Digital Commons Network^™

Ecophysio-Optical Traits Of Semiarid Nebraska Grasslands Under Different Juniperus Virginiana And Pinus Ponderosa Canopy Covers, Anastasios Mazis, Julie A. Fowler, Jeremy Hiller, Yuzhen Zhou, Brian Wardlow, David A. Wedin, Tala Awada

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Despite conservation efforts in the U.S. Great Plains, woody species have continued to expand at an unprecedented rate, threatening key ecosystem services and resilience. Cross-scale monitoring of these grasslands is key to successful integrative management strategies. In this study we measured plant optical traits derived from hyperspectral proximal sensing techniques with a field spectrometer, coupled with field-based measurements, including fluorescence and chlorophyll content, to determine the impacts of Juniperus virginiana and Pinus ponderosa expansion on grasslands health in Nebraska Sandhills, and investigated the use of optical-based approaches as indicators of successful monitoring of grasslands. Our results showed that higher woody …

Remotely Detected Plant Function In Two Midwestern Prairie Grassland Experiments Reveals Belowground Processes, J. Cavender-Bares, A. Schweiger, J. Gamon, H. Gholizadeh, K. Helzer, C. Lapadat, M. Madritch, P. Townsend, Z. Wang, S. Hobbie

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

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

Modelling The Factors Affecting The Probability For Local Rabies Elimination By Strategic Control, Johann L. Kotzé, John Duncan Grewar, Aaron M. Anderson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Dog rabies has been recognized from ancient times and remains widespread across the developing world with an estimated 59,000 people dying annually from the disease. In 2011 a tri-partite alliance consisting of the OIE, the WHO and the FAO committed to globally eliminating dog-mediated human rabies by 2030. Regardless of global support, the responsibility remains with local program managers to implement successful elimination programs. It is well known that vaccination programs have a high probability of successful elimination if they achieve a population-coverage of 70%. It is often quoted that reducing population turnover (typically through sterilizations) raises the probability for …

Continental-Scale Dynamics Of Avian Influenza In U.S. Waterfowl Are Driven By Demography, Migration, And Temperature, Erin E. Gorsich, Colleen T. Webb, Andrew A. Merton, Jennifer A. Hoeting, Ryan S. Miller, Matthew Farnsworth, Seth R. Swafford, Thomas J. Deliberto, Kerri Pedersen, Alan B. Franklin, Robert G. Mclean, Kenneth R. Wilson, Paul Doherty

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Emerging diseases of wildlife origin are increasingly spilling over into humans and domestic animals. Surveillance and risk assessments for transmission between these populations are informed by a mechanistic understanding of the pathogens in wildlife reservoirs. For avian influenza viruses (AIV), much observational and experimental work in wildlife has been conducted at local scales, yet fully understanding their spread and distribution requires assessing the mechanisms acting at both local, (e.g., intrinsic epidemic dynamics), and continental scales, (e.g., long-distance migration). Here, we combined a large, continental-scale data set on low pathogenic, Type A AIV in the United States with a novel network-based …

Disrupted Identities And Forced Nomads: A Post-Disaster Legacy Of Neocolonialism In The Island Of Barbuda, Lesser Antilles, Sophia Perdikaris, Rebecca Boger, Edith Gonzalez, Emira Ibrahimpašić, Jennifer D. Adams

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

In the aftermath of the forced evacuation of the island of Barbuda due to Hurricane Irma, the Barbudan people have experienced an exile and return to a ‘new’ geographical, political, and economic context, albeit on the same island. With the specter of climate change and the potential impacts on island communities and nations, we use Barbuda, sister island of Antigua in the Lesser Antilles, to examine the trajectory of nomadic identities as they navigate changes that threaten contemporary land relationships and culture. Since its first permanent settlement in the 17th Century, the island geography of Barbuda has been fundamental to …

Patterns Of Genetic Variation In A Prairie Wildflower, Silphium Integrifolium, Suggest A Non-Prairie Origin And Locally Adaptive Variation, Andrew R. Raduski, Adam Herman, Cloe Pogoda, Kevin M. Dorn, David L. Van Tassel, Nolan Kane, Yaniv Brandvain

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

PREMISE: Understanding the relationship between genetic structure and geography provides information about a species’ history and can be used for breeding and conservation goals. The North American prairie is interesting because of its recent origin and subsequent fragmentation. Silphium integrifolium, an iconic perennial American prairie wildflower, is targeted for domestication, having undergone a few generations of improvement. We present the first application of population genetic data in this species to address the following goals: (1) improve breeding by characterizing genetic structure and (2) identify the species geographic origin and potential targets and drivers of selection during range expansion. METHODS: We …

