Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Long Term Changes In Aquaculture Influence Migration, Regional Abundance, And Distribution Of An Avian Species, Paul C. Burr, Brian S. Dorr, Jimmy L. Avery, Garrett M. Street, Bronson K. Strickland

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Agricultural development has been causing changes to the environment and the abundance and distribution of avian species. Agriculture is dynamic with changes in products occurring at large scales over relatively short time periods. The catfish aquaculture industry is one such agriculture industry that has undergone dramatic changes over the last 25 years. The double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) is a piscivorous bird that has an extensive history with the aquaculture industry of Mississippi due to its depredation of cultured catfish. A large-scale monitoring program began in 1989 to estimate the abundance and location of cormorants at every known roost in the …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Equine Science, Sarah H. White-Springer, Jason E. Bruemmer, Robert J. Coleman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A core group of 27 equine nutritionists and physiologists joined together in the late 1960s to formally address and enhance the direction of equine research, creating the Equine Nutrition and Physiology Soci- ety. In 2003, that growing society transformed into the Equine Science Society, which now serves as the preeminent, internationally recognized scientific equine organization. In recent years, it has been appre- ciated that equine science encompasses a wide range of focus areas, including exercise science, nutrition, genetics, reproductive physiology, teaching and extension, production and management, and mix of other specialties, qualified as biosciences. Additionally, trainees are highly valued in …

Using Drones To Detect And Quantify Wild Pig Damage And Yield Loss In Corn Fields Throughout Plant Growth Stages, Bethany A. Friesenhahn, Lori D. Massey, Randy W. Deyoung, Michael J. Cherry, Justin W. Fischer, Nathan P. Snow, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Humberto L. Perotto‐Baldivieso

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Presently, there are an estimated 6.9 million wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in the U.S., which cause over US$1 billion in damage to agriculture, environmental impacts, and control costs. However, estimates of damage have varied widely, creating a need for standardized monitoring and a method to accurately estimate the economic costs of direct wild pig damage to agriculture. The goal of our study was to integrate remotely sensed imagery from drones and crop harvest data to quantify wild pig damage in corn fields. We used drones with natural color (red, green, blue) cameras to monitor corn fields at different …

The Impact Of The Covid‑19 Pandemic On Wildlife–Aircraft Collisions At Us Airports, Levi Altringer, Sophie C. Mckee, Jason D. Kougher, Michael J. Begier, Stephanie A. Shwiff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Exploiting unprecedented reductions in aircraft movements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated the relationship between air traffic volume and the frequency of wildlife-aircraft collisions, or wildlife strikes, at the 50 largest airports in the United States. During the COVID- 19 months of 2020 (March–December), both air traffic volume and the absolute number of wildlife strikes were reduced. The net effect of these two movements, however, was an increase in the wildlife strike rate from May 2020–September 2020. This increase was found to be most pronounced at airports with larger relative declines in air traffic volume. We concluded that the …

Echinococcus Species Infections Among Wild Canids In Pennsylvania, Usa, Kayla Garrett, Justin Brown, Ryan K. A. Grunert, Jonathan Hunte, Mark G. Ruder, Kyle Van Why, Michael J. Yabsley, Christopher A. Cleveland

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Echinococcus species are zoonotic tapeworms that can impact the health of wildlife, domestic animals, livestock, and humans. Two species of interest in North America are Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus canadensis (Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato). The primary wildlife definitive hosts for E. multilocularis and E. canadensis are similar, including red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and wolves (Canis lupus). These two Echinococcus spp. use different intermediate hosts, including small mammals for E. multilocularis and artiodactylids for E. canadensis. Although historically absent from …

Turkey Vulture Survival Is Reduced In Areas Of Greater Road Density, Adrián Naveda-Rodríguez, Keith L. Bildstein, David R. Barber, Jean-François Therrien, Michael L. Avery, Bryan M. Kluever, Scott A. Rush, Francisco J. Vilella

