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Articles 1801 - 1830 of 9826

Full-Text Articles in Natural Resources and Conservation

Habitat Use And Diel Movements Of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix In Two Southeastern Reservoirs, Levi Umland Jan 2022

Habitat Use And Diel Movements Of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix In Two Southeastern Reservoirs, Levi Umland

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Bigheaded carp have spread rampantly throughout the Mississippi watershed and continue to spread by navigating through rivers, locks, and dams. The long-term effects these species will have on our ecosystems and natural resources is unknown. Their movements, behavior, and general seasonal patterns are well studied within rivers. However, their movements and behavior within reservoirs is poorly understood due to their initial numbers within reservoirs being lower than in rivers. To address this gap, I investigated the distribution and movement rates of Silver Carp within two reservoirs, Kentucky Reservoir and Barkley Reservoir, and possible correlative variables, including wind, temperature, residency, sex, …

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Regenerative Agriculture Effects On Invertebrate And Bird Communities And Insect-Provided Ecosystem Services, Alex Michels Jan 2022

Regenerative Agriculture Effects On Invertebrate And Bird Communities And Insect-Provided Ecosystem Services, Alex Michels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conventional agricultural practices can have unintended consequences on the environment and wildlife. Insects and birds are declining at rapid rates around the world, and the current conventional agricultural paradigm is a major driver through habitat loss and the intensification of production. Invertebrates in agroecosystems provide services to both farmers and the rest of society. Regenerative systems may promote the functioning of an agroecosystem by influencing invertebrate abundance, diversity, and ecosystem services and mitigate bird and insect declines through conservation practices that increase soil health, reduce disturbances, and increase biological diversity. Here I address knowledge gaps of the effects of regenerative …

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Spatiotemporal Relationships Of Coyotes And Free-Ranging Domestic Cats As Indicators Of Conflict In Culver City, California, Rebecca N. Davenport, Melinda Weaver, Katherine C. B. Weiss, Eric G. Strauss Jan 2022

Spatiotemporal Relationships Of Coyotes And Free-Ranging Domestic Cats As Indicators Of Conflict In Culver City, California, Rebecca N. Davenport, Melinda Weaver, Katherine C. B. Weiss, Eric G. Strauss

Center for Urban Resilience Scholarship

As habitat generalists, urban coyote (Canis latrans) populations often utilize an abundance of diverse food sources in cities. Within southern California, domestic cats (Felis catus) comprise a higher proportion of coyote diets than in other studied urban areas throughout the United States. However, it is unclear which ecological factors contribute to higher rates of cat depredation by coyotes in this region. While previous research suggests that coyote presence may have a negative effect on free-ranging domestic cat distributions, few studies have determined whether urban green spaces affect coyote or free-ranging domestic cat occurrence and activity within …

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Heterogeneity Of Recreationists In A Park And Protected Area, Olivia A. Darugna, Mark A. Kaemingk, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope Jan 2022

Heterogeneity Of Recreationists In A Park And Protected Area, Olivia A. Darugna, Mark A. Kaemingk, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Limited information and resources have caused many parks and protected areas (PPAs) to functionally manage recreationists as a single homogeneous group, despite potential negative social and ecological consequences. We aimed to evaluate the homogeneity of recreationists at the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) by 1) quantifying frequencies of consumptive (i.e., hunting), intermediate-consumptive (i.e., fishing), and non-consumptive recreational-activity groups (e.g., wildlife viewing), and 2) evaluating sociodemographic differences among these groups. We used onsite surveys to determine that Valentine NWR supports heterogeneous groups of recreationists. The intermediate-consumptive group was most frequent (77% of all parties). All three recreational-activity groups varied in party …

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Droughtscape, Winter 2022, National Drought Mitigation Center Jan 2022

Droughtscape, Winter 2022, National Drought Mitigation Center

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

DroughtScape, Winter 2022

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Red Spruce Ecological Sites, Ecological States, And Restoration Pathways Quantified Through Soil Organic Carbon, James Edward Leonard Jan 2022

Red Spruce Ecological Sites, Ecological States, And Restoration Pathways Quantified Through Soil Organic Carbon, James Edward Leonard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Tools used by agencies and organizations like the Forest Service (FS), the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) to help guide red spruce (Picea rubens) ecosystem restoration within Central Appalachia could better address outcomes from management practices implemented in terms of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes. These high-elevation landscapes have a natural capacity to produce diverse ecosystem services that affect humans, animals, and plants alike. Ecological site descriptions (ESD) are an important tool used to restore impacted landscapes and provide detailed management prescriptions specific to red spruce ecological …

