Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

Placebo Oral Rabies Vaccine Bait Uptake By Small Indian Mongooses (Herpestes Auropunctatus) In Southwestern Puerto Rico, Are R. Berentsen, Richard B. Chipman, Kathleen M. Nelson, Kenneth S. Gruver, Frank Boyd, Steven F. Volker, Amy J. Davis, Ad Vos, Steffen Ortmann, Amy Gilbert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) is a rabies reservoir in areas of the Caribbean including Puerto Rico, but no rabies vaccination program targeting this host exists. We used two derivatives of iophenoxic acid (IPA) to evaluate placebo oral rabies vaccine bait uptake by mongooses in southwestern Puerto Rico. We hand-distributed baits at an application rate of 200 baits/km² at three, 400 ha, sites during autumn 2016 and spring 2017. Each site contained 90–100 cage traps in a 100 ha central trapping area. We used ethyl-IPA as a biological marker during the autumn and methyl-IPA during the …

Bird-Livestock Interactions Associated With Increased Cattle Fecal Shedding Of Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Escherichia Coli Within Feedlots In The United States, James C. Carlson, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Bledar Bisha, Jeffrey T. Lejeune, Thomas E. Wittum

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

This research study was conducted to determine if bird depredation in feedlots is associated with the prevalence of ciprofloxacin-resistant Escherichia coli in cattle and to determine if removal of invasive bird species could be an effective management strategy to help reduce ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coliin cattle within the United States. european starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were collected from feedlots within multiple geographic regions within the United States and european starlings within all regions tested positive for ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli, but prevalence differed by region. Total number of birds on feedlots were positively associated with increased cattle fecal shedding of ciprofloxacin-resistant E. coli. …

Fish-Eating Birds On Catfish Ponds In The Mississippi Delta, Paul Burr, Jimmy Avery, Garrett Street, Bronson Strickland, Brian Dorr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Catfish acreage in the Mississippi Delta has significantly declined in the past two decades, but cormorant density on catfish ponds has remained the same. One possible explanation is that there are fewer cormorants in the region, and this is supported with decreasing roost counts. Cormorant roost harassment can be even more effective today than in the past, because there is less aquaculture acreage to protect and fewer cormorants to move. Roost harassment is important over the entire winter, but even more so around mid-January when cormorant abundance is greatest and when cormorants are more focused on aquaculture ponds. The addition …

Cormorant Predation Of Commercial Catfish Aquaculture In The Mississippi Delta, Terrel Christie, Brian Dorr, Luke Roy, Anita M. Kelly, Carole Engle, Paul Burr, Brian Davis, Jonathan Van Senten

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Catfish aquaculture is an important agricultural commodity in Mississippi with most of the production. occurring in the Delta region of the state. A vital factor in managing these farms is reducing fish loss from bird depredation. The most notable bird species that consume catfish are Double-crested Cormorants. These migratory waterbirds arrive in fall and remain in the region throughout winter. Cormorant interactions with catfish aquaculture have previously been studied, but recent changes in the industry warrant collection of new data to understand the dynamic between catfish aquaculture and cormorants. The Southern Regional Aquaculture Center recently funded a study to estimate …

Predator Scent And Visual Cue Applied To Nest Boxes Fail To Dissuade European Starlings (Sturnus Vulgaris) From Nesting, Bradley Blackwell, Thomas W. Seamans, Morgan Pfeiffer, Bruce N. Buckingham

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Indirect predator cues have been shown to enhance perceived nest predation risk in both open-cup and cavity-nesting birds. We hypothesized that scent from the raccoon (Procyon lotor) inside nest boxes, supplemented with raccoon hair as a visual cue on the outside of the box, would enhance perceived risk to the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), resulting in reduced use of treated nest boxes and negative effects on reproduction. The starling is recognized, outside its native range, as a competitor with indigenous cavity nesters and a pest species, and efforts to deter its nesting have generally been unsuccessful. …

Factors And Costs Associated With Removal Of A Newly Established Population Of Invasive Wild Pigs In Northern U.S., Justin W. Fischer, Nathan P. Snow, Bradley E. Wilson, Scott F. Beckerman, Christopher N. Jacques, Eric H. Vannatta, Shannon L. Kay, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The human-mediated spread of exotic and invasive species often leads to unintentional and harmful consequences. Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one such species that have been repeatedly translocated throughout the United States and cause extensive damage to natural ecosystems, threatened and endangered species, agricultural resources, and private lands. In 2005, a newly established population of wild pigs was confirmed in Fulton County, Illinois, U.S. In 2011, a state-wide wild pig damage management program involving federal, state, and local government authorities directed a concerted effort to remove wild pigs from the county until the last wild pig (of 376 total) …

