Life Sciences Commons^™

Virginia Wild-Caught Blue Catfish: Nutrition And Contaminant Analysis, Robert A. Fisher

Reports

The blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, is an introduced freshwater species in Virginia’s tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay. Since its introduction in the 1970’s, significant recreational and commercial fisheries have developed within upriver, largely freshwater environments. Blue catfish are voracious, opportunistic predators, feeding on a variety of natural prey items, including native fish and shellfish species. Their varied diets result in a more nutrient-rich fish compared to farmraised catfish (USDA Food and Nutrient Database https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app. html#/?query=catfish) on the market, which are typically fed a plant-based diet.

In recent years, blue catfish populations have expanded from upriver freshwater habitat to major brackish-water …

Genetic Biocontrol For Invasive Species, John L. Teem, Luke Alphey, Sarah Descamps, Matt P. Edgington, Owain Edwards, Neil Gemmell, Tim Harvey-Samuel, Rachel L. Melnick, Kevin P. Oh, Antoinette J. Piaggio, J. Royden Saah, Dan Schill, Paul Thomas, Trevor Smith, Andrew Roberts

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive species are increasingly affecting agriculture, food, fisheries, and forestry resources throughout the world. As a result of global trade, invasive species are often introduced into new environments where they become established and cause harm to human health, agriculture, and the environment. Prevention of new introductions is a high priority for addressing the harm caused by invasive species, but unfortunately efforts to prevent new introductions do not address the economic harm that is presently manifested where invasive species have already become established. Genetic biocontrol can be defined as the release of organisms with genetic methods designed to disrupt the reproduction …

Photographic Validation Of Target Versus Nontarget Take Of Brown Treesnake Baits, Shane R. Siers, Aaron B. Shiels, Cynthia G. Payne, Francinem M. Chlarson, Craig S. Clark, Stephen M. Mosher

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Use of toxic baits or other tools for managing nuisance species must ensure that the species of interest is adequately targeted while exposure to nontarget species is minimized. Nontarget takes of acetaminophen‐laced baits for control of invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) on Guam may put those animals at risk of lethal intoxication and render the bait unavailable to the intended target species. We used wildlife cameras to identify species removing toxic and nontoxic baits from brown treesnake bait stations designed to exclude nontarget taxa in 2015 and 2016. Throughout various sites and habitat types, and balanced by season (wet vs. …

Time Allocation To Resources By Three Species Of Rats (Rattus Spp.) In A Radial Arm Maze, Gary Witmer, Nathan P. Snow, Rachael S. Moulton

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context. Introduced rats (Rattus spp.) can pose a serious threat to native flora and fauna, especially on islands where most species have evolved in the absence of terrestrial predators. Effective detection and eradication methods for introduced rats are essential to the maintenance of insular ecosystem integrity. Thus, it is important to better understand the behaviour of rats when they first arrive in a new setting.

Aims. To determine whether rats would find some novel stimuli to be significantly more attractive than other novel stimuli.

Methods. An eight-arm radial maze was used to study the behaviour of three species of Rattus …

Factors Affecting Bait Site Visitation: Area Of Influence Of Baits, Jacquelyn E. Mcrae, Peter E. Schlichting, Nathan P. Snow, Amy J. Davis, Kurt C. Vercautern, John C. Kilgo, David A. Keiter, James C. Beasley, Kim M. Pepin

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

ABSTRACT Baiting is a fundamental strategy for the global management of wild pigs (Sus scrofa); however, little information exists on how anthropogenic bait affects wild pig movements on a landscape. We investigated factors that are important in determining the spatial area of attraction for wild pigs to bait (‘area of influence’ of a bait site) using data from Global Positioning System (GPS) collars and locations of bait sites. We monitored movements of wild pigs in 2 distinct study areas in the United States from February to September 2016 and used locational data using GPS collars to analyze the influence of …

