Animal Sciences Commons^™

Jaguars And Pumas Exhibit Distinct Spatiotemporal Responses To Human Disturbances In Colombia’S Most Imperiled Ecoregion, Joe J. Figel, Sebastián Botero-Cañola, Juan David Sánchez-Londoño, Javier Racero-Casarrubia

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Abstract

Coexistence of sympatric felids is facilitated by mutual avoidance and the partitioning of habitats, prey, and time. Anthropogenic disturbances disrupt this coexistence in fragmented landscapes, potentially triggering cascading influences in ecological communities. We used photographic data from 8,717 trap nights (November 2014–June 2016) at 87 camera trap sites in Colombia’s middle Magdalena River basin to compare spatiotemporal overlap among jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma concolor), their prey, and humans, at sites of high and low disturbance, as determined by the human influence index. Human disturbance events (e.g. domestic dogs, livestock, and humans, including armed hunters) …

Lifetime Reproductive Benefits Of Cooperative Polygamy Vary For Males And Females In The Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes Formicivorus), Sahas Barve, Christina Riehl, Eric L. Walters, Joseph Haydock, Hannah L. Dugdale, Walter D. Koenig

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Cooperative breeding strategies lead to short-term direct fitness losses when individuals forfeit or share reproduction. The direct fitness benefits of cooperative strategies are often delayed and difficult to quantify, requiring data on lifetime reproduction. Here, we use a longitudinal dataset to examine the lifetime reproductive success of cooperative polygamy in acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), which nest as lone pairs or share reproduction with same-sex cobreeders. We found that males and females produced fewer young per successful nesting attempt when sharing reproduction. However, males nesting in duos and trios had longer reproductive lifespans, more lifetime nesting attempts and higher …

Will There Be Changes In Sexually Differentiated Behaviors In Mice Manipulated For The Sry Gene As They Mature Into Adultood?, Subin Joo

CMC Senior Theses

Sexually differentiated behavior has been shown to be affected by both genes and hormones. The discovery of the SRY gene, which codes for the development of testes, lead to the development of the Four Core Genotypes model of mice, and the separation of sex chromosomes and its resulting gonadal hormones. Using the FCG model, this study aims to look at the development of sexually differentiated behavior in mice, and track how it changes throughout their life. FCG mice will be divided into individual and social housing, and repeated experiments carried out to test their reaction to both intact female and …

Abiotic Factors Effect On Summertime Fish Sampling, Kyle Oxley

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Fish surveys are vital in understanding various information about a fishery. Surveys lay the groundwork to how an agency views the status of the fishery, are used to set appropriate regulations, and manage stocking. Understanding which areas of a fishery holds the greatest density of fish is key to achieving the most accurate sample that reflects the fishery. The objective of this study was to track fish densities throughout the summer of 2021 and establish if there is a relationship between high fish density locations and specific water column characteristics. Fish density, temperature, and dissolved oxygen were measured bimonthly at …

Common Raven Nesting And Spatial Distancing On Power Lines In Southeast Idaho, Usa, Quinn R. Shurtliff, Jericho C. Whiting

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Common raven (Corvus corax; raven) abundance and distribution have increased in western North America in recent decades, facilitated by anthropogenic subsidies and other environmental changes. Electrical power transmission line structures provide nesting substrates for ravens. When these structures transect landscapes where natural nest substrates are limited, they may facilitate raven predation on eggs and juveniles of sensitive avian and reptile species. Little information is available regarding raven nest density trends on adjacent power lines or how raven territorial behavior influences spatial partitioning of nests, and hence, nest density. This knowledge would be valuable for managers of sensitive prey …

The Human—Long-Tailed Macaque (Macaca Fascicularis) Interface At Don Chao Poo Forest, Phana, Thailand, Ashton M. Asbury

