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Brunet MJ, Huggler KS, Holbrook JD, Burke PW, Zornes M, Lionberger P, Monteith KL. Spatial prey availability and pulsed reproductive tactics: Encounter risk in a canid-ungulate system. J Anim Ecol 2024; 93:447-459. [PMID: 38348546 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Predation risk is a function of spatiotemporal overlap between predator and prey, as well as behavioural responses during encounters. Dynamic factors (e.g. group size, prey availability and animal movement or state) affect risk, but rarely are integrated in risk assessments. Our work targets a system where predation risk is fundamentally linked to temporal patterns in prey abundance and behaviour. For neonatal ungulate prey, risk is defined within a short temporal window during which the pulse in parturition, increasing movement capacity with age and antipredation tactics have the potential to mediate risk. In our coyote-mule deer (Canis latrans-Odocoileus hemionus) system, leveraging GPS data collected from both predator and prey, we tested expectations of shared enemy and reproductive risk hypotheses. We asked two questions regarding risk: (A) How does primary and alternative prey habitat, predator and prey activity, and reproductive tactics (e.g. birth synchrony and maternal defence) influence the vulnerability of a neonate encountering a predator? (B) How do the same factors affect behaviour by predators relative to the time before and after an encounter? Despite increased selection for mule deer and intensified search behaviour by coyotes during the peak in mule deer parturition, mule deer were afforded protection from predation via predator swamping, experiencing reduced per-capita encounter risk when most neonates were born. Mule deer occupying rabbit habitat (Sylvilagus spp.; coyote's primary prey) experienced the greatest risk of encounter but the availability of rabbit habitat did not affect predator behaviour during encounters. Encounter risk increased in areas with greater availability of mule deer habitat: coyotes shifted their behaviour relative to deer habitat, and the pulse in mule deer parturition and movement of neonatal deer during encounters elicited increased speed and tortuosity by coyotes. In addition to the spatial distribution of prey, temporal patterns in prey availability and animal behavioural state were fundamental in defining risk. Our work reveals the nuanced consequences of pulsed availability on predation risk for alternative prey, whereby responses by predators to sudden resource availability, the lasting effects of diversionary prey and inherent antipredation tactics ultimately dictate risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitchell J Brunet
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Katey S Huggler
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Joseph D Holbrook
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | | | - Mark Zornes
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Green River, Wyoming, USA
| | - Patrick Lionberger
- Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office, Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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Ortega AC, Merkle JA, Sawyer H, Monteith KL, Lionberger P, Valdez M, Kauffman MJ. A test of the frost wave hypothesis in a temperate ungulate. Ecology 2024; 105:e4238. [PMID: 38212148 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that temperate herbivores surf the green wave of emerging plants during spring migration. Despite the importance of autumn migration, few studies have conceptualized resource tracking of temperate herbivores during this critical season. We adapted the frost wave hypothesis (FWH), which posits that animals pace their autumn migration to reduce exposure to snow but increase acquisition of forage. We tested the FWH in a population of mule deer in Wyoming, USA by tracking the autumn migrations of n = 163 mule deer that moved 15-288 km from summer to winter range. Migrating deer experienced similar amounts of snow but 1.4-2.1 times more residual forage than if they had naïve knowledge of when or how fast to migrate. Importantly, deer balanced exposure to snow and forage in a spatial manner. At the fine scale, deer avoided snow near their mountainous summer ranges and became more risk prone to snow near winter range. Aligning with their higher tolerance of snow and lingering behavior to acquire residual forage, deer increased stopover use by 1 ± 1 day (95% CI) day for every 10% of their migration completed. Our findings support the prediction that mule deer pace their autumn migration with the onset of snow and residual forage, but refine the FWH to include movement behavior en route that is spatially dynamic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna C Ortega
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Jerod A Merkle
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Hall Sawyer
- Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc., Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Patrick Lionberger
- Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office, Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA
| | - Miguel Valdez
- Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office, Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA
| | - Matthew J Kauffman
- US Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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Malmberg JL, Allen SE, Jennings-Gaines JE, Johnson M, Luukkonen KL, Robbins KM, Cornish TE, Smiley RA, Wagler BL, Gregory Z, Lutz D, Hnilicka P, Monteith KL, Edwards WH. Pathology of Chronic Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae Carriers in a Declining Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) Population. J Wildl Dis 2024; 60:448-460. [PMID: 38329742 DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-23-00132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) across North America commonly experience population-limiting epizootics of respiratory disease. Although many cases of bighorn sheep pneumonia are polymicrobial, Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is most frequently associated with all-age mortality events followed by years of low recruitment. Chronic carriage of M. ovipneumoniae by adult females serves as a source of exposure of naïve juveniles; relatively few ewes may be responsible for maintenance of infection within a herd. Test-and-remove strategies focused on removal of adult females with evidence of persistent or intermittent shedding (hereafter chronic carriers) may reduce prevalence and mitigate mortality. Postmortem confirmation of pneumonia in chronic carriers has been inadequately reported and the pathology has not been thoroughly characterized, limiting our understanding of important processes shaping the epidemiology of pneumonia in bighorn sheep. Here we document postmortem findings and characterize the lesions of seven ewes removed from a declining bighorn sheep population in Wyoming, USA, following at least two antemortem detections of M. ovipneumoniae within a 14-mo period. We confirmed that 6/7 (85.7%) had variable degrees of chronic pneumonia. Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae was detected in the lung of 4/7 (57.1%) animals postmortem. Four (57.1%) had paranasal sinus masses, all of which were classified as inflammatory, hyperplastic lesions. Pasteurella multocida was detected in all seven (100%) animals, while Trueperella pyogenes was detected in 5/7 (71.4%). Our findings indicate that not all chronic carriers have pneumonia, nor do all have detectable M. ovipneumoniae in the lung. Further, paranasal sinus masses are a common but inconsistent finding, and whether sinus lesions predispose to persistence or result from chronic carriage remains unclear. Our findings indicate that disease is variable in chronic M. ovipneumoniae carriers, underscoring the need for further efforts to characterize pathologic processes and underlying mechanisms in this system to inform management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Malmberg
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Wyoming, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, USA
- Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming 82070
- Current affiliation and address: National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 4101 LaPorte Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, USA
| | - Samantha E Allen
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Veterinary Services, 1212 South Adams Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, USA
| | - Jessica E Jennings-Gaines
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Health Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, USA
| | - Marguerite Johnson
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Health Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, USA
| | - Katie L Luukkonen
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Health Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, USA
| | - Kara M Robbins
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Health Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, USA
| | - Todd E Cornish
- California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab, University of California-Davis, 18760 Road 112, Tulare, California 93274, USA
| | - Rachel A Smiley
- University of Wyoming, Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, 804 East Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
| | - Brittany L Wagler
- University of Wyoming, Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, 804 East Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
| | - Zach Gregory
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 260 Buena Vista Drive, Lander, Wyoming 82520, USA
| | - Daryl Lutz
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 260 Buena Vista Drive, Lander, Wyoming 82520, USA
| | - Pat Hnilicka
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, 170 North First Street, Lander, Wyoming 82520, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- University of Wyoming, Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, 804 East Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
| | - William H Edwards
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Veterinary Services, Wildlife Health Laboratory, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, USA
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Huggler KS, Hayes MM, Burke PW, Zornes M, Thompson DJ, Lionberger P, Valdez M, Monteith KL. Coursing the mottled mosaic: Generalist predators track pulses in availability of neonatal ungulates. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10378. [PMID: 37502310 PMCID: PMC10369373 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The density and distribution of resources shape animal movement and behavior and have direct implications for population dynamics. Resource availability often is "pulsed" in space and time, and individuals should cue in on resource pulses when the energetic gain of doing so exceeds that of stable resources. Birth pulses of prey represent a profitable but ephemeral resource and should thereby result in shifting functional responses by predators. We evaluated movements and resource selection of coyotes (Canis latrans) across a gradient of reproductive stages ranging from late gestation to peak lactation of female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in southwest Wyoming, USA, to test whether coyotes exhibited shifts in selection and movement behavior relative to the availability and vulnerability of neonatal mule deer. We expected coyotes to track pulses in availability of neonatal mule deer, and such behavior would be represented by shifts in resource selection and search behavior of coyotes that would be strongest during peak parturition of mule deer. Coyotes selected areas of high relative probability of use by female mule deer and did so most strongly during peak parturition. Furthermore, searching behavior of coyotes intensified during pulses of availability of deer neonates. Our findings support the notion that coyotes exploit pulses of neonatal deer, presumably as an attempt to capitalize on a vulnerable, energy-rich resource. Our work quantifies the behavioral mechanisms by which coyotes consume ungulate neonates and provides one of the first examples of a mammalian predator-prey system centered on a pulsed resource.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katey S. Huggler
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesWyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
| | - Matthew M. Hayes
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesWyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
| | - Patrick W. Burke
- Wyoming Game and Fish DepartmentGreen River RegionGreen RiverWyomingUSA
| | - Mark Zornes
- Wyoming Game and Fish DepartmentGreen River RegionGreen RiverWyomingUSA
| | | | - Patrick Lionberger
- Bureau of Land ManagementRock Springs Field OfficeRock SpringsWyomingUSA
| | - Miguel Valdez
- Bureau of Land ManagementRock Springs Field OfficeRock SpringsWyomingUSA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesWyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
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5
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Tucker MA, Schipper AM, Adams TSF, Attias N, Avgar T, Babic NL, Barker KJ, Bastille-Rousseau G, Behr DM, Belant JL, Beyer DE, Blaum N, Blount JD, Bockmühl D, Pires Boulhosa RL, Brown MB, Buuveibaatar B, Cagnacci F, Calabrese JM, Černe R, Chamaillé-Jammes S, Chan AN, Chase MJ, Chaval Y, Chenaux-Ibrahim Y, Cherry SG, Ćirović D, Çoban E, Cole EK, Conlee L, Courtemanch A, Cozzi G, Davidson SC, DeBloois D, Dejid N, DeNicola V, Desbiez ALJ, Douglas-Hamilton I, Drake D, Egan M, Eikelboom JAJ, Fagan WF, Farmer MJ, Fennessy J, Finnegan SP, Fleming CH, Fournier B, Fowler NL, Gantchoff MG, Garnier A, Gehr B, Geremia C, Goheen JR, Hauptfleisch ML, Hebblewhite M, Heim M, Hertel AG, Heurich M, Hewison AJM, Hodson J, Hoffman N, Hopcraft JGC, Huber D, Isaac EJ, Janik K, Ježek M, Johansson Ö, Jordan NR, Kaczensky P, Kamaru DN, Kauffman MJ, Kautz TM, Kays R, Kelly AP, Kindberg J, Krofel M, Kusak J, Lamb CT, LaSharr TN, Leimgruber P, Leitner H, Lierz M, Linnell JDC, Lkhagvaja P, Long RA, López-Bao JV, Loretto MC, Marchand P, Martin H, Martinez LA, McBride RT, McLaren AAD, Meisingset E, Melzheimer J, Merrill EH, Middleton AD, Monteith KL, Moore SA, Van Moorter B, Morellet N, Morrison T, Müller R, Mysterud A, Noonan MJ, O'Connor D, Olson D, Olson KA, Ortega AC, Ossi F, Panzacchi M, Patchett R, Patterson BR, de Paula RC, Payne J, Peters W, Petroelje TR, Pitcher BJ, Pokorny B, Poole K, Potočnik H, Poulin MP, Pringle RM, Prins HHT, Ranc N, Reljić S, Robb B, Röder R, Rolandsen CM, Rutz C, Salemgareyev AR, Samelius G, Sayine-Crawford H, Schooler S, Şekercioğlu ÇH, Selva N, Semenzato P, Sergiel A, Sharma K, Shawler AL, Signer J, Silovský V, Silva JP, Simon R, Smiley RA, Smith DW, Solberg EJ, Ellis-Soto D, Spiegel O, Stabach J, Stacy-Dawes J, Stahler DR, Stephenson J, Stewart C, Strand O, Sunde P, Svoboda NJ, Swart J, Thompson JJ, Toal KL, Uiseb K, VanAcker MC, Velilla M, Verzuh TL, Wachter B, Wagler BL, Whittington J, Wikelski M, Wilmers CC, Wittemyer G, Young JK, Zięba F, Zwijacz-Kozica T, Huijbregts MAJ, Mueller T. Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns. Science 2023; 380:1059-1064. [PMID: 37289888 DOI: 10.1126/science.abo6499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns 10-day 95th percentile displacements increased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. Animals' 1-hour 95th percentile displacements declined by 12% and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlee A Tucker
