. Mean paternal social support was 3.5 ± 0.5 out of 5, indicating moderate to high support. Mean fatherdaughter relationship quality was strong, 4.03± 0.6 out of 5. Daughters reported a mean of 7±3.9 hours/ week of total PA, mean PA enjoyment 4.5 ± 0.7 out of 5 and PA selfefficacy as 4.2 ± 0.6 out of 5, both indicating high levels. Most correlations among perceived paternal support and daughter psychosocial and PA outcomes were low to moderate: father-daughter relationship quality (r=.54), daughter total PA (r=.31), PA enjoyment (r=.39), and PA self-efficacy (r=.26). Father-daughter relationship quality was not correlated with any of the daughter PA outcomes. The findings of this study provide preliminary evidence of the relationship among AA paternal support and daughters' psychosocial and PA outcomes. The small sample size is a limitation and suggestions are provided for recruitment strategies with this population.
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    Alternative practices in organic dairy and broiler production and their effects on animal behavior, health, and welfare
    (2021-08) Phillips, Hannah
    The animal welfare of organic livestock is a major interest among producers, the public, researchers, and veterinarians. This dissertation presents the results from 5 experiments conducted between 2016 and 2020 on a research farm at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris. The experiments were designed to investigate novel practices in organic livestock production and their potential efficacy on improving animal welfare. These results include information on the efficacy of herbal pain management therapies for disbudded dairy calves, methods to prevent distress and mastitis in transitioning dairy heifers, efficacy of broilers to control face fly larva, and effects of outdoor stocking density on behaviors of free-range broilers. To summarize the results of ineffective practices, the tested herbal tincture did not reduce pain in disbudded calves, white willow bark did not reduce inflammatory biomarkers in calves, and broiler chickens did not reduce the survival of face fly larva in cow manure. To summarize the results of effective practices, teat dipping and acclimating heifers to the milking parlor 3 weeks prior to calving improved milking behaviors and reduced Staphylococcus aureus intramammary infections in heifers over the first 3 days after calving. Furthermore, additional outdoor space for free-broiler chickens reduced aggressive attacks and reduced some rarely observed behaviors that are akin to discomfort. To conclude, experiments on the novel topics discussed in this dissertation serve as a foundation for future comprehensive investigations related to practices that affect the animal welfare of organic livestock.
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    Application of a Rural Safety Policy Improvement Index (RSPII) Framework
    (University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, 2010-06) Knapp, Keith K.; Utecht, Brad
    Six legislatively-based safety improvement measures (LSIMs) were proposed for evaluation within a rural safety policy improvement index (RSPII) framework during Phase I of this project. This report documents the step-by- step application of the RSPII framework and its rural roadway crash fatality reduction results for these LSIMs. Several approaches to the framework application were completed for each LSIM and the results compared. It was estimated (based on the selection of one framework outcome for each LSIM) that rural roadway crash fatalities could be reduced by 209 from the primary enforcement of seat belt use, 299 from universal motorcycle helmet use, 322 from the regular application of sobriety checkpoints, 120 from graduated driver licensing program upgrades, 268 from the mandatory ignition interlock installation, and 699 from automated speed enforcement. These estimates cannot be summed, however, because the fatalities impacted by these LSIMs sometimes overlap. The assumptions and generalizations required to overcome challenges to the RSPII framework application will also have an impact on its results. Additional LSIM research is suggested and it is recommended that the estimates in this report be used as a starting point for rural roadway safety discussions and the completion of more accurate individual state RSPII framework applications.
