Animal Sciences Commons^™

Wetlandology: A Kid's Book About Wetlands, Grace Gaard, Ted Lagrange

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

What is a Wetland? You might think that any land that is wet would be a wetland, right? But if the occurrence of water was the only thing that made a wetland a wetland, then deeper parts of oceans and rivers would be considered wetlands. And we know that is not true! So, what actually makes a wetland a wetland? Wetlands are defined by three things:

1. Soil

2. Plants

3. Hydrology

Wetlands are spread throughout Nebraska, but it is useful to identify some of the larger wetland complexes in the state. Wetlands can be found everywhere! All rivers and …

Guide To Nebraska's Wetlands And Their Conservation Needs, Third Edition, 2022, Ted Lagrange

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

Wetlands: a source of great interest, and at times conflict. Wetlands represent different things to different people. To some people they may be considered shallow, muddy nuisances whereas to others they are considered to be wonderful, varied, and productive assets. This is because wetlands take on many roles as part of an elaborate and dynamic system. Understanding wetlands requires understanding the complex and varying roles they can play. To aid in this understanding, this guide defines wetlands, discusses their importance and dynamics, identifies threats and losses, describes conservation programs, and takes an in-depth look at Nebraska’s regional wetland complexes.

Nebraska’s …

Underwater Video As A Tool To Quantify Fish Density In Complex Coastal Habitats, Ronald Baker, Dakota Bilbrey, Aaron Bland, Frank D’Alonzo Iii, Hannah Ehrmann, Sharon Havard, Zoe Porter, Sarah Ramsden, Alexandra Rodriquez

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Habitat loss is a serious issue threatening biodiversity across the planet, including coastal habitats that support important fish populations. Many coastal areas have been extensively modified by the construction of infrastructure such as ports, seawalls, docks, and armored shorelines. In addition, habitat restoration and enhancement projects often include constructed breakwaters or reefs. Such infrastructure may have incidental or intended habitat values for fish, yet their physical complexity makes quantitatively sampling these habitats with traditional gears challenging. We used a fleet of unbaited underwater video cameras to quantify fish communities across a variety of constructed and natural habitats in Perdido and …

Evaluating Avian Use Of Cover Crops In The Corn Belt, Megan Figura

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The tallgrass prairie of North America has changed drastically since colonial settlement, with up to 99% of this region converted for agriculture and other land-uses. Concurrent with grassland conversion, grassland birds have experienced the most extreme, consistent, and widespread population declines of any avian guild. Agricultural lands in the U.S. Midwest were able to provide adequate habitat for several bird species until the 1950’s; however, altered and intensified management practices have degraded much of remaining suitable habitat and undermined ecosystem functions. Consequently, many grassland birds have been identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in many State Wildlife Action …

Changes In The Minnesota Northern Pike Population Over The Past Thirty Years, Joey Severin

Journal of Earth and Life Science

Northern pike Esox lucius are one of the most popular game fish in Minnesota. Many anglers have noticed that northern pike seemed to decrease in size throughout much of this state. Catch per unit of effort (CPUE) drives average weight for northern pike; within lakes, as CPUE goes up average weight decreases. Decreases in size has led the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) to implement new regulations on northern pike. The MNDNR noticed that not all the state has this same problem with Northern Pike, and has broken down the state into three zones, with different protected slots and …

Conservation Value Of Working Landscapes In Mesoamerica For Nearctic-Neotropical Migratory Birds, Samuel L. Oliveira

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Populations of many of Nearctic-neotropical migratory birds have declined in the past several decades, recent estimates suggested a dramatic loss of 2.5 billion birds over the past 50 years in North America. Habitat loss and degradation represent a major threat in the tropics. Managed agroecosystems have the potential to mitigate some impacts of land conversion, however, little is known regarding the habitat quality provided by working landscapes in the overwintering range. In this research, we surveyed the migratory bird community in the rapidly expanding oil palm plantations in southern Mexico; and also the declining population of the Wood Thrush ( …

Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieu) Population Characteristics And An Evaluation Of Management Responses In Two West Virginia Watersheds, Jacob D. Harrell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) population characteristics were examined within the Tygart and Cheat River watersheds of north-central West Virginia. Growth, mortality and recruitment were examined for each individual population prior to modeling potential effects of various management schemes. Smallmouth Bass were sampled for total length and weight, aged using sagittal otoliths and sexed through observations of gonadal or ovarian development. Growth for each population was examined using von Bertalanffy growth models and assessed for variation among populations. Population demographic characteristics differed between and among populations, most noticeably between riverine and lacustrine habitat, whereby growth, mortality and recruitment were higher …