Evidence On The Effectiveness Of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Suas) As A Survey Tool For North American Terrestrial, Vertebrate Animals: A Systematic Map Protocol, Jared A. Elmore, Michael F. Curran, Kristine O. Evans, Sathishkumar Samiappan, Meilun Zhou, Morgan B. Pfeiffer, Bradley F. Blackwell, Raymond B. Iglay

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background: Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) are replacing or supplementing manned aircraft and groundbased surveys in many animal monitoring situations due to better coverage at finer spatial and temporal resolutions, access, cost, bias, impacts, safety, efficiency, and logistical benefits. Various sUAS models and sensors are available with varying features and usefulness depending on survey goals. However, justification for selection of sUAS and sensors are not typically offered in published literature and existing reviews do not adequately cover past and current sUAS applications for animal monitoring nor their associated sUAS model and sensor technologies, taxonomic and geographic scope, flight conditions and …

Spatial Transferability Of Expert Opinion Models For American Beaver Habitat, Isidro Barela, Leslie M. Burger, Guiming Wang, Kristine O. Evans, Qingmin Meng, Jimmy D. Taylor

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Species distribution models and habitat suitability models (HSMs) have become a popular tool in the conservation of biodiversity. However, the ability to predict species spatial distributions at sites beyond the data source sites (i.e., spatial transferability) is critical for the applications of HSMs in the management and conservation of rare or endangered species. The main objective of our study was to assess the predictive performance and spatial transferability of expert opinion models (EOMs). To build EOMs, we identified through extensive literature reviews 17 key landscape variables to characterize habitat use by American beaver (Castor canadensis). We developed 31 pairwise opinion …

Anthraquinone Repellent Seed Treatment On Corn Reduces Feeding By Wild Pigs, Nathan P. Snow, Joseph M. Halseth, Scott J. Werner, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a destructive invasive species that cause extensive damage to agriculture throughout many regions of the world. In particular wild pigs damage corn more than any other crop, and most of that damage occurs immediately after planting when wild pigs excavate and consume planted seeds. We evaluated whether anthraquinone (AQ), a repellent, could be useful for protecting seed corn from consumption by wild pigs. Specifically, we conducted cafeteria-style tests at 16 bait sites for 6 nights using concentrations of: untreated, 0.5, 1.5, and 3.0% AQ by weight sprayed on whole-kernel corn in AL and …

Modeling Mongoose Rabies In The Caribbean: A Model-Guided Fieldwork Approach To Identify Research Priorities, Caroline C. Sauvé, Erin E. Rees, Amy T. Gilbert, Are R. Berentsen, Agathe Allibert, Patrick A. Leighton

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We applied the model-guided fieldwork framework to the Caribbean mongoose rabies system by parametrizing a spatially-explicit, individual-based model, and by performing an uncertainty analysis designed to identify parameters for which additional empirical data are most needed. Our analysis revealed important variation in output variables characterizing rabies dynamics, namely rabies persistence, exposure level, spatiotemporal distribution, and prevalence. Among epidemiological parameters, rabies transmission rate was the most influential, followed by rabies mortality and location, and size of the initial infection. The most influential landscape parameters included habitat-specific carrying capacities, landscape heterogeneity, and the level of resistance to dispersal associated with topography. Movement …

Social Structure Defines Spatial Transmission Of African Swine Fever In Wild Boar, Kim M. Pepin, Andrew J. Golnar, Tomasz Podgórski

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The spatial spread of infectious disease is determined by spatial and social processes such as animal space use and family group structure. Yet, the impacts of social processes on spatial spread remain poorly understood and estimates of spatial transmission kernels (STKs) often exclude social structure. Understanding the impacts of social structure on STKs is important for obtaining robust inferences for policy decisions and optimizing response plans. We fit spatially explicit transmission models with different assumptions about contact structure to African swine fever virus surveillance data from eastern Poland from 2014 to 2015 and evaluated how social structure affected inference of …

Low-Level Groundwater Atrazine In High Atrazine Usage Nebraska Counties: Likely Effects Of Excessive Groundwater Abstraction, Moses New-Aaron, Olufemi Abimbola, Raheleh Mohammadi, Oluwaseun Famojuro, Zaeema Naveed, Azar Abadi, Jesse E. Bell, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Eleanor G. Rogan

