Stephanie M. Landry, Jordan E. Roof, Rich E. Rogers, A. Welsh, C. W. Ryan, James T. Anderson
{"title":"Dietary patterns of a generalist carnivore in West Virginia","authors":"Stephanie M. Landry, Jordan E. Roof, Rich E. Rogers, A. Welsh, C. W. Ryan, James T. Anderson","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-22-001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-22-001","url":null,"abstract":"The proportion and diversity of prey species consumed by bobcats Lynx rufus is often correlated with prey abundances, individual skill level, environmental conditions, and habitat quality. Bobcats generally consume prey species that rely on mast – the fruits of trees – for basic life history requirements. In West Virginia forests, many mast-producing tree species have declined over the past 40 years, yet the last known study on bobcat diet in the state was in 1977. Thus, we need current data to understand the effects of forest compositional changes on bobcat dietary patterns. We evaluated stomach contents of 300 bobcats collected over the 2014–2015 (n = 150) and 2015–2016 (n = 150) hunting and trapping seasons in West Virginia. Simpson’s index of diversity indicated an 87% probability that two randomly selected prey items belong to different species, supporting the idea of bobcats as generalist carnivores. White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus (32%), mice and rats (30.7%), rabbits (21.3%), Virginia opossum Didelphis virginiana (18.7%), and squirrels (17.3%) occurred most frequently. We found 92% dietary overlap between sexes and 35% between stage classes. Deer, opossum, and raccoon Procyon lotor occurred more frequently in males, whereas rabbits occurred more frequently in females. Deer occurred more frequently in adults; raccoons in yearlings; and small rodents in juveniles. Overall occurrence of deer (-17.1%), rodents (-9.5%), opossum (+13.5%), and raccoon (+5.1%) differed significantly between the 1977 study and this study, which may allude to changes in the abundance of mast-dependent prey species over time. Similarly, hard mast (i.e., nuts) production had a significant interaction effect with study season on the overall occurrence of squirrels in bobcat diets. By improving our understanding of bobcat trophic interactions, we can better manage their populations and ecological communities by managing for the dietary requirements of their common prey species.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47265458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Warm water temperatures (≥ 20oC) as a threat to adult Pacific lamprey: Implications of climate change","authors":"Benjamin J. Clemens","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-21-087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-21-087","url":null,"abstract":"Interest in the effects of warmwater temperatures (≥ 20oC) on fishes has grown as biologists attempt to understand the impacts of climate change on native species. Clemens et al. (2016) hypothesized that rivers displaying warmwater temperatures and low river flows (such as may become more common with climate change in North America) may select against Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus migrating and spawning in the upper reaches of some watersheds. I provide new information from different locations that supports Clemens et al.’s hypothesis, including observations of pre-spawn mortalities of Pacific lamprey during a recent heat wave, when daily water temperatures averaged 26.6oC (range: 20.8o – 30.6oC) and additional data from the literature. These observations and data suggest that the continued warming and slowing of rivers pose a threat to Pacific lamprey in some Oregon (USA) rivers, which appears to agree with other research that suggests that lampreys will lose habitats in lower latitudes as climate change progresses.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48039472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily D. Thorne, Karen E. Powers, R. Reynolds, Makayla E. Beckner, Karissa A. Ellis, W. Ford
{"title":"Comparison of two detection methods of a declining rodent, the Allegheny woodrat, in Virginia","authors":"Emily D. Thorne, Karen E. Powers, R. Reynolds, Makayla E. Beckner, Karissa A. Ellis, W. Ford","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-21-037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-21-037","url":null,"abstract":"Allegheny woodrats Neotoma magister are an imperiled small mammal species most associated with emergent rock habitats in the central Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio River Valley. The monitoring of populations and their spatio-temporal distributions typically has relied on labor-intensive live-trapping. The use of remote-detecting cameras holds promise for being an equally or more effective method to determine species presence, although trap-based captures permit the estimation of other parameters (e.g., survival, population size, site fidelity). In 2017, 2018, and 2020 we compared standard live-trapping with paired cameras for determining site occupancy of Allegheny woodrats in the central Appalachian Mountains of western Virginia. We further examined the influence of baited versus unbaited cameras at several sites of confirmed occupancy in 2019. We observed that the detection probability using cameras was approximately 1.7 times that of live-traps. Also, detection probability at baited camera traps was 1.3–2.0 times that of unbaited camera traps. Estimates of occupancy ranged from 0.44 to 0.49. Our findings suggest that the use of baited remote-detecting cameras provides a more effective method than live-trapping for detecting Allegheny woodrats. Our study provides a framework for the development of a large-scale, long-term monitoring protocol of Allegheny woodrats with the goals of identifying changes in the distribution of the species and quantifying local extinction and colonization rates at emergent rock outcrops and caves throughout the species’ known distribution.