The First Record Of Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes Procyonoides) In Turkey, Morteza Naderi, Emrah Çoban, Josip Kusak, Mübeccel Çisel Kemahli Aytekin, Mark William Chynoweth, İsmail Kayahan Ağirkaya, Neslihan Güven, Ayşegül Çoban, Çağan Hakkı Şekercioğlu

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) was recorded for the first time in Turkey on May 10, 2019, and June 5, 2019, in the same location after 4668 nights of camera trapping in the forests of the Sarıkamış region and Allahuekber Mountains in eastern Turkey. It was recorded in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest at 2340 m above sea level with extensive snow cover. Given that the nearest known population is in the forests of Georgia approximately 105 km away, there may already be a viable population in Turkey. As an omnivorous species with a high …

Economic Estimates Of Invasive Wild Pig Damage To Crops In 12 Us States, Sophie Mckee, Aaron Anderson, Keith Carlisle, Stephanie A. Shwiff

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We report the results of a survey on invasive wild pig (Sus scrofa L.) damage and control in 12 US states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas). The crops chosen for this study represent the “second-tier” in terms of economic importance after the six crops that were the subject of Anderson et al. (2016). The survey was distributed by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) in the summer of 2019 to a sample of producers in each of the states (except California) of the following six crops: hay, pecans (Carya …

Automated Aerial Baiting For Invasive Brown Treesnake Control: System Overview And Program Status, Shane R. Siers, John D. Eisemann, William C. Pitt, Larry Clark, Scott M. Goetz, Robert J. Gosnell, Aaron F. Collins, Eric T. Hileman, Melia G. Nafus, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Michael C. Messaros, William G.N. Coon

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

The economically and ecologically catastrophic introduction of invasive brown treesnakes to the Pacific Island of Guam has long served as a cautionary tale about the dangers of invasive species and the seeming impossibility of their management on a landscape scale. USDA Wildlife Services and federal and private partners have engineered a system for the automated manufacture and aerial delivery of toxic baits for landscape-scale suppression of brown treesnakes in large and remote forest plots. The helicopter-borne dispensing module can launch four bait cartridges per second, and a single payload of 3,600 cartridges can treat 30 ha of forest at 120 …

The First Record Of Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes Procyonoides) In Turkey, Morteza Naderi, Emrah Çoban, Josip Kusak, Mübeccel Çi̇sel Kemahli Ayteki̇n, Mark Chynoweth, İsmai̇l Kayahan Ağirkaya, Nesli̇han Güven, Ayşegül Çoban, Cagan H. Sekercioglu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) was recorded for the first time in Turkey on May 10, 2019, and June 5, 2019, in the same location after 4668 nights of camera trapping in the forests of the Sarıkamış region and Allahuekber Mountains in eastern Turkey. It was recorded in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forest at 2340 m above sea level with extensive snow cover. Given that the nearest known population is in the forests of Georgia approximately 105 km away, there may already be a viable population in Turkey. As an omnivorous species with a high adaptive ability and high …

Population Demographics Of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix In Kentucky Lake, Allison M. Lebeda

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Invasive species continue to threaten aquatic ecosystems in the United States. Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix have successfully infiltrated much of the Mississippi River Basin, including Kentucky Lake – a large reservoir located on the Tennessee River in Western Kentucky. Although Silver Carp have been present in Kentucky Lake for at least a decade, until recently, very little was known about the population, how often successful reproduction is occurring, or the environmental conditions that facilitate strong year-classes. Hence, it is difficult for managers to predict the potential impact of Silver Carp on native species. Silver Carp were collected from Kentucky Lake …

Development And Testing Of A Matrix For Mongoose Toxic Bait: Nontoxic Bait Acceptance Cage Trials, Shane Siers, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel Leinbach, Daniel Sedgwick, Chris N. Niebuhr, Emily W. Ruell

