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2012

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Articles 17401 - 17430 of 19084

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Monitoring The Invasion Of An Exotic Tree (Ligustrum Lucidum) From 1983 To 2006 With Landsat Tm/Etm + Satellite Data And Support Vector Machines In Córdoba, Argentina, Gregorio I. Gavier-Pizarro, Tobias Kuemmerle, Laura E. Hoyos, Susan I. Stewart, Cynthia D. Huebner, Nicholas S. Keuler, Volker C. Radeloff Jan 2012

Monitoring The Invasion Of An Exotic Tree (Ligustrum Lucidum) From 1983 To 2006 With Landsat Tm/Etm + Satellite Data And Support Vector Machines In Córdoba, Argentina, Gregorio I. Gavier-Pizarro, Tobias Kuemmerle, Laura E. Hoyos, Susan I. Stewart, Cynthia D. Huebner, Nicholas S. Keuler, Volker C. Radeloff

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

In central Argentina, the Chinese tree glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum) is an aggressive invasive species replacing native forests, forming dense stands, and is thus a major conservation concern. Mapping the spread of biological invasions is a necessary first step toward understanding the factors determining invasion patterns. Urban areas may function as propagule sources for glossy privet because it has been used as a landscaping tree for over a century. The objectives of this paperwere to 1)map the patterns of glossy privet expansion from1983 to 2006 using a time series of Landsat TM/ETM+images, and 2) analyze the spatial pattern …

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Marine Vertebrates From The Hartland Shale (Upper Cretaceous: Upper Cenomanian) In Southeastern Colorado, Usa, Matthew Nagrodski, Kenshu Shimada, Bruce A. Schumacher Jan 2012

Marine Vertebrates From The Hartland Shale (Upper Cretaceous: Upper Cenomanian) In Southeastern Colorado, Usa, Matthew Nagrodski, Kenshu Shimada, Bruce A. Schumacher

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

The Hartland Shale Member of the Greenhorn Limestone was deposited in the middle of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America. Rock samples rich in micro-vertebrate fossils were collected from the lower part of the Hartland Shale (ca. 94.6 Ma: early Late Cenomanian) in southeastern Colorado, USA. Through acid treatment of the rock samples, 25 marine vertebrate taxa are identified including chondrichthyans, osteichthyans, and a reptile. Chondrichthyans are represented by seven species: Ptychodus anonymus, Squalicorax curvatus, Carcharias saskatchewanensis, Archaeolamna kopingensis, Cretoxyrhina mantelli, Cretomanta canadensis, and Rhinobatos incertus. Osteichthyan fishes consist of 17 taxa: Micropycnodon kansasensis, cf. Palaeobalistum …

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Quantifying Tropical Dry Forest Type And Succession: Substantial Improvement With Lidar, Sebastian Martinuzzi, William A. Gould, Lee A. Vierling, Andrew T. Hudak, Ross F. Nelson, Jeffrey S. Evans Jan 2012

Quantifying Tropical Dry Forest Type And Succession: Substantial Improvement With Lidar, Sebastian Martinuzzi, William A. Gould, Lee A. Vierling, Andrew T. Hudak, Ross F. Nelson, Jeffrey S. Evans

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

Improved technologies are needed to advance our knowledge of the biophysical and human factors influencing tropical dry forests, one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. We evaluated the use of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to address two major needs in remote sensing of tropical dry forests, i.e., classification of forest types and delineation of forest successional status. We evaluated LiDAR-derived measures of three-dimensional canopy structure and subcanopy topography using classification-tree techniques to separate different dry forest types and successional stages in the Guánica Biosphere Reserve in Puerto Rico. We compared the LiDARbased results with classifications made from …

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Chloroviruses: Not Your Everyday Plant Virus, James L. Van Etten, David D. Dunigan Jan 2012

Chloroviruses: Not Your Everyday Plant Virus, James L. Van Etten, David D. Dunigan

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Viruses infecting higher plants are among the smallest viruses known and typically have four to ten protein-encoding genes. By contrast, many viruses that infect algae (classified in the virus family Phycodnaviridae) are among the largest viruses found to date and have up to 600 protein- encoding genes. This brief review focuses on one group of plaque-forming phycodnaviruses that infect unicellular chlorella-like green algae. The prototype chlorovirus PBCV-1 has more than 400 protein-encoding genes and 11 tRNA genes. About 40% of the PBCV-1 encoded proteins resemble proteins of known function including many that are completely unexpected for a virus. In many …