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The demography of, and factors that influence these metrics, are largely unknown for most vultures in the Americas. Survivorship of turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) may be influenced by landscape heterogeneity and human disturbance. We quantified the effects of landscape composition (Shannon’s diversity index) and configuration (contagion, edge density, and largest patch index), and human disturbance (road density) on the annual and seasonal survival probabilities of the three North American breeding populations (western, central, and eastern) of turkey vultures that spend the nonbreeding season in the southeastern portion of the Nearctic and the northern Neotropics during a 17-year period. …

“Revisiting The Past”: A Redescription Of Physaloptera Retusa (Nemata, Physalopteridae) From Material Deposited In Museums And New Material From Amazon Lizards = “Revisitando O Passado”: Uma Redescrição De Physaloptera Retusa (Nemata, Physalopteridae) A Partir De Material Depositado Em Museus E Novo Material De Lagartos Amazônicos, Lílian Cristina Macedo, Yuri Willkens, Leandro Maurício Oliveira Da Silva, Scott Lyell Gardner, Francisco Tiago De Vasconcelos Melo, Jeannie Nascimento Dos Santos

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Abstract

Physaloptera Rudolphi, 1819 is a genus of nematodes that includes approximately 100 species parasitic in vertebrates around the world. From these, approximately 30 occur in the Neotropical region, with nine reported from neotropical reptiles. Physaloptera spp. are recognized by their distinct morphology of the apical end and characters of the reproductive system. However, despite the fact that the morphological characters for species diagnosis have been firmly established, we frequently find identification problems regarding poorly detailed descriptions and poorly preserved specimens. These may lead to taxonomic incongruencies. Physaloptera retusa (Rudolphi, 1819) is the most common species of the genus and …

Helminth And Protozoan Parasites Of Subterranean Rodents (Chordata, Mammalia, Rodentia) Of The World, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan, Daniel A. Kenkel, Scott Lyell Gardner

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Published studies and ten new unpublished records included herein reveal that approximately 174 species of endoparasites (helminths and protozoans) are known from 65 of 163 species of rodents that occupy the subterranean ecotope globally. Of those, 94 endoparasite species were originally described from these rodents. A total of 282 host-parasite associations are summarized from four major zoogeographic regions including Ethiopian, Palearctic/Oriental, Nearctic, and Neotropical. Thirty-four parasite records from the literature have been identified to only the level of the genus. In this summary, ten new records have been added, and the most current taxonomic status of each parasite species is …

Filling The Gap In Distribution Ranges And Conservation Status In Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae), Diego A. Caraballo, Sabrina Laura Lopez, Sebastian Botero-Cañola, Scott Lyell Gardner

Scott L. Gardner Publications

South American subterranean rodents of the genus Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae, tuco-tuco) are one of the most diverse genera among mammals. Recently described species, new taxonomic revisions, and new distribution range delimitation made the revision of distribution areas and conservation status of these mammals mandatory. Implementing the first part of the DAMA protocol (document, assess, monitor, act), here we compile updated sets of species distribution range maps and use these and the number of collection localities to assess the conservation status of ctenomyids. We integrate potential for conservation in protected areas, and levels of habitat transformation to revise previous conservation status …

Tapping Into Natural History Collections To Assess Latitudinal Gradients Of Parasite Diversity, Sebastian Botero-Cañola, Scott Lyell Gardner

Scott L. Gardner Publications

Parasites are key components of the biosphere not only due to their huge diversity, but also because they exert important influences on ecological processes. Nevertheless, we lack an understanding of the biogeographical patterns of parasite diversity. Here, we tap into the potential of biodiversity collections for understanding parasite biogeography. We assess species richness of supracommunities of helminth parasites infecting mammal assemblages in the Nearctic, and describe its relation to latitude, climate, host diversity, and land area. We compiled data from parasitology collections and assessed parasite diversity in Nearctic ecoregions for the entire parasite supracommunity of mammals in each ecoregion, as …

