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The Probe, Issue 228 – May/June 2003

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

• The Urban Coyote -- Dallas Virchow
• Since the distribution of some species of vampire bats extends to northern Mexico, do these bats ever enter the U.S. ?
• The first of many BMPs for trapping is now on-line. Below you will find a link that provides the new Best Management Practices (BMPs) for trapping coyotes in the eastern United States: http://www.furbearermgmt.org/03ecbmp.pdf
• Human-Wildlife Conflicts in China -- Alex E Mettler, Berryman Institute, Utah State University
• An Arizona DPS officer found this animal dead along an interstate highway in Arizona. The officer thought it looked like a rat, …

Assessing The Benefits Of Misting–Cooling Systems For Growing/Finishing Swine As Affected By Environment And Pig Placement Date, Thomas C. Bridges, Larry W. Turner, Richard S. Gates, Douglas G. Overhults

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The NCPIG swine growth model was used to evaluate swine growth performance for Wilmington, North Carolina; Bardstown and Mayfield, Kentucky; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as influenced by the use of a misting–cooling system. Five pig placement dates (Julian days 106, 126, 146, 166, and 186) were evaluated for each location using 22 years of weather data (1978–1999). The use of a misting system, while quite variable, was found to be generally profitable, reducing the length of the time to reach market weight. As the placement date increased, the average return to misting ($/pig/year) decreased from $8.12 to $1.98 for Oklahoma …

Continuing Studies Of Water Quality In Farmington Bay And The Great Salt Lake, Utah, Amy M. Marcarelli, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

For the past three years, an Aquatic Ecology Practicum class at Utah State University has conducted research examining the limnology of Farmington Bay. In 2000, our class discovered that Farmington Bay could be classified as hypereutrophic, and had significantly higher levels of chlorophyll and phytoplankton than the Great Salt Lake proper (Marcarelli et al. 2001). In 2001, individual student projects identified high phosphorus loading into Farmington Bay from surrounding sewage treatment plants, brine shrimp biomass five times lower than in the Great Salt Lake, and that the water in the bay lost all oxygen on a windy night in October …

Fluctuations In Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) Counts At Three Lower Columbia River Spawning Sites, Eric Michael Loomis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Several hypotheses were developed to explore the pronounced increase in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) returning to spawning grounds at the Cowlitz, Kalama, and Lewis Rivers, three tributaries of the lower Columbia River. The study was conducted using data compiled over a ten-year span from 1991-2001. Preliminary indications are that trends in climate are linked to these increases, with the absence of El Niño events and fluctuations in winter precipitation as likely explanations of these phenomena. The unique nature of Chinook life cycles causes them to utilize a variety of habitats that require ideal conditions for maximum survival rates. Correlations between …

Sustainability Issues For Agriculture In Western Australia, Anne Bennett, Ross Kingwell, Ross George

Agriculture reports

This paper describes briefly the main challenges to the sustainability of agriculture in Western Australia and outlines some means of responding the the challenges: market-based approaches; agricultural and environmental research and development; accelerated adjustment; and global and national policy initiatives. Challenges include: land resource quality (salinity, soil acidity), biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, water availability, food safety, and pests and diseases.

Pastoralism Under Pressure: Tracking System Change In Southern Ethiopia, D. Layne Coppock, Solomon Desta

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

While economic development has proven elusive in African pastoral systems, change is pervasive. The Kajiado Maasai, for example, have endured declines in terms of per capita livestock holdings and other aspects of human welfare over the past 50 years. Activity diversification has occurred in Maasailand as the population copes with pressure from human population growth. We surveyed up to 317 Borana households during the late 1990s to see if similar patterns occurred in southern Ethiopia. Once viewed as an example of sustainable pastoralism, the Borana system now confronts numerous challenges. Decline in per capita cattle holdings has spurred household-level diversification …

For Pastoralists The Risk May Be In The Drinking Water: The Case Of Kargi, N. Kenya, D. Layne Coppock, William A. Shivoga

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Inadequate quantity of water is a common problem for pastoral people in East Africa. For the Rendille community of Kargi in northern Kenya, however, water quality has also been identified as a critical issue. Residents report that water-borne diseases commonly affect human health in dry seasons, and livestock may die soon after drinking water from some of the older, deep wells. We collected water samples from four key wells and one earthen dam to analyze physiochemical and bacteriological quality. Preliminary results indicated that the centrally located, oldest wells tested far below technical quality guidelines in several respects. Especially notable were …

Water Quality Remediation At The Abandoned Jones-Kincaid Mine Site, Pyramid Mining District, Washoe County, Nevada, Si-Ok Choi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the cost and efficiency of four remediation methods, natural attenuation, permeable reactive barriers, pump and treat systems, and bioremediation, and to determine the best suitable method for preventing further environmental degradation from the abandoned Jones-Kincaid Mine (JKM), located within the Pyramid Mining District, Washoe County, Nevada.

