Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Analysis Of Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Data Demonstrates That Monophyly Of Myotis Occultus Is Complicated By Greater Sampling Of Myotis Lucifugus, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Daniel R. Taylor, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Abstract

The validity of Myotis occultus as a species unique from Myotis lucifugus has been a source of debate. Most recently, many authorities treat M. occultus as a distinct species, at least in part because a previous study showed that M. occultus and M. l. carissima (the subspecies that occurs in closest geographic proximity to M. occultus) form separate monophyletic clades based on sequences of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome-b [cytb] and cytochrome oxidase subunit II [COII]). We re-evaluated the phylogenetic relationship between M. occultus and M. lucifugus based on mitochondrial sequences …

Accelerated Evolution Of Sars-Cov-2 In Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer, Dillon S. Mcbride, Sofya K. Garushyants, John Franks, Andrew F. Magee, Steven H. Overend, Devra Huey, Amanda M. Williams, Seth A. Faith, Ahmed Kandeil, Sanja Trifkovic, Lance Miller, Trushar Jeevan, Anami Patel, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Michael J. Tonkovich, J. Tyler Genders, Andrew J. Montoney, Kevin Kasnyik, Timothy J. Linder, Sarah N. Bevins, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Thomas J. Deliberto, Eugene V. Koonin, Marc A. Suchard, Philippe Lemey, Richard J. Webby, Martha I. Nelson, Andrew S. Bowman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The zoonotic origin of the COVID-19 pandemic virus highlights the need to fill the vast gaps in our knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 ecology and evolution in non-human hosts. Here, we detected that SARS-CoV-2 was introduced from humans into white-tailed deer more than 30 times in Ohio, USA during November 2021-March 2022. Subsequently, deer-to-deer transmission persisted for 2–8 months, disseminating across hundreds of kilometers. Newly developed Bayesian phylogenetic methods quantified how SARS-CoV-2 evolution is not only three-times faster in white-tailed deer compared to the rate observed in humans but also driven by different mutational biases and selection pressures. The long-term effect of …

Pathogenicity In Chickens And Turkeys Of A 2021 United States H5n1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Clade 2.3.4.4b Wild Bird Virus Compared To Two Previous H5n8 Clade 2.3.4.4 Viruses, Mary J. Pantin-Jackwood, Erica Spackman, Christina Leyson, Sungsu Youk, Scott A. Lee, Linda M. Moon, Mia K. Torchetti, Mary L. Killian, Julianna B. Lenoch, Darrell R. Kapczynski, David E. Swayne, David L. Suarez

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of subtype H5 of the Gs/GD/96 lineage remain a major threat to poultry due to endemicity in wild birds. H5N1 HPAIVs from this lineage were detected in 2021 in the United States (US) and since then have infected many wild and domestic birds. We evaluated the pathobiology of an early US H5N1 HPAIV (clade 2.3.4.4b, 2021) and two H5N8 HPAIVs from previous outbreaks in the US (clade 2.3.4.4c, 2014) and Europe (clade 2.3.4.4b, 2016) in chickens and turkeys. Differences in clinical signs, mean death times (MDTs), and virus transmissibility were found between chickens and …

Raccoon Spatial Ecology In The Rural Southeastern United States, Jacob E. Hill, Madison L. Miller, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert, University Of Georgia, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The movement ecology of raccoons varies widely across habitats with important implications for the management of zoonotic diseases such as rabies. However, the spatial ecology of raccoons remains poorly understood in many regions of the United States, particularly in the southeast. To better understand the spatial ecology of raccoons in the southeastern United States, we investigated the role of sex, season, and habitat on monthly raccoon home range and core area sizes in three common rural habitats (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, and riparian forest) in South Carolina, USA. From 2018–2022, we obtained 264 monthly home ranges from 46 raccoons. Mean …