A New Species Of Mathevotaenia (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae) From The Andean Tuco-Tuco, Ctenomys Opimus (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae), On The Altiplano Of Bolivia, Scott Lyell Gardner, Bennett A. Grappone, Alex Lai

Scott L. Gardner Publications

A new species of Mathevotaenia Akumyan, 1946 (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae) is described from the Andean tuco-tuco, Ctenomys opimus Wagner 1848 (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae), collected in 1984 on the Altiplano of Bolivia. This is the second species of anoplocephalid cestode recorded from rodents of the genus Ctenomys, the first being Monoecocestus torresi Olsen 1976 from the Maule tuco-tuco, Ctenomys maulinus Philippi 1872, documented in southwestern Argentina. The new species of Mathevotaenia described here has more testes per segment than any other described species of the same genus from South America. The description of a new species from a decades-old specimen highlights the …

Diagnosing Neurocysticercosis In Skeletonized Human Remains Of Forensic Importance, John O. Obafunwa, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Neurocysticercosis is endemic in many parts of the underdeveloped and developing countries, with continuous presence in developed countries due to the influx of migrants from regions where the diseases are endemic. Neuroimaging, anatomic pathological techniques, immunodiagnostic tests, clinical examination and epidemiologic considerations will easily provide the diagnosis. However, physicians in developed countries are perhaps progressively missing the diagnosis, and need to re-acquaint themselves with the condition and acquire a high suspicion index. The authors present a medicolegal case where the forensic team made a conclusion of neurocysticercosis (among other diagnoses), following post mortem examination of a largely skeletonized and mummified …

Documenting The Presence Of Chagas Disease In Prehistoric North America: Applying The Stockholm Paradigm To Archaeoparasitology, Part Ii, Karl J. Reinhard, Daniel R. Brooks, Aida Romera Barbera, T. Michael Fink

Karl Reinhard Publications

The DAMA protocol (Document, Assess, Monitor, Act) is the applied aspect of the Stockholm Paradigm. Evidence from archaeology and history of medicine has a demonstrated value in documenting infection risk for specific study areas. Bioarchaeological remains and historical documents show vivid examples of pathology related to the Chagas disease life cycle. The science of archaeology defines the lifestyles that created risk of triatomine kissing bug infestations and trypanosome protozoa infections. Paleogenetics, in the form of molecular analyses of Trypanosoma cruzi, elucidate the temporal origins of genetic variants and adaptation to human environments. We illustrate how these fields reveal the risk …

Exploring The Evolution Of Trypanosoma Cruzi And The Emergence Of Chagas Disease In The Context Of Environmental Change: Applying The Stockholm Paradigm To Archaeoparasitology, Part I, Aida Romera Barbera, Daniel R. Brooks, T. Michael Fink, Karl J. Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

The Stockholm Paradigm is an evolutionary synthesis that explains the emergence of novel pathogens in the context of environmental disturbances. Considering the urgent climate change situation, anticipation stands as key to prevent and mitigate the effects that climate change can have in the emergence of pathogens. However, the success of preventive measures is hindered by a limited knowledge of the interplaying dynamics between biology, environment, and culture leading to emerging infectious diseases. For many decades, bioarchaeologists have been gathering data on past human-environment interactions, therefore contributing to the conversation. Archaeoparasitology, at the intersection between pathology, bioarchaeology, and biology, is uniquely …

Worldwide Host Associations Of The Tick Genus Ixodes Suggest Relationships Based On Environmental Sharing Rather Than On Co-Phylogenetic Events, Agustín Estrada-Peña, Alberto A. Guglielmone, Santiago Nava

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Abstract

Background

This study aims to capture how ticks of the genus Ixodes gained their hosts using network constructs. We propose two alternative hypotheses, namely, an ecological background (ticks and hosts sharing environmentally available conditions) and a phylogenetic one, in which both partners co-evolved, adapting to existing environmental conditions after the association took place.