All Master's Theses

When provisioned food is available, human-macaque coexistence may result in altered macaque behaviors and the possibility of bidirectional disease transmission through interspecies contact. Don Chao Poo forest in Thailand is a conservation site where ~ 1,000 long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) live and interact with people, which includes being provisioned by volunteers and visitors. Phana macaques are habituated to human presence as a result of their frequent interactions with people. I tested whether 1) men and women are equally likely to have contact interactions with macaques, 2) adult and immature macaques are equally likely to have contact interactions with …

A Decision Tool To Identify Population Management Strategies For Common Ravens And Other Avian Predators, Andrea F. Currylow, Brenda J. Hanley, Kerry L. Holcomb, Timothy Shields, Stephen Boland, William I. Boarman, Mercy Vaughn

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Some avian species have developed the capacity to leverage resource subsidies associated with human manipulated landscapes to increase population densities in habitats with naturally low carrying capacities. Elevated corvid densities and new territory establishment have led to an unsustainable increase in depredation pressure on sympatric native wildlife prey populations as well as in crop damage. Yet, subsidized predator removal programs aimed at reducing densities are likely most effective longer-term when conducted in tandem with subsidy control, habitat management, and robust assessment monitoring programs. We developed decision support software that leverages stage structured Lefkovitch population matrices to compare and identify treatment …

Animal Sentience: History, Science, And Politics, Andrew N. Rowan, Joyce M. D'Silva, Ian J.H. Duncan, Nicholas Palmer

Animal Sentience

This target article has three parts. The first briefly reviews the thinking about nonhuman animals’ sentience in the Western canon: what we might know about their capacity for feeling, leading up to Bentham’s famous question “can they suffer?” The second part sketches the modern development of animal welfare science and the role that animal-sentience considerations have played therein. The third part describes the launching, by Compassion in World Farming, of efforts to incorporate animal sentience language into public policy and regulations concerning human treatment of animals.

Synthesis Of Nest Predation Impacts Of Common Ravens On Sensitive Avian Species, Peter S. Coates, William C. Webb, Seth J. Dettenmaier, Seth M. Harju, David J. Delehanty

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Decades of mounting scientific evidence have revealed that common raven (Corvus corax; raven) population numbers have been increasing across nearly all regions of their geographic range in North America. Concomitantly, numerous native wildlife species have experienced elevated predation rates from ravens as populations have increased and expanded their range. Managers are concerned that increased raven predation of many threatened and endangered avian species in the U.S. and Canada during nesting periods may be hampering species recovery. We explored the literature to aggregate existing knowledge and evaluate the impacts of raven predation on nests and young of sensitive avian …

Common Ravens Disrupt Greater Sage-Grouse Lekking Behavior In The Great Basin, Usa, Joseph L. Atkinson, Peter S. Coates, Brianne E. Brussee, Ian A. Dwight, Mark A. Ricca, Pat J. Jackson

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Expansion of human enterprise has contributed to increased abundance and distribution of common ravens (Corvus corax; ravens) across sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems within western North America. Ravens are highly effective nest predators of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse), a species of high conservation concern. Sage-grouse population trends are estimated using count survey data of males attending traditional breeding grounds, known as leks. We sought to investigate associations of ravens to sage-grouse lek sites and document interactions between the sage-grouse and ravens as well as those between sage-grouse and other animals observed around leks. First, we …

A Novel Technique To Improve Capture Success Of Common Ravens, Lindsey R. Perry, Terrah M. Owens, Zachary T. Slick, Jimmy D. Taylor, Jonathan B. Dinkins

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Traditional trapping techniques for common ravens (Corvus corax; raven) require significant effort, often produce low capture rates, and cannot be used in some situations. We designed a 3-m noose pole to secure ravens from nocturnal roost locations while using a strobe spotlight to temporarily disorient them. We collected measures of trapping efficiency and contrasted them with padded leghold traps also used in the study. We effectively implemented our noose pole method in July and August of 2018, 2019, and 2020 in the Baker and Cow Lakes sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) Priority Areas of Conservation in eastern Oregon, …

