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Scwds Briefs: Volume 18, Number 1 (April 2002) -- Special Cwd Issue

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

SPECIAL CWD ISSUE

• Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies
• TSEs of Domestic Animals and Humans
• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
• Chronic Wasting Disease 101
• CWD Epidemiology
• CWD Diagnosis
• CWD Surveillance, Doing the Numbers
• CWD Management
• CWD in Captive Cervids
• CWD in Wild Deer and Elk
• Public Health Concerns About CWD

Adipocyte Specific Release Of Tumor Necrosis Factor In Response To Medicinal Plants And Synthetic Nucleosides In Vitro, Afra Sultan Saeed Al Shamsi

Theses

Adipocytes play an important role in insulin resistance through its endocrine functions such as production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Adipocyte specific TNF-α inhibits insulin receptor protein tyrosin kinase activity causing the development of type2 diabetes (NIDDM). Nucleosides trigger a variety of regulatory effects in biological systems, such as inhibiting or stimulating protein synthesis. The present study was carried to screen seven synthetic nucleosides, for their effect on TNF-α release from adipocytes in vitro. Subcutaneous adipose tissue was dissected under sterile condition and plated in 24-well dishes in a humidified CO₂-incubator in the presence or absence of …

Nutria (Myocaster Coypus) In Louisiana, John Baroch, Mark Hafner, Tommy L. Brown, Jeff J. Mach, Richard M. Poché

Other Publications in Wildlife Management

Biology and Natural History of the Nutria, With Special Reference to Nutria in Louisiana
The nutria or coypu (Myocastor coypus) is a rodent native to South America that has been introduced almost worldwide since the early 1900’s, originally with the intent of fur farming in many cases. The nutria is a large (over 6 kg), semi-aquatic rodent with a voracious appetite and high reproductive potential. Nutria became established in the Louisiana wetlands in the 1930’s. The habitat proved to be ideal and populations exploded, reaching an estimated 20 million animals in less than 20 years. Trapping of nutria …

Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2002 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 2002 were 284 wolves in the Central Idaho Recovery Area, 271 in the Greater Yellowstone Recovery Area, and 108 in the Northwest Montana Recovery Area for a total of 663 (Figure 1, Table 4a). By state boundaries, there were an estimated 263 wolves in the state of Idaho, 217 in Wyoming and 183 in Montana (Table 4b). Of approximately 80 groups of two or more wolves, 43 …

Avian Repellents, Michael L. Avery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The use of repellents to protect crops from birds has a long history. Early European settlers in eastern North America observed that native Americans used an extract of Veratrum spp. to protect corn seeds from avian depredators: ‘‘Then when the starlings, crows, or other birds, pick up or pluck out the grains of corn, their heads grow delirious, and they fall, which so frightens the rest that they never venture on the field again. When those which have tasted the grains recover, they leave the field, and are no more tempted to visit it again’’ (1).

Repellents move birds from …

Vegetation Management Approaches For Reducing Wildlife-Aircraft Collisions, Scott C. Barras, Thomas W. Seamans

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife-aircraft collisions (wildlife strikes) pose safety risks to aircraft and cost civil aviation over $390 million annually in the USA. We reviewed the results of prior studies to summarize the vegetation management techniques that have proven effective for wildlife strike reduction or have shown potential for achieving the same goal. Habitat components that may affect wildlife use of airports include food, cover, water, and loafing areas. Improperly managed natural and ornamental vegetation on airports can be important attractants for wildlife that pose strike hazards. However, effective vegetation management can reduce these hazards. Maintaining tall herbaceous vegetation may reduce the availability …

Birds In Pest Management, M L. Avery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As human activity encroaches on wildlife habitats and natural food sources become increasingly scarce, it is no wonder that birds turn to habitats such as crop fields and aquaculture ponds. Where else can large flocks of birds find sufficient, nutritious, readily available food? Agricultural crops create ideal foraging sites for gregarious bird species, and virtually everything that humans grow or raise for food is subject to some level of bird damage. For most farmers, bird damage is a fact of life, but not a major concern. The unlucky few producers for whom depredations are severe, however, do incur substantial financial …