Methods

We used network constructs linking all the known pairs of associations between each species and stage of ticks with families and orders of hosts. Faith’s phylogenetic diversity was used to evaluate the phylogenetic distance of the hosts of each species and changes occurring in the …

Teaching Agroecology: Preparing Students For Navigating Uncharted Territory, Charles A. Francis, Steve Gliessman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Agroecologists understand that farming and food systems are more complex than the aggregation of their components. This realization drives our choices of learning strategies and activities that will prepare students for complexity and uncertainty. Our quest for a just, sustainable, and nutritious food system adequate to equitably serve everyone on the planet today and into the future is an enormous challenge. An undertaking of this magnitude will be met only with major adjustments informed by thoughtful teaching and practicing problem solving skills through a new educational lens. The principles of agroecology help us focus this lens on the wicked problems …

Integrating Robotics Into Wildlife Conservation: Testing Improvements To Predator Deterrents Through Movement, Stewart W. Breck, Jeffrey T. Schultz, David Prause, Cameron Krebs, Anthony J. Giordano, Byron Boots

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background Agricultural and pastoral landscapes can provide important habitat for wildlife conservation, but sharing these landscapes with wildlife can create conflict that is costly and requires managing. Livestock predation is a good example of the challenges involving coexistence with wildlife across shared landscapes. Integrating new technology into agricultural practices could help minimize human-wildlife conflict. In this study, we used concepts from the fields of robotics (i.e., automated movement and adaptiveness) and agricultural practices (i.e., managing livestock risk to predation) to explore how integration of these concepts could aid the development of more effective predator deterrents.

Methods …

Assessment Of Habitat‐Specific Competition For Oral Rabies Vaccine Baits Between Raccoons And Opossums, James L. Helton, Jacob E. Hill, David A. Bernasconi, Wesley C. Dixon, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Throughout the eastern United States, the National Rabies Management Program (NRMP) distributes oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits to manage rabies virus circulation in raccoon (Procyon lotor) populations. The consumption of vaccine baits by non‐target species including Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) may reduce the effectiveness of ORV programs, but competition for baits remains poorly quantified in many areas of the southeastern United States. We distributed placebo ORV baits injected with a biomarker across 4 land cover types (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, riparian, isolated wetland) on the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, USA, 2017–2019. We then trapped …

Producers’ Perceptions Of Large Carnivores And Nonlethal Methods To Protect Livestock From Depredation: Findings From A Multistate Federal Initiative, Keith M. Carlisle, Hailey E. Ellis, Colorado State University, Alan D. Bright

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We examined livestock producers’ perceptions of wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, and mountain lions, as well as their experiences with using nonlethal methods to protect livestock from depredation. All producers in the study received nonlethal predator management assistance in 2020 from USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services (“WS”) pursuant to a federally funded initiative focused on the use of nonlethal methods to protect livestock. Such methods included assistance from range riders (i.e., individuals who monitor livestock and carnivores), fladry (i.e., flags hung from rope that serve as a repellent), and other audio/visual deterrents (e.g., Foxlights). The producers did not specifically seek nonlethal assistance from …

Genomic Analyses Of Gray Fox Lineages Suggest Ancient Divergence And Secondary Contact In The Southern Great Plains, Elizabeth M. Kierepka, Sophie Preckler-Quisquater, Dawn M. Reding, Antoinette Piaggio, Seth P.D. Riley, Benjamin N. Sacks

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) lineage diverged from all other extant canids at their most basal node and is restricted to the Americas. Previous mitochondrial analysis from coastal populations identified deeply divergent (up to 1 Mya) eastern and western lineages that predate most intraspecific splits in carnivores. We conducted genotyping by sequencing and mitochondrial analysis on gray foxes sampled across North America to determine geographic concordance between nuclear and mitochondrial contact zones and divergence times. We also estimated the admixture within the contact zone between eastern and western gray foxes based on nuclear DNA. Both datasets confirmed that …

