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Stoichiometry And Parasitism: Changes In Nutrient Concentrations In The Three-Spined Stickleback-Schistocephalus Solidus System, Megan Braat

Honors Scholar Theses

Ecological stoichiometry is a rapidly growing field of study that assesses the elemental composition of organisms in ecosystems and the impact that changes in these elemental compositions have on populations. Parasitism is widely studied for its role in altering the physiology and behavior of hosts within a population. However, the interaction between parasitism and the stoichiometry of the host-parasite system has not been well-established. To determine the impact of parasitism on stoichiometry of host, we measured the elemental composition (%C, %N, and %P) and ratios (C:N, C:P, and N:P) of a population of parasitized and unparasitized Gasterosteus aculeatus (three-spined stickleback) …

Population Genomics Of Invasive Rodents On Islands: Genetic Consequences Of Colonization And Prospects For Localized Synthetic Gene Drive, Kevin P. Oh, Aaron B. Shiels, Laura Shiels, Dimitri V. Blondel, Karl J. Campbell, J. Royden Saah, Alun L. Lloyd, Paul Q. Thomas, Fred Gould, Zaid Abdo, John R. Godwin, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Introduced rodent populations pose significant threats worldwide, with particularly severe impacts on islands. Advancements in genome editing have motivated interest in synthetic gene drives that could potentially provide efficient and localized suppression of invasive rodent populations. Application of such technologies will require rigorous population genomic surveys to evaluate population connectivity, taxonomic identification, and to inform design of gene drive localization mechanisms. One proposed approach leverages the predicted shifts in genetic variation that accompany island colonization, wherein founder effects, genetic drift, and island-specific selection are expected to result in locally fixed alleles (LFA) that are variable in neighboring nontarget populations. Engineering …

Synthetic Viral Pyrogen Induces Behavioral Fever In Plethodon Glutinosus Salamanders, Nicholas Britt

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Behavioral fever is an essential coping mechanism across ectothermic phyla to aid in combating pathogenic threats. Ectotherms lack internal temperature regulation associated with fever in endotherms; thus, ectotherms can exhibit a behavioral fever response when immunocompromised to thermoregulate by moving to warmer locations. The salamander order Caudata, tend to be keystone species in their resident ecosystems through their role as secondary consumers of invertebrates to maintain the food chain. With growing interest about ecology and conservation of salamanders as species diversity declines, this study was designed to determine if salamanders use their environment to take advantage of behavioral fever. The …

Bighorn Sheep Demographics Following Pneumonia Die-Off Events, Kylie Sinclair

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bighorn sheep populations across the Intermountain West are subject to disease pressure from the respiratory bacteria Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae. Although the effects of M. ovipneumoniae-associated disease die-offs are well documented, less is known about the factors driving long-term differences in post-die-off population responses. While many herds experience years to decades in which recruitment is less than 20 lambs per 100 ewes, some herds’ lamb survival rates are able to rebound rapidly following die-off events. The reason why these herds recover quickly while others do not is currently unknown. Here, we assess the roles environmental, demographic, and pathogen-associated factors could …

Student Pages - You Are The Phi, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 05: Public Health & Water Quality

In this activity, you are playing the role of a Public Health Investigator (PHI) assigned to a case. In your city, there has been a recent outbreak of sickness that is affecting dozens of people. The doctors report that the illness is caused by a bacterial infection. All of these people have reported a similar illness over the past 24 hours. They have reported nausea, diarrhea, fever and chills. However, the infection is generally not transferable from person-to-person. Therefore, people who are sickened by the bacteria must be acquiring the infection from a source.

Student Pages - Answer Key - You Are The Phi, Center For Urban Resilience

Module 05: Public Health & Water Quality

No abstract provided.