Behavioral And Ecological Considerations For Managing Bird Damage To Cultivated Fruit, Michael L. Avery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many bird species eat fruits and, likewise, many plant species are dependent on birds for the dispersal of seeds. Through cultivation and selective breeding, attributes of wild fruit have been changed to make fruit more palatable to humans. For example, cultivated species bear fruits that are often thinner-skinned. are more succulent, have fewer seeds and are easier to pick than non-cultivated species. These same changes, however, have also increased the attractiveness of fruit to avian consumers. Ecological relationships that have developed across evolutionary time between wild plants and frugivores become emphasized by the introduction of cultivated fruits that have been …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Betty Blodgett, Richard Jensen, Cate Weeks

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Actiononaias Ligamentina As A Biomonitor In The Green River: An Unique Approach For Analysis Of Environmental Impacts, Robert Kirkland

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Biomonitoring has become an important component in bioassessment programs. It is used to maintain high water quality standards, and determine contaminant levels and biological affects in areas that have been heavily disturbed. The objectives of this research were 1) to improve and apply certain modern biomonitoring techniques and 2) to locate possible contaminant sources affecting the flora and fauna of the Green River and of Mammoth Cave. Actinonaias ligamentina (Lamarck, 1819), a freshwater mussel, was used for interpretation of these impacts as well as refinement of biomonitoring techniques. The mussels were collected in the Lawler Bend region of the Green …

Potential Effects Of Oil And Gas Development On Mule Deer And Pronghorn Populations In Western Wyoming, Hall Sawyer, Fred Lindzey, Doug Mcwhirter, Keith Andrews

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

Western Wyoming is home to the largest, most diverse ungulate populations in the Rocky Mountain region. Maintenance of these populations and protection of their habitats is a primary concern among public and private sectors. While urban expansion, habitat loss, disease and changes in vegetation contribute to management concerns, extensive energy development is thought to pose the most serious threat to mule deer and pronghorn populations. Southwestern Wyoming is rich with oil and gas resources and has consistently produced 10 million barrels of oil each year, with gas production increasing steadily since the early 1980s. A five-county area (Sweetwater, Carbon, Sublette, …

Mammals Of The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: A Literature And Museum Survey, Jerran T. Flinders, Duke S. Rogers, Jackee L. Webber-Alston, Harry A. Barber

United States Bureau of Land Management: Staff Publications

This is the first treatment of the mammals of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM). GSENM was established in 1996 as a 1.7-million-acre (680,000-ha) federal land reserve under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). To successfully manage this new monument, the BLM is presently developing a management action plan. To provide information for the proper management of mammal species of the area, we have reviewed background literature for each mammal potentially found within the Monument boundaries. We propose that a core area, surrounded by a buffer matrix, be used in GSENM and surrounding public lands to preserve …

Chemical Contaminants In Juvenile Gray Whales (Eschrichtius Robustus) From A Subsistence Harvest In Arctic Feeding Grounds, Karen L. Tilbury, John E. Stein, Cheryl A. Krone, Robert L. Brownell Jr., S.A. Blokhin, Jennie L. Bolton, Don W. Ernest

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Gray whales are coastal migratory baleen whales that are benthic feeders. Most of their feeding takes place in the northern Pacific Ocean with opportunistic feeding taking place during their migrations and residence on the breeding grounds. The concentrations of organochlorines and trace elements were determined in tissues and stomach contents of juvenile gray whales that were taken on their Arctic feeding grounds in the western Bering Sea during a Russian subsistence harvest. These concentrations were compared to previously published data for contaminants in gray whales that stranded along the west coast of the US during their northbound migration. Feeding in …

Dispersal And Emerging Ecological Impacts Of Ponto-Caspian Species In The Laurentian Great Lakes, Henry A. Vanderploeg, Thomas F. Nalepa, David J. Jude, Edward L. Mills, Kristen T. Holeck, James R. Liebig, Igor A. Grigorovich, Henn Ojaveer

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

We describe, explain, and “predict” dispersal and ecosystem impacts of six Ponto-Caspian endemic species that recently invaded the Great Lakes via ballast water. The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, and quagga mussel, Dreissena bugensis, continue to colonize hard and soft substrates of the Great Lakes and are changing ecosystem function through mechanisms of ecosystem engineering (increased water clarity and reef building), fouling native mussels, high particle filtration rate with selective rejection of colonial cyanobacteria in pseudofeces, alteration of nutrient ratios, and facilitation of the rapid spread of their Ponto-Caspian associates, the benthic amphipod Echinogammarus ischnus and the round goby, …

Tws Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Newsletter: Summer 2002 – Volume 9(2)

