Life Sciences Commons^™

Detection Of African Swine Fever Virus-Like Sequences In Ponds In The Mississippi Delta Through Metagenomic Sequencing, Xiu-Feng Wan, J. Lamar Barnett, Fred Cunningham, Si Chen, Guohua Yang, Shannon Nash, Li-Pong Long, Lorelei Ford, Sherry Blackmon, Yan Zhang, Larry Hanson, Qiang He

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Metagenomic characterization of water virome was performed in four Mississippi catfish ponds. Although differing considerably from African swine fever virus (ASFV), 48 of 446,100 sequences from 12 samples were similar enough to indicate that they represent new members in the family Asfarviridae. At present, ASFV is the only member of Asfarviridae, and this study presents the first indication of a similar virus in North America. At this point, there is no indication that the identified virus(es) pose a threat to human or animal health, and further study is needed to characterize their potential risks to both public health and agricultural …

Surveillance And Movements Of Virginia Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana) In The Bovine Tuberculosis Region Of Michigan, W. D. Walter, Justin W. Fischer, C. W. Anderson, D. R. Marks, T. J. Deliberto, S. Robbe-Austerman, K. C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife reservoir hosts of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) include Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) and brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) in the UK and New Zealand, respectively. Similar species warrant further investigation in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, USA due to the continued presence of bTB on cattle farms. Most research in Michigan, USA has focused on interactions between white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and cattle (Bos taurus) for the transmission of the infectious agent of bTB, Mycobacterium bovis, due to high deer densities and feeding practices. However, limited data are available on medium-sized …

West Nile Virus Infection In American Robins: New Insights On Dose Response, Kaci K. Vandalen, Jeffrey S. Hall, Larry Clark, Robert G. Mclean, Cynthia Smeraski

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

West Nile virus (WNV) is a vector-borne pathogen that was first detected in the United States in 1999. The natural transmission cycle of WNV involves mosquito vectors and avian hosts, which vary in their competency to transmit the virus. American robins are an abundant backyard species in the United States and appear to have an important role in the amplification and dissemination of WNV. In this study we examine the response of American robins to infection with various WNV doses within the range of those administered by some natural mosquito vectors. Thirty American robins were assigned a WNV dosage treatment …

New World Bats Harbor Diverse Influenza A Viruses, Suxiang Tong, Xueyong Zhu, Yan Li, Mang Shi, Jing Zhang, Melissa Bourgeois, Hua Yang, Xianfeng Chen, Sergio Recuenco, Jorge Gomez, Li-Mei Chen, Adam Johnson, Ying Tao, Cyrille Dreyfus, Wenli Yu, Ryan Mcbride, Paul J. Carney, Amy T. Gilbert, Jessie Chang, Zhu Guo, Charles T. Davis, James C. Paulson, James Stevens, Charles E. Rupprecht, Edward C. Holmes, Ian A. Wilson, Ruben O. Donis

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Aquatic birds harbor diverse influenza A viruses and are a major viral reservoir in nature. The recent discovery of influenza viruses of a new H17N10 subtype in Central American fruit bats suggests that other New World species may similarly carry divergent influenza viruses. Using consensus degenerate RT-PCR, we identified a novel influenza A virus, designated as H18N11, in a flat-faced fruit bat (Artibeus planirostris) from Peru. Serologic studies with the recombinant H18 protein indicated that several Peruvian bat species were infected by this virus. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrate that, in some gene segments, New World bats harbor more influenza …

Open Field Test With Avipel Bird Repellent: Year I, Megan Niner, George M. Linz, Jeffrey Homan, Mark Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Since the mid-1900s, blackbird depredation has become an expensive problem for farmers in the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada (Blackwell et al. 2003). Damage to crops from blackbirds costs the growers of sunflower millions annually (Peer et al. 2003). The problem stems from two concurrent events: ripening of sunflowers and fledging of millions of resident blackbirds that must quickly prepare for migration to southern wintering grounds. Multiple methods of protecting crops exist, but none have proved to be cost-effective. For this reason and the safety of the non-target species, a chemical-based repellent might be a good …

Demonstration Of Avian Control® Bird Repellent (A.I., Methyl Anthranilate) For Managing Blackbird Damage To Ripening Sunflower., George M. Linz, H. Jeffrey Homan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

After the reproductive period, blackbirds in the northern Great Plains aggregate in large flocks that feed on ripening crops, especially sunflower. At today’s prices, blackbirds eat about $8–12 million of sunflower annually in northern Great Plains, with most of this damage occurring in North Dakota and South Dakota (Peer et al. 2003). Additional expenditures are incurred by producers trying to protect their crop, including the costs in time, travel, and materials for hazing blackbirds. A chemical feeding repellent would be ideal for protecting sunflower from blackbirds because it would not only cut the amount of losses from foraging but also …