Decline In Amphibian Health In Local Stream, Elyse Vetter, Elise Dearment, Colton Russell, Audrey Fontes, Lee Kats

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Many local streams of the Santa Monica Mountains are populated by the native California Newt, Taricha torosa, a species of special concern. Arroyo Sequit is one of these streams, the upper and lower portions of which are split by a culvert and the Mulholland Highway. This stream and the surrounding areas burned during the Woolsey fire of 2018. Since the fire, construction has been ongoing in and around the stream. Two years post-fire (during the summer of 2020) significantly more newts were found in the stream than years prior. A large proportion of these newts were unhealthy in appearance, …

Using Enclosed Y-Mazes To Assess Chemosensory Behavior In Reptiles, M. Rockwell Parker, Andrea F. Currylow, Eric A. Tillman, Charlotte J. Robinson, Jilian M. Josimovich, Isabella M.G. Bukovich, Lauren A. Nazarian, Melia G. Nafus, Bryan M. Kluever, Amy A. Yackel Adams

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Reptiles utilize a variety of environmental cues to inform and drive animal behavior such as chemical scent trails produced by food or conspecifics. Decrypting the scent-trailing behavior of vertebrates, particularly invasive species, enables the discovery of cues that induce exploratory behavior and can aid in the development of valuable basic and applied biological tools. However, pinpointing behaviors dominantly driven by chemical cues versus other competing environmental cues can be challenging. Y-mazes are common tools used in animal behavior research that allow quantification of vertebrate chemosensory behavior across a range of taxa. By reducing external stimuli, Y-mazes remove confounding factors and …

Unprecedented Migratory Bird Die-Off: A Citizen-Based Analysis On The Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Mass Mortality Events In The Western United States, Di Yang, Anni Yang, Jue Yang, Rongting Xu, Han Qiu

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Extensive, severe wildfires, and wildfire-induced smoke occurred across the western and central United States since August 2020. Wildfires resulting in the loss of habitats and emission of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds pose serious threatens to wildlife and human populations, especially for avian species, the respiratory system of which are sensitive to air pollutions. At the same time, the extreme weather (e.g., snowstorms) in late summer may also impact bird migration by cutting off their food supply and promoting their migration before they were physiologically ready. In this study, we investigated the environmental drivers of massive bird die-offs by …

Epigenetic Potential In An Introduced Passerine, Haley E. Hanson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Epigenetic modifications play a critical role in numerous processes throughout the lifetime of an organism by influencing gene regulation. Responsive to both endogenous cues and external stimuli, epigenetic modifications are key mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. Epigenetic potential, or the capacity for phenotypic plasticity mediated by epigenetic modifications, can be encoded within the genome via genetic variation underlying aspects of epigenetic modifications. For example, one type of epigenetic modification, DNA methylation, predominately occurs at CpG motifs in vertebrates. The number of CpG sites within the genome then represents the capacity for DNA methylation to occur and is one form of epigenetic …

Mechanisms And Mitigation: Effects Of Light Pollution On West Nile Virus Dynamics, Meredith E. Kernbach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Light pollution, or the presence of unnatural light at night, is a pervasive and growing problem across the globe. While often pictured in urban centers, light pollution is far reaching and can affect seemingly safe and minimally developed environments. For example, agricultural communities with artificial lighting near facilities can generate such light pollution in rural areas. Further, streetlights and illuminated billboards along roads and highways can generate light pollution far from cities. Given how pervasive this anthropogenic stressor is, it is surprising that not much is known about how artificial light at night, or ALAN, affects humans or wildlife, especially …

Ecological Physiology Of Rafinesque’S Big-Eared Bats (Corynorhinus Rafinesquii) Roosting In An Anthropogenic Structure In Arkansas, Benjamin N. Spitz

Student Theses and Dissertations

Rafinesque’s big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) are suffering habitat loss due to deforestation of bottomland hardwoods which an increase in agriculture forces maternity colonies to roost in anthropogenic structures. In Arkansas I explore how bats from maternity colonies in anthropogenic structures use torpor and how torpor is affected by chronic stress and ectoparasites. During June- August of 2018-2019, I surveyed a maternity colony inside a barn. Captured bats were tagged with temperature-sensitive transmitters and tracked to roost trees and the barn daily confirming day roosts. Using Lotek data loggers, data from transmitters were collected as skin temperature and compared to ambient …

Sars-Cov-2 Exposure In Escaped Mink, Utah, Usa, Susan A. Shriner, Jeremy W. Ellis, J. Jeffrey Root, Annette Roug, Scott R. Stopak, Gerald W. Wiscomb, Jared R. Zierenberg, Hon S. Ip, Mia Kim Torchetti, Thomas J. Deliberto

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In August 2020, outbreaks of coronavirus disease were confirmed on mink farms in Utah, USA. We surveyed mammals captured on and around farms for evidence of infection or exposure. Free-ranging mink, presumed domestic escapees, exhibited high antibody titers, suggesting a potential severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission pathway to native wildlife.

