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Identifier Title Type Subject
2017 Rangewide Accomplishments2017 Rangewide AccomplishmentsTextRio Grande cutthroat trout
Type:Text
Subject:Rio Grande cutthroat trout
Description:This letter is intended to summarize the 2017 range-wide activities for the conservation of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout (RGCT) and to provide that information to conservation team leaders. The activities below are divided into eight main categories identified in the RGCT Conservation Agreement. [show more]
2018 Rangewide Accomplishments2018 Rangewide AccomplishmentsTextRio Grande cutthroat trout
Type:Text
Subject:Rio Grande cutthroat trout
Description:This letter is intended to summarize the 2018 range-wide activities for the conservation of Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (RGCT) and to provide that information to conservation team leaders. The activities below are divided into eight primary categories identified in the RGCT Conservation Agreement. [show more]
2019 Rangewide Accomplishments2019 Rangewide AccomplishmentsTextRio Grande cutthroat trout
Type:Text
Subject:Rio Grande cutthroat trout
Description:This letter is intended to summarize the 2018 range-wide activities for the conservation of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout (RGCT) and to provide that information to conservation team leaders. The activities below are divided into eight main categories identified in the RGCT Conservation Agreement. [show more]
2020 Rangewide Accomplishments2020 Rangewide AccomplishmentsTextRio Grande cutthroat trout
Type:Text
Subject:Rio Grande cutthroat trout
Description:This letter is intended to summarize the 2020 range-wide activities for the conservation of Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (RGCT) and to provide that information to conservation team leaders. The activities below are divided into eight primary categories identified in the RGCT Conservation Agreement. [show more]
2021 Gunnison, Colorado Big-Game Update2021 Gunnison, Colorado Big-Game Update
Description:In this video, CPW Terrestrial Biologist Kevin Blecha provides a detailed summary regarding the status of big-game herds in Gunnison, CO. To comment on this presentation, contact: kevin.blecha@state.co.us
A field evaluation of the effectiveness of distance sampling and double independent observers to estimate detection probability in aural avian point countsA field evaluation of the effectiveness of distance sampling and double independent observers to estimate detection probability in aural avian point countsTextAural detections
Availability process
Avian point counts
Detection probability
Field tests
Perception process
Time-of-detection method
Type:Text
Subject:Aural detections
Availability process
Avian point counts
Detection probability
Field tests
Perception process
Time-of-detection method
Description:The time-of-detection method for aural avian point counts is a new method of estimating abundance, allowing for uncertain probability of detection. The method has been specifically designed to allow for variation in singing rates of birds. It involves dividing the time interval of the point count into several subintervals and recording the detection history of the subintervals when each bird sings. The method can be viewed as generating data equivalent to closed capture–recapture information. The method is different from the distance and multiple-observer methods in that it is not required that all the birds sing during the point count. As this method is new and there is some concern as to how well individual birds can be followed, we carried out a field test of the method using simulated known populations of singing birds, using a laptop computer to send signals to audio stations distributed around a point. The system mimics actual aural avian point counts, but also allows us to know the size and spatial distribution of the populations we are sampling. Fifty 8-min point counts (broken into four 2-min intervals) using eight species of birds were simulated. Singing rate of an individual bird of a species was simulated following a Markovian process (singing bouts followed by periods of silence), which we felt was more realistic than a truly random process. The main emphasis of our paper is to compare results from species singing at (high and low) homogenous rates per interval with those singing at (high and low) heterogeneous rates. Population size was estimated accurately for the species simulated, with a high homogeneous probability of singing. Populations of simulated species with lower but homogeneous singing probabilities were somewhat underestimated. Populations of species simulated with heterogeneous singing probabilities were substantially underestimated. Underestimation was caused by both the very low detection probabilities of all distant individuals and by individuals with low singing rates also having very low detection probabilities. [show more]
A functional model for characterizing long-distance movement behaviourA functional model for characterizing long-distance movement behaviourTextArgos
Bayesian model
Canada lynx
Functional data analysis
Movement modelling
Splines
Telemetry
Type:Text
Subject:Argos
Bayesian model
Canada lynx
Functional data analysis
Movement modelling
Splines
Telemetry
Description:

