Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

An Evaluation Of The Registration And Use Prospects For Four Candidate Toxicants For Controlling Invasive Mongooses (Herpestes Javanicus Auropunctatus), Emily W. Ruell, Chris N. Niebuhr, Robert T. Sugihara, Shane R. Siers

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The eradication or control of invasive small Indian mongooses from islands likely requires toxic baiting when removal by trapping proves insufficient. The one toxic bait currently registered for mongooses in the United States has relatively low palatability and efficacy for mongooses. Developing and registering a new pesticide can be very expensive, while funding for developing toxicants for mongooses is limited. Once registered, use of a toxic bait may be hindered by other factors, such as public opposition to an inhumane toxicant, poorer efficacy than expected, or if the toxic bait is difficult for applicators to apply or store. Therefore, we …

A Tentative List Of The Land Snails Of Georgia, U.S.A., Zachary I. Felix, Michael A. Dubuc, Hassan A. Rana

Georgia Journal of Science

Because of their high ecological and conservation value, and because we know so little about the group, we compiled a systematic if tentative list of land snails from the state of Georgia. After gleaning a list of species from a monograph on the land snails of eastern United States, written by Leslie Hubricht in 1985, we realized that many species whose ecological requirements are found in Georgia had not been documented there. Therefore, we developed a qualitative model to predict the likelihood that these candidate species occur in Georgia and would eventually be documented. We tested the model with collections …

The Multifaceted Effects Induced By Floods On The Macroinvertebrate Communities Inhabiting A Sinking Cave Stream, Octavian Pacioglu, Nicoleta Ianovici, Mărioara N. Filimon, Adrian Sinitean, Gabriel Iacob, Henrietta Barabas, Alexandru Pahomi, Andrei Acs, Hanelore Muntean, Lucian Pârvulescu

International Journal of Speleology

First-order sinking cave streams experience considerable hydrological variability, including spates and periods of base-flow during dry seasons. Early-summer flooding on a first-order stream sinking in Ciur-Ponor Cave (Romania) represented a suitable opportunity to test the response of the macroinvertebrate community and of basal food resources quantity and diversity to such a disturbance event. The invertebrate community and basal resources (i.e., woody debris, leaves, fine particulate organic matter and epilithon) were collected from three sampling sites, before and after the flood. The sampling strategy followed an up-downstream gradient of both species diversity and quantity of allochtonous organic matter decrease as the …

Species-Area Model Predicting Diversity Loss In An Artificially Flooded Cave In Brazil, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Thais G. Pellegrini

International Journal of Speleology

Subterranean environments are poorly known regarding many ecological aspects, such as community structure and its response to different disturbances. To estimate the effects of ground area lost in a limestone cave community in Southeastern Brazil, the invertebrate fauna was sampled before 76% of the cave floor was submerged by the filling of a hydroeletric power plant reservoir. Then, a 2-year monitoring was conducted. A species-area curve based on empiric data was constructed and the z-value of the species-area equation was calculated, what allowed estimating the expected cave richness after flooding comparing with data obtained during the monitoring. The results support …

Transmission Dynamics Of Toxoplasma Gondii In Arctic Foxes (Vulpes Lagopus): A Long-Term Mark-Recapture Serologic Study At Karrak Lake, Nunavut, Canada, Emilie Bouchard, Stacey A. Elmore, Ray T. Alisauskas, Gustaf Samelius, Alvin A. Gajadhar, Keaton Schmidt, Sasha Ross, Emily J. Jenkins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Transmission dynamics of Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite of importance for wildlife and human health, are enigmatic in the Arctic tundra, where free-ranging wild and domestic felid definitive hosts are absent and rarely observed, respectively. Through a multiyear mark-recapture study (2011– 17), serosurveillance was conducted to investigate transmission of T. gondii in Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) in the Karrak Lake region, Nunavut, Canada. Sera from adult foxes and fox pups were tested for antibodies to T. gondii by using serologic methods, including the indirect fluorescent antibody test, direct agglutination test, and modified agglutination test. The overall seroprevalence was 39% in adults …

Not All Surveillance Data Are Created Equal—A Multi‐Method Dynamic Occupancy Approach To Determine Rabies Elimination From Wildlife, Amy J. Davis, Jordona D. Kirby, Richard B. Chipman, Kathleen M. Nelson, Tatiana Xifara, Colleen T. Webb, Ryan Wallace, Amy T. Gilbert, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. A necessary component of elimination programmes for wildlife disease is effective surveillance. The ability to distinguish between disease freedom and non‐detection can mean the difference between a successful elimination campaign and new epizootics. Understanding the contribution of different surveillance methods helps to optimize and better allocate effort and develop more effective surveillance programmes.