Effects Of Brodifacoum And Diphacinone Exposure On Four Species Of Reptiles: Tissue Residue Levels And Survivorship, Richard E. Mauldin, Gary W. Witmer, S. A. Shriner, Rachael S. Moulton, Katherine E. Horak

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Anticoagulant rodenticides are used worldwide to control pest rodent species. However, the risks posed to nontarget reptiles have not been well characterized. In this study, 46 giant ameivas (Ameiva ameiva), 39 boa constrictors (Boa constrictor), 33 wood turtles (Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima), and 47 green iguanas (Iguana iguana) were orally dosed with one of two levels of either diphacinone or brodifacoum anticoagulant in propylene glycol solutions. Dosages were derived using daily food intake (DFI) equations, converting DFI to an equivalent anticoagulant bait amount and gavaging the solution volume needed to deliver the quantity of anticoagulant in that amount of bait. Animals …

Multi-Isotopic (Δ2h, Δ13c, Δ15n) Tracing Of Molt Origin For European Starlings Associated With U.S. Dairies And Feedlots, Scott Werner, J. W. Fischer, Keith A. Hobson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Introduced bird species can become invasive in agroecosystems and their management is inhibited if their origin and movements are not well understood. Stable isotope measurements of feathers can be used to infer molt origins and interstate movements in North America. We analyzed stable-hydrogen (δ²H), carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ ¹⁵N) isotope ratios in feathers to better understand the molt origin of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) collected at dairies and feedlots throughout the United States. Primary feathers were used from 596 adult and 90 juvenile starlings collected during winter at dairies …

Conspecific Chemical Cues Facilitate Mate Trailing By Invasive Argentine Black And White Tegus, Shannon A. Richard, Isabella M. G. Bukovich, E. A. Tillman, Sanjiv Jayamohan, J. S. Humphrey, Paige E. Carrington, William E. Bruce, Bryan M. Kluever, Michael L. Avery, M. Rockwell Parker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Squamate reptiles (snakes and lizards) rely on chemical cues from conspecifics to search the environment for potential mates. How such cues are used by invasive species to facilitate reproduction, especially seasonally, is a key question that can inform management practices. The Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae) is an invasive reptile species in south Florida threatening native fauna in biodiverse regions such as Everglades National Park. While some information exists on the reproductive ecology of this species in its native range in South America, the chemical ecology of S. merianae is unclear especially in its invasive range. By testing …

Optimal Spatial Prioritization Of Control Resources For Elimination Of Invasive Species Under Demographic Uncertainty, Kim M. Pepin, Timothy J. Smyser, Amy J. Davis, Ryan S. Miller, Sophie Mckee, Kurt C. Vercauteren, William Kendall, Chris Slootmaker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Populations of invasive species often spread heterogeneously across a landscape, consisting of local populations that cluster in space but are connected by dispersal. A fundamental dilemma for invasive species control is how to optimally allocate limited fiscal resources across local populations. Theoretical work based on perfect knowledge of demographic connectivity suggests that targeting local populations from which migrants originate (sources) can be optimal. However, demographic processes such as abundance and dispersal can be highly uncertain, and the relationship between local population density and damage costs (damage function) is rarely known. We used a metapopulation model to understand how budget and …

A Comparison Of Cost And Quality Of Three Methods For Estimating Density For Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa), Amy J. Davis, David A. Keiter, Elizabeth M. Kierepka, C. Slootmaker, Antoinette J. Piaggio, James C. Beasley, K. M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A critical element in effective wildlife management is monitoring the status of wildlife populations; however, resources to monitor wildlife populations are typically limited. We compared cost effectiveness of three common population estimation methods (i.e. non-invasive DNA sampling, camera sampling, and sampling from trapping) by applying them to wild pigs (Sus scrofa) across three habitats in South Carolina, U.S.A where they are invasive. We used mark-recapture analyses for fecal DNA sampling data, spatially-explicit capture-recapture analyses for camera sampling data, and a removal analysis for removal sampling from trap data. Density estimates were similar across methods. Camera sampling was the least expensive, …

Technical Limitations Associated With Molecular Barcoding Of Arthropod Bloodmeals Taken From North American Deer Species, Erin M. Borland, Daniel A. Hartman, Matthew W. Hopken, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Rebekah C. Kading

