Guiding The Management Of An Agricultural Pest: Indexing Abundance Of California Meadow Voles In Artichoke Fields, Richard M. Engeman, Roger A. Baldwin, Denise I. Stetson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nearly 100% of U.S. artichoke production comes from California and is concentrated in Monterey County. California meadow voles are damaging rodent pests that can threaten the profitability of growing artichokes. A practical population monitoring method can be invaluable to integrated pest management programs for guiding when and where control is needed and assessing control efficacy. The standard method for indexing vole populations in artichoke fields has been based on observing chewing on artichoke bracts placed throughout the field. Because toxicants are delivered on artichoke bracts, bias for population indexing is potentially introduced. We therefore compared artichoke bracts to nontoxic grain-based …

Identification Of Kill Sites From Gps Clusters For Jaguars (Panthera Onca) In The Southern Pantanal, Brazil, Eric M. Gese, Patricia Terletzky, Sandra M. C. Cavalcanti

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context. Understanding predator–prey relationships is important for making informed management decisions. Knowledge of jaguar (Panthera onca) predation on livestock and native prey is imperative for future conservation of jaguars in Central and South America.

Aim. As part of an investigation to determine predation patterns of jaguars in the southern Pantanal, Brazil, we examined spatial, temporal and habitat variables, which are useful in categorising location clusters as kill sites and non-kill sites.

Methods. Using GPS-collars on 10 jaguars we obtained a total of 11 784 locations, from which 877 clusters were identified, visited and examined for …

Optimization Of Scat Detection Methods For A Social Ungulate, The Wild Pig, And Experimental Evaluation Of Factors Affecting Detection Of Scat, David A. Keiter, Fred L. Cunningham, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Brian J. Irwin, James C. Beasley

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Collection of scat samples is common in wildlife research, particularly for genetic capturemark- recapture applications. Due to high degradation rates of genetic material in scat, large numbers of samples must be collected to generate robust estimates. Optimization of sampling approaches to account for taxa-specific patterns of scat deposition is, therefore, necessary to ensure sufficient sample collection. While scat collection methods have been widely studied in carnivores, research to maximize scat collection and noninvasive sampling efficiency for social ungulates is lacking. Further, environmental factors or scat morphology may influence detection of scat by observers. We contrasted performance of novel radial search …

A Noninvasive Method To Detect Mexican Wolves And Estimate Abundance, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Chip.A. Cariappa, Dyan J. Straughan, Melissa Neubaum, Margaret Dwire, Paul R. Krausman, Warren B. Ballard, David L. Bergman, Stewart W. Breck

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Monitoring wolf abundance is important for recovery efforts of Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in Arizona and New Mexico, USA. Although radiotelemetry has been a reliable method, collaring and tracking wolves in an expanding population will be prohibitively expensive and alternative methods to estimate abundance will become necessary. We applied 10 canid microsatellite loci to 235 Mexican wolf samples, 48 coyote (C. latrans) samples, and 14 domestic dog (C. lupus familiaris) samples to identify alleles that provide reliable separation of these species. We then evaluated an approach …

Integrating Early Detection With Dna Barcoding: Species Identification Of A Nonnative Monitor Lizard (Squamata: Varanidae) Carcass In Mississippi, U.S.A., Robert N. Reed, Matthew W. Hopken, David Steensen, Bryan G. Falk, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Early detection of invasive species is critical to increasing the probability of successful management. At the primary stage of an invasion, invasive species are easier to control as the population is likely represented by just a few individuals. Detection of these first few individuals can be challenging, particularly if they are cryptic or otherwise characterized by low detectability. The engagement of members of the public may be critical to early detection as there are far more citizens on the landscape than trained biologists. However, it can be difficult to assess the credibility of public reporting, especially when a diagnostic digital …

Ecosystem Services Provided By Avian Scavengers, Travis L. Devault, James C. Beasley, Zachary H. Olson, Marcos Moleón, Martina Carrete, Antoni Margalida, José Antonio Sánchez-Zapata

