Digital Commons Network^™

Using Prescribed Fire And Biosolids Applications As Grassland Management Tools: Do Wildlife Respond?, Brian E. Washburn, Michael J. Begier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Prescribed burning is a management tool commonly used in forested ecosystems in the southeastern United States, but the influence of this method on grassland vegetation and wildlife in this geographic region is unknown. During 2009–2015, we conducted a study to determine if the application of prescribed burning and/or long-term biosolid applications alter plant communities and/or wildlife use of grassland areas at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina. We monitored vegetation growth, measured plant community composition, and documented wildlife activity in four study plots for 3 years after the implementation of annual winter prescribed burns. Prescribed burning reduced …

Potential Landscape Connectivity For Invasive Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) Across The Northern Prairies Of North America, Corey J. Kramer, Melanie R. Boudreau, Ryan Powers, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Ryan S. Miller, Ryan K. Brook

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding landscape scale connectivity is an essential component in the management of invasive species since connectivity facilitates their invasion potential. Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are among the most prolific invaders on the planet, causing billions of dollars in agricultural and environmental damage annually. Newly introduced to Canada in the 1980s, we examined wild pig invasion potential across the northern prairies from western Canada into the currently wild pig-free northern U.S. states. We used GPS collar data collected in the Canadian prairies to quantify resource selection and incorporated results into an electric circuit theory framework to evaluate potential …

Rapid Point-Of-Care Testing For Detection Of Antibodies To Toxoplasma Gondii In Black Vultures And Ring-Billed Gulls From Pennsylvania, Alexa Rosypal Von Dohlen, Sydney Randall, Jordyan Grays, Mark A. Dugo, Brian J. Hunt, Justin Brown, Kyle Van Why, Sawsan Ammar, Richard Gerhold

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic protozoan parasite that infects most warm-blooded animals, including birds. Scavenging birds are epidemiologically important hosts because they can serve as indicators of environmental T. gondii levels. A rapid point-of-care (POC) test that detects antibodies to T. gondii in humans is commercially available. In this research, we assessed the ability of the human POC test to detect anti–T. gondii antibodies in 106 black vultures (Coragyps atratus) and 23 ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) from Pennsylvania, USA. Serum samples were tested with the POC test and compared to the modified …

Low Secondary Risks For Turkey Vultures From A Sodium Nitrite Toxic Bait For Wild Pigs, Justin A. Foster, John C. Kinsey, Michael J. Lavelle, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Nathan P. Snow

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

An acute and orally‐delivered toxic bait for wild pigs (Sus scrofa) containing sodium nitrite (SN) is being developed and tested for potential registration in the U.S. We evaluated oral toxicity of SN and risk of secondary consumption in a common avian scavenger, the turkey vulture (Carthartes aura), by 1) conducting an acute oral toxicity test (LD₅₀) for turkey vultures by oral gavage, and 2) allowing turkey vultures to feed on whole carcasses and digestive tracts of wild pigs that died from consuming SN‐laden bait. Captive tests were conducted during fall 2016 and spring 2017 in the …

A Method For Characterizing Disease Emergence Curves From Paired Pathogen Detection And Serology Data, Joshua Hewitt, Grete Wilson-Henjum, Derek T. Collins, Jourdan M. Ringenberg, Christopher A. Quintanal, Robert Pleszewski, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Thomas J. Deliberto, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Wildlife disease surveillance programs and research studies track infection and identify risk factors for wild populations, humans and agriculture. Often, several types of samples are collected from individuals to provide more complete information about an animal's infection history. Methods that jointly analyse multiple data streams to study disease emergence and drivers of infection via epidemiological process models remain underdeveloped. Joint-analysis methods can more thoroughly analyse all available data, more precisely quantifying epidemic processes, outbreak status, and risks.

