Life Sciences Commons^™

Strategies To Control Rodent Damage In Sugar Bushes: An Update, Alan May, John Austin, Dennis Slate

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Efficacy trials using zinc phosphide (ZP) steam-rolled oats (2% a.i., EPA Reg. No. 56228-5), and cholecalciferol mixed (CHOL) grain bait (.075% a.i., EPA Reg. No. 12455-57), were conducted during summer 1990 to compare their effectiveness in controlling rodent damage to plastic tubing systems used to collect sap from sugar maples (Acer saccharum) in Vennont A 24( c) Special Local Needs registration for ZP to control rodent damage has existed in Vennont since the 19(i()s. However, no fonnal efficacy trials have been conducted for this specific use of ZP, and the previous supplemental label did not include instructions for …

Wildlife Damage Education At West Virginia University, Edwin D. Michael

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

West Virginia University has offered a formal wildlife damage course in each of the last 2 years (1990 and 1991). Prior to offering the formal course in 1990, the topic of wildlife damage was presented as one section of 2 different courses: Introduction to Wildlife Management (for non wildlife majors), and Principles of Wildlife Management (a senior-level course required for wildlife majors).

Conference Summary And A Look To The Future, James E. Miller

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

It is with mixed feelings that I agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to accept this challenge of trying to summarize the implications of this Fifth Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conference. Even though it has been over 8 years ago, I still remember burning the midnight oil and working in the predawn hours on the last eve of the First Eastern Conference trying to prepare closing remarks for use by my former Deputy Administrator, Merrill L. "Pete" Petoskey. In fact, even though some of the guard has changed, at least one of the professionals who helped provide their insight as we prepared those …

Incorporating Wildlife Damage Control Into A University Wildlife Management Curriculum, William G. Minser, Alex B. Coley

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Most university wildlife programs that do not include wildlife damage control course offerings probably lack those courses for 2 main reasons: (1) most professors in those wildlife programs likely did not have formal training in wildlife damage control in their own degree programs and therefore may not have developed the skills nor the interest to teach this subject; and (2) universities may lack funding to hire new personnel to teach wildlife damage control.

An Evaluation Of Roost Dispersal For Reducing Cormorant Activity On Catfish Ponds, Donald F. Mott, Keith J. Andrews, Gary A. Littauer

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Pyrotechnics and helicopter flyovers were used to harass double-crested connorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) at 4 roost sites in the Delta region of Mississippi. Roosting connorants were easily dispersed from 3 of the 4 sites. Average numbers of cormorants observed at selected catfish (lctaluridae) ponds and day roosts near foraging areas also declined after harassment began.

Economics And Effectiveness Of Control Methods: Fact And Fiction, Rick D. Owens, Dennis Slate

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Wildlife damage management decisions are often incorrectly viewed as being predicated solely upon economics. Although costs of wildlife damage and methods employed to reduce this damage are considerations in damage management decision-making, the selection and application of methods are also dependent upon environmental factors that include biological, physical, social, and legal influences. Professional decision-making involves an assessment of these factors on a case-by-case basis, to determine which methods and application strategies are environmentally cost-effective and therefore practical.

The Quabbin Reservation White-Tailed Deer Impact Management Plan: A Case History, James A. Parkhurst, Robert W. O'Connor

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Quabbin Reservation, a 22,662-ha watershed management area located in west-central Massachusetts, is experiencing moderate to severe browsing pressure by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on much of the reservation's forested land. In many areas, park-like habitat exists where natural regeneration of the dominant mixed oak (Quercus spp.) forest has been severely repressed, or outright eliminated, due to repetitive browsing by deer. Understory composition is now dominated by patches of blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), thick carpets of hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), and grasses. Managers are concerned that as the forest ages …

Evaluation Of A New Deer Repellent On Japanese Yews At Suburban Homesites, Roger W. Sayre, Milo E. Richmond

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Jersey, an experimental deer repellent, was field tested against 2 commercial repellents on Japanese yews (Taxus cuspidata) near Ithaca, New York, during spring 1990. In Experiment 1, plots (n = 24) of 4 individually-potted yews were established, with 2 yews at each plot randomly treated with Jersey and 2 left as controls. Plots of 4 (1 x 4, n = 12) and 16 (4 x 4, n = 2) plants were used in Experiment 2, with individual plants being treated with Jersey, Hinder^R, or Big Game Repellent^R (BGR^R) or left as controls. …