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Food webs developed under classical theoretical models often depict simplistic interactions among trophic levels linked by predation (Hairston et al. 1960). As a result, extensive research efforts have been devoted to studying predator-prey interactions, often ignoring the contribution of scavenging in food-web dynamics. However, recent advancements in food-web theory have recognized the widespread and critical role that scavenging plays in stabilizing food webs in ecosystems throughout the world, thus suggesting that previous models may have greatly underestimated the importance of scavenging in food web research ( Wilson and Wolkovich 2011; Barton et al. 2013). Such disregard for the importance of …

Resource Selection By Cougars: Influence Of Behavioral State And Season, Linsey W. Blake, Eric M. Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

An understanding of how a predator uses the landscape can assist in developing management plans. We modeled resource selection by cougars (Puma concolor) during 2 behavioral states (moving and killing) and 2 seasons (summer and winter) with respect to landscape characteristics using locations from global positioning system (GPS)-collared cougars in the Pryor Mountains, Montana and Wyoming, USA. Furthermore, we examined predation-specific resource selection at 2 scales (fine and coarse). When possible, we backtracked from cache sites to kill sites and used a fine-scale analysis to examine landscape characteristics of confirmed kills. At this fine scale, kill sites had …

Proportions Of Bird Damage In Tree Fruits Are Higher In Low-Fruit-Abundance Contexts, Catherine A. Lindell, Karen M.M. Steensma, Paul D. Curtis, Jason R. Boulanger, Juliet E. Carroll, Colleen Burrows, David P. Lusch, Nikki L. Rothwell, Shayna L. Wieferich, Heidi M. Henrichs, Deanna K. Leigh, Rachael A. Eaton, George M. Linz

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Frugivorous birds impose significant costs on tree fruit growers through direct consumption of fruit and grower efforts to manage birds.We documented factors that influenced tree fruit bird damage from 2012 through 2014 with a coordinated field study in Michigan, New York, and Washington. For sweet cherries, percent bird damage was higher in 2012 compared to 2013 and 2014, in Michigan and New York compared toWashington, and in blocks with more edges adjacent to non-sweet cherry land-cover types. These patterns appeared to be associated with fruit abundance patterns; 2012 was a particularly lowyield year for tree fruits in Michigan and New …

Chapter 3: One Health, One Medicine, Laura H. Kahn, Thomas P. Monath, Bob H. Bokma, E. Paul Gibbs, A. Alonso Aguirre

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In recognition that the health of humans, animals, and the environment is linked, One Health seeks to increase communication and collaboration across the disciplines in order to promote, improve, and defend the health of all species on the planet. This strategy may seem simple, but unfortunately it will not be easy to implement. The explosion of medical knowledge in the 20th century led to academic, governmental, and industrial silos of specialization; these silos fostered a compartmentalized approach to health and disease. Building bridges across these silos will require leadership, joint educational programs, financial support, and other strategies that promote transdisciplinary …

Historical And Current Population Trends Of Herring Gulls (Larus Argentatus) And Great Black-Backed Gulls (Larus Marinus) In The New York Bight, Usa, Brian E. Washburn, Susan B. Elbin, Christina Davis

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

During the 20th century, gull populations in North America experienced considerable changes in abundance and geographic ranges. The objective of this study was to describe population trends of Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed Gulls (L. marinus) in the New York Bight, USA, over a 40-year period (1974-2013). A variety of data sources using different survey methods provided estimates of the number of breeding pairs for both species. In the Long Island portion of the New York Bight, overall Herring and Great Black-backed gull nesting populations appear to have fluctuated considerably in size during this …

Winter And Summer Home Ranges Of American White Pelicans (Pelecanus Erythrorhynchos) Captured At Loafing Sites In The Southeastern United States, D. Tommy King, Justin W. Fischer, Bronson Strickland, W. David Walter, Fred L. Cunningham, Guiming Wang

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Satellite telemetry was used to investigate summer and winter home ranges for resident and migrant American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) captured in the southeastern United States between 2002 and 2007. Home range utilization distributions were calculated using 50% and 95% kernel density estimators with the plug-in bandwidth selector. Mean summer home ranges (95%) varied from 177 to 4,710 km2 and mean winter home ranges (95%) ranged from 185 to 916 km2. Mean 50% and 95% home ranges of adult American White Pelicans during summer tended to be larger than those during winter, whereas mean 50% and 95% home …

Environmental Factors Influencing The Occurrence Of Coyotes And Conflicts In Urban Areas, Sharon A. Poessel, Eric M. Gese, Julie K. Young