Tupinambis Merianae(Argentine Giant Tegu); Panthero- Phis Guttatus (Red Cornsnake). Non-Predatory Killing, Bernard W. Kaiser, Kimberly J. Osorio, Kevin M. Enge, Richard M. Engeman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Tupinambis merianae is an established invasive lizard in Florida, USA, where a population was discovered initially in Balm Boyette Scrub Preserve, Hillsborough Co. (Enge et al. 2006. In Proceedings 28th Annual Gopher Tortoise Council Meeting. Valdosta, Georgia; Engeman et al. 2011. Curro Zool. 57:599-612). The threats posed by this species to native species are undetermined, although it has been observed using Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows, where it potentially could have similar burrow usurpation and juvenile predation impacts as does another large invasive lizard in southern Florida, Gray's Spiny-tailed Iguana (Cienosaura similis) (Avery et al. 2009. Herpetol. …

References From Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Index From Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Glossary From Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Chapter 7 Large Scales And Future Directions For Landslide Ecology From Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Landslide ecology is an emerging discipline that provides insights into both scientific and management issues. Scientifically, it explores nutrient cycling and soil development, plant physiological adaptations, dispersal and colonization dynamics, novel mixes of native and nonnative species, and successional trajectories in an often inhospitable environment. Landslide ecology also integrates biological aspects of landslides into efforts to manage slope hydrology, soil erosion, and the stabilization of slopes.

2. Human-landslide interactions are becoming more common as human populations expand into mountainous terrain and climate change increases landslide frequency.

3. A landscape-level approach to landslide rehabilitation integrates topography, broad-scale climatic conditions, landslide …

Chapter 6 Living With Landslides For Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Human interactions with landslides have become more frequent and lethal as our populations expand into less stable terrain. This trend suggests that we must better understand what causes landslides and how to mitigate future damage.

2. Disturbances created by road construction, urban expansion, forestry, and agriculture are major contributors to anthropogenic landslides, and each has increased in frequency during the last several decades.

3. The field of landslide risk assessment is growing rapidly, and many new mapping and modeling tools are addressing how to predict landslide frequency and severity. Mitigation of landslide damage is also improving, particularly when new …

Color Plates From Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Chapter 4 Biological Consequences For Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Landslide colonists have adaptations to survive low-nutrient, unstable substrates, where they may also experience temperature and water stress. Many of the species that colonize landslides are found exclusively in disturbed habitats and are known as gap specialists. Other colonists are common species in the adjacent undisturbed environment where their proximity to the landslide may have enabled rapid dispersal.

2. Microbes (including bacteria and fungi) are probably the first organisms to disperse to and colonize landslides. Symbiotic relationships, such as lichens, and plants with mycorrhizal fungi or nitrogen fixing bacteria, represent adaptations for survival in newly exposed, lownutrient landslide substrates. …

Chapter 3 Physical Causes And Consequences For Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. The propensity for a landslide to occur is largely determined by potential slip planes, or weakness planes in the geological substrate, where the driving forces exceed resisting forces.

2. Landslide occurrence across the landscape is often unpredictable; substrates can be resistant to slippage for centuries and then suddenly experience instability that may result from human or non-human changes that disrupt the balance between driving and resisting forces at a slip plane.

3. Post-landslide erosion is common and can contribute as much as 33% of the total sediment loss from the site of landslide initiation. Such post-landslide erosion can continue …

Introduction For Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. The geological characteristics of landslides and their management as physical hazards are well documented. In contrast, the ecological processes that are initiated by landslides, and their relevance to efforts to restore stability to unstable slopes, have never been synthesized.

2. Landslides can cause intense human suffering and human activities can aggravate natural causes oflandslides. However, we can ameliorate many of the worst effects of landslides through improved prediction and restoration of landslides and adjoining slopes.

3. Landslides initiate many ecological processes at landscape to local scales, including the process of ecological succession. Although landslides have negative effects on the …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 6 Wildlife Translocation As A Management Alternative At Airports, Paul D. Curtis, Jonathon D. Cepek, Rebecca Mihalco, Thomas W. Seamans, Scott R. Craven

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife in urban settings may be a welcome sight for many, but negative interactions between people and various wild species are increasing (Conover et al. 1995, Conover 2002). Wildlife populations are commonly managed in part to reduce these conflicts, particularly in high-risk areas such as roadways and airports (Conover 2002). However, the public often opposes lethal control or management methods perceived as causing harm to nuisance animals (Reiter et al. 1999, Conover 2002, Treves et al. 2006), and attitudes vary considerably depending on the particular wildlife species involved (Kretser et al. 2009). Consequently, a variety of nonlethal management approaches are …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 11 Wildlife Conservation And Alternative Land Uses At Airports, James A. Martin, Tara J. Conkling, Jerrold L. Belant, Kristin M. Biondi, Bradley F. Blackwell, Travis L. Devault, Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, Paige M. Schmidt, Thomas W. Seamans

