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Restoration Of The Red Wolf, Michael K. Phillips, V. Gary Henry, Brian T. Kelly

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

"WOLFERS" IN NORTHEASTERN North Carolina were busy on February 5, 1768. Records from the Tyrrell County courthouse read: “Giles Long and Thomas Wllkinson awarded one pound for a certified wolf scalp; Jeremiah Norman awarded two pounds for certified wolf and wild-cat scalps; Davenport Smithwick awarded one pound for a certified wolf-scalp. Such was the nature of the war on the wolf: people killed them for money. The belief of the time held that the war was necessary because it was humankind's manifest destiny to tame the wilderness. And for the wilderness to be tame, the wolf had to be exterminated. …

Characteristics Of Spring And Fall Blackbird Roosts In The Northern Great Plains, George M. Linz, Richard S. Sawin, Mark W. Lutman, H. Jeffrey Homan, Linda B. Penry, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

To successfully reduce blackbird (Icteridae) damage to sunflower crops in the northern Great Plains, wildlife damage managers must be able to identify sites where large roosts could form in spring and fall. In 1998 and 1999, we measured several habitat and land-use characteristics of spring and fall blackbird roosts. Our objective was to quantify the relationship between roost formation and wetland habitat and land-use. We used data from 7 spring roosts and 12 fall blackbird roosts to set search guidelines that might increase the efficacy of locating potential roost sites in the Prairie Pothole Region of the northern Great Plains. …

Training Deer To Avoid Sites Through Negative Reinforcement, Dale L. Nolte, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Kelly R. Perry, Suzanne E. Adams

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Deer frequently visit areas where they may cause damage. Incidents along roadways and runways inflict numerous injuries to animals and humans, and cause considerable economic losses. Concerns are increasing that deer interactions with domestic animals may contribute to spread of disease. Deer foraging in residential areas, agricultural fields, or plant propagation sites can impede growth and possibly survival of desirable plants. We conducted a series of trials to determine whether mild electric shock would induce place avoidance in deer. Shock was delivered through a device attached to a collar. A noise cue was emitted as an animal approached a defined …

The Influence Of Predator Odours And Overcrowded Mouse Odours On Regulation Of Oestrous Cycles In House Mice (Mus Musculus), Natalia Yu. Severtzov, Svetlana V. Naidenko, Anna E. Voznesenskaia, Georgy J. Krivomazov, Larry Clark, Vera V. Voznessenskaya

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We investigated the influence of chemical signals derived from different sources—urine of feral cats (Felis catus) and urine from overcrowded mice (Mus musculus) on regulation of oestrous cycles in Mus musculus musculus under laboratory conditions. Cat urine and urine from mice housed in overcrowded conditions caused very similar effects. Application of urine from feral cats and from overcrowded conspecifics to the bedding of experimental animals for a period of 21 days caused a significant increase in numbers of animals with extended oestrous cycles. Application of cat urine or overcrowded mouse urine to the bedding of female …

Effects Of Sediment Load On Emergence Of Aquatic Invertebrates And Plants From Wetland Soil Egg And Seed Banks, Robert A. Gleason, Ned H. Euliss Jr., Daniel E. Hubbard, Walter G. Duffy

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Intensive agricultural activities near prairie wetlands may result in excessive sediment loads, which may bury seed and invertebrate egg banks that are important for maintenance and cycling of biotic communities during wet/dry cycles. We evaluated effects of sediment burial on emergence of plants and invertebrates from seed and invertebrate egg banks. Sediment-load experiments indicated that burial depths of 0.5 cm caused a 91.7% reduction in total seedling emergence and a 99.7% reduction in total invertebrate emergence. Results of our burial experiments corroborated prior research on seedling emergence. However, our study demonstrated that invertebrate emergence is also highly susceptible to the …

Beaver Population Size Estimation In Mississippi, Seth R. Swafford, Dale L. Nolte, Kris Godwin, Charles A. Sloan, Jeanne Jones