A Social Network Analysis Of Actors Involved In Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa) Management In Missouri, Hailey E. Ellis, Meredith J. Grady, Lauren Jaebker, Alan D. Bright, Keith M. Carlisle

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause significant damage to agriculture and native ecosystems and can transmit diseases to animals and people. Management responses designed to reduce population numbers are needed to mitigate these threats. Identifying networks of key actors, including the ways in which they interact, is valuable for purposes of better understanding opportunities or constraints that generate or impede effective management responses. The goal of our study was to understand the network of organizations, and the personnel working within them, that were active in wild pig management, research, or policy initiatives in Missouri during 2018–2020 by 1) identifying …

Effects Of Corn Supplementation On Serum And Muscle Microrna Profiles In Horses, Clarissa Carver, Jason E. Bruemmer, Stephen Coleman, Gabriele Landolt, Tanja Hess

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Laminitis associated with equine metabolic syndrome causes significant economic losses in the equine industry. Diets high in non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) have been linked to insulin resistance and laminitis in horses. Nutrigenomic studies analyzing the interaction of diets high in NSCs and gene expression regulating endogenous microRNAs (miRNA) are rare. This study's objectives were to determine whether miRNAs from dietary corn can be detected in equine serum and muscle and its impacts on endogenous miRNA. Twelve mares were blocked by age, body condition score, and weight and assigned to a control (mixed legume grass hay diet) and a mixed legume hay …

Transmission Of Sars-Cov-2 In Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer In The United States, Aijing Feng, Sarah Bevins, Jeff Chandler, Thomas J. Deliberto, Ria Ghai, Kristina Lantz, Julianna Lenoch, Adam Retchless, Susan A. Shriner, Cynthia Y. Tang, Suxiang Sue Tong, Mia Torchetti, Anna Uehara, Xiu-Feng Wan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

SARS-CoV-2 is a zoonotic virus with documented bi-directional transmission between people and animals. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) poses a unique public health risk due to the potential for reservoir establishment where variantsmay persist and evolve. We collected 8,830 respiratory samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer across Washington, D.C. and 26 states in the United States between November 2021 and April 2022. We obtained 391 sequences and identified 34 Pango lineages including the Alpha, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron variants. Evolutionary analyses showed these white-tailed deer viruses originated fromat least 109 independent spillovers fromhumans,which resulted in …

H7n9 Influenza A Virus Transmission In A Multispecies Barnyard Model, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Anna Rodriguez, Rachel M. Maison, Stephanie M. Porter, J. Jeffrey Root

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Influenza A viruses are a diverse group of pathogens that have been responsible for millions of human and avian deaths throughout history. Here, we illustrate the transmission potential of H7N9 influenza A virus between Coturnix quail (Coturnix sp.), domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus), chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) co-housed in an artificial barnyard setting. In each of four replicates, individuals from a single species were infected with the virus. Quail shed virus orally and were a source of infection for both chickens and ducks. Infected chickens transmitted the virus to quail but not to ducks or …

Raccoon Rabies Control And Elimination In The Northeastern Usa And Southern Québec, Canada, Amy J. Davis, Marianne Gagnier, Ariane Massé, Kathleen M. Nelson, Jordona D. Kirby, Ryan Wallace, Xiaoyue Ma, Christine Fehlner-Gardiner, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rabies virus (RABV) is a deadly zoonosis that circulates in wild carnivore populations in North America. Intensive management within the USA and Canada has been conducted to control the spread of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) variant of RABV and work towards elimination. We examined RABV occurrence across the northeastern USA and southeastern Québec, Canada during 2008–2018 using a multi-method, dynamic occupancy model. Using a 10 km× 10 km grid overlaid on the landscape, we examined the probability that a grid cell was occupied with RABV and relationships with management activities (oral rabies vaccination (ORV) and trap-vaccinate-release efforts), habitat, neighbour effects …