An Examination Of Ethical Attitudes Towards Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa) Toxicants In The United States, Keith Carlisle, Erin E. Harper, Stephanie A. Shwiff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

This research aims to understand ethical attitudes of the U.S. public towards the use of a toxicant to control wild pigs (Sus scrofa), a destructive invasive species whose population growth is proving difficult to control through conventional management methods. Using a nationwide self-administered survey with 2,186 completed and returned questionnaires, we found that among six different lethal control methods, toxicant usage was the only method that a majority of respondents (51%) found to be unethical, with no significant differences between rural and urban respondents or between respondents from counties with wild pigs and counties where the species is absent. The …

Frugivory And Seed Dispersal By Carnivorans, John P. Draper, Julie K. Young, Eugene W. Schupp, Noelle G. Beckman, Trisha B. Atwood

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Seed dispersal is critical to the ecological performance of sexually reproducing plant species and the communities that they form. The Mammalian order Carnivora provide valuable and effective seed dispersal services but tend to be overlooked in much of the seed dispersal literature. Here we review the literature on the role of Carnivorans in seed dispersal, with a literature search in the Scopus reference database. Overall, we found that Carnivorans are prolific seed dispersers. Carnivorans’ diverse and plastic diets allow them to consume large volumes of over a hundred families of fruit and disperse large quantities of seeds across landscapes. Gut …

Aboveground Carbon Responses To Experimental And Natural Hurricane Impacts In A Subtropical Wet Forest In Puerto Rico, Hervé Chevalier, Nicholas V.L. Brokaw, Sheila E. Ward, Jess K. Zimmerman, Aaron B. Shiels, John Bithorn, Samuel Matta Carmona

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Climate change and disturbance make it difficult to project long-term patterns of carbon sequestration in tropical forests, but large ecosystem experiments in these forests can inform predictions. The Canopy Trimming Experiment (CTE) manipulates two key components of hurricane disturbance, canopy openness and detritus deposition, in a tropical forest in Puerto Rico. We documented how the CTE and a real hurricane affected tree recruitment, biomass, and aboveground carbon storage over 15 years. In the CTE treatments, we trimmed branches, but we did not fell trees. We expected that during the 14-year period after initial canopy trimming, regrowth of branches and stems …

Behavioral States In Space And Time: Understanding Landscape Use By An Invasive Mammal, Steven M. Gray, John M. Humphreys, Robert A. Montgomery, Dwayne R. Etter, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Daniel B. Kramer, Gary J. Roloff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Animal movement models can be used to understand species behavior and assist with implementation of management activities. We explored behavioral states of an invasive wild pig (Sus scrofa) population that recently colonized central Michigan, USA, 2014–2018. To quantify environmental factors related to wild pig movement ecology and spatio‐temporal landscape use, we predicted wild pig behavioral states relative to land cover type, landscape structure (i.e., edge and patch cohesion), and weather conditions. We used global positioning system (GPS)‐collars and monitored 8 wild pigs from 2014–2018. We fit local convex hulls and calculated movement metrics revealing 3 wild pig behavioral states (resting, …

Capture-Recapture Reveals Heterogeneity In Habitat-Specific Mongoose Densities And Spatiotemporal Variability In Trapping Success In St. Kitts, West Indies, Caroline C. Sauvé, Are R. Berentsen, Amy Gilbert, Anne Conan, Luis Cruz-Martinez, Patrick A. Leighton

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctata) is a non-native invasive species across the Caribbean and a rabies reservoir on at least four islands in the region. Although previous studies reported mongoose density estimates in their non-native range, the variability in trapping designs, study seasonality, and analytical methods among studies precludes direct comparisons. This study is the first to report mongoose densities for the island of St. Kitts, West Indies. Our objective was to quantify mongoose densities across four habitats characteristic for the island. High capture and recapture rates in this study resulted in detailed estimates of spatial heterogeneity …

Dammed Water Quality—Longitudinal Stream Responses Below Beaver Ponds In The Umpqua River Basin, Oregon, John R. Stevenson, Jason B. Dunham, Steven M. Wondzell, Jimmy Taylor