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    B3GET: A new computational approach for understanding and exploring ecology, evolution, and behavior
    (2021-12) Crouse, Kristin
    Biological anthropologists seek to understand the origin and evolution of distinctively human traits, including language, cumulative culture, and intensely cooperative societies. To understand the evolution of human behavior, we need a viable theory of socioecology. Studies of our primate relatives provide opportunities to develop and test socioecological models which can in turn help explain the evolution of human behavior. However, it has become increasingly clear that current socioecological models do not fully explain primate social behavior. Among many important limiting factors are the sheer number of variables to track and the difficulty of operationalizing ecological concepts such that they can be measured feasibly in the field. Microscale (i.e., agent-based) models have great potential for advancing the field because they can handle many different variables and incorporate individual variation, stochasticity, and emergent properties. I reviewed the existing literature on microscale models in behavioral ecology to better understand the state-of-the-art for models relevant to primate socioecology. I found that models are often designed for a single species or single area of research, limiting their application to broader questions. Many models also do not consider important biological constraints such as spatial relationships or rules for birth and death that depend on individual characteristics, nor are they often validated for accuracy. As a contribution towards a more complete understanding of primate socioecology, I developed B3GET, a microscale model that incorporates important biological constraints and can track key socioecological variables in simulated primates. These virtual primates possess decision-making rules encoded in simulated diploid chromosomes, which dictate movement, body growth, inclination to mate, eat, and other behaviors. I developed these rules based on primate socioecological data from the literature and my own field observations. The virtual primate environment consists of a landscape of plants that can vary in their quality and distribution. B3GET users can edit the starting genotype and population files to create different virtual populations with different behaviors, and then collect simulation data for hypothesis testing. I simulated four primate species – chimpanzees, geladas, hamadryas baboons, and olive baboons – and showed that these simulated species display typical real-life behaviors in their group composition, dispersal patterns, and mating strategies. I built upon recent model-validation frameworks to analyze B3GET using a series of tests. Some important findings include: Hamilton's rule emerged under some, but not all, simulation conditions; individuals appeared to have the highest fitness in medium-sized groups; and spatial relationships do matter: primates living in aspatial simulations committed infanticide 10 times more frequently than identical primates in spatial simulations. Because B3GET can viably simulate other primate species, it is a promising approach for investigating the origins of distinctively human behaviors.
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    Chemosensory Control of Filter Feeding Behavior in Bigheaded Carps
    (2015-05) Claus, Aaron
    Bigheaded carps (silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and bighead carp, H. nobilis) were used to investigate the physiological basis of filter feeding behavior in fish. I developed a new method for assaying chemically based food preferences by tracking the frequency of buccal-pharyngeal pumping behavior before and after a food and food chemical stimuli were presented. Spirulina algae (Arthrospira spp.), a cyanobacterium, was the most potent food type in releasing BPP behavior. Quality and quantity of chemical cues were important to the BPP response. Moderate responses to a mixture of L-Amino acids (common fish feeding cues) confirm their function in this genus but also suggest that there are other highly potent odorants and/or tastants present in the food mix filtrate. BPP behavior was markedly reduced without a functional olfactory sense. These results cumulatively suggest that chemical senses are integral to filter feeding behavior of Bigheaded carp.
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    Effect of grouping strategy and stocking density on the behavior of prepartum dairy cows and the association between behavior and periparturient cow health
    (2014-10) Luchterhand, Karen Marie
    The transition dairy cow is one of the highest risk animals for falling ill or dying on the dairy farm. The objectives of this thesis were: Determine whether providing a stable pen management affected displacements from the feed bunk and feeding behavior of prepartum Jersey dairy cows; Examine the effects of prepartum stocking density on social, lying and feeding behavior of prepartum Jersey cows;Investigate the relationship between prepartum feeding times and periparturient health disorders, first test milk yield and milk composition in Jersey cows; Determine whether social dominance, determined by displacements from the feed bunk prepartum and 3 different methods, was associated with health, reproduction, and milk yield of transition Jersey cows; and Determine whether lying behavior was associated with postpartum health events up to 60 days in milk.
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    The effects of African American and European American males' behavior styles on preservice teachers' ratings of acceptability, achievement, and aggression.
