Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating Landscape Spread Of A Low-Prevalence Disease Using Multiple Surveillance Methods, Abigail Feuka, Aakash Pandey, Melinda Cosgrove, Megan Moriarty, Anthony Duffiney, Henry Campa Iii, Kurt C. Vercuteren, Kimberly M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Diseases occurring at low prevalence in free-ranging wildlife can be difficult to study and predict at a landscape scale. This problem is compounded by imperfect pathogen detection.

2. We used data from multiple surveillance methods to determine factors influencing spread of a low-prevalence disease, bovine tuberculosis (bTB), among white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in a bTB endemic area over a 10-year period. We fit dynamic occupancy models to predict spatial spread of bTB through a county in Michigan, USA, within the bTB endemic area, while accounting for imperfect detection and a suite of ecological processes potentially driving bTB …

Effects Of The Immunocontraceptive Gonacon On Pregnancy In Brucella-Seropositive American Bison (Bison Bison), Rebecca K. Frey, Morgan E. Wehtje, Pauline Nol, Patrick R. Clarke, Jack C. Rhyan, Matthew P. Mccollum, Lowell A. Miller, Douglas C. Eckery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine if the number of pregnancies in naturally infected Brucella abortus-positive bison (Bison bison) cows would be reduced over a period of 5 yr after one treatment with 3000 mg gonadotropin-releasing hormone immunocontraceptive (GonaCon) compared to a similar group of naturally infected B. abortus-positive bison cows not treated with GonaCon. In each of the 5 yr, GonaCon-treated cows produced fewer offspring in relation to number of cows than the nontreated cows. Fisher’s Exact test comparing offspring produced during the first reproductive season showed a significant difference between the …

Efficacy Of X-Ray Phytosanitary Irradiation On The Infectivity And Reproduction Of Angiostrongylus Cantonensis In Experimentally Infected Rats, Susan I. Jarvi, Lisa M. Kaluna, Steven C. Hess, Lindsey Hamilton, Carmen Antaky, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel L. Leinbach, Yaeko Tagami, Argon Steel, Kathleen Howe, Steven Jacquier, Forrest Cookman, Jocelyn Diaz, John Jacob, Peter Follett

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a globally distributed nematode and the leading cause of eosinophilic meningitis in humans. As a global hotspot for this disease, Hawaii’s agricultural exports may be contributing to the spread of A. cantonensis. Phytosanitary irradiation doses of 150 or 400 Gy provide quarantine security against multiple insect pests. We evaluated the in vitro and in vivo effects of phytosanitary irradiation on infectious, third-stage A. cantonensis juveniles. In vitro experiments directly exposed juveniles to irradiation doses ranging from 200 to 1,000 Gy. Results showed low mortality and no dose response across all treatments 27 days post-irradiation. …

Multiscale Characterization Of Splays Produced By A Historic, Rain-On-Snow Flood On A Large Braided Stream (Platte River, Central Usa), J. T. Korus, R. M. Joeckel, A. R. Mittelstet, N. Shrestha

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Wetlands In The Nebraska Sandhills, Nawaraj Shrestha

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Infographic titled “Status of Wetlands in the Nebraska Sandhills” showing multiple maps and charts. The top left features a color-coded wetland persistence map where blue indicates more consistent wetlands and red indicates intermittent wetlands. Additional inset maps show a regional zoom and a U.S. location map highlighting Nebraska. A large scatter plot displays wetland occurrence percentages over time using MODIS (green points) and Sentinel (blue points) satellite data from 2000 to 2024. Text explains how wetlands vary seasonally and annually and how satellite imagery tracks these changes. A smaller bottom chart shows long-term wetland trends, noting increasing occurrence since 1984. …

Inaugural Future Of Bse Days: Workshop Report, Mark Stone

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

The inaugural Future of BSE Days (FBD) event, held on May 2-3, 2024, brought together the Biological Systems Engineering (BSE) community to discuss and shape the future of work and learning within the field. The event was designed to foster collaboration between faculty, students, industry leaders, and alumni, with the goal of reimagining the department’s educational approach, enhancing industry partnerships, and preparing students for the challenges of tomorrow. Over the course of two days, participants engaged in insightful discussions, workshops, and presentations that highlighted both the strengths of the department and opportunities for growth.