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Beaver-related restoration (BRR) has gained popularity as a means of improving stream ecosystems, but the effects are not fully understood. Studies of dissolved oxygen (DO) and water temperature, key water quality metrics for salmonids, have demonstrated improved conditions in some cases, but warming and decreased DO have been more commonly reported in meta-analyses. These results point to the contingencies that can influence outcomes from BRR. We examined water quality related to beaver ponds in a diverse coastal watershed (Umpqua River Basin, OR, USA). We monitored water temperature 0–400m above and below beaver ponds and at pond surfaces and bottoms across …

Invasive Rodent Responses To Experimental And Natural Hurricanes With Implications For Global Climate Change, Aaron B. Shiels, Gabriela E. Ramírez De Arellano, Laura Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Hurricanes cause dramatic changes to forests by opening the canopy and depositing debris onto the forest floor. How invasive rodent populations respond to hurricanes is not well understood, but shifts in rodent abundance and foraging may result from scarce fruit and seed resources that follow hurricanes. We conducted studies in a wet tropical forest in Puerto Rico to better understand how experimental (canopy trimming experiment) and natural (Hurricane Maria) hurricane effects alter populations of invasive rodents (Rattus rattus [rats] and Mus musculus [mice]) and their foraging behaviors. To monitor rodent populations, we used tracking tunnels (inked and baited cards …

Improving Efficiency Of Prairie Dog Surveys By Using A Small Copter Drone, Aaron B. Shiels, J. W. Fischer, Danika Spock, Meagan Allira

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Prairie dogs are an accessible and enjoyed wildlife species in Colorado that require occasional surveys because populations can change abruptly due to plague outbreaks or human-induced control. We evaluated the use of small copter drones at four prairie dog colonies on Open Space and Mountain Parks lands, City of Boulder, to determine if this methodology improves efficiency over ground-based survey methods. We counted prairie dogs and burrows using two types of drones (DJI Matric 210 and Autel Evo II) at altitudes 100', 150', and 400' (burrows only). We recorded video and merged still images into orthomosaics prior to having USDA …

Revitalizing Conservation And Management Of The American Crocodile (Crocodylus Acutus) In The Dominican Republic, Robert Greco

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Crocodilian populations declined globally during the 20^th century because of overhunting and habitat loss. Some crocodilian populations have recovered recently through legal protections and habitat restoration, but the status of many crocodilian populations are still unknown because of a lack of recent data. The American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) population in the Dominican Republic (DR) is one of these data-deficient populations, with country-wide surveys not carried out since the 1980s. From May through July 2021 we surveyed areas within DR where C. acutus is still likely residing. Our surveys yielded no crocodile sightings in Monte Cristi, suggesting that …

Evaluating Population Genetic Structure And Potential Genomic Signals Of Natural Selection In A Migratory Songbird (Protonotaria Citrea), Tyler A. Hohenstein

Theses and Dissertations

In this study I attempted to further resolve the population genetic structure in the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), and conducted an outlier SNP analysis and exploratory gene ontology analysis to investigate potential ongoing natural selection in the species. This analysis of population structure confirms previous work by DeSaix et al. (2019), where weak population structure was observed between eastern sites along the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and western sites in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, possibly due to a genetic discontinuity across the Appalachian Mountains. I conducted two forms of outlier SNP analyses, a principal component analysis (PCA)-based approach to identify SNPs …

Stakeholder Acceptance Of Wild Equid Fertility Control Mirrors Global Shifts In Attitudes To Wildlife Management, Giovanna Massei, Stephanie L. Boyles Griffin

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wild equid (horses [Equus ferus] and burros [E. asinus]) populations have increased on public lands in the United States since the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. As of March 1, 2022, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimated that wild equid populations on designated herd management areas (HMAs) may exceed 82,000 animals. In 2020, the total population of wild equids in the United States was estimated to exceed 300,000 animals. The BLM sets an appropriate management level (AML) for wild horse and burro herds on each HMA and removes animals …

Fish And Invertebrate Use Of Restored Vs. Natural Oyster Reefs In A Shallow Temperate Latitude Estuary, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Christopher J. Baillie, Adam Baukus, Rachael Carlyle, F. Joel Fodrie, Rachel K. Gittman, A. Randall Hughes, David L. Kimbro, Juhyung Lee, Hunter S. Lenihan, Sean P. Powers, Kevin Sullivan

