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The Probe, Issue 241 - January/February 2006

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

CONTENTS:
Is NADCA Finished? Is This the Last Issue of THE PROBE
Burning Beast Bummer
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
THE PROBE Archives On-Line
Booklet Review: Unearthing the Urban Fox The Jaguar Caller

Review Of Last Child In The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder By Richard Louv, Colleen Marie O'Brien

Ecological and Environmental Anthropology (University of Georgia)

Like many other children growing up in the suburban United States during the 1970s, my childhood memories include swinging from tree limbs, tromping through the woods, and constructing tree forts in the far stretches of our neighborhood. But what happens when an entire generation of children grows up without such memories? Richard Louv, a New York Times journalist and founder of Connect for Kids, an internet-based child advocacy organization, explores this question in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder. According to Louv, children today are more adept at naming cartoon characters than native …

The Importance Of Integrative Anthropology: A Preliminary Investigation Employing Primatological And Cultural Anthropological Data Collectionmethods In Assessing Human-Monkey Co-Existence In Bali, Indonesia, James E. Loudon, Michaela E. Howells, Agustin Fuentes

Ecological and Environmental Anthropology (University of Georgia)

This study investigates the interplay between humans (Homo sapiens) and long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) living in sympatric associations at 11 Hindu temple sites on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Primatological methods were utilized to examine demography, habitat type, and record long-tailed macaque feeding, and ranging behavior. Additionally, interviews and questionnaires were conducted to ascertain Balinese individuals’ perspectives regarding the macaques, local folklores surrounding the macaques, the perceived level of human-macaque overlap, and the degree of crop raiding by the macaques. Ethnographic methods revealed that attitudes toward long-tailed macaques vary, suggesting that human perceptions are determined by religious/local folklores and potential …

Modeling Blackbird Abundance In The Prairie Pothole Region Using A Hierarchical Spatial Model, Greg M. Forcey, George M. Linz, Wayne E. Thogmartin, William J. Bleier

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Blackbirds are ubiquitous members of the avian fauna in the Prairie Pothole Region. However, their abundance combined with their food habits make blackbirds significant agricultural pests on sunflower. Cost estimates for blackbird damage to sunflower in the northern Great Plains range from 4-11 million U.S. dollars per year. Because of their economic impact on agriculture, it is imperative to understand the environmental factors that influence blackbird abundance patterns. This study attempts to quantify the effects of landscape-level land use and climate patterns on blackbird abundance in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States.

Evaluation Of Nicarbazin As A Potential Waterfowl Contraceptive Using Mallards As A Model, C. A. Yoder, J. K. Graham, L. A. Miller, K. S. Bynum, J. J. Johnston, M. J. Goodall

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contraception may provide a useful nonlethal management tool to reduce wild bird populations. We tested the efficacy of nicarbazin (NCZ) as a contraceptive for waterfowl and assessed health effects of NCZ, using domestic mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) as a model for Canada geese (Branta canadensis). Mallards were given gelatin capsules containing 0, 8.5, 17.0, or 33.75 mg of NCZ/kg of BW perorally once daily for 14 d. Fecal 4,4′- dinitrocarbanilide (DNC) and fluorescein were evaluated as potential markers of plasma and egg DNC levels. Plasma, egg, and fecal DNC levels differed among treatment groups in a dose …

Determination Of Diphacinone Residues In Hawaiian Invertebrates, Thomas M. Primus, Dennis J. Kohler, John J. Johnston

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatographic analysis combined with a solid-phase extraction clean-up method is used to assess the quantity of diphacinone residue found in invertebrates. Three invertebrate species are exposed to commercially available diphacinone-fortified bait used for rat control. The invertebrate samples are collected, frozen, and shipped to the laboratory. The samples are homogenized after cryogenic freezing. A portion of the homogenized samples are extracted with acidified chloroform–acetone, followed by cleanup with a silica solid-phase extraction column. Diphacinone is detected by UV absorption at 325 nm after separation by the chromatographic system. The method limit of detection (MLOD) for snail …

Science-Based Organic Farming 2006: Toward Local And Secure Food Systems, Charles A. Francis, Katja Koehler-Cole, Twyla Hansen, Peter Skelton

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Organic farming includes growing food and fiber—animals, agronomic crops, horticultural fruits and vegetables, related products—as one dynamic and rapidly evolving component of our complex U.S. food system. Even as more farmers are moving toward organic certification and participation in an environmentally sound and economically lucrative market, questions arise about the long-term social impacts and sustainability of a set of practices that has gone from a movement to an industry. Consolidations in the organic trade have brought multinational corporations to the table, as they have observed a grassroots activity that has grown by 20% per year for the past two decades, …

Determination Of Diphacinone Residues In Hawaiian Invertebrates, Thomas M. Primus, Dennis J. Kohler, John J. Johnston