Raccoon Spatial Ecology In The Rural Southeastern United States, Jacob E. Hill, Madison L. Miller, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy T. Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The movement ecology of raccoons varies widely across habitats with important implications for the management of zoonotic diseases such as rabies. However, the spatial ecology of raccoons remains poorly understood in many regions of the United States, particularly in the southeast. To better understand the spatial ecology of raccoons in the southeastern US, we investigated the role of sex, season, and habitat on monthly raccoon home range and core area sizes in three common rural habitats (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, and riparian forest) in South Carolina, USA. From 2018–2022, we obtained 264 monthly home ranges from 46 raccoons. Mean monthly …

Gene Variants In Bola-Dmb, Decr1, Fasn And Srebf1 Associated With Conceptus Death On Day 16 Of Pregnancy In Holstein Cows [Abstract], Carolina L. Gonzalez-Berrios, Courtney Bowden, Pablo J. Pinedo, Jeanette V. Bishop, Hana Van Campen, Thomas R. R. Hansen, Milton G. Thomas

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Investigating the influences of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated with conceptus death (CD) on day 16 of pregnancy could distinguish cows who have inferior value for fertility traits. We hypothesized that CD is associated with SNP genotypes that disrupt maternal recognition and lead to early pregnancy loss. RNA sequences from Holstein cow pregnancies (n = 15) with normal conceptuses (Norm) or CD were subjected to SNP discovery via Qiagen CLC Genomics Workbench. Selected SNP were based on previous fertility studies, differentially expressed genes within pregnancy development analyses and proximity to SNP associated with fertility traits in the Cattle QTL …

Skin Lipids Alone Enable Conspecific Tracking In An Invasive Reptile, The Argentine Black And White Tegu Lizard (Salvator Merianae), M. Rockwell Parker, Eric A. Tillman, Lauren A. Nazarian, Megan L. Barlowe, Julianna M. Lincoln, Bryan M. Kluever

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Locating potential mates in non-native habitats is one of the most important challenges faced by invasive vertebrate species. The Argentine black and white tegu lizard (Salvator merianae) is a major invasive reptile species in the contiguous United States and is rapidly expanding its range across Florida and the Southeast, in part due to inadequate management strategies and tools. Because a wide array of reptiles, especially squamates (snakes and lizards), have been well-studied for their reliance on chemical cues to locate conspecifics, our project aimed to isolate chemical cues from tegus and assess the ability of adult males and …

H5n1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Clade 2.3.4.4b In Wild And Domestic Birds: Introductions Into The United States And Reassortments, December 2021–April 2022, Sungsu Youk, Mia Kim Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, Julianna B. Lenoch, Mary Lea Killian, Christina Leyson, Sarah N. Bevins, Krista Dilione, Hon S. Ip, David E. Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson, David L. Suarez, David E. Swayne, Mary J. Pantin-Jackwood

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of the A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage H5 clade 2.3.4.4b continue to have a devastating effect on domestic and wild birds. Full genome sequence analyses using 1369 H5N1 HPAIVs detected in the United States (U.S.) in wild birds, commercial poultry, and backyard flocks from December 2021 to April 2022, showed three phylogenetically distinct H5N1 virus introductions in the U.S. by wild birds. Unreassorted Eurasian genotypes A1 and A2 entered the Northeast Atlantic states, whereas a genetically distinct A3 genotype was detected in Alaska. The A1 genotype spread westward via wild bird migration and reassorted with North American …

Limited Accumulation And Persistence Of An Influenza A Virus In Tadpole Snails (Physa Spp.), Paul T. Oesterle, J. Jeffrey Root, Darcy S.O. Mora, Heather Schneider, Alan B. Franklin, Kathryn P. Huyvaert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Waterfowl infected with avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) shed infectious virus into aquatic environments, providing a mechanism for transmission among waterfowl, while also exposing the entire aquatic ecosystem to the virus. Aquatic invertebrates such as freshwater snails are likely exposed to IAVs in the water column and sediment. Freshwater snails comprise a significant portion of some waterfowl species’ diets, so this trophic interaction may serve as a novel route of IAV transmission. In these experiments, tadpole snails (Physa spp.) were exposed to a low-pathogenicity IAV (H3N8) to determine whether snails can accumulate the virus and, if so, how long virus …

