California Fish and Wildlife Journal最新文献

{"title":"Machine learning to understand patterns of burn severity from the SCU Lightning Complex Fires of August 2020","authors":"C. Potter, Olivia Alexander","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.108.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.108.6","url":null,"abstract":"The SCU Lightning Complex Fire started on 16 August 2020 and burned more than 395,000 acres of woodlands and grasslands in six California counties. Satellite images of pre-fire green vegetation biomass from both 2020 springtime (moist) and summertime (drier) periods, along with slope and aspect were used as predictors of burn severity patterns on the SCU Complex landscape using machine learning algorithms. The main finding from this analysis was that the overall burn severity patterns of the SCU Complex fires could be predicted from pre-fire vegetation biomass, slope, and aspect model input variables with high accuracies of between 50% and 80% using Random Forest machine learning techniques. The August and April biomass cover variables had the highest feature importance values. It can be concluded that the amount of dry biomass present at a given location was essential to predict how severely and completely the 2020 fires burned the vegetation cover and surface soils across this landscape.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49161037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Macrohabitat suitability model for the Trinity bristle snail in the Greater Trinity Basin of northern California","authors":"R. M. Sullivan","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.108.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.108.2","url":null,"abstract":"Analytical methods used to identify species-specific suitability of habitat include statistical habitat distribution models. Habitat type is the most reliable predictor of species occurrence in a particular area. Here, I developed a spatially explicit landscape-level suitability framework using metrics derived from forest, climatic, and topographic criteria for the Trinity bristle snail (Monadenia setosa). I conducted surveys to document locations of Trinity bristle snails and then performed spatial analysis of ecological variables in a geographic information systems (GIS) framework using point density estimators to produce a spatially explicit habitat suitability model; a geographic map reflecting the total area of hypothesized suitable macrohabitat within the known geographic range of the species; and a set of density surfaces showing where point features were concentrated that defined habitat suitability ranging from low to critical. This model provides resource managers with a distributional framework and overlay useful in anticipating where suitable macrohabitat for the species may be found across the landscape and serves as a foundation for updating and expanding population-level surveys and site-specific microhabitat assessments.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47922093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Status and distribution of Arroyo Chub within its native range","authors":"J. O’Brien, Russell M Barabe","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.108.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.108.5","url":null,"abstract":"The Arroyo Chub (Gila orcutti) is a small cyprinid native to coastal drainages of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego counties. We surveyed the seven drainages historically known to support the species in 2012-2014 and again in 2019 to determine current range and distribution. We compared our results to the most recent species account we could locate (1993). We detected Arroyo Chub in 18 of the 40 streams (45%) and within six of the seven native watersheds in our 2012-2014 surveys, while our 2019 surveys located fish in all of the seven native watersheds. This native species has retreated to the headwaters in most watersheds and the number of populations have declined since the most recent species account. Non-native species, habitat loss, urbanization, water development, flood control, and drought are thought to be the primary causes of this decline.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47455401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Testing a single-visit sampling approach for fecal DNA abundance estimation of tule elk in the Lake Pillsbury Basin","authors":"B. Sacks, Joshua P. Bush, Tom Batter","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.108.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.108.1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47291714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An innovative temporary escape ramp for deer and other wildlife","authors":"Gina E. Morimoto, Anae B. Otto, Laura Burkholder","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.7","url":null,"abstract":"Concrete-lined water conveyance canals can be a significant source of mortality for ungulates and other wildlife, which can drown or become entrapped. Various types of wildlife escape structures have been deployed in canals with limited success. From 2011 to 2018, we used camera traps to monitor mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) use of three different temporary wildlife escape structure designs with the goal of developing an effective escape structure for fawns. We monitored three to five locations at a hydroelectric water conveyance canal, operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Company in the foothills of Central California on the Sierra National Forest, in which trapped fawns had been detected previously during the maintenance period when the canal was dry. Mule deer activity and ramp use varied by year. During the monitoring period, deer were detected in the