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

The only pesticide currently registered for mongoose control is a product developed for rats that consists of a hard-cereal bait block. Although the active ingredient (diphacinone) is known to be highly effective for mongoose, previous studies indicate that carnivorous and omnivorous mongooses do not readily consume the hard bait matrix designed for gnawing rodents. A palatable bait matrix with a consistency more appropriate to mongoose dentition and feeding behavior will be required to develop a more effective mongoose pesticide. We evaluated the acceptance and consumption of nontoxic versions of four candidate bait matrices: FOXECUTE® and FOXSHIELD® (Animal Control Technologies, Australia; …

Feasibility Of A Successful Rat Eradication On Wake Atoll Following Initial Partial Failure: Potential Causes, Remedial Actions, And Remaining Knowledge Gaps, Chad Hanson, Kristen Rex, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

A 2012 attempt to remove two rat species (Rattus tanezumi and R. exulans) from Wake Atoll was partially successful. R. tanezumi was eradicated from all three islands (Wake, Wilkes, and Peale), and R. exulans was eradicated from Peale. However, R. exulans remained on Wake and Wilkes and have since recovered to very high densities. In 2013, a panel of experts reviewed the eradication operation and offered a list of possible causes of the partial failure. Since that time, further research has been conducted to address several of the issues identified in the review. In this paper, we conduct a current …

Placebo Bait Uptake Trial To Test Feasibility Of Polynesian Rat (Rattus Exulans) Eradication On Wake Atoll, Chris N. Niebuhr, Israel Leinbach, Thomas W. Mcauliffe, Dean K. Foster, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Rodent eradications have contributed to the recovery of many threatened species, but challenges often exist for campaigns that occur on tropical islands when compared to more temperate regions. A post-operational review of a rat eradication operation on Wake Atoll indicated that certain areas, such as those with high alternative food abundance, may have contributed to the failure to remove all Polynesian rats. We conducted a nontoxic bait uptake trial to evaluate whether the maximum prescribed bait application rate for Brodifacoum-25W rodenticide pellets was sufficient to expose all rats to a lethal dose at three sites on Wake Atoll, including around …

Mixed Ancestry From Wild And Domestic Lineages Contributes To The Rapid Expansion Of Invasive Feral Swine, Timothy J. Smyser, Michael A. Tabak, Chris Slootmaker, Michael S. Robeson Ii, Ryan S. Miller, Mirte Bosse, Hendrik-Jan Megens, Martien A.M. Groenen, Samuel Rezende Paiva, Danielle Assis De Faria, Harvey D. Blackburn, Brandon S. Schmit, Antoinette J. Piaggio

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive alien species are a significant threat to both economic and ecological systems. Identifying the processes that give rise to invasive populations is essential for implementing effective control strategies. We conducted an ancestry analysis of invasive feral swine (Sus scrofa, Linnaeus, 1758), a highly destructive ungulate that is widely distributed throughout the contiguous United States, to describe introduction pathways, sources of newly emergent populations and processes contributing to an ongoing invasion. Comparisons of high-density single nucleotide polymorphism genotypes for 6,566 invasive feral swine to a comprehensive reference set of S. scrofa revealed that the vast majority of feral swine were …

Movement Behavior Of Radio-Tagged European Starlings In Urban, Rural, And Exurban Landscapes, Page E. Klug, H. Jeffrey Homan

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Since their intentional introduction into the United States in the 1800s, European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) have become the fourth most common bird species and a nuisance bird pest in both urban and rural areas. Managers require better information about starling movement and habit-use patterns to effectively manage starling populations and the damage they cause. Thus, we revisited 6 radio-telemetry studies conducted during fall or winter between 2005 and 2010 to compare starling movements (n = 63 birds) and habitat use in 3 landscapes. Switching of roosting and foraging sites in habitat-sparse rural landscapes caused daytime (0900–1500 hours) …

Optimal Spatial Prioritization Of Control Resources For Elimination Of Invasive Species Under Demographic Uncertainty, Kim M. Pepin, Timothy J. Smyser, Amy J. Davis, Ryan S. Miller, Sophie Mckee, Kurt C. Vercauteren, William Kendall, Chris Slootmaker