- Department of Environmental Science, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9010, 6500, GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Aafke M Schipper
- Department of Environmental Science, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9010, 6500, GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Nina Attias
- Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Tal Avgar
- Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 USA
| | - Natarsha L Babic
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Kristin J Barker
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | | | - Dominik M Behr
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH - 8057 Zürich
- Botswana Predator Conservation, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana
| | - Jerrold L Belant
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson Road, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Dean E Beyer
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson Road, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Niels Blaum
- University of Potsdam, Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Am Mühlenberg 3, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - J David Blount
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Dirk Bockmühl
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Michael B Brown
- Giraffe Conservation Foundation, Eros, PO Box 86099, Windhoek, Namibia
- Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
| | | | - Francesca Cagnacci
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all'Adige, Italy
| | - Justin M Calabrese
- Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS), Goerlitz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, 4094 Campus Dr, College Park, MA, USA
| | - Rok Černe
- Slovenia Forest service, Večna pot 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Simon Chamaillé-Jammes
- CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
- Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Aung Nyein Chan
- Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
- Dept. Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80525, USA
| | | | - Yannick Chaval
- Université de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
- LTSER ZA PYRénées GARonne, F-31320 Auzeville-Tolosane, France
| | - Yvette Chenaux-Ibrahim
- Department of Biology and Environment, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage, MN 55605 USA
| | - Seth G Cherry
- Parks Canada Agency, Box 220, Radium Hot Springs, BC, V0A 1M0, Canada
| | - Duško Ćirović
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Emrah Çoban
- KuzeyDoğa Society, Ortakapı Mah. Şehit Yusuf Cad. 69, 36100 Kars, Turkey
| | - Eric K Cole
- U.S. Fish and Wildlfe Service, National Elk Refuge, PO Box 510, Jackson, WY 83001
| | - Laura Conlee
- Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, MO, 65201, USA
| | | | - Gabriele Cozzi
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH - 8057 Zürich
- Botswana Predator Conservation, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana
| | - Sarah C Davidson
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering, The Ohio State University, 43210 Columbus, OH, USA
| | | | - Nandintsetseg Dejid
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | | | - Arnaud L J Desbiez
- Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
- Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), Murrayfield, Edinburgh, UK
- Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPÊ), Nazaré Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Iain Douglas-Hamilton
- Save the Elephants, Marula Manor, Marula Lane, Karen, Nairobi 00200, Kenya
- Department of Zoology, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - David Drake
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706 USA
| | - Michael Egan
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901
- LTSER ZA PYRénées GARonne, F-31320 Auzeville-Tolosane, France
| | - Jasper A J Eikelboom
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen University and Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - William F Fagan
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, 4094 Campus Dr, College Park, MA, USA
| | - Morgan J Farmer
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706 USA
| | - Julian Fennessy
- Giraffe Conservation Foundation, Eros, PO Box 86099, Windhoek, Namibia
| | - Shannon P Finnegan
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
| | - Christen H Fleming
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, 4094 Campus Dr, College Park, MA, USA
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | - Bonnie Fournier
- Wildlife and Fish Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, P.O. Box 1320, Yellowknife, NT, Canada
| | - Nicholas L Fowler
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 43961 Kalifornsky Beach Road, Suite B, Soldotna, AK 99669, USA
| | - Mariela G Gantchoff
- State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
- Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469 USA
| | - Alexandre Garnier
- Université de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
- Parc National des Pyrénées, 65000 Tarbes, France
| | - Benedikt Gehr
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Chris Geremia
- Yellowstone Center for Resources, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
| | - Jacob R Goheen
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 USA
| | - Morgan L Hauptfleisch
- Biodiversity Research Centre, Namibia University of Science and Technnology Pvt bag 13388 Windhoek, Namibia
| | - Mark Hebblewhite
- Wildlife Biology Program, Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59801
| | - Morten Heim
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Terrestrial Ecology Department, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Anne G Hertel
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Marco Heurich
- Department of Visitor Management and National Park Monitoring, Bavarian Forest National Park, Freyunger Straße 2, 94481 Grafenau, Germany
- Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Biology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Straße 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
- Institute for forest and wildlife management, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Campus Evenstad, Inland Norway University of Applied Science, NO-2480 Koppang, Norway
| | - A J Mark Hewison
- Université de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
- LTSER ZA PYRénées GARonne, F-31320 Auzeville-Tolosane, France
| | - James Hodson
- Wildlife and Fish Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, P.O. Box 1320, Yellowknife, NT Canada X1A 2L9
| | - Nicholas Hoffman
- Ecological Program, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center, Annville, PA 17003, USA
| | - J Grant C Hopcraft
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow UK G12 8QQ
| | - Djuro Huber
- Veterinary Biology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Edmund J Isaac
- Department of Biology and Environment, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage, MN 55605 USA
| | - Karolina Janik
- City of New York Parks and Recreation, Wildlife Unit, 1234 5th Avenue, 5th Floor, NY 10029
| | - Miloš Ježek
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Örjan Johansson
- Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 739 93, Riddarhyttan, Sweden
- Snow Leopard Trust, 4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103, USA
| | - Neil R Jordan
- Botswana Predator Conservation, Private Bag 13, Maun, Botswana
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
- Taronga Institute of Science and Learning, Taronga Conservation Society, Sydney, NSW, 2088, Australia
| | - Petra Kaczensky
- Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Norway
- University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, Austria
| | - Douglas N Kamaru
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 USA
- Wildlife Department, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Private Bag-10400, Nanyuki, Kenya
| | - Matthew J Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Todd M Kautz
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
| | - Roland Kays
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC, 27601, USA
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Allicia P Kelly
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, P.O. Box 2668, Yellowknife, NT Canada X1A 2P9
| | - Jonas Kindberg
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, NO-7484 Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE- 901 83 Umeå, Sweden
| | - Miha Krofel
- Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred- Kowalke- Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Josip Kusak
- Veterinary Biology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Clayton T Lamb
- Biological Sciences Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9 Canada
| | - Tayler N LaSharr
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont, Laramie, WY 82072
| | - Peter Leimgruber
- Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
| | - Horst Leitner
- Büro für Wildökologie und Forstwirtschaft, Klagenfurth, Austria
| | - Michael Lierz
- Clinic for birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany
| | - John D C Linnell
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Terrestrial Ecology Department, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
- Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Anne Evenstads vei 80, 2480 Koppang, Norway
| | | | - Ryan A Long
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844 USA
| | - José Vicente López-Bao
- Biodiversity Research Institute (CSIC - Oviedo University - Principality of Asturias), Oviedo University, E-33600 Mieres, Spain
| | - Matthias-Claudio Loretto
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, 85354 Freising, Germany
- Berchtesgaden National Park, 83471 Berchtesgaden, Germany
| | - Pascal Marchand
- Office Français de la Biodiversité, Direction de la Recherche et de l'Expertise, Unité Ongulés Sauvages, Juvignac, France
| | - Hans Martin
- Wildlife Biology Program, Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59801
| | - Lindsay A Martinez
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Roy T McBride
- Faro Moro Eco Research, Estancia Faro Moro, Departmento de Boquerón, Paraguay
| | - Ashley A D McLaren
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Wildlife Research and Monitoring Section, Trent University, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7B8, Canada
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, Highway 5, PO Box 900, Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, X0E 0P0, Canada
| | - Erling Meisingset
- Department of Forestry and Forestry resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Tingvoll gard, NO-6630 Tingvoll, Norway
| | - Joerg Melzheimer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Evelyn H Merrill
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Arthur D Middleton
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont, Laramie, WY 82072
| | - Seth A Moore
- Department of Biology and Environment, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage, MN 55605 USA
| | - Bram Van Moorter
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Terrestrial Ecology Department, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Nicolas Morellet
- Université de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
- LTSER ZA PYRénées GARonne, F-31320 Auzeville-Tolosane, France
| | - Thomas Morrison
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow UK G12 8QQ
| | - Rebekka Müller
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Atle Mysterud
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1066 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway
| | - Michael J Noonan
- Department of Biology, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
| | - David O'Connor
- Save Giraffe Now, 8333 Douglas Avenue, Suite 300, Dallas, Texas 75225
- The Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- National Geographic Partners, 1145 17th Street NW, Washington DC 20036, USA
| | | | - Kirk A Olson
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Mongolia Program. Post 20A, Box 21, Ulaanbaatar 14200, Mongolia
| | - Anna C Ortega
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 USA
| | - Federico Ossi
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all'Adige, Italy
| | - Manuela Panzacchi
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Terrestrial Ecology Department, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Robert Patchett
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Brent R Patterson
- Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Trent University, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada
- Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Wildlife Research and Monitoring Section, Trent University, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada
| | - Rogerio Cunha de Paula
- Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos Carnívoros, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, Atibaia, SP, 12952011 Brazil
| | - John Payne
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Wibke Peters
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Wildlife Management, Bavarian State Institute for Forestry, Hans-Carl-von Carlowitz Platz 1, 85354 Freising
| | - Tyler R Petroelje
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
| | - Benjamin J Pitcher
- Taronga Institute of Science and Learning, Taronga Conservation Society, Sydney, NSW, 2088, Australia
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Boštjan Pokorny
- Faculty of Environmental Protection, Trg mladosti 7, 3320 Velenje, Slovenia
- Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Department of Biodiversity, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska, Glagoljaška 8, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
| | - Kim Poole
