Subject:Whitewater park projects

Description:A guidance document for reviewing whitewater park projects

Type:Text

Subject:White-tailed ptarmigan
<em>Lagopus leucura</em>
Endangered Species Act
Occupancy surveys

Description:In 2010, the white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura; WTPT) was petitioned to be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The petitioners cited climate change and its impacts to a species dependent on alpine habitats as the main threat to the viability of WTPT populations. Colorado supports the largest population of WTPT in the lower 48 states. Thus, if the species does become listed, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) will be responsible for the bulk of the protection and management of the species, yet understanding of the species distribution and demographic parameters is limited.To develop a baseline distribution and inventory of the species, statewide occupancy surveys were conducted in 2011. These surveys will be used to respond to the petition to list the WTPT and to monitor populations as climate change and other disturbances impact the viability of the species over time. [show more]

Subject:Whirling disease
Rainbow Trout

Description:Whirling disease-resistant rainbow trout development and post-stocking survival and recruitment evaluations in the Upper Colorado River

Type:Fact Sheet

Subject:Whirling disease
Fish
Trout
<em>Myxobolus cerebralis</em>
Fact sheet

Description:Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has made whirling disease research a high priority for more than 20 years as part of the agency’s mission to conserve and perpetuate wildlife resources. When whirling disease first appeared in the state in the 1980s, CPW researchers started exhaustive projects to control the spread of whirling disease, limit the damage to fisheries and develop other solutions. The CPW work also includes cooperative investigations with researchers in other states to coordinate resources. [show more]

Type:Fact Sheet

Subject:Waterfowl -- Diseases
Avian botulism
Birds

Description:Fact sheet on species affected by avian botulism in Colorado.

Type:Text

Subject:Waterfowl
Wildlife management
South Platte River Basin

Description:Attracting and holding large populations of waterfowl are goals of habitat management for nonbreeding waterfowl. Currently, many habitat planners use bioenergetics approaches to guide habitat planning for nonbreeding waterfowl and shorebirds. In their simplest form, these bioenergetics models predict the amount of habitat needed to support a population goal based on the energy requirements of that goal and the productivity of the habitat. Many of these models assume that energy availability is the only factor affecting duck use of sites. However, recent evidence suggests that although energy availability is important for predicting wetland use by ducks, there are many other factors that influence duck use of sites and utility of those used sites. Therefore, more complex models have been developed but it is unclear how complex these models need to be and what specific factors should be incorporated into to accurately predict carrying capacity or habitat needs. Regardless of what form these models take, given the demonstrated importance of energy availability, estimates of food availability are necessary for the different wetland types in which nonbreeding ducks and shorebirds forage. Most dabbling and many diving ducks primarily consume benthic seeds during winter and migrations but transition to diets higher in invertebrates prior to nesting in spring. Shorebird diet consists of almost exclusively invertebrates. The lower South Platte River [show more]

Type:Fact Sheet

Subject:Waterfleas
<em>Bythotrephes longimanus</em> (Spiny)
<em>Ceropagis pengoi</em> (Fishhook)
<em>Daphnia lumholtzi</em>
Invasive species

Description:Waterfleas are zooplankton aquatic crustaceans that have a jumpy or jerky mode of swimming. The Daphnia waterflea was introduced from the aquarium trade and fish stocking. They are native to Africa, Asia and Australia. Like invasive mussels, the Bythotrephes and Ceropagis were introduced into the Great Lakes from ships' ballast water coming from Eurasia. Unlike the fleas dogs are known to carry, waterfleas are very different. They do not live outside the water, and do not bite or harm people or pets. [show more]

Type:Text

Subject:Water temperature
WaTSS 3.0 (water temperature summary software)

