500 items found
Type: Article
Subjects: Acoustic monitoring
Bayesian hierarchical model
Colorado
Foraging behavior
Herbivore foraging
Mule deer
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Spatial ecology
Bayesian hierarchical model
Colorado
Foraging behavior
Herbivore foraging
Mule deer
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Spatial ecology
Type:Article
Subject:Acoustic monitoring
Bayesian hierarchical model
Colorado
Foraging behavior
Herbivore foraging
Mule deer
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Spatial ecology
Bayesian hierarchical model
Colorado
Foraging behavior
Herbivore foraging
Mule deer
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Spatial ecology
Description:Foraging behavior underpins many ecological processes; however, robust assessments of this behavior for free-ranging animals are rare due to limitations to direct observations. We leveraged acoustic monitoring and GPS tracking to assess the factors influencing foraging behavior of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). We deployed custom-built acoustic collars with GPS radiocollars on mule deer to measure location-specific foraging. We quantified individual bites and steps taken by deer, and quantified two metrics of foraging behavior: the number of bites taken per step and the number of bites taken per unit time, which relate to foraging intensity and efficiency. We fit statistical models to these metrics to examine the individual, environmental, and anthropogenic factors influencing foraging. Deer in poorer body condition took more bites per step and per minute and foraged for longer irrespective of landscape properties. Other patterns varied seasonally with major changes in deer condition. In December, when deer were in better condition, they took fewer bites per step and more bites per minute. Deer also foraged more intensely and efficiently in areas of greater forage availability and greater movement costs. During March, when deer were in poorer condition, foraging was not influenced by landscape features. Anthropogenic factors weakly structured foraging behavior in December with no relationship in March. Most research on animal foraging is interpreted under the framework of optimal foraging theory. Departures from predictions developed under this framework provide insight to unrecognized factors influencing the evolution of foraging. Our results only conformed to our predictions when deer were in better condition and ecological conditions were declining, suggesting foraging strategies were state-dependent. These results advance our understanding of foraging patterns in wild animals and hig [show more]
Type: Article
Subjects: Adaptive management
Chronic wasting disease (CWD)
Conservation
Hunting
Chronic wasting disease (CWD)
Conservation
Hunting
Type:Article
Subject:Adaptive management
Chronic wasting disease (CWD)
Conservation
Hunting
Chronic wasting disease (CWD)
Conservation
Hunting
Description:Recreational hunting has been the dominant game management and conservation mechanism in the United States for the past century. However, there are numerous modern-day issues that reduce the viability and efficacy of hunting-based management, such as fewer hunters, overabundant wildlife populations, limited access, and emerging infectious diseases in wildlife. Quantifying the drivers of recreational harvest by hunters could inform potential management actions to address these issues, but this is seldom comprehensively accomplished because data collection practices limit some analytical applications (e.g., differing spatial scales of harvest regulations and harvest data). Additionally, managing large-scale issues, such as infectious diseases, requires collaborations across management agencies, which is challenging or impossible if data are not standardized. Here we discuss modern issues with the prevailing wildlife management framework in the United States from an analytical point of view with a case study of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the Midwest. We have four aims: (1) describe the interrelated processes that comprise hunting and suggest improvements to current data collections systems, (2) summarize data collection systems employed by state wildlife management agencies in the Midwestern United States and discuss potential for largescale data standardization, (3) assess how aims 1 and 2 influence managing infectious diseases in hunted wildlife, and (4) suggest actionable steps to help guide data collection standards and management practices. To achieve these goals, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources disseminated a questionnaire to state wildlife agencies (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 01 frontiersin.org Brandell et al. 10.3389/fevo.2022.943411 Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin), and we report and compare their harvest management structures, data collection practices, and responses to chronic wasting disease. We hope our “call to action” encourages reevaluation, coordination, and improvement of harvest and management data collection practices with the goal of improving the analytical potential of these data. A deeper understanding of the strengths and deficiencies of our current management systems in relation to harvest and management data collection methods could benefit the future development of comprehensive and collaborative management and research initiatives (e.g., adaptive management) for wildlife and their diseases. [show more]
Type: Article
Subjects: Aural detections
Availability process
Avian point counts
Detection probability
Field tests
Perception process
Time-of-detection method
Availability process
Avian point counts
Detection probability
Field tests
Perception process
Time-of-detection method
Type:Article
Subject:Aural detections
Availability process
Avian point counts
Detection probability
Field tests
Perception process
Time-of-detection method
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]
Type: Article
Subjects: Argos
Bayesian model
Canada lynx
Functional data analysis
Movement modelling
Splines
Telemetry
Bayesian model
Canada lynx
Functional data analysis
Movement modelling
Splines
Telemetry
Type:Article
Subject:Argos
Bayesian model
Canada lynx
Functional data analysis
Movement modelling
Splines
Telemetry
Bayesian model
Canada lynx
Functional data analysis
Movement modelling
Splines
Telemetry
Description:
[show more]
Summary
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- We apply this model to data from Colorado Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and use derived quantities to identify changes in movement behaviour.