- Aurora Wildlife Research, 1918 Shannon Point Rd., Nelson, BC, V1L 6K1 Canada
| | - Hubert Potočnik
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Marie-Pier Poulin
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071 USA
| | - Robert M Pringle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA
| | - Herbert H T Prins
- Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, De Elst 1, 6708 WD, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Nathan Ranc
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all'Adige, Italy
- Université de Toulouse, INRAE, CEFS, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge MA 02138, USA
| | - Slaven Reljić
- Veterinary Biology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
- Oikon Ltd, Institute of Applied Ecology, Trg Senjskih uskoka 1-2, HR-10020 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Benjamin Robb
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Ralf Röder
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christer M Rolandsen
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Terrestrial Ecology Department, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Christian Rutz
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Albert R Salemgareyev
- Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK), Nur-Sultan, 010000, Kazakhstan
| | - Gustaf Samelius
- Snow Leopard Trust, 4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103, USA
- Nordens Ark, 456 93 Hunnebostrand, Sweden
| | - Heather Sayine-Crawford
- Wildlife and Fish Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, P.O. Box 1320, Yellowknife, NT Canada X1A 2L9
| | - Sarah Schooler
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
| | - Çağan H Şekercioğlu
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- KuzeyDoğa Society, Ortakapı Mah. Şehit Yusuf Cad. 69, 36100 Kars, Turkey
- Koç University Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Sciences, Rumelifeneri, Istanbul, Sarıyer, Turkey
| | - Nuria Selva
- Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences, Adama Mickiewicza 33, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
- Departamento de Ciencias Integradas, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Física, Matemáticas y Computación, Universidad de Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain
| | - Paola Semenzato
- Animal Ecology Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all'Adige, Italy
- Dimension Research, Ecology and Environment (D.R.E.Am. Italia), Via Garibaldi, 3, 52015 Pratovecchio Stia (AR), Italy
| | - Agnieszka Sergiel
- Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences, Adama Mickiewicza 33, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
| | - Koustubh Sharma
- Snow Leopard Trust, Seattle, WA 98103, USA
- Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
- Snow Leopard Foundation, Kyrgyzstan Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
- Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore 570002, India
| | - Avery L Shawler
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
| | - Johannes Signer
- Wildlife Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Göttingen Germany
| | - Václav Silovský
- Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic
| | - João Paulo Silva
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
| | - Richard Simon
- City of New York Parks and Recreation, Wildlife Unit, 1234 5th Avenue, 5th Floor, NY, NY, 10029
| | - Rachel A Smiley
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont, Laramie, WY 82072
| | - Douglas W Smith
- Yellowstone Center for Resources, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
| | - Erling J Solberg
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Terrestrial Ecology Department, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Diego Ellis-Soto
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
- Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, CT
- Max Planck - Yale Center for Biodiversity Movement and Global Change, Yale University
| | - Orr Spiegel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Jared Stabach
- Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
| | - Jenna Stacy-Dawes
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido, CA, 92027 USA
| | - Daniel R Stahler
- Yellowstone Center for Resources, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
| | - John Stephenson
- Grand Teton National Park, PO Drawer 170, Moose, Wyoming 83012 USA
| | - Cheyenne Stewart
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 700 Valley View Dr. Sheridan, WY 82801
| | - Olav Strand
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Terrestrial Ecology Department, P.O. Box 5685 Torgarden, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Peter Sunde
- Aarhus University, Department of Ecoscience - Wildlife Ecology, C.F. Møllers Allé 4-8, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | | | - Jonathan Swart
- Welgevonden Game Reserve, P.O. Box 433, Vaalwater, South Africa
| | - Jeffrey J Thompson
- Guyra Paraguay - CONACYT, Asunción, Paraguay
- Instituto Saite, Asunción, Paraguay
| | - Katrina L Toal
- City of New York Parks and Recreation, Wildlife Unit, 1234 5th Avenue, 5th Floor, NY, NY, 10029
| | - Kenneth Uiseb
- Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Windhoek, Namibia
| | - Meredith C VanAcker
- Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
- Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, NY, NY 10027
| | - Marianela Velilla
- Guyra Paraguay - CONACYT, Asunción, Paraguay
- Instituto Saite, Asunción, Paraguay
- School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, 1064 E Lowell St, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
| | - Tana L Verzuh
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont, Laramie, WY 82072
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Brittany L Wagler
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont, Laramie, WY 82072
| | - Jesse Whittington
- Park Canada, Banff National Park Resource Conservation. PO Box 900, Banff, Alberta, Canada. T1L 1K2
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Christopher C Wilmers
- Center for Integrated Spatial Research, Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz CA, 95064 USA
| | - George Wittemyer
- Save the Elephants, Marula Manor, Marula Lane, Karen, Nairobi 00200, Kenya
- Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - Julie K Young
- USDA National Wildlife Research Center, Predator Research Facility, Millville, UT 84326 USA
- Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 USA
| | - Filip Zięba
- Tatra National Park, Kuźnice 1, 34-500, Zakopane, Poland
| | | | - Mark A J Huijbregts
- Department of Environmental Science, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, P.O. Box 9010, 6500, GL Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Thomas Mueller
- Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Department of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Strasse 9, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Ortega AC, Aikens EO, Merkle JA, Monteith KL, Kauffman MJ. Migrating mule deer compensate en route for phenological mismatches. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2008. [PMID: 37037806 PMCID: PMC10086060 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37750-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Billions of animals migrate to track seasonal pulses in resources. Optimally timing migration is a key strategy, yet the ability of animals to compensate for phenological mismatches en route is largely unknown. Using GPS movement data collected from 72 adult female deer over a 10-year duration, we study a population of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Wyoming that lack reliable cues on their desert winter range, causing them to start migration 70 days ahead to 52 days behind the wave of spring green-up. We show that individual deer arrive at their summer range within an average 6-day window by adjusting movement speed and stopover use. Late migrants move 2.5 times faster and spend 72% less time on stopovers than early migrants, which allows them to catch the green wave. Our findings suggest that ungulates, and potentially other migratory species, possess cognitive abilities to recognize where they are in space and time relative to key resources. Such behavioral capacity may allow migratory taxa to maintain foraging benefits amid rapidly changing phenology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna C Ortega
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA.
- Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA.
| | - Ellen O Aikens
- U.S. Geological Survey, South Dakota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Natural Resource Management, Brookings, SD, 57006, USA
| | - Jerod A Merkle
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82072, USA
| | - Matthew J Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA
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7
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LaSharr TN, Jakopak RP, Dwinnell SPH, Rafferty RT, Thonhoff M, Kaiser RC, Fralick GL, Monteith KL. Maternal effects and the legacy of extreme environmental events for wild mammals. Ecology 2023; 104:e3953. [PMID: 36484728 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tayler N LaSharr
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Rhiannon P Jakopak
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Samantha P H Dwinnell
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Rebekah T Rafferty
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Mark Thonhoff
- Bureau of Land Management, Pinedale Field Office, Pinedale, Wyoming, USA
| | - Rusty C Kaiser
- United States Forest Service, Big Piney Ranger District, Big Piney, Wyoming, USA
| | - Gary L Fralick
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Jackson Regional Office, Jackson, Wyoming, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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8
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Verzuh TL, Rogers SA, Mathewson PD, May A, Porter WP, Class C, Knox L, Cufaude T, Hall LE, Long RA, Monteith KL. Behavioural responses of a large, heat-sensitive mammal to climatic variation at multiple spatial scales. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:619-634. [PMID: 36527180 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Climate warming creates energetic challenges for endothermic species by increasing metabolic and hydric costs of thermoregulation. Although endotherms can invoke an array of behavioural and physiological strategies for maintaining homeostasis, the relative effectiveness of those strategies in a climate that is becoming both warmer and drier is not well understood. In accordance with the heat dissipation limit theory which suggests that allocation of energy to growth and reproduction by endotherms is constrained by the ability to dissipate heat, we expected that patterns of habitat use by large, heat-sensitive mammals across multiple scales are critical for behavioural thermoregulation during periods of potential heat stress and that they must invest a large portion of time to maintain heat balance. To test our predictions, we evaluated mechanisms underpinning the effectiveness of bed sites for ameliorating daytime heat loads and potential heat stress across the landscape while accounting for other factors known to affect behaviour. We integrated detailed data on microclimate and animal attributes of moose Alces alces, into a biophysical model to quantify costs of thermoregulation at fine and coarse spatial scales. During summer, moose spent an average of 67.8% of daylight hours bedded, and selected bed sites and home ranges that reduced risk of experiencing heat stress. For most of the day, shade could effectively mitigate the risk of experiencing heat stress up to 10°C, but at warmer temperatures (up to 20°C) wet soil was necessary to maintain homeostasis via conductive heat loss. Consistent selection across spatial scales for locations that reduced heat load underscores the importance of the thermal environment as a driver of behaviour in this heat-sensitive mammal. Moose in North America have long been characterized as riparian-obligate species because of their dependence on woody plant species for food. Nevertheless, the importance of dissipating endogenous heat loads conductively through wet soil suggests riparian habitats also are critical thermal refuges for moose. Such refuges may be especially important in the face of a warming climate in which both high environmental temperatures and drier conditions will likely exacerbate limits to heat dissipation, especially for large, heat-sensitive animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tana L Verzuh
- Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Savannah A Rogers
- Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA
| | - Paul D Mathewson
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin, Maddison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Alex May
- Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Warren P Porter
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin, Maddison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Corey Class
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA
| | - Lee Knox
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA
| | - Teal Cufaude
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA
| | - L Embere Hall
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Ryan A Long
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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9
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Brunet MJ, Monteith KL, Huggler KS, Thompson DJ, Burke PW, Zornes M, Lionberger P, Valdez M, Holbrook JD. Spatiotemporal predictions of the alternative prey hypothesis: Predator habitat use during decreasing prey abundance. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Mitchell J. Brunet
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | - Katey S. Huggler
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | | | | | - Mark Zornes
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Green River Wyoming USA
| | - Patrick Lionberger
- Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office Rock Springs Wyoming USA
| | - Miguel Valdez
- Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office Rock Springs Wyoming USA
| | - Joseph D. Holbrook
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
- Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
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10
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Ortega AC, LaSharr TN, Kauffman MJ, Monteith KL. Energy expenditure of fat in a large herbivore is non-linear over winter. Ecology 2022; 104:e3952. [PMID: 36495073 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna C Ortega