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Methods to better quantify beaver (Castor canadensis) population size need to be developed to assist in the direct control methods being implemented by Wildlife Services. Many state game and fish departments rely on lodge counts, cache counts, or fur harvest reports to estimate a station-wide or regional population of beaver. However, Wildlife Services is concerned with estimating population size on a per site basis to assist in estimating project costs and to minimize the number of non-target captures. Six sites in Mississippi were selected to test various methods of population estimation. Various methods included indexing population size based …

Double-Crested Cormorant Impacts To Commercial And Natural Resources, Jimmy D. Taylor Ii, Brian S. Dorr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The North American population of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) has increased at an annual rate of 6.8% since 1966, with regional growth exceeding 20%/year since 1990 in Ontario and states bordering the Great Lakes. Population numbers, though operating under biological carrying capacity, have exceeded acceptance capacity with several wildlife stakeholder groups throughout Canada and the United States. Stakeholder concerns predominantly focus around social, ecological, and economic values associated with habitat destruction, changes in recreational fisheries, and loss of production at aquaculture facilities. We describe perceptible impacts to these commercial and natural resources, and discuss current research and management …

Feral Swine---Are They A Disease Threat To Livestock In The United States?, Gary W. Witmer, Robert B. Sanders, Arnold C. Taft

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral swine populations provide both benefits and liabilities to citizens of the United States. Their expanding range and increasing densities, however, have raised concern over the adverse environmental and agricultural effects and the increased risk of disease transmission between feral swine and livestock. We discuss the role of feral swine in the transmission of wildlife diseases and, in particular, in diseases of national significance to the livestock industry. We also discuss available management tools and strategies for reducing feral swine populations, minimizing damage or disease occurrences and eradicating populations when deemed appropriate. Finally, we note areas of research that may …

The Use Of Toxicants In Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management: An Overview, Gary W. Witmer, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Black-tailed prairie dogs pose management challenges to landowners and resource managers. They are viewed as either a pest when they cause damage to vegetation or property or pose a disease hazard or, conversely, as a valuable Akeystone@ species representative of reasonably intact prairie ecosystems. When conflicts arise with prairie dog colonies, the two main options are capture and relocation or lethal removal. There are a number of vertebrate toxicants registered for field use in the United States, but few are currently registered for prairie dog control. Only one, zinc phosphide, can be applied above ground as a grain bait. The …

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management In Urban-Suburban Settings: Opportunities And Challenges, Gary W. Witmer, Mark Brennan, Donna Dees, Brian Hoffmann, Frances Pusateri, Cary Richardson, David Seery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Among the many human-wildlife conflicts that occur across North America, some of the most contentious occur at the interface of urban and suburban lands and adjoining rural landscapes. Along the Colorado Front Range, one of the more difficult situations faced by local governments and municipalities involves black-tailed prairie dog colonies. These colonies are relicts of the expansive colonies that once occurred across much of the prairies of North America. Although these colonies are relatively small and, usually, highly fragmented, they represent an important link to our natural history, provide a valuable wildlife-viewing experience and allow the promotion of public education …

Introduction, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

THE WOLF IS TRULY a special animal. As the most widely distributed of all land mammals, the wolf, formally the gray wolf (Canis lupus), is also one of the most adaptable. It inhabits all the vegetation types of the Northern Hemisphere and preys on all the large mammals living there. It also feeds on all the other animals in its environment, scavenges, and can even eat fruits and berries. Wolves frequent forests and prairies, tundra, barren ground, mountains, deserts, and swamps. Some wolves even visit large cities, and, of course, the wolf's domesticated version, the dog, thrives in …

Wolf Social Ecology, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

THE FIRST REAL BEGINNING to our understanding of wolf social ecology came from wolf 2204 on 23 May 1972. State depredation control trapper Lawrence Waino, of Duluth, Minnesota, had caught this female wolf 112 km ( 67 mi) south of where L. D. Mech had radio-collared her in the Superior National Forest 2 years earlier. A young lone wolf, nomadic over 100 km² (40 mi²) during the 9 months Mech had been able to keep track of her, she had then disappeared until Waino caught her. From her nipples it was apparent that she had just been …

References, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Abrams, P. A. 2000. The evolution of predator-prey interactions. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 31:79-105.