    (2010-12) Cichy, Bryan Ervin
    African American students are overrepresented in the category of Emotional Disturbance under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act across the United States. This study examined how preservice teachers rated African American and European American students on three ratings scales across four culturally mediated behaviors: (a) movement style, (b) self advocacy style, (c) greeting style, and (d) volume of voice. The three dependent variables were an author-created acceptability index and the achievement and aggression scales from the Adjective Checklist (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983). Subjects included 211 preservice teachers enrolled in graduate level education courses. Preservice teachers were divided into groups and shown 4 of 16 videos depicting African American and European American students engaging in typical school behaviors in culturally mediated manners. Factorial analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Preservice teachers rated European American behavior styles as more favorable than African American styles in 8 of 12 effects studied and African American behavior styles as more favorable in 2 of 12. Fewer significant effects were found strictly on the basis of the race of the students with 3 of 12 effects showing students of African American race as more favorable and 1 of 12 effects showing students of European American race as more favorable.
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    Finding Home: A Qualitative Study on Healing Homelessness through Expressive Arts Engagement
    (2019-07) Bueno, José
    This phenomenological study seeks to expand the understanding of the impacts of expressive arts engagement on the mental health and trauma among homeless youth through the experiences of professionals working with those populations. Organizations across Massachusetts and Minnesota were selected based off their organizational mission statements for helping the homeless youth population, as well as referrals. This study demonstrates expressive arts engagement as one of the many tools in working through trauma and mental illness seen in the homeless youth population. Organizations should work towards the successful integration of the arts and healing mental illness found among youth homelessness.
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    Identifying the characteristics of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
    (2011-04) Someki, Fumio
    Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), characterized by various levels of dysmorphia and behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions, is the result of prenatal alcohol exposure. FASD characteristics can be masked by many other conditions. As a result, early identification of FASD is often difficult, leading to a delay of children with FASD receiving necessary services. However, screening children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is the major comorbid disorder of FASD, may enable the identification of children with FASD earlier than screening all children in schools. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the differences between children with ADHD only and children with FASD and ADHD in terms of adaptive functioning, behavioral characteristics, and academic performance that impact school outcomes and can be recognized in classrooms. This study conducted a review of the medical records of 149 individuals with single ADHD diagnosis and 189 individuals with dual diagnosis of FASD and ADHD (Mage = 11.25, SD = 2.12). Results of analysis of covariance analysis indicated: (1) no difference in adaptive functioning between the dual diagnosis group and the single diagnosis group, (2) the dual diagnosis group exhibited significantly more externalizing behaviors than the single diagnosis group, but the difference between the two groups regarding internalizing behaviors was not significant, (3) there was no significant differences between the two groups on reading and mathematics. Differences in characteristics between the two groups and implications for future research are also discussed.
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    Light Levels, Long Box Culverts, And The Movements Of Prairie Stream Fishes, Including The Endangered Topeka Shiner
    (2017-05) Mosey, Britney
    Many culverts physically impede fish movement by altering flow, depth, turbulence, and sediment. Longer culverts may act as behavioral barriers by reducing ambient light levels. Movement within a stream is necessary to complete important life stages, maintain genetic diversity, and ultimately prevent extirpation. I evaluated light levels and fish movement in three long box culverts and corresponding control stream reaches in Southwestern Minnesota. The area has been denoted as critical habitat for the federally endangered Topeka Shiner Notropis topeka. I marked 18,963 fish, including 456 Topeka Shiner, and recaptured 1,874, including 46 Topeka Shiner during multiple mark and recapture events. Many fishes, including Topeka Shiner passed through each culvert; however, the probability of fish movement decreased as the culvert length increased and ambient light levels decreased. The probability was significantly less than corresponding control areas for the two longest and darkest culverts. The probability of movement was reduced in Cyprinidae (most abundant family), as well as the four most abundant species. Subsequent laboratory studies using captive-raised Topeka Shiner and wild-caught Fathead Minnow in a flume were conducted to evaluate light levels while controlling for other variables: velocity, water depth, and length of passage. Light alone did not account for significant differences in the number of fish to select a shaded or an unshaded passageway or the speed at which they approached and moved through the passageways under the laboratory settings. Mitigation of light levels may not be necessary when designing and implementing culverts, but synergistic relationships with other possible barriers (velocity, water depth, habitat within culvert, and length and dimensions of culvert) are unknown and need to be explored.