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Tayler N LaSharr
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Matthew J Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.,Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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11
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LaSharr TN, Dwinnell SPH, Wagler BL, Sawyer H, Jakopak RP, Ortega AC, Wilde LR, Kauffman MJ, Huggler KS, Burke PW, Valdez M, Lionberger P, Brimeyer DG, Scurlock B, Randall J, Kaiser RC, Thonhoff M, Fralick GL, Monteith KL. Evaluating risks associated with capture and handling of mule deer for individual‐based, long‐term research. J Wildl Manage 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tayler N. LaSharr
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Samantha P. H. Dwinnell
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Brittany L. Wagler
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Hall Sawyer
- Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc. 1610 Reynolds Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Rhiannon P. Jakopak
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Anna C. Ortega
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Luke R. Wilde
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Matthew J. Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Katey S. Huggler
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Patrick W. Burke
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 351 Astle Avenue Green River WY 82935 USA
| | - Miguel Valdez
- Bureau of Land Management Rock Springs Field Office 280 US‐191 Rock Springs WY 82901 USA
| | - Patrick Lionberger
- Bureau of Land Management Rock Springs Field Office 280 US‐191 Rock Springs WY 82901 USA
| | - Douglas G. Brimeyer
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Department Headquarters 5400 Bishop Boulevard Cheyenne WY 82006 USA
| | - Brandon Scurlock
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Pinedale Regional Office 432 Mill Street Pinedale WY 82941 USA
| | - Jill Randall
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Pinedale Regional Office 432 Mill Street Pinedale WY 82941 USA
| | - Rusty C. Kaiser
- United States Forest Service Big Piney Ranger District, 10418 South US Highway 189 Big Piney WY 83113 USA
| | - Mark Thonhoff
- Bureau of Land Management Pinedale Field Office 1625 West Pine Street Pinedale WY 82941 USA
| | - Gary L. Fralick
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Jackson Regional Office 420 North Cache Jackson WY 83001 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
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12
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Jakopak RP, Sawyer H, LaSharr TN, Randall J, Dwinnell SP, Fralick GL, Monteith KL. Diel timing of migration is not plastic in a migratory ungulate. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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13
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Huggler KS, Holbrook JD, Hayes MM, Burke PW, Zornes M, Thompson DJ, Clapp JG, Lionberger P, Valdez M, Monteith KL. Risky business: How an herbivore navigates spatiotemporal aspects of risk from competitors and predators. Ecol Appl 2022; 32:e2648. [PMID: 35535971 PMCID: PMC9787716 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Understanding factors that influence animal behavior is central to ecology. Basic principles of animal ecology imply that individuals should seek to maximize survival and reproduction, which means carefully weighing risk against reward. Decisions become increasingly complex and constrained, however, when risk is spatiotemporally variable. We advance a growing body of work in predator-prey behavior by evaluating novel questions where a prey species is confronted with multiple predators and a potential competitor. We tested how fine-scale behavior of female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) during the reproductive season shifted depending upon spatial and temporal variation in risk from predators and a potential competitor. We expected female deer to avoid areas of high risk when movement activity of predators and a competitor were high. We used GPS data collected from 76 adult female mule deer, 35 adult female elk, 33 adult coyotes, and six adult mountain lions. Counter to our expectations, female deer exhibited selection for multiple risk factors, however, selection for risk was dampened by the exposure to risk within home ranges of female deer, producing a functional response in habitat selection. Furthermore, temporal variation in movement activity of predators and elk across the diel cycle did not result in a shift in movement activity by female deer. Instead, the average level of risk within their home range was the predominant factor modulating the response to risk by female deer. Our results counter prevailing hypotheses of how large herbivores navigate risky landscapes and emphasize the importance of accounting for the local environment when identifying effects of risk on animal behavior. Moreover, our findings highlight additional behavioral mechanisms used by large herbivores to mitigate multiple sources of predation and potential competitive interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katey S. Huggler
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
| | - Joseph D. Holbrook
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
| | - Matthew M. Hayes
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
| | - Patrick W. Burke
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Green River RegionGreen RiverWyomingUSA
| | - Mark Zornes
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Green River RegionGreen RiverWyomingUSA
| | - Daniel J. Thompson
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Large Carnivore SectionLanderWyomingUSA
| | - Justin G. Clapp
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Large Carnivore SectionLanderWyomingUSA
| | - Patrick Lionberger
- Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field OfficeRock SpringsWyomingUSA
| | - Miguel Valdez
- Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field OfficeRock SpringsWyomingUSA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesUniversity of WyomingLaramieWyomingUSA
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14
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Denryter K, Conner MM, Stephenson TR, German DW, Monteith KL. Survival of the fattest: how body fat and migration influence survival in highly seasonal environments. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Denryter
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont Laramie WY USA
| | - Mary M. Conner
- Utah State University Department of Wildland Resources, 5320 Old Main Hill Logan UT USA
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 787 North Main Street, Suite 220 Bishop CA USA
| | - Thomas R. Stephenson
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, 787 North Main Street, Suite 220 Bishop CA USA
| | - David W. German
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, 787 North Main Street, Suite 220 Bishop CA USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont Laramie WY USA
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15
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Levine RL, Dwinnell SPH, Kroger B, Class C, Monteith KL. Helicopter‐based immobilization of moose using butorphanol–azaperone–medetomidine. WILDLIFE SOC B 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L. Levine
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Samantha P. H. Dwinnell
- Arctic and Terrestrial Biology The University Centre in Svalbard P.O. Box 156 N−9187, 9170 Longyearbyen Norway
| | - Bart Kroger
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 2820 WY‐120 Cody WY 82414 USA
| | - Corey Class
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 2820 WY‐120 Cody WY 82414 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
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16
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Smiley RA, Wagler BL, LaSharr TN, Denryter KA, Stephenson TR, Courtemanch AB, Mong TW, Lutz D, McWhirter D, Brimeyer D, Hnilicka P, Lowrey B, Monteith KL. Heterogeneity in risk‐sensitive allocation of somatic reserves in a long‐lived mammal. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A. Smiley
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | - Brittany L. Wagler
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | - Tayler N. LaSharr
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | | | - Thomas R. Stephenson
- Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Bishop California USA
| | | | - Tony W. Mong
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Cody Wyoming USA
| | - Daryl Lutz
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Lander Wyoming USA
| | | | - Doug Brimeyer
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Cheyenne Wyoming USA
| | | | - Blake Lowrey
- Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, Department of Ecology Montana State University Bozeman Montana USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
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17
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Wagler BL, Smiley RA, Courtemanch AB, Anderson G, Lutz D, McWhirter D, Brimeyer D, Hnilicka P, Massing CP, German DW, Stephenson TR, Monteith KL. Effects of helicopter net‐gunning on survival of bighorn sheep. J Wildl Manage 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Brittany L. Wagler
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Rachel A. Smiley
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | | | - Gregory Anderson
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 260 Buena Vista Drive Lander WY 82520 USA
| | - Daryl Lutz
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 260 Buena Vista Drive Lander WY 82520 USA
| | - Doug McWhirter
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 420 N Cache Street Jackson WY 83001 USA
| | - Doug Brimeyer
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 5400 Bishop Boulevard Cheyenne WY 82006 USA
| | - Patrick Hnilicka
- US Fish and Wildlife Service 170 N First Street Lander WY 82520 USA
| | - Cody P. Massing
- Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 787 N Main Street, Suite 220, Bishop CA 93514 USA
| | - David W. German
- Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 787 N Main Street, Suite 220, Bishop CA 93514 USA
| | - Thomas R. Stephenson
- Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 787 N Main Street, Suite 220, Bishop CA 93514 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Street Laramie WY 82071 USA
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18
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Smiley RA, LaSharr TN, Abernathy HN, Shakeri YN, Levine RL, Rankins ST, Jakopak RP, Rafferty RT, Kolek JT, Wagler BL, Dwinnell SPH, Robinson TJ, Randall JE, Kaiser RC, Thonhoff M, Scurlock B, Fieseler T, Fralick GL, Monteith KL. Biomarkers of Animal Nutrition: From Seasonal to Lifetime Indicators of Environmental Conditions. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12030375. [PMID: 35330126 PMCID: PMC8949293 DOI: 10.3390/life12030375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutrition underpins survival and reproduction in animal populations; reliable nutritional biomarkers are therefore requisites to understanding environmental drivers of population dynamics. Biomarkers vary in scope of inference and sensitivity, making it important to know what and when to measure to properly quantify biological responses. We evaluated the repeatability of three nutritional biomarkers in a large, iteroparous mammal to evaluate the level of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to those traits. During a long-term, individual-based study in a highly variable environment, we measured body fat, body mass, and lean mass of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) each autumn and spring. Lean mass was the most repeatable biomarker (0.72 autumn; 0.61 spring), followed by body mass (0.64 autumn; 0.53 spring), and then body fat (0.22 autumn; 0.01 spring). High repeatability in body and lean mass likely reflects primary structural composition, which is conserved across seasons. Low repeatability of body fat supports that it is the primary labile source of energy that is largely a product of environmental contributions of the previous season. Based on the disparate levels in repeatability among nutritional biomarkers, we contend that body and lean mass are better indicators of nutritional legacies (e.g., maternal effects), whereas body fat is a direct and sensitive reflection of recent nutritional gains and losses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A. Smiley
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Correspondence:
| | - Tayler N. LaSharr
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Heather N. Abernathy
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
| | - Yasaman N. Shakeri
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Rebecca L. Levine
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
| | - Seth T. Rankins
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Rhiannon P. Jakopak
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
| | - Rebekah T. Rafferty
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Jaron T. Kolek
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Brittany L. Wagler
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Samantha P. H. Dwinnell
- Arctic Terrestrial Biology, The University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156 N−9187, 9170 Longyearbyen, Norway;
| | - Timothy J. Robinson
- Department of Mathematics & Statistics, University of Wyoming, Department 3036, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA;
| | - Jill E. Randall
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Pinedale Regional Office, 432 Mill St., Pinedale, WY 82941, USA; (J.E.R.); (B.S.); (T.F.)
| | - Rusty C. Kaiser
- United States Forest Service, Big Piney Ranger District, 10418 South US Highway 189, Big Piney, WY 83113, USA;
| | - Mark Thonhoff
- Bureau of Land Management, Pinedale Field Office, 1625 West Pine St., Pinedale, WY 82941, USA;
| | - Brandon Scurlock
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Pinedale Regional Office, 432 Mill St., Pinedale, WY 82941, USA; (J.E.R.); (B.S.); (T.F.)
| | - Troy Fieseler
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Pinedale Regional Office, 432 Mill St., Pinedale, WY 82941, USA; (J.E.R.); (B.S.); (T.F.)
| | - Gary L. Fralick
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Jackson Regional Office, 420 North Cache, Jackson, WY 83001, USA;
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E Fremont St., Laramie, WY 82072, USA; (T.N.L.); (H.N.A.); (Y.N.S.); (R.L.L.); (S.T.R.); (R.P.J.); (R.T.R.); (J.T.K.); (B.L.W.); (K.L.M.)