Abuladze, K. I. 1964. Osnovy Tsestodologii. Vol. IV. Teniatylentochnye gel' minty zhivotnykh i cheloveka i vyzyvaevaniia. Nauka, Moscow. 530 pp.

Achuff, P. L., and R. Petocz. 1988. Preliminary resource inventory of the Arjin Mountains Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. World Wide Fund for Nature, Gland, Switzerland. 78 pp.

Ackerman, B. B., F. A. Leban, M. D. Samuel, and E. 0. Garton. 1990. User's manual for program Home Range. 2d ed. Technical Report no. 15. Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Experiment Station, University ofldaho, Moscow.

Acorn, …

Wolf Population Dynamics, Todd K. Fuller, L. David Mech, Jean Fitts Cochrane

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

A LARGE, DARK WOLF poked his nose out of the pines in Yellowstone National Park as he thrust a broad foot deep into the snow and plowed ahead. Soon a second animal appeared, then another, and a fourth. A few minutes later, a pack of thirteen lanky wolves had filed out of the pines and onto the open hillside.

Wolf packs are the main social units of a wolf population. As numbers of wolves in packs change, so too, then, does the wolf population (Rausch 1967). Trying to understand the factors and mechanisms that affect these changes is what the …

Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, And Conservation: Photo Section Ii, Douglas W. Smith, L. David Mech, Isaac Babcock, Melissa Mccaw

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Adult wolves are very attentive to the pups. Both parents feed and care for them. Any older siblings similarly participate in pup care and feeding. Kin selection is probably the best explanation for the latter behavior. Top: Photograph by Isaac Babcock. Bottom: Photograph by L. David Mech.

Wolf Interactions With Non-Prey, Warren B. Ballard, Ludwig N. Carbyn, Douglas W. Smith

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

WOLVES SHARE THEIR ENVIRONMENT with many animals besides those that they prey on, and the nature of the interactions between wolves and these other creatures varies considerably. Some of these sympatric animals are fellow canids such as foxes, coyotes, and jackals. Others are large carnivores such as bears and cougars. In addition, ravens, eagles, wolverines, and a host of other birds and mammals interact with wolves, if only by feeding on the remains of their kills.

Conclusion, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

WOLVES CAN LIVE almost anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, and almost everywhere they do, they are an issue. In the vast emptiness of the northern tundra or the Arabian desert, on the outskirts of a European town or in the safety of an American national park, in meager agricultural lands in India or mountains in rich Norway or Switzerland, wolves always attract people's attention. Wolves form a key part of many ecosystems, and they are considered charismatic creatures by most human cultures. Thus they polarize public opinion and make headlines year after year.

If we look back 6o years to …

Incidence Of Mink, Mustela Vison, And River Otter, Lutra Canadensis, In A Highly Urbanized Area, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Mink (Mustela vison) frequently inhabited or traversed a residential. business. and industrial part of the Twin Cities. Minnesota, with little water or natural vegetation. At least one River Otter (Lutra canadensis) also resided on a small pond on a golf course in the area for several winter months.

