Progress 02/01/09 to 01/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audiences include diverse local, regional, and national wildlife scientists, managers, and veterinarians, Iowa citizens, and local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers. Specific target audiences covered by this report include Ames Urban Deer Task Force members, U.S. high school students involved in the AgDiscovery Program, Iowa County Conservation Boards, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers, regional, national, and international mammalogists and ornithologists, visitors to Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, nuisance wildlife control operators, prairie enthusiasts and managers, shorebird ecologists at the Oregon Biological Information Center and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, upland game biologists and researchers, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, veterinarians, and wildlife rehabilitators. We engaged in several efforts to deliver science-based knowledge to people. Formal classroom instruction activities included nine undergraduate courses (Genetics for Natural Resource Managers, Mammalogy, Natural Resource Interpretation, Ornithology, Principles of Wildlife Disease, Vertebrate Biology lab, Undergraduate Seminar, and Principles of Wildlife Management, and Study Abroad classes in Costa Rica and Ecuador) and participation in the USDA AgDiscovery Program. In addition, the group gave talks to two local Audubon chapters and state organizations including the Iowa Chapters of AFS and TWS, the Iowa Ornithologists' Union, interacted with the Iowa State Preserves Board, gave guest lectures in relevant courses at Iowa State University, provided wildlife disease training to new Iowa DNR staff, and provided training in population modeling to fisheries biologists in Idaho. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The group mentored 8 graduate and 33 undergraduate students and attended meetings of The American Ornithologists' Union, The Wildlife Society, the Iowa Academy of Science, and the Kootenai River White Sturgeon Recovery Team, Iowa DNR Wildlife Bureau meetings, and numerous meetings with local Iowa stakeholders. Training opportunities were many and included the acquisition of new skills in R programming for one PI and one graduate student, disease sampling and testing techniques for graduate and undergraduate students, genetic techniques for graduate and undergraduate students, fisheries sampling techniques for one PI, bat acoustic monitoring techniques for undergraduate students, and disease monitoring in mountain goats and bighorn sheep for four graduate and eleven undergraduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We disseminate our research findings to a broad audience through a diverse array of printed, digital, and audio media. During the current reporting period this included conference presentations (18), peer-reviewed journal articles (8), theses and dissertations (1), miscellaneous publications (1), and radio interviews (4). The group continued to assist with the ISU AgDiscovery Program, now in its sixth year. We served in editorial offices for four international and one state journal. We disseminated research findings to a variety of local, state, regional, and national entities and the general public; other events included the ISU Honor's Symposium and ISU Science With Practice program. We worked closely with partner organizations that included The Nature Conservancy, Humboldt State University, Idaho Fish and Game, Illinois Natural History Survey, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, ISU Department of Animal Science, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Ornithologists' Union, Michigan State University, Neal Smith NWR, Nevada Department of Wildlife, North Carolina State University, Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Texas A&M University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDA-APHIS, USDA-National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The work completed under this project has had important impacts on our understanding of how terrestrial wildlife species thrive despite challenges that are a result of human alterations to the environment and disease. Our work with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and other natural resource managers continues to demonstrate how wildlife respond to local and landscape level habitat conditions on Iowa's public lands; this information will be useful for managing these lands in the future. Our studies of waterbird use of temporary sheetwater on agricultural fields in spring demonstrate the importance of this habitat to migratory birds and will help target sites for conservation easements or other management actions. Our work to understand disease transmission has been particularly useful as Iowa develops responses to the recent appearance of chronic wasting disease in deer and White-nose Syndrome in bats. Thus, our work continues to have broad impacts on how we conserve and manage Iowa's wildlife for the enjoyment of future generations. Our work continues to impact research with primarily terrestrial wildlife in native and human-altered ecosystems in Iowa and elsewhere. In the area of landscape impacts on wildlife we continued to implement the MSIM program to monitor Iowa's wildlife and understand how they respond to local and landscape habitat conditions, evaluated factors affecting lead exposure in Iowa Bald Eagles, monitored farmed wetland dynamics and