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
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19
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Brunet MJ, Monteith KL, Huggler KS, Clapp JG, Thompson DJ, Burke PW, Zornes M, Lionberger P, Valdez M, Holbrook JD. Cats and dogs: A mesopredator navigating risk and reward provisioned by an apex predator. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8641. [PMID: 35228863 PMCID: PMC8861835 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Revised: 01/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Successfully perceiving risk and reward is fundamental to the fitness of an animal, and can be achieved through a variety of perception tactics. For example, mesopredators may “directly” perceive risk by visually observing apex predators, or may “indirectly” perceive risk by observing habitats used by predators. Direct assessments should more accurately characterize the arrangement of risk and reward; however, indirect assessments are used more frequently in studies concerning the response of GPS‐marked animals to spatiotemporally variable sources of risk and reward. We investigated the response of a mesopredator to the presence of risk and reward created by an apex predator, where risk and reward likely vary in relative perceptibility (i.e., degree of being perceptible). First, we tested whether coyotes (Canis latrans) use direct or indirect assessments to navigate the presence of mountain lions (Puma concolor; risk) and kills made by mountain lions (reward) in an area where coyotes were a common prey item for mountain lions. Second, we assessed the behavioral response of coyotes to direct encounters with mountain lions. Third, we evaluated spatiotemporal use of carrion by coyotes at kills made by mountain lions. Indirect assessments generally outperformed direct assessments when integrating analyses into a unified framework; nevertheless, our ability to detect direct perception in navigating to mountain lion kills was likely restricted by scale and sampling limitations (e.g., collar fix rates, unsampled kill sites). Rather than responding to the risk of direct encounters with mountain lions, coyotes facilitated encounters by increasing their movement rate, and engaged in risky behavior by scavenging at mountain lion kills. Coyotes appear to mitigate risk by using indirect perception to avoid mountain lions. Our predator–predator interactions and insights are nuanced and counter to the conventional predator–prey systems that have generated much of the predation risk literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitchell J Brunet
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA.,Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA.,Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | - Katey S Huggler
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA.,Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
| | | | | | | | - Mark Zornes
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department Green River Wyoming USA
| | - Patrick Lionberger
- Bureau of Land Management Rock Springs Field Office Rock Springs Wyoming USA
| | - Miguel Valdez
- Bureau of Land Management Rock Springs Field Office Rock Springs Wyoming USA
| | - Joseph D Holbrook
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie Wyoming USA
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Martin AM, Hogg JT, Manlove KR, LaSharr TN, Shannon JM, McWhirter DE, Miyasaki H, Monteith KL, Cross PC. Disease and secondary sexual traits: effects of pneumonia on horn size of bighorn sheep. J Wildl Manage 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alynn M. Martin
- U.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center 2327 University Way, Suite #2 Bozeman MT 59715 USA
| | - John T. Hogg
- Montana Conservation Science Institute Missoula MT 59803 USA
| | - Kezia R. Manlove
- Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center Utah State University Logan UT 84322 USA
| | - Tayler N. LaSharr
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Justin M. Shannon
- Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Utah Department of Natural Resources Salt Lake City UT 84116 USA
| | | | | | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Paul C. Cross
- U.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center 2327 University Way, Suite #2 Bozeman MT 59715 USA
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21
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Street GM, Potts JR, Börger L, Beasley JC, Demarais S, Fryxell JM, McLoughlin PD, Monteith KL, Prokopenko CM, Ribeiro MC, Rodgers AR, Strickland BK, Beest FM, Bernasconi DA, Beumer LT, Dharmarajan G, Dwinnell SP, Keiter DA, Keuroghlian A, Newediuk LJ, Oshima JEF, Rhodes O, Schlichting PE, Schmidt NM, Vander Wal E. Solving the sample size problem for resource selection functions. Methods Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Garrett M. Street
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Mississippi State University Mississippi State MS USA
- Quantitative Ecology and Spatial Technologies Laboratory Mississippi State University Mississippi State MS USA
| | - Jonathan R. Potts
- School of Mathematics and Statistics University of Sheffield Sheffield UK
| | - Luca Börger
- Department of Biosciences Swansea University Swansea UK
- Centre for Biomathematics Swansea University Swansea UK
| | - James C. Beasley
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory University of Georgia Aiken SC USA
| | - Stephen Demarais
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Mississippi State University Mississippi State MS USA
| | - John M. Fryxell
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON Canada
| | | | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
| | | | - Miltinho C. Ribeiro
- Instituto de Biosciências Universidad Estadual Paulista Rio Claro, São Paulo Brazil
| | - Arthur R. Rodgers
- Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry ON Canada
| | - Bronson K. Strickland
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Mississippi State University Mississippi State MS USA
| | | | | | | | - Guha Dharmarajan
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory University of Georgia Aiken SC USA
| | - Samantha P. Dwinnell
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
| | - David A. Keiter
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory University of Georgia Aiken SC USA
| | | | - Levi J. Newediuk
- Department of Biology Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s NL Canada
| | - Júlia Emi F. Oshima
- Instituto de Biosciências Universidad Estadual Paulista Rio Claro, São Paulo Brazil
| | - Olin Rhodes
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory University of Georgia Aiken SC USA
| | | | | | - Eric Vander Wal
- Department of Biology Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s NL Canada
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22
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Kauffman MJ, Aikens EO, Esmaeili S, Kaczensky P, Middleton A, Monteith KL, Morrison TA, Mueller T, Sawyer H, Goheen JR. Causes, Consequences, and Conservation of Ungulate Migration. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 2021. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012021-011516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Our understanding of ungulate migration is advancing rapidly due to innovations in modern animal tracking. Herein, we review and synthesize nearly seven decades of work on migration and other long-distance movements of wild ungulates. Although it has long been appreciated that ungulates migrate to enhance access to forage, recent contributions demonstrate that their movements are fine tuned to dynamic landscapes where forage, snow, and drought change seasonally. Researchers are beginning to understand how ungulates navigate migrations, with the emerging view that animals blend gradient tracking with spatial memory, some of which is socially learned. Although migration often promotes abundant populations—with broad effects on ecosystems—many migrations around the world have been lost or are currently threatened by habitat fragmentation, climate change, and barriers to movement. Fortunately, new efforts that use empirical tracking data to map migrations in detail are facilitating effective conservation measures to maintain ungulate migration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
| | - Ellen O. Aikens
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Saeideh Esmaeili
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
| | - Petra Kaczensky
- Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN), NO-2480 Koppang, Norway
- University of Veterinary Sciences Vienna, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, A-1160 Vienna, Austria
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Arthur Middleton
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94709, USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82072, USA
| | - Thomas A. Morrison
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health, and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas Mueller
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, 60325 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
- Department of Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt (Main), Germany
| | - Hall Sawyer
- Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., Laramie, Wyoming 82072, USA
| | - Jacob R. Goheen
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
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23
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Jakopak RP, Western J, Monteith KL. Embracing Complexity and Context to Improve Science Communication. J Wildl Manage 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rhiannon P. Jakopak
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Jessica Western
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie WY 82071 USA
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24
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Verzuh TL, Hall LE, Cufaude T, Knox L, Class C, Monteith KL. Behavioural flexibility in a heat-sensitive endotherm: the role of bed sites as thermal refuges. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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25
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Dwinnell SPH, Sawyer H, Kauffman MJ, Randall JE, Kaiser RC, Thonhoff MA, Fralick GL, Monteith KL. Short‐term responses to a human‐altered landscape do not affect fat dynamics of a migratory ungulate. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Samantha P. H. Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
| | - Hall Sawyer
- Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc. Laramie WY USA
| | - Matthew J. Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
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26
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Jesmer BR, Kauffman MJ, Courtemanch AB, Kilpatrick S, Thomas T, Yost J, Monteith KL, Goheen JR. Life-history theory provides a framework for detecting resource limitation: a test of the Nutritional Buffer Hypothesis. Ecol Appl 2021; 31:e02299. [PMID: 33428817 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
For ungulates and other long-lived species, life-history theory predicts that nutritional reserves are allocated to reproduction in a state-dependent manner because survival is highly conserved. Further, as per capita food abundance and nutritional reserves decline (i.e., density dependence intensifies), reproduction and recruitment become increasingly sensitive to weather. Thus, the degree to which weather influences vital rates should be associated with proximity to nutritional carrying capacity-a notion that we refer to as the Nutritional Buffer Hypothesis. We tested the Nutritional Buffer Hypothesis using six moose (Alces alces) populations that varied in calf recruitment (33-69 calves/100 cows). We predicted that populations with high calf recruitment were nutritionally buffered against the effects of unfavorable weather, and thus were below nutritional carrying capacity. We applied a suite of tools to quantify habitat and nutritional condition of each population and found that increased browse condition, forage quality, and body fat were associated with increased pregnancy and calf recruitment, thereby providing multiple lines of evidence that declines in calf recruitment were underpinned by resource limitation. From 2001 to 2015, recruitment was more sensitive to interannual variation in weather (e.g., winter severity, drought) and plant phenology (e.g., duration of spring) for populations with reduced browse condition, forage quality, and body fat, suggesting these populations lacked the nutritional reserves necessary to buffer demographic performance against the effects of unfavorable weather. Further, average within-population calf recruitment was determined by regional climatic variation, suggesting that the pattern of reduced recruitment near the southern range boundary of moose stems from an interaction between climate and resource limitation. When coupled with information on habitat, nutrition, weather, and climate, life-history theory provides a framework to estimate nutritional limitation, proximity to nutritional carrying capacity, and impacts of climate change for ungulates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brett R Jesmer
- Program in Ecology, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
- Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, USA
| | - Matthew J Kauffman
- Program in Ecology, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
| | | | - Steve Kilpatrick
- Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation, P.O. Box 666, Cody, Wyoming, 82414, USA
| | - Timothy Thomas
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, P.O. Box 6249, Sheridan, Wyoming, 82801, USA
| | - Jeff Yost
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife, P.O. Box 775777, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 80487, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Program in Ecology, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
| | - Jacob R Goheen
- Program in Ecology, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
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27