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Recent studies observed a correlation between estrogen-related cancers and groundwater atrazine in eastern Nebraska counties. However, the mechanisms of human exposure to atrazine are unclear because low groundwater atrazine concentration was observed in counties with high cancer incidence despite having the highest atrazine usage. We studied groundwater atrazine fate in high atrazine usage Nebraska counties. Data were collected from Quality Assessed Agrichemical Contaminant Nebraska Groundwater, Parameter–Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and water use databases. Descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were performed. Domestic wells (59%) were the predominant well type. Groundwater atrazine was affected by well depth. Clusters consisting …

Core Commitments For Field Trials Of Gene Drive Organisms, Kanya C. Long, Luke Alphey, George J. Annas, Cinnamon S. Bloss, Karl J. Campbell, Jackson Champer, Chun-Hong Chen, Amit Choudhary, George M. Church, James P. Collins, Kimberly L. Cooper, Jason A. Delborne, Owain R. Edwards, Claudia I. Emerson, Kevin Esvelt, Sam Weiss Evans, Robert M. Friedman, Valentino M. Gantz, Fred Gould, Sarah Hartley, Elizabeth Heitman, Janet Hemingway, Hirotaka Kanuka, Jennifer Kuzma, James V. Lavery, Yoosook Lee, Marce Lorenzen, Jeantine E. Lunshof, John M. Marshall, Philipp W. Messer, Craig Montell, Kenneth A. Oye, Megan J. Palmer, Philippos Aris Papathanos, Prasad N. Paradkar, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Jason L. Rasgon, Gordana Rašić, Larisa Rudenko, J. Royden Saah, Maxwell J. Scott, Jolene T. Sutton, Adam E, Vorsino, Omar S. Akbari

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We must ensure that trials are scientifically, politically, and socially robust, publicly accountable, and widely transparent.

Gene drive organisms (GDOs), whose genomes have been genetically engineered to spread a desired allele through a population, have the potential to transform the way societies address a wide range of daunting public health and environmental challenges. The development, testing, and release of GDOs, however, are complex and often controversial. A key challenge is to clarify the appropriate roles of developers and others actively engaged in work with GDOs in decision-making processes, and, in particular, how to establish partnerships with relevant authorities and other …

The Sea Will Rise, Barbuda Will Survive: Environment And Time Consciousness, Sophia Perdikaris

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

In this article, we examine the link between environmental consciousnesses and time consciousness. We argue that the way people think about time shapes their experience of climate change threats. We contrast western hegemonic concepts of time—the Gregorian Calendar, the Dooms Day Clock, linear time—with the way Barbudans of Antigua and Barbuda, an island nation in the Caribbean experience time—cyclical, through boom and bust cycles. We found that this boom and bust framework was indeed supported by climate change and weather experiences on the island—hurricanes, droughts, changes in the lagoons—as well as economic experiences—cargo boat delays bringing supplies, paycheck delays. By …

Six Years Of Shiny In Research: Collaborative Development Of Web Tools In R, Peter Kasprzak, Lachlan Mitchell, Olena Kravchuk, Andy Timmins

The R Journal

The use of Shiny in research publications is investigated over the six and a half years since the appearance of this popular web application framework for R, which has been utilised in many varied research areas. While it is demonstrated that the complexity of Shiny applications is limited by the background architecture, and real security concerns exist for novice app developers, the collaborative benefits are worth attention from the wider research community. Shiny simplifies the use of complex methodologies for people of different specialities, at the level of proficiency appropriate for the end user. This enables a diverse community of …

Validating A Common Tick Survey Method: Cloth‑Dragging And Line Transects, Pia L. Kjellander, Malin Aronsson, Ulrika A. Bergvall, Josep L. Carrasco, Madeleine Christensson, Per-Eric Lindgren, Mikael Åkesson, Petter Kjellander

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Cloth-dragging is the most widely-used method for collecting and counting ticks, but there are few studies of its reliability. By using cloth-dragging, we applied a replicated line transects survey method, in two areas in Sweden with different Ixodes ricinus tick-densities (low at Grimsö and high at Bogesund) to evaluate developmental stage specific repeatability, agreement and precision in estimates of tick abundance. ‘Repeatability’ was expressed as the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), ‘agreement’ with the Total Deviation Index (TDI) and ‘precision’ by the coefficient of variation (CV) for a given dragging distance. Repeatability (ICC) and agreement (TDI) were higher for the most …

Race And Ethnic Variation In College Students’ Allostatic Regulation Of Racism-Related Stress, Jacob E. Cheadle, Bridget J. Goosby, Joseph C. Jochman, Cara Tomaso, Chelsea B. Kozikowski Yancey, Timothy D. Nelson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Racism-related stress is thought to contribute to widespread race/ ethnic health inequities via negative emotion and allostatic stress process up-regulation. Although prior studies document racerelated stress and health correlations, due to methodological and technical limitations, they have been unable to directly test the stress-reactivity hypothesis in situ. Guided by theories of constructed emotion and allostasis, we developed a protocol using wearable sensors and daily surveys that allowed us to operationalize and time-couple self-reported racism-related experiences, negative emotions, and an independent biosignal of emotional arousal. We used data from 100 diverse young adults at a predominantly White college campus to assess …