TWS Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Newsletter

Forward; Wanted: Information On Management Of Coyotes In Urban/Suburban Locals; Candidates For The Working Group Officers – July 2002; Wildlife Damage Management Working Group Ballot – July 2002; Book Review - Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts: The Science Of Wildlife Damage Management

Integrating Environmental Education With Family And Consumer Science Education, Trina Lin Stangland

All Graduate Projects

This project provides lessons and activities for the integration of environmental education throughout the family and consumer science curriculum. The project reflects the most current standards including the Washington State Environmental Education Guidelines and Essential Academic Learning Requirements, as well as the Family and Consumer Science National Standards. Many appropriate areas of implementation were discovered in the review of literature. The lessons and activities presented in this project are informed by the literature and are, subsequently, diverse and desirable for family and consumer science education. Each lesson or activity includes detailed information on which standards they reflect as well as …

Nutrient Reserves Of Lesser Scaup During Spring Migration In The Mississippi Flyway: A Test Of The Spring Condition Hypothesis, Michael J. Anteau

LSU Master's Theses

The continental scaup population (lesser [Aythya affinis] and greater scaup [A. marila] combined) has declined markedly during the past 20 years, and has remained below the population goal of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan since 1985. One hypothesis explaining the scaup population decline states that reproductive success has decreased because females presently are arriving on breeding areas in poorer condition than that historically (Spring Condition Hypothesis [SCH]). I tested the SCH by comparing fresh body masses (FBMs) and nutrient reserves (lipid, protein, and mineral) of lesser scaup at 4 locations (Louisiana, Illinois, Minnesota, and Manitoba) in the Mississippi Flyway …

Branch, Crown, Tree And Stand Water Flux In An 180-Year-Old Loblolly Pine Plantation After Thinning, Fertilization, And Throughfall Exclusion Treatments, Shufang Yu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Branch and tree sap flux density (SFD) was measured to evaluate the effects of thinning, fertilization, and throughfall exclusion treatments on water use by loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees. Variations in SFD at different radial xylem depths were also examined to improve estimates of tree water use from sap flux density measured in the outer sapwood. This study was conducted in an 18-year-old loblolly pine plantation in central Louisiana in 1999. The results revealed that SFD was higher in the outer xylem than in the inner xylem and large trees had higher SFD than small trees. Thinning increased daily …

Ecosystem Health And Sustainable Livelihoods: Exploring The Prospects In Community-Based Resource Management In The East Mamprusi District, Ghana, Wuni P. Dasori

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Institutional processes, social and economic trends play a role in defining the outcomes of people’s interaction with and use of their ecosystems. The resource use decisions of households influence the livelihood and health dimensions of ecological change. This thesis identifies community assets and activities, and examines how they both affect human and ecological health, productivity and community sustainability. It studies the relationship between changing biophysical conditions and community well-being in terms of health and livelihood by examining how agro-ecosystem based resource use systems influence community environmental change and vulnerability to health and livelihood problems inherent in their ecosystem. Three communities …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Richard Jensen, Andy Grossman, Kevin Force

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Health Promotion Evaluation And Needs Assessment In The Transylvania Region Of Romania, Bryan C. Byrd

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Since the revolution of 1989, Romania has been undergoing wide ranging changes affecting all aspects of the country including health promotion. As common to many newly independent states (NIS) the changes in socio-economics, on-going poverty, unemployment status, and the overall culture shock of political transition, has resulted in health characteristics and indicators improving in some areas but suffering in others. This project was initiated as a descriptive study of the health promotion practices of Transylvania, Romania. The goal of the research was to describe and discover the philosophical practices driving current Romanian health promotion practices, as well as to conduct …

A Meta-Analysis And Risk Assessment Of Heavy Metal Uptake In Common Garden Vegetables., Trent David Lecoultre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Peer reviewed literature was searched to identify research pertaining to the uptake of heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb and Zn) by vegetables (cabbage, carrot, lettuce, and radish). The objectives of this research were to 1) determine the relationship between heavy metal concentrations in the soil and heavy metal concentrations in vegetables, and 2) determine the level of risk associated with exposure to heavy metals through ingestion of contaminated vegetables. Highly variable estimates and biologically implausible regression equations resulted from this meta-analysis. Exposure to arsenic through the ingestion of lettuce grown on contaminated soil significantly increases cancer risk, especially in children. …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Jennifer Vaughan, Richard Jensen, Mae Worthey-Flennoy

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Risk Mapping For Northern Kenya And Southern Ethiopia, D. Layne Coppock