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The increase of global urbanization can have effects on wildlife species, including carnivores such as coyotes (Canis latrans). As coyotes continue to settle in more urban areas, reports of human-coyote conflicts, such as attacks on humans or pets, may also increase. Understanding environmental variables that might influence whether or not coyotes and human-coyote conflicts will occur in certain urban areas may assist wildlife officials in creating management plans for urban wildlife.We conducted a survey of 105 urban areas in the United States requesting information on the occurrence of coyotes and human-coyote conflicts. We analyzed the responses with data …

Morphometric Variation During Chick Development In Interior Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax Auritus), Jennifer E. Chastant, Corey T. Callaghan, D. Tommy King

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In numerous avian species, egg size is correlated to female body condition, hatchling size and nestling growth. Recent demography studies of Interior Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) suggest a migratory divide across the Great Lakes; western populations winter in the Gulf of Mexico region of the southeastern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) with extensive catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) aquaculture, and eastern populations winter in Florida, where catfish aquaculture is not pervasive. If Double-crested Cormorants have improved their overall body condition through catfish exploitation, then egg and chick sizes should also be affected. Three breeding areas in Ontario (east, central, and …

Bait Flavor Preference And Immunogenicity Of Onrab Baits In Domestic Dogs On The Navajo Nation, Arizona, Are R. Berentsen, Scott Bender, Peggy Bender, David Bergman, Amy T. Gilbert, Hannah M. Rowland, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rabies is responsible for an estimated 59,000 human deaths worldwide, and domestic dogs are the primary reservoir and vector of the disease. Among some nations, widespread vaccination has led to elimination of rabies in domestic dogs, yet dogs are still susceptible to rabies infection from interactions with wildlife reservoirs. On Tribal lands in the United States, less than 20% of domestic dogs are vaccinated for rabies, and parenteral vaccination is often unfeasible. Oral rabies vaccination may provide a solution, but a suitable bait flavor and vaccine must be identified. We evaluated 5 bait flavors (bacon, cheese, egg, fish, and sweet) …

Vertebrate Host Susceptibility To Heartland Virus, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Amanda E. Calvert, J. Jeffrey Root, Tom Gidlewski, Brian H. Bird, Richard A. Bowen, Atis Muehlenbachs, Sherif R. Zaki, Aaron C. Brault

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Heartland virus (HRTV) is a recently described phlebovirus initially isolated in 2009 from 2 humans who had leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Serologic assessment of domestic and wild animal populations near the residence of 1 of these persons showed high exposure rates to raccoons, white-tailed deer, and horses. To our knowledge, no laboratory-based assessments of viremic potential of animals infected with HRTV have been performed. We experimentally inoculated several vertebrates (raccoons, goats, chickens, rabbits, hamsters, C57BL/6 mice, and interferon-α/β/γ receptor–deficient [Ag129]) mice with this virus. All animals showed immune responses against HRTV after primary or secondary exposure. However, neutralizing antibody responses were …

A Quantitative Rt-Pcr Assay For Rapid Detection Of Eurasianlineage H10 Subtype Influenza A Virus, Hailiang Sun, Jian-Li Xue, Elizabeth Bailey, Yifei Xu, Guoliang Hu, John A. Baroch, Yi Zhang, Lanny Pace, Thomas J. Deliberto, Xiu-Feng Wan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are single-stranded, negative sense RNA viruses. IAV subtype is determined on the basis of the viral surface glycoproteins, hemagglutinin (HA), and neuraminidase (NA). To date, 18 HA and 11 NA subtypes have been reported (Tong et al., 2012). IAVs can cause sporadic infections, local epidemics, and global pandemics among humans. In addition to humans, IAVs can naturally infect avian, swine, equines, canines, and sea mammals (Webster et al., 1992). Migratory waterfowl are the natural reservoir for IAVs, and the avianorigin IAVs play an important role in influenza ecology and have been involved in generation of the …