waterbird use of those wetlands in north-central Iowa, tested new techniques for sampling butterflies in Iowa, and characterized the role of shed bison hair on seed dispersal in tall grass prairie. In the area of characterizing the roles of genetic diversity and behavior on wildlife populations we measured deer population genetics in the context of chronic wasting disease susceptibility and transmission. In the area of understanding relationships between demography, behavior, disease, and genetics and the distribution, abundance, and richness of wildlife populations we continued to monitor the secondary impacts of sylvatic plague in black-tailed prairie dogs and its effects on dispersal, survival, and nesting success of Mountain Plovers and initiated new work to refine sampling schemes to estimate breeding waterfowl densities in Iowa. In the area of disease transmission and distribution we initiated work on the genetic connectivity between captive and free-ranging deer populations in Iowa, continued work toward determining the genome sequence of the bison as a first step to identifying genetic markers associated with disease susceptibility, continued our acoustic monitoring for bats in preparation for the appearance of White-nose Syndrome in Iowa, studied the genetic diversity and structure in urban white-tailed deer to facilitate management of overabundant populations, initiated work on biosurveillance for zoonotic and domestic animal diseases using ticks, and continued work on the ecology and epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in mountain goats and bighorn sheep. Collaborators and funding partners included ISU, Iowa DNR, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, Nevada Department of Wildlife, NRCS, USDA-NADC, US-EPA, USFWS, USGS, UW-Madison, and World Wildlife Fund. We graduated one M.S. student (Wildlife Ecology). Our research findings formed a basis for several outcomes that impacted target audiences. Our work had change in knowledge implications for PIs, graduate students, and undergraduate mentees in these areas: provided advice on management practices for the Mountain Plover in a plague-affected ecosystem, generated an interest in agriculture and natural resource careers in high school-aged attendees of AgDiscovery days through hands-on activities as a recruiting tool for ISU, developed new knowledge of genetic diversity and structure in urban white-tailed deer and the impacts of chronic wasting disease on their reproduction and recruitment, continued to work with the Ames Deer Task Force to measure deer abundance in urban public lands, and led the development of a plan to manage responses to White Nose Syndrome in Iowa. The group's work resulted in a change in action in these areas: involvement with Iowa Department of Natural Resources committees (Implementation Committee, Wildlife Working group, Wildlife Habitat Working Group, Bird sub-group) that will re-shape the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan to guide long-term management of Iowa's natural resources, recommended strategies for mitigating the loss of farmed wetlands in Iowa, and proposed changes to surveys to estimate Iowa's waterfowl breeding density that ultimately are used to allocate federal funds for habitat restoration.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Alverson, K., and S. J. Dinsmore. 2014. Factors affecting Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) occupancy of prairie dog colonies. Condor 116:242-250.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Conover, R. R., S. J. Dinsmore, and L. W. Burger, Jr. 2014. Effects of set-aside conservation practices on bird community structure within an agricultural landscape. American Midland Naturalist 172:61-75.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Dinsmore, S. J., D. J. Lauten, K. A. Castelein, E. P. Gaines, and M. A. Stern. 2014. Effects of predator and habitat management on Snowy Plover nest survival in Oregon. Condor 116:619-628.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Gillespie, M. K., and S. J. Dinsmore. 2014. Nest survival of Red-winged Blackbirds in areas developed for wind energy. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and the Environment 197:53-59.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Harms, T. M., and S. J. Dinsmore. 2014. Influence of season and time of day on marsh bird detections. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 126:30-38.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Harms, T. M., K. E. Kinkead, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2014. Evaluating the effects of landscape configuration on site occupancy and metapopulation dynamics of Odonates in Iowa. Journal of Insect Conservation 18:307-315.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Koczur, L. M., A. E. Munters, S. A. Heath, B. M. Ballard, M. C. Green, S. J. Dinsmore, and F. Hernandez. 2014. Reproductive success of the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) in Texas. Waterbirds, in press.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Murphy, K. T., and S. J. Dinsmore. 2014. Stopover dynamics of fall migrant Pectoral Sandpipers in Iowa. Wader Study Group Bulletin, in press.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Pierce, A. K., S. J. Dinsmore, D. Jorgensen, and M. B. Wunder. 2014. Annual meeting of the American Ornithologists Union, Estes Park, Colorado.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Dinsmore, S. J., and F. L. Knopf. 