Tapping The Potential Of The Wildlife Rehabilitation Community For Public Education About Wildlife Damage Management, William F. Siemer, Tommy L. Brown, Patrick P. Martin, Randall D. Stumvoll

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Wildlife rehabilitators frequently interact with the public, but the extent and impact of their activities as public educators had never been well documented in New York State. In 1991 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) sponsored a mail survey of all 430 rehabilitators in New York to address this information need. Rehabilitators showed high interest and involvement in public education, and they reached a large audience, suggesting that they may hold potential as contributors to public education concerning wildlife damage control. Realizing that potential offers an incentive for DEC to work more closely with rehabilitators to provide …

Perceived Risks Of Deer-Related Vehicle Accidents: Influence On Deer Population Preferences Of The Residents Of Tompkins County, New York, Richard C. Stedman, Rebecca J. Stout, Barbara A. Knuth, Daniel J. Decker

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

High populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in much of the eastern United States have increased the probability of deer-related vehicle accidents (DRVAs). These accidents are very costly in terms of vehicle repair and have the potential for serious physical injury to motorists. DRVAs are increasing rapidly in suburban areas, where deer may also cause other types of damage (i.e., to gardens or ornamental shrubs). In these suburban areas, wildlife professionals have limited deer management options. We hypothesized that the peoples' perception of the potential risk posed by ORV As interacts with the perceived benefits provided by deer, …

Agency And Stakeholder Evaluations Of Citizen Participation In Deer Management Decisions: Implications For Damage Control, Rebecca J. Stout, Daniel J. Decker, Barbara A. Knuth

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

As in many states, wildlife managers and biologists in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bureau of Wildlife (BOW) set white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population objectives in deer management units (DMUs). BOW has authority to regulate deer harvest through a deer management permit quota system. Decisions about regulating deer population levels have a direct impact on stakeholders concerned with the degree of damage to field and vegetable crops, orchards, nurseries, tree plantations, gardens, and ornamental shrubbery. Deer densities also affect economic and recreational benefits derived by other stakeholders. Developing management strategies that address these conflicting interests …

Bear Damage To Agriculture In Wisconsin, Laine R. Stowell, Robert C. Willging

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Black bear (Ursus americanus) are common in northern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has established a population goal of 6,000 bears across 46,361 km2 of bear range. Bear damage to agriculture has occurred for over 50 years, and various strategies have been used to address these problems. Bear damage to agricultural crops and livestock became eligible for reimbursement by the state in 1939. The legislature terminated this program in 1980 in favor of a new program that placed greater emphasis on damage prevention than on compensation. Since 1984, WDNR has managed bear damage primarily through …

Ecological Considerations In The Management Of Wildlife Damage, Robert K. Swihart

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Strategies for managing wildlife damage may be divided into 3 broad categories: direct manipulation of populations, manipulation of behavioral or ecological traits of pest species, and manipulation of environmental features. For each of these categories, I review the importance of ecological considerations in determining the effectiveness of management strategies. Proper incorporation of ecological information is important to the success of management strategies in all 3 categories. I predict that future demands will increase for ecologically-based strategies that require minimal intervention, and for integration of management strategies that simultaneously address problems posed by both vertebrate and invertebrate pests. Several recent ecologically-based …

Perceptions And Realities: When Does 2 + 2 = 5?, Robert M. Timm

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Perception and reality. One and the same, or are they different? There are certainly a diversity of perceptions. Are there also multiple realities?

Comparison Of Methods For Detecting Voles Under Apple Trees, Mark E. Tobin, Milo E. Richmond, Richard M. Engeman

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

We conducted a study in 2 heavily infested orchards in the mid-Hudson Valley of New York to evaluate methods for detecting the presence of meadow voles (MV, Microtus pennsylvanicus) and pine voles (PV, M. pinetorum) under apple trees. We quantified several possible signs indicating the presence of voles in each of the 4 quadrants under the canopy of each tree, and then set and monitored traps until capture success in the orchard declined to zero. There was no evidence that the 4 quadrants differed with respect to any of the variables examined. The apple slice index (ASI) was …

Management Of Human-Raccoon Interaction In The Midst Of A Raccoon Rabies Outbreak, Charles V. Trimarchi, John G. Debbie