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Heme Oxygenase-1 Regulates The Immune Response To Influenza Virus Infection And Vaccination In Aged Mice, Nathan W. Cummins, Eric A. Weaver, Shannon M. May, Anthony J. Croatt, Oded Foreman, Richard B. Kennedy, Gregory A. Polan, Michael A. Barry, Karl A. Nath, Andrew D. Badley Jan 2012

Heme Oxygenase-1 Regulates The Immune Response To Influenza Virus Infection And Vaccination In Aged Mice, Nathan W. Cummins, Eric A. Weaver, Shannon M. May, Anthony J. Croatt, Oded Foreman, Richard B. Kennedy, Gregory A. Polan, Michael A. Barry, Karl A. Nath, Andrew D. Badley

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Underlying mechanisms of individual variation in severity of influenza infection and response to vaccination are poorly understood. We investigated the effect of reduced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression on vaccine response and outcome of influenza infection. HO-1-deficient and wild-type (WT) mice (kingdom, Animalia; phylum, Chordata; genus/species, Mus musculus) were infected with influenza virus A/PR/8/34 with or without prior vaccination with an adenoviral-based influenza vaccine. A genome-wide association study evaluated the expression of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the HO-1 gene and the response to influenza vaccination in healthy humans. HO-1-deficient mice had decreased survival after influenza infection compared to WT mice (median …

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In Vivo Demonstration Of Surgical Task Assistance Using Miniature Robots, Jeff A. Hawks, Jacob Kunowski, Stephen R. Platt Jan 2012

In Vivo Demonstration Of Surgical Task Assistance Using Miniature Robots, Jeff A. Hawks, Jacob Kunowski, Stephen R. Platt

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Laparoscopy is beneficial to patients as measured by less painful recovery and an earlier return to functional health compared to conventional open surgery.However, laparoscopy requires the manipulation of long, slender tools from outside the patient’s body. As a result, laparoscopy generally benefits only patients undergoing relatively simple procedures. An innovative approach to laparoscopy uses miniature in vivo robots that fit entirely inside the abdominal cavity. Our previous work demonstrated that a mobile, wireless robot platform can be successfully operated inside the abdominal cavity with different payloads (biopsy, camera, and physiological sensors). We hope that these robots are a step toward …

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The Status, Promise And Potential Perils Of Commercially Available Genetically Modified Microorganisms In Agriculture And The Environment, Anne K. Vidaver, Sue Tolin, Angela Post Jan 2012

The Status, Promise And Potential Perils Of Commercially Available Genetically Modified Microorganisms In Agriculture And The Environment, Anne K. Vidaver, Sue Tolin, Angela Post

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Modern genetics has shown the power of modifying microbes, from viruses to bacteria to algae, to produce desirable agricultural products. Nevertheless, gene additions or modification have led to relatively few products in the marketplace due partly to costs of regulation, but also to the challenges of production, delivery and application. Some products with gene loss have been marketed, notably Agrobacterium radiobacter with a deletion for plasmid transfer, some veterinary vaccines and plants with one or a few genes from microbes for plant protection. Concerns over using live microbes are centered on recombination with wild type strains, potential for environmental risks, …

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Nematode Spatial And Ecological Patterns From Tropical And Temperate Rainforests, Dorota Porazinska, Robin Giblin-Davis, Thomas Powers, Kelley Thomas Jan 2012

Nematode Spatial And Ecological Patterns From Tropical And Temperate Rainforests, Dorota Porazinska, Robin Giblin-Davis, Thomas Powers, Kelley Thomas

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Large scale diversity patterns are well established for terrestrial macrobiota (e.g. plants and vertebrates), but not for microscopic organisms (e.g. nematodes). Due to small size, high abundance, and extensive dispersal, microbiota are assumed to exhibit cosmopolitan distributions with no biogeographical patterns. This assumption has been extrapolated from local spatial scale studies of a few taxonomic groups utilizing morphological approaches. Recent molecularly-based studies, however, suggest something quite opposite. Nematodes are the most abundant metazoans on earth, but their diversity patterns are largely unknown. We conducted a survey of nematode diversity within three vertical strata (soil, litter, and canopy) of rainforests at …