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Accurate species-level identification of the source of arthropod bloodmeals is important for deciphering blood feeding patterns of field-collected specimens. Cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial gene sequencing has been used for this purpose; however, species resolution can be difficult to obtain from certain vertebrate genera, including Odocoileus. Sanger sequencing of mitochondrial genes was employed to identify the bloodmeal source of wild-caught mosquitoes trapped in Greeley, Colorado. Initial sequencing of the COI gene of mitochondrial DNA in bloodmeals was inadequate for species-level resolution of bloodmeals from deer in the genus Odocoileus, with current databases returning low fidelity matches to …

Additive And Non-Additive Responses Of Seedlings To Simulated Herbivory And Drought, Kasey Barton, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Drought is a global threat, increasing in severity and frequency throughout tropical ecosystems. Although plants often face drought in conjunction with biotic stressors, such as herbivory or disease, experimental studies infrequently test the simultaneous effects of drought and biotic stress. Because multiple simultaneous stressors may have non-additive and complex effects on plant performance, it is difficult to predict plant responses to multiple threats from research examining one stress at a time. Using an experimental approach in the greenhouse, we investigated potential non-additivity in seedling growth and survival to simulated drought and herbivory across a phylogenetically diverse pool of ten Hawaiian …

The Changing Triad Of Plague In Uganda: Invasive Black Rats (Rattus Rattus), Indigenous Small Mammals, And Their Fleas, Russell E. Enscore, Nackson Babi, Gerald Amatre, Linda Atiku, Rebecca J. Eisen, Kim M. Pepin, Rommelle Vera-Tudela, Christopher Sexton, Kenneth L. Gage

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rattus rattus was first reported from the West Nile Region of Uganda in 1961, an event that preceded the appearance of the first documented human plague outbreak in 1970. We investigated how invasive R. rattus and native small mammal populations, as well as their fleas, have changed in recent decades. Over an 18-month period, a total of 2,959 small mammals were captured, sampled, and examined for fleas, resulting in the identification of 20 small mammal taxa that were hosts to 5,109 fleas (nine species). Over three-fourths (75.8%) of captured mammals belonged to four taxa: R. rattus, which predominated inside huts, …

Rnai: Applications In Vertebrate Pest Management, Katherine Horak

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Sequence-directed inhibition of protein synthesis by RNAi has potential as a means to control pest wildlife. Species specific by design, RNAi reduces impacts on nontarget species and the environment. Additional research advancing the field of RNAi-based management of vertebrate pest wildlife is timely.

Despite the potential diverse applications of RNAi technology in vertebrates (fertility control, invasive species eradication, and pest species control to protect human health and agriculture), little progress has been made in applying RNAi to these classes of animals. A single proof-of-concept study using RNAi to control sea lampreys combined with recent advances in RNAi delivery have opened …

Avian Influenza A Virus Associations In Wild, Terrestrial Mammals: A Review Of Potential Synanthropic Vectors To Poultry Facilities, J. Jeffrey Root, Susan A. Shriner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The potential role of wild mammals in the epidemiology of influenza A viruses (IAVs) at the farm-side level has gained increasing consideration over the past two decades. In some instances, select mammals may be more likely to visit riparian areas (both close and distant to farms) as well as poultry farms, as compared to traditional reservoir hosts, such as waterfowl. Of significance, many mammalian species can successfully replicate and shed multiple avian IAVs to high titers without prior virus adaptation and often can shed virus in greater quantities than synanthropic avian species. Within this review, we summarize and discuss the …

Improving The Accessibility And Transferability Of Machine Learning Algorithms For Identification Of Animals In Camera Trap Images: Mlwic2, Michael A. Tabak, Mohammad S. Norouzzadeh, David W. Wolfson, Erica J. Newton, Raoul K. Boughton, Jacob S. Ivan, Eric Odell, Eric S. Newkirk, Reesa Y. Conrey, Jennifer Stenglein, Fabiola Iannarilli, John Erb, Ryan K. Brook, Amy J. Davis, Jesse Lewis, Daniel P. Walsh, James C. Beasley, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Jeff Clune, Ryan S. Miller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Motion-activated wildlife cameras (or “camera traps”) are frequently used to remotely and noninvasively observe animals. The vast number of images collected from camera trap projects has prompted some biologists to employ machine learning algorithms to automatically recognize species in these images, or at least filter-out images that do not contain animals. These approaches are often limited by model transferability, as a model trained to recognize species from one location might not work as well for the same species in different locations. Furthermore, these methods often require advanced computational skills, making them inaccessible to many biologists. We used 3 million camera …