The workshop resulted in several key …

Hop Cone Drying For The Small Grower: Temperature And Airflow Considerations, Stacy A. Adams, David M. Mabie, Michael F. Kocher, David Jones

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Small hop growers without nearby processors for cone stripping and drying must attempt to do so on their own farm. Challenges exist for self-built drying systems, including drying capacity, processing speed, airflow direction, and maintaining quality during drying. Research-based recommendations are given for optimal temperature, sizing of drying vessel, maximum cone depth, and influences associated with airflow on processing uniformity and cone quality are presented.

Stage And Discharge Prediction From Documentary Time-Lapse Imagery, Kenneth W. Chapman, Troy E. Gilmore, Mehrube Mehrubeoglu, Christian D. Chapman, Aaron R. Mittelstet, John E. Stranzl Jr.

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Imagery from fixed, ground-based cameras is rich in qualitative and quantitative information that can improve stream discharge monitoring. For instance, time-lapse imagery may be valuable for filling data gaps when sensors fail and/or during lapses in funding for monitoring programs. In this study, we used a large image archive (> 40,000 images from 2012 to 2019) from a fixed, ground-based camera that is part of a documentary watershed imaging project (https://plattebasintimelapse.com/). Scalar image features were extracted from daylight images taken at one-hour intervals. The image features were fused with United States Geological Survey stage and discharge data as …

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Maize No-Till Agroecosystems In Southern Brazil Based On A Long-Term Experiment, Guilherme Rosa Da Silva, Adam J. Liska, Cimelio Bayer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Brazilian agriculture is constantly questioned concerning its environmental impacts, particularly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This research study used data from a 34-year field experiment to estimate the life cycle GHG emissions intensity of maize production for grain in farming systems under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) combined with Gramineae (oat) and legume (vetch) cover crops in southern Brazil. We applied the Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator for modeling the “field-to-farm gate” emissions with measured annual soil N₂O and CH₄ emissions data. For net CO₂ emissions, increases in soil organic C (SOC) were applied as a proxy, …

Student Use Of Anchors And Metacognitive Strategies In Reflection, Anu Singh, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Context: Self-regulation, a skillset involving taking charge of one’s own learning processes, is crucial for workplace success. Learners develop self-regulation skills through reflection where they recognize weaknesses and strengths by employing metacognitive strategies: planning, monitoring, and evaluating. Use of anchors assists learners’ engagement in reflection. Purpose or Goal: The purpose of this work was to gain insight into students’ use of anchors when reflecting on their learning. The two research questions: (1) To what extent do students link their self-evaluation and learning objective (LO) self-ratings to their reflections? and (2) What dimensions and level of metacognitive strategies do students use …

Classification Of Sow Postures Using Convolutional Neural Network And Depth Images, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The United States swine industry reports an average preweaning mortality of approximately 16% where approximately 6% of them are attributed to piglets overlayed by sows. Detecting postural transitions and estimating sows’ time budgets for different postures are valuable information for breeders and engineering design of farrowing facilities to eventually reduce piglet death. Computer vision tools can help monitor changes in animal posture accurately and efficiently. To create a more robust system and eliminate varying lighting issues within a day including daytime/ nighttime differences, there is an advantage to using depth cameras over digital cameras. In this study, a computer vision …

Machine Learning-Based Disease Classification In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Plants = Klasifikasi Penyakit Berbasis Pembelajaran Mesin Pada Tanaman Tomat (Solanum Lycopersicum), Md Towfiqur Rahman, Sudipto Dhar Dipto, Israt Jahan June, Abdul Momin, Muhammad Rashed Al Mamun

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

English abstract

In Bangladesh, tomato cultivation faces significant challenges due to its susceptibility to various microorganisms, parasites, and bacterial infections. Typically, the early symptoms of these diseases first appear in roots and leaves, complicating timely detection. This study addresses the challenge of timely and accurate detection of diseases in tomato plants, crucial for effective plant protection management. Conventional manual inspection methods are time-consuming and subjective, resulting in delays in implementing necessary protection measures. Therefore, an image processing technique and machine learning algorithms were used for rapid and robust detection of diseases in tomato plant leaves, aiming to streamline the detection …

A Validation Of Wepp Water Quality Routines In Uniform And Nonuniform Agricultural Hillslopes, Ryan P. Mcgehee, Dennis C. Flanagan, Bernard A. Engel, John E. Gilley

