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Allocation Of Reproductive Effort To The Male And Female Strategies In Wind-Pollinated Plants, Cliff A. Lemen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Amaranthus and several other wind-pollinated species of plants are used to test some of the theoretical models of relative reproductive effort towards the male and female sexes. Consistent with these models, in self-compatible, monoecious Amaranthus, Chenopodium, Digitaria, Setaria, and Lepidium, female effort represented over 90% of the total reproductive effort. Also consistent with predictions, Lolium, a self-incompatible wind-pollinated species, was found to have about equal male and female effort. A method is described here that should prove useful in quantifying male and female effort in both wind and insect-pollinated species of plants.

Relationship Between Relative Brain Size And Climbing Ability In Peromyscus, Cliff A. Lemen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Eisenberg and Wilson (Evolution, 32:740-751, 1978) have documented an interesting relationship between the relative brain size of bats and the complexity of the habitat in which they forage. They found that bats that fly and forage through foliage have larger brains relative to their body size than those that forage in open air. Their explanation was that bats in the complex habitat must process more complex sonic information to navigate through the foliage. In order to do this a larger brain is required.

The Peromyscus of North America may offer a similar paradigm as far as habitat complexity …

Intrapopulational Morphological Variation As A Predictor Of Feedlng Behavior In Deermice, Richard A. Smartt, Cliff A. Lemen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Within populations of animals that have determinate growth, all fully grown adults, even of one sex, are not identical. Both genetic and environmental factors are responsible for this variation. In recent years the importance of this variation has received much attention (Mayr 1963; Van Valen 1965; Fretwell 1969; Soule and Stewart 1970; Rothstein 1973). The important question asked has been, What effect does this morphological variation have on niche width and the ecology of a population? Implicit in many of these works is the concept that differences in the morphologies of population members can result in differences in their niches. …

An Avoidance Response Bioassay For Aquatic Pollutants, Jeffrey A. Black, Wesley J. Birge

KWRRI Research Reports

Avoidance response bioassays were conducted with eight aquatic contaminants, including cadmium, copper, mercury, zinc, chloroform, dioctyl phthalate (DOP), trisodium nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and phenol. Tests were performed in a dual-channel fluviarium system, and the toxicant injection procedure used provided good regulation of exposure concentrations. Juvenile stages of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), and rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), and tadpoles of the American toad (Bufo americanus) proved to be suitable animals for evaluating avoidance or attraction responses. The trout was the most sensitive species tested.

Avoidance was significant in tests …

Macrobenthic Communities Of An Industrialized Seaport Ecosystem: The Southern Branch Of The Elizabeth River, Virginia, Steven D. Hawthorne

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Macrobenthic invertebrates of an industrialized seaport ecosystem were studied seasonally from October, 1977 through July, 1978. Five stations were selected along the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River, Virginia. The stations ranged from an area of heavy industrialization to a non-urbanized environment. At each station, bottom water was measured for salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH. Within each sampling area, macrobenthic infauna! invertebrates were collected from in and out of channel sites along with sediment samples for various types of physicochemical analysis.

Community structure was spatially homogeneous at station sites and throughout the stations along the River. Slightly acidic pH …

Mountain Beaver Problems In The Forests Of California, Oregon And Washington, John E. Borrecco, Robert J. Anderson

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa) cause considerable damage to forest trees in the Pacific Northwest. Feeding injuries result in mortality, growth losses, deformity of trees, and understocked plantations. Losses are most severe in new plantations with significant damage problems also occurring in sapling stands. Trapping, and placing physical barriers around individual trees, are the most common methods of control. Both methods are costly but effective in reducing damage.

Lithium Chloride Bait Aversion Did Not Influence Prey Killing By Coyotes, Richard J. Burns, Guy E. Connolly

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Conditioned food or flavor aversion has been proposed as a method to stop coyote predation on sheep. The method entails treating sheep carcasses or meat baits with an emetic, lithium chloride (LiCl), and scattering them on sheep ranges. Theoretically, coyotes eat the baits, become ill, and subsequently desist from killing and eating sheep because they associate sheep flavor with sickness. In recent studies, coyotes have not formed prey aversions. Coyotes avoided baits because of LiCl flavor rather than prey flavor and prey killing aversions were not found. We conducted a study designed to find the best LiCl-prey flesh concentration to …