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The rabies epizootic that had affected raccoon (Procyon lotor) populations in the southeastern United States since the mid-1950s jumped to West Virginia in 1977, the apparent result of importation of raccoons from Florida. During the following 14 years, the disease spread through raccoon populations in the mid-Atlantic states, so that by early 1991 infected raccoons had been identified in areas of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Although raccoons have remained the primary vector of the disease throughout the affected areas, spillover has occurred into other wildlife, including skunks …

Use Of Livestock Protection Collars To Protect Sheep And Goats, Murray T. Walton

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The sodium monofluoroacetate (Compound 1080) Livestock Protection Collar is selective for individual predators attacking the throat of sheep or goats and is especially useful in talcing coyotes (Canis latrans). However, fears of secondary and nontarget poisonings have resulted in restrictions on their use. They are registered for use in the United States only to kill coyotes. To satisfy U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements, the Texas Department of Agriculture provides training and testing for certifying collar applicators, and has monitored collar use from 1988 through 1990. During this period, 59 licensed applicators, 6 collar pools, and the Texas Animal …

Minimizing Deer Damage To Forest Vegetation Through Aggressive Deer Population Management, Raymond J. Winchcombe

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Controlled hunts were used annually between 1976-90 on the Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum in southeastern New York to control deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population expansion and prevent over-browsing of forested and landscaped areas. The primary objective of the hunts was to remove sufficient numbers of adult female deer each year to stabilize herd growth and minimize browsing pressure. Hunters had to register early, attend a preseason meeting, pass a shooting proficiency test, apply for a deer management permit, and pay a fee. Spring browse-use surveys, using several tree species as an index to browsing pressure, showed low use through …

The Need And Difficulty Of Bringing The Pennsylvania Deer Herd Under Control, Gary W. Witmer, David S. Decalesta

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The Pennsylvania white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herd has increased dramatically in the last several decades, despite greatly increased harvests. The high statewide deer density (11 + deer/km²) causes serious losses to agricultural crop production, forest regeneration, and diversity of forest flora and fauna. High deer numbers are associated with an excessive number of vehicle-deer accidents, and is implicated in the rapid increase in the incidence of Lyme disease in humans. Current efforts to reduce deer densities locally and statewide (extended antlerless harvest seasons and special farm hunts) are not solving the damage problem. Other solutions should …

Status Of Coyotes And Coyote Depredations In Pennsylvania, Gary Witmer, Arnold Hayden

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The coyote (Canis latrans) population in Pennsylvania has grown in the last several decades to about 4,000. It continues to grow, despite a known annual harvest of more than 850 animals. There is a growing concern about the effects of coyotes on game and livestock populations. We discuss known and potential coyote-human conflicts in Pennsylvania and propose a program of depredation prevention and control. To be successful, the program requires cooperation, funding, research, educational materials, and training workshops.

Educational Opportunities At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Scott E. Hygnstrom

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

University students, particularly those enrolled in natural resources programs, make up one of the smallest, yet potentially most important and influential audiences for wildlife damage professionals. Considering that these students will be tomorrow's natural resources technicians, biologists, and administrators, I feel that it is critical that we provide them factual information about wildlife damage to increase their awareness of potential problems and solutions, and increase their ability to make well-informed decisions.

The Effect Of Design And Dose Level Choice On Estimatlng The Optimal Dose In A Quantitative Dose-Response Experiment, Henry R. Rolka, George A. Milliken, James R. Schwenke, Marta Remmenga

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

D-optimality is a commonly used criterion to evaluate a design with respect to parameter estimation. The variance of the optimal dose estimate is another criterion for evaluating a design. The quantitative dose-response experiment involves fitting a model to data and estimating an optimal dose. Two techniques for estimating an optimal dose and three models are used to compare the variances of optimal dose estimates over nine equally spaced balanced designs and five fixed unequally spaced six-point designs. The results show that a design which is more D-optimal than another design does not necessarily produce optimal dose estimates with less variance.