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43611432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samantha A. Allen, W. G. Wells, Hayden T. Mattingly
{"title":"A Large-Scale MaxEnt Model for the Distribution of the Endangered Pygmy Madtom","authors":"Samantha A. Allen, W. G. Wells, Hayden T. Mattingly","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-21-057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-21-057","url":null,"abstract":"Aquatic resource managers often need detailed knowledge of the distributional patterns of imperiled species to facilitate conservation and recovery actions. The pygmy madtom Noturus sta nauli is a rare catfish in Family Ictaluridae that is federally listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. To better understand and forecast its distributional patterns, we assembled pygmy madtom occurrence records from past collections in the Clinch and Duck rivers in Tennessee, the only two waterways known to support populations of the species. These presence-only coordinates were entered into the maximum entropy species distribution model integrated with layers from geographic information systems. This approach produced suitability score maps and response curves for each environmental variable: flow rate, water velocity, stream order, gradient, air temperature, precipitation, canopy cover, and drainage area. The variables flow rate, drainage area, and canopy cover were important in predicting the distribution of the pygmy madtom throughout its range. The maximum entropy model predicted a high suitability score of pygmy madtom occurrence at new sites throughout the upper Clinch River and the lower-middle reaches of the Duck River. Our analytical approach gives managers a large-scale tool to better delineate the pygmy madtom’s distributional range by identifying and prioritizing locations in the field for sampling at a later date to verify species presence/absence.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49373673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lauren Toivonen, Regina H. Mossotti, Hong S. He, M. Gompper
{"title":"AN INITIAL HABITAT SUITABILITY ANALYSIS FOR THE RED WOLF ACROSS ITS HISTORIC RANGE","authors":"Lauren Toivonen, Regina H. Mossotti, Hong S. He, M. Gompper","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-21-003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-21-003","url":null,"abstract":"The red wolf Canis rufus is endemic to the southeastern United States and has been reduced to a single population occupying the Albemarle Peninsula in coastal North Carolina. To ensure species persistence and to meet conservation goals as outlined in the Red Wolf Recovery Plan (USFWS 1990, 2007, 2018a), it is important to conduct habitat suitability analyses to identify potential sites for future reintroductions. Problematically, such habitat suitability analyses are hindered by limited insight into how the red wolf once used habitat in landscapes that differ extensively from the currently occupied locality. Therefore, here we outline and parameterize a habitat suitability analysis framework for identifying and ranking potential reintroduction sites across the historic range of the species. A geographic information system approach was used to develop multiple habitat suitability models based on indices of landscape type (i.e., cropland, forest) and metrics based on distance from a point to nearest road-types and to human populations. A land-use index was created based on information on habitat suitability, preference, and use extracted from the literature. We then incorporated human population measures and distances to major roads to create a single model of ranked suitability throughout the study area. This model was further used to identify suitability of large (>1000km2) parcels of federally managed lands. Results indicate large areas of potentially suitable lands occurring in multiple National Forests situated across the historic range of the species. This approach to habitat suitability analysis development is customizable and can be applied to other species whose historic ranges cover a variety of habitat types, but data is lacking on specifics about how the species used these habitats across their range.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45185686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comment The importance of using peer-reviewed science when making raptor management decisions: A reply to Donohue (2022)","authors":"James F Dwyer, E. Mojica","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-22-029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-22-029","url":null,"abstract":"None required for a response to a comment.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45568953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Crawford, Anna L. Farmer, Kevin M. Enge, Aubrey Heupel Greene, L. Díaz, J. Maerz, C. T. Moore