Spotted Owls And Forest Fire: Comment, Gavin M. Jones, R. J. Gutiérrez, William M. Block, Peter C. Carlson, Emily J. Comfort, Samuel A. Cushman, Raymond J. Davis, Stephanie A. Eyes, Alan B. Franklin, Joseph L. Ganey, Shaula Hedwall, John J. Keane, Rodd Kelsey, Damon B, Lesmeister, Malcolm P. North, Susan L. Roberts, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Jamie S. Sanderlin, Sarah C. Sawyer, Ben Solvesky, Douglas J. Tempel, Ho Yi Wan, A. Leroy Westerling, Gary C. White, M. Zachariah Peery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Western North American forest ecosystems are experiencing rapid changes in disturbance regimes because of climate change and land use legacies (Littell et al. 2018). In many of these forests, the accumulation of surface and ladder fuels from a century of fire suppression, coupled with a warming and drying climate, has led to increases in the number of large fires (Westerling 2016) and the proportion of areas burning at higher severity (Safford and Stevens 2017, Singleton et al. 2018). While the annual area burned by fire is still below historical levels (Taylor et al. 2016), some forest types in the west …

Wetland Edge Trampled By American Bison (Bos Bison) Used As Basking Site For Painted Turtles (Chrysemys Picta), Keith Geluso, Carter Kruse, Mary Harner

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Prairies of the Great Plains once were influenced by large-scale disturbances, such as fire and herbivory by large ungulates, that promoted ecosystem functioning. American Bison (Bos bison) created many types of disturbances as they traversed grassland landscapes. Trampling, a common type of bison disturbance, occurred when large herds moved through an area denuding aboveground vegetation, exposing prairie soils, and restarting succession. Bison reintroductions now allow researchers to use contemporary observations to examine influences of these large, hoofed mammals on system functions. Herein, we report on the immediate benefit of trampling along a wetland edge for another vertebrate species. …

Host-Use Patterns Of Canopy-Inhabiting Click Beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) In A Lowland Rainforest In Southern Venezuela, Susan Kirmse, Paul J. Johnson

Insecta Mundi

The arboreal click beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in a lowland tropical rainforest in south­ern Venezuela was observed and collected by means of a tower crane for a full year. The evaluation of the elaterid assemblage is part of a general survey of Coleoptera associated with several canopy trees. The Elat­eridae represented the tenth most species-rich beetle family in the canopy of the crane plot and was therefore selected for a detailed analysis of host-use patterns. In total, 20 species of Elateridae with 402 adult indi­viduals were sampled, including seven singletons. Species were either flower visiting (Aeolus Eschscholtz and Cosmesus …

Photographic Validation Of Target Versus Nontarget Take Of Brown Treesnake Baits, Shane R. Siers, Aaron B. Shiels, Cynthia G. Payne, Francinem M. Chlarson, Craig S. Clark, Stephen M. Mosher

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Use of toxic baits or other tools for managing nuisance species must ensure that the species of interest is adequately targeted while exposure to nontarget species is minimized. Nontarget takes of acetaminophen‐laced baits for control of invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) on Guam may put those animals at risk of lethal intoxication and render the bait unavailable to the intended target species. We used wildlife cameras to identify species removing toxic and nontoxic baits from brown treesnake bait stations designed to exclude nontarget taxa in 2015 and 2016. Throughout various sites and habitat types, and balanced by season (wet vs. …

Public Perspectives And Media Reporting Of Wolf Reintroduction In Colorado, Rebecca Niemiec, Richard E.W. Berl, Mireille Gonzalez, Tara Teel, Cassiopeia Camara, Matthew Collins, Jonathan Salerno, Kevin Crooks, Courtney Schultz, Stewart Breck, Dana Hoag

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In the state of Colorado, a citizen ballot initiative to reintroduce gray wolves (Canis lupus) is eliciting polarization and conflict among multiple stakeholder and interest groups. Given this complex social landscape, we examined the social context surrounding wolf reintroduction in Colorado as of 2019. We used an online survey of 734 Coloradans representative in terms of age and gender, and we sampled from different regions across the state, to examine public beliefs and attitudes related to wolf reintroduction and various wolf management options. We also conducted a content analysis of media coverage on potential wolf reintroduction in 10 major daily …