2. We evaluated the probability of rabies virus elimination (disease freedom) in an enzootic area with active management using dynamic occupancy modelling of 10 years of raccoon rabies virus (RABV) surveillance data (2006–2015) collected from three states in the eastern United States. We estimated detection probability …

Survival, Fidelity, And Dispersal Of Double-Crested Cormorants On Two Lake Michigan Islands, Christopher R. Ayers, Katie C. Hanson-Dorr, Ken Stromborg, Todd W. Arnold, Jacob S. Ivan, Brian S. Dorr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Colony fidelity and dispersal can have important consequences on the population dynamics of colonial-nesting birds. We studied survival and inter-colony movements of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus; cormorants) nesting at Spider and Pilot islands, located 9 km apart in western Lake Michigan, during 2008–2014. We used live resighting and dead recovery data from both colonies, plus dead recoveries from throughout North America, in a multistate live and dead encounter model to estimate annual survival, inter-colony movements, plus temporary and permanent emigration to unmonitored sites. Annual survival averaged 0.37 (annual process variation, ˆ = 0.07) for hatch-year, 0.78 (ˆ= 0.08) for secondyear, …

Use Of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas) And Multispectral Imagery For Quantifying Agricultural Areas Damaged By Wild Pigs, Justin W. Fischer, Kelsey Greiner, Mark W. Lutman, Bryson L. Webber, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause extensive damage to agricultural crops, resulting in lost production and income. A major challenge associated with assessing damage to crops is locating and quantifying damaged areas within agricultural fields. We evaluated a novel method using multispectral high-resolution aerial imagery, collected from sensors mounted on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and feature extraction techniques to detect and map areas of corn fields damaged by wild pigs in southern Missouri, USA. Damaged areas were extracted from orthomosaics using visible and near-infrared band combinations, an object-based classification approach, and hierarchical learning cycles. To validate estimates we also collected ground …

Coral Reef Change Detection In Remote Pacific Islands Using Support Vector Machine Classifiers, Justin J. Gapper, Hesham El-Askary, Erik Linstead, Thomas Piechota

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the abundance of research on coral reef change detection, few studies have been conducted to assess the spatial generalization principles of a live coral cover classifier trained using remote sensing data from multiple locations. The aim of this study is to develop a machine learning classifier for coral dominated benthic cover-type class (CDBCTC) based on ground truth observations and Landsat images, evaluate the performance of this classifier when tested against new data, then deploy the classifier to perform CDBCTC change analysis of multiple locations. The proposed framework includes image calibration, support vector machine (SVM) training and tuning, statistical assessment …

Sex-Specific Personalities In The Purple Marsh Crab, Jillian Sterman, Jessica Barton, Panagiota Delmedico, Samantha Sweeney

DePaul Discoveries

Animals are considered to possess personalities when individuals differ in behavior, and these differences are consistent between situations. Several studies have identified personalities in diverse groups but less is known about personality variation between the sexes. In this study, we examined variation in two key personality traits (boldness, activity) in female and male purple marsh crabs (Sesarma reticulatum) using a semi-field approach. Specifically, we measured boldness and activity on two consecutive days using the same behavioral assays during each time point. Consistency (personality) was determined using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance based on Spearman correlation coefficients for each behavior. …

Effects Of Reduced Ph On Health Biomarkers Of The Seagrass Cymodocea Nodosa, Regan A. Mcenaney