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatogaphic analysis combined with a solid-phase extraction clean-up method is used to assess the quantity of diphacinone residue found in invertebrates. Three invertebrate species are exposed to commercially available diphacinone-fortified bait used for rat control. The invertebrate samples are collected, frozen, and shipped to the laboratory. The samples are homogenized after cryogenic freezing. A portion of the homogenized samples are extracted with acidified chloroform-acetone, followed by cleanup with a silica solid-phase extraction column. Diphacinone is detected by UV absorption at 325 nm after separation by the chromatographic system. The method limit of detection (MLOD) for snail …

Efficacy Of Sunflower Decoy Plots For Blackbird Control And Supplemental Stopover Habitat, Heath M. Hagy, Jon Raetzman, George M. Linz, William J. Bleier

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots (WCSP) were planted and monitored during a two-year trial/research program to monitor the effect of decoy plots on blackbird use of nearby commercial sunflower and abundance of nonblackbird migratory species within the plots. In the two year evaluation period, in excess of 975 hours were spent by three researchers in the plots monitoring damage, vegetation, and avian use. We used bird numbers, vegetation characteristics, and landuse landscape variables to assess the optimal habitat conditions in and around each decoy plot for luring blackbirds and providing adequate stopover habitat for nonblackbird migrants. In 2004, wetland and shelterbelt …

Potential Predators Of An Invasive Frog (Eleutherodactylus Coqui) In Hawaiian Forests, Karen H. Beard, William C. Pitt

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Molecular Effects Of Nicarbazin On Avian Reproduction, C. A. Yoder, J. K. Graham, L. A. Miller

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nicarbazin (NCZ) is an anticoccidial drug routinely used in the poultry industry that can negatively affect reproduction by reducing egg production, egg weight, and egg hatchability. The molecular mechanisms by which NCZ affects reproduction are unknown. Lipoprotein lipase, vitellogenin, transglutaminase, and calcium are all involved in egg formation and embryogenesis. Therefore, in vitro assays were used to evaluate 4 potential mechanisms of action of NCZ on egg formation and embryogenesis. First, a lipoprotein lipase assay was conducted to determine if NCZ increases lipoprotein lipase activity. Second, vitellogenin phosphorylation was evaluated to determine if NCZ acts as a vitellogenin phosphatase. Third, …

Fire Does Not Alter Vegetation In Infertile Prairie, Johannes M.H. Knops

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The paradigm in prairie ecology is that fire is one of the key factors deter-mining vegetation composition. fire can impact grassland ecosystems in various ways, including changing plant species composition and inducing nitro-gen loss. I found that 17 years of different burning frequencies in infertile grassland had only a minor impact on the vegetation composition and diversity. The only major impact from increasing the frequency of fires was a decrease of Poa pratensis abundance. However, other plant species did not r-spond to the change in Poa abundance. This result contrasts with previous studies in savannas and more productive grasslands, where …

Taxonomic Considerations In Listing Subspecies Under The U.S. Endangered Species Act, Susan M. Haig, Erik A. Beever, Steven M. Chambers, Hope M. Draheim, Bruce D. Dugger, Susie M. Dunham, Elise Elliott-Smith, Joseph B. Fontaine, Dylan C. Kesler, Brian J. Knaus, Iara F. Lopes, Pete Loschl, Thomas D. Mullins, Lisa M. Sheffield

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) allows listing of subspecies and other groupings below the rank of species. This provides the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service with a means to target the most critical unit in need of conservation. Although roughly one-quarter of listed taxa are subspecies, these management agencies are hindered by uncertainties about taxonomic standards during listing or delisting activities. In a review of taxonomic publications and societies, we found few subspecies lists and none that stated standardized criteria for determining subspecific taxa. Lack of criteria is attributed to a centuries-old debate …

By The Numbers, J. Michael Scott, Dale D. Goble, Leona K. Svancara, Anna Pidgorna

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The current endangered species list has its administrative beginnings in 1964 when the Department of the Interior's Committee on Rare and Endangered Wildlife Species published a preliminary list of 62 species at risk of extinction (Goble, forthcoming). Following the enactment of the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 (ESPA), the secretary of the interior in 1967 published the first official list of 78 "native fish and wildlife threatened with extinction" (ESPA sec. l(c); U.S. Department of the Interior 1967; Wilcove and McMillan, this volume). By the time the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was adopted in 1973, there were 392 species …

Breeding Biology And Success Of A Reintroduced Population Of The Critically Endangered Puaiohi (Myadestes Palmeri), Erik J. Tweed, Jeffrey T. Foster, Bethany L. Woodworth, William B. Monahan, Jherime L. Kellerman, Alan Lieberman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The ultimate success of reintroduction programs for endangered species depends on the ability of reintroduced animals to breed in the wild. We studied the nesting success and breeding biology of a reintroduced population of Puaiohi (Myadestes palmeri) on the island of Kaua‛i, Hawaii. Thirty-four captive-bred Puaiohi were released into the Alaka‛i Swamp in 1999–2001 and monitored using radiotelemetry. Ten females and two males paired with wild and other released birds, including one polygynous trio. From March to September, 31 nests were built. Mean clutch size was 2.0 eggs, daily nest survival was 0.97 ± 0.01 (mean ± SE) …