2. We contribute a paired data modelling approach that analyses multiple samples from individuals. We use ‘characterization maps’ to link paired data …

Torque Teno Sus Virus 1: A Potential Surrogate Pathogen To Study Pig-Transmitted Transboundary Animal Diseases, Xiaolong Li, Brandon M. Parker, Raoul K. Boughton, James C. Beasley, Timothy J. Smyser, James D. Austin, Kim M. Pepin, Ryan S. Miller, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Samantha M. Wisely

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of transboundary animal diseases (TADs) among wild pigs (Sus scrofa) will aid in preventing the introduction or containment of TADs among wild populations. Given the challenges associated with studying TADs in free-ranging populations, a surrogate pathogen system may predict how pathogens may circulate and be maintained within wild free-ranging swine populations, how they may spill over into domestic populations, and how management actions may impact transmission. We assessed the suitability of Torque teno sus virus 1 (TTSuV1) to serve as a surrogate pathogen for molecular epidemiological studies in wild pigs by investigating …

Common Grackle (Quiscalus Quiscula) Predation Of A Great Lakes Piping Plover (Charadrius Melodus) Nest And Its Conservation Implications, Jade R. Arneson, Dennis A. Peloquin, Thomas G. Prestby, Sarah P. Saunders

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) was observed consuming eggs from an exclosed (protected) Great Lakes piping plover (Charadrius melodus) nest in the lower bay of Green Bay, Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, USA during June 2023. The observation, captured by a trail camera, is the first photographic documentation of grackle predation in any of the three piping plover breeding populations. This behavior adds common grackle to the suite of egg predators and has critical implications for this shorebird species, particularly in the Great Lakes region where piping plover is listed as federally endangered and common grackles are relatively …

Quantifying The Ecological Effects Of Salix Fragilis On Riparian Habitat In Kittitas County, Washington, Landon Shaffer

All Master's Theses

Invasive species threaten plant community structure and function globally. Riparian areas, the zone near streams where water influences vegetation, are especially sensitive to invasive species colonization, suffering large-scale shifts in community composition. Salix fragilis (crack willow) is a nonnative riparian species abundant in the lower elevation tributaries of central Washington. Some speculate whether this willow should be listed as invasive in Washington, despite a lack of regional supporting evidence. I studied riparian communities dominated by either S. fragilis or native species in the Kittitas Valley and measured biodiversity, quantified differences in solar attenuation, and compared leaf decomposition rates to learn …

Trophic Interactions Of Sympatric Cyprinodontiform Fishes Inhabiting Louisiana Saltmarshes, Ryan Heines

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Resident saltmarsh nekton, namely Cyprinodontiform fishes, play key ecological roles in supporting terrestrial and aquatic food webs. These fishes are highly abundant across the saltmarsh landscape of coastal Louisiana and have evolved to tolerate the highly variable environmental conditions that are characteristic of these habitats. The objective of this research is to consider mechanisms enabling this diverse community of fishes to cooccur in the spatially limited saltmarsh habitats of coastal Louisiana. In Chapter 2, bulk stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C), sulfur (δ34S) and nitrogen (δ15N) were used to quantify the intra- and inter-specific resource use of six sympatric Cyprinodontiform …

Relationships Between Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon Pyrrhonota) And Feather Coloration, Morphological Characteristics, And Colony Size, Sonja M. Brandt

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Environmental stressors such as drought and roadways can strongly affect breeding birds. Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon Pyrrhonota) are aerial insectivores that experience mortality from car collisions, because they often nest and hunt under bridges and road culverts. Individual traits that may convey social information, such as body condition, or feather coloration, might be associated with better coping around cars and other environmental stressors. Few studies have investigated relationships between coloration and other environmental stressors, such as water loss due to drought near the colony and foraging areas. Colony size can be heavily affected by various environmental factors such as water level …

State Of Coastal And Marine Resources: Lian, Batangas, Joseph Benedict T. Garcia, Mary Joyce P. Velos, Jemelyn Grace P. Baldisimo, Joey P. Cabasan, Ma Celina J. Añonuevo, Denmark B. Recamara, Hazel O. Arceo

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Lian (13.9852° N, 120.6545° E) is a third-class municipality in the northwestern part of the province of Batangas. It is bounded on the north by the municipality of Nasugbu, on the east by the municipalities of Tuy and Balayan, on the west by the WPS, and on the south by the municipality of Catatagan (Figure 2.7-1). It has a total land area of 76.80km² that is divided into 19 barangays, six of which are coastal and two are integrated coastal barangays (LGU-Lian 2013). Its total population is 56,280 individuals in 15,991 households as of 2020 (PSA 2020).