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Kauffman MJ, Cagnacci F, Chamaillé-Jammes S, Hebblewhite M, Hopcraft JGC, Merkle JA, Mueller T, Mysterud A, Peters W, Roettger C, Steingisser A, Meacham JE, Abera K, Adamczewski J, Aikens EO, Bartlam-Brooks H, Bennitt E, Berger J, Boyd C, Côté SD, Debeffe L, Dekrout AS, Dejid N, Donadio E, Dziba L, Fagan WF, Fischer C, Focardi S, Fryxell JM, Fynn RWS, Geremia C, González BA, Gunn A, Gurarie E, Heurich M, Hilty J, Hurley M, Johnson A, Joly K, Kaczensky P, Kendall CJ, Kochkarev P, Kolpaschikov L, Kowalczyk R, van Langevelde F, Li BV, Lobora AL, Loison A, Madiri TH, Mallon D, Marchand P, Medellin RA, Meisingset E, Merrill E, Middleton AD, Monteith KL, Morjan M, Morrison TA, Mumme S, Naidoo R, Novaro A, Ogutu JO, Olson KA, Oteng-Yeboah A, Ovejero RJA, Owen-Smith N, Paasivaara A, Packer C, Panchenko D, Pedrotti L, Plumptre AJ, Rolandsen CM, Said S, Salemgareyev A, Savchenko A, Savchenko P, Sawyer H, Selebatso M, Skroch M, Solberg E, Stabach JA, Strand O, Suitor MJ, Tachiki Y, Trainor A, Tshipa A, Virani MZ, Vynne C, Ward S, Wittemyer G, Xu W, Zuther S. Mapping out a future for ungulate migrations. Science 2021; 372:566-569. [PMID: 33958460 DOI: 10.1126/science.abf0998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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28
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Aikens EO, Dwinnell SPH, LaSharr TN, Jakopak RP, Fralick GL, Randall J, Kaiser R, Thonhoff M, Kauffman MJ, Monteith KL. Migration distance and maternal resource allocation determine timing of birth in a large herbivore. Ecology 2021; 102:e03334. [PMID: 33710647 PMCID: PMC8243980 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Birth timing is a key life‐history characteristic that influences fitness and population performance. For migratory animals, however, appropriately timing birth on one seasonal range may be constrained by events occurring during other parts of the migratory cycle. We investigated how the use of capital and income resources may facilitate flexibility in reproductive phenology of migratory mule deer in western Wyoming, USA, over a 5‐yr period (2015–2019). Specifically, we examined how seasonal interactions affected three interrelated life‐history characteristics: fetal development, birth mass, and birth timing. Females in good nutritional condition at the onset of winter and those that migrated short distances had more developed fetuses (measured as fetal eye diameter in March). Variation in parturition date was explained largely by fetal development; however, there were up to 16 d of plasticity in expected birth date. Plasticity in expected birth date was shaped by income resources in the form of exposure to spring green‐up. Although individuals that experienced greater exposure to spring green‐up were able to advance expected birth date, being born early or late with respect to fetal development had no effect on birth mass of offspring. Furthermore, we investigated the trade‐offs migrating mule deer face by evaluating support for existing theory that predicts that births should be matched to local peaks in resource availability at the birth site. In contrast to this prediction, only long‐distance migrants that paced migration with the flush of spring green‐up, giving birth shortly after ending migration, were able to match birth with spring green‐up. Shorter‐distance migrants completed migration sooner and gave birth earlier, seemingly trading off more time for offspring to grow and develop over greater access to resources. Thus, movement tactic had profound downstream effects on birth timing. These findings highlight a need to reconsider classical theory on optimal birth timing, which has focused solely on conditions at the birth site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen O Aikens
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Laramie, Wyoming, 82701, USA.,Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
| | - Samantha P H Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E. Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
| | - Tayler N LaSharr
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Laramie, Wyoming, 82701, USA.,Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E. Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
| | - Rhiannon P Jakopak
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Laramie, Wyoming, 82701, USA.,Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E. Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
| | - Gary L Fralick
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, P.O. Box 1022, Thayne, Wyoming, 83127, USA
| | - Jill Randall
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, PO Box 850, 432 East Mill St, Pinedale, Wyoming, 82941, USA
| | - Rusty Kaiser
- U.S. Forest Service, 10418 Highway 189, Big Piney, Wyoming, 83113, USA
| | - Mark Thonhoff
- U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1625 W Pine St, PO Box 768, Pinedale, Wyoming, 82941, USA
| | - Matthew J Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Laramie, Wyoming, 82701, USA.,Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 E. Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
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29
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Donovan VM, Dwinnell SPH, Beck JL, Roberts CP, Clapp JG, Hiatt GS, Monteith KL, Twidwell D. Fire-driven landscape heterogeneity shapes habitat selection of bighorn sheep. J Mammal 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyab035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Patterns in disturbance severity and time since fire can drive landscape heterogeneity that is critical to conservation; however, there is limited understanding of how wildlife interact with the spatial–temporal complexities of disturbance outcomes and at what scales. We conducted multiscale modeling of habitat selection for male and female Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) over an 8-year period. We aimed to identify the spatial scales at which bighorn sheep responded to various habitat features and determine how fire severity and time since fire can shape habitat selection by bighorn sheep over different seasons and between sexes. With the exception of litter cover, spatial scales that extended beyond the finest spatial grain (i.e., a 30-m pixel) to include the surrounding landscape were better at predicting habitat selection. Escape terrain, elevation, fire severity, year, perennial and annual forb and grass cover, and shrub cover occurred in every best-supported model. Associations with escape terrain, elevation, and perennial and annual forb and grass cover varied by sex and season. In contrast, bighorn sheep were consistently positively associated with low- and high-severity fire. Females increased use of low- and high-severity burned areas with greater time since fire, while males tended to decrease use of areas that burned at high severity with greater time since fire. Our results support the importance of landscape heterogeneity created by fire severity and time since fire for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and reinforces calls to integrate disturbance-driven heterogeneity into our assessments and management of wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria M Donovan
- Department of Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 66583-0915, USA
| | - Samantha P H Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont Street, Laramie, WY 82072, USA
| | - Jeffrey L Beck
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Wyoming, 1000 E University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
| | - Caleb P Roberts
- Department of Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 66583-0915, USA
| | - Justin G Clapp
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, State of Wyoming, 260 Buena Vista Drive, Lander, WY 82520, USA
| | - Greg S Hiatt
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, State of Wyoming, P.O. Box 186, Sinclair, WY 82334, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont Street, Laramie, WY 82072, USA
| | - Dirac Twidwell
- Department of Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 66583-0915, USA
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30
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Denryter K, Stephenson TR, Monteith KL. Broadening the migratory portfolio of altitudinal migrants. Ecology 2021; 102:e03321. [PMID: 33690892 PMCID: PMC8459274 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Denryter
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
| | - Thomas R Stephenson
- Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 787 North Main Street, Suite 220, Bishop, California, 93514, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Zoology and Physiology, and Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, 804 East Fremont, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
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31
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Morrison TA, Merkle JA, Hopcraft JGC, Aikens EO, Beck JL, Boone RB, Courtemanch AB, Dwinnell SP, Fairbanks WS, Griffith B, Middleton AD, Monteith KL, Oates B, Riotte-Lambert L, Sawyer H, Smith KT, Stabach JA, Taylor KL, Kauffman MJ. Drivers of site fidelity in ungulates. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:955-966. [PMID: 33481254 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
While the tendency to return to previously visited locations-termed 'site fidelity'-is common in animals, the cause of this behaviour is not well understood. One hypothesis is that site fidelity is shaped by an animal's environment, such that animals living in landscapes with predictable resources have stronger site fidelity. Site fidelity may also be conditional on the success of animals' recent visits to that location, and it may become stronger with age as the animal accumulates experience in their landscape. Finally, differences between species, such as the way memory shapes site attractiveness, may interact with environmental drivers to modulate the strength of site fidelity. We compared inter-year site fidelity in 669 individuals across eight ungulate species fitted with GPS collars and occupying a range of environmental conditions in North America and Africa. We used a distance-based index of site fidelity and tested hypothesized drivers of site fidelity using linear mixed effects models, while accounting for variation in annual range size. Mule deer Odocoileus hemionus and moose Alces alces exhibited relatively strong site fidelity, while wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus and barren-ground caribou Rangifer tarandus granti had relatively weak fidelity. Site fidelity was strongest in predictable landscapes where vegetative greening occurred at regular intervals over time (i.e. high temporal contingency). Species differed in their response to spatial heterogeneity in greenness (i.e. spatial constancy). Site fidelity varied seasonally in some species, but remained constant over time in others. Elk employed a 'win-stay, lose-switch' strategy, in which successful resource tracking in the springtime resulted in strong site fidelity the following spring. Site fidelity did not vary with age in any species tested. Our results provide support for the environmental hypothesis, particularly that regularity in vegetative phenology shapes the strength of site fidelity at the inter-annual scale. Large unexplained differences in site fidelity suggest that other factors, possibly species-specific differences in attraction to known sites, contribute to variation in the expression of this behaviour. Understanding drivers of variation in site fidelity across groups of organisms living in different environments provides important behavioural context for predicting how animals will respond to environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A Morrison
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Jerod A Merkle
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - J Grant C Hopcraft
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Ellen O Aikens
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jeffrey L Beck
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Randall B Boone
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability and the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | | | - Samantha P Dwinnell
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - W Sue Fairbanks
- Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA
| | - Brad Griffith
- U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Arthur D Middleton
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.,Department of Zoology and Physiology & Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Brendan Oates
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Louise Riotte-Lambert
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Hall Sawyer
- Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Kurt T Smith
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Jared A Stabach
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, VA, USA
| | | | - Matthew J Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
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Oates BA, Monteith KL, Goheen JR, Merkle JA, Fralick GL, Kauffman MJ. Detecting Resource Limitation in a Large Herbivore Population Is Enhanced With Measures of Nutritional Condition. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.522174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Resource limitation at the population level is a function of forage quality and its abundance relative to its per capita availability, which in turn, determines nutritional condition of individuals. Effects of resource limitation on population dynamics in ungulates often occur through predictable and sequential changes in vital rates, which can enable assessments of how resource limitation influences population growth. We tested theoretical predictions of bottom-up (i.e., resource limitation) forcing on moose (Alces alces) through the lens of vital rates by quantifying the relative influence of intrinsic measures of nutritional condition and extrinsic measures of remotely sensed environmental data on demographic rates. We measured rates of pregnancy, parturition, juvenile, and adult survival for 82 adult females in a population where predators largely were absent. Life stage simulation analyses (LSAs) indicated that interannual fluctuations in adult survival contributed to most of the variability in λ. We then extended the LSA to estimate vital rates as a function of bottom-up covariates to evaluate their influence on λ. We detected weak signatures of effects from environmental covariates that were remotely sensed and spatially explicit to each seasonal range. Instead, nutritional condition strongly influenced rates of pregnancy, parturition, and overwinter survival of adults, clearly implicating resource limitation on λ. Our findings depart from the classic life-history paradigm of population dynamics in ungulates in that adult survival was highly variable and generated most of the variability in population growth rates. At the surface, lack of variation explained by environmental covariates may suggest weak evidence of resource limitation in the population, when nutritional condition actually underpinned most demographics. We suggest that variability in vital rates and effects of resource limitation may depend on context more than previously appreciated, and density dependence can obfuscate the relationships between remotely sensed data and demographic rates.