2014. Cascading ecological events: Do Burrowing Owls reduce population recruitment of Mountain Plovers? Annual meeting of the American Ornithologists Union, Estes Park, Colorado.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Dinsmore, S. J. 2014. Advances and techniques in nest survival modeling. Annual meeting of the American Ornithologists Union, Estes Park, Colorado.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Dinsmore, S. J. 2014. Plovers, prairie dogs, and plague: The Mountain Plover in Montana, USA. Invited seminar at Oklahoma State University.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Dinsmore, S. J. 2014. Plovers, prairie dogs, and plague: The Mountain Plover in Montana. Invited talk to ISU Biological Sciences Club.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Harms, T. M., K. E. Kinkead, S. J. Dinsmore, and P. W. Frese. 2014. A statewide inventory and monitoring program for Iowas herpetofauna. Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Kansas City, Missouri.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Blanchong, J. A. 2014. Excrement as an alternative to blood for examining lead exposure in Bald Eagles. Annual meeting of The Wildlife Society.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Gardner, L. 2014. Population genetics of urban white-tailed deer. Annual meeting of The Wildlife Society.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Reiter-Marolf, B. 2014. A non-invasive approach to studying lead exposure in Iowa Bald Eagles. Annual meeting of the Iowa Wildlife Society.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Sanders, H. 2014. Preparing for the Emergence of White Nose Syndrome in Iowa. Annual meeting of the Iowa Wildlife Society.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Briggs, W. 2014. Genetic diversity and structure of urban white-tailed deer populations in Iowa. Annual meeting of the Iowa Wildlife Society.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Reiter-Marolf, B. 2014. Lead exposure in Iowa Bald Eagles. MS Thesis defense.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Briggs, W. 2014. Genetic diversity and population structure in urban white-tailed deer. ISU Undergraduate Research Symposium.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Sanders, H. 2014. Acoustic monitoring of Iowa bats. ISU Undergraduate Research Symposium.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Briggs, W. 2014. Genetic diversity and population structure in urban white-tailed deer. ISU Science With Practice Symposium.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Blanchong, J.A. 2014. Why care about wildlife diseases: humans, domestic animals, and conservation. ISU Biological Sciences Club.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Briggs, W. 2014. Genetic diversity and structure of urban white-tailed deer populations in Iowa. ISU Science With Practice Symposium.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Sanders, H. 2014. Preparing for the emergence of white nose syndrome in Iowa bats. ISU Science With Practice Symposium.
|
Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audiences include diverse local, regional, and national wildlife scientists, managers, and veterinarians, Iowa citizens, and local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers. Specific target audiences covered by this report include Ames Urban Deer Task Force members, U.S. high school students involved in the AgDiscovery Program, Iowa County Conservation Boards, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers, regional, national, and international mammalogists and ornithologists, visitors to Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, nuisance wildlife control operators, prairie enthusiasts and managers, upland game biologists and researchers, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, veterinarians, and wildlife rehabilitators. We engaged in several efforts to deliver science-based knowledge to people. Formal classroom instruction activities included nine undergraduate courses (Ecological Methods, Genetics for Natural Resource Managers, Mammalogy, Natural Resource Interpretation, Ornithology, Principles of Wildlife Disease, Vertebrate Biology lab, Undergraduate Seminar, and Wildlife Management) and participation in the USDA AgDiscovery Program. In addition, the group gave talks to local Audubon chapters and state organizations including the Iowa Chapters of AFS and TWS, the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union, interacted with the Iowa State Preserves Board, gave guest lectures in relevant courses at Iowa State University, and provided wildlife disease training to new Iowa DNR staff. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The group mentored 13 graduate and 16 undergraduate students and attended meetings of The American Ornithologists’ Union, The Wildlife Society, Iowa Academy of Science, and the International Wader Study Group, Iowa DNR Wildlife Bureau meetings, and Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference. One of the project directors and two students attended an R programming workshop at Iowa State University. Training opportunities were many and included the acquisition of new skills in disease sampling and testing techniques for graduate and undergraduate students, genetic techniques for graduate and undergraduate students, bat acoustic monitoring techniques for undergraduate students, and disease monitoring in mountain goats and bighorn sheep for a graduate student. We also participated in the Symbi/GK-12 fellowship program at Iowa State University. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We disseminate our research findings to a broad audience through a diverse array of printed, digital, and audio media. During the current reporting period this included book chapters (2), conference presentations (20), peer-reviewed journal articles (15), theses and dissertations (3), a variety of miscellaneous publications (4), and a radio story (1). The group continued to assist with the ISU AgDiscovery Program, now in its fourth year. We served in editorial offices for four international and one state journal. We disseminated research findings to a variety of local, state, regional, and national entities and the general public; other events included the ISU Honor’s Symposium and ISU Science With Practice program. We worked closely with partner organizations that included The Nature Conservancy, Humboldt State University, Illinois Natural History Survey, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, ISU Department of Animal Science, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Ornithologists’ Union, Iowa Science Foundation, Michigan State University, Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nextera Energy, North Carolina State University, Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Texas A&M University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDA-APHIS, USDA-National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and World Wildlife Fund. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The group will continue its diverse activities to support the project’s five primary objectives. In the next reporting period we plan to continue to conduct research and analyze data in these areas: deer population genetics in the context of chronic wasting disease susceptibility and transmission, factors affecting lead exposure in Iowa bald eagles, the general habitat associations of Iowa’s wildlife and their responses to specific management actions, genome sequence of the bison as a first step to identifying genetic markers associated with disease susceptibility, characterizing the value of farmed wetlands to aquatic birds, genetic diversity and structure in urban white-tailed deer to facilitate management of overabundant populations, mountain plover responses to prairie dog colony management and sylvatic plague, an acoustic bat monitoring program in preparation for the emergence of white-nose syndrome, and ecology and epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in mountain goats and bighorn sheep.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our work continues to impact research with primarily terrestrial wildlife in native and human-altered ecosystems in Iowa and elsewhere. In the area of landscape impacts on wildlife we continued to implement the MSIM program to monitor Iowa’s wildlife and gauge their responses to varied habitat management practices, assessed impacts of wind energy on breeding birds and bats in Iowa, evaluated the Iowa Habitat and Access Program for hunters, evaluated factors affecting lead exposure in Iowa Bald Eagles, monitored waterbird use of farmed wetlands in north-central Iowa, evaluated bird and butterfly responses to forest management practices in Iowa, described the wildlife value orientations of Iowans with respect to the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan, and characterized the role of shed bison hair on seed dispersal in tall grass prairie. In the area of characterizing the roles of genetic diversity and behavior on wildlife populations we measured deer population genetics in the context of chronic wasting disease susceptibility and transmission. In the area of understanding relationships between demography, behavior, disease, and genetics and the distribution, abundance, and richness of wildlife populations we continued to monitor the secondary impacts of sylvatic plague in black-tailed prairie dogs and its effects on dispersal, survival, and nesting success of Mountain Plovers. In the area of disease transmission and distribution we continued work toward determining the genome sequence of the bison as a first step to identifying genetic markers associated with disease susceptibility, continued our acoustic monitoring for White-nose Syndrome in Iowa, studied the genetic diversity and structure in urban white-tailed deer to facilitate management of overabundant populations, and initiated work on the ecology and epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in mountain goats and bighorn sheep. Collaborators and funding partners included ISU, Iowa DNR, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, NRCS, USDA-NADC, US-EPA, USFWS, USGS, UW-Madison, and World Wildlife Fund. We graduated three M.S. students (Wildlife Ecology) and one Ph.D. student (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). Our research findings formed a basis for several outcomes that impacted target audiences. Our work had change in knowledge implications for project directors, graduate students, and undergraduate mentees in these areas: provided advice on management practices for the Mountain Plover in a plague-affected ecosystem, generated an interest in agriculture and natural resource careers in high school-aged attendees of AgDiscovery days through hands-on activities as a recruiting tool for ISU, evaluated how exhibit design impacts visitor perceptions of tortoises at Blank Park Zoo, developed new knowledge of genetic diversity and structure in urban white-tailed deer and the impacts of chronic