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    Light-mediated Sexual Dimorphism in Opsin Expression During Spawning in Nematostella vectensis
    (2024-04) Wagner, Starla J.; McCulloch, Kyle J.
    Across animals, opsins are the primary protein responsible for light detection. Currently, there is a large gap in knowledge in the evolutionary history of opsin function and how it correlates with other biological responses like spawning. Cnidarians (jellyfish and anemones) are prime candidates for closing this gap. They are a sister taxon to bilaterally symmetric animals like flies and humans, and so studying their opsin function and expression in non-visual contexts allows for further understanding of how light sensing may have evolved to form modern visual systems. In this experiment, qPCR analysis on the Cnidarian, Nematostella vectensis (the starlet sea anemone), was used to determine the effect of certain wavelengths of light that an animal was exposed to during spawning had on opsin expression levels. The impact of sex and tissue type on these expression levels was an additional area of interest. The data showed that certain wavelengths like blue light were correlated with larger amounts of opsin expression in female mesenteries and tentacles/skin tissue than in male tissue types. This indicates that opsin expression is sexually dimorphic which implies there is a relationship between opsin expression and spawning, something that was previously unknown. Future experiments using RNA-seq will allow for a deeper understanding of this relationship and the proteins involved.
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    Losing our lakes: an assessment of the human dimensions of lakeshore landowner shoreland management
    (2012-01) Rudberg, Edgar Atwood
    The fragility of shorelines and the impact of residential development on habitat and water quality led to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's interest in promoting native vegetative buffers. First, I used the Integrative Model (IM) (Fishbein & Yzer, 2003) to evaluate lakeshore homeowners' attitudes, norms and self-efficacy for restoring a native vegetative buffer. Five belief evaluations (decrease maintenance β = .05, increase water quality β = .058, be attractive β = .103, impede recreation β = .046, and create privacy β = -.028 one self-efficacy evaluation (ability to keep up with maintenance β = .23), and three normative influences (family β = -.097, friends β = .051 and Minnesota DNR β = .065) were significant predictors of intention (R2 = .36). Secondly, I used the Theory of Normative Social Behavior (TNSB) (Rimal and Real, 2005) as an alternate model and compared the results with the IM (Fishbein & Yzer 2003). My findings indicated that the IM (R2 = .241) had a greater explanation of variance, when compared to the TNSB, and that a greater amount of the variance was explained by the inclusion of descriptive norms, group ID and injunctive norms (R2 = .323). Finally, I sought to connect risk theory with behavioral theory and propose a framework for doing so. I used a case study of Minnesota shoreland landowners with native vegetative buffers for integrating risk and behavioral theory to segment audiences. My findings showed that 22.5% of survey respondents reported having a vegetative buffer on their shoreland and 10% of respondents had removed native vegetation in the past. I did not find a significant difference between the attitudes towards buffers of those that have removed vegetation and those that have not. However, the findings showed that having a negative attitude towards buffers increased one's odds of not having a native vegetative buffer by 2 ½ times. The analysis also showed that evaluation of buffers significantly predicted respondents' attitudes towards buffers (R 2 =.22, F[2, 11] = 8.69, p < .001). Compared to respondents without native vegetative buffers, the beliefs that buffers create an attractive shore (β = -.143, p = .019), create habitat (β = .32, p < .001), and create privacy (β = .146, p = .020) were predictive of attitude towards buffers for respondents that have buffers.
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    Parenting is Hard. Talk about it.
    (2012-07-26) Kennedy, Caitlin
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    Parenting practices and child behavior in Mexico: a validation study of the Alabama parenting questionnaire.
    (2009-04) Robert, Christina Jane
    The present study is a validation study of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) in a stratified sample in Monterrey, Mexico. A total of 862 sixth grade children were targeted for the study. Their female caregivers (n=862) were administered the APQ - Parent Report and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) - Parent Report as part of a larger battery of tests. Measures of positive and negative parenting behaviors were used to predict externalizing and internalizing behaviors of the children. Results show that parenting behaviors of Mexican parents follow similar trends as those established in a similar large scale study conducted in Australia. Results also demonstrate good predictive validity of externalizing and internalizing behaviors in children using the positive and negative parenting practices assessed using the APQ. Results include a greater understanding of parenting behaviors in a large, diverse Mexican sample and implications for future research and directions for intervention with Latinos/as living in the U.S.