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Prothioconazole Tolerant Cryptococcus Flavescens Strains For Biological Control Of Fusarium Head Blight, David A. Schisler, Michael J. Boehm Jan 2012

Prothioconazole Tolerant Cryptococcus Flavescens Strains For Biological Control Of Fusarium Head Blight, David A. Schisler, Michael J. Boehm

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Strains of Cryptococcus flavescens which are superior antagonists of F. graminearum for suppression and control of FHB in cereals, particularly in wheat and barley, are described. The strains are prothioconazole tolerant variants of previously described C. flavescens OH 182.9 (NRRL Y-30216). Moreover, these prothioconazole tolerant variants exhibit significantly increased efficacy against F. graminearum in comparison to the parent strain OH 182.9.

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Copper–Zinc Superoxide Dismutase-Deficient Mice Show Increased Susceptibility To Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Induced With Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein 35–55, Chandirasegara Massilamany, Arunakumar Gangaplara, Heejeong Kim, Charlotte Standord, Govardhan Rathnaiah, David Steffen, Jaekwon Lee, Jay Reddy Jan 2012

Copper–Zinc Superoxide Dismutase-Deficient Mice Show Increased Susceptibility To Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Induced With Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein 35–55, Chandirasegara Massilamany, Arunakumar Gangaplara, Heejeong Kim, Charlotte Standord, Govardhan Rathnaiah, David Steffen, Jaekwon Lee, Jay Reddy

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

In this report, we have addressed the role of copper–zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) deficiency in the mediation of central nervous system autoimmunity. We demonstrate that SOD1-deficient C57Bl/6 mice develop more severe autoimmune encephalomyelitis induced with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) 35–55, compared with wild type mice. This alteration in the disease phenotype was not due to aberrant expansion of MOG-specific T cells nor their ability to produce inflammatory cytokines; rather lymphocytes generated in SOD1-deficient mice were more prone to spontaneous cell death when compared with their wild type littermate controls. The data point to a role for SOD1 in the maintenance …

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Rhodotorula Minuta Fungemia In A Ewe Lamb, C G. Chitko-Mckown, K A. Leymaster, M. P. Heaton, D D. Griffin, J K. Veatch, S A. Jones, M. L. Clawson Jan 2012

Rhodotorula Minuta Fungemia In A Ewe Lamb, C G. Chitko-Mckown, K A. Leymaster, M. P. Heaton, D D. Griffin, J K. Veatch, S A. Jones, M. L. Clawson

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

An 8-month-old crossbred ewe, normal upon physical examination, was humanely euthanized for tissue collection. After approximately 3 weeks in tissue culture, fungi began budding out of cells obtained from the choroid plexus. After an additional 3 weeks, budding was observed in kidney cell cultures and eventually in monocyte cultures as well. Serum from the lamb was submitted to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Colorado State University for fungal diagnosis and was found negative for Aspergillus, Blastomyces, Coccidioidomycosis and Histoplasmosis. DNA was isolated from fungi collected from tissue culture supernatants and used in a set of pan-fungal PCR assays with DNA …

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Identification Of Amino Acid Residues Important For Anti-Ifn Activity Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Non-Structural Protein 1, Lalit Beura, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Hiep Vu, Byungjoon Kwon, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fernando A. Osorio Jan 2012

Identification Of Amino Acid Residues Important For Anti-Ifn Activity Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Non-Structural Protein 1, Lalit Beura, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Hiep Vu, Byungjoon Kwon, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fernando A. Osorio

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The non-structural protein 1 (nsp1) of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is partly responsible for inhibition of type I interferon (IFN) response by the infected host. By performing alanine-scanning mutagenesis, we have identified amino acid residues in nsp1α and nsp1β~ (the proteolytic products of nsp1) that when substituted with alanine(s) exhibited significant relief of IFNsuppression. A mutant virus (16-SA, in which residues 16-20 of nsp1β were substituted with alanines) encoding mutant nsp1β recovered from infectious cDNA clone was shown to be attenuated for growth in vitro and induced significantly higher amount of type I IFN transcripts in infected macrophages. …

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Glycosyl-Phosphatidylinositol (Gpi)-Anchored Membrane Association Of The Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Gp4 Glycoprotein And Its Co-Localization With Cd163 In Lipid Rafts, Yijun Du, Asit K. Pattnaik, Cheng Song, Dongwan Yoo, Gang Li Jan 2012