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nutrients in agricultural runoff may cause offsite environmental impacts. The objective of this investigation was to examine nutrient transport by overland sheet flow on sites containing swine slurry. Data examined in this study was collected during field rainfall simulation tests conducted on cropland sites in southeast Nebraska, USA. Inflow was added to the top of experimental plots in four successive increments to simulate runoff rates occurring at greater downslope distances. Runoff rates on the experimental sites ranged from 2.3 to 21.2 L min 1 and maximum equivalent downslope distances varied from 5 to 108 m. Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) …

Biogeographic Affiliation And Centers Of Richness As Predictors Of Elevational Range-Size Patterns For Malesian Flora, Melissa Whitman, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Our goal was to interrogate the idea that “mountain passes are higher in the tropics” by investigating ecological and biogeographic drivers of elevational range-sizes patterns among equatorial flora. We used herbarium records for 60 species-rich plant families, representing 18 535 species total, to estimate distributions over a 4500 m elevational gradient. For each family, we estimated the change in average range-sizes with increasing elevation (i.e. Rapoport's rule, abbreviated as ERR) and quantified 15 metrics of familial richness distribution, evolutionary age, and biogeographic affiliation. We visualized covariation across families using phylogenetic principal components analysis (pPCA). We then evaluated how family-level ERR …

Descriptive Report On Dietary Remains From Aztec And Salmon Ruins Coprolites, Karl J. Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

This report focuses only on dietary results from the Aztec Ruins and Salmon Ruins coprolites. The parasitological analysis was completed in 2018 and was the focus of several papers that were summarized by Camacho and Reinhard (2020). This did not include DNA analysis. The coprolites from these sites are not appropriate sources of DNA testing.

The main conclusion of the analysis are:

1) Two very distinct plant spectra are represented in Aztec Ruins West (ARW) room 219 and room 225.

2) The three contexts of ARW room 219 show interesting variation in food selection, however these are small samples.

3) …

Recent Beak Evolution In North American Starlings After Invasion, Julia M. Zichello, Shelagh T. Deliberto, Paul Shrewsbury, Agnieszka A. Pierwola, Scott J. Werner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

European starlings are one of the most abundant and problematic avian invaders in the world. From their native range across Eurasia and North Africa, they have been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. In 160 years, starlings have expanded into different environments throughout the world, making them a powerful model for understanding rapid evolutionary change and adaptive plasticity. Here, we investigate their spatiotemporal morphological variation in North America and the native range. Our dataset includes 1,217 specimens; a combination of historical museum skins and modern birds. Beak length in the native range has remained unchanged during the past 206 years, …

Assessing The Efficiency Of Local Rabies Vaccination Strategies For Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) In An Urban Setting, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Nicole T. Gorman, Katherine M. Mcclure, Larissa Nituch, Tore Buchanan, Richard B. Chipman, Amy T. Gilbert, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Raccoon rabies virus (RRV) has been managed using multiple vaccination strategies, including oral rabies vaccination and trap-vaccinate-release (TVR). Identifying a rabies vaccination strategy for an area is a nontrivial task. Vaccination strategies differ in the amount of effort and monetary costs required to achieve a particular level of vaccine seroprevalence (efficiency). Simulating host movement relative to different vaccination strategies in silico can provide a useful tool for exploring the efficiency of different vaccination strategies. We refined a previously developed individual-based model of raccoon movement to evaluate vaccination strategies for urban Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We combined different oral rabies vaccination baiting …

Expanding Cwd Disease Surveillance Options Using Environmental Contamination At Deer Signposts, Miranda H. J. Huang, Steve Demarais, Alejandro Banda, Bronson K. Strickland, Anna Grace Welch, Scoty Hearst, Stuart Lichtenberg, Allan Houston, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Environmental surveillance can allow early detection of diseases, which increases management options and can improve disease trajectories. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids is a significant prion disease that has been spreading across North America since the 1960s, leading to cervid population declines and concern from hunters and state wildlife agencies. White-tailed deer have a unique breeding season behavior called scraping, where they deposit urine and saliva at shared sites. Since both these fluids can contain CWD prions, scrape sites have the potential to serve as sentinel sites for environmental surveillance of CWD.
2. To examine this potential, we …

Characterization Of Recent Wild Pig‑Vehicle Collisions In Georgia, Usa, Jeremiah L. Psiropoulos, Emily Howe, John J. Mayer, Sophie C. Mckee