Introduction To "The Endangered Species Act At Thirty, Volume 2", Frank W. Davis, J. Michael Scott, Dale D. Goble

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

More than thirty years after its passage, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 continues to be a corners tone of U.S. biodiversity policy and among our most powerful environmentallaws. The ESA set the nation's biodiversity conservation policy on a path that emphasized species-based conservation and triggered action only when a species faced imminent extinction. However, promoting recovery has proven more challenging than the original designers of the law anticipated. The number of listed species has mushroomed from 78 in 1973 to 1,267 in 2005, while in that time only 13 species have recovered sufficiently to be removed from the …

Conserving Biodiversity In Human-Dominated Landscapes, Dale D. Goble, J. Michael Scott, Frank W. Davis

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The two volumes of The Endangered Species Act at Thirty look backward to evaluate the effectiveness of the act over its first three decades (Wilcove and McMillan 2006; Scott et al. 2006, chap. 2; Goble, this volume; Svancara, this volume; Callicott, this volume; Norton, this volume) and also forward to suggest how it can be used as a cornerstone for conserving biological diversity in increasingly human-dominated landscapes (Davis et al. 2006; Bean 2006). The chapters in part 2 of this volume, for example, appraise the science of the 1990s and 2000s at both the large scale (Lomolino, this volume; Naeem …

Introduction To "The Endangered Species Act At Thirty, Volume 1", J. Michael Scott, Dale D. Goble, Frank W. Davis

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

This book examines one legislative effoft to resolve the dilemma, the Endangered Speeies Aet of 1973 (ESA 1973). The ESA was an idealistic and perhaps naive attempt to preserve humanity by preserving other species in the ecological support system that makes life possible. In the words of the House report accompanying the bill:

A certain humility, and a sense of urgency seem indicated .... One might analogize the case to one in which one copy of all the books ever printed were gathered together in one huge building. The position in which we find ourselves today is that of custodians …

Reply To The Discussion By F. Lagroix And S.K. Banerjee Of “Geochemical Evidence For The Origin Of Late Quaternary Loess In Central Alaska”, Daniel R. Muhs, James R. Budahn

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We thank F. Lagroix and S.K. Banerjee (2006) for their Muhs and Budahn 1895 interest in our recent paper and welcome this opportunity to clarify our thoughts on the issues they raise. ...

The loess deposits of central Alaska contain a long and detailed record of sedimentation and soil formation. However, we are convinced that this history is a complex one and, therefore, we again thank Lagroix and Banerjee (2006) for the opportunity to articulate some additional thoughts on the geologic record here. We applaud the use of new methods, such as those of Lagroix and Banerjee (2002, 2004), in …

The Agricultural Productivity Of Chaco Canyon And The Source(S) Of Pre-Hispanic Maize Found In Pueblo Bonito, Larry Benson, John Stein, Howard Taylor, Richard Friedman, Thomas C. Windes

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Agricultural productivity estimates suggest that the core area of Chaco Canyon could have sustained only a few hundred individuals. Modern analogues of existing Pueblo populations and their domestic habitations with Chaco structures suggest that Chaco at times had a resident population exceeding 2000 people. These data suggest that maize would have had to be imported to feed permanent residents and those visiting Chaco during ritual–political gatherings and those who participated in the accelerated construction and modification of great houses between AD 1030 and 1130. Comparison of strontium-isotope and trace-element ratios of synthetic soil and natural waters from sites within the …

Use Of Mammal Manure By Nesting Burrowing Owls: A Test Of Four Functional Hypotheses, Matthew D. Smith, Courtney J. Conway

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Animals have evolved an impressive array of behavioural traits to avoid depredation. Olfactory camouflage of conspicuous odours is a strategy to avoid depredation that has been implicated only in a few species of birds. Burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia, routinely collect dried manure from mammals and scatter it in their nest chamber, in the tunnel leading to their nest and at the entrance to their nesting burrow. This unusual behaviour was thought to reduce nest depredation by concealing the scent of adults and juveniles, but a recent study suggests that manure functions to attract arthropod prey. However, burrowing owls routinely …

Puncturing Ability Of Idealized Canine Teeth: Edged And Non-Edged Shanks, Patricia W. Freeman, Cliff A. Lemen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Idealized edged and non-edged indenters, mimicking canine teeth, were used to puncture thin materials and thick materials. Less force was needed for the edged (triangular in cross section) indenter to penetrate thin Mylar, paper, leather, beetle elytra and turkey skin than the non-edged (circular in cross-section) indenter. Oak, grass and magnolia leaves responded equally to both indenters. In thick materials, the edged indenter punctured beetles, shrimp, bananas, and chicken flesh more easily than the non-edged indenter. Apple, tomato and avocado were punctured equally well. The edged indenter directs cracks at the corners so that the material can fold away in …

The Geoprofile Metadata, Exposure Of Instruments, And Measurement Bias In Climatic Record Revisited, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.