Antiviral Susceptibility Of Clade 2.3.4.4b Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5n1) Viruses Isolated From Birds And Mammals In The United States, 2022, Ha T. Nguyen, Anton Chesnokov, Juan De La Cruz, Philippe Noriel Q. Pascua, Vasiliy P. Mishin, Yunho Jang, Joyce Jones, Han Di, Andrei A. Ivashchenko, Mary Lea Killian, Mia K. Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, David E. Wentworth, Charles T. Davis, Alexandre V. Ivachtchenko, Larisa V. Gubareva

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) viruses that are responsible for devastating outbreaks in birds and mammals pose a potential threat to public health. Here, we evaluated their susceptibility to influenza antivirals. Of 1,015 sequences of HPAI A(H5N1) viruses collected in the United States during 2022, eight viruses (∼0.8%) had a molecular marker of drug resistance to an FDA-approved antiviral: three adamantane-resistant (M2-V27A), four oseltamivir-resistant (NA-H275Y), and one baloxavir-resistant (PA-I38T). Additionally, 31 viruses contained mutations that may reduce susceptibility to inhibitors of neuraminidase (NA) (n = 20) or cap-dependent endonuclease (CEN) (n = 11). A panel of 22 …

The Devil You Know And The Devil You Don’T: Current Status And Challenges Of Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication In The United States, Daniel J. O'Brien, Tyler C. Thacker, Liliana C.M. Salvador, Anthony G. Duffiney, Suelee Robbe‑Austerman, Mark S. Camacho, Jason E. Lombard, Mitchell V. Palmer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Having entered into its second century, the eradication program for bovine tuberculosis (bTB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis) in the United States of America occupies a position both enviable and daunting. Excepting four counties in Michigan comprising only 6109 km2 (0.06% of US land area) classified as Modified Accredited, as of April 2022 the entire country was considered Accredited Free of bTB by the US Department of Agriculture for cattle and bison. On the surface, the now well-described circumstances of endemic bTB in Michigan, where white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) serve as a free-ranging wildlife maintenance host, may appear to be …

Leveraging Eco-Evolutionary Models For Gene Drive Risk Assessment, Matthew A. Combs, Andrew J. Golnar, Justin M. Overcash, Alun L. Lloyd, Keith R. Hayes, David A. O'Brochta, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Engineered gene drives create potential for both widespread benefits and irreversible harms to ecosystems. CRISPR-based systems of allelic conversion have rapidly accelerated gene drive research across diverse taxa, putting field trials and their necessary risk assessments on the horizon. Dynamic processbased models provide flexible quantitative platforms to predict gene drive outcomes in the context of system-specific ecological and evolutionary features. Here, we synthesize gene drive dynamic modeling studies to highlight research trends, knowledge gaps, and emergent principles, organized around their genetic, demographic, spatial, environmental, and implementation features. We identify the phenomena that most significantly influence model predictions, discuss limitations of …

Feral Swine As Indirect Indicators Of Environmental Anthrax Contamination And Potential Mechanical Vectors Of Infectious Spores, Rachel M. Maison, Maggie R. Priore, Vienna R. Brown, Michael Bodenchuk, Bradley R. Borlee, Richard Bowen, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

U.S. government work

Optimal R&D Investment In The Management Of Invasive Species, William Haden Chomphosy, Dale T. Manning, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Stephan Weiler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive alien species (IAS) threaten world biodiversity, ecosystem services, and economic welfare. While existing literature has characterized the optimal control of an established IAS, it has not considered how research and development (R&D) into new removal methods or technologies can affect management decisions and costs over time. R&D can lower the costs of control in a management plan and creates an intertemporal trade-off between quick but costly control and gradual but cheaper removal over time. In this paper, we develop and solve a continuous time dynamic optimization model to study how investment in R&D influences the optimal control of an …