Thinking Like A Raven: Restoring Integrity, Stability, And Beauty To Western Ecosystems, John M. Marzluff, Matthias-Claudio Loretto, Cameron K. Ho, Georgia W. Coleman, Marco Restani

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Common ravens (Corvus corax; ravens) are generalist predators that pose a threat to several rare wildlife species in the western United States. Recent increases in raven populations, which are fueled by increased human subsidies—notably food, water, and nest sites—are concerning to those seeking to conserve rare species. Due to the challenges and inefficiencies of reducing or eliminating subsidies, managers increasingly rely on lethal removal of ravens. Over 125,000 ravens were killed by the U.S. Government from 1996 to 2019, and annual removals have increased 4-fold from the 1990s to mid-2010s. We contend that lethal removal of ravens, while capable …

Do Beaver Dam Analogues Act As Passage Barriers To Juvenile Coho Salmon And Juvenile Steelhead Trout?, Christopher G. O'Keefe

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In the Pacific Northwest, the human-caused reduction of quality and quantity of freshwater rearing habitat is a limiting factor for Pacific Salmon populations. Beaver dam analogues (BDAs) increase suitable rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids and promote the restoration of critical stream processes. Installing BDAs is an increasingly popular alternative to more intensive restoration techniques, due to the relatively low cost and effort required to install BDA structures. However, widespread installation of BDAs has been slowed by regulatory agencies’ concerns that BDAs may impede fish passage. Few studies have empirically assessed the extent to which BDAs impede fish passage, and no …

Solifuge (Camel Spider) Reproductive Biology: An Untapped Taxon For Exploring Sexual Selection, Alfredo V. Peretti, David E. Vrech, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

The exploration of new and diverse animal groups in the study of sexual selection is both necessary and important to help better understand broad patterns and test sexual selection hypotheses regarding the evolutionary origins and maintenance of reproductive tactics and associated traits. Solifuges are, in this matter, an exceptional group and very little explored from the sexual selection point of view. At first glance, mating is apparently quite simple and conserved within this arachnid order, but solifuge reproductive behavior is unique among arachnids and more diverse than previously thought. In particular, these voracious animals appear to exhibit high sexual conflict, …

Spiders (Araneae) Collected As Prey By The Mud-Dauber Wasps Sceliphron Caementarium And Chalybion Californicum (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) In Southeastern Nebraska1, Tyler B. Corey, Earl Agpawa, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

Predator diets represent a potential interaction between local prey availability, prey antipredator defenses, and predator foraging behavior. Female spider-specialist muddauber wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) collect spiders and provision them intact, but paralyzed, to their developing larvae, providing a unique means of quantifying the diversity and abundance of prey that they capture. Mud-dauber wasps are hypothesized to be a major source of selection on antipredator defenses in web-building spiders, and the spiny and thickened abdomens of female spiny orb-weaving spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) are hypothesized to function as antiwasp defenses. We inventoried spider prey from nests of the mud-dauber wasps Sceliphron caementarium (Drury) …

Multisensory Integration Supports Configural Learning Of A Home Refuge In The Whip Spider Phrynus Marginemaculatus, Kaylyn A.S. Flanigan, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Eileen Hebets, Verner Peter Bingman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Predator diets represent a potential interaction between local prey availability, prey antipredator defenses, and predator foraging behavior. Female spider-specialist muddauber wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) collect spiders and provision them intact, but paralyzed, to their developing larvae, providing a unique means of quantifying the diversity and abundance of prey that they capture. Mud-dauber wasps are hypothesized to be a major source of selection on antipredator defenses in web-building spiders, and the spiny and thickened abdomens of female spiny orb-weaving spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) are hypothesized to function as antiwasp defenses. We inventoried spider prey from nests of the mud-dauber wasps Sceliphron caementarium (Drury) …