Evaluating A Strategy To Deliver Vaccine To White-Tailed Deer At A Landscape Level, Justin W. Fischer, Chad R. Blass, W. David Walter, Charles W. Anderson, Michael J. Lavelle, Wayne H. Hall, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Effective delivery of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals to wildlife populations is needed when zoonotic diseases pose a risk to public health and natural resources or have considerable economic consequences. The objective of our study was to develop a bait-distribution strategy for potential delivery of oral bovine tuberculosis (bTB) vaccine to white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) where deer are reservoirs for the disease. During 17 February and 2 March 2011, we created a grid of experimental bait stations (n=64) on Sandhill Wildlife Management Area, Wisconsin, USA, to assess station densities needed to attract and deliver placebo baits to free-ranging white-tailed …

Multi-Isotopic (Δ2H, Δ13C, Δ15N) Tracing Of Molt Origin For Red-Winged Blackbirds Associated With Agro-Ecosystems, Scott J. Werner, Keith A. Hobson, Steven L. Van Wilgenburg, Justin W. Fischer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We analyzed stable-hydrogen (δ²H), carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope ratios in feathers to better understand the molt origin and food habits of Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) near sunflower production in the Upper Midwest and rice production in the Mid-South of the United States. Outer primary feathers were used from 661 after-second-year (ASY) male blackbirds collected in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota (spring collection), and Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas (winter collection). The best-fit model indicated that the combination of feather δ²H, δ¹³C and δ …

Cougar Predation Rates And Prey Composition In The Pryor Mountains Of Wyoming And Montana, Linsey W. Blake, Eric M. Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding predator-prey dynamics is a fundamental principle of ecology and an ideal component for management decisions. Across North America, the impact of cougars (Puma concolor) on their prey varies regionally. To document the relationships between cougars, bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and feral horses (Equus caballus) on the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and the Pryor Mountains, we deployed GPS collars on 6 cougars (the total number residing on the study area), and visited their clusters to determine predation rates and foraging patterns. We examined the composition of …

Modifying M-44s To Reduce Risk Of Activation By Swift Fox, Julie K. Young

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

M-44s are spring-powered sodium cyanide ejectors commonly used in the United States to manage livestock depredation by coyotes (Canis latrans). While highly selective for canids, improvements could reduce risk to nontarget canids, especially State-Endangered or -Threatened canids such as the swift fox (Vulpes velox). In 2012–2013, we tested M-44s set at modified heights to determine whether height modifications reduced risk to swift foxes without reducing activation rates by coyotes. We presented captive coyotes housed at the USDA National Wildlife Research Center’s Predator Research Facility, Millville, Utah, USA, with M-44s at various test heights to determine a …

Seasonal Evolution Of Active Layer Formation In Subarctic Peat Plateaux And Implications For Dissolved Organic Matter Composition And Transfer, Jennifer L. Hickman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Peat-accumulating wetlands are ecosystems whose rate of photosynthetic production of organic matter is greater than that of its decomposition, resulting in a build up of soil organic matter that may take centuries to fully decompose. Carbon (C) stocks within these ecosystems are a function of inputs from photosynthesis, and losses from heterotrophic decomposition. Due to the short growing season and overall cold climate of boreal and tundra regions, C has been accumulating within these landscapes, mostly in soil organic matter, since the last glaciation. Climate change, predicted to result in rising temperatures and increased precipitation, has begun to degrade the …

Evaluation Of An Abuse Prevention Education Program For Adults With Developmental Disabilities, Karen E. Klee

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

An evaluation of an abuse protection education program was conducted for adults with developmental disabilities who receive supports and services from two Community Living Ontario agencies. Abuse education is mandated within the province of Ontario but few empirically evaluated curricula exist to help organizations provide effective education for this vulnerable population. A sample of 61 adults with varying degrees of cognitive ability were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control; information-only educational lessons; and an expanded program providing additional lessons on decision-making and behavioural skills thought necessary to prevent, recognize and report abuse. This program has been developed …

Essays On Earnings Forecasts, Tax Expense And Ifrs Adoption, Yan Jin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this dissertation, I include three essays regarding earnings forecasts, the DuPont analysis and tax expense, all using mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption in Canada as a setting. In the first essay entitled “DuPont Analysis, Earnings Persistence and Return on Equity: Evidence from Mandatory IFRS Adoption in Canada”, I propose four new models to forecast one-year-ahead return on equity and change in return on equity based on prior research in the DuPont analysis and earnings persistence. I also examine whether the persistence of return on equity has improved since Canadian companies adopted IFRS in 2011.