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    Poster Displaying the Studied Relationship Between Small Mammal Behavior and Urban Greenspace Environments
    (2022-05) Vorvick, Siri B
    My objective was to explore how the structure of the built environment—including the commonality and plan of sidewalks, playgrounds, and other gathering spaces, and the coordinated habits of use by individuals in these spaces—impacts displayed animal behavior. I researched the parallels between maintained patterns of human use and activity through specific structures and the capability animals may have to predict and respond to this activity. To do this, the study included both the capture and analysis of four free-living mammal species, at field-sites within the Twin Cities area. Animals were captured on the University of Minnesota campus, other local parks and golf courses, and the University of Minnesota Cedar Creek Field Station. These locations have varying degrees of human-constructed structures within the green space, but all are impacted by human habitation, through litter, usage, and environmental factors.
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    The Relations between Academic Achievement and Externalizing Behavior: Separating Fact from Fiction
    (2020-06) Kulkarni, Tara
    Some of the worst long-term outcomes of children are associated with the presence of both externalizing behavior and low academic achievement. Additionally, trajectories of externalizing problem behavior have shown that when children enter kindergarten with problem behavior, it tends to persist and is often associated with low academic achievement. However, though there remains a popular belief amongst educators that academic achievement and externalizing behavior have a strong predictive and even causal relationship, evidence is mixed. Given the implications for both resource allocation and intervention design if causal associations were supported, this dissertation sought to examine the relationship between the two domains, by (a) systematically reviewing literature in an effort to reveal potential causal relations, if any, and (b) conduct an empirical study using nationally representative data (N=7,330) and latent class growth analysis to reveal relations of early academic achievement with externalizing behavior trajectories based on the findings of the review. Results from both studies indicated that there is no concrete evidence for even predictive relations between achievement and externalizing behavior. Instead, the low achievement often observed in children with high externalizing behavior likely has other underlying causes. Specifically, results suggested that malleable variables like inattention and school readiness behaviors are better predictors of both achievement and teacher reported externalizing behavior. Lastly, this dissertation also revealed that socio-demographic factors like sex and race have strong associations with teacher reported externalizing behavior. Implications for school systems as well as student level interventions are discussed.
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    The relationship between expressive language skills, internal state words, and classroom behavior problems in young children at social risk
    (2013-03) Wing, Christine A.
    Background: Social-emotional and language development appear to interact during early childhood. Children with language delays/disorders tend to exhibit more behavior problems than children without language delays/disorders. In addition, knowledge and use of internal state words has been found to predict self-regulation in young children. Young children at social risk experience an increased probability of language delays/disorders as well as behavior problems. The purpose of this study was to explore whether expressive language skills in general and knowledge and use of internal state words in particular are related to behavior problems in young children at social risk. Methods: A total of 59 3-to-5-year-old monolingual English-speaking participants who attended one of four preschool sites serving low income families completed the study protocol. Two of the four participating sites accepted child referrals from programs serving families experiencing identified social risk factors (i.e., addiction, child maltreatment). Information gathered for each of the 59 children included overall expressive language skills, internal state word knowledge and use, nonverbal intelligence, teacher behavior problem ratings, and noncompliance to teacher directives. Results: Expressive language skills were negatively associated with behavior problems as rated by teachers and measured by noncompliance to teacher directives. Expressive language skills negatively predicted both measures of behavior problems, controlling for preschool program and nonverbal intelligence. Knowledge and use of internal state words did not appear to be related to behavior problems when controlling for overall expressive language skills. Conclusion: Results suggest an inverse relationship between expressive language skills and behavior problems in young children at social risk.