Visual Control Of Refuge Recognition In The Whip Spider Phrynus Marginemaculatus, Kaylyn A.S. Flanigan, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Patrick Casto, Vincent J. Coppola, Natasha R. Flesher, Eileen Hebets, Verner Peter Bingman

Eileen Hebets Publications

Amblypygids, or whip spiders, are nocturnally active arachnids which live in structurally complex environments. Whip spiders are excellent navigators that can re-locate a home refuge without relying on visual input. Therefore, an open question is whether visual input can control any aspect of whip spider spatial behavior. In the current study, Phrynus marginemaculatus were trained to locate an escape refuge by discriminating between differently oriented black and white stripes placed either on the walls of a testing arena (frontal discrimination) or on the ceiling of the same testing arena (overhead discrimination). Regardless of the placement of the visual stimuli, the …

Identification And Quantification Of 11 Airborne Biochemicals Emitted By The Brown Recluse And Another Primitive Hunting Spider Using Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction-Gc/Ms, Zachary Foulks, Jennifer Parks, William Stoecker, Charles Kristensen, Eileen A. Hebets, Honglan Shi

Eileen Hebets Publications

Loxosceles reclusa, or brown recluse spider, is a harmful household spider whose habitat extends throughout the Midwest in the USA and other regions in the world. The pheromones and other biomolecules that facilitate signaling for brown recluses and other spider species are poorly understood. A rapid and sensitive method is needed to analyze airborne spider signaling biomolecules to better understand the structure and function of these biochemicals in order to control the population of the spiders. In this study, we developed a novel headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME)-GC/MS method to analyze potential pheromones and biomolecules emitted by the brown recluse …

A Preliminary Study On The Small Population Paradigm And Nesting Biology Of Rose-Ringed Parakeets (Psittacula Krameri) In Gujar Khan, Pakistan, Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Huzaifa Zahid, Khalid Mahmood, Abdullah Ibrahim, Ali Hasnain Mosvi, Amir Naseer, Sadia Munir

Journal of Bioresource Management

Rose-ringed parakeet (P. krameri) is commonly found native psittacid in Pakistan. It is most popular companion bird in Pakistan. It is an unprotected species as per The Punjab Wildlife Act, 1974. The objectives of the present study were to study its population paradigm and basic nesting biology in the Gujar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. Previously, no studies were carried out to assess its live and vacant nest cavities, nesting site, nest height, cavity position on substrate, and potential roosts in the area. Moreover, this study also assesses the potential threats and factors in this area and conservation of the …

Variation In Personality Among Semi-Wild Myanmar Timber Elephants, Sateesh Venkatesh

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines two personality traits: exploration and neophobia, which could influence human-elephant conflicts. Thirty-one semi-wild elephants were tested over two trials using a custom novel puzzle tube containing three tasks and three rewards. Our studies show that elephants do vary significantly between individuals in both exploration and neophobia.

Ogre-Faced, Net-Casting Spiders Use Auditory Cues To Detect Airborne Prey, Jay A. Stafstrom, Gil Menda, Eya I. Nitzany, Eileen A. Hebets, Ronald R. Hoy

Eileen Hebets Publications

Prey-capture behavior among spiders varies greatly from passive entrapment in webs to running down prey items on foot. Somewhere in the middle are the ogre-faced, net-casting spiders (Deinopidae: Deinopis) that actively capture prey while being suspended within a frame web. Using a net held between their front four legs, these spiders lunge downward to ensnare prey from off the ground beneath them. This “forward strike” is sensorially mediated by a massive pair of hypersensitive, night-vision eyes. Deinopids can also intercept flying insects with a “backward strike,” a ballistically rapid, overhead back-twist, that seems not to rely on visual cues. Past …

Blenny Territoriality At Oyster Landing, North Inlet Estuary, South Carolina: Seasonal Patterns And Ecological Factors, Sydney Davis, Juliana Harding