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5n1) Virus Outbreak In New England Seals, United States, Wendy Puryear, Kaitlin Sawatzki, Nichola Hill, Alexa Foss, Jonathon J. Stone, Lynda Doughty, Dominique Walk, Katie Gilbert, Maureen Murray, Elena Cox, Priya Patel, Zak Mertz, Stephanie Ellis, Jennifer Taylor, Deborah Fauquier, Ainsley Smith, Robert A. Digiovanni, Adriana Van De Guchte, Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche, Zain Khalil, Harm Van Bakel, Mia K. Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jonathan Runstadler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We report the spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) into marine mammals in the northeastern United States, coincident with H5N1 in sympatric wild birds. Our data indicate monitoring both wild coastal birds and marine mammals will be critical to determine pandemic potential of influenza A viruses.

An Evaluation Of Avian Influenza Virus Whole-Genome Sequencing Approaches Using Nanopore Technology, Hon S. Ip, Sarah Uhm, Mary Lea Killian, Mia K. Torchetti

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As exemplified by the global response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, whole-genome sequencing played an important role in monitoring the evolution of novel viral variants and provided guidance on potential antiviral treatments. The recent rapid and extensive introduction and spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in Europe, North America, and elsewhere raises the need for similarly rapid sequencing to aid in appropriate response and mitigation activities. To facilitate this objective, we investigate a next-generation sequencing platform that uses a portable nanopore sequencing device to generate and present data in real time. This platform offers the potential to extend in-house sequencing …

Environmental Transmission Of Influenza A Virus In Mallards, Kim M. Pepin, Clinton B. Leach, Nicole L. Barrett, Jeremy W. Ellis, Kaci K. Vandalen, Colleen T. Webb, Susan A. Shriner

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Abstract

Influenza A viruses present a major challenge for animal and human health. They circulate widely in wild waterfowl and frequently spillover into poultry, emphasizing the need for risk-based surveillance in wild birds and an understanding of the relative importance of different transmission mechanisms. We addressed this objective with a replicated (N = 6) experimental infection study in which we serially exposed eight cohorts of four naïve contact mallards to an experimentally infected mallard and a shared water pool. Viral concentration in the water was a better predictor of transmission than several direct measures of viral shedding in the …

Changes In Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa) Relative Abundance, Crop Damage, And Environmental Impacts In Response To Control Efforts, Joseph W. Treichler, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Charles R. Taylor, James C. Beasley

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background

As the population and range of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) continue to grow across North America, there has been an increase in environmental and economic damages caused by this invasive species, and control efforts to reduce damages have increased concomitantly. Despite the expanding impacts and costs associated with population control of wild pigs, the extent to which wild pig control reduces populations and diminishes environmental and agricultural damages are rarely quantified.The goal of this study is to quantify changes in wild pig relative abundance and subsequent changes in damages caused by invasive wild pigs in response to …

Individual‑Level Patterns Of Resource Selection Do Not Predict Hotspots Of Contact, Anni Yang, Raoul Boughton, Ryan S. Miller, Nathan P. Snow, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Kim C. Pepin, George Wittemyer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contact among animals is crucial for various ecological processes, including social behaviors, disease transmission, and predator–prey interactions. However, the distribution of contact events across time and space is heterogeneous, influenced by environmental factors and biological purposes. Previous studies have assumed that areas with abundant resources and preferred habitats attract more individuals and, therefore, lead to more contact. To examine the accuracy of this assumption, we used a use-available framework to compare landscape factors influencing the location of contacts between wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in two study areas in Florida and Texas (USA) from those influencing non-contact space use. …

Comparison Of Daily Activity Patterns Across Seasons Using Gps Telemetry And Camera Trap Data For A Widespread Mammal, David W. Wolfson, Peter E. Schlichting, Raoul K. Boughton, Ryan S. Miller, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Jesse S. Lewis