Alteration Of Soil Water Content Consequent To Root-Pruning At A Windbreak/Crop Interface In Nebraska, Usa, Qingjiang Hou, James R. Brandle, Kenneth Hubbard, Michele Schoneberger, Carlos Nieto, Charles A. Francis

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Root-pruning is generally recommended as an appropriate treatment to reduce competition for soil water and/or nutrients and suppression of crop yield in areas adjacent to windbreaks. Several recent studies suggest, however, that factors other than soil water might be causing yield reduction at the interface. For two consecutive years, we evaluated root-pruning effects on soil water at the windbreak/crop interface under both cropped (soybean [Glycine max (L) Merr.] variety ‘Iroquois’, 1997) and non-cropped (1998) conditions in Mead, Nebraska, USA. Volumetric soil water content near the windbreaks was systematically measured at various soil depths, distances from the windbreak, …

Use Of Mini-Sprinklers To Strip Trichloroethylene And Tetrachloroethylene From Contaminated Ground Water, Yvette C. Berisford, Parshall B. Bush, John I. Blake, Cassandra L. Bayer

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Three low-volume mini-sprinklers were tested for their efficacy to strip trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) from water. Deionized water spiked with TCE and PCE as pumped for approximately 1 h at 0.19 to 0.21 MPa (28 to 30 lb in^-2) through a mini-sprinkler supported on top of a 1.8-m-tall riser. Water was collected in collection vessels at 0.61 and 1.22 m above the ground on support columns that were spaced at 0.61-m intervals from the riser base, and samples were composited per height and distance from the riser. Overall, air-stripping reduced dissolved concentrations of TCE and PCE by …

Biology And Biological Control Of Yellow Starthistle, Linda M. Wilson, Cynthia Jette, John Connett, Joseph Mcaffrey

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L.) is an invasive weed introduced from the Mediterranean region. It predominantly infests rangelands in the western United States. This second edition manual on the biological control of yellow starthistle is intended to give weed and land managers guidelines to develop and successfully establish a starthistle biocontrol program.

Factors Related To Body Condition Of Nestling Burrowing Owls In Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, Randall L. Griebel, Julie A. Savidge

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

We analyzed the body condition of nestling Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) at Buffalo Gap National Grassland during the summers of 1999 and 2000. In 1999, which had a wet spring, body condition was negatively related to brood size and distance from nest to colony edge. There was no relationship between body condition and brood size during 2000, which had normal precipitation. In 2000, nestlings of early arriving pairs were in better body condition than those that arrived later. The variance in body condition within a brood was not related to brood size.

Potentiation Of Trail-Induced Apoptosis In Primary Effusion Lymphoma Through Azidothymidine-Mediated Inhibition Of Nf-[Kappa]B, Subrata K. Ghosh, Charles Wood, Lawrence H. Boise, Abdul M. Mian, Vadim V. Deyev, Gerold Feuer, Ngoc L. Toomey, Nicole C. Shank, Lisa Cabral, Glen N. Barber, William J. Harrington

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The survival of viral mediated lymphomas depends upon constitutive nuclear factor kappa B (NF-[kappa]B) activity. AIDS-related human herpesvirus type 8–associated primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) responds poorly to chemotherapy and is almost invariably fatal. We have previously demonstrated that the antiviral combination of interferon alpha (IFN-[alpha]) and azidothymidine (AZT) induces apoptosis in PEL cell lines. We therefore used these agents as therapy for an AIDS patient with PEL. The patient had a dramatic response, with complete resolution of his malignant effusion in 5 days. In PEL cells, the death receptor ligand known as tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is markedly …

Animal Anti-Apoptotic Genes Ameliorate The Loss Of Turgor In Water-Stressed Transgenic Tobacco, Tala Awada, D. D. Dunigan, M. B. Dickman

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Nicotiana tabacum L. ‘Glurk’ plants were transformed with antiapoptotic animal genes [chicken Bcl-xl; nematode CED-9; chicken Bcl-xl(GA) a mutant of Bcl-xl; and a 3’ non-coding region of human Bcl-2, referred to as 161-1]. Our objectives were to determine whether plant transformation with anti-apoptotic genes ameliorates drought tolerance in tobacco plants by subjecting the plants to a dry-down period. The non-transformed Glurk and the transgenic Glurk harboring G115, which expresses β-glucuronidase, served as controls. Transformation of tobacco plants with animal anti-apoptotic genes significantly impacted the rates of photosynthesis (A) and stomatal conductance (g_s), but not to the same extent …