wasting disease on their reproduction and recruitment, worked with Ames Deer Task Force to measure deer abundance in urban public lands, led the development of a plan to manage responses to White Nose Syndrome in Iowa, and developed new knowledge of Iowan’s wildlife values orientation and how they differ between Iowa DNR employees and the general public. The group’s work resulted in a change in action in these areas: involvement with Iowa Department of Natural Resources committees (Implementation Committee, Wildlife Working group, Wildlife Habitat Working Group, Bird sub-group) that will re-shape the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan to guide long-term management of Iowa’s natural resources, recommended strategies for mitigating the loss of farmed wetlands in Iowa, and developed an assessment tool for the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Blanchong, J.A., A.B. Sorin, K.T. Scribner. 2013. Genetic diversity and population structure in urban white-tailed deer. Journal of Wildlife Management 77:855-862.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Santiago, A., N. Franz, R. Christoffel, K. Cooper and B. Schmitt. 2013. The Family-Environment Connection: Filling a Nation-Wide Program Gap. Journal of Extension 51(5):5IAW3.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Kevin T. Murphy (M.S., Wildlife Ecology, 2013). Thesis title: Waterbird use of dynamic sheetwater wetlands in Iowas Prairie Pothole Region.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Paul D. B. Skrade (Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2013). Dissertation title: Reproductive decisions of Mountain Plovers in southern Phillips County, Montana.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Molly K. Gillespie (M.S., Wildlife Ecology, 2013). Thesis title: Bird and bat responses to wind energy development in Iowa.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Blanchong, J.A. 2013. Chronic Wasting Disease. Iowa Chapter of the Wildlife Society 2013 (1):8-9.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Dzul, M.C., P.M. Dixon, M.C. Quist, S.J. Dinsmore, M.R. Bower, K.P. Wilson, and D.B. Gaines. 2013. Using variance components to estimate power in a hierarchical sampling design: improving monitoring of larval Devils Hole pupfish. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 185:405-414.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Harms, T.M. and S.J. Dinsmore. 2013. Habitat associations of secretive marsh-birds in Iowa. Wetlands 33:561-571.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Dinsmore, S.J. 2013. Mountain Plover responses to deltamethrin treatments on prairie dog colonies in Montana. Ecotoxicology 22:415-424.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Kagima, B. and W.S. Fairbanks. 2013. Habitat selection and diet composition of reintroduced native ungulates in a fire-managed tallgrass prairie reconstruction. Ecological Restoration 31:79-88.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Middleton, A.D., T.A. Morrison, J.K. Fortin, M.J. Kauffman, C.T. Robbins, K.M. Proffitt, P.J. White, D.E. McWhirter, T.M. Koel, D. Brimeyer, and W.S. Fairbanks. 2013. Grizzly bear predation links the loss of native trout to the demography of migratory elk in Yellowstone. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280:20130870. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0870.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Randall, N.J., B.J. Blitvich, J.A. Blanchong. 2013. Association between agricultural land use and West Nile virus seroprevalence in Iowa birds. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 49:869-878.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Christoffel, R.A., J. Blanchong, D. Howell, and H. Sanders. 2013. White-nose syndrome response and management plan.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Christoffel, R. 2013. Agroforestry and Wildlife, in Training Manual for applied agroforestry practices, 2013 edition, Columbia: The Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Christoffel, R. 2013. Managing temporary woodland ponds for wildlife (June 25), Illinois Forestry Association, archived at http://www.ilforestry.org/Events?eventId=705005&EventViewMode=EventDetails.
- Type:
Book Chapters
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Koprowski, J.L., and W.S. Fairbanks. 2013. Wildlife behavior. Pp. 214-228 in Krausman, P.R., and Cain, J.W. III, eds., Wildlife Management and Conservation. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Dzul, M.C., M.C. Quist, S.J. Dinsmore, and D.B. Gaines. 2013. Coarse-scale movement patterns of a small-bodied fish inhabiting a desert stream environment. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 28:27-38.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Collazo, J.A., P. Fackler, K. Pacifici, T. White, I. Llerandi-Roman, and S.J. Dinsmore. 2013. Optimal allocation of captive-reared Puerto Rican Parrots: decisions when divergent dynamics characterize managed populations. Journal of Wildlife Management 77:1124-1134.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Dzul, M.C., S.J. Dinsmore, M.C. Quist, D.B. Gaines, K.P. Wilson, M.R. Bower, and P.M. Dixon. 2013. Developing a simulation model of the Devils Hole Pupfish population using monthly length frequency distributions. Population Ecology 55:325-341.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Skrade, P.D.B. and S.J. Dinsmore. 2013. Egg size investment in a rapid multi-clutch parental care system. Condor 115:508-514.