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Vehicle collisions with wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are reported almost everywhere this species is found. However, this is one of the least studied and characterized forms of damage that these invasive animals cause in the United States (US). We analyzed 518 wild pig-vehicle collisions (WPVCs) that took place statewide in Georgia between 2015 and 2021. From that dataset, we analyzed several parameters in order to better understand and characterize these accidents on a scale that had previously not been done in the US. Wild pig-vehicle collisions were reported from 105 out of the 159 counties in Georgia, increasing …

African Swine Fever At The Wildlife-Livestock Interface: Challenges For Management And Outbreak Response Within Invasive Wild Pigs In The United States, Vienna R. Brown, Ryan S. Miller, Kim M. Pepin, Keith M. Carlisle, Merril A, Cook, Cole F. Vanicek, Lindsey K. Holmstrom, Lisa T. Rochette, Timothy J. Smyser

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

African swine fever (ASF) causes significant morbidity and mortality in both domestic and wild suids (Sus scrofa), and disease outbreaks convey profound economic costs to impacted industries due to death loss, the cost of culling exposed/infected animals as the primary disease control measure, and trade restrictions. The co-occurrence of domestic and wild suids significantly complicates ASF management given the potential for wild populations to serve as persistent sources for spillover. We describe the unique threat of African swine fever virus (ASFV) introduction to the United States from epidemiological and ecological perspectives with a specific focus on disease management at the …

Seasonal Efficacy And Risks From A Sodium Nitrite Toxic Bait For Wild Pigs, Nathan P. Snow, Michael P. Glow, Justin A. Foster, Kurt C. Vancauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background
Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive and destructive species throughout many regions of the world. A sodium nitrite (SN) toxic bait is currently used in Australia and being developed for use in the US and other countries to combat the increasing populations of wild pigs. In the US, efforts to modify the Australian SN-toxic bait and baiting strategy have focused on reducing issues with non-target animals accessing the SN-toxic bait spilled outside of bait stations by wild pigs. We tested and compared modifications for efficacy (with wild pigs) and hazards (with non-targets) in north-central Texas, US during summer …

Overview Of Global Wildlife–Livestock Interfaces: The Array Of Conflicts And Strategies To Mitigate Them, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Stewart Breck

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Implications

Wildlife–livestock conflict can be broadly categorized as either competition for resources, disease transmission between wildlife and domestic species, or predation.
Management strategies can either focus on management of the livestock or management of the wildlife. Dynamic integration of both these strategies likely provides the best solution in many scenarios.
Reducing conflict and maintaining ecologically appropriate and viable populations of wildlife and thriving human endeavors should be the ultimate goal.

Evaluation Of Contingency Actions To Control The Spread Of Raccoon Rabies In Ohio And Virginia, Amy J. Davis, Richard B. Chipman, Kathleen M. Nelson, Betsy S. Haley, Jordana D. Kirby, Xiaoyue Ma, Ryan M. Wallace, Amy. T. Gilbert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The raccoon (Procyon lotor) variant of the rabies virus (RRV) is enzootic in the eastern United States and oral rabies vaccination (ORV) is the primary strategy to prevent and control landscape spread. Breaches of ORV management zones occasionally occur, and emergency “contingency” actions may be implemented to enhance local control. Contingency actions are an integral part of landscape-scale wildlife rabies management but can be very costly and routinely involve enhanced rabies surveillance (ERS) around the index case. We investigated two contingency actions in Ohio (2017–2019 and 2018–2021) and one in Virginia (2017–2019) using a dynamic, multi-method occupancy approach to examine …

Use Of Rhodamine B As A Biomarker In A Simulated Oral Vaccine Deployment Against Bovine Tuberculosis In White-Tailed Deer, David Dressel, Kurt Vercauteren, Michael Lavelle, Nathan P. Snow, Henry Campa Iii

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Introduction Free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northeastern lower Michigan, United States are a self-sustaining reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (bTB). Farm mitigation practices, baiting bans, and antlerless deer harvests have been ineffective in eliminating bTB in white-tailed deer and risks to cattle. The apparent prevalence has remained relatively constant in deer, prompting interest among wildlife researchers, managers, and veterinarians for an effective means of vaccinating deer against bTB. The commonly used human vaccine for bTB, Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG), is the primary candidate with oral delivery being the logical means for vaccinating deer.

