Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Movement And Genomic Methods Reveal Mechanisms Promoting Connectivity In A Declining Shorebird: The Lesser Yellowlegs, K. Christie, R. E. Wilson, J. A. Johnson, C. Friis, C. M. Harwood, L. A. Mcduffie, E. Nol, Sarah A. Sonsthagen

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Fecal Dna Metabarcoding Shows Credible Short-Term Prey Detections And Explains Variation In The Gut Microbiome Of Two Polar Bear Subpopulations, M. Franz, L. Whyte, T. C. Atwood, D. Menning, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, S. L. Talbot, K. L. Laidre, E. Gonzalez, M. A. Mckinney

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Treatment Plan And Educational Guide For Removing Invasive Barnyard Grass, Canada Thistle, And Cocklebur Within The Baduwa't (Mad River) Estuary, Ashley S. Turner, Alex D. Lallman

Undergraduate Scholarship

Our project is located at the Baduwa’t Estuary. We partnered with CalTrout to assist them with meeting one of the objectives for their Mad River (Baduwa’t) Estuary Floodplain Habitat and Public Access Enhancement Project. CalTrout partnered with the landowner, McKinleyville Community Services District, to restore 4.25 acres of the estuary. Our project focused on reducing the abundance of invasive plant species within the estuary area. The target plant species were barnyard grass, Canada thistle, and cocklebur. First, we conducted a literature review to learn the best management practices for eradicating the three target species. Then we conducted a field survey …

Comparing Fish Species Assemblage Between Impacted And Restored Estuarine Salt Marshes Within The Eel River Estuary, Humboldt Co. Ca, Adam Aguilar, Isaac Basham-Clair, Tristan F. Parkinson, Larkin C. Wells

Undergraduate Scholarship

This report details a study assessing the fish assemblages of a recently restored estuarine salt marsh site, and a similar unrestored and impacted site along the Eel River estuary. These two sites are located within the Eel River (Wiya’t) estuary, roughly 10 miles west of the city of Fortuna, CA. This study was conducted during the months of September through October 2023. Data collection was done through seine net dragging at randomly selected sample points across both sites. Seine net hauls were recorded by species and species count, which were later computed using a diversity index to provide values representative …

The Effect Of Land-Cover/Land-Use And Habitat Fragmentation On Spatial Patterns Of Lyme Disease In The Eastern United States, Maria Elizabeth Topmiller

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Lyme disease has been of national concern for the past few decades. As our understanding of the role of landscape structure in epidemiology expands, it is essential to apply the principles of landscape ecology to the research of vector-borne and zoonotic disease. This study examined the strength of the relationship between land-cover class, degree of habitat fragmentation and county-level Lyme disease cases. Forest, agricultural, and urban land cover types were the categories of interest, while percent cover, edge density, and patch density were the landscape metric used to measure habitat amount and fragmentation. The general linear trends were modelled with …

Iere Annual Report 2023, Erin Largo-Wight, James Taylor, Kelly Rhoden, Ruby Cox, Nicole Lowe

Annual Reports

2023 Annual Report of the Institute for Environmental Research and Education

Small Mammal Community Structure And Bait Preference In Missouri Prairie Patches, Sofia L. Orlando

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Ecological community studies provide insights on how species interact with biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem. Community assembly is dynamic and often mediated by stochastic processes or deterministic properties. Establishing patterns in community composition could help to predict the suitability of a patch, which is crucial in endangered ecosystems. Small mammals are a model indicator for community change as their populations experience perplexing fluctuations. Many mechanisms have been proposed to drive small mammal species composition, but inconsistencies in past studies warrant further investigation. A previous study on prairie patches in Missouri revealed that there was an unknown catalyst for …

Habitat Selection And Habitat Use Of Gray Foxes (Urocyon Cinereoargenteus) On Trespass Cannabis Grows., Haley-Marie R. Jones

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Trespass cannabis grow sites, otherwise known as illegal cultivation sites on public lands, are extremely hazardous to the environment and can severely impact wildlife movement and behavior. Trespass grow sites are dangerous to wildlife as they negatively impact the quality of habitat and wildlife behavior through habitat modification, pesticide use, discarding of trash, and poaching on national forests. I researched gray fox habitat selection and habitat use at six different grow sites in the Klamath National Forest and Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northwestern California. I deployed GPS collars on three gray foxes at two of those grow sites and three …

Carnivore And Ungulate Occurrence In A Fire-Prone Region, Sara J. Moriarty-Graves

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Increasing fire size and severity in the western United States causes changes to ecosystems, species’ habitat use, and interspecific interactions. Wide-ranging carnivore and ungulate mammalian species and their interactions may be influenced by an increase in fire activity in northern California. Depending on the fire characteristics, ungulates may benefit from burned habitat due to an increase in forage availability, while carnivore species may be differentially impacted, but ultimately driven by bottom-up processes from a shift in prey availability. I used a three-step approach to estimate the single-species occupancy of four large mammal species: mountain lion (Puma concolor), coyote …

Estimating Evapotranspiration And Analyzing Soil Moisture And Heat Flux Parameters At Taneum Creek, Central Washington, Edward Vlasenko

All Master's Theses

In the past two decades, stream restoration work, primarily in the form of wood emplacement, has been undertaken in the Taneum Creek watershed, resulting in increased channel-floodplain connectivity. One of the goals of stream restoration was to boost dry season groundwater storage in the shallow floodplain aquifer. However, any gains in groundwater due to increased connectivity may be nullified by increased evapotranspiration (ET) losses because of denser floodplain vegetation. Within the floodplain aquifer budget, ET is a major flow of water out of the system and is not well quantified.