Armadillos: Problems And Control, Patricia A. Chamberlain

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has been successful in extending its range throughout the southeastern states. It occupies such a diverse range of habitats that its effects on its surroundings depend largely on where it is located. It offers benefits from its burrowing and eating patterns by creating dens for furbearers and destroying large quantities of injurious insects and their larva. Those same activities in urban and suburban areas are now being recognized as a source of considerable nuisance and moderate damage. Damage is most severe from July through early November. They have been recognized in connection with several diseases …

Changes In A Feral Pig Population After Poisoning, James Hone, Henry Pedersen

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The changes in a feral pig population associated with 1080 poisoning were examined. There was a 58.1% reduction in population size after poisoning with no age-specific effect. The population size increased over 11.5 months after poisoning at an observed instantaneous rate of increase per year of 0.57. The results are discussed relative to feral pig control.

Needs Of County Agents For Vertebrate Pest Control Information In Georgia, Jeffrey J. Jackson

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The general public in the state of Georgia is faced with at least 45 kinds of vertebrate animal damage control problems. Their questions asking for problem solutions are often directed to Georgia Cooperative Extension Service agents in 156 counties. County agents in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area receive an average of 325 requests for vertebrate pest control information a year. Agents in the Coastal Plain Area receive an average of 140 questions per year as does the Extension Wildlife Specialist. The combined total of vertebrate animal damage control questions received by all agents is approximately 60,000 per year. Typically difficult questions …

The Problem Of Pika Control In Baluchistan, Pakistan, Abdul Aziz Khan, William R. Smythe

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The collared pika, Ochotona rufescens has been recorded as a serious pest in apple orchards in the uplands valley of Ziarat in Baluchistan. In the winter, when the natural vegetation is lacking, the pikas debark the apple tree trunks or branches resulting in the killing of the tree and reduced fruit production. In summer, damage to wheat, corn and potatoes is also very severe. It is estimated that pikas cause hundreds of thousands of dollars (US) in annual apple production losses. The apple production in Baluchistan accounts for about 35 percent of the total provincial income through food production. During …

Socioeconomic And Ecological Aspects Of Field Rat Control In Tropical And Subtropical Countries, Hans Kurylas

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The vital question, as to the cause of the permanent increase in field rat populations throughout most tropical and subtropical areas, has been the subject of researchers and fieldmen during the past years, in the hope of finding an answer to this problem. Man has made his way through history wherein he was gradually able to renounce nature and establish his own man-made cultural frame. Unlike other mammals, man has no natural instincts to guide him through life. Brain and spirit have to compensate for lack of physical capabilities and instincts. Man was forced to change his natural surroundings in …

An Ecological Strategy For Controlling Bovine Rabies Through Elimination Of Vampire Bats, Rexford D. Lord

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Because of the limited resources of most Latin American countries, an ecological strategy for controlling bovine rabies through elimination of vampire bats is proposed instead of attempting total eradication. The strategy is essentially a combination of one or more of the anticoagulant control techniques applied with knowledge of the epizootiology of vampire rabies. Since rabies outbreaks in vampire bats are migratory, each outbreak is studied to determine the direction and velocity of its course, then an area is selected in its path where vampires are eliminated, forming a barrier and resulting in elimination of the outbreak.

Federally Registered Pesticides For Vertebrate Pest Control, Raymond W. Matheny

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

At the 1978 Vertebrate Pest Conference, Glenn Hood talked of vertebrate control chemicals, their registration status at that time, the rebuttable presumptions against registration and effects on users. He presented an overview of reregistration, classification, labeling, application certification, experimental use permits, emergency use and state registrations. Essentially, what he stated is as true today as when he addressed this conference. I'll try not to duplicate his fine presentation but rather give you an update about those long awaited for and somewhat controversial Guidelines for registering pesticides in the United States, the current status of strychnine and 1080 in the RPAR …

Keynote Address ─ New Concepts In Wildlife Management, Lester Mccann

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

New Concepts in Wildlife Management

Taste-Aversion Learning And Its Implications For Rodent Control, Robert J. Robbins

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Although bait shyness has long been recognized as a problem to be overcome in the control of vertebrate pests, it has recently been suggested that the phenomenon might be turned to an advantage and used as an alternative, non-lethal form of control. Unfortunately, this technique has not proven to be as useful as hoped, as the work which has been done on coyotes is inconclusive at best and some recent work on rodents has cast serious doubts upon the method's potential. However, an extensive literature dealing with the formation of poison-based food aversions now exists, and insights gained from these …