Materials and methods We developed …

Identifying Priority Mitigation Areas For Human–Osprey Conflict, Natasha K. Murphy, Melanie R. Boudreau, Brian S. Dorr, Kate Slankard, Scott A. Rush

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Raptor nests on human‐built structures represent a significant source of conflict, as they can result in bird mortality, fires, or power outages due to falling nest materials or animals connecting with energized conductors. Power companies typically try to mitigate these conflicts to avoid service disruptions. Performing mitigation measures across all potentially problematic power infrastructure is generally not a practical solution given logistical, time, or budgetary constraints. Therefore, there is a need for quantitative, landscapescale tools to identify conflict risk and prioritize mitigation. We examined the influence of habitat and transmission infrastructure distribution on the potential risk of osprey (Pandion …

Efficacy Of An Inflatable Deterrent For Reducing New World Vulture Human‑Wildlife Conflict, Bryan M. Kluever, Betsy A. Evans, Noah M. Osterhoudt, Eric A. Tillman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Increasing urbanization coupled with spatial expansion and numerical increase of New World vulture populations has engendered a rise in human-vulture conflict, creating a need for effective tools to mitigate vulture-related damage. Visual frightening devices that mimic the presence of human or other predators can be employed in human-vulture conflict scenarios to increase perceived risk by the pest species, thereby eliciting an antipredator behavioral response, such as fleeing. One visual frightening device, inflatable scarecrows, recently proved effective at reducing passerine attendance at feral swine feeders, but their effectiveness when directed at other species and conflict scenarios has varied. Our primary objective …

Probabilistic Genetic Identification Of Wild Boar Hybridization To Support Control Of Invasive Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa), Timothy J. Smyser, Peter Pfaffelhuber, Rachael M. Giglio, Matthew G. Desaix, Amy J. Davis, Courtney F. Bowden, Michael A. Tabak, Arianna Manunza, Valentin Adrian Bâlteanu, Marcel Amills, Laura Iacolina, Pamela Walker, Carl Lessard, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The rapid expansion of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) throughout the United States has been fueled by unlawful introductions, with invasive populations causing extensive crop losses, damaging native ecosystems, and serving as a reservoir for disease. Multiple states have passed laws prohibiting the possession or transport of wild pigs. However, genetic and phenotypic similarities between domestic pigs and invasive wild pigs—which overwhelmingly represent domestic pig and wild boar hybrids—pose a challenge for the enforcement of such regulations. We sought to exploit wild boar ancestry as a common attribute among the vast majority of invasive wild pigs as a means …

Effects Of Pregnancy Prevention On Brucella Abortus Shedding In American Bison (Bison Bison), Pauline Nol, Rebecca Frey, Morgan Wehtje, Jack C. Rhyan, Patrick Ryan Clarke, Matthew Mccollum, Christine Quance, Douglas C. Eckery, Suelee Robbe-Austerman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Products of parturition are the predominant source of Brucella abortus for transmission in bison (Bison bison). Our objective was to assess whether preventing pregnancy in Brucella-seropositive bison reduced B. abortus shedding. Brucella-seropositive and -seronegative bison from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA were used in a replicated experiment. Each of two replicates (rep1, rep2) included a group of seropositive females treated with a single dose of gonadotropin-releasing hormone-based immunocontraceptive (Treatment rep1, n = 15; Treatment rep2, n = 20) and an untreated group (Control rep1, n = 14; Control rep2, …

Internal And External Factors Affect Pair Mate Proximity In Captive Coyotes, Canis Latrans, Alexandra Turano, Stacey P. Brummer, Jeffrey T. Schultz, Julie Young, Sara M. Freeman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Toxoplasma Gondii Survey In Waterfowl And Gulls From Eight Usa States, Sawsan Ammar, Tania J. Dawant, Janetta Kelly, Graham Hickling, Justin Brown, Kyle R. Van Why, Rebecca Poulson, Chunlei Su, Richard W. Gerhold Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sera from 391 waterbirds from eight USA states were tested for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using the modified agglutination test. Fifteen different waterbird species (26.6%; n = 104) were seropositive. Of the adults, 25.4% (n = 52) showed a significantly higher T. gondii seroprevalence compared with juveniles (13.4%; n = 17); however, sex was not a significant factor.