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Coastal marine habitats continue to be degraded, thereby compelling largescale restoration in many parts of the world. Whether restored habitats function similarly to natural habitats and fully recover lost ecosystem services is unclear. In estuaries, oyster reefs have been degraded by multiple anthropogenic activities including destructive fishing practices and reduced water quality, motivating restoration to maintain oyster fisheries and other ecosystem services, often at relatively high cost. We compared fish and invertebrate communities on recently restored (0–1 year post-restoration), older restored (3–4 years post-restoration), and natural oyster reefs to determine if and when restored reefs support functionally similar faunal communities. …

Population Dynamics, Relative Abundance, And Habitat Suitability Of Adult Red Drum (Sciaenops Ocellatus) In Nearshore Waters Of The North-Central Gulf Of Mexico, Crystal Hightower, J. Marcus Drymon, Amanda E. Jefferson, Matthew B. Jargowsky, Emily A. Seubert, Simon Dedman, John Mareska, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

In the Gulf of Mexico, the red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is an immensely popular sportfish, yet the Gulf of Mexico stock is currently managed as data-limited in federal waters. The results of the federal stock assessment conducted in 2016 for Gulf of Mexico red drum were not recommended for providing management advice. Consequently, we sought to address data gaps highlighted in the assessment by producing up-to- date overall and sex-specific growth models, standardized indices of relative abundance, and predictions of habitat suitability and by updating estimates of natural mortality. Using a time series for the period of 2006–2018, we assigned …

Plague Risk In The Western United States Over Seven Decades Of Environmental Change, Colin J. Carlson, Sarah N. Bevins, Boris V. Schmid

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

After several pandemics over the last two millennia, the wildlife reservoirs of plague (Yersinia pestis) now persist around the world, including in the western United States. Routine surveillance in this region has generated comprehensive records of human cases and animal seroprevalence, creating a unique opportunity to test how plague reservoirs are responding to environmental change. Here, we test whether animal and human data suggest that plague reservoirs and spillover risk have shifted since 1950. To do so, we develop a new method for detecting the impact of climate change on infectious disease distributions, capable of disentangling long-term trends (signal) and …

Wild Pig Removal Reduces Pathogenic Bacteria In Low-Order Streams, Sara A. Bolds, B. Graeme Lockaby, Latif Kalin, Stephen S. Ditchkoff, Mark D. Smith, Kurt Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive wild pig populations have undergone enormous increases in the United States and particularly across the southern U.S. in recent years. High fecundity rates and abilities to adapt quickly to varied habitats have enabled pig populations to become entrenched and difficult to eliminate. The pigs cause many negative impacts on ecosystems including degradation of water quality through infusion of fecal contamination and other non-point source pollutants. Our goal was to determine the effects of pig removal on water quality in streams that were known to be significantly polluted by pig activity Bolds (J Environ Qual 50: 441–453, 2021). We compared …

A Model For Leveraging Animal Movement To Understand Spatio-Temporal Disease Dynamics, Mark Q. Wilber, Anni Yang, Raoul Boughton, Kezia R. Manlove, Ryan S. Miller, Kim M. Pepin, George Wittemyer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The ongoing explosion of fine-resolution movement data in animal systems provides a unique opportunity to empirically quantify spatial, temporal and individual variation in transmission risk and improve our ability to forecast disease outbreaks. However, we lack a generalizable model that can leverage movement data to quantify transmission risk and how it affects pathogen invasion and persistence on heterogeneous landscapes. We developed a flexible model ‘Movement-driven modelling of spatio-temporal infection risk’ (MoveSTIR) that leverages diverse data on animal movement to derive metrics of direct and indirect contact by decomposing transmission into constituent processes of contact formation and duration and pathogen deposition …

Partnerships Create Success For The Devil’S Garden Wild Horses, Laura K. Snell

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Many wild horse (Equus ferus caballus) populations that inhabit designated federal land in the United States currently exceed management objectives. Overabundant wild horse populations can adversely impact the ecosystem, native wildlife, and other land uses. Unfortunately, there is not a universal solution, as each impacted area may differ ecologically, economically, socially, and politically. Wild horse management is not just a 1-time project but a long-term program where buy-in is needed from the federal and state agencies, local governments, and private partners. Local county governments and private partners can have important insights and significant influence on the development and …