Glycosyl-Phosphatidylinositol (Gpi)-Anchored Membrane Association Of The Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Gp4 Glycoprotein And Its Co-Localization With Cd163 In Lipid Rafts, Yijun Du, Asit K. Pattnaik, Cheng Song, Dongwan Yoo, Gang Li

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) glycoprotein 4 (GP4) resembles a typical type I membrane protein in its structure but lacks a hydrophilic tail at the C-terminus, suggesting that GP4 may be a lipid-anchored membrane protein. Using the human decay-accelerating factor (DAF; CD55), a known glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) lipid-anchored protein, chimeric constructs were made to substitute the GPI-anchor domain of DAF with the putative lipid-anchor domain of GP4, and their membrane association and lipase cleavage were determined in cells. The DAF-GP4 fusion protein was transported to the plasma membrane and was cleaved by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC), indicating that …

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Amino Acid Residues In The Non-Structural Protein 1 Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Involved In Down-Regulation Of Tnf-Cx Expression In Vitro And Attenuation In Vivo, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Lalit Beura, Byungjoon Kwon, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fernando A. Osorio Jan 2012

Amino Acid Residues In The Non-Structural Protein 1 Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Involved In Down-Regulation Of Tnf-Cx Expression In Vitro And Attenuation In Vivo, Sakthivel Subramaniam, Lalit Beura, Byungjoon Kwon, Asit K. Pattnaik, Fernando A. Osorio

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) suppresses tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) production at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels by its non-structural proteins 1α and 1β (Nsp1α and Nsp1β). To identifY the amino acid residues responsible for this activity, we generated several alanine substitution mutants of Nsp1α and Nsp1β. Examination of the mutant proteins revealed that Nsp1α residues Gly90, Asn91 , Arg97, Argl 00 and Arg124 were necessary for TNF-α promoter suppression, whereas several amino acids spanning the entire Nsp1β ~ were found to be required for this activity. Two mutant viruses, with mutations at Nsp1α Gly90 or Nsp1β residues …

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Staphylococcal Response To Oxidative Stress, Rosmarie Gaupp, Nagender Ledala, Greg A. Somerville Jan 2012

Staphylococcal Response To Oxidative Stress, Rosmarie Gaupp, Nagender Ledala, Greg A. Somerville

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Staphylococci are a versatile genus of bacteria that are capable of causing acute and chronic infections in diverse host species. The success of staphylococci as pathogens is due in part to their ability to mitigate endogenous and exogenous oxidative and nitrosative stress. Endogenous oxidative stress is a consequence of life in an aerobic environment; whereas, exogenous osidative and nitrosative stress are often due to the bacteria's interaction with host immune systems. To overcome the deleterious effects of oxidative and nitrosative stress, staphylococci have evolved protection, detoxification, and repair mechanisms that are controlled by a network of regulators. In this review, …

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Carrion Cycling In Food Webs: Comparisons Among Terrestrial And Marine Ecosystems, James C. Beasley, Z. H. Olson, T. L. Devault Jan 2012

Carrion Cycling In Food Webs: Comparisons Among Terrestrial And Marine Ecosystems, James C. Beasley, Z. H. Olson, T. L. Devault

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In light of current global changes to ecosystem function (e.g. climate change, trophic downgrading, and invasive species), there has been a recent surge of interest in exploring differences in nutrient cycling among ecosystem types. In particular, a growing awareness has emerged concerning the importance of scavenging in food web dynamics, although no studies have focused specifically on exploring differences in carrion consumption between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In this forum we synthesize the scavenging literature to elucidate differences in scavenging dynamics between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and identify areas where future research is needed to more clearly understand the role …

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Exploiting Antipredator Behavior In White-Tailed Deer For Resource Protection, Bradley F. Blackwell, Thomas W. Seamans, Laura A. Tyson, Jerrold L. Belant, Kurt C. Vercauteren Jan 2012

Exploiting Antipredator Behavior In White-Tailed Deer For Resource Protection, Bradley F. Blackwell, Thomas W. Seamans, Laura A. Tyson, Jerrold L. Belant, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Effects of visual obstruction on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) include enhanced vigilance and flight-initiation distances. Prior work suggests that artificial visual barriers might enhance perceived risk of predation to deer. During 2008–2010 at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Plum Brook Station (Erie County, OH), we tested the hypotheses that visual obstruction of winter feeding stations would result in fewer white-tailed deer visiting treatment stations and increased vigilance exhibited relative to deer using control stations. When feeding stations were bounded on 3 sides by a 22.5-m-long, 1.5-m-high, continuous, polyethylene visual barrier (including a 5-m opening on the fourth …