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Daily activity patterns of animals can be dynamic across seasons in response to changing environmental conditions. Daily activity, though, has rarely been evaluated in relation to multiple factors (for example, seasons, demographics, and data collection methods), which could be important for understanding what drives activity patterns. Here, we evaluated the daily activity patterns of a widespread invasive species, wild pigs (Sus scrofa), across two ecologically different study areas at Buck Island Ranch, Florida, and Tejon Ranch, California (United States), from 2015 to 2018. Using GPS telemetry data (62 individuals in Florida, 21 individuals in California) and detections from …

Are Rabid Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) Ready For The Rapture? Determining The Geographic Origin Of Rabies Virus-Infected Raccoons Using Radcapture And Microhaplotypes, Matthew W. Hopken, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Zaid Abdo, Richard B. Chipman, Clara P. Mankowski, Kathleen M. Nelson, Mikaela Samsel Hilton, Christine Thurber, Mirian T. N. Tsuchiya, Jesús E. Maldonado, Amy T. Gilbert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

North America is recognized for the exceptional richness of rabies virus (RV) wildlife reservoir species. Management of RV is accomplished through vaccination targeting mesocarnivore reservoir populations, such as the raccoon (Procyon lotor) in eastern North America. Raccoons are a common generalist species, and populations may reach high densities in developed areas, which can result in contact with humans and pets with potential exposures to the raccoon variant of RV throughout the eastern United States. Understanding the spatial movement of RV by raccoon populations is important for monitoring and refining strategies supporting the landscape-level control and local elimination of …

Type And Frequency Of Wild Pig-Domestic Livestock Contacts And Operator Concern For Disease Spread, Sophie C. Mckee, Daniel F. Mooney, Ryan S. Miller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) can levy substantial costs to domestic livestock operations and global supply chains due to disease introduction. Producers can take defensive action to avert these costs, but the factors influencing these decisions are not well understood. We examined survey data to characterize the type and frequency of contacts between wild pigs and domestic livestock and investigated the determinants of farm operator concern for disease introduction using an ordered logit model. We found that operators with livestock kept in buildings were more concerned about disease than those with livestock kept in fenced areas or that roam …

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 …

Raccoon Densities Across Four Land Cover Types In The Southeastern United States, Jocab E. Hill, James L. Helton, David A. Bernasconi, Wesley C. Dixon, Matt T. Hamilton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy T. Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the primary reservoir for rabies virus in eastern North America. Management of rabies in raccoons is achieved primarily with the use of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) and effective ORV bait densities are determined in part by the densities of raccoons. Decisions regarding ORV bait densities, however, are limited by an incomplete understanding of raccoon densities across the spectrum of landscapes they occupy. We carried out a markrecapture study of raccoons on the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, USA, from 2017–2019, to develop sex‐ and landscape‐specific raccoon density estimates across 4 rural land cover …

Understory Arthropod Diversity In A Mixed Dryland Ecosystem, Hawai‘I, Matthew J. Madeiros, William P. Haines, Clare E. Aslan, Aaron B. Shiels, Asa Aue, Christina T. Liang

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Tropical drylands are among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, and fewer than 10% of tropical dry forests in Hawai‘i remain intact. Terrestrial arthropods comprise most of the endemic fauna on many islands, including Hawai‘i, where they provide ecosystem services such as pollination, decomposition, and a reliable prey base for predators. The objective of our study was to measure understory arthropod diversity and relative abundances in two common habitat types within dryland Hawai‘i—a non-native grassland, dominated by Cenchrus setaceus (fountain grass) with few native shrubs, and a native woodland, dominated by Metrosideros polymorpha (‘ōhi‘a). We used generalized additive models to examine …