DePaul Discoveries

Ocean acidification is a growing problem that may affect many marine organisms in the future. Within 100 years the pH of the ocean is predicted to decrease to 7.8, from the current ocean pH of around 8.1. Using phenolic acid levels as a stress indicator as well as respiration and chlorophyll content as a measure of health, the effect of lowering pH was tested on the seagrass, Cymodocea nodosa, in a controlled environment. Plant samples, water, and soil were taken from the Bay of Cádiz, Spain, and placed in aquaria in a temperature-controlled room. One control group was left …

Relating Spatial Patterns Of Stream Metabolism To Distributions Of Juveniles Salmonids At The River Network Scale, Matthew J. Kaylor, Seth M. White, W. Carl Saunders, Dana R. Warren

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Understanding the factors that drive spatial patterns in stream ecosystem processes and the distribution of aquatic biota is important to effective management of these systems and the conservation of biota at the network scale. In this study, we conducted field surveys throughout an extensive river network in NE Oregon that supports diminishing populations of wild salmonids. We collected data on physical habitat, nutrient concentrations, biofilm standing stocks, stream metabolism (gross primary production [GPP] and ecosystem respiration [ER]), and ESA‐listed juvenile salmonid density from approximately 50 sites across two sub‐basins. Our goals were to (1) to evaluate network patterns in these …

Confronting Models With Data: The Challenges Of Estimating Disease Spillover, Paul C. Cross, Diann J. Prosser, Andrew M. Ramey, Ephraim M. Hanks, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

For pathogens known to transmit across host species, strategic investment in disease control requires knowledge about where and when spillover transmission is likely. One approach to estimating spillover is to directly correlate observed spillover events with covariates. An alternative is to mechanistically combine information on host density, distribution and pathogen prevalence to predict where and when spillover events are expected to occur. We use several case studies at the wildlife–livestock disease interface to highlight the challenges, and potential solutions, to estimating spatiotemporal variation in spillover risk. Datasets on multiple host species often do not align in space, time or resolution, …

Typha (Cattail) Invasion In North American Wetlands: Biology, Regional Problems, Impacts, Ecosystem Services, And Management, Sheel Bansal, Shane C. Lishawa, Sue Newman, Brian A. Tangen, Douglas Wilcox, Dennis Albert, Michael J. Anteau, Michael J. Chimney, Ryann L. Cressey, Edward Dekeyser, Kenneth J. Elgersma, Sarah A. Finkelstein, Joanna Freeland, Richard Grosshans, Page E. Klug, Daniel J. Larkin, Beth A. Lawrence, George Linz, Joy Marburger, Gregory Noe, Clint Otto, Nicholas Reo, Jennifer Richards, Curtis Richardson, Leroy Rodgers, Amy J. Schrank, Dan Svedarsky, Steven Travis, Nancy Tuchman, Lisamarie Windham-Myers

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Typha is an iconic wetland plant found worldwide. Hybridization and anthropogenic disturbances have resulted in large increases in Typha abundance in wetland ecosystems throughout North America at a cost to native floral and faunal biodiversity. As demonstrated by three regional case studies, Typha is capable of rapidly colonizing habitats and forming monodominant vegetation stands due to traits such as robust size, rapid growth rate, and rhizomatic expansion. Increased nutrient inputs into wetlands and altered hydrologic regimes are among the principal anthropogenic drivers of Typha invasion. Typha is associated with a wide range of negative ecological impacts to wetland and agricultural …

Automated Bioacoustics: Methods In Ecology And Conservation And Their Potential For Animal Welfare Monitoring, Michael P. Mcloughlin, Rebecca Stewart, Alan G. Mcelligott

Conservation Biology and Animal Welfare Collection

Vocalizations carry emotional, physiological and individual information. This suggests that they may serve as potentially useful indicators for inferring animal welfare. At the same time, automated methods for analysing and classifying sound have developed rapidly, particularly in the fields of ecology, conservation and sound scene classification. These methods are already used to automatically classify animal vocalizations, for example, in identifying animal species and estimating numbers of individuals. Despite this potential, they have not yet found widespread application in animal welfare monitoring. In this review, we first discuss current trends in sound analysis for ecology, conservation and sound classification. Following this, …