Problems from abandoned mine sites may be divided into four types: water quality, public safety, economic concerns, and scenic interests. The foremost problem is the effect of pollution on water quality. Acid run-off and precipitation may be spread hundreds of miles and influence drinking water sources …

Rodent Hunt, Dr. Ray Sterner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Dryland Project is a multi-year research effort to identify no-tillage or reduced tillage, non-irrigated crop types and practices that will improve yields and soil characteristics in eastern Colorado. Left uncultivated, this is shortgrass prairie made up of blue grama, western wheatgrass, buffalo grass, prickly pear cactus, yucca shrub, plus other plant varieties, and laced with riparian stream flows. When cultivated, winter wheat has worked well here, as long as it is left idle biannually (alternated as fallow) to restore sufficient moisture for the next cycle. Alternative dryland crops and rotation schemes are being studied as a way to reduce …

Greenhouse, Land Management And Carbon Sequestration In Western Australia, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Wa, Department Of Conservation And Land Management, Forrest Products Commission, Department Of Environment, Water And Catchment Protection, Anne Bennett

Agriculture reports

This report examines options for greenhouse emissions abatement by changing land management practices and establishing terrestrial organic carbon sinks in Western Australia.

Modeling Habitat Quality For American Martens In Western Newfoundland, Canada, William A. Adair

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The "Den Mother" marten habitat quality models were created to provide insight into American marten habitat selection behavior and to promote the recovery of the Newfoundland marten (Martes americana atrata) population. Although these objectives are typical of most wildlife habitat modeling projects, the marten's idiosyncratic habitat ecology and apparently intractable conflicts associated with timber harvesting motivated a unique, process-oriented approach to appraising landscapes. The Den Mother models used optimal decision-making principles to synthesize critical resources (den sites and foraging opportunities) and constraints (adverse thermal situations and exposure to predations) into a single hierarchical framework. The resulting spatially explicit, …

Determining The Factors That Control Respiration And Carbon Use Efficiency In Crop Plants, Jonathan M. Frantz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the literature on plant respiration, there are two viewpoints concerning the source of respiratory control: supply (photosynthate availability) or demand (temperature dependent) limitations. While different studies indicate the primary dependency for respiration is either the supply or demand side, the two paradigms cannot both be true. The relative importance of each paradigm may depend on a number of factors including period of time during which respiration is measured, phase of plant development, environmental conditions, and species.

Studies were performed using continuous CO₂ gas-exchange instrumentation to monitor short- and long-term changes in whole canopies of lettuce, tomato, soybean, and …

Assemblages Of Salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) In Cwa 305(B) Fully-Supporting, Partially-Supporting, And Non-Supporting Streams On Walden's Ridge, Tennessee, Jason M. Houck

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Surface mining throughout the southeastern United States leading to acid mine drainage (AMD) has caused significant declines in plethodontid salamander communities in AMD affected streams. The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that each navigable body of water in the United States be assigned a use designation and a support status based upon the stream's use designation and how it is affected by local pollution to be published in the CW A 305(b) report. Three streams on the Cumberland Escarpment, outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, representing CWA 305(b) fully-supporting, partiallysupporting, and non-supporting status were surveyed for aquatic plethodontid salamanders. Plethodontid salamanders were …

Amount And Economic Valuation Of Feral Hog Damage To A Unique Basin Marsh Wetland In Florida, Richard M. Engeman, Henry T. Smith, Robert G. Severson, Mary Ann M. Severson, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Bernice Constantin, Daniel Griffen

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) have been introduced into many natural habitats throughout the world, and they have adversely affected the environment in most of those places. Basin marshes are unique, but dwindling ecosystems in Florida that are especially vulnerable to damage by feral hogs. We estimated the amount of hog damage to the last remnant of a basin marsh system in Savannas Preserve State Park (SPSP), and to ecotones within the marsh. We also applied an economic valuation method for the hog damage that was based on the dollar amounts that wetland regulators have allowed permit applicants to …