{"title":"Breeding dynamics of gopher frog metapopulations over 10 years","authors":"B. Crawford, Anna L. Farmer, Kevin M. Enge, Aubrey Heupel Greene, L. Díaz, J. Maerz, C. T. Moore","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-21-076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-21-076","url":null,"abstract":"Populations of amphibians that breed in isolated, ephemeral wetlands may be particularly sensitive to breeding and recruitment rates, which can be influenced by dynamic and difficult-to-predict extrinsic factors. The gopher frog Rana capito is a declining species currently proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, as well as one of many pond-breeding amphibians of conservation concern in the southeastern United States. To represent gopher frog breeding dynamics, we applied an occupancy modeling framework that integrated multiple datasets collected across the species’ range to (i) estimate the influence of climate, habitat, and other factors on wetland-specific seasonal breeding probabilities, and (ii) use those estimates to characterize seasonal, annual, and regional breeding patterns over a 10-yr period. Breeding probability at a wetland was positively influenced by seasonal precipitation (Standardized Precipitation Index) and negatively influenced by fish presence. We found some evidence that the amount of suitable habitat surrounding a wetland was positively correlated with breeding probability during drought conditions. The percentage of sampled wetlands (N = 192) predicted to have breeding varied seasonally, annually, and regionally across the study. Within-year temporal patterns of breeding differed across the range: in most locations north of Florida, peaks of breeding occurred in winter and spring months; whereas breeding was more dispersed throughout the year in Florida. Peaks of breeding across the 10-yr period often occurred during or in the season following high rainfall events (e.g., hurricanes). These results have direct applications for site-level management that aims to increase successful breeding opportunities of gopher frogs and other associated pond-breeding amphibians, including monitoring protocol and intensity, removal of fish, and improving terrestrial habitat conditions surrounding wetlands (e.g., via tree/shrub removal and prescribed fire). The results also have implications for better-informed management through the closer alignment of breeding activity monitoring with predicted seasonal peaks. Furthermore, estimates of breeding frequency can be incorporated into population viability analyses to inform forthcoming assessments of extinction risk and designation of the species’ conservation status by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48770157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Pendleton, Russell Berdan, S. George, Gregg H. Kenney, S. Sethi
{"title":"Round Goby captured in a North American estuary: status and implications in the Hudson River, New York","authors":"R. Pendleton, Russell Berdan, S. George, Gregg H. Kenney, S. Sethi","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-22-012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-22-012","url":null,"abstract":"Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus , a non-native fish species to North America, has been rapidly expanding through the connected waterways of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Here, we document the eastward and southern expansion of Round Goby into the Hudson River, an iconic coastal estuary that drains to Long Island Sound and the Atlantic seaboard. In the summer and early fall of 2021, a population of Round Goby was documented in the tidal portion of the Hudson River during routine fish monitoring conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Over the course of monitoring in 2021, 112 Round Goby were collected between Albany, NY and Poughkeepsie, NY with the southernmost collection occurring approximately ~140 km downstream of invasion front as reported in 2020 within the New York State Canal System. Although Round Goby have previously colonized large rivers and streams in the Great Lakes watershed, there is little information about the invasion success and ecological impacts of Round Goby in estuarine environments in North America. The distribution and biological characteristics of the Hudson River Round Goby population are discussed as well as the potential ecological implications and areas of future research and monitoring for this range expansion.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45507271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anastasia Krainyk, James E. Lyons, G. Soulliere, John M. Coluccy, Barry C. Wilson, M. G. Brasher, M. Al-Saffar, D. Humburg