Description:Water temperature is perhaps the single most important environmental parameter for fish (Magnusen et al. 1979). As ectothermic organisms, ambient temperature drives survival (Dickerson and Vinyard 1999, Bear et al. 2007, Underwood et al. 2012, Brinkman et al. 2013), behavior(Casselman 1978, Mesing and Wicker 1986, Cook and Bergersen 1988, Rogers 1998), growth (Selong et al. 2001, Meeuwig et al. 2004, Bear et al. 2007, Ziegler et al. 2013, Brinkman et al. 2013), and other physiological processes (Brett 1979), as well as defining the range a fish can occupy (Dunham et al. 2003, de la Hoz Franco and Budy 2005. Recent concerns over changing climactic conditions on fish (Ficke et al. 2007, Rahel and Olden 2007, Wenger et al. 2011, Peterson et al. 2013, Roberts et al. 2013) and its implications for persistence of threatened or endangered species has led to a proliferation of water temperature monitoring efforts (Isaak et al. 2012, Ziegler et al. 2013b). The combination of heightened interest coupled with the availability of relatively inexpensive and durable temperature loggers has precipitated an explosion in the use of these devices that has spread to applied uses in fish management as well, beyond just monitoring water quality. From detecting timing of fry emergence that inform water management practices to predicting optimum timing to implement successful wild spawn operations, use of these devices is becoming routine. While inexpensive remote temperature loggers have been available for several decades, interpreting the resulting data has been hampered by the lack of user friendly software. The hope is that this program can serve as a developing platform to make common analyses of temperature data readily available to managers and researchers alike. [show more]

Type:Article

Subject:Vector-pathogen relationships
Puma
Bobcat
Cats, domestic
Infectious diseases

Description:Anthropogenic landscape change can lead to increased opportunities for pathogen transmission between domestic and non-domestic animals. Pumas, bobcats, and domestic cats are sympatric in many areas of North America and share many of the same pathogens, some of which are zoonotic. We analyzed bobcat, puma, and feral domestic cat samples collected from targeted geographic areas. We examined exposure to three pathogens that are taxonomically diverse (bacterial, protozoal, viral), that incorporate multiple transmission strategies (vector-borne, environmental exposure/ingestion, and direct contact), and that vary in species-specificity. Bartonella spp., Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), and Toxoplasma gondii IgG were detected in all three species with mean respective prevalence as follows: puma 16%, 41% and 75%; bobcat 31%, 22% and 43%; domestic cat 45%, 10% and 1%. Bartonella spp. were highly prevalent among domestic cats in Southern California compared to other cohort groups. Feline Immunodeficiency Virus exposure was primarily associated with species and age, and was not influenced by geographic location. Pumas were more likely to be infected with FIV than bobcats, with domestic cats having the lowest infection rate. Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence was high in both pumas and bobcats across all sites; in contrast, few domestic cats were seropositive, despite the fact that feral, free ranging domestic cats were targeted in this study. Interestingly, a directly transmitted species-specific disease (FIV) was not associated with geographic location, while exposure to indirectly transmitted diseases – vector-borne for Bartonella spp. and ingestion of oocysts via infected prey or environmental exposure for T. gondii – varied significantly by site. Pathogens transmitted by direct contact may be more dependent upon individual behaviors and intra-specific encounters. Future studies will integrate host density, as well as landscape features, to better understand the mechanisms driving disease exposure and to predict zones of cross-species pathogen transmission among wild and domestic felids. [show more]

Type:Text

Subject:Upper Colorado River Headwaters
Habitat restoration

Description:In December 2016, a group of partners including American Rivers, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), Colorado River Water Conservation District (CRWCD), Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), Denver Water, Grand County, Irrigators of Lands in the Vicinity of Kremmling (ILVK), Municipal Subdistrict of Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (Northern Water), Trout Unlimited, and the Upper Colorado River Alliance was awarded $7.75 million by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through their Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) for the Upper Colorado River Headwaters Project (Headwaters Project). The Headwaters Project is comprised of three endeavors within Grand County that will collectively restore fish and wildlife habitat, and improve water quality and agricultural water management on a regional scale. The RCPP funding will be utilized to focus on two specific project components: 1) reconnecting the Colorado River upstream and downstream of Windy Gap Reservoir (referenced as the Windy Gap Connectivity Channel Project); and 2) restoration of the Colorado River channel to be resilient to hydrological modifications, while sustaining agriculture, and aquatic and riparian habitat (referenced as the Irrigators of Lands in the Vicinity of Kremmling Project). The third endeavor, the Kemp Breeze State Wildlife Area (SWA) Habitat Restoration Project, is expected to be funded by the partners, and other interested parties. These three project components are further described in the following sections. [show more]