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Populations of invasive species often spread heterogeneously across a landscape, consisting of local populations that cluster in space but are connected by dispersal. A fundamental dilemma for invasive species control is how to optimally allocate limited fiscal resources across local populations. Theoretical work based on perfect knowledge of demographic connectivity suggests that targeting local populations from which migrants originate (sources) can be optimal. However, demographic processes such as abundance and dispersal can be highly uncertain, and the relationship between local population density and damage costs (damage function) is rarely known. We used a metapopulation model to understand how budget and …

One Step Closer To A Better Starling Trap, James R. Thiele

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are an invasive species in the United States that damage agriculture, personal property, and threaten human health and safety. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services provides technical support to mitigate damage by controlling starling populations at concentrated animal feeding operations, landfills, utilities, and urban areas. Wildlife Services uses DRC-1339, a registered toxicant, to reduce starling populations. Trapping can also be an effective tool but requires more time at a higher cost than DRC-1339. Trapping starlings, however, may be needed to provide a viable alternative to mitigate damage in areas where toxicant use may …

Effects Of Wild Pig Disturbance On Forest Vegetation And Soils, Steven M. Gray, Gary J. Roloff, Daniel B. Kramer, Dwayne R. Etter, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Robert A. Montgomery

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In North America, wild pigs (Sus scrofa; feral pigs, feral swine, wild boars) are a widespread exotic species capable of creating large‐scale biotic and abiotic landscape perturbations. Quantification of wild pig environmental effects has been particularly problematic in northern climates, where they occur only recently as localized populations at low densities. Between 2016 and 2017, we assessed short‐term (within ~2 yrs of disturbance) effects of a low‐density wild pig population on forest features in the central Lower Peninsula of Michigan, USA. We identified 16 8‐ha sites using global positioning system locations from 7 radio‐collared wild pigs for sampling.Within each …

Sublethal Effects Of Salinity And Temperature On Non-Native Blue Catfish: Implications For Establishment In Atlantic Slope Drainages, Vaskar Nepal, Mary C. Fabrizio

VIMS Articles

The distribution and further range expansion of non-native blue catfish Ictalurus furcatus in coastal waters throughout the United States Atlantic slope depend, in part, on the salinity tolerance of the fish. However, temperature-mediated sublethal effects of increased salinities on blue catfish biology are not yet known. We assessed the effects of salinity and temperature on growth, body condition, body composition and food consumption of juvenile blue catfish in a controlled laboratory experiment. Temperature and salinity had an interactive effect on blue catfish biology, although most fish survived 112 days in salinities up to 10 psu. At salinities 9 psu) likely …

Invasive Blue Catfish In The Chesapeake Bay Region: A Case Study Of Competing Management Objectives, Mary C. Fabrizio, Vaskar Nepal, Troy D. Tuckey

VIMS Articles

Freshwater fishes have been introduced outside their native range to establish recreational fisheries, but management conflicts arise when such introductions also result in potentially harmful effects on native species. In this case study, we focus on Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus, which were introduced in the Chesapeake Bay region and are now considered invasive. In many tidal tributaries, Blue Catfish have increased dramatically in abundance, expanded into high-salinity habitats (up to 21.8 psu), and negatively affected native species, prompting calls for the development of an effective management plan. However, management of this conflict species is complicated by multiple competing objectives, including …

Bigheaded Carp Spatial Reproductive Dynamics And Population Genetics In Large River Tributaries, Samuel J. Schaick

Masters Theses

Fisheries managers are devoting considerable effort, time, and funding towards limiting the spread of invasive Bighead and Silver (bigheaded) Carp. A better understanding of factors that influence spatial patterns of bigheaded carp reproduction can help fisheries managers prevent their spread. To examine factors that influence spatial patterns of reproduction, we sampled ichthyoplankton using drift nets and larval push nets in three tributaries of the Illinois and Wabash Rivers March-September 2016-2018. We compared relative abundances of bigheaded carp eggs and larvae among tributaries using catch per unit effort (CPUE). Abiotic data were analyzed from individual study tributaries and pooled among tributaries …