Morphometric Signals Of Population Decline In Diademed Sifakas Occupying Degraded Rainforest Habitat In Madagascar, Mitchell Irwin, Karen E. Samonds, Jean-Luc Raharison, Randall Junge, Karine Mahefarisoa, Fidisoa Rasambainarivo, Laurie Godfrey, Kenneth Glander

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Anthropogenic habitat change can have varied impacts on primates, including both negative and positive outcomes. Even when behavioural shifts are seen, they may reflect decreased health, or simply behavioural flexibility; understanding this distinction is important for conservation efforts. This study examines habitat-related variation in adult and immature morphometrics among diademed sifakas (Propithecus diadema). We collected morphometric data from sifakas at Tsinjoarivo, Madagascar (19 years, 188 captures, 113 individuals). Captures spanned 12 groups, five within continuous forest (“CONT”), and seven in degraded fragments (“FRAG”) where sifakas have lower nutritional intakes. Few consistent differences were found between CONT and FRAG groups. However, …

Spatiotemporal Impact Of Snow On Underwater Photosynthetically Active Radiation In Taylor Valley, East Antarctica, Madeline E. Myers

LSU Master's Theses

The role of snow on underwater photosynthetically active radiation (UW PAR) in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) has been understudied due to lack of a detailed snowfall record. Research has shown that a relationship between snow cover and UW PAR exists, but the extent has never been evaluated in great detail. Although annual snowfall values in the MDVs are low (3 to 50 mm water equivalent annually), trends of increasing snowfall on the continent under future warming conditions could lead to an increased role for snow in regulating UW PAR (and associated primary productivity). Here, I discuss evidence from the …

High Heat Tolerance Is Negatively Correlated With Upper Thermal Tolerance Plasticity In North Eastern Pacific Nudibranch Mollusks, Eric J. Armstrong, Richelle L. Tanner, Jonathon H. Stillman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Rapid ocean warming may alter habitat suitability and population fitness for marine ectotherms. Susceptibility to thermal perturbations will depend in part on plasticity of a species’ upper thermal limits of performance (CT_max). However, we currently lack data regarding CT_max plasticity for several major marine taxa, including nudibranch mollusks, thus limiting predictive responses to habitat warming for these species. In order to determine relative sensitivity to future warming, we investigated heat tolerance limits (CT_max), heat tolerance plasticity (acclimation response ratio), thermal safety margins, temperature sensitivity of metabolism, and metabolic cost of heat shock in nine species …

Hawk On Wire: Ecopoems By Scott T. Starbuck, Vivian M. Hansen

The Goose

Review of Scott T. Starbuck’s Hawk on Wire: Ecopoems

Heterogeneity In Surface Sensing Suggests A Division Of Labor In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Populations, Catherine R. Armbuster, Calvin K. Lee, Jessica Parker-Gilham, Jaime De Anda, Aiguo Xia, Kun Zhao, Keiji Murakami, Boo Shan Tseng, Lucas R. Hoffman, Fan Jin, Caroline S. Harwood, Gerard Cl Wong, Matthew R. Parsek

Life Sciences Faculty Research

The second messenger signaling molecule cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP) drives the transition between planktonic and biofilm growth in many bacterial species. Pseudomonas aeruginosa has two surface sensing systems that produce c-di-GMP in response to surface adherence. Current thinking in the field is that once cells attach to a surface, they uniformly respond by producing c-di-GMP. Here, we describe how the Wsp system generates heterogeneity in surface sensing, resulting in two physiologically distinct subpopulations of cells. One subpopulation has elevated c-di-GMP and produces biofilm matrix, serving as the founders of initial microcolonies. The other subpopulation has low c-di-GMP and engages in …

Becoming The Good Shepherds, Eze Paez

Animal Sentience

It is very important that we clarify what we owe to nonhuman animals. To that end, we need a better understanding of animal cognition and emotion. Marino & Merskin’s target article is a welcome contribution to this project. Sheep, like most other animals, are sentient beings with interests of their own. It is wrong to discriminate against them based on species-membership or cognitive sophistication. We are morally required not to harm them, and to help them have the best possible lives, just as we would be in the case of human beings with similar interests. We must become the good …

