A metapopulation model of social group dynamics and disease applied to Yellowstone wolves
| A metapopulation model of social group dynamics and disease applied to Yellowstone wolves
| Article | Social groups Infectious disease Metapopulation Yellowstone |
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Type:Article Subject:Social groups Infectious disease Metapopulation Yellowstone |
Description:The population structure of social species has important consequences for both their demography and transmission of their pathogens. We develop a metapopulation model that tracks two key components of a species’ social system: average group size and number of groups within a population. While the model is general, we parameterize it to mimic the dynamics of the Yellowstone wolf population and two associated pathogens: sarcoptic mange and canine distemper. In the initial absence of disease, we show that group size is mainly determined by the birth and death rates and the rates at which groups fission to form new groups. The total number of groups is determined by rates of fission and fusion, as well as environmental resources and rates of intergroup aggression. Incorporating pathogens into the models reduces the size of the host population, predominantly by reducing the number of social groups. Average group size responds in more subtle ways: infected groups decrease in size, but uninfected groups may increase when disease reduces the number of groups and thereby reduces intraspecific aggression. Our modeling approach allows for easy calculation of prevalence at multiple scales (within group, across groups, and population level), illustrating that aggregate population-level prevalence can be misleading for group-living species. The model structure is general, can be applied to other social species, and allows for a dynamic assessment of how pathogens can affect social structure and vice versa. [show more]
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A noninvasive automated device for remotely collaring and weighing mule deer | A noninvasive automated device for remotely collaring and weighing mule deer | Article | Automated Baiting Capture Capture techniques Collaring Fawn Handling Mule deer Noninvasive <em>Odocoileus hemionus</em> |
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Type:Article 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]
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A perspective on the Journal of Wildlife Management | A perspective on the Journal of Wildlife Management | Article | Journal of Wildlife Management JWM Wildlife management |
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Type:Article 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]
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A sightability model for moose developed from helicopter surveys in western Wyoming | A sightability model for moose developed from helicopter surveys in western Wyoming | Text | Moose Mammal populations Wyoming Aeronautics in wildlife management |
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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]
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A specialized forest carnivore navigates landscape-level disturbance: Canada lynx in spruce-beetle impacted forests | A specialized forest carnivore navigates landscape-level disturbance: Canada lynx in spruce-beetle impacted forests | Article | Disturbance ecology Forest carnivore Canada lynx Resource selection Step-selection functions
Functional response Forest insect Spruce bark beetle <em>Dendroctonus rufipennis</em> Colorado |
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Type:Article Subject:Disturbance ecology Forest carnivore Canada lynx Resource selection Step-selection functions
Functional response Forest insect Spruce bark beetle <em>Dendroctonus rufipennis</em> Colorado |
Description:Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) occupy cold wet forests (boreal and subalpine forest) that were structured by natural disturbance processes for millennia. In the Southern Rocky Mountains, at the species’ southern range periphery, Canada lynx habitat has been recently impacted by large-scale disturbance from spruce beetles (Dendroctonus rufipennis). This disturbance poses a challenge for forest managers who must administer this novel landscape in ways that also facilitate timber salvage. To aid managers with this problem, we instrumented Canada lynx with GPS collars to document their selection of beetle impacted forests at spatial scales that spanned from landscapes to movement paths. We used a use-availability design based on remotely-sensed covariates to evaluate landscape- and path-level selection. We evaluated selection at the home-range scale in beetle-kill areas based on vegetation plots sampled in the field to quantify forest structure and composition. We found that across all scales of selection, Canada lynx selected forests with a higher proportion of beetle-kill trees that were generally larger in diameter than randomly available. Within home ranges, Canada lynx selected forests with greater live components of subalpine fir and live canopy of Engelmann spruce. During winter, Canada lynx exhibited functional responses, or disproportionate use relative to availability, for forest horizontal cover, diameter of beetle killed trees, live canopy of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), and additive use (and consistent selection) for relative density of snowshoe hares and density of subcanopy subalpine fir 3–4.9 in. (7.6–12.4 cm) in diameter. We discuss our results in the context of balancing resource needs of Canada lynx with the desire to salvage timber in beetle-impacted forests. [show more]
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Abdominal | Abdominal | Fact Sheet | Wildlife diseases Worms -- Parasites |
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Type:Fact Sheet Subject:Wildlife diseases Worms -- Parasites |
Description:Fact sheet about abdominal worms. Abdominal worms live in the abdomen of Colorado deer. These worms do not cause disease and are not a concern for human health.
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Abert's squirrel coloring page | Abert's squirrel coloring page | Text | Abert's squirrel Tassel-eared squirrel Education Wildlife |
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Type:Text Subject:Abert's squirrel Tassel-eared squirrel Education Wildlife |
Description:Coloring pages for Abert's squirrel
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Acidosis | Acidosis | Fact Sheet | Wildlife diseases Acidosis |
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Type:Fact Sheet Subject:Wildlife diseases Acidosis |
Description:Fact sheet on acidosis in Colorado. Acidosis is a severe and often fatal disease in deer, elk, and other wild hoofed stock species that consume an excess of high-carbohydrate feed.
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Adventures as a young naturalist | Adventures as a young naturalist | Text | Colorado State parks Education Wildlife |
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Type:Text Subject:Colorado State parks Education Wildlife |
Description:Come on an outdoor journey discovering Colorado’s state parks.
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American dippers coloring page | American dippers coloring page | Text | American dippers Wildlife Education |
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Type:Text Subject:American dippers Wildlife Education |
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