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A Pivotal New Approach To Groundwater Quality Assessment, M. L. Cherry, T. Gilmore, T. Messer, Y. Li, J. Westrop Jan 2022

A Pivotal New Approach To Groundwater Quality Assessment, M. L. Cherry, T. Gilmore, T. Messer, Y. Li, J. Westrop

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Natural Environment: Protocol To Recover Pollen Grains On Bodies, Karl J. Reinhard, A. Barbosa Jan 2022

Natural Environment: Protocol To Recover Pollen Grains On Bodies, Karl J. Reinhard, A. Barbosa

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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A Biological And Chemical Approach To Restoring Water Quality: A Case Study In An Urban Eutrophic Pond, Levi J. Mckercher, Tiffany L. Messer, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Steve D. Comfort Jan 2022

A Biological And Chemical Approach To Restoring Water Quality: A Case Study In An Urban Eutrophic Pond, Levi J. Mckercher, Tiffany L. Messer, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Steve D. Comfort

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Efforts to improve water quality of eutrophic ponds often involve implementing changes to watershed management practices to reduce external nutrient loads. While this is required for long-term recovery and prevention, eutrophic conditions are often sustained through the recycling of internal nutrients already present within the waterbody. In particular, internal phosphorus bound to organic material and adsorbed to sediment has the potential to delay lake recovery for decades. Thus, pond and watershed management techniques are needed that not only reduce external nutrient loading but also mitigate the effects of internal nutrients already present. Therefore, our objective was to demonstrate a biological …

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Causes And Consquences Of Fire In Forest Ecosystems Of The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Melissa Jaffe Jan 2022

Causes And Consquences Of Fire In Forest Ecosystems Of The Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Melissa Jaffe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

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The Global Impact Of Covid-19 And Tourism On Conservation Rangers' Guardianship Capabilities, Zachary Bockler Jan 2022

The Global Impact Of Covid-19 And Tourism On Conservation Rangers' Guardianship Capabilities, Zachary Bockler

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted wildlife rangers with an emphasis on the influences of tourism rates. Two sets of data are used: one is a survey of rangers around the world and the other looks at global governmental tourism data. While coming from a routine activities perspective, the problem of decreased capable guardianship becomes apparent in the form of massively decreased tourism arrivals and troubling ranger perceptions. This data allows for the establishment of tourism trends and changes during COVID. The findings of this thesis link the downturn in tourism with impacts on formal and informal …

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Distribution Of Particulate Organic Carbon – Fluxes And Inventories – In Growth-Faulted Coastal Wetlands, Samuel Joel Whitehead Jan 2022

Distribution Of Particulate Organic Carbon – Fluxes And Inventories – In Growth-Faulted Coastal Wetlands, Samuel Joel Whitehead

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Coastal wetlands along the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOMx) are critically important but threatened environments which provide significant and diverse economic, social, and environmental value. These environments are essential components to the global carbon cycle, serving as one of the most efficient terrestrial carbon sinks. Since onset of the Industrial Revolution increasing rates of coastal wetland loss have been documented due to a variety of anthropogenic activities, neotectonic processes, subsidence, and rising sea-levels. This research utilized an array of methods and sedimentological analyses to test the hypothesis that growth-fault induced changes at Earth’s surface affects the delivery to, and storage …

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Evaluating Restoration Outcomes: Red Spruce Reforestation In The West Virginia Highlands, Benjamin Rhodes Jan 2022

Evaluating Restoration Outcomes: Red Spruce Reforestation In The West Virginia Highlands, Benjamin Rhodes

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Red spruce (Picea rubens) is the keystone species of the red spruce-northern hardwood forest, a unique high-elevation plant community that supports hundreds of animal species in the Central Appalachians. These forests were devastated by the Industrial Logging Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and they remain in a degraded and fragmented state. Current restoration efforts include red spruce plantings on old field sites and reclaimed coal mines. This project seeks to aid those efforts by evaluating restoration outcomes for vegetation and soils along a ten-year chronosequence. Specifically, the study aims to determine whether restoration site soils …

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Bat Activity On West Virginia Mined Lands Restored Via The Forestry Reclamation Approach, Briana C. Snyder Jan 2022

Bat Activity On West Virginia Mined Lands Restored Via The Forestry Reclamation Approach, Briana C. Snyder

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a practical guide to reforesting surface mined lands. Bats, as a unique group of species with declining populations, could benefit from this reforestation. In order to determine if the FRA is providing suitable bat foraging habitat, I surveyed bat activity at created depressional wetlands on 1-year old and 8-year old FRA restored lands (FRA1; FRA8), as well as at naturally formed wetlands in regenerating forest on traditionally reclaimed mined land (~40 years old; REGEN) and wetlands in mature forest not previously mined (MAT). I passively recorded echolocation calls for 12 nights across sixteen sites …