Tissue Tropisms Of Avian Influenza A Viruses Affect Their Spillovers From Wild Birds To Pigs, Xiaojian Zhang, Fred L. Cunningham, Lei Li, Katie Hanson-Dorr, Liyuan Liu, Kaitlyn Waters, Minhui Guan, Alicia K. Olivier, Brandon S. Schmit, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Andrew S. Bowman, Mia Kim Torchetti, Thomas J. Deliberto, Xiu-Feng Wan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild aquatic birds maintain a large, genetically diverse pool of influenza A viruses (IAVs), which can be transmitted to lower mammals and, ultimately, humans. Through phenotypic analyses of viral replication efficiency, only a small set of avian IAVs were found to replicate well in epithelial cells of the swine upper respiratory tract, and these viruses were shown to infect and cause virus shedding in pigs. Such a phenotypic trait of the viral replication efficiency appears to emerge randomly and is distributed among IAVs across multiple avian species and geographic and temporal orders. It is not determined by receptor binding preference …

Using Bioenergetics And Radar-Derived Bird Abundance To Assess The Impact Of A Blackbird Roost On Seasonal Sunflower Damage, Bonnie A. Clark, Page E. Klug, Phillip M. Stepanian, Jeffrey F. Kelly

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Methods aimed at reducing avian damage to agricultural crops are routinely implemented in situations where efficacy can be assessed by quantifying blackbird (Icteridae) abundance relative to environmental variables and extrapolating to ensuing crop damage. Concomitantly, Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR) data may have potential to enhance crop damage mitigation through improved monitoring of nuisance wildlife populations. We used WSR to derive daily abundance estimates of blackbirds at a fall roost in North Dakota, USA from 2012 to 2019. We integrated these estimates with previously developed bioenergeticseconomic models to estimate local sunflower (Helianthus annuus) damage. The greatest losses usually occurred during …

Historic And Contemporary Use Of Catfish Aquaculture By Piscivorous Birds In The Mississippi Delta, Paul C. Burr, Jimmy L. Avery, Garrett M. Street, Bronson K. Strickland, Brian S. Dorr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Piscivorous birds are the primary source of catfish (Ictalurus spp.) depredation at aquaculture facilities in northwestern Mississippi. Of particular concern is the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), which can cost aquaculture producers millions of dollars annually through the depredation of cultured fish. Historical research conducted in the early 2000s estimated cormorant use of aquaculture ponds in the region, but aquaculture area has decreased by more than 70% since those estimates were made. With less aquaculture available, we predicted cormorant densities on aquaculture would be greater today than historically. Applying a similar methodology as in historical studies, we used …

Invasive Species Control And Resolution Of Wildlife Damage Conflicts: A Framework For Chemical And Genetically Based Management Methods, Larry Clark, John Eisemann, John Godwin, Katherine Horak, Kevin Oh, Jeanette R. O'Hare, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Kim M. Pepin, Emily W. Ruell

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Vertebrate wildlife damage management relates to developing and employing methods to mitigate against damage caused by wildlife in the areas of food production, property damage, and animal or human health and safety. Of the many management tools available, chemical methods (e.g., toxicants) draw the most attention owing to issues related to environmental burden, species specificity, and humaneness. Research and development focusing on RNA interference and gene drives may be able to address the technical aspects of performance goals. However, there remain many questions about regulation, environmental risk, and societal acceptance for these emerging biological technologies. Here we focus on the …

Repellent Surface Applications For Pest Birds, Shelagh T. Deliberto, James C. Carlson, Hailey E. Mclean, Caroline S. Olson, Scott J. Werner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Common pest birds in the United States include the non-native European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and the pigeon (Columba livia domestica), as well as native birds including Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and gull species (Laridae). Large concentrations of pest birds can create human health hazards and monetary losses due to consumption of crops, depredation, and fecal contamination and accumulation. Fecal contamination hazards include the potential spread of zoonotic diseases including antimicrobial-resistant zoonoses and human injury due to the accumulation of fecal material on walking surfaces. Additionally, fecal accumulation causes …

Black Vulture Conflict And Management In The United States: Damage Trends, Management Overview, And Research Needs, Bryan M. Kluever, Morgan Pfeiffer, Scott C. Barras, Brett Dunlap, Lee A. Humberg