A Deeper Meaning For Shallow-Level Phylogenomic Studies: Nested Anchored Hybrid Enrichment Offers Great Promise For Resolving The Tiger Moth Tree Of Life (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), Nicolas J. Dowdy, Shannon Keating, Alan R. Lemmon, Emily M. Lemmon, William E. Conner, Clare H. Scott Chialvo, Susan Weller, Rebecca B. Simmons, Melissa S. Sisson, Jennifer M. Zaspel

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) has emerged as a powerful tool for uncovering the evolutionary relationships within many taxonomic groups. AHE probe sets have been developed for a variety of insect groups, though none have yet been shown to be capable of simultaneously resolving deep and very shallow (e.g., intraspecific) divergences. In this study, we present NOC1, a new AHE probe set (730 loci) for Lepidoptera specialized for tiger moths and assess its ability to deliver phylogenetic utility at all taxonomic levels. We test the NOC1 probe set with 142 individuals from 116 species sampled from all the major lineages of …

Wpa News 111 (2020), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Spring 2020), number 111

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Integrating The Ecosystem Services Framework To Define Dysbiosis Of The Breastfed Infant Gut: The Role Of B. Infantis And Human Milk Oligosaccharides, Rebbeca M. Duar, Bethany M. Henrick, Giorgio Casaburi, Steven A. Frese

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Mounting evidence supports a connection between the composition of the infant gut microbiome and long-term health. In fact, aberrant microbiome compositions during key developmental windows in early life are associated with increased disease risk; therefore, making pertinent modifications to the microbiome during infancy offers significant promise to improve human health. There is growing support for integrating the concept of ecosystem services (the provision of benefits from ecosystems to humans) in linking specific microbiome functions to human well-being. This framework is widely applied in conservation efforts of macro-ecosystems and offers a systematic approach to guide restoration actions aimed to recover critical …

Weather And Exposure Period Affect Coyote Detection At Camera Traps, Anastasia E. Madsen, Lucia Corral Hurtado, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Abstract Camera traps are an increasingly popular means to monitor wildlife populations. However, like other techniques for measuring populations, camera traps are subject to sources of error that may bias population estimates. Past studies accounting for detection error have failed to account for a simple but potentially widely pervasive source of environmental error: weather conditions. Using 5,108,416 photographs from 804 scent‐lured camera traps deployed in western Nebraska, USA, during spring and autumn of 2014 and 2015, we analyzed the relationship between weather conditions (barometric pressure, wind speed, precipitation, and temperature) and coyote (Canis latrans) detection probability. Using binomial …

Sandhill Crane Abundance In Nebraska During Spring Migration: Making Sense Of Multiple Data Points, Andrew J. Caven, Dana M. Varner, Jeff Drahota

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

The USFWS conducts an annual one-day aerial survey of the North and Central Platte River Valleys, generally on the fourth Tuesday in March, to estimate the abundance of the midcontinent Sandhill Crane population. However, these abundance indices demonstrate unrealistic inter-annual variation as a result of deviations in migration chronology and other factors. Additional research efforts have been undertaken within the region to estimate Sandhill Crane abundance over time and space but these projects generally seek to answer unique questions, employ differing survey methods, and cover overlapping yet distinct survey areas. Despite the wealth of information there remains significant uncertainty regarding …

Surveillance Of Culex And Aedes Mosquitoes In Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska, William Noundou

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2018, West Nile virus (WNV) was identified as the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States. In response to this very serious problem, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Public Health Department (LLCHD) reinforced their mosquito surveillance program, which constitutes one of the best available tools to fight against this serious threat to human health. The objectives of this study were to 1) expand knowledge of the activity and relative abundance of mosquito communities in understudied areas and 2) evaluate differences in mosquito communities by urban and rural location, especially focusing on known vector species. A total of 6 …

Fin Whale (Balaenoptera Physalus) Bones From A 5850 Year Old Shell Midden On San Miguel Island, California, Usa, Jon M. Erlandson, Robert L. Delong, Kelly M. Robertson

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Large cetaceans were heavily impacted by commercial whaling, so relatively little is known about their biogeography prior to historic times. On California’s Channel Islands, maritime peoples hunted dolphins and porpoises for millennia, but ethnohistoric data suggest that larger cetaceans were not hunted. The Island Chumash scavenged beached whale carcasses for food and technological purposes, however, and the bones of large whales are relatively common in many Channel Island shell middens. Cetacean bones from such sites provide unique opportunities to document the ancient distribution and human use of larger whale species, but many bone fragments are not identifiable to the genus …