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Gene Silencing Provides Insights Into Bark Beetle Biology And Creates Potential For Broad Scale Forest Protection, Beth R. Kyre Jan 2022

Gene Silencing Provides Insights Into Bark Beetle Biology And Creates Potential For Broad Scale Forest Protection, Beth R. Kyre

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Dendroctonus bark beetles are among the most economically and ecologically significant forest pests in North America and play a critical role in the overall health of conifer forest ecosystems. Dendroctonus bark beetles influence ecosystem benefits and biodiversity and drive forest succession, and adversely affect timber production, forest management, and recreation. As temperatures surge and climatic fluctuations become more extreme, catastrophic bark beetle outbreaks are increasing in frequency, escalating pressures on highly vulnerable conifer forests already compromised by heat and drought. Eruptive outbreaks of Dendroctonus beetles are largely unhindered by traditional silvicultural management; these practices further disrupt forest ecosystem services, including …

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Largemouth Bass In The Upper Mississippi River: An Evaluation Of Management Strategies And Understanding Potential Factors Influencing Dynamic Rate Functions, Kylie Beth Sterling Jan 2022

Largemouth Bass In The Upper Mississippi River: An Evaluation Of Management Strategies And Understanding Potential Factors Influencing Dynamic Rate Functions, Kylie Beth Sterling

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) supports ecologically and economically important commercial and recreational fisheries. One recreational fishery in the UMR is the Largemouth Bass fishery. Recreational fisheries can be effectively managed using information on population dynamics, though little is known about Largemouth Bass population dynamics in large river ecosystems. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate recruitment, growth, and mortality of three Largemouth Bass populations in the UMR, specifically within Pools 4, 8, and 13, and 2) to use those estimates of recruitment, growth and mortality to inform exploitation models to evaluate best management practices for each …

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Decomposition And Macroinvertebrate Shredder Colonization Of Autumnal Shed Sycamore Leaves In Mining-Contaminated Streams, Leslie Marie Hatch Jan 2022

Decomposition And Macroinvertebrate Shredder Colonization Of Autumnal Shed Sycamore Leaves In Mining-Contaminated Streams, Leslie Marie Hatch

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Leaf decomposition in streams is an important ecological function facilitated by bacteria, fungi, and macroinvertebrates. Metal contamination can decrease leaf decomposition rates and reduce macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity. In the current study, I focused on mining-contamination in well-buffered streams in two different Missouri mining districts with varying extents of mining contamination, Big River and Pierson Creek. I measured decomposition rates of sycamore leaves, and abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrate shredders in leaf pack experiments with a full-factorial design to determine the effects of metal contamination of leaves and stream substrates. Comparisons were made between leaf packs upstream and downstream of …

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Downstream Dispersal Of Fine Tailings, Chat And Metals In Channel Sediment Of Big River, Old Lead Belt, Southeast Missouri, Jennifer Pace Witt Jan 2022

Downstream Dispersal Of Fine Tailings, Chat And Metals In Channel Sediment Of Big River, Old Lead Belt, Southeast Missouri, Jennifer Pace Witt

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In St. François County, Missouri, compromised above-ground tailings piles and containment ponds from historical mining activities in the Old Lead Belt released considerable amounts of dolomitic, Pb- and Zn-contaminated waste sediments to the Big River, contributing to significant downstream floodplain and channel sediment contamination. Previous studies have documented the effects of heavy metals on Big River biota and water quality, as well as benthic habitat disruption resulting from the influx of small sediments. Few have considered the effects and future contamination risk of the coarse waste sediments (2-16 mm in diameter), locally called “chat”, which retain high Pb and Zn …

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(Re)Empowering The Community: A Case Study Of Namibia's Legal Evolution Of Wildlife Governance, Stefan Carpenter Jan 2022

(Re)Empowering The Community: A Case Study Of Namibia's Legal Evolution Of Wildlife Governance, Stefan Carpenter

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article will introduce the theoretical foundation of the CBC [Community-Based Conservation] approach. It will then use Namibia as a case study to both: (a) illustrate the sort of historical, political, and economic drivers that motivate the adoption of CBC across the global south, and (b) highlight the existence of potential structural weaknesses present in even the most lauded CBC programs. Finally, this Article will present some of the common theoretical and results-based criticisms of CBC and discuss broader lessons that can be drawn from the Namibian experience. The analyses in this Article draw from academic literature, Namibia’s statutes and …