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    Relationships among behavior, habitat, and population density in a cyclic population of ruffed grouse
    (2014-10) Berkeley, Lorelle Ivana
    Understanding how patterns of habitat use by animals vary in relation to population density is of major interest to ecologists and wildlife managers. For decades, biologists have linked high populations of ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) with aspen (Populus spp.) forests in the northern part of their range. However, male ruffed grouse in northern populations also select territories in conifer forests, even when apparently suitable aspen forests nearby remain vacant. This selection of cover types that are presumed to be of lower quality presents a conundrum to biologists: why would males select inferior cover types when better cover types are available? To address this conundrum, I investigated the behavior, habitat, and population dynamics of a population of male ruffed grouse to evaluate relationships among these factors and elucidate mechanisms of their cover type selections. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying habitat selection in most species. Studying the behavior of individuals within a population is one technique used to evaluate these mechanisms. Ruffed grouse are an ideal species in which to study behavior, habitat, and population dynamics because the males are easily counted, they are territorial, their territories are relatively easy to locate, and many populations are cyclic. I conducted my study at the Cloquet Forestry Center in northern Minnesota and used data collected over the course of one complete 10-year ruffed grouse population cycle (2002-2011) during which time the population reached both a high and low point in the numbers of territorial males counted each year. The grouse population was declining when the study begin in 2002 and did not begin its cyclic increase until 2006. I used repeated auditory surveys to locate the territories of drumming males and estimate the population density of territorial male grouse. I assessed behavior questions by using automated video systems to record the activities of a stratified (by aspen and conifer cover types) random sample of 23 male ruffed grouse from all of the males detected on my surveys. The number of breeding males on my 1,419-ha study area varied from a low of 47 in 2005 to a high of 134 in 2010. I assumed that rates of male ruffed grouse display were indicative of their interactions with conspecifics. I developed a priori models that described the relationships among male display rates and environmental attributes, structured these models as generalized linear models, and used information theoretic model selection to evaluate these models. The null model (i.e., intercept only model) was the top-ranked model (received the lowest AICc score). I used generalized linear models with random effects and information theoretic model selection to evaluate a priori models that described relationships among male ruffed grouse densities per cover type and environmental variables associated with their territory locations. Aspen-dominated cover types contained the highest densities of male ruffed grouse during all years (0.09 to 0.24 males/ha during 2002-11) except 2006 and 2011, when density was highest in northern hardwoods-dominated cover types (0.12 and 0.13 males/ha in 2006 and 2011, respectively) followed by aspen-dominated cover types (0.10 and 0.12 males/ha in 2006 and 2011, respectively). The density of males in conifer-dominated cover types was always less than the density of males in aspen-dominated cover types (0.02 to 0.08 males/ha during 2002-11). In addition to consistently higher densities of males in aspen- versus conifer-dominated cover types, densities of males in aspen-dominated cover types exhibited a higher intrinsic rate of increase than in conifer-dominated cover types during all years. However, the consistent occupancy of conifer-dominated cover types by males throughout the study also suggested that males perceived conifer-dominated cover types as suitable sites for territories and display behavior. At the cover type scale, the top-ranked model related to male grouse population density included an interaction of cover type and year variables. The mean density of male ruffed grouse within landscapes during all years ranged from 0.04 to 0.10 males/ha with minimum and maximum densities of 0 and 0.16 males/ha, respectively, during the entire study. At this landscape scale, an interaction of the estimate of the relative evenness of cover types (Shannon's Evenness Index) within landscapes and year comprised the top-ranked model explaining male ruffed grouse densities. Based on my study, if there is a difference in quality of conifer and aspen cover types, it manifests itself either in the specific stand structure used for male breeding displays or some life stage or seasonal habitat need of the ruffed grouse other than male breeding display cover. My results show that grouse populations achieve their highest densities in heterogeneous landscapes when aspen-dominated cover types, composed of multiple age classes, are the key cover types on landscapes. Landscapes that are less heterogeneous and where the majority of cover types are not dominated by aspen also harbor grouse, but at lower densities than heterogeneous aspen-dominated landscapes. Traditionally, managers have focused on the distribution and abundance of aspen-dominated cover types to enhance ruffed grouse habitat. However, my findings suggest that managers should focus on managing the spatial complexity of cover types on landscapes, even when aspen-dominated stands are in low abundance.