Writing Statistical Methods For Ecologists, Amy J. Davis, Shannon Kay

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Methods section is a key component of any ecology research publication containing detailed information on how the data were collected and analyzed. However, descriptions of which statistical methods were used and how they were applied can substantially vary and may not provide enough information for the analyses to be reproducible. Computational and statistical programming advances have allowed ecological researchers without a strong statistical or mathematical background to access and use increasingly complex statistical methods. Thus, statistical methods are written by and need to be accessible to researchers across a range of quantitative expertise. Poorly written Methods sections can incorrectly …

Distribution Of Baylisascaris Procyonis In Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) In Florida, Usa, Mark W. Cunningham, Daniel P. Wolf, Katherine A. Sayler, Michael Milleson, Brittany Bankovich, Paul Schueller, Betsy S. Haley, Savannah Stura, Michael J. Yabsley

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Baylisascaris procyonis, or raccoon roundworm, is an intestinal nematode parasite of raccoons (Procyon lotor) that is important to public and wildlife health. Historically, the parasite was uncommon in the southeastern US; however, the range of B. procyonis has expanded to include Florida, US. From 2010 to 2016, we opportunistically sampled 1,030 raccoons statewide. The overall prevalence was 3.7% (95% confidence interval=2.5–4.8%) of sampled individuals, and infection intensity ranged from 1 to 48 (mean±standard deviation 9.9±4.0). We found raccoon roundworm in 9/56 (16%) counties sampled, and the percent positive ranged from 1.1% to 13.3% of specimens collected per …

Predator Telemetry Informs Temporal And Spatial Overlap With Stocked Salmonids In Lake Huron, David G. Fielder, Todd A. Hayden, Thomas R. Binder, Brian S. Dorr, Heidi A. Currier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auratus), Walleyes (Sander vitreus), and Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are migratory predators that undergo extensive movements in Lake Huron. Stocking of juvenile salmonid fish (Oncorhynchus and Salmo sp.) is an important component of fishery management in Lake Huron and assessing the spatial and temporal extent of predator movements is a useful consideration for determining when and where to stock juvenile fish to reduce predation and maximize survival. Previous investigation indicated that some Walleyes migrate to the main basin of Lake Huron in spring from Saginaw Bay. Similarly, telemetry studies of Lake Trout movement in Lake Huron have …

Distribution Of The Misfolded Isoform Of The Prion Protein In Peripheral Tissues And Spinal Cord Of Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus Elaphus Nelsoni) With Naturally Occurring Chronic Wasting Disease, Terry R. Spraker, Thomas Gidlewski, J. G. Powers, T. A. Nichols, M. A. Wild

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an infectious transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids associated with the presence of a misfolded prion protein (PrPCWD). Progression of PrPCWD distribution has been described using immunohistochemistry and histologic changes in a single section of brain stem at the level of the obex resulting in scores from 0 (early) to 10 (terminal) in elk with naturally occurring CWD. Here we describe the spread and distribution of PrPCWD in peripheral tissues and spinal cord in 16 wild and 17 farmed Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with naturally occurring CWD and correlate these findings with obex scores. …

Investigating Nocturnal Uas Treatments In An Applied Context To Prevent Gulls From Nesting On Rooftops, Morgan Pfeiffer, Craig K. Pullins, Scott F. Beckerman, Joshua L. Hoblet, Brad Blackwell

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Ring‐billed (Larus delawarensis) and herring (L. argentatus) gulls are numerous and widespread in North America. These gulls rank among the top 9 species for risk of bird‐aircraft collisions (hereafter strikes). The ubiquitous presence of gulls in urban coastal environments, including rooftop nesting behavior, are factors impacting strike risk. Our purpose was to assess gull response to a small uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) in hazing flights at night during the nest‐building phase. We hypothesized that nocturnal UAS operation, like nocturnal predator disturbance, might reduce gull numbers and, thus, strike risk to aircraft. In spring 2021, we conducted …