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Evaluating Avian Use Of Cover Crops In The Corn Belt, Megan Figura Jan 2022

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

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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

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Pathogen Prevalence In Domestic Sheep In Western Nebraska: Implications For Bighorn Sheep Conservation And Coexistence On A Multi-Use Landscape, Kaytlin Bohr Jan 2022

Pathogen Prevalence In Domestic Sheep In Western Nebraska: Implications For Bighorn Sheep Conservation And Coexistence On A Multi-Use Landscape, Kaytlin Bohr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are members of the same genus and thus share multiple pathogens that can be spread between them. One specific respiratory pathogen of concern is Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovipneumoniae), which has been linked to pneumonia epizootics in bighorn sheep that are often characterized by all age die offs upon initial exposure followed by years of low lamb recruitment. Domestic sheep have been identified as one carrier of M. ovipneumoniae with transmission between sheep species occurring when there is close contact on the landscape. To prevent this cross-species transmission, importance has been placed …

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Calcite Depression In Bastnaesite-Calcite Flotation System Using Organic Acids, Emmy Muhoza Jan 2022

Calcite Depression In Bastnaesite-Calcite Flotation System Using Organic Acids, Emmy Muhoza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bastnaesite is the primary source of light REEs, namely cerium (Ce), lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), to name a few. Bastnaesite is typically concentrated using the froth flotation beneficiation method. Flotation of bastnaesite suffers from high reagent consumption due to the similar surface characteristics of bastnaesite and associated gangue minerals, including calcite. Additionally, complex stages of high-temperature conditioning are often required to suppress the detrimental impact of dissolved calcium ions on the flotation of bastnaesite. This research seeks to investigate the capabilities of organic acids in the bastnaesite-calcite flotation systems to selectively depress calcite minerals and effectively chelate calcium …

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Fine Scale Mapping Of Laurentian Mixed Forest Natural Habitat Communities Using Multispectral Naip And Uav Datasets Combined With Machine Learning Methods, Parth P. Bhatt Jan 2022

Fine Scale Mapping Of Laurentian Mixed Forest Natural Habitat Communities Using Multispectral Naip And Uav Datasets Combined With Machine Learning Methods, Parth P. Bhatt

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Natural habitat communities are an important element of any forest ecosystem. Mapping and monitoring Laurentian Mixed Forest natural communities using high spatial resolution imagery is vital for management and conservation purposes. This study developed integrated spatial, spectral and Machine Learning (ML) approaches for mapping complex vegetation communities. The study utilized ultra-high and high spatial resolution National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) datasets, and Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Complex natural vegetation community habitats in the Laurentian Mixed Forest of the Upper Midwest. A detailed workflow is presented to effectively process UAV imageries in a dense forest environment …

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Black Walnut Plantations In West Virginia: Maximizing Financial Returns Through Decision Modeling And Cash Flow Analysis, Erin Duffy Shaw Jan 2022

Black Walnut Plantations In West Virginia: Maximizing Financial Returns Through Decision Modeling And Cash Flow Analysis, Erin Duffy Shaw

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to identify the management strategies that lead to maximum financial returns from a black walnut plantation. To evaluate a selection of plantation establishment scenarios, thinning treatments, and product objectives, an Excel-based black walnut financial model was updated and revised. Key updates to the model included incorporating three cash flows for 1) the collection and wholesale of black walnut sap, 2) producing black walnut syrup, and 3) leasing black walnut trees for tapping. Additionally, outputs from the Forest Vegetation Simulator were integrated into the model’s growth and yield projections as a means of more accurately …

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Quantifying Water Security In West Virginia And The Potomac River Basin, Eric Carl Edvard Sinius Sjostedt Jan 2022

Quantifying Water Security In West Virginia And The Potomac River Basin, Eric Carl Edvard Sinius Sjostedt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

All healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies are founded on access to clean, adequate water sources to support ecosystem services, provide clean drinking water, and allow the production of water-intensive goods and services. The state of available water resources must be analyzed through the lens of water security, defined as the capability to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for people, the economy, and ecosystems. Mountain regions are sources of freshwater resources for downstream regions, which produce disproportionately higher runoff than downstream regions. As a result, mountain regions are often referred to as natural water towers …

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Wilderness And The Geotag: Exploring The Claim That "Geotagging Ruins Nature" In The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Wa, Mara Gans Jan 2022

Wilderness And The Geotag: Exploring The Claim That "Geotagging Ruins Nature" In The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Wa, Mara Gans