The main …

Deconstructing The Mangrove Carbon Cycle: Gains, Transformation, And Losses, M. F. Adame, N. Cormier, P. Taillardat, N. Iram, A. Rovai, T. M. Sloey, E. S. Yando, J. F. Blanco-Libreros, M. Arnaud, T. Jennerjahn, C. E. Lovelock, D. Friess, G. M. S. Reithmaier, C. A. Buelow, S. M. Muhammad-Nor, R. R. Twilley, R. A. Ribeiro

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mangroves are one of the most carbon-dense forests on the Earth and have been highlighted as key ecosystems for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Hundreds of studies have investigated how mangroves fix, transform, store, and export carbon. Here, we review and synthesize the previously known and emerging carbon pathways in mangroves, including gains (woody biomass accumulation, deadwood accumulation, soil carbon sequestration, root and litterfall production), transformations (food web transfer through herbivory, decomposition), and losses (respiration as CO₂ and CH₄, litterfall export, particulate and dissolved carbon export). We then review the technologies available to measure carbon fluxes in …

Taxonomic Status, Distribution And Conservation Of The Critically Endangered Plant Psychotria Angustata (Rubiaceae), Walter Simbaña, Alan Tye, Timothy J. Motley, Uno Eliasson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Simbaña, W.; A. Tye, T. J. Motley & U. Eliasson. 2024. Taxonomic status, distribution and conservation of the Critically Endangered plant Psychotria angustata (Rubiaceae), endemic to Floreana Island, Galapagos. Darwiniana, nueva serie 12(2): 204-219.

Two species of Psychotria have been recognised in the Galapagos Islands, both understorey shrubs endemic to the archipelago: P. rufipes Hook.f. occurs on seven islands, including Floreana, while P. angustata Andersson is endemic to Floreana. Since their mid-19th century discovery, the taxonomic and ecological status of these species has been uncertain. To clarify this, we examined historical specimens and numerous recent collections of both species, and …

Arousal Patterns, Fungal Loads, And Wing Damage In A Surviving Population Of Little Brown Bats (Myotis Lucifugus), Brooke A. Daly

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) at Tippy Dam in Michigan have shown resilience to white-nose syndrome (WNS), which is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. This study evaluated the impact of environment (temperature and moisture), pathogen virulence, and host susceptibility on survival. Host response was assessed using temperature-sensitive radio transmitters (n = 37) and ultraviolet photography (n = 57), while fungal load (n = 56) was evaluated through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). High autumn temperatures (>10°C) favored growth of the fungus, while mid-hibernation temperature (3.2°C) was unfavorable. The mean torpor bout length (TBL) …

The Effect Of Light Intensity On Wolf Spider Foraging, Julia Amoroso

Scripps Senior Theses

Light is of primary importance to most living organisms and most of the Earth’s natural processes. However, with rapidly expanding urbanization, humans have substantially impacted light metrics through the increase of artificial light. Artificial light pollution has been found to have a variety of behavioral and physiological effects on different organisms. However, less is understood about how light impacts community-scale interactions between different trophic levels. Here, we examined the influence of light exposure on nocturnal wolf spider (Schizocosa myccooki) foraging and interaction with red runner cockroach prey (Blatta lateralis). Of equal interest as the study …

Pcb Remediation In Transitional Floodplain Forests Along The Housatonic River, Soleil Laurin

Scripps Senior Theses

Human development affects natural environments in more ways than climate change, from the introduction of nonnative species and deforestation to pollution and urbanization. This is a case study examining the effects of PCB remediation on transitional floodplain forest along the Housatonic River in Western Massachusetts. The Housatonic River had previously been contaminated with PCBs and portions had been remediated. This study aims to determine the effects this remediation had on transitional floodplain forests, as well as provide a preliminary biodiversity assessment for sites that are planned to be remediated of PCBs by the Environmental Protection Agency. The study was carried …