Summary

  1. Advancements in wildlife telemetry techniques have made it possible to collect large data sets of highly accurate animal locations at a fine temporal resolution. These data sets have prompted the development of a number of statistical methodologies for modelling animal movement.
  2. Telemetry data sets are often collected for purposes other than fine-scale movement analysis. These data sets may differ substantially from those that are collected with technologies suitable for fine-scale movement modelling and may consist of locations that are irregular in time, are temporally coarse or have large measurement error. These data sets are time-consuming and costly to collect but may still provide valuable information about movement behaviour.
  3. We developed a Bayesian movement model that accounts for error from multiple data sources as well as movement behaviour at different temporal scales. The Bayesian framework allows us to calculate derived quantities that describe temporally varying movement behaviour, such as residence time, speed and persistence in direction. The model is flexible, easy to implement and computationally efficient.
  4. We apply this model to data from Colorado Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and use derived quantities to identify changes in movement behaviour.
[show more]
A noninvasive automated device for remotely collaring and weighing mule deerA noninvasive automated device for remotely collaring and weighing mule deerTextAutomated
Baiting
Capture
Capture techniques
Collaring
Fawn
Handling
Mule deer
Noninvasive
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Type:Text
Subject:Automated
Baiting
Capture
Capture techniques
Collaring
Fawn
Handling
Mule deer
Noninvasive
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Description:Wildlife biologists capture deer (Odocoileus spp.) annually to attach transmitters and collect basic information (e.g., animal mass and sex) as part of ongoing research and monitoring activities. Traditional capture techniques induce stress in animals and can be expensive, inefficient, and dangerous. They are also impractical for some urbanized settings. We designed and evaluated a device for mule deer (O. hemionus) that automatically attached an expandable radiocollar to a ≥6-month-old fawn and recorded the fawn's mass and sex, without physically restraining the animal. The device did not require on-site human presence to operate. Students and faculty in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Colorado State University produced a conceptual model and early prototype. Professional engineers at Dynamic Group Circuit Design, Inc. in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, produced a fully functional prototype of the device. Using the device, we remotely collared, weighed, and identified sex of 8 free-ranging mule deer fawns during winters 2010–2011 and 2011–2012. Collars were modified to shed from deer approximately 1 month after the collaring event. Two fawns were successfully recollared after they shed the first collars they received. Thus, we observed 10 successful collaring events involving 8 unique fawns. Fawns demonstrated minimal response to collaring events, either remaining in the device or calmly exiting. A fawn typically required ≥1 weeks of daily exposure before fully entering the device and extending its head through the outstretched collar, which was necessary for a collaring event to occur. This slow acclimation period limited utility of the device when compared with traditional capture techniques. Future work should focus on device modifications and altered baiting strategies that decrease fawn acclimation period, and in turn, increase collaring rates, providing a noninvasive and perhaps cost-effective alternative for monitoring mid- to large-sized mammal species. [show more]
A perspective on the Journal of Wildlife ManagementA perspective on the Journal of Wildlife ManagementTextJournal of Wildlife Management
JWM
Wildlife management
Type:Text
Subject:Journal of Wildlife Management
JWM
Wildlife management
Description:

The Journal of Wildlife Management (JWM) Editor-in-Chief, P. R. Krausman, invited the lead author of this editorial to convene other senior and mid-career scientists to assess the good, bad, and ugly aspects of publication in JWM relative to similar journals. The 15 authors have considerable experience and are well published in JWM and other journals. The number of years of experience will go unreported here, but the number of papers published in JWM by each author ranges from 2 to 37, with a median of 13. We therefore bring a broad perspective to this editorial.

We focused on 4 questions:1.What are the positive aspects of publishing in JWM?2. What are the negatives of doing so?3. Should The Wildlife Society (TWS) be concerned about the relatively low impact factor of JWM?4. Do we have any suggestions for improvements for JWM?

Because the authors brought unique perspectives to the effort, our editorial is not intended to be a consensus document. Although most authors agreed with most of the comments, we chose not to water down any opinions to gain total agreement. Hence, although most of us are primarily researchers, we hope our views capture those of many members of TWS, recognizing that TWS members will also hold a diversity of views.

[show more]
A sightability model for moose developed from helicopter surveys in western WyomingA sightability model for moose developed from helicopter surveys in western WyomingTextMoose
Mammal populations
Wyoming
Aeronautics in wildlife management
Type:Text
Subject:Moose
Mammal populations
Wyoming
Aeronautics in wildlife management
Description:Aerial surveys are the only practical way to estimate ungulate numbers in most of North America (LeResche and Rausch 1974, Timmerman 1974, Gassaway and Dubois 1987). These surveys, however, often provide biased estimates and only under specific conditions do they allow detection of even large population changes (Caughley 1974, Gassaway et al. 1985). Ideally, aerial survey estimators should be accurate, precise, cost effective (Gassaway et al. 1986), and repeatable to provide timely management decisions. [show more]