Estimating Offsets For Avian Displacement Effects Of Anthropogenic Impacts, Jiill A. Shaffer, Charles R. Loesch, Deborah A. Buhl

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

Biodiversity offsetting, or compensatory mitigation, is increasingly being used in temperate grassland ecosystems to compensate for unavoidable environmental damage from anthropogenic developments such as transportation infrastructure, urbanization, and energy development. Pursuit of energy independence in the United States will expand domestic energy production. Concurrent with this increased growth is increased disruption to wildlife habitats, including avian displacement from suitable breeding habitat. Recent studies at energy-extraction and energy-generation facilities have provided evidence for behavioral avoidance and thus reduced use of habitat by breeding waterfowl and grassland birds in the vicinity of energy infrastructure. To quantify and compensate for this loss in …

Muscular Apoptosis But Not Oxidative Stress Increases With Old Age In A Long-Lived Diver, The Weddell Seal, Kaitlin N. Allen, Jose Pablo Vazquez-Medina, John M. Lawler, Jo-Ann E. Mellish, Markus Horning, Allyson G. Hindle

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Seals experience repeated bouts of ischemia–reperfusion while diving, potentially exposing their tissues to increased oxidant generation and thus oxidative damage and accelerated aging. We contrasted markers of oxidative damage with antioxidant profiles across age and sex for propulsive (longissismus dorsi) and maneuvering (pectoralis) muscles of Weddell seals to determine whether previously observed morphological senescence is associated with oxidative stress. In longissismus dorsi, old (age 17–26 years) seals exhibited a nearly 2-fold increase in apoptosis over young (age 9–16 years) seals. There was no evidence of age-associated changes in lipid peroxidation or enzymatic antioxidant profiles. In pectoralis, 4-hydroxynonenal-Lys (4-HNE-Lys) levels increased …

Culture-Based Analysis Of ‘Cave Silver’ Biofilms On Rocks In The Former Homestake Mine In South Dakota, Usa, Amanpreet K. Brar, David Bergmann

International Journal of Speleology

Tunnels in a warm, humid area of the 1478 m level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), located in a former gold mine in South Dakota, USA, host irregular, thin whitish, iridescent biofilms, which appear superficially similar to ‘cave silver’ biofilms described from limestone and lava tube caves, despite the higher rock temperature (32°C) and differing rock surface (phyllite) present at SURF. In this study, we investigated the diversity of cultivable bacteria constituting the cave silver by using several media: CN agar, CN gellan gum and 0.1X R2A agar. The highest colony count (CFU/g of sample) was observed on …

Extreme Site Fidelity As An Optimal Strategy In An Unpredictable And Homogeneous Environment, Brian D. Gerber, Mevin B. Hooten, Christopher P. Peck, Mindy B. Rice, James H. Gammonley, Anthony D. Apa, Amy J. Davis

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Animal site fidelity structures space use, population demography and ultimately gene flow. Understanding the adaptive selection for site fidelity patterns provides a mechanistic understanding to both spatial and population processes. This can be achieved by linking space use with environmental variability (spatial and temporal) and demographic parameters. However, rarely is the environmental context that drives the selection for site fidelity behaviour fully considered.

2. We use ecological theory to understand whether the spatial and temporal variability in breeding site quality can explain the site fidelity behaviour and demographic patterns of Gunnison sage‐grouse (Centrocercus minimus). We examined female site fidelity …

Effects Of The Invasive Zooplankter Bythotrephes Longimanus On The Aquatic Food Web In Green Bay, Lake Michigan, Arianna Neumeyer

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Bythotrephes longimanus, also known as the spiny water flea, is an invasive planktonic crustacean in the Great Lakes. Bythotrephes competes with fish for smaller planktonic prey. We sampled southern Green Bay, WI during the summers of 2017 and 2018 to determine population structure and dynamics of zooplankton in this important body of water. The biomass of Bythotrephes in 2017 express high numbers in mid-June and experience a mid-summer crash in early-July. Biomass then began to rise steadily until reaching their peak in late-August and September. We observed this crash in biomass for Bythotrephes and Leptodora in both 2017 and …