Type: Article
Subjects: Social groups
Infectious disease
Metapopulation
Yellowstone
Infectious disease
Metapopulation
Yellowstone
Type:Article
Subject:Social groups
Infectious disease
Metapopulation
Yellowstone
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]
Type: Article
Subjects: Automated
Baiting
Capture
Capture techniques
Collaring
Fawn
Handling
Mule deer
Noninvasive
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Baiting
Capture
Capture techniques
Collaring
Fawn
Handling
Mule deer
Noninvasive
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
Type:Article
Subject:Automated
Baiting
Capture
Capture techniques
Collaring
Fawn
Handling
Mule deer
Noninvasive
<em>Odocoileus hemionus</em>
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]
Type: Article
Subjects: Journal of Wildlife Management
JWM
Wildlife management
JWM
Wildlife management
Type:Article
Subject:Journal of Wildlife Management
JWM
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]Type: Article
Subjects: Disturbance ecology
Forest carnivore
Canada lynx
Resource selection
Step-selection functions
Functional response
Forest insect
Spruce bark beetle
<em>Dendroctonus rufipennis</em>
Colorado
Forest carnivore
Canada lynx
Resource selection
Step-selection functions
Functional response
Forest insect
Spruce bark beetle
<em>Dendroctonus rufipennis</em>
Colorado
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
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]
Type: Article
Subjects: Decision-making
Forest landowners
Behavior change model
Landowner behavior
Forest landowners
Behavior change model
Landowner behavior
Type:Article
Subject:Decision-making
Forest landowners
Behavior change model
Landowner behavior
Forest landowners
Behavior change model
Landowner behavior
Description:Approximately 1.2 million family forest landowners (FFOs) manage nearly 37 million acres of forestland in five New England states. This means that efforts to sustain and conserve forests in the region are contingent upon short- and long-term management decisions of these owners. We applied the transtheoretical model of behavior change to understand which activities and behaviors FFOs have pursued in relation to forest legacy planning. We conducted a regional mail survey of 2500 FFOs across Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York. Findings indicate that the majority of FFOs are preparing for or are currently engaging in beginning-level legacy planning decisions while few are thinking about nor planning for more advanced-level decisions. Findings from three stepwise multiple regression models also provide support for predicting a substantive amount of variance in FFOs’ decisions to engage in beginning-level and conservation-oriented planning decisions. [show more]
Type: Article
Subjects: Black bear
Human-bear conflict
Bear-resistant containers
Public perception
Human-bear conflict
Bear-resistant containers
Public perception
Type:Article
Subject:Black bear
Human-bear conflict
Bear-resistant containers
Public perception
Human-bear conflict
Bear-resistant containers
Public perception
Description:Human-black bear conflicts within urban environments have been increasing throughout North America, becoming a high priority management issue. The main factor influencing these conflicts is black bears foraging on anthropogenic foods within areas of human development, primarily on residential garbage. Wildlife professionals have advocated for increased bear-proofing measures to decrease the accessibility of garbage to bears, but little research has been conducted to empirically test the effectiveness of this approach for reducing conflicts. Between 2011 and 2016, we conducted a before-after-control-impact experiment in Durango, Colorado where we distributed 1,110 bear-resistant trash containers, enhanced education, and increased enforcement to residents in 2 treatment areas, and monitored 2 paired control areas. We examined the ecological and social outcomes of this experiment, assessing whether bear-resistant containers were effective at reducing conflicts; the level of public compliance (i.e., properly locking away garbage) needed to reduce conflicts; whether the effectiveness of bear-resistant containers increased over time; and if the distribution of bear-resistant containers changed residents’ attitudes about bear management, support for ordinances that require bear-proofing, or perceptions of their future risk of garbage-related conflicts. After the bear-resistant containers were deployed, trash-related conflicts (i.e., observations of strewn trash) were 60% lower in treatment areas than control areas, resident compliance with local wildlife ordinances (properly locking away trash) was 39% higher in treatment areas than control areas, and the effectiveness of the new containers was immediate. Conflicts declined as resident compliance with wildlife ordinances increased to approximately 60% (by using a bear-resistant container or locking trash in a secure location), with minor additional declines in conflicts at higher levels of compliance. In addition to these ecological benefits, public mail surveys demonstrated that the deployment of bear-resistant containers was associated with increases in the perceived quality of bear management and support for ordinances that require bear-proofing, and declines in the perceived risk of future trash-related conflicts. Our results validate efforts by wildlife professionals and municipalities to reduce black bear access to human foods, and should encourage other entities of the merits of bear-proofing efforts for reducing human-bear conflicts and improving public attitudes about bears and their management. © 2018 The Wildlife Society. [show more]