Identification Of Novel Domains Within Sox-2 And Sox-11 Involved In Autoinhibition Of Dna Binding And Partnership Specificity, Matthew S. Wiebe, Tamara K. Nowling, Angie Rizzino

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Sox transcription factors play key regulatory roles throughout development, binding DNA through a consensus (A/T)(A/T)CAA(A/T)G sequence. Although many different Sox proteins bind to this se-quence, it has been observed that gene regulatory elements are commonly responsive to only a small subset of the entire family, implying that regulatory mechanisms exist to permit selective DNA bind-ing and/or transactivation by Sox family members. To identify and explore the mechanisms modu-lating gene activation by Sox proteins further, we compared the function of Sox-2 and Sox-11. This led to the discovery that Sox proteins are regulated differentially at multiple levels, including trans-activation, protein partnerships …

U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service 2003 Amendment To The 2000 Biological Opinion On The Operation Of The Missouri River Main Stem Reservoir System, Operation And Maintenance Of The Missouri River Bank Stabilization And Navigation Project, And Operation Of The Kansas River Reservoir System

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

In 1989, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) initiated consulation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) regarding operation of the Missouri River Main Stem Reservoir System.  The species covered were the endangered Interior least tern (Sterna antillarum), threatened Northern Great Plains piping plover (Charadrius melodus), and the endangered bald eagle (Hallaeetus leucocehpalus).  Subsequently, the pallid sturgeon (Seaphirhynchus alba) was listed as endangered in 1990.  The bald eagle is now a threatened species proposed for delisting.

Consultation between the Corps and the Service in 2000 covered operations of the Missouri …

Implementation Of The Biological Opinion For The Missouri River Mainstem System, Missouri River Bank Stabilization And Navigation Project, And Kansas River Reservoir System

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that the Corps of Engineers (Corps), in coordination with the appropriate resource agencies, will ensure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any federally listed threatened or endangered species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat. On November 30, 2000, formal consultation between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Corps under Section 7 of the ESA culminated with the "Biological Opinion on the Operation of the Missouri River Main Stem System, Operation and Maintenance ofthe Missouri River …

Effects Of Ungulates And Prairie Dogs On Seed Banks And Vegetation In A North American Mixed-Grass Prairie, Jace T. Fahnestock, Diane L. Larson, Glenn E. Plumb, James K. Detling

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The relationship between vegetation cover and soil seed banks was studied in five different ungulate herbivoreprairie dog treatment combinations at three northern mixed-grass prairie sites in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. There were distinct differences in both the seed bank composition and the aboveground vegetation between the off-prairie dog colony treatments and the on-colony treatments. The three on-colony treatments were similar to each other at all three sites with vegetation dominated by the forbs Dyssodia papposa, Hedeoma spp., Sphaeralcea coccinea, Conyza canadensis, and Plantago patagonica and seed banks dominated by the forbs Verbena bracteata and Dyssodia papposa. The …

Monetary Valuation Methods For Economic Analysis Of The Benefit-Costs Of Protecting Rare Wildlife Species From Predators, Richard M. Engeman, Stephanie A. Schwiff, Henry T. Smith, Bernice Constantin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many threatened and endangered species are negatively impacted by predation. Management of the predators that are geographically and telnporally in position to threaten species of concern can greatly aid in their conservation. However, decisions on managenlent strategies are based within economic constraints, while the success of management actions is measured by wildlife resource improvement. Here, we review methods for applying monetary valuations for threatened and endangered species so that cconoinic analyses of management actions can be used to help guide and evaluate managcmcnt decisions. A variety of applied exa~nplesa re provided to demonstrate the principles.

Coyotes; Coyotes In Yellowstone National Park: The Influence, Eric M. Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.