An Overview Of American Ginseng Through The Lens Of Healing, Conservation And Trade, Margaret Wulfsberg

Lawrence University Honors Projects

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is an herbaceous plant found in the eastern United States and Canada. Due to the high demand for ginseng roots on the Chinese market, it has been harvested at unsustainable rates. If this continues, overharvest along with other environmental factors will lead it to become extinct in the wild. American ginseng became popular due to its similarities with Asian ginseng, (Panax ginseng), a related plant that has been used in Chinese medicine for hundreds of years. Since there is so little Asian ginseng left in the wild, American ginseng now helps satisfy …

Ecological Interventions To Prevent And Manage Zoonotic Pathogen Spillover, Susanne H. Sokolow, Nicole Nova, Kim M. Pepin, Alison J. Peel, Juliet R.C. Pulliam, Kezia Manlove, Paul C. Cross, Daniel J. Becker, Raina K. Plowright, Hamish Mccallum, Giulio A. De Leo

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Spillover of a pathogen from awildlife reservoir into a human or livestock host requires the pathogen to overcome a hierarchical series of barriers. Interventions aimed at one or more of these barriers may be able to prevent the occurrence of spillover. Here, we demonstrate how interventions that target the ecological context in which spillover occurs (i.e. ecological interventions) can complement conventional approaches like vaccination, treatment, disinfection and chemical control. Accelerating spillover owing to environmental change requires effective, affordable, durable and scalable solutions that fully harness the complex processes involved in cross-species pathogen spillover.

This article is part of the theme …

Scavenging In The Anthropocene: Human Impact Drives Vertebrate Scavenger Species Richness At A Global Scale, Esther Sebastián‐González, Jomar Magalhães Barbosa, Juan M. Pérez‐García, Zebensui Morales‐Reyes, Francisco Botella, Pedro P. Olea, Patricia Mateo‐Tomás, Marcos Moleón, Fernando Hiraldo, Eneko Arrondo, José A. Donázar, Ainara Cortés‐Avizanda, Nuria Selva, Sergio A. Lambertucci, Aishwarya Bhattacharjee, Alexis Brewer, Erin Abernethy, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Kelsey Turner, James C. Beasley, Travis L. Devault, Andrés Ordiz, Camilla Wikenros, Barbara Zimmermann, Petter Wabakken, Christopher C. Wilmers, Justine A. Smith, Corinne J. Kendall, Darcy Ogada, Evan R. Buechley, Ethan Frehner, Maximilian L. Allen, Heiko U. Wittmer, James R.A. Butler, Johan T. Du Toit, John Read, David Wilson, Klemen Jerina, Miha Krofel, Rich Kostecke, Richard Inger, Arockianathan Samson, Lara Naves‐Alegre, José A. Sánchez‐Zapata

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding the distribution of biodiversity across the Earth is one of the most challenging questions in biology. Much research has been directed at explaining the species latitudinal pattern showing that communities are richer in tropical areas; however, despite decades of research, a general consensus has not yet emerged. In addition, global biodiversity patterns are being rapidly altered by human activities. Here, we aim to describe large‐scale patterns of species richness and diversity in terrestrial vertebrate scavenger (carrion‐consuming) assemblages, which provide key ecosystem functions and services. We used a worldwide dataset comprising 43 sites, where vertebrate scavenger assemblages were identified using …

The Economic Impacts Of Blackbird (Icteridae) Damage To Sunflower In The Usa, Karina Ernst, Julie Elser, George Linz, Hans Kandel, Jason Holderieath, Samantha Degroot, Steven Shwiff, Stephanie Shwiff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Blackbird (Icteridae) damage to ripening sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has been a persistent economic issue in the USA for the last five decades. To quantify losses, we surveyed blackbird damage from 2001 to 2013 (excluding 2004) to physiologically mature sunflower in eight states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, and Vermont.

RESULTS:We pooled data gathered during the most recent 5 years (2009 to 2013) of the survey and found losses averaged $US2.5 million and $US11.3 million for confectionery and oilseed hybrids, respectively. Three states, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, had sufficient acreage and bird damage …