We report a wildlife epidemiologic investigation of mammals captured on or near properties in Utah, USA, where outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection occurred in farmed mink. Mink farms are relatively common in the United States, and most are small family farms. The US …

Toxicity Of Sodium Nitrite-Based Vertebrate Pesticides For European Starlings (Sturnus Vulgaris), Scott J. Werner, Shelagh T. Deliberto, Hailey E. Mclean, Katherine E. Horak, Kirt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In the 21st century, invasive animals rank second only to habitat destruction as the greatest threat to global biodiversity. Socially-acceptable and cost-effective strategies are needed to reduce the negative economic and environmental impacts of invasive animals. We investigated the potential for sodium nitrite (SN; CAS 7632-00-0) to serve as an avian toxicant for European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris L.). We also assessed the non-target hazard of an experimental formulation of SN that is being developed as a toxicant for invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa L.). In gavage experiments with European starlings, we identified a lowest observed adverse effect level …

Avian Visual Ecologists Should Consider Uv Absorbance And All Sensory Modalities: A Response To Wisenden Et Al. (2020), Sean T. O'Daniels, Scott J. Werner, Ken Yasukawa

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In a recent publication, Wisenden et al. (2020) examined responses of territorial male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to models constructed with ultraviolet (UV)-reflective red epaulets for the purpose of determining if the addition of UV reflectance to epaulets ("UV+") changed the effectiveness of signals to receivers relative to "control" epaulets under field conditions. The authors hypothesized that "UV+epaulet coloration represents a visual signal with increased efficacy in territorial interactions." They presented behavioral data but no visual modeling data. Our aims in this commentary are to suggest alternative terms to those used by the authors, to express concern about the use …

Great Expectations: Deconstructing The Process Pathways Underlying Beaver-Related Restoration, Caroline S. Nash, Gordon E. Grant, Susan Charnley, Jason B. Dunham, Hannah Gosnell, Mark B. Hausner, David S. Pilliod, Jimmy Taylor

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Beaver-related restoration is a process-based strategy that seeks to address wide-ranging ecological objectives by reestablishing dam building in degraded stream systems. Although the beaver-related restoration has broad appeal, especially in water-limited systems, its effectiveness is not yet well documented. In this article, we present a process-expectation framework that links beaver-related restoration tactics to commonly expected outcomes by identifying the set of process pathways that must occur to achieve those expected outcomes. We explore the contingency implicit within this framework using social and biophysical data from project and research sites. This analysis reveals that outcomes are often predicated on complex process …

Factors Leading To Successful Island Rodent Eradications Following Initial Failure, Araceli Samaniego, Peter Kappes, Keith Broome, Steve Cranwell, Richard Griffiths, Grant Harper, Pete Mcclelland, Russell Palmer, Gerard Rocamora, Keith Springer, David Will, Shane Siers

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Island rodent eradications are increasingly conducted to eliminate the negative impacts of invasive rodents. The success rate in the tropics has been lower than in temperate regions, triggering research and reviews. Environmental factors unique to the tropics (e.g., land crabs and year-round rodent breeding) have been associated with eradication failure. Operational factors have also been important, but these have not been comprehensively assessed. The environmental and operational factors using global cases where rodent eradication initially failed and subsequent attempts occurred were compared. It was determined whether operational factors explained the initial failures, whether operational improvements explained subsequent successes, and whether …

Factors Affecting Outbreaks And Prevention And Control Strategies Of Wildlife Infectious Diseases, Zhibin Zhang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Recently, wildlife infectious diseases have become a more and more serious problem in the world which imposes a big threat to bio-safety and eco-safety of worldwide. Accelerated climate change and human activities are key driving forces in causing more frequent occurrences of wildlife infectious diseases. Climate change could create favorable conditions for large-scale outbreak or invasion of wildlife infectious diseases by altering range shift or habitat of wildlife infectious diseases or their host/vectors. Human disturbance increases interspecific transmission of pathogens across people, wild and domestic animals, as well as their spread velocity facilitated by the modern transportation systems, and then …

Impulse Vaccination Model For The Control Of Devil Facial Tumor Disease, Zachary Bobbitt, Timothy Comar, Megan O. Powell, Catherine Roberts, Nicholas Schneider, Teagen Smith

Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics

Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is a cancer that affects Tasmanian devils and that has caused the devil population to grossly decline since 1996. We present an SEIVR model to explore if recent advances in DFTD vaccines can help the wild population recover. Considering both and bi-annual impulse of vaccinating wild devils through food drops and introducing vaccinated captive-bred devils into the population, we explore the vaccine efficacy, percent of healthy devils receiving the vaccine, and years of campaign necessary for the devil population to have a long-term recovery. Based on our initial parameter estimations, we find a stable population …

Data From: Recovery From Discrete Wound Severities In Side-Blotched Lizards (Uta Stansburiana): Implications For Energy Budget, Locomotor Performance, And Oxidative Stress, Susannah S. French, Spencer B. Hudson

Browse all Datasets

Wounding events (predation attempts, competitive combat) result in injuries and/or infections that induce integrated immune responses for the recovery process. Despite the survival benefits of immunity in this context, the costs incurred may require investment to be diverted from traits contributing to immediate and/or future survival, such as locomotor performance and oxidative status. Yet, whether trait constraints manifest likely depends on wound severity and the implications for energy budget. For this study, food intake, body mass, sprint speed, and oxidative indices (reactive oxygen metabolites, antioxidant capacity) were monitored in male side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) healing from cutaneous wounds of discrete …

Data For "Arch_Covid_Crowding_Vc", Wayne Freimund, Zachary D. Miller

Browse all Datasets

Monitoring of visitor use in Arches National Park to assess social distancing behaviors of visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mussel Musings On The Powell River, Aggy Vanderpool

Cumberland Mountain Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Production Of Embryos And A Live Offspring Using Post Mortem Reproductive Material From Bison (Bison Bison Bison) Originating In Yellowstone National Park, Usa, Hayley M. Benham, Matthew P. Mccollum, Pauline Nol, Rebecca K. Frey, P. Ryan Clarke, Jack C. Rhyan, Jennifer P. Barfield

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bison from Yellowstone National Park (YNP) have an important genetic history. As one of the few wild herds of bison with no evidence of cattle DNA introgression and a large enough population to maintain genetic diversity, they are considered a conservation priority for the species. Unfortunately, there is a high prevalence of the zoonotic disease brucellosis in the herd. Part of the management strategy for controlling the disease and herd size in YNP is to remove bison from the population during the winter migration out of the park. This interagency management cull provides an opportunity to collect a large number …

Dispersal And Land Cover Contribute To Pseudorabies Virus Exposure In Invasive Wild Pigs, Felipe A. Hernandez, Amanda N. Carr, Michael P. Milleson, Hunter R. Merrill, Michael L. Avery, Brandon M. Parker, Cortney L. Pylant, James D. Austin, Samantha M. Wisely

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We investigated the landscape epidemiology of a globally distributed mammal, the wild pig (Sus scrofa), in Florida (U.S.), where it is considered an invasive species and reservoir to pathogens that impact the health of people, domestic animals, and wildlife. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that two commonly cited factors in disease transmission, connectivity among populations and abundant resources, would increase the likelihood of exposure to both pseudorabies virus (PrV) and Brucella spp. (bacterial agent of brucellosis) in wild pigs across the Kissimmee Valley of Florida. Using DNA from 348 wild pigs and sera from 320 individuals at 24 sites, we …

Crippling Rapid Evolution Of Metastasis And Drug Resistance In A549 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells With The Clinically Relevant Hsp90 Inhibitor Auy922, Nickolas Anthony Bacon

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The ability for species to evolve new features in response to changing circumstances in order to survive and propagate is a ubiquitous observation on both the macroscopic and microscopic levels of living systems. It should be no surprise, then, that diseases such as cancer utilize their own forms of adaptation to perpetuate themselves when exposed to external threats. Indeed, concepts drawn from Darwinian evolution are now widely accepted to help explain certain aspects of carcinogenesis and malignant progression, the sum of which have come to be known as the theory of tumor evolution. Since metastasis and drug resistance are features …

Evaluating Potential Effects Of Solar Power Facilities On Wildlife From An Animal Behavior Perspective, Rachel Y. Chock, Barbara Clucas, Elizabeth K. Peterson, Bradley Blackwell, Daniel T. Blumstein, Kathleen Church, Esteban Fernández-Juricic, Gabriel Francescoli, Alison L. Greggor, Paul Kemp, Gabriela M. Pinho, Peter M. Sanzenbacher, Bruce A. Schulte, Pauline Toni