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

We used results from 120 group interviews collected in 1998 to quantify how inhabitants across northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia perceive and rank various risks to their livelihoods. We also mapped risk patterns using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates. Respondents recognized 15 sources of risk overall, with the most common being reliable access to food and water. Other risks were not mentioned by a majority of respondents and reflected diversity in local situations. Country of residence, wealth class, gender, and predominant means of food production (pastoralism, agro-pastoralism, and farming) influenced risk ranking. For example, wealthy males were most concerned about …

Fisheries Research Report No. 129 - Morphology And Incidence Of Yabby (Cherax Albidus) Burrows In Western Australia, Craig S. Lawrence

Fisheries Research Reports

Yabby (Cherax albidus) burrows were recorded from dams, channels and ponds in Western Australia. Twenty five sites were sampled during Spring, 1998 and the burrow morphology and density was described from six of these locations where burrows were present. To improve the sample size and address seasonal trends 49 commercially harvested yabby dams were sampled over the summer of 1999/2000 and the number and density of yabby burrows were recorded. Burrow incidence and morphology was also recorded from 25 research ponds at the Avondale Research Station between 1995-1997. Soil and water chemistry values are presented and their relationships with burrow …

Genetic And Environmental Risk Factors Associated With Colon Cancer, Shamma Rashed Khalfan Al-Naili Al-Shamsi

Theses

Colorectal cancer represents one of the most common causes of mortality in the world. A major number of populations develop an adenoma by the age of 40s. Over the past years, it has become clear that genetic factors are of crucial importance in colorectal tumorigenesis. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is responsible of developing numerous colorectal cancers cases by causing mutations in the germline in adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) genes.

Colon cancer is considered the second most frequent cause of death in most of the Western countries. Colonic cancer is common in women and rectal in men. It arise in adenomatous …

Porcine Zona Pellucida Immunocontraception: Long-Term Health Effects On White-Tailed Deer, Lowell A. Miller, Ken Crane, Stan Gaddis, Gary J. Killian

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As part of a 9-year study on the contraceptive effects of Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), we analyzed serum chemistry panels during the first 4 years. This included the first 2 years when does were being actively immunized, and 2 years post-immunization. The chemistry panel was designed to detect pathologies that might result from the immunization of the deer. Blood chemistry results did not suggest any pathological changes resulting from the immunization. Seasonal differences in serum cholesterol were similar in both the control and PZP-treated groups. Seasonal changes in the mean body weights of …

The Standardized Fish Bioassay Procedure For Detecting And Culturing Actively Toxic Pfiesteria, Used By Two Reference Laboratories For Atlantic And Gulf Coast States, Joann M. Burkholder, Harold G. Marshall, David W. Seaborn, Nora J. Deamer-Melia

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In the absence of purified standards of toxins from Pfiesteria species, appropriately conducted fish bioassays are the "gold standard" that must be used to detect toxic strains of Pfiesteria slop. from natural estuarine water or sediment samples and to culture actively toxic Pfiesteria. In this article, we describe the standardized steps of our fish bioassay as an abbreviated term for a procedure that includes two sets of trials with fish, following the Henle-Koch postulates modified for toxic rather than infectious agents. This procedure was developed in 1991, and has been refined over more than 12 years of experience in …

The Role Of Predation In Wildlife Population Dynamics, Eric M. Gese, Frederick F. Knowlton

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The role predation plays in the dynamics of prey populations is controversial. Our understandings of predator-prey relationships is complicated by a multitude of factors in the environment and a general lack of knowledge of most ecological systems. Various other factors, besides predation, may regulate or limit prey populations, and various factors influence the degree to which predation affects prey populations. Furthermore, some factors may create time lags, or even cause generational effects, that go unnoticed. Herein, we review the role of predation in wildlife population dynamics, some of the factors influencing predator-prey interactions, and attempt to indicate where the professional …

Almonds Western Australia, Andrew Quinn, David Pocock

Horticulture published reports

The Almond industry 1s one of the less explored new industry options in Western Australia, despite offering one of the more significant opportunities for expansion and market development. Previous attempts to expand the industry have met with little progress primarily because of the small orchard areas planted, limited economies of scale, significant impact by birds and absence of a local processing plant.

Global Almond exports exceed US$1 billion per annum and are dominated by California. Almond products are traded in the international commodity market with prices primarily set by the USA.

Critical to the development of the industry in Western …