In order to quantify ET, a monitoring site was established …

Using Modflow To Assess Groundwater Storage Enhancement Via A Floodplain Infiltration Basin, Lindsay Henning

All Master's Theses

Delaying groundwater discharge into rivers until it is critically needed during baseflow conditions provides promise for lowering elevated stream temperatures and improving habitat for aquatic species. Increasing groundwater storage may accomplish this in locations where excess spring runoff can be captured and allowed to infiltrate into the subsurface for later beneficial use, a process known as Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). Here, MAR via an infiltration basin is considered at a site along the Teanaway River in central Washington State. The effects of simulated ephemeral ponds of sizes varying from 554 m³ to 2430 m³ (0.449 acre-feet to 1.97 …

The Use Of A Habitat Quality Stress Index To Evaluate Stress As An Analog For Proximate Fitness In The American Crow Within A Matrix Of Landcover Characteristics To Assess Its Potential Contribution To Disease Etiologies, Theodore Lee Grabarz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

All organisms occur within spatial and temporal environments to maximize proximate fitness (health) and thus life history outcomes. Previous work has examined the temporal and behavioral aspects of proximate fitness on life history outcomes particularly regarding highly perturbed environments (i.e., climate and land use change, resource extraction, agricultural erosion, etc.). My work focuses on the less examined spatial aspect of these perturbed environments. More specifically, this dissertation examines habitat selection and quality as the basis for understanding stress response (negative and positive feedback mechanisms) to environmental stressors within the larger context of regional or gamma (ɣ) biodiversity. Through the lens …

River Report. State Of Lower St. Johns River Basin, Florida: Water Quality, Fisheries, Aquatic Life, Contaminants, 2023, Environmental Protection Board, Jacksonville Florida, University Of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Gerry Pinto, Brian P. Zoellner, Christopher Baynard, Gretchen Bielmyer-Fraser, Dale Casamatta, Charles Closmann, Nisse Goldberg, Ashley Johnson, Scott Jones, William Penwell, Radha Pyati, Adam Rosenblatt

State of the River Report

No abstract provided.

Straight From The Coyote’S Mouth: Genetic Identification Of Prey Through Oral Swabs Of Predators, Julie K. Young, Amanda M. Mast, James A. Walton, Torrey Rodgers, Antionette J. Piaggio, Daniel R. Taylor, Karen E. Mock

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Human-carnivore conflicts often involve the depredation of domestic livestock. These depredation events are rarely observed, yet mitigation typically involves identifying the species or individual involved for removal or relocation. We tested a molecular method to identify individuals involved in depredation events using mouth swabs to determine if prey DNA could be detected, and for how long. We fed mule deer Odocoileus hemionus meat to captive coyotes Canis latrans and swabbed their mouths at five predetermined intervals between 2–72 h after consumption of the deer meat. We assessed two different molecular forensic methods to analyze the saliva swabs: qPCR for species …

Movements And Resource Selection Of Wild Pigs Associated With Growth Stages Of Corn, Bethany A. Friesenhahn, Randall W. Deyoung, Michael J. Cherry, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Nathan P. Snow

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the most successful invasive species globally and are often implicated in agricultural damage. This damage is expected to increase as ranges of wild pigs expand, impacting the human food supply and increasing costs of food production. Our objective was to evaluate movement behaviors of wild pigs relative to resource availability and landscape features in an agriculture-dominated landscape, with a goal of informing management practices for reducing damage to corn. We monitored hourly movements of adult wild pigs relative to corn crops using GPS collars during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons (Feb–Sept) in …

Burmese Pythons In Florida: A Synthesis Of Biology, Impacts, And Management Tools, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Bryan G. Falk, Brian J. Smith, John David Willson, Robert N. Reed, Nicholas G. Aumen, Michael L. Avery, Ian A. Bartoszek, Earl Campbell, Michael S. Cherkiss, Natalie M. Claunch, Andrea F. Currylow, Tylan Dean, Jeremy Dixon, Richard Engeman, Sarah Funck, Rebekah Gibble, Kodiak C. Hengstebeck, John S. Humphrey, Margaret E. Hunter, Jillian M. Josimovich, Jennifer Ketterlin, Michael Kirkland, Frank J. Mazzotti, Robert Mccleery, Melissa A. Miller, Matthew Mccollister, M. Rockwell Parker, Shannon E. Pittman, Michael Rochford, Christina Romagosa, Art Roybal, Ray W. Snow, Mckayla M. Spencer, J. Hardin Waddle, Any A. Yackel Adams, Kristen M. Hart

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are native to southeastern Asia, however, there is an established invasive population inhabiting much of southern Florida throughout the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Pythons have severely impacted native species and ecosystems in Florida and represent one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe. The difficulty stems from a unique combination of inaccessible habitat and the cryptic and resilient nature of pythons that thrive in the subtropical environment of southern Florida, rendering them extremely challenging to detect. Here we provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the science relevant to managing invasive …

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

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

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

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

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

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

Intracellular Diversity Of Wnv Within Circulating Avian Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Reveals Host-Dependent Patterns Of Polyinfection, Dalit Talmi-Frank, Alex D. Byas, Reyes Murrieta, James Weger-Lucarelli, Claudia Rückert, Emily N. Gallichotte, Janna A. Yoshimoto, Chris Allen, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Barbara Graham, Todd A. Felix, Aaron C. Brault, Gregory D. Ebel

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) populations exist as mutant swarms that are maintained between arthropods and vertebrates. West Nile virus (WNV) population dynamics are host-dependent. In American crows, purifying selection is weak and population diversity is high compared to American robins, which have 100- to 1000-fold lower viremia. WNV passed in robins leads to fitness gains, whereas that passed in crows does not. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that high crow viremia allows for higher genetic diversity within individual avian peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), reasoning that this could have produced the previously observed hostspecific differences in genetic diversity and fitness. Specifically, …

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

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

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