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Bioeconomic Modelling Of Raccoon Rabies Spread Management Impacts In Quebec, Canada, S. A.. Shwiff, C. Aenishaenslin, A. Ludwig, P. Berthiaume, M. Bigras-Poulin, K. Kirkpatrick, L. Lambert, D. Bélanger Jan 2012

Bioeconomic Modelling Of Raccoon Rabies Spread Management Impacts In Quebec, Canada, S. A.. Shwiff, C. Aenishaenslin, A. Ludwig, P. Berthiaume, M. Bigras-Poulin, K. Kirkpatrick, L. Lambert, D. Bélanger

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Beginning in 2006, point infection control operations and aerial distribution of oral rabies vaccines along the US border were performed in Quebec, Canada, to control the potential spread of raccoon rabies. A benefit-cost analysis assessed the economic efficiency of this rabies control programme into the future. In this study, a mathematical simulation model was used to determine the potential spread of raccoon rabies from the 2006 index case, and incidence rates of human post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), animal testing and human exposure investigations were calculated. Benefits were calculated as the potential savings from reduced numbers of human PEP, animal testing and …

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Movement And Habitat Use Of Feral Swine Near Domestic Swine Facilities, A. Christy Wyckoff, Scott E. Henke, Tyler A. Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt C. Vercauteren Jan 2012

Movement And Habitat Use Of Feral Swine Near Domestic Swine Facilities, A. Christy Wyckoff, Scott E. Henke, Tyler A. Campbell, David G. Hewitt, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral swine (Sus scrofa), a successful invasive species in the United States, have established growing populations in 38 states and are a reservoir of diseases important to domestic swine. An understanding of habitat use and movements is important for the prevention of disease transmission between feral and domestic swine. To assess risk posed to neighboring domestic swine facilities in East and South Texas, we determined habitat use and movement patterns of feral swine within 10 miles of domestic swine facilities, identified similarities in habitat preferences and vegetation types directly surrounding facilities, assessed effects of wet and dry conditions …

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Frequent Cross-Species Transmission Of Parvoviruses Among Diverse Carnivore Hosts, Andrew B. Allison, Dennis J. Kohler, Karen A. Fox, Justin D. Brown, Richard W. Gerhold, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Edward J. Dubovi, Colin R. Parrish, Edward C. Holmes Jan 2012

Frequent Cross-Species Transmission Of Parvoviruses Among Diverse Carnivore Hosts, Andrew B. Allison, Dennis J. Kohler, Karen A. Fox, Justin D. Brown, Richard W. Gerhold, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Edward J. Dubovi, Colin R. Parrish, Edward C. Holmes

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Although parvoviruses are commonly described in domestic carnivores, little is known about their biodiversity in nondomestic species. A phylogenetic analysis of VP2 gene sequences from puma, coyote, gray wolf, bobcat, raccoon, and striped skunk revealed two major groups related to either feline panleukopenia virus (“FPV-like”) or canine parvovirus (“CPV-like”). Cross species transmission was commonplace, with multiple introductions into each host species but, with the exception of raccoons, relatively little evidence for onward transmission in nondomestic species.

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Economic Evaluation Of Vampire Bat (Desmodus Rotundus) Rabies Prevention In Mexico, Aaron M. Anderson, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Karen Gebhardt, A. J. Ramırez, Steven S. Shwiff, Dennis Kohler, Luis Lecuona Jan 2012

Economic Evaluation Of Vampire Bat (Desmodus Rotundus) Rabies Prevention In Mexico, Aaron M. Anderson, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Karen Gebhardt, A. J. Ramırez, Steven S. Shwiff, Dennis Kohler, Luis Lecuona

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Vampire bat rabies causes significant impacts within its endemic range in Mexico. These impacts include livestock mortality, animal testing costs, post-exposure prophylaxis costs, and human mortality risk. Mitigation of the impacts can be achieved by vaccinating livestock and controlling vampire bat populations. A benefit- cost analysis was performed to examine the economic efficiency of these methods of mitigation, and Monte Carlo simulations were used to examine the impact that uncertainty has on the analysis. We found that livestock vaccination is efficient, with benefits being over six times higher than costs. However, bat control is inefficient because benefits are very unlikely …