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Given all the attention paid throughout this book to minimizing the risk of wildlife-aircraft strikes, the title of this chapter may seem like an oxymoron. This book has emphasized management as related to the hazardous (to aircraft) sector of biodiversity. In this chapter we focus on the issue of protection and management of less hazardous taxa, and how altering land use at airports might, in limited circumstances, contribute to this objective.

The term "conservation" often leads to confusion and perceived conflicting goals of management. In fact, many of the direct management techniques used at airports (e.g., deterrents, translocation, etc.) could …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Understanding Animal Movements At And Near Airports, Jerrold L. Belant, Brian E. Washburn, Travis L. Devault

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding movements of hazardous wildlife species at and near airports is critical to formulating effective management strategies for reducing aviation risk. Animal movements vary daily, seasonally, and annually and are based on broad biological and ecological concepts, including foraging, reproduction, habitat characteristics, dispersal, and migration. As an energy conservation strategy, most animals minimize their movements to meet life requisites, which in turn presumably improves fitness. Animal movements in relation to airports can be direct; for example, Canada geese (Branta canadensis) flying onto an airfield because grass height and composition are suitable for loafing sites and as food. Animal movements in …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 4 Tactile And Auditory Repellents To Reduce Wildlife Hazards To Aircraft, Thomas W. Seamans, James A. Martin, Jerrold L. Belant

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife within the airport environment are hazards to human safety. Lethal removal of targeted individuals reduces the immediate threat, but other approaches should be integrated into control programs to make them more effective and to help meet legal and ethical considerations (Dolbeer et al. 1995). When negative media attention, special interest groups, or calls for restrictive legislation influence public opinion, the resulting public pressure can preclude effective wildlife management and lead to subsequent population control problems (Torres et al. 1996, Coolahan and Snider 1998, Conover 2001). Nonlethal management activities to reduce wildlife use of airports may include habitat modification, exclusion …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 7 Population Management To Reduce The Risk Of Wildlife-Aircraft Collisions, Richard A. Dolbeer, Alan B. Franklin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Four basic control strategies mitigate the risks to aviation caused by wildlife at airports: (1) aircraft flight schedule modification (primarily at military airbases) and enhancement of aircraft visibility to avoid interactions with wildlife (e.g., Blackwell et al. 2009b, 2012); (2) habitat modification and elimination of food, water, and cover that attract wildlife (Cleary and Dolbeer 2005, Blackwell et al. 2009a; Chapters 5,8-10); (3) repellent and harassment techniques to disperse wildlife (Cleary and Dolbeer 2005; Chapters 2-4); and (4) wildlife population management (e.g., Dolbeer 1998). As discussed throughout this book, successful efforts to mitigate the risk of wildlife-aircraft strikes at airports …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 10 Managing Turfgrass To Reduce Wildlife Hazards At Airports, Brian E. Washburn, Thomas W. Seamans

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Multiple factors-including safety regulations, economic considerations, location, and attractiveness to wildlife recognized as hazardous to aviation- influence the choice of land cover at airports. The principal land covet at airports within North America has historically been turfgrass, usually coolseason perennial grass species native to Europe. However, recent research has determined that, from a wildlife perspective, not all turf grasses are alike. Some grasses are more palatable to herbivorous hazardous wildlife (e.g., Canada geese [Branta canadensis]) than others, and thus are more likely to increase the potential for wildlife-aircraft collisions when planted near critical airport operating areas. How turfgrasses are managed …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 1 The History Of Wildlife Strikes And Management At Airports, Richard A. Dolbeer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The first human-powered flight took place in December 1903, when Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully flew their experimental aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA. Birds, which had been practicing powered flight for about 150 million years, suddenly had a new "competitor" for airspace, and the bird-aircraft collision problem (hereafter referred to as bird strikes) began shortly thereafter (Cleary and Dolbeer 2005). On 7 September 1905, the first reported bird strike, as recorded by Orville Wright in his diary, occurred when his aircraft hit a bird over a cornfield near Dayton, Ohio, USA. Flocks of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 5 Excluding Mammals From Airports, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Michael J. Lavelle, Thomas W. Seamans