The Habits And Influence On The Environment Of The Old World Porcupine Hystrix Cristata L. In The Northernmost Part Of Its Range, L. Santini

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The Crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata L.) has been shown to have considerably increased in numbers, and to have occupied new territories in Tuscany, which is the northernmost part of its range. New data on its ecology and biology, and the negative effects of an excessive density of these rodents on the rural and natural environment are reported. Since this species is protected by law in Italy, because of its high value from the faunistic point of view, some possible techniques, to be improved upon, for the capture and redistribution of live specimens are discussed.

Development Of A Simple Two-Ingredient Pyrotechnic Fumigant, Peter J. Savarie, James R. Tigner, Donald J. Elias, David J. Hayes

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

In laboratory tests with adult coyotes (Canis latrans) a pyrotechnic fumigant containing two active ingredients, sodium nitrate and charcoal, was found to be just as effective as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gas Cartridge that contains six active and two inactive ingredients. The two-ingredient cartridge produces high concentrations of carbon monoxide. Field tests with cartridges containing 240 g of 65% sodium nitrate and 35% charcoal produced a 96% mortality rate in coyote pups. A cartridge containing 65 g of 65% sodium nitrate and 35% charcoal was effective in both laboratory and field tests on wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). …

Studies Of The Toxicity Of Vacor (Rh-787) On The Reproductive Biology Of Rattus Rattus Rufescens, Y. Saxena, P.P. Sharma, M. Zutshi

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Investigations on damage, losses and diseases attributed to rodents in India are well documented by Barnett and Prakash (1975), Fitzwater and Prakash (1973). The toxicity of rodenticides on the rodents have been studied by several investigators such as Cowan (1978), Marsh and Howard (1975, 1977). Some rodenticides are less potent and induce overall deleterious effects on biological systems but not on mortality. Therefore, studies on the effects of these agents on the reproductive biology would be of significance as reported by D'souza and Batra (1975). Srivastava et al. (1979) investigated the bait shyness as shown by rodents in case of …

Efficacy Tests Of Different Rodenticides On Some Species Of Rats In Thailand, Kasem Tongtavee

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Two acute rodenticides, zinc phosphide and Vacor, at different concentrations were tested on the rice field rats (Rattus argentiventer) and the bandicoot rats (Bandicota indica) with a choice-feeding procedure. It was found that zinc phosphide at 0.5%, 0.8%, 1.6% caused 30%, 30%, and 60% mortality, respectively, to R. argentiventer, and at 1.6% caused death only 30% to B. indica, whereas Vacor at 0.5%, 0.8%, 1.6% caused 70%, 60% and 80% mortality, respectively to R. argentiventer and this compound at 1.6% killed 60% of B. indica. Five anticoagulants Actosin-P, warfarin, Racumin, brodifacoum, and chlorophacinone also were tested on R. argentiventer and …

Rat Control In Coconut Palms In Colombia, Danilo Valencia

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The black rat (Rattus rattus) causes severe damage to coconut (Cocos nucifera) crops in Colombia. These rodents climb to the crown of producing palms and often nest there. Damage results from the rats gnawing the shells of the coconuts until they penetrate to the endosperm; the perforated nuts will fall within a period of 15 days and are unsuitable for harvest.
Since 1972, the Colombian Agricultural Research Institute (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario or ICA), through its Vertebrate Control Program, has been conducting a series of investigations to obtain information about the characteristics of this damage and the best means of reducing …

Population Studies On Gerbils Of The Western Desert Of Egypt, With Special Reference To Gerbillus Andersoni De Winton, Kamal Wassif, Sohail Soliman

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Population studies on the gerbil, Gerbillus andersoni, were carried out in Omayed in the Western Desert of Egypt during the period from July 1976 through August 1978 inclusive. Studies included determination of the sex ratio in the different age and weight groups, as well as seasonal changes in this ratio. The mean weight and age at the onset of maturity and the reproductive activity of both sexes were determined. The study also included seasonal changes in mean body weights of both sexes, those of the testes in relation to body weights, as well as changes in the length of the …

The Influence Of Insects In Bird Damage Control, Paul P. Woronecki, Richard A. Dolbeer

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Considerable effort has gone into developing and testing the various management methods for keeping blackbirds out of cornfields, but little work has been directed at understanding the relationship of the birds or the damage control methods to the other organisms within cornfields. This report shows that in a number of cases insects may influence bird-damage control programs. It points out the complex interaction among organisms that can occur in agricultural crops and the importance of considering pest control from an integrated view instead of from a single-species basis.