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A Comparison Of Methods For Estimating Raccoon Abundance: Implications For Disease Vaccination Programs, James C. Beasley, William S. Beatty, Todd C. Atwood, Shylo R. Johnson, Olin E. Rhodes Jr. Jan 2012

A Comparison Of Methods For Estimating Raccoon Abundance: Implications For Disease Vaccination Programs, James C. Beasley, William S. Beatty, Todd C. Atwood, Shylo R. Johnson, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Accurate estimates of demographic parameters are critical to the management of wildlife populations, including management programs focused on controlling the spread of zoonotic diseases. Rabies managers in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have applied a simple raccoon (Procyon lotor) abundance index (RAI) based on cumulative catch of unique raccoons per unit area to determine vaccine-bait distribution densities. This approach was designed to allow for both the collection of biological samples and to index raccoon abundance to determine bait densities for oral rabies programs. However, postbaiting surveillance data indicate that, on average, only 30% of raccoons sampled …

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Genetic Structure Of A Virginia Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana) Population Inhabiting A Fragmented Agricultural Ecosystem, William S. Beatty, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr. Jan 2012

Genetic Structure Of A Virginia Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana) Population Inhabiting A Fragmented Agricultural Ecosystem, William S. Beatty, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Fragmentation has drastically altered the quality of habitats throughout numerous ecosystems, often leading to dramatic changes in the composition of wildlife communities. The ecology and associated movement behavior of a species may also be modified as a result of forest fragmentation, resulting in changes in genetic composition of the affected species. In this research, we evaluated the genetic structure of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana Kerr, 1792) at the landscape and local scales in a fragmented, agricultural ecosystem in northern Indiana using 13 microsatellite loci. We examined 290 samples from opossums inhabiting 28 discrete habitat patches, and evaluated partitioning …

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Yersinia Pestis: Examining Wildlife Plague Surveillance In China And The Usa, Sarah N. Bevins, John A. Baroch, Dale L. Nolte, Min Zhang, Hongxuan He Jan 2012

Yersinia Pestis: Examining Wildlife Plague Surveillance In China And The Usa, Sarah N. Bevins, John A. Baroch, Dale L. Nolte, Min Zhang, Hongxuan He

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Plague is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis Lehmann and Neumann, 1896. Although it is essentially a disease of rodents, plague can also be transmitted to people. Historically, plague has caused massive morbidity and mortality events in human populations, and has recently been classified as a reemerging disease in many parts of the world. This public health threat has led many countries to set up wild and domestic animal surveillance programs in an attempt to monitor plague activity that could potentially spill over into human populations. Both China and the USA have plague surveillance programs in place, …

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Digging Behaviors Of Radio-Tagged Black-Footed Ferrets Near Meeteetse, Wyoming, 1981–1984, Dean E. Biggins, Louis R. Hanebury, Kathleen A. Fagerstone Jan 2012

Digging Behaviors Of Radio-Tagged Black-Footed Ferrets Near Meeteetse, Wyoming, 1981–1984, Dean E. Biggins, Louis R. Hanebury, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Intensive radio-tracking during August–December enabled us to collect detailed information on digging behaviors of a small sample of black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) occupying colonies of white-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys leucurus). A sample of 33 prairie dogs, also radio-tagged, progressively ceased aboveground activity during late summer and fall, presumably as they descended into burrows to hibernate. Most of the time ferrets spent digging was in November–December when >95% of the radio-tagged prairie dogs were inactive, suggesting that digging was primarily to excavate hibernating prey. Although 43.9% of the burrow openings were estimated to be in large mounds, …

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Site-Occupancy Monitoring Of An Ecosystem Indicator: Linking Characteristics Of Riparian Vegetation To Beaver Occurrence, Stewart W. Breck, Michael I. Goldstein, Sanjay Pyare Jan 2012

Site-Occupancy Monitoring Of An Ecosystem Indicator: Linking Characteristics Of Riparian Vegetation To Beaver Occurrence, Stewart W. Breck, Michael I. Goldstein, Sanjay Pyare