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contrary to rapid declines of many vulture (Accipitridae, Cathartidea) species worldwide, black vulture (Coragyps atratus) populations are increasing and expanding their range in North America. Vultures exhibit complex behaviors and can adapt to any human-dominated landscape or land use. These traits, combined with population growth and range expansion, have contributed to increased human–vulture conflicts. Our goal was to summarize the current status and trends in human–black vulture conflicts (hereafter human– vulture conflicts), review available management strategies, identify knowledge gaps, and provide recommendations to enhance management and understanding of this species and the associated conflicts. We found human–vulture conflicts …

Review Of Ospreys: The Revival Of A Global Raptor, By Alan F. Poole. 2019., Lisa Fields, Brian E. Washburn

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

For the past three decades, Alan Poole’s (1989) Ospreys: A Natural and Unnatural History has provided a solid foundation for those seeking a primer on the basic biology and ecology of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus). Poole’s summary of knowledge about Ospreys was written at a time when these amazing birds were recovering from their DDTinduced population crash, but this important book has long been out of print. In the intervening decades, much has been learned regarding Ospreys. In his new book, Ospreys: The Revival of a Global Raptor, Poole guides the reader through a tour of Ospreys’ worldwide distribution and population …

Population Increases Of Large Birds In North America Pose Challenges For Aviation Safety, Richard A. Dolbeer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

There is a strong correlation between bird mass and the likelihood of aircraft damage during a bird–aircraft collision. Thus, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has established airworthiness standards related to bird mass for engines, airframes, and windshields. Most standards use large (1.8 kg) and medium (1.1 kg) birds as benchmarks (the empennage and certain large turbofan engines use a 3.6-kg bird). There are 20 large (≥1.8 kg) and 16 medium (1.1–1.7 kg) bird species in North America with ≥20 strikes reported for civil aircraft (FAA National Wildlife Strike Database), 1990 to 2018. I analyzed the population changes of these …

Extreme Offspring Ornamentation In American Coots Is Favored By Selection Within Families, Not Benefits To Conspecific Brood Parasites, Bruce E. Lyon, Daizaburo Shizuka

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Offspring ornamentation typically occurs in taxa with parental care, suggesting that selection arising from social interactions between parents and offspring may underlie signal evolution. American coot babies are among the most ornamented offspring found in nature, sporting vividly orange-red natal plumage, a bright red beak, and other red parts around the face and pate. Previous plumage manipulation experiments showed that ornamented plumage is favored by strong parental choice for chicks with more extreme ornamentation but left unresolved the question as to why parents show the preference. Here we explore natural patterns of variation in coot chick plumage color, both within …

Bridging The Empathy Gap For Invertebrates, John M. Marzluff

Animal Sentience

The actions of sentient vertebrates command our attention and inform our morality. Mikhalevich & Powell (2020) (M&P) argue that similar activities in a wide range of invertebrates with central nervous systems should do likewise. However, humans most readily empathize with creatures we recognize as similar in behavior, physiology, or appearance to ourselves. Helping humanity overcome this bias is a significant challenge for those who study invertebrates. Until this empathy gap is bridged, I believe few people and the policies they craft will afford invertebrates the moral standing that M&P argue they deserve. Therefore, I suggest those interested in raising appreciation …

Innovative, Yes: But Is It Rewilding?, Daniel T. Blumstein, Kate E. Lynch

Animal Sentience

Baker & Winkler’s extremely stimulating proposal clearly illustrates conflicting priorities in biodiversity conservation and management that are exacerbated when human cultural resources and animal welfare are a part of the solution. We suggest that the discussion can benefit from an even more explicit unpacking of the conflicting values associated with the proposal.

Do Arthropods Respond To Noxious Stimuli Purely By Reflex?, Robert W. Elwood

Animal Sentience

Mikhalevich & Powell (2020) argue that it is wrong to dismiss the idea of sentience in invertebrates. Here, I expand on the evidence for crustaceans responding to noxious stimuli in ways that are not explained by mere reflexes, and that are consistent with pain. I consider the idea that male praying mantids must not feel pain because they may continue to mate whilst being consumed by the female. I finish with thoughts about the idea that because robots may be constructed to act as if they experience pain, the argument that animals might experience pain is diminished.

Conflicts And Triage, Kate E. Lynch, Daniel T. Blumstein

Animal Sentience

To represent diverse interests successfully, a strategy for dealing with conflicts is needed. We discuss an approach to maximizing the interests of the greatest number of individuals, present and future.