Analysis Of Genotype X Environment Interaction By Graphical Techniques, George C.J. Fernandez

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Genotype x Environment interactions results from the changes in the magnitude of differences among genotypes (non-crossover or quantitative interactions) or changes in the relative ranking of the genotypes (crossover or qualitative interactions) in different environments. Non-crossover interactions are usually associated with variance heterogeneity and non-additivity. The analysis of variance combined with joint regression analysis failed to differentiate between the crossover and non-crossover interactions. Tedious computations are necessary in comparisons of all possible pairs of genotypes in all possible pairs of environments in the crossover detection tests. Therefore, differentiating the non-crossover interaction caused by variance heterogeneity and non-additivity from crossover interaction …

Analysis Of The Spatial Distribution Of Sugarbeet Plants, Stephen D. Kachman, John A. Smith

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The spatial distribution of emerged sugarbeet plants is an important aspect of the performance of sugarbeet planters. Three major components influencing the spatial distribution are the ability to drop a single seed at a time, the ability to drop the seeds a fixed distance apart, and the ability of the seed to emerge. A model has been developed to describe the distribution of the spacing between emerged sugarbeet plants. The model consists of a mixture of normal and gamma distributions. The spatial data consists of the distance between neighboring emerged plants. Spatial data was collected on 7 planters operated at …

Evaluation Of Four Covariate Types Used For Adjustment Of Spatial Variability, Paul N. Hinz, John P. Lagus

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Four types of covariates are used to account for spatial variability in data from a field experiment for evaluating 620 soybean varieties for iron chlorosis. The covariates are calculated as the average of 4 and of 14 neighboring residuals and of 4 and of 14 neighboring observations. The residual mean square from the analysis of covariance was smaller' when residuals were used in calculation of the covariates than when observations were used. Moreover, use of 14 neighbors resulted in smaller residual mean squares than did use of 4 neighbors. Differences among 4 covariate types were small and not practically important. …

Multi-Product Dry Milling Yields Prediction When Products Are Not Independent, Aziz Bouzaher, Alicia L. Carriquiry

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The yield of products in the dry milling industry is largely determined by the physical properties of the corn kernel. The main objective of this paper is to investigate several statistical models of dry milling yield prediction based on physical characteristics of corn. Data consisting of one hundred corn samples representing a range of genetic traits and quality differences are used. For each corn sample, sixteen physical and chemical properties together with six dry milling product yields were measured, in a controlled laboratory environment .

For each corn sample, we consider a vector of dry milling product yields, and a …

Messy Experimental Designs, Dallas E. Johnson

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

This paper describes the statistical analysis of an agricultural experiment that was conducted in a very complex, but somewhat reasonable, experimental design. A correct analysis of data collected from the experimental design used requires the estimation of 8 error terms.

A Statistical Analysis Of The Performance Of Milking System Vacuum Regulators, Linda J. Young, Gerald R. Bodman, Eugene C. Boilesen, Walter W. Stroup

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Milking machine vacuum regulators were tested at dairies across the United States over a period of twelve years. The drop in vacuum level with increasing air flow for each regulator tested was modeled using segmented regression. Three measures of regulator performance were considered: the slope of the line in the first phase, the variability about the first line, and the join point (after which vacuum pressure began to drop rapidly). The distribution of the join point was estimated based on an accelerated failure time model with censoring, Weibull errors, a model effect, and a linear effect of set point vacuum. …

Evaluation Of Methane Gas Production In A Simultaneous Regression System, Mark W. Jenner, Jon Maatta, Dennis M. Sievers

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Methane gas production is a function of volatile solids activity in anaerobic digesters. Increasing the solids retention time of the swine manure digester system without increasing the hydraulic retention time would theoretically increase the methane gas production efficiency. Coagulation treatments were performed on the effluent of the second digester in a system of two digesters in series .

The objective of this paper is to describe mathematically the relationship of the Coagulation treatments in the second digester to biogas production and volatile solids retention. An initial, single equation, ordinary least squares regression produced statistically significant parameter estimates, but failed to …

A Reevaluation Of The Growth Decline In Pine In Georgia, And In Georgia-Alabama Combined, Z. Ouyang, H. T. Schreuder, J. Li

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Using an improved testing procedure based on bootstrap and weighted jack-knife confidence intervals with the same model as used in Bechtold et al. (1991) and Ruark et al. (1991), analysis in this paper generally confirm the results of a significant decrease in growth rate in pine in Georgia and Alabama for 1972 - 1982 (5th cycle) relative to 1961 - 1972 (4th cycle) discussed in these papers.