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Denryter K, German DW, Stephenson TR, Monteith KL. State- and context-dependent applications of an energetics model in free-ranging bighorn sheep. Ecol Modell 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Ortega AC, Dwinnell SP, Lasharr TN, Jakopak RP, Denryter K, Huggler KS, Hayes MM, Aikens EO, Verzuh TL, May AB, Kauffman MJ, Monteith KL. Effectiveness of Partial Sedation to Reduce Stress in Captured Mule Deer. J Wildl Manage 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna C. Ortega
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 1000 East University Avenue Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Samantha P. Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Tayler N. Lasharr
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Rhiannon P. Jakopak
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Kristin Denryter
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Katey S. Huggler
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Matthew M. Hayes
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Ellen O. Aikens
- Program in Ecology, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 1000 East University Avenue Laramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Tana L. Verzuh
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Alexander B. May
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Matthew J. Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 1000 East University Avenue Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
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Maloney M, Merkle JA, Aadland D, Peck D, Horan RD, Monteith KL, Winslow T, Logan J, Finnoff D, Sims C, Schumaker B. Chronic wasting disease undermines efforts to control the spread of brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Ecol Appl 2020; 30:e02129. [PMID: 32223053 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Wildlife diseases pose a substantial threat to the provisioning of ecosystem services. We use a novel modeling approach to study the potential loss of these services through the imminent introduction of chronic wasting disease (CWD) to elk populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). A specific concern is that concentrating elk at feedgrounds may exacerbate the spread of CWD, whereas eliminating feedgrounds may increase the number of elk on private ranchlands and the transmission of a second disease, brucellosis, from elk to cattle. To evaluate the consequences of management strategies given the threat of two concurrent wildlife diseases, we develop a spatiotemporal bioeconomic model. GPS data from elk and landscape attributes are used to predict migratory behavior and population densities with and without supplementary feeding. We use a 4,800 km2 area around Pinedale, Wyoming containing four existing feedgrounds as a case study. For this area, we simulate welfare estimates under a variety of management strategies. Our results indicate that continuing to feed elk could result in substantial welfare losses for the case-study region. Therefore, to maximize the present value of economic net benefits generated by the local elk population upon CWD's arrival in the region, wildlife managers may wish to consider discontinuing elk feedgrounds while simultaneously developing new methods to mitigate the financial impact to ranchers of possible brucellosis transmission to livestock. More generally, our methods can be used to weigh the costs and benefits of human-wildlife interactions in the presence of multiple disease risks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Maloney
- HS Strategy Department 01114, University of Utah Health Sciences, 102 S 200 E, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84109, USA
| | - Jerod A Merkle
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming, 82071, USA
| | - David Aadland
- Department of Economics, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
| | - Dannele Peck
- USDA Agricultural Research Service, 1701 Centre Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80526, USA
| | - Richard D Horan
- Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Justin S Morrill Hall of Agriculture, Michigan State University, 446 W. Circle Drive, Rm 303B, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Bim Kendall House, 804 East Fremont Street, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
| | - Thach Winslow
- Wyoming Livestock Board, 1934 Wyott Drive, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 82002, USA
| | - Jim Logan
- Wyoming Livestock Board, 1934 Wyott Drive, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 82002, USA
| | - David Finnoff
- Department of Economics, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
| | - Charles Sims
- Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and Department of Economics, The University of Tennessee, 1640 Cumberland Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, USA
| | - Brant Schumaker
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, 1174 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, Wyoming, 82070, USA
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Monteith KL, Monteith KB, Jenks JA, Jakopak RP. One in the Hand Worth Two in the Bush? Reproductive Effort of Young Males Is Not Affected by the Presence of Adult Males. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Stephenson TR, German DW, Cassirer EF, Walsh DP, Blum ME, Cox M, Stewart KM, Monteith KL. Linking population performance to nutritional condition in an alpine ungulate. J Mammal 2020; 101:1244-1256. [PMID: 33335453 PMCID: PMC7733374 DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyaa091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) can live in extremely harsh environments and subsist on submaintenance diets for much of the year. Under these conditions, energy stored as body fat serves as an essential reserve for supplementing dietary intake to meet metabolic demands of survival and reproduction. We developed equations to predict ingesta-free body fat in bighorn sheep using ultrasonography and condition scores in vivo and carcass measurements postmortem. We then used in vivo equations to investigate the relationships between body fat, pregnancy, overwinter survival, and population growth in free-ranging bighorn sheep in California and Nevada. Among 11 subpopulations that included alpine winter residents and migrants, mean ingesta-free body fat of lactating adult females during autumn ranged between 8.8% and 15.0%; mean body fat for nonlactating females ranged from 16.4% to 20.9%. In adult females, ingesta-free body fat > 7.7% during January (early in the second trimester) corresponded with a > 90% probability of pregnancy and ingesta-free body fat > 13.5% during autumn yielded a probability of overwinter survival > 90%. Mean ingesta-free body fat of lactating females in autumn was positively associated with finite rate of population increase (λ) over the subsequent year in bighorn sheep subpopulations that wintered in alpine landscapes. Bighorn sheep with ingesta-free body fat of 26% in autumn and living in alpine environments possess energy reserves sufficient to meet resting metabolism for 83 days on fat reserves alone. We demonstrated that nutritional condition can be a pervasive mechanism underlying demography in bighorn sheep and characterizes the nutritional value of their occupied ranges. Mountain sheep are capital survivors in addition to being capital breeders, and because they inhabit landscapes with extreme seasonal forage scarcity, they also can be fat reserve obligates. Quantifying nutritional condition is essential for understanding the quality of habitats, how it underpins demography, and the proximity of a population to a nutritional threshold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas R Stephenson
- Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bishop, CA, USA
| | - David W German
- Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bishop, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Marcus E Blum
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Mike Cox
- Nevada Department of Wildlife, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Kelley M Stewart
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of the Environment, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA (KLM)
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Aikens EO, Monteith KL, Merkle JA, Dwinnell SPH, Fralick GL, Kauffman MJ. Drought reshuffles plant phenology and reduces the foraging benefit of green-wave surfing for a migratory ungulate. Glob Chang Biol 2020; 26:4215-4225. [PMID: 32524724 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
To increase resource gain, many herbivores pace their migration with the flush of nutritious plant green-up that progresses across the landscape (termed "green-wave surfing"). Despite concerns about the effects of climate change on migratory species and the critical role of plant phenology in mediating the ability of ungulates to surf, little is known about how drought shapes the green wave and influences the foraging benefits of migration. With a 19 year dataset on drought and plant phenology across 99 unique migratory routes of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in western Wyoming, United States, we show that drought shortened the duration of spring green-up by approximately twofold (2.5 weeks) and resulted in less sequential green-up along migratory routes. We investigated the possibility that some routes were buffered from the effects of drought (i.e., routes that maintained long green-up duration irrespective of drought intensity). We found no evidence of drought-buffered routes. Instead, routes with the longest green-up in non-drought years also were the most affected by drought. Despite phenological changes along the migratory route, mule deer closely followed drought-altered green waves during migration. Migrating deer did not experience a trophic mismatch with the green wave during drought. Instead, the shorter window of green-up caused by drought reduced the opportunity to accumulate forage resources during rapid spring migrations. Our work highlights the synchronization of phenological events as an important mechanism by which climate change can negatively affect migratory species by reducing the temporal availability of key food resources. For migratory herbivores, climate change poses a new and growing threat by altering resource phenology and diminishing the foraging benefit of migration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen O Aikens
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
- Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Jerod A Merkle
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Samantha P H Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | | | - Matthew J Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
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Lowrey B, McWhirter DE, Proffitt KM, Monteith KL, Courtemanch AB, White PJ, Paterson JT, Dewey SR, Garrott RA. Individual variation creates diverse migratory portfolios in native populations of a mountain ungulate. Ecol Appl 2020; 30:e2106. [PMID: 32091631 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Revised: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Ecological theory and empirical studies have demonstrated population-level demographic benefits resulting from a diversity of migratory behaviors with important implications for ecology, conservation, and evolution of migratory organisms. Nevertheless, evaluation of migratory portfolios (i.e., the variation in migratory behaviors across space and time among individuals within populations) has received relatively little attention in migratory ungulates, where research has focused largely on the dichotomous behaviors (e.g., resident and migrant) of partially migratory populations. Using GPS data from 361 female bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) across 17 (4 restored, 6 augmented, 7 native) populations in Montana and Wyoming, USA, we (1) characterized migratory portfolios based on behavioral and spatial migratory characteristics and (2) evaluated the relative influence of landscape attributes and management histories on migratory diversity. Native populations, which had been extant on the landscape for many generations, had more diverse migratory portfolios, higher behavioral switching rates, reduced seasonal range fidelity, and broad dispersion of individuals across summer and winter ranges. In contrast, restored populations with an abbreviated history on the landscape were largely non-migratory with a narrow portfolio of migratory behaviors, less behavioral switching, higher fidelity to seasonal ranges, and less dispersion on summer and winter ranges. Augmented populations were more variable and contained characteristics of both native and restored populations. Differences in migratory diversity among populations were associated with management histories (e.g., restored, augmented, or native). Landscape characteristics such as the duration and regularity of green-up, human landscape alterations, topography, and snow gradients were not strongly associated with migratory diversity. We suggest a two-pronged approach to restoring migratory portfolios in ungulates that first develops behavior-specific habitat models and then places individuals with known migratory behaviors into unoccupied areas in an effort to bolster migratory portfolios in restored populations, potentially with synergistic benefits associated with variation among individuals and resulting portfolio effects. Management efforts to restore diverse migratory portfolios may increase the abundance, resilience, and long-term viability of ungulate populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Lowrey
- Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, 59717, USA
| | - D E McWhirter
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Jackson, Wyoming, 83001, USA
| | - K M Proffitt
- Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Bozeman, Montana, 59718, USA
| | - K L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, 82072, USA
| | - A B Courtemanch
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Jackson, Wyoming, 83001, USA
| | - P J White
- Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service, Mammoth, Wyoming, 82190, USA
| | - J T Paterson
- Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, 59717, USA
| | - S R Dewey
- Grand Teton National Park, National Park Service, PO Box 170, Moose, Wyoming, 83012, USA
| | - R A Garrott
- Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, 59717, USA
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Lamont BG, Kauffman MJ, Merkle JA, Mong TW, Hayes MM, Monteith KL. Bark Beetle‐Affected Forests Provide Elk Only a Marginal Refuge from Hunters. J Wildl Manage 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bryan G. Lamont
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming, Department 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Matthew J. Kauffman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming, Department 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Jerod A. Merkle
- Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming, Department 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Tony W. Mong
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 2820 Highway 120 Cody WY 82414 USA
| | - Matthew M. Hayes
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming, Department 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramie WY 82071 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming, 804 East FremontLaramie WY 82072 USA
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A. Smiley
- Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation Center, Department of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of Connecticut 1376 Storrs Road, Unit 4087 Storrs CT 06269‐4087 USA
| | - Chadwick D. Rittenhouse
- Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation Center, Department of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of Connecticut 1376 Storrs Road, Unit 4087 Storrs CT 06269‐4087 USA
| | - Tony W. Mong
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department 2820 State Highway 120 Cody WY 82414 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming 804 East Fremont Street Laramie WY 82072 USA
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Monteith KB, Monteith KL, Jenks JA. Condensed tannins as a deterrent to crop depredation by white‐tailed deer: Effects of concentration and learning. WILDLIFE SOC B 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kyle B. Monteith
- Department of Natural Resource ManagementSouth Dakota State University Box 2140B Brookings SD 57007 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming 804 E Fremont Laramie WY 82072 USA
| | - Jonathan A. Jenks
- Department of Natural Resource ManagementSouth Dakota State University Box 2140B Brookings SD 57007 USA