Migration-Associated Variation In Blood Parasitism, Body Condition, And Stress In Gambel’S White-Crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia Leucophrys Gambelii), Julianna Deibel

Scripps Senior Theses

Migration is a widespread behavior in animals which both causes and is motivated by fluctuations in nutrient availability. Migration is ecologically important, as it connects areas of differing primary productivities and carries pathogens over distance. The relationship between migration and disease is complex, sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance, and influenced by ecological cycles as well as host, vector and parasite life cycles. Four central migration-infection mechanisms have been proposed: migratory susceptibility, migratory exposure, migratory escape, and migratory culling. These mechanisms may yield increased or decreased infection post-migration, based on migration’s physiological tax and the concentration of pathogens along migratory pathways.

To …

Concepts In Animal Parasitology, Chapter 07: Biostatistics For Parasitologists: A Painless Introduction [Parascript Approaches], Jenő Reiczigel, Marco Marozzi, Fábián Ibolya, Lajos Rózsa

Concepts in Animal Parasitology

Covers biostatistics for parasitologists and includes discussion of taking samples, frequency distribution of host individuals across infection classes, sample size, prevalence, mean intesity, median intensity, stochasic equality of intensities, abundance, crowding, levels of aggregation, parasite sex ratio, parasite species richness, interactions between parasite species, and the tool Quantitative Parasitology on the Web (QPweb).

Chapter 7 in Concepts in Animal Parasitology on biostatistics for parasitologists by Jenő Reiczigel, Marco Marozzi, Fábián Ibolya, and Lajos Rózsa. 2024. S. L. Gardner and S. A. Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap007

Concepts In Animal Parasitology, Chapter 58: Acanthocephala Rudolphi, 1808 (Phylum), Scott Monks

Concepts in Animal Parasitology

An overview of the phylum Acanthocephala Rudolphi, 1808, also called the thorny-headed or spiny-headed worms, including discussion of their general morphology, life cycles, classification, and phylogenetic relationships.

Chapter 58 in Concepts in Animal Parasitology, by Scott Monks. 2024. S. L. Gardner and S. A. Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap058

Bibliography, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Charles H. Smith.

The Smell Of Fear: Responses Of Native And Invasive Geckos To Predator Scent Cues On Moorea, French Polynesia, Haley Dreisbach, Tessa Bodo

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Hemidactylus frenatus, a globally invasive species, is syntopic with the native gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris on the island of Moorea, French Polynesia. The success of an invasive species, H. frenatus can be attributed to many factors and is the subject of much study. Some research suggests that invasive and native geckos may differ in their response to chemosensory cues from predators. We compared the responses of H. frenatus and L. lugubris to the scents of both a native local predator; centipede, and a common predator of geckos that is not present on Moorea; snake. While neither gecko species showed any …

Compliance And Roughness In Relation To Gecko Locomotion, Brooklynn Campbell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Geckos move efficiently through a variety of substrates, from swaying branches to wooden fences to the sides of structures. Previous studies have studied locomotion and adhesion on manmade and rough substrates; however, the work is limited when discussing locomotion and adhesion as a relationship of compliance and roughness. Ease of movement was quantified by speed, under the assumption that the faster a gecko moves, the easier it is for the gecko to cross the substrate. Gehyra oceanica geckos from Moorea, French Polynesia were tested on substrates varying in compliance and roughness with four different treatments in total. Compliance, roughness, and …

Investigating The Roles Of Plants, Fungi, And Biocrusts In Nutrient Movement Within Dryland Ecosystems, Catherine E. Cort

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In dryland ecosystems, plant productivity and microbial decomposition are often separated in space and time due to the asynchronous availability of soil moisture and organic matter inputs. It has been proposed that fungi play a key functional role in connecting these cycles by facilitating movement of water, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) through a network of shared hyphae between plant roots and biological soil crust (biocrust) communities at the soil surface. This connection, also known as the â??fungal loop,â?? effectively re-couples processes of nutrient release and uptake between primary producers and minimizes ecosystem N losses due to leaching, erosion, and …

Animal Personality And Sentience As Distinct Concepts, Mark Briffa

Animal Sentience

Owens et al (2024) discuss how knowledge of both animal personality and sentience in target populations can be leveraged to enhance wildlife conservation programmes. In this commentary I expand on the distinction between these two concepts. Behavioural differences should be considered broadly across conservation programmes, not just those involving species deemed sentient.