Honors Theses

Temperate oyster reef blennies use oyster shells that are still articulated as habitat year round. During the breeding season when water temperatures are > 18-20°C, many species of blenny males use the oyster valves as nesting sites. Male blennies exhibit territorial behavior when guarding their nesting sites and can interact differently with conspecific and transient species. Striped blenny (Chasmodes bosquianus) and freckled blenny (Hypsoblennius ionthas) behavior was described from April 2020 to August 2020 at Oyster Landing, North Inlet estuary, South Carolina to quantify typical blenny behavior, general presence or absence of residents, and potential environmental parameters …

Effects Of Long-Term Variation In Temperature On Reproductive Phenology In A Population Of Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Paul Pleiman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between multiple temperature variables, to include annual and pre-lay date temperatures with first-egg and mean first-egg lay dates of the eastern bluebird at the Warner Parks in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Data is collected by citizen scientists for the Eastern Bluebird Nesting Box Project while visiting artificial nest boxes throughout the park and recording observations made during the breeding season. Temperature data is retrieved from the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering’s Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) Climate Group, based at Oregon State University. The analyses showed no correlation between annual or pre-lay …

Coyotes, Rick Tischaefer

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

The coyote (Canis latrans; Figure 1) is a medium-sized member of the canid family. Once primarily found in western deserts and grasslands, coyotes have expanded their range across North America and into diverse habitats, including urban areas. This expansion occurred during a time of extensive habitat change and efforts by people to suppress coyote populations to prevent damage. Coyotes can cause a variety of conflicts related to agriculture, natural resources, property, and human health and safety. This document highlights a variety of methods for reducing those conflicts. Coyotes are a highly adaptable species and may become habituated to some management …

Exploring A Novel Substrate-Borne Vibratory Signal In The Wolf Spider Schizocosa Floridana, Malcolm F. Rosenthal, Eileen Hebets, Rowan H. Mcginley, Cody Raiza, James Starrett, Lin Yan, Damian O. Elias

Eileen Hebets Publications

Animals communicate using a diversity of signals produced by a wide array of physical structures. Determining how a signal is produced provides key insights into signal evolution. Here, we examine a complex vibratory mating display produced by male Schizocosa floridana wolf spiders. This display contains three discrete substrate-borne acoustic components (known as “thumps”, “taps”, and “chirps”), each of which is anecdotally associated with the movement of a different body part (the pedipalps, legs, and abdomen respectively). In order to determine the method of production, we employ a combination of high-speed video/audio recordings and SEM imaging of possible sound-producing structures. Previous …

Testing The Hypothesized Antipredator Defence Function Of Stridulation In The Spiny Orb-Weaving Spider, Micrathena Gracilis, Tyler B. Corey, Eileen A. Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

The observable diversity of antipredator defenses across organisms demonstrates predation’s impact on trait evolution. The functions of many traits that are presumed to have an antipredator function have never been directly tested. The spiny orb-weaving spider, Micrathena gracilis, for example, stridulates when grasped. While stridulation was first hypothesized to be an antipredator defense nearly 50 years ago, no data exist to support this hypothesis. To explore the form and function of M. gracilis stridulation, we first quantified the behavioral and acoustical properties of sound production. Next, using laboratory assays, we directly tested the effect of stridulation on survival with …

Asymmetric Benefits Of A Heterospecific Breeding Association Vary With Habitat, Conspecific Abundance And Breeding Stage, Rose J. Swift, Michael J. Anteau, Erin A. Roche, Mark H. Sherfy, Dustin L. Toy, Megan M. Ring

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

Heterospecific breeding associations may benefit individuals by mitigating predation risk but may also create costs if they increase competition for resources or are more easily detectable by predators. Our understanding of the interactions among hetero- and conspecifics is often lacking in mixed species colonies. Here, we test how the presence of hetero- and conspecifics influence nest and chick survival for two listed (under the U.S. Endangered Species Act) migratory species breeding on the Missouri River, USA. We monitored 2507 piping plover Charadrius melodus nests and 3245 chicks as well as 1060 least tern Sternula antillarum nests and 1374 chicks on …