Age-Specific Reproduction By Female Laughing Gulls (Larus Atricilla), Richard A. Dolbeer, Glen E. Bernhardt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The age at which female gulls first reproduce is poorly documented. We examined plumage and reproductive organs of Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla) collected from May–August 2000–2001 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, to determine age-specific reproductive effort. Each gull was classified as one year old (hatched in previous year), two years old, or ≥3 years old on the basis of color patterns of the hood and tail feathers and fifth primary flight feather. For females, each ovary was examined to determine if postovulatory follicles were present. In 2000 and 2001, the first gulls with postovulatory follicles were recorded …

Impacts Of Small Mammals And Birds On Low-Tillage, Dryland Crops, Ray T. Sterner, Brett E. Petersen, Stanley E. Gaddis, Kenneth L. Tope, David J. Poss

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

During 2000–2001, small mammals, birds, and potential corn/soybean damage were studied at a low-tillage, non-irrigated agricultural research site in the Colorado Piedmont. A small mammal surveyinvolved four trapping sessions and 18, 12-live-trap grids each. Within years, two grids each were placed at random, fixed locations in experimental corn, fallow, millet, pea, soybean, sunflower, and wheat plots at the site; two off-plot grids each were set at random, fixed locations <100m from the north and south edge of these plots. In 2001, periodic bird observations were conducted, and damage to corn and soybean plants was assessed. Capture rates were low during all trap sessions (range 0.1%–3.3%, Χ̅ = 2:2%). Sixty-three small mammals were captured and 39 were recaptured. Captures included deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), northern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leucogaster), thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus), and western harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis). Deer mice accounted for 56 of …

The John Muir Newsletter, Spring 2003, The John Muir Center For Environmental Studies

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

E JOHM MUI Volume 13, Number 2 Newsletter oYofthe Pacific. Stockton* CA Spring 2003 John Mum a t Big Basin: Some Unrecognized Chronology in the Early Preservation of California's Coastal Redwoods by Howard R. Cooley, San Jose, CA " The battle we have fought, and are still fighting . . . is part of the eternal conflict between right and wrong, and we cannot expect to see the end of it. " The National Parks and Forest Reservations, Sierra Club Bulletin, January 1896 Shasta.' It was perhaps during his stay in San Francisco that he made one of his visits …

Fisheries Research Report No. 140 - The Western Rock Lobster Fishery 1997/98 To 1998/99, C F. Chubb, E H. Barker

Fisheries Research Reports

This report is the latest in a series covering the West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (formerly the West Coast Rock Lobster Limited Entry Fishery), Western Australia’s largest and most valuable fishery. These reports form an historical record of fishery data and information documented season by season for use by industry and research personnel now and in the future. The reports provide information on catch, fishing effort and biology; value of the product and licences; input costs (fuel, bait, etc.); changes in fishing practices, gear, technology and boats and management/legislative changes. By necessity, the information contained herein is summarised from …

Water Current, Volume 35, No. 2. April 2003

Water Current Newsletter

• Researchers Honing Methods to Sample Field Run-off Water by Steve Ress

• From the Director

• Meet the Faculty

• Planning Continues for July Tour of Republican River Basin by Steve Ress

• Earth Systems Education: Opportunity and Challenges by David C. Gosselin

• Dealing with the Impacts of a “Modern” Drough by Donald A. White

• Probing the Secrets of Salty Groundwater by Steve Ress • Water News Briefs

Red River Water Management Consortium, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Brochure describing the Red River Water Management Consortium, developed by the Energy & Environmental Research Center and other area stakeholders. Outlines the program's current members and ongoing activities. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Scwds Briefs: Volume 19, Number 1 (April 2003)

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

• USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the availability of $4 million to state wildlife management agencies for chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance and management.
• New Info on Captive Cervids and CWD: including excerpts from "Summary of a Statewide Audit and Inspection of Wisconsin's Captive White-tailed Deer Farms" prepared by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
• New developments since the last CWD update in January 2003 issue: a mule deer buck taken by a hunter on Diamond Mountain near Vernal, Utah, tested positive for CWD. An elk on a Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, farm tested positive …

Urban Biosphere Reserves: Integrating Conservation, Community And Sustainability, Jennifer L. Eastman

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Materials Suitable For Use As A Pitfall Trap In A Desert Environment, R. Renee Brown

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to identify a type of pitfall trap container that can withstand the temperature extremes of the Mojave Desert in which the terrestrial, or above ground, drift fence with pitfall traps will be utilized for trapping reptiles. A pitfall trap is a container, such as a plastic bucket with a plastic lid, that is buried in the ground up to the lip of the bucket and used to catch small ground dwelling fauna that fall into the trap. Many different pitfall trap materials have been utilized in the trapping of small ground-dwelling fauna. Plastic has …

Measuring The Environmental Attitudes Of Children In Grade 4: A Study In Clark County, Amir Khawaja