In the second …

Social Justice And Worker Cooperatives, Gurveer Shaan Dhillon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Social Justice (SJ) is an organizing principle of contemporary community psychology (CP); however, the concept and understanding of social justice in community psychology is undertheorized and narrow. Specifically, the concept of distributive justice, which has been a popular notion of social justice in community psychology discourse, does not translate well into transformative action. In order to address this issue, the research uses a qualitative approach to explore the understanding of social justice from the perspectives of worker-members of 5 worker cooperatives in Ontario, with the aim to contribute to an understanding of SJ that has transformative implications. A worker cooperative …

Mate Choice And Consequences For Consanguineous Mating In Drosophila Melanogaster, Emily S. Martin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The ability to discriminate between prospective mates is potentially important not only for the avoidance of unsuccessful or incompatible matings, but also for the selection of higher “quality” mates. Inbreeding, reproduction between closely related individuals, has long enjoyed the attention of biologists, and has classically been associated with fitness consequences that are primarily negative, termed “inbreeding depression”. Indeed, the costs of mating with a relative are well documented across a wide variety of species. If individuals are capable of kin recognition, it is expected that species should evolve to avoid consanguineous matings. However, a number of recent models suggest circumstances …

Space-Time Modelling Of Emerging Infectious Diseases: Assessing Leptospirosis Risk In Sri Lanka, Cameron C F Plouffe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this research, models were developed to analyze leptospirosis incidence in Sri Lanka and its relation to rainfall. Before any leptospirosis risk models were developed, rainfall data were evaluated from an agro-ecological monitoring network for producing maps of total monthly rainfall in Sri Lanka. Four spatial interpolation techniques were compared: inverse distance weighting, thin-plate splines, ordinary kriging, and Bayesian kriging. Error metrics were used to validate interpolations against independent data. Satellite data were used to assess the spatial pattern of rainfall. Results indicated that Bayesian kriging and splines performed best in low and high rainfall, respectively. Rainfall maps generated from …

Climate Change And Social Work: Our Roles And Barriers To Action, Tina Cumby

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative research project was conducted using a grounded theory research methodology and was approached with the theoretical underpinnings of social constructivism and pragmatism. The purpose of this research was to assess what role, if any, that social workers can play in dealing with environmental issues such as climate change and what barriers, if any, they will likely experience as they engage with these issues. It is important to explore these roles and barriers because social work is a profession that is well equipped to mitigate environmental issues like climate change, yet there is virtually no social work presence in …

The Bigger Picture: Piecing Together The Experiences Of Family Members Living With High-Functioning Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lauren Thomson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this research was to explore the experiences of family members living with a child with ASD. The specific research questions that were addressed included: 1. How is a family member affected by having a child with ASD in the family unit; and 2. How does living with a child with ASD affect family functioning? The theoretical orientation of phenomenology was used to guide this research and to allow the “voice” of family members of children with ASD to be heard. The purpose of phenomenology is to distill individuals’ experiences with a phenomenon down to an “essence” of …

Theoretical Investigations Of Zinc Blende And Wurtzite Semiconductor Quantum Wells On The Rotated Substrates, Igor Ivashev

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

We present a comprehensive set of computations of effective mass theory for both the Kane's parabolic band approximation and Luttinger-Kohn's valence band mixing approximation. We generalize the kp method to be able to evaluate band structures for the materials such as zincblende InGaAsN and GaAsBi compounds used in long wavelength lasers and wurtzite materials used in short wavelength lasers. We investigate methodology to study band structure of semiconductors that are grown away from natural direction. The strain influence is introduced via Bir and Pikus model. It is expected that band structure is strongly dependent on direction of crystal growth and …

Moral Identity From Cross- And Bi-Cultural Perspectives, Fanli Jia

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Researchers in moral psychology have initiated projects to investigate moral identity; however, they agreed that a precise definition and methodology of moral identity has been lacking in establishing the value of this new area. One of the challenges is that cultural explorations of moral identity are absent. Moral identity may take different forms in different cultures, or play an important role in morality in some cultures but not in others (Hardy & Carlo, 2005). The present dissertation was aimed at investigating how Western Canadian and Eastern Chinese cultural orientations relate to moral identities. Three studies were conducted.

In the first …