Environmental Variability Supports Chimpanzee Behavioural Diversity, Ammie K. Kalan, Lars Kulik, Mimi Arandjelovic, Christophe Boesch, Fabian Haas, Paula Dieguez, Christopher D. Barratt, Ekwoge E. Abwe, Anthony Agbor, Samuel Angedakin, Floris Aubert, Emmanuel Ayuk Ayimisin, Emma Bailey, Mattia Bessone, Gregory Brazzola, Valentine Ebua Buh, Rebecca Chancellor, Heather Cohen, Charlotte Coupland, Bryan Curran, Emmanuel Danquah, Tobias Deschner, Dervla Dowd, Manasseh Eno-Nku, J. Michael Fay, Annemarie Goedmakers, Anne-Celine Granjon, Josephine Head, Daniela Hedwig, Veerle Hermans, Kathryn J. Jeffery, Sorrel Jones, Jessica Junker, Parag Kadam, Mohamed Kambi, Ivonne Kienast, Deo Kujirakwinja, Kevin E. Langergraber, Juan Lapuente, Bradley Larson, Kevin C. Lee, Vera Leinert, Manuel Llana, Sergio Marrocoli, Amelia C. Meier, Bethan Morgan, David Morgan, Emily Neil, Sonia Nicholl, Emmanuelle Normand, Lucy Jayne Ormsby, Liliana Pacheco, Alex Piel, Jodie Preece, Martha M. Robbins, Aaron S. Rundus, Crickette Sanz, Volker Sommer, Fiona Stewart, Nikki Tagg, Claudio Tennie, Virginie Vergnes, Adam Welsh, Erin G. Wessling, Jacob Willie, Roman M. Wittig, Yisa Ginath Yuh, Klaus Zuberbuhler, Hjalmar S. Kuehl

Anthropology & Sociology Faculty Publications

Large brains and behavioural innovation are positively correlated, species-specific traits, associated with the behavioural flexibility animals need for adapting to seasonal and unpredictable habitats. Similar ecological challenges would have been important drivers throughout human evolution. However, studies examining the influence of environmental variability on within-species behavioural diversity are lacking despite the critical assumption that population diversification precedes genetic divergence and speciation. Here, using a dataset of 144 wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) communities, we show that chimpanzees exhibit greater behavioural diversity in environments with more variability - in both recent and historical timescales. Notably, distance from Pleistocene forest refugia is associated …

Dietary Development And Nutritional Ontogeny In Gorilla Beringei : A Multi-Layered, -Omics Approach, Emma C. Cancelliere

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In species who consume folivorous diets, immature individuals must contend with the challenges of extracting nutrients from fibrous foods before dietary adaptations and strategies are fully developed. Additionally, immatures have distinct nutritional needs to support their stage-specific metabolic and biophysiological requirements. To meet these stage-specific needs, while constrained by underdeveloped feeding strategies and digestive capacities, immatures may adopt distinct diets better suited to their specific developmental context. However, where dietary modification is constrained by low dietary diversity or landscape homogeneity, it is unclear how immature individuals compensate through alternative strategies. In turn, little is known about the nutritional and life …

Characteristics Of A River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Maternal Den In The Central Platte River Valley, Ne, Jenna M. Malzahn, Andrew J. Caven, Joshua D. Wiese

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

River otters (Lontra canadensis) encompass a broad geographic range including coastal, riverine, and lacustrine systems. However, knowledge of reproductive behavior and structural den characteristics remain relatively few in the literature, particularly in the Great Plains. Distinctions between the terms “den”, “den site”, “natal den”, and “maternal den” are often ambiguous, obscuring our understanding of river otter’s young-rearing behavior. We used observations and descriptions regarding a single maternal den site and a broad reading of the mustelid literature to propose a more standardized maternal den definition for river otters and specify hypotheses for future research. From 25 April to …