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

To ensure aircraft safety, it is critical to exclude large mammal species such as deer (Odocoileus spp.), feral swine (Sus scrota), and coyotes (Canis latrans) from airport environments, as well as to consider thoroughly and carefully all available management methods. Airports are often located on or adjacent to undeveloped land that provides habitat for various species large enough to pose a direct hazard to aircraft. Unoccupied expanses of forage near runways provide deer with sufficient incentive to leave cover and occupy airport lands. Associated risk and tragic collisions have ranked deer as the most hazardous …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 3 Effectiveness Of Chemical Repellents In Managing Birds At Airports, Larry Clark, Michael L. Avery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Repellents include methods and devices used to manipulate behavior of animals to reduce damage or nuisance. Critical to the design and success of repellents is understanding how sensory modalities mediate perception of signals, and how ecological context and sensory inputs influence animal learning. A repellent's success is tied to the axiom of using the proper tool for the proper job. When repellents "fail," it is almost always because wildlife managers have not appropriately matched signal, receiving systems, message, and context. Reconciling such considerations can be a complex process. In this chapter we review components and processes essential for the successful …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 15 Conclusions And Future Directions, Jerrold L. Belant, Travis L. Devault, Bradley F. Blackwell

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Although the management of wildlife at airports has seen great progress in recent decades, wildlife collisions with aircraft continue to pose risks to human safety and economic losses to the aviation industry and military (Allan 2002, Dolbeer 2009). Our understanding of physiological and behavioral responses of wildlife to various types of repellents and harassment techniques has grown tremendously. Substantial inroads have been made in developing and optimizing exclusion devices, particularly for mammals. Research and management have increased considerably in recent years, allowing us to better understand aspects of resource use (e.g., cover, food) by wildlife and the spatial scales at …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Appendix, Index And Back Cover, Michael L. Avery, Jerrold L. Belant, Kristin M. Biondi, Bradley F. Blackwell, Jonathon D. Cepek, Larry Clark, Tara J. Conkling, Scott R. Craven, Paul D. Curtis, Travis L. Devault, Richard A. Dolbeer, David Felstul, Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, Alan B. Franklin, Sidney A. Gauthreaux Jr., Michael J. Lavelle, James A. Martin, Rebecca Mihalco, Paige M. Schmidt, Thomas W. Seamans, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Brian E. Washburn

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In 1990, the 190 member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted, in Annex 14 to the Convention on Civil International Aviation, three recommended management practices regarding bird hazards to aviation. The recommended practices required that aviation authorities within each nation (1) assess the extent of the hazard posed by birds at and in the vicinity of airports certificated for passenger traffic, (2) take necessary action to decrease the number of birds, and (3) eliminate or prevent the establishment of any site in the vicinity of the airport that could attract birds and thereby present a danger to …

Lanslide Ecology: Cover, Contents, Preface, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Despite their often dangerous and unpredictable nature, landslides provide fascinating templates for studying how soil organisms, plants, and animals respond to such destruction. The emerging field oflandslide ecology helps us to understand these responses, aiding slope stabilization and restoration and contributing to progress made in geological approaches to landslide prediction and mitigation.

Summarizing the growing body ofliterature on the ecological consequences of landslides, this book provides a framework for the promotion of ecological tools in predicting, stabilizing, and restoring biodiversity to landslide scars at both local and landscape scales. It explores nutrient cycling; soil development; and how organisms disperse, colonize, …

Chapter 5 Biotic Interactions And Temporal Patterns Forlandslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Landslide succession is the sequential replacement of plant communities following landslide creation. It is affected by biotic interactions and abiotic conditions and occurs in the intervals between recurrent erosion events.

2. Plant species can facilitate or inhibit landslide succession by direct species interactions or indirectly by the alteration of resources including light levels, soil stability, soil moisture, or soil nutrients. Species replacements may also occur due to differences in the life histories of landslide colonizers.

3. Herbivores, pathogens, and non-native species influence landslide succession and contribute to the variety of successional trajectories found on landslides, potentially with long-term consequences. …

Wildlife In Airport Environments: Chapter 13 Radar Technology To Monitor Hazardous Birds At Airports, Sidney A. Gauthreaux Jr., Paige M. Schmidt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bird strikes are the most common wildlife hazard to aviation safety (Dolbeer et ale 2000). Advances in habitat management at airports through the elimination and reduction of attractants, in combination with hazing and lethal control, have reduced avian hazards < 152 m (500 feet) above ground level. Bird strikes above this altitude, however, are beyond the limits of traditional wildlife control techniques (Dolbeer 2011). Traditional avian survey methods used to monitor birds at airports (Cleary and Dolbeer 2005; Chapter 14) often fail to provide essential information on local bird activity and migration at higher altitudes, hazardous bird use of attractants near airports, and bird activity at night-information that could be provided by the strategic use of radar technology at and near airports (Dolbeer 2006).