canal in all years except 2016 and 2017. Fawns and adults used the temporary escape structures to exit the canal in four of these years and 50% of mule deer detections showed ramp use overall. No deer were detected using the escape structures until jute netting and debris were added to the surface of the escape ramps in the third monitoring year. Prior to this modification, fawns were detected trapped in the canal investigating the ramps, but not using them to exit the canal. Deer may be more likely to utilize ramps covered with materials that mimic native ground cover. Seven other wildlife species were detected entering and exiting using the ramps with a general increase in use over years. Our temporary escape ramp design for small canals, when dry, appears to be novel and may be applicable in other areas. When compared to fencing or covering the canal, it is a relatively low-cost solution to reduce animal entrapment.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45207830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental values of California winegrape growers and the use of barn owl nest boxes as a tool for integrated pest management","authors":"Brooks R. Estes, Matthew D. Johnson","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.11","url":null,"abstract":"Synthetic pesticides from agriculture pose threats to biodiversity, and the adoption of alternative pest management is vital to meet rising crop demands while protecting native species. For example, the use of nest boxes for barn owls (Tyto furcata and T. alba) may help control rodent pests and reduce the use of rodenticides. However, the environmental perceptions of farmers and how receptive they are to alternative pest management practices remains uncertain. Traditionally, agricultural policies and programs have focused largely on the economic self-interest of farmers, but these narrow approaches have proven insufficient to describe and predict conservation behaviors, and the study of environmental value orientations (EVOs) may better explain farmers’ adoption of novel wildlife-friendly practices. The study of EVOs can help identify people as “mutualists”, meaning those who value the environment for its own sake, and “utilitarians,” meaning those who value the environment for the services it can provide. We surveyed 71 California winegrape growers in order to better understand how their underlying environmental values relate to the use of barn owl boxes and other sustainable practices. Overall, most winegrape growers had mutualist value orientations (64%). However, there was a disconnect between the use of barn owl boxes and EVOs, with most respondents (80%) reporting the use of owl boxes regardless of underlying values. This opens the door for future research to examine whether this is true of other wildlife-friendly farming practices.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47659909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Factors influencing the abundance of wintering western snowy plovers at Crown Memorial State Beach","authors":"David L. Riensche","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.8","url":null,"abstract":"Survival during the nonbreeding season, when mortality from food shortages and raptor predation is highest, influences shorebird population growth. These selection pressures, as well as anthropogenic influences, can shape wintering shorebird habitat use patterns. The western snowy plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) is a small shorebird that uses sand-spits, dune-backed beaches, open areas around estuaries for foraging and roosting. The Pacific Coast population of western snowy plovers is listed as a federally threatened species and a California Species of Special Concern. Previous studies suggest humans, dogs and corvids are sources of disturbance to plovers on public beaches. During 2014 to 2019, these disturbance factors were examined at Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach in Alameda, California. In decreasing order of impact, the beach using public, corvids, and dogs were found to be the major stressors to over wintering plovers. Both the public and corvids respectively, resulted in disturbance and avoidance behaviors by plovers nearly 40% of the time. In 2015, the District created the Plover Protection Zone (PPZ) by installing symbolic fencing, signage, and establishing a volunteer team to monitor plovers and educate the public. In 2016, the potential prey abundance within the plover protection zone and areas directly north and south were examined using core samples and sticky traps. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference in the amount of macro-invertebrate prey available in the area used by the plovers as compared to other locations. Habitat choice and prey availability are vital to wintering shorebird. During this study, the wintering population of western snowy plovers increased from six to over 54 individuals.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44618256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conflict, coexistence, or both? Cougar habitat selection, prey composition, and mortality in a multiple-use landscape","authors":"D. Stoner, M. Ditmer, D. Mitchell, J. Young, M. L. Wolfe","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.2","url":null,"abstract":"Western North America is experiencing remarkable human population growth and land-use change. Irrigation and associated cultivation have led to colonization of urban-wildland interface (UWI) environments by mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and consequently, cougars (Puma concolor). In the wake of these changes, human-wildlife conflicts have increased in tandem with questions about long-term species conservation. To address these concerns, we fit 79 cougars with radio-telemetry