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Establishment of sampling frameworks to monitor the occurrence of ecological indicators and to identify the covariates that influence occurrence is a high-priority need for natural resource restoration and management efforts. We utilized occupancy modeling to identify patterns of beaver occurrence and factors influencing these patterns (i.e., type and amount of vegetation cover) in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River ecosystem. We used rafts and kayaks to access a stratified random sample of sites (i.e., 100-m-long sections of riverbank) and used repeated sampling procedures to sample for beaver sign (i.e., lodges, cuttings, tracks, and beaver sightings). We quantified the type …

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Characterization Of Newcastle Disease Viruses Isolated From Cormorant And Gull Species In The United States In 2010, Diego G. Diel, Patti J. Miller, Paul C. Wolf, Randall M. Mickley, Anthony R. Musante, Daniel C. Emanueli, Kirk J. Shively, Kerri Pedersen, Claudio L. Afonso Jan 2012

Characterization Of Newcastle Disease Viruses Isolated From Cormorant And Gull Species In The United States In 2010, Diego G. Diel, Patti J. Miller, Paul C. Wolf, Randall M. Mickley, Anthony R. Musante, Daniel C. Emanueli, Kirk J. Shively, Kerri Pedersen, Claudio L. Afonso

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Newcastle disease virus (NDV), a member of the genus Avulavirus of the family Paramyxoviridae, is the causative agent of Newcastle disease (ND), a highly contagious disease that affects many species of birds and which frequently causes significant economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. Virulent NDV (vNDV) is exotic in poultry in the United States; however, the virus has been frequently associated with outbreaks of ND in cormorants, which poses a significant threat to poultry species. Here, we present the characterization of 13 NDV isolates obtained from outbreaks of ND affecting cormorants and gulls in the states of Minnesota, …

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Ecology And Geography Of Human Monkeypox Case Occurrences Across Africa, Christine K. Ellis, Darin S. Carroll, Ryan R. Lash, A. Townsend Peterson, Inger K. Damon, Jean Malekani, Pierre Formenty Jan 2012

Ecology And Geography Of Human Monkeypox Case Occurrences Across Africa, Christine K. Ellis, Darin S. Carroll, Ryan R. Lash, A. Townsend Peterson, Inger K. Damon, Jean Malekani, Pierre Formenty

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As ecologic niche modeling (ENM) evolves as a tool in spatial epidemiology and public health, selection of the most appropriate and informative environmental data sets becomes increasingly important. Here, we build on a previous ENM analysis of the potential distribution of human monkeypox in Africa by refining georeferencing criteria and using more-diverse environmental data to identify environmental parameters contributing to monkeypox distributional ecology. Significant environmental variables include annual precipitation, several temperature-related variables, primary productivity, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and pH. The potential distribution identified with this set of variables was broader than that identified in previous analyses but does not include …

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Toxoplasma Gondii In Circumpolar People And Wildlife, Stacey A. Elmore, Emily J. Jenkins, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Lydden Polley, J. Jeffrey Root, Chester G. Moore Jan 2012

Toxoplasma Gondii In Circumpolar People And Wildlife, Stacey A. Elmore, Emily J. Jenkins, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Lydden Polley, J. Jeffrey Root, Chester G. Moore

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Despite extensive worldwide surveillance in populations of both people and wildlife, relatively little is known about Toxoplasma gondii ecology in the circumpolar north. Many northern animals and people demonstrate exposure to T. gondii, but the apparent low densities of domestic or wild felids suggest that additional transmission mechanisms are responsible for T. gondii persistence in high latitudes, whether remote source (from another region), vertical, or dietary. People in these northern communities who practice subsistence hunting might have an increased infection risk due to traditional food preparation techniques and frequent handling of wild game. Recent advances in T. gondii genotyping, …

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Wildlife Services—A Leader In Developing Tools And Techniques For Managing Carnivores, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Gail Keirn Jan 2012

Wildlife Services—A Leader In Developing Tools And Techniques For Managing Carnivores, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Gail Keirn

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Did you ever wonder who invented the breakaway snare or the Livestock Protection Collar? These and many other wildlife management tools and techniques are the result of the ingenuity and creativity of U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services (WS) program scientists, technicians, and field specialists, with the help of collaborators at universities, other federal and state agencies, and private partners. This manuscript will highlight some of the tools and methods that were developed, tested, or registered by WS National Wildlife Research Center scientists for use in predator damage management.

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