Deer-Proof Fences For Orchards: A New Look At Economic Feasibility, James W. Caslick

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Woven-wire fences, 2.4-m-high, have proven to be deer-proof and economically feasible for some apple orchards planted to semi-dwarf and dwarf trees, under high-density planting systems. The factors included in a benefit-cost analysis are described, and a formula is given to facilitate a decision about the economic feasibility of investing in a fence of this type.

Use Of Toxicants For Coyote Control By Livestock Producers In Alberta, Michael J. Dorrance

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

This paper examines and evaluates the use of strychnine baits and cyanide guns for coyote (Canis latrans) control by livestock producers in Alberta. Livestock predation occurred almost exclusively during spring, summer, and fall; livestock predation was negligible during winter. In contrast, use of toxicants was negligible in spring, distributed rather evenly through the summer and fall, and most intense in mid-winter. Forty-eight percent of the producers set toxicants in response to predation, and 1/2 of these apparently resolved their predator problems. Fifty-five percent of the producers set toxicants for preventive control, predominantly during October-February when the effectiveness of control was …

Hazards To Small Mammals Associated With Underground Strychnine Baiting For Pocket Gophers, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Victor G. Barnes Jr., R. Michael Anthony, James Evans

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Damage to conifer seedlings by pocket gophers (Thomomys spp.) is a major factor limiting reforestation in the western United States. To control gopher populations and reduce damage, the U.S. Forest Service annually treats thousands of hectares with strychnine alkaloid bait. Because an underground application of strychnine bait could pose a threat to other species, we monitored small mammal populations before and after a baiting operation conducted in 1979 on the Targhee National Forest, Idaho. Although two deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) recovered within baited areas were killed by strychnine, live-trapping revealed no differences in small mammal populations before and after baiting. …

Conference Participants

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

A total of 347 people registered at the Conference. The participants came from 33 states, the District of Columbia, and 20 other countries: Australia, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Fed. Rep. Germany, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, and Venezuela. The wide representation from the United States and from countries throughout the world contributes to the success of the Conference by providing a highly diversified exchange of ideas and information.

Mammals And Birds Affecting Food Production And Storage In Nigeria, Oluwadare Funmilayo

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The systematic study of the roles of vertebrate pests in agriculture in Nigeria is relatively very young, having spanned only two decades. During this period the species composition of vertebrate pests has been determined in some important crop plants like cocoa (Taylor 1961, Everard 1968), oil palm (Greaves 1964), maize (Everard 1966; Funmilayo 1976) and rice (Funmilayo and Akande 1977). The ecology of a few important pest species has been studied. Because of its devastating destruction of many graminaceous crops in Nigeria and over most parts of Africa, the red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea) has been studied more intensively than other …

Recent Developments In Anticoagulant Rodenticide Resistance Studies: Surveillance And Application In The United States, Stephen C. Frantz, Constance M. Padula

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

Since anticoagulant rodenticide resistance was first discovered in the United States in 1971, it has become apparent that the phenomenon is widespread. In cooperation with the Center for Disease Control, a nationwide surveillance program was initiated in 1977 to obtain statistically valid samples of rats from federally funded projects of the Urban Rat Control Program. A summary is given of the basic sampling, testing, and analysis components of this study. Problems encountered in all aspects of the first three years of the program are discussed along with results from the 40 completed samples. The 16 cities with significant Anticoagulant Resistance …

Red Kangaroo Management In Western Australia, C.D. Gooding

Vertebrate Pest Conference Proceedings: 9th (1980)

The Red Kangaroo is the dominant native grazing herbivore over much of the arid rangeland area of Western Australia, where the species exists side by side with introduced livestock. The numbers are such that Red Kangaroos can be utilized as the basis for a commercial harvesting industry provided the population is managed on a sustained yield basis. The WA Management Programme is designed to take account of the need for conservation of the species and for protection of the livestock industry and the rangelands on which both kangaroos and the livestock industry depend.