Range-Wide Sources Of Variation In Reproductive Rates Of Northern Spotted Owls, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Julianna M. Jenkins, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Katie M. Dugger, Alan B. Franklin, Peter C. Carlson, William L. Kendall, Damon B. Lesmeister, Christopher Mccafferty, Steven H. Ackers, L. Steven Andrews, Larissa L. Bailey, Jesse Burgher, Kenneth P. Burnham, Tara Chestnut, Mary M. Conner, Raymond J. Davis, Krista E. Dilione, Eric D. Forsman, Elizabeth M. Glenn, Scott A. Gremel, Keith A. Hamm, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Rob B. Horn, David W. Lamphear, Trent L. Mcdonald, Janice A. Reid, Carl J. Schwarz, David C. Simon, Stan G. Sovern, James K. Swingle, J. David Wiens, Heather Wise, Charles B. Yackulic

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We conducted a range-wide investigation of the dynamics of site-level reproductive rate of northern spotted owls using survey data from 11 study areas across the subspecies geographic range collected during 1993–2018. Our analytical approach accounted for imperfect detection of owl pairs and misclassification of successful reproduction (i.e., at least one young fledged) and contributed further insights into northern spotted owl population ecology and dynamics. Both nondetection and state misclassification were important, especially because factors affecting these sources of error also affected focal ecological parameters. Annual probabilities of site occupancy were greatest at sites with successful reproduction in the previous year …

Evaluation Of Roost Culling As A Management Strategy For Reducing Invasive Rose‑Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula Krameri) Populations, C. Janes Anderson, Leonard A. Brennan, William P. Bukoski, Steven C. Hess, Clayton D. Hilton, Aaron B. Shiels, Shane Siers, Bryan M. Kluever, Page E. Klug

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) are one of the most widespread invasive avian species worldwide. This species was introduced to the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA, in the 1960s. The rapidly increasing population has caused substantial economic losses in the agricultural and tourism industries. We evaluated the efficacy of a roost culling program conducted by an independent contractor from March 2020 to March 2021. We estimated island-wide minimum abundance was 10,512 parakeets in January 2020 and 7,372 in April 2021. Over 30 nights of culling at four roost sites, approximately 6,030 parakeets were removed via air rifles with 4,415 …

Social Network Analysis Of White-Tailed Deer Scraping Behavior: Implications For Disease Transmission, Michael E. Egan, Kim M. Pepin, Justin Fischer, Scott R. Hygnstrom, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Host contact structure affects pathogen transmission in host populations, but many measures of host contact do not distinguish contacts that are relevant to pathogen transmission from those that are not. Scrapes are sites for chemical communication by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the breeding season and potential sites of transmission of prions, the causative agent of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Scrape-related behaviors vary in their probability of transmitting prions to or from the environment, suggesting that behavior be combined with contact structure to better reflect potential heterogeneity in prion transmission at scrapes. We recorded visits and behaviors by …

High Winds And Melting Sea Ice Trigger Landward Movement In A Polar Bear Population Of Concern, Annie Kellner, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas, Stewart W. Breck, Colorado State University - Fort Collins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Some animal species are responding to climate change by altering the timing of events like mating and migration. Such behavioral plasticity can be adaptive, but it is not always. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation have mostly remained on ice year-round, but as the climate warms and summer sea ice declines, a growing proportion of the subpopulation is summering ashore. The triggers of this novel behavior are not well understood. Our study uses a parametric time-to-event model to test whether biological and/or time-varying environmental variables thought to influence polar bear movement and habitat selection …

Space Use And Movements Of Southeastern Breeding Double-Crested Cormorants (Nannopterum Auritum) In The United States, Leah L.K. Moran, Brian S. Dorr, Katie C. Hanson-Dorr, R. J. Moore, Scott A. Rush

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Abstract: Seasonal movements of Double-crested Cormorants (Nannopterum auritum) have been studied at breeding and wintering sites in the southeastern United States, but little information exists on the movements of these birds within and from their southern breeding sites in lacustrine systems. Since 2001, cormorants have established nesting colonies on islands in Guntersville Reservoir in Alabama, USA. Following the movements of tagged cormorants using satellite telemetry, we found that the mean home range during the 2017 breeding season (May–August) was 41.76 km², with a core use area of 6.36 km². The mean home range used …