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Dwinnell SPH, Sawyer H, Randall JE, Beck JL, Forbey JS, Fralick GL, Monteith KL. Where to forage when afraid: Does perceived risk impair use of the foodscape? Ecol Appl 2019; 29:e01972. [PMID: 31301178 PMCID: PMC6852243 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Revised: 04/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/14/2019] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The availability and quality of forage on the landscape constitute the foodscape within which animals make behavioral decisions to acquire food. Novel changes to the foodscape, such as human disturbance, can alter behavioral decisions that favor avoidance of perceived risk over food acquisition. Although behavioral changes and population declines often coincide with the introduction of human disturbance, the link(s) between behavior and population trajectory are difficult to elucidate. To identify a pathway by which human disturbance may affect ungulate populations, we tested the Behaviorally Mediated Forage-Loss Hypothesis, wherein behavioral avoidance is predicted to reduce use of available forage adjacent to disturbance. We used GPS collar data collected from migratory mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) to evaluate habitat selection, movement patterns, and time-budgeting behavior in response to varying levels of forage availability and human disturbance in three different populations exposed to a gradient of energy development. Subsequently, we linked animal behavior with measured use of forage relative to human disturbance, forage availability, and quality. Mule deer avoided human disturbance at both home range and winter range scales, but showed negligible differences in vigilance rates at the site level. Use of the primary winter forage, sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), increased as production of new annual growth increased but use decreased with proximity to disturbance. Consequently, avoidance of human disturbance prompted loss of otherwise available forage, resulting in indirect habitat loss that was 4.6-times greater than direct habitat loss from roads, well pads, and other infrastructure. The multiplicative effects of indirect habitat loss, as mediated by behavior, impaired use of the foodscape by reducing the amount of available forage for mule deer, a consequence of which may be winter ranges that support fewer animals than they did before development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha P. H. Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesUniversity of Wyoming804 East Fremont StreetLaramieWyoming82072USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingDept. 3166, 1000 East University AvenueLaramieWyoming82071USA
| | - Hall Sawyer
- Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc.200 South 2nd StreetLaramieWyoming82070USA
| | - Jill E. Randall
- Wyoming Game and Fish DepartmentPinedale Regional Office432 Mill StreetPinedaleWyoming82941USA
| | - Jeffrey L. Beck
- Department of Ecosystem Science and ManagementUniversity of WyomingDepartment 3354, 1000 East University AvenueLaramieWyoming82071USA
| | - Jennifer S. Forbey
- Department of Biological SciencesBoise State University1910 University DriveBoiseIdaho83725USA
| | - Gary L. Fralick
- Wyoming Game and Fish DepartmentJackson Regional Office420 North CacheJacksonWyoming83001USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesUniversity of Wyoming804 East Fremont StreetLaramieWyoming82072USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingDept. 3166, 1000 East University AvenueLaramieWyoming82071USA
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LaSharr TN, Long RA, Heffelfinger JR, Bleich VC, Krausman PR, Bowyer RT, Shannon JM, Klaver RW, Brewer CE, Cox M, Holland AA, Hubbs A, Lehman CP, Muir JD, Sterling B, Monteith KL. Hunting and mountain sheep: Do current harvest practices affect horn growth? Evol Appl 2019; 12:1823-1836. [PMID: 31548860 PMCID: PMC6752155 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of human harvest on evolution of secondary sexual characteristics has implications for sustainable management of wildlife populations. The phenotypic consequences of selectively removing males with large horns or antlers from ungulate populations have been a topic of heightened concern in recent years. Harvest can affect size of horn-like structures in two ways: (a) shifting age structure toward younger age classes, which can reduce the mean size of horn-like structures, or (b) selecting against genes that produce large, fast-growing males. We evaluated effects of age, climatic and forage conditions, and metrics of harvest on horn size and growth of mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis ssp.) in 72 hunt areas across North America from 1981 to 2016. In 50% of hunt areas, changes in mean horn size during the study period were related to changes in age structure of harvested sheep. Environmental conditions explained directional changes in horn growth in 28% of hunt areas, 7% of which did not exhibit change before accounting for effects of the environment. After accounting for age and environment, horn size of mountain sheep was stable or increasing in the majority (~78%) of hunt areas. Age-specific horn size declined in 44% of hunt areas where harvest was regulated solely by morphological criteria, which supports the notion that harvest practices that are simultaneously selective and intensive might lead to changes in horn growth. Nevertheless, phenotypic consequences are not a foregone conclusion in the face of selective harvest; over half of the hunt areas with highly selective and intensive harvest did not exhibit age-specific declines in horn size. Our results demonstrate that while harvest regimes are an important consideration, horn growth of harvested male mountain sheep has remained largely stable, indicating that changes in horn growth patterns are an unlikely consequence of harvest across most of North America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tayler N. LaSharr
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWYUSA
| | - Ryan A. Long
- Department of Fish and Wildlife SciencesUniversity of IdahoMoscowIDUSA
| | | | - Vernon C. Bleich
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental ScienceUniversity of Nevada RenoRenoNVUSA
| | - Paul R. Krausman
- School of Natural Resources and the EnvironmentUniversity of ArizonaTucsonAZUSA
| | - R. Terry Bowyer
- Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of Alaska FairbanksFairbanksAKUSA
| | | | - Robert W. Klaver
- US Geological Survey, Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and ManagementIowa State UniversityAmesIAUSA
| | - Clay E. Brewer
- Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies—Wild Sheep Working GroupTexas Parks and Wildlife DepartmentRochelleTXUSA
| | - Mike Cox
- Nevada Department of WildlifeRenoNVUSA
| | | | - Anne Hubbs
- Alberta Environment and ParksRocky Mountain HouseABCanada
| | | | | | | | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWYUSA
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Jakopak RP, LaSharr TN, Dwinnell SPH, Fralick GL, Monteith KL. Rapid acquisition of memory in a complex landscape by a mule deer. Ecology 2019; 100:e02854. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Revised: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rhiannon P. Jakopak
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming 804 E. Fremont Street Laramie Wyoming 82072 USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie Wyoming 82071 USA
| | - Tayler N. LaSharr
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie Wyoming 82071 USA
| | - Samantha P. H. Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming 804 E. Fremont Street Laramie Wyoming 82072 USA
| | - Gary L. Fralick
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department P.O. Box 1022 Thayne Wyoming 83127 USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources University of Wyoming 804 E. Fremont Street Laramie Wyoming 82072 USA
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie Wyoming 82071 USA
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46
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LaSharr TN, Long RA, Heffelfinger JR, Bleich VC, Krausman PR, Bowyer RT, Shannon JM, Rominger EM, Lehman CP, Cox M, Monteith KL. Biological relevance of antler, horn, and pronghorn size in records programs. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractLong-term datasets are becoming increasingly important for assessing population- and species-level responses to a changing environment. Programs that record morphological measurements of horns, antlers, and pronghorns were established in the early- to mid-20th century to collect biological information about animals that possess large horns, antlers, or pronghorns, which could be used to assess the effectiveness of conservation efforts for large mammals in North America. The general relevance of record books has been questioned because of the minimum size requirements for inclusion in a record book, which may mask trends when changes in the population occur. We compared trends in size of antlers, horns, and pronghorns through time using records from three records programs with different minimum size requirements to evaluate the influence of entry requirements on temporal trends. We also investigated whether horn, antler, or pronghorn size affected the probability of specimens being submitted to a records program. Only two of 17 categories exhibited less-pronounced trends in the record book with the highest size requirements for entry, and in two categories trends were more pronounced. Although societal interest in submitting eligible specimens increased slightly over time in one of six categories, the probability of voluntary entry was largely random and not affected by year of harvest or size of specimen. In contrast to previous criticisms, trends in record books should not be expected to represent the size of all males within a population. Instead, our evaluation indicates that the records programs we examined can provide a useful resource for assessing long-term changes in phenotypic characteristics of ungulates, but importantly, they represent the respective range of sizes within which each program collects data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tayler N LaSharr
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
| | - Ryan A Long
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
| | | | - Vernon C Bleich
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Paul R Krausman
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - R Terry Bowyer
- Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | | | | | | | - Mike Cox
- Nevada Department of Wildlife, Reno, NV
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
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47
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Merkle JA, Sawyer H, Monteith KL, Dwinnell SPH, Fralick GL, Kauffman MJ. Spatial memory shapes migration and its benefits: evidence from a large herbivore. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1797-1805. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2019] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jerod A. Merkle
- Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
| | - Hall Sawyer
- Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc. Laramie WY USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Laramie WY USA
| | | | | | - Matthew J. Kauffman
- US Geological Survey, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology University of Wyoming Laramie WY USA
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Lowrey B, Proffitt KM, McWhirter DE, White PJ, Courtemanch AB, Dewey SR, Miyasaki HM, Monteith KL, Mao JS, Grigg JL, Butler CJ, Lula ES, Garrott RA. Characterizing population and individual migration patterns among native and restored bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis). Ecol Evol 2019; 9:8829-8839. [PMID: 31410283 PMCID: PMC6686647 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Revised: 05/19/2019] [Accepted: 06/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Migration evolved as a behavior to enhance fitness through exploiting spatially and temporally variable resources and avoiding predation or other threats. Globally, landscape alterations have resulted in declines to migratory populations across taxa. Given the long time periods over which migrations evolved in native systems, it is unlikely that restored populations embody the same migratory complexity that existed before population reductions or regional extirpation.We used GPS location data collected from 209 female bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) to characterize population and individual migration patterns along elevation and geographic continuums for 18 populations of bighorn sheep with different management histories (i.e., restored, augmented, and native) across the western United States.Individuals with resident behaviors were present in all management histories. Elevational migrations were the most common population-level migratory behavior. There were notable differences in the degree of individual variation within a population across the three management histories. Relative to native populations, restored and augmented populations had less variation among individuals with respect to elevation and geographic migration distances. Differences in migratory behavior were most pronounced for geographic distances, where the majority of native populations had a range of variation that was 2-4 times greater than restored or augmented populations. Synthesis and applications. Migrations within native populations include a variety of patterns that translocation efforts have not been able to fully recreate within restored and augmented populations. Theoretical and empirical research has highlighted the benefits of migratory diversity in promoting resilience and population stability. Limited migratory diversity may serve as an additional factor limiting demographic performance and range expansion. We suggest preserving native systems with intact migratory portfolios and a more nuanced approach to restoration and augmentation in which source populations are identified based on a suite of criteria that includes matching migratory patterns of source populations with local landscape attributes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blake Lowrey
- Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, Department of EcologyMontana State UniversityBozemanMTUSA
| | | | | | - Patrick J. White
- Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National ParkNational Park ServiceMammothWYUSA
| | | | | | | | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingLaramieWYUSA
| | - Julie S. Mao
- Colorado Parks and WildlifeGlenwood SpringsCOUSA
| | | | | | - Ethan S. Lula
- Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, Department of EcologyMontana State UniversityBozemanMTUSA
| | - Robert A. Garrott
- Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, Department of EcologyMontana State UniversityBozemanMTUSA
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Lamont BG, Monteith KL, Merkle JA, Mong TW, Albeke SE, Hayes MM, Kauffman MJ. Multi‐scale habitat selection of elk in response to beetle‐killed forest. J Wildl Manage 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bryan G. Lamont
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingDepartment 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramieWY82071USA
| | - Kevin L. Monteith
- Haub School of Environment and Natural ResourcesWyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of Wyoming804 East FremontLaramieWY82072USA
| | - Jerod A. Merkle
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingDepartment 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramieWY82071USA
| | - Tony W. Mong
- Wyoming Game and Fish Department2820 State Highway 120CodyWY82414USA
| | - Shannon E. Albeke
- Wyoming Geographic Information Science CenterUniversity of WyomingDepartment 4008, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramieWY82017USA
| | - Matthew M. Hayes
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingDepartment 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramieWY82071USA
| | - Matthew J. Kauffman
- U.S. Geological SurveyWyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research UnitDepartment of Zoology and PhysiologyUniversity of WyomingDepartment 3166, 1000 E. University AvenueLaramieWY82071USA
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50
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Sawyer H, Merkle JA, Middleton AD, Dwinnell SPH, Monteith KL. Migratory plasticity is not ubiquitous among large herbivores. J Anim Ecol 2018; 88:450-460. [PMID: 30449042 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The migratory movements of wild animals can promote abundance and support ecosystem functioning. For large herbivores, mounting evidence suggests that migratory behaviour is an individually variable trait, where individuals can easily switch between migrant and resident tactics. The degree of migratory plasticity, including whether and where to migrate, has important implications for the ecology and conservation of large herbivores in a changing world. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are an iconic species of western North America, but are notably absent from the body of literature that suggests large herbivore migrations are highly plastic. We evaluated plasticity of migration in female mule deer using longitudinal GPS data collected from 312 individuals across nine populations in the western United States, including 882 animal-years (801 migrants and 81 residents). We followed both resident and migratory mule deer through time to determine whether individual animals switched migratory behaviours (i.e., whether to migrate) from migratory to residency or vice versa. Additionally, we examined the fidelity of individuals to their migration routes (i.e., where to migrate) to determine whether they used the same routes year after year. We also evaluated whether age and reproductive status affected propensity to migrate or fidelity to migratory routes. Our results indicate that mule deer, unlike other large herbivores, have little or no plasticity in terms of whether or where they migrate. Resident deer remained residents, and migrant deer remained migrants, regardless of age, reproductive status or number of years monitored. Further, migratory individuals showed strong fidelity (>80%) to their migration routes year after year. Our study clearly shows that migration plasticity is not ubiquitous among large herbivores. Because of their rigid migratory behaviour, mule deer may not adapt to changing environmental conditions as readily as large herbivores with more plastic migratory behaviour (e.g., elk). The fixed migratory behaviours of mule deer make clear that conservation efforts aimed at traditional seasonal ranges and migration routes are warranted for sustaining this iconic species that continues to decline across its range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hall Sawyer
- Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc., Laramie, Wyoming
| | - Jerod A Merkle
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
| | - Arthur D Middleton
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California
| | - Samantha P H Dwinnell
- Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
| | - Kevin L Monteith
- Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.,Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
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