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine whether there is an increased positive effect on children's attitude when they are taught about the environment in an outdoor/hands-on setting versus an indoor traditional classroom setting. The study focused on grade four students in the Clark County School District. Half of the group was comprised of students that were taught about the environment using traditional classroom learning materials while the other half consisted of students that were taught using the outdoor/hands-on approach. In order to test the results, the students were given a survey. The questionnaire created by Malkus and Musser …

Serologic Survey For Diseases In Free-Ranging Coyotes (Canis Latrans) From Two Ecologically Distinct Areas Of Utah, Wendy M. Arjo, Eric M. Gese, Cassity Bromley, Adam Kozlowski, Elizabeth S. Williams

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The influence of habitat and associated prey assemblages on the prevalence of canine diseases in coyotes (Canis latrans) has received scant attention. From December 1997 through December 1999, we captured 67 coyotes in two ecologically distinct areas of Utah (USA): Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch and US Army Dugway Proving Ground. These areas differ in habitat and prey base. We collected blood samples and tested for evidence of various canine diseases. Prevalence of antibodies against canine parvovirus (CPV) was 100% in the Deseret population and 93% in the Dugway population. All juveniles in both populations had been exposed. …

One Hundred Years Of Environmental Pollution At Chattanooga Creek: A Review Of Selected Studies, Connie C. Kennedy

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

When studying local Chattanooga history, one cannot ignore the issues of pollution in the city and the environmental degradation of the Chattanooga Creek. Throughout the past one hundred years, the Chattanooga Creek was subjected to multiple inputs of pollutants, beginning with animal wastes in the early 1900s, coal tar from government operated coke ovens during the WWII era, and large amounts of industrial wastes in the latter part of the century. Today the creek is officially closed to the public but the status of its water and sediments remains dangerously polluted. Several research projects throughout the past two decades have …

Prevalence Of Antibodies To Neospora Caninum, Sarcocystis Neurona, And Toxoplasma Gondii In Wild Horses From Central Wyoming, J. P. Dubey, S.M. Mitchell, J.K. Morrow, J.C. Rhyan, L.M. Stewart, D.E. Granstrom, S. Romand, P. Thulliez, W.J. Saville, D.S. Lindsay

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora caninum, N. hughesi, and Toxoplasma gondii are 4 related coccidians considered to be associated with encephalomyelitis in horses. The source of infection for N. hughesi is unknown, whereas opossums, dogs, and cats are the definitive hosts for S. neurona, N. caninum, and T. gondii, respectively. Seroprevalence of these coccidians in 276 wild horses from central Wyoming outside the known range of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana) was determined. Antibodies to T. gondii were found only in 1 of 276 horses tested with the modified agglutination test using 1: 25, 1:50, …

Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2003 Annual Report

Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery: Annual Reports

Wolves (Canis lupus) in the Northern Rocky Mountain states (Idaho, Montana and Wyoming) continue to increase in distribution and numbers (Figures 1, 5). Estimates of wolf numbers at the end of 2003 were 368 wolves in the Central Idaho Recovery Area, 301 in the Greater Yellowstone Recovery Area, and 92 in the Northwest Montana Recovery Area for a total of 761 (Figure 1, Table 4a). By state boundaries, there were an estimated 345 wolves in the state of Idaho, 234 in Wyoming and 182 in Montana (Table 4b). Of approximately 94 groups of two or more wolves, 51 …

Common Raven Nests In Eastern Kentucky, John J. Cox, Nathan W. Seward, Jeffrey L. Larkin, David S. Maehr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Although ravens were once widespread throughout Appalachia they are now considered threatened or endangered in many states of the region. We document a nesting pair of common ravens in an area of southeastern Kentucky nearly 50 km northwest of traditional nesting sites. Further, we suggest several factors that may have influenced the patterns of raven abundance in the state and offer management recommendations to assist their recovery.

Mitigating Impacts Of Terrestrial Lnvasive Species, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Human beings have introduced other species around the world both accidentally and intentionally. Accidental introductions resulted from escape from captivity (monk parakeets [Myiopsitta monachus] in Florida), stowaways (rats [Ranus spp.] and house mice [Mus musculus] worldwide; brown tree snakes [Boiga irregularis] in Guam), or expansion of species' ranges. Intentional introductions occurred for various reasons including: 1) aesthetics (songbirds into Hawaii, grey squirrel [Sciurus carolinensis] into Europe, and European songbirds imported by British colonists into North America, Australia, and New Zealand); 2) economics (nutria [Myocastor coypus] introduced in the …