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Solar power is a renewable energy source with great potential to help meet increasing global energy demands and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. However, research is scarce on how solar facilities affect wildlife. With input from professionals in ecology, conservation, and energy, we conducted a research-prioritization process and identified key questions needed to better understand impacts of solar facilities on wildlife. We focused on animal behavior, which can be used to identify population responses before mortality or other fitness consequences are documented. Behavioral studies can also offer approaches to understand the mechanisms leading to negative interactions (e.g., collision, singeing, …

Temporal And Spatial Blood Feeding Patterns Of Urban Mosquitoes In The San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico, Matthew W. Hopken, Limarie J. Reyes-Torres, Nicole Scavo, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Zaid Abdo, Daniel Taylor, James Pierce, Donald A. Yee

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Simple Summary: Understanding the biodiversity of urban ecosystems is critical for management of invasive and pest species, conserving native species, and disease control. Mosquitoes (Culicidae) are ubiquitous and abundant in urban ecosystems, and rely on blood meals taken from vertebrates. We used DNA from freshly blood-fed mosquitoes to characterize the diversity of vertebrate host species in the San Juan Metropolitan Area, Puerto Rico. We collected two mosquito species that fed on a variety of vertebrates. Culex quinquefasciatus fed on 17 avian taxa (81.2% of blood meals), seven mammalian taxa (17.9%), and one reptilian taxon (0.85%). Aedes aegypti blood meals were …

Best Management Practices For Trapping Furbearers In The United States, H. Bryant White, Gordon R. Batcheller, Edward K. Boggess, Clifford L. Brown, Joseph W. Butfiloski, Thomas A. Decker, John D. Erb, Michael W. Fall, David A. Hamilton, Tim L. Hiller, George F. Hubert Jr., Matthew J. Lovallo, John F. Olson, Nathan M. Roberts

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Humans have used wild furbearers for various purposes for thousands of years. Today, furbearers are sustainably used by the public for their pelts, leather, bones, glands, meat, or other purposes. In North America, contemporary harvest of furbearers has evolved along with trap technologies and societal concerns, and is now highly regulated and more closely coupled with harvest analysis and population monitoring. Traps and regulated trapping programs provide personal or cultural rewards that can also support conservation, and can assist with advancing ecological knowledge through research, protecting endangered species, restoring populations or habitats, protecting personal property, and enhancing public health and …

Strategic Considerations For Invasive Species Managers In The Utilization Of Environmental Dna (Edna): Steps For Incorporating This Powerful Surveillance Tool, Jeffrey Morisette, Stanley Burgiel, Kelsey Brantley, Wesley M. Daniel, John Darling, Jeanette Davis, Thomas Franklin, Keith Gaddis, Margaret Hunter, Richard Lance, Tracy Leskey, Yale Passamaneck, Antoinette Piaggio, Brian Rector, Adam Sepulveda, Melissa Smith, Carol A. Stepien, Taylor Wilcox

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive species surveillance programs can utilize environmental DNA sampling and analysis to provide information on the presence of invasive species. Wider utilization of eDNA techniques for invasive species surveillance may be warranted. This paper covers topics directed towards invasive species managers and eDNA practitioners working at the intersection of eDNA techniques and invasive species surveillance. It provides background information on the utility of eDNA for invasive species management and points to various examples of its use across federal and international programs. It provides information on 1) why an invasive species manager should consider using eDNA, 2) deciding if eDNA can …

Reproductive Trade-Offs In The Colorado Checkered Whiptail Lizard (Aspidoscelis Neotesselatus): An Examination Of The Relationship Between Clutch And Follicle Size, Hannah E. Caracalas, S. S. French, S. B. Hudson, B. M. Kluever, A. C. Webb, D. Eifler, A. J. Lehmicke, Lise M. Aubry

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Life history theory predicts that there should be an inverse relationship between offspring size and number, because individuals cannot simultaneously maximize both when resources are limited. Although extensively studied in avian species, the occurrence and determinants of reproductive tradeoffs in oviparous reptiles are far less understood, particularly in parthenogenetic species. We studied this trade-off in the Colorado Checkered Whiptail, Aspidoscelis neotesselatus, a female-only parthenogenetic lizard. Using data previously collected in 2018 and 2019, we tested for clutch and egg size trade-offs and determined whether this relationship could be influenced by female size and aspects of physiological condition. Physiological condition …