All Master's Theses

This research explores the claim that “geotagging ruins nature” by quantifying and qualifying patterns in geotag use and visitors’ experiences in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in Washington, United States. Many have raised concerns that geotags increase recreational visitation to public lands, which subsequently contributes to negative resource impacts. Others, however, claim that geotagging has made the outdoors more accessible to less privileged communities and raise concerns that condemning geotags will perpetuate the exclusion of certain groups from outdoor recreation. This debate is studied within federally designated Wilderness, which is legally defined as “untrammeled by man,” a definition rooted in problematic …

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Zebra Mussel Length-Weight Relationships Across Various Substrate Types In Lake Bemidji, Mitch Kehne Jan 2022

Zebra Mussel Length-Weight Relationships Across Various Substrate Types In Lake Bemidji, Mitch Kehne

Journal of Earth and Life Science

As of November 2021, zebra mussels were confirmed in 270 Minnesotan lakes with another 232 lakes listed as infested due to their connection or proximity to where zebra mussels have been found. With lack of effective treatments to impede their spread, zebra mussels continue to colonize new areas causing ecological as well as economic harm. The goal of this study was to establish a length-weight relationship for the zebra mussel population in Lake Bemidji using shell length (SL) and wet weight (WW), as well as to assess substrate type and log transformed shell length as predictors of log transformed zebra …

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Experimental Elucidation Of The Life Cycle Of Drepanocephalus Spathans (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) With Notes On The Morphological Plasticity Of D. Spathans In The United States, Neely R. Alberson, Thomas G. Rosser, Tommy King, Ethan T. Woodyard, Lester Khoo, Wes A. Baumgartner, Daviod J. Wise, Linda M. Pote, Fred L. Cunningham, Matt J. Griffin Jan 2022

Experimental Elucidation Of The Life Cycle Of Drepanocephalus Spathans (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) With Notes On The Morphological Plasticity Of D. Spathans In The United States, Neely R. Alberson, Thomas G. Rosser, Tommy King, Ethan T. Woodyard, Lester Khoo, Wes A. Baumgartner, Daviod J. Wise, Linda M. Pote, Fred L. Cunningham, Matt J. Griffin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The echinostomatid Drepanocephalus spathans (syn. Drepanocephalus auritus) parasitizes the doublecrested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus. In North America, the marsh rams-horn snail Planorbella trivolvis and ghost rams-horn snail Biomphalaria havanensis serve as snail intermediate hosts, both of which inhabit catfish aquaculture ponds in the southeastern United States. Studies have demonstrated D. spathans exposure can be lethal to juvenile channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Two studies were undertaken to elucidate the life cycle of D. spathans to establish a developmental time line. In both studies, D. spathans cercariae collected from naturally infected P. trivolvis individuals were used to infect channel catfish …

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Scavenging Vs Hunting Affects Behavioral Traits Of An Opportunistic Carnivore, Mitchell A. Parsons, Andrew Garcia, Julie K. Young Jan 2022

Scavenging Vs Hunting Affects Behavioral Traits Of An Opportunistic Carnivore, Mitchell A. Parsons, Andrew Garcia, Julie K. Young

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background. Human-induced changes to ecosystems transform the availability of resources to predators, including altering prey populations and increasing access to anthropogenic foods. Opportunistic predators are likely to respond to altered food resources by changing the proportion of food they hunt versus scavenge. These shifts in foraging behavior will affect species interactions through multiple pathways, including by changing other aspects of predator behavior such as boldness, innovation, and social structure. Methods. To understand how foraging behavior impacts predator behavior, we conducted a controlled experiment to simulate hunting by introducing a prey model to captive coyotes (Canis latrans) and compared their behavior …

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Influence Of Landscape Attributes On Virginia Opossum Density, David A. Bernasconi, Wesley C. Dixon, Matthew T. Hamilton, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy T. Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Guha Dharmarajan Jan 2022

Influence Of Landscape Attributes On Virginia Opossum Density, David A. Bernasconi, Wesley C. Dixon, Matthew T. Hamilton, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy T. Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Guha Dharmarajan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

TheVirginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), North America's only marsupial, has a range extending from southern Ontario, Canada, to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific. Despite the Virginia opossum's taxonomic uniqueness in relation to other mammals in North America and rapidly expanding distribution, its ecology remains relatively understudied. Our poor understanding of the ecology of this important mesopredator is especially pronounced in the rural southeastern United States. Our goal was to estimate effects of habitat on opossum density within an extensive multiyear spatial capture‐recapture study. Additionally, we compared the results of this spatial capture‐recapture …

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