collars in the Oquirrh Mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah (2002–2010). Our goal was to evaluate variation in cougar habitat selection, diet, and cause-specific mortality in a landscape dominated by urban, military, and industrial activities. We used radio-telemetry data in concert with Resource Selection Functions to address three hypotheses: (1) that cougars would select wildland over UWI land-uses; (2) prey composition would reflect differences in land-use; and (3) mortality would be predominantly human-caused. Cougars largely selected wildland habitats associated with seasonal mule deer presence, but contrary to expectation, they also selected habitats closer to urban and mined areas. Prey composition in the UWI did not differ from wildland habitats. Domestic ungulates represented only 2% of 540 recovered prey items and were found primarily in wildlands. Native ungulates comprised > 90% of the total kill, irrespective of season or land-use, suggesting that use of UWI habitats was linked to mule deer presence. Cougar mortality was disproportionately due to natural causes in wildlands, but individuals that died of human causes in UWI habitats were more likely to be inexperienced hunters, supporting young kittens, or compromised by physical handicaps. In general, presence of mule deer was the key predictor of cougar habitat use, even in this highly disturbed, anthropogenically altered landscape. As such, management designed to reduce conflict and ensure conservation will need to focus on urban deer, land-use planning, and targeted education campaigns to reduce food subsidies.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43949023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Photovoltaic solar farms in California: can we have renewable electricity and our species, too?","authors":"B. Cypher, B. Boroski, R. Burton, D. Meade, Scott E. Phillips, P. Leitner, Erica C. Kelly, Tory L. Westall, Jason Dart","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.6","url":null,"abstract":"Photovoltaic solar power generating facilities are proliferating rapidly in California and elsewhere. While this trend is welcomed for many reasons (e.g., reducing greenhouse gas emissions), these facilities also can have profound environmental impacts, particularly to local species populations. These impacts become more significant when species of conservation concern are affected. In the San Joaquin Desert region in central California, a number of conservation measures have been routinely implemented on solar facilities, and these measures have facilitated continued use of the facilities by a number of species of conservation concern. Some of the more significant measures include permeable security fences, vegetation management, movement corridors, avoiding critical features such as dens and burrows, and vehicle speed limits. Detailed studies have been conducted on San Joaquin kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis mutica) using solar facilities in the San Joaquin Desert. Demographic and ecological attributes of foxes are similar between foxes using the facilities and foxes on nearby reference sites, and values for foxes on solar sites are within the ranges of values for foxes reported from sites within core population areas. Facilitated by the conservation measures, kit foxes are using at least six facilities in the San Joaquin Desert as are a variety of other species of conservation concern. This successful model also potentially could be adapted to other ecosystems and applied to facilities in regions outside of the San Joaquin Desert, such as the Mojave Desert. Determining whether species in other regions can use photovoltaic solar facilities and identifying the most efficacious conservation measures will require time and testing, and these efforts would benefit from collaborative efforts among landowners, solar developers, natural resources agencies, researchers, and others. The San Joaquin Desert facilities and a recent demonstration facility in the Mojave Desert provide strong evidence that solar facilities can be constructed and operated in a manner that also accommodates continued use of the facilities by some species of conservation concern.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43560279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relocation of habituated black bears in the Klamath Mountains of California: an adaptive management case study","authors":"R. Schaefer, Dennis Moyles, S. McDonald, Monty Cervelli, D. Beck","doi":"10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51492/cfwj.hwisi.5","url":null,"abstract":"Black bear (Ursus americanus) populations in California have increased in abundance and distribution despite rising trends in the urban encroachment of wildlands. As human-black bear conflicts increase, opportunities to study the relocation of black bears in an adaptive management setting are important for improving the management of this highprofile species. Habituated black bears, some tamed and made tractable through human-controlled food conditioning, were relocated to a remote region of the Klamath Mountains to analyze home range use, survival, return rates, and mortality. Relocated black bears with known outcomes demonstrated an 80% return rate, with 55% not surviving beyond five months. Female bears established home ranges significantly larger than males, and may suggest an enhanced maternal instinct in search of similar nutritional conditions prior to relocation. This study showed that the relocation of food-conditioned black bears resulted in high return rates, poor survival, and risk to public safety.","PeriodicalId":29697,"journal":{"name":"California Fish and Wildlife Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48876981","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}