|
Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our work continues to impact research with primarily terrestrial wildlife in native and human-altered ecosystems in Iowa and elsewhere. In the area of landscape impacts on wildlife we implemented the Multiple Species Inventory and Monitoring (MSIM) program to monitor Iowa's wildlife, measured effects of shed bison hair on post-dispersal seed removal in tall grass prairie, assessed impacts of wind energy on bird density, reproductive success, and stress responses in Iowa, measured possible displacement of bats by wind turbines in Iowa, identified factors affecting lead exposure in Iowa Bald Eagles, monitored bird use of farmed wetlands in north-central Iowa, assessed potential impacts of woody feedstock supply development for bioenergy to wildlife, characterized the role of bison on seed dispersal and small-scale disturbance in a tall grass prairie reconstruction, and mapped the distribution of Iowa's breeding birds. In the area of characterizing the roles of genetic diversity and behavior on wildlife populations we measured deer population genetics in the context of chronic wasting disease susceptibility and transmission. In the area of understanding relationships between demography, behavior, disease, and genetics and the distribution, abundance, and richness of wildlife populations we measured secondary impacts of sylvatic plague in black-tailed prairie dogs and its effects on dispersal, survival, and nesting success of Mountain Plovers and studied the relationship between chronic wasting disease infection and reproduction and recruitment in white-tailed deer. In the area of disease transmission and distribution we continued work toward determining the genome sequence of the bison as a first step to identifying genetic markers associated with disease susceptibility and initiated acoustic monitoring for the appearance of White Nose Syndrome in Iowa. The group mentored 13 graduate, 19 undergraduate students, and one high school student and attended meetings of The Wildlife Society, Iowa Academy of Science, Central Plains Society of Mammalogists, NWCC Wind Wildlife Research, and the International Wader Study Group, Iowa DNR Wildlife Bureau meetings, the North American Ornithological Congress, and Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference. Collaborators and funding partners included ISU, Iowa DNR, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, NPS, NRCS, USDA-Clay Center, USDA-NADC, US-EPA, USFWS, USGS, UW-Madison, and World Wildlife Fund. We graduated four M.S. students (three in Wildlife Ecology and one in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). The group helped organize an Avian Health workshop and assisted with outreach for the ISU AgDiscovery Program. Important products included an article about bison-mediated seed dispersal. We disseminated research findings to a variety of local, state, regional, and national entities and the general public; other events included the ISU Environmental Science Symposium, ISU Honor's Symposium, and ISU Science With Practice program. Important outreach and participatory research activities included a White-nose Syndrome Initiative and an assessment of Iowans' wildlife value orientations. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals working on this project included Julie A. Blanchong, Stephen J. Dinsmore, W. Sue Fairbanks, and Rebecca Christoffel (PIs); Angela Carter, Maria Dzul, Peter Eyheralde, Lynne Gardner, Molly Gillespie, Cory Gregory, Tyler Harms, Kevin Murphy, Shannon Osterholm, Billy Reiter-Marolf, Paul Skrade, Andrew Stephenson, and Amber Wiewel (graduate students); and Anna Anderson, Emily Artz, Bryan Bakevich, Kaytlan Bockenstedt, Whitney Briggs, Claire Brown, Scott Buckallew, Any Buckendahl, James Crain, Paul Davis, Adam DeBolt, Tessa Enroth, Christine Fries, Erin Garrick, McKenna Hansel, Kevin Haupt, Elizabeth Hemmen, Katelyn Horn, Andrew Huck, Erin Johnson, Kyle Kossel, Joe Lambert, Corey Lange, Nicole Laurito, Jordan Lindaman, Tyler Michels, Marcus Nelson, Jacob Newton, Amy Ouellette, Elizabeth Owens, Matt Peterson, Samantha Pike, Wyatt Puent, Jeremy Rappaport, Ryan Rasmussen, Danny Rose, Michelle Sabatini, Betsy Salmon, Jaclyn Sanchez, Heather Sanders, Ben Scheberl, Shelby Sterner, Amy Sulak, Rachel Townsend, Cyndi Trail, Phil Vogrinc, Megan Waechter, Brandon Waltz, Sam Wetter, and Brandon Woods (undergraduate workers and field technicians). Partner organizations included the American Garden Society, The Nature Conservancy, Humboldt State University, Illinois Natural History Survey, ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, ISU Department of Animal Science, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Ornithologists' Union, Iowa Science Foundation, Konza Prairie Biological Station, Michigan State University, National Park Service, Neal Smith NWR, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nextera