{"title":"Structured Decision Making to Rank North American Wetlands Conservation Act Proposals within Joint Venture Regions","authors":"Anastasia Krainyk, James E. Lyons, G. Soulliere, John M. Coluccy, Barry C. Wilson, M. G. Brasher, M. Al-Saffar, D. Humburg","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-21-089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-21-089","url":null,"abstract":"The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4401-4412) provided funding and administration for wetland management and conservation projects. The North American Wetland Conservation Fund, enabled in 1989 with the Act, provides financial resources. Resource allocation decisions are based, in part, on regional experts, particularly migratory bird Joint Ventures (JVs) (i.e., partnerships for cooperative planning and coordinated management of the continent’s waterfowl populations and habitats). The JVs evaluate funding proposals submitted with their respective regions each year and make funding recommendations to decision makers. Proposal evaluation procedures differ among JVs, however, it could be helpful to consider a transparent, repeatable, and data-driven framework for prioritization within regions. We used structured decision making and linear additive value models for ranking proposals within JV regions. We used two JVs as case studies and constructed two different value models using JV-specific objectives and weights. The framework was developed through a collaborative process with JV staff and stakeholders. Models were written in Microsoft Excel. To test these models, we used six NAWCA proposals submitted to the Upper Mississippi / Great Lakes Joint Venture in 2016 and seven proposals submitted to the Gulf Coast Joint Venture in 2017. We compared proposal ranks assigned by the value model to ranks assigned by each JV’s management board. Ranks assigned by the value model differed from ranks assigned by the board for the Upper Mississippi / Great Lakes Joint Venture, but not for the Gulf Coast Joint Venture. However, ranks from the value model could change markedly with different objective weights and value functions. The weighted linear value model was beneficial for ranking NAWCA proposals because it allows JVs to treat the ranking as a multiple objective problem and tailor the ranking to their specific regional concerns. We believe a structured decision making approach could be adapted by JV staff to facilitate a systematic and transparent process for proposal ranking by their management boards.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46503792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Morrow, S. Lehnen, R. E. Chester, Aaron C. Pratt, S. Sesnie, Jay Kelso, C. K. Feuerbacher
{"title":"Factors Affecting Survival of Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken Broods","authors":"M. Morrow, S. Lehnen, R. E. Chester, Aaron C. Pratt, S. Sesnie, Jay Kelso, C. K. Feuerbacher","doi":"10.3996/jfwm-21-054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3996/jfwm-21-054","url":null,"abstract":"Annual population changes of most grouse, including the imperiled Attwater’s prairie-chicken Tympanuchus cupido attwateri , are driven by annual reproductive success. Previous research identified poor survival of chicks as a primary bottleneck for recovery of this species. We evaluated the relative importance of 26 factors in 5 categories (weather and topography, habitat, plant phenology, time and site, hen characteristics) on Attwater’s prairie-chicken brood survival to 2 weeks post-hatch (the period when chick mortality is highest) and on the number of chicks per brood at 6 weeks post-hatch (when chicks are capable of independent survival). Factors with most support for predicting brood survival to 2 weeks included invertebrate dry mass, ordinal date, an index to maximum photosynthetic activity of vegetation from multispectral imagery, and proportion of brood locations within areas treated to suppress red imported fire ants Solenopsis invicta . Broods were most likely to survive if they hatched between early and late May and were located within areas (1) that were treated to suppress red imported fire ants, (2) where vegetation produced intermediate values for the maximum photosynthetic activity index, and (3) that supported high invertebrate biomass. The number of chicks per brood surviving to 6 weeks post-hatch was best predicted by a nonlinear relationship with a drought index during the first 2 weeks post-hatch, and was maximized when average values of the drought index indicated moderately depleted soil moisture, but not severe drought. Our finding that the average drought index during the first 2 weeks after hatch had more support for predicting the number of chicks per brood at 6 weeks than the average drought index for the entire 6 weeks emphasizes the importance of the first 2 weeks for Attwater’s prairie-chickens. This comprehensive analysis of factors affecting Attwater’s prairie-chicken brood survival provides valuable information to guide management and recovery efforts for this species.","PeriodicalId":49036,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2022-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48604910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}