Habitat Selection And Connectivity Of Mountain Lions (Puma Concolor) Across Anthropogenic Barriers On The Olympic Peninsula: A Multi-Method Comparison, Thomas R. Barbee

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Designing and maintaining effective wildlife corridors is an increasingly important conservation challenge in today’s fragmenting landscapes. GPS-based resource selection functions and camera-based occupancy models are both well-established staples of wildlife connectivity analyses and corridor planning, but each have notable trade-offs in cost and data resolution. Wildlife organizations worldwide rely heavily on camera-based occupancy modelling to plan wildlife corridors, especially where resource limitations or ethical concerns prohibit the use of GPS tags. If spatial connectivity maps from occupancy models could be shown to capture the essential elements of animal movement well enough to identify functionally equivalent corridors to those identified in …

Robust Phylogenetic Regression, Richard Adams, Zoe Cain, Raquel Assis, Michael Degiorgio

Entomology and Plant Pathology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Modern comparative biology owes much to phylogenetic regression. At its conception, this technique sparked a revolution that armed biologists with phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) for disentangling evolutionary correlations from those arising from hierarchical phylogenetic relationships. Over the past few decades, the phylogenetic regression framework has become a paradigm of modern comparative biology that has been widely embraced as a remedy for shared ancestry. However, recent evidence has shown doubt over the efficacy of phylogenetic regression, and PCMs more generally, with the suggestion that many of these methods fail to provide an adequate defense against unreplicated evolution—the primary justification for using …

New Associate Editors, S. Nicole Frey

Human–Wildlife Interactions

New associate editors include Breanna Martinico, Shannon Skalos, Paula Pebsworth, and Donna J. Perry.

Grass Rejection By Capybaras Can Be Used As A Possible Strategy To Mitigate Road Accidents, André Luiz Gama Nogueira, Sérgio Luiz Gama Nogueira-Filho, Selene Siqueira Da Cunha Nogueira, Denis Sato, Natasha Camilo Maximiano Da Silva, Lilian Elgalise Techio Pereira, Michael Mendl, Adroaldo José Zanella

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Feeding management can be a good strategy for avoiding wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs), which are a worldwide concern. In this study, we aimed to identify grass species that capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) reject as feeding material. These species could be planted to make roadsides less attractive to capybaras and, consequently, decrease WVCs involving this species. We planted 3 grass species (Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, B. hybrid Mavuno, and Zoysia japonica) in 4 blocks, applying a randomized-complete blocks design. The first 2 species we assumed would be rejected, since some animals do not consume them due to their high …

Is Mitigation Translocation An Effective Method For Reducing Laysan Albatross–Military Aircraft Collisions?, Brian E. Washburn, Katherine D. Rubiano, William P. Bukoski

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wildlife–aircraft collisions (wildlife strikes) pose a serious risk to civil and military aircraft. Each year, Laysan albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) attempt to establish a breeding colony on the airfield at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) located on the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA, resulting in a hazard to safe military aircraft operations at this facility. A long-term management program, with an emphasis on mitigation translocation (e.g., live-capture and translocation away from the area) of problematic individuals, has been conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services. However, the efficacy of mitigation translocation as a nonlethal …

Monograph Available: Toolkit To Address Free-Ranging Domestic Cats On Agency Lands Managed For Native Wildlife And Ecosystem Health

Human–Wildlife Interactions

This is an announcement about the published monograph titled "Toolkit to Address Free-ranging Domestic Cats on Agency Lands Managed for Native Wildlife and Ecosystem Health." This publication, part of the HWI Monograph Series, is online and open access.