Wyoming’S Wild Horse Ranch: History And Description Of A Socio-Ecological Experiment, Alex Sas-Jaworsky, John Derek Scasta

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The growing population of free-roaming horses (Equus ferus caballus) on western public rangelands has necessitated that federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service, develop novel approaches to curb growth including reproduction management. However, bureaucracy has hindered effective research and application of horse management on public lands and examples on private lands may present new solutions. Here we present the history and current population management strategy for the Wild Horse Ranch (WHR) located in southeastern Wyoming, USA, as an example of an ongoing private entity managing horses. Prior to 1985, this ~6,000-ha …

Cultivation Of Industrial Hemp On And Near Airports: Implications For Wildlife Use And Risk To Aviation Safety, Bradley F. Blackwell, Page E. Klug, Lee A. Humberg, Zachary T. Brym, Bryan M. Kluever, Jenna Edwards

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.; hemp) is an emerging crop in the United States with little known about bird use or the potential for birds to become an agricultural pest. We identified birds associated with hemp fields, using repeated visits to oilseed plots in North Dakota, USA (n = 6) and cannabinoid (CBD) plots in Florida, USA (n = 4) from August to November 2020. We did not control for plot area or density; our observations were descriptive only. We observed 10 species in hemp, 12 species flying over hemp, and 11 species both foraging in and …

Industrial Hemp As A Resource For Birds In Agroecosystems: Human-Wildlife Conflict Or Conservation Opportunity?, Emily A. Kotten, Iona Hennessy, Bryan M. Kluever, Bradley F. Blackwell, Lee A. Humberg, Page E. Klug

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.; hemp) is an emerging crop in the United States with little known about bird use or the potential for birds to become an agricultural pest. We identified birds associated with hemp fields, using repeated visits to oilseed plots in North Dakota, USA (n = 6) and cannabinoid (CBD) plots in Florida, USA (n = 4) from August to November 2020. We did not control for plot area or density; our observations were descriptive only. We observed 10 species in hemp, 12 species flying over hemp, and 11 species both foraging in and …

Longevity Of An Immunocontraceptive Vaccine Effect On Fecundity In Rats, Rebecca Pinkham, Douglas C. Eckery, Richard E. Mauldin, M. Gomm, F. Hill, F. Vial, G. Massei

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Increases in human-wildlife conflicts alongside cultural shifts against lethal control methods are driving the need for alternative wildlife management tools such as fertility control. Contraceptive formulations suitable for oral delivery would permit broader remote application in wildlife species.

This study evaluated the contraceptive effect and immune response to two novel injectable immunocontraceptive formulations targeting the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH): MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P conjugates, both identified as having potential as oral contraceptives. The study also explored whether in multiparous species immunocontraceptives may either totally prevent reproduction or also affect litter size.

Female rats, chosen as a model species, were given three …

Foot Injuries In Michigan, Usa, Gray Wolves (Canis Lupus), 1992–2014, Daniel J. O'Brien, Dean E. Beyer Jr., Erin Largent, Julie R. Melotti, Caitlin N. Ott-Conn, Donald H. Lonsway, Thomas M. Cooley, Robert Atkinson, Michelle Clayson, Kelly A. Straka

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The range of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the contiguous US is expanding. Research and monitoring to support population recovery and management often involves capture via foothold traps. A population-level epidemiologic assessment of the effect of trap injuries on wolf survival remains needed to inform management. We describe the baseline rate, type, and severity of foot injuries of wolves born 1992–2013 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, evaluate the reliability of field-scoring trap-related injuries, and the effect of injuries on wolf survival. We assessed foot injuries by physical and radiographic exam at postmortem and/or time of capture for 351 wolves using the …

Olfactory Lures In Predator Control Do Not Increase Predation Risk To Birds In Areas Of Conservation Concern, Page Klug, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Robert N. Reed

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context. Lethal control of predators is often undertaken to protect species of conservation concern. Traps are frequently baited to increase capture efficacy, but baited traps can potentially increase predation risk by attracting predators to protected areas. This is especially important if targeted predators can escape capture due to low trap success. Snake traps using live mouse lures may be beneficial if traps effectively remove snakes in the presence of birds and do not attract additional snakes to the area.

Aims. The present study evaluated whether mouse-lure traps in areas occupied by birds (simulated by deploying birdlure traps) could influence predation …