Energy, North Carolina State University, Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Puerto Rico DNER, Texas A&M University, University of Maryland, University of Memphis, University of Warwick (UK), University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDA-APHIS, USDA-Clay Center, USDA-National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and World Wildlife Fund. The group's collaborators included Karen Abbot, David Alt, Tom Besser, Brad Blitvich, Michael Bower, John Briggs, Jaime Collazo, Mark Colwell, James Derr, Grant Dewell, Renee Dewell, Philip Dixon, Mike Drezlik, Vince Evelsizer, Peter Fritzell, Bailey Gaines, Eleanor Gaines, Todd Gosselink, Alan Hancock, Karen Harmon, Tyler Harms, Doug Helmers, Skelly Holmbeck, Daryl Howell, Anthony Joern, Joel Jorgensen, Matt Keeling, Karen Kinkead, Robert Klaver, Tricia Knoot, Christopher Lepczyk, Lois Morton, Steven Olsen, David Otis, Sarah Oyler-McCance, Janet Payeur, Paul Plummer, Larkin Powell, Michael Quist, Jesse Randall, James Reecy, Shawn Riley, Scott Rolfes, Orhan Sahin, Michael Samuel, Keith Schilling, Kim Scribner, Tim Smith, Anna Sorin, Tim Stewart, Steve Sullivan, John Tyndall, Carol Vleck, Brian Wilsey, Kevin Wilson, Peregrine Wolff, John Wullschlager, Qijing Zhang, and Aleksey Zimin. Training and professional development activities included participation in the Symbi/GK-12 fellowship program and teaching and participating in an Avian Health workshop. TARGET AUDIENCES: Our target audiences include diverse local, regional, and national wildlife scientists, managers, and veterinarians, Iowa citizens, and local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers. Specific target audiences covered by this report include Ames Urban Deer Task Force members, U.S. high school students involved in the AgDiscovery Program, Iowa County Conservation Boards, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers, regional, national, and international mammalogists and ornithologists, visitors to Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, National Park Service, nuisance wildlife control operators, prairie enthusiasts and managers, upland game biologists and researchers, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, veterinarians, waterfowl hunters, and wildlife rehabilitators. We engaged in several efforts to deliver science-based knowledge to people. Formal classroom instruction activities included eight undergraduate courses (Ecological Methods, Genetics for Natural Resource Managers, Mammalogy, Natural Resource Interpretation, Ornithology, Principles of Wildlife Disease, Vertebrate Biology lab, and Wildlife Management), assisting with a USDA-APHIS Avian Health workshop, and participation in the USDA AgDiscovery Program. In addition, the group gave talks to local Audubon chapters and state organizations including the Iowa Chapters of AFS and TWS, the Iowa Ornithologists' Union, interacted with the Iowa State Preserves Board, gave guest lectures in relevant courses at Iowa State University, and provided wildlife disease training to new Iowa DNR staff. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Findings of the group's activities formed a basis for several outcomes that impacted target audiences. Our work had change in knowledge implications for PIs, graduate students, and undergraduate mentees in these areas: engaged in outreach activities at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge to increase awareness by visitors and prairie enthusiasts to ecological processes involving animal dispersal of plant seeds, recommended and implemented revised survey recommendations for the critically endangered Devils Hole Pupfish, provided advice on management practices for the Mountain Plover in a plague-affected ecosystem, generated an interest in agriculture and natural resource careers in high school-aged attendees of AgDiscovery days through hands-on activities, developed new knowledge of genetic diversity and structure in urban white-tailed deer and the impacts of chronic wasting disease on their reproduction and recruitment, developed new skills for graduate and undergraduate students in disease sampling and testing, genetic techniques, and acoustic monitoring, worked with Ames Deer Task Force to measure deer abundance in urban public lands, measured bird responses to habitat features in southwestern Puerto Rico as part of a regional strategic habitat planning effort, and developed new knowledge of Iowan's wildlife values orientation and how they differ between Iowa DNR employees and the general public. The group's work resulted in a change in action in these areas: involvement with Iowa Department of Natural Resources committees (Implementation Committee, Wildlife Working group, Wildlife Habitat Working Group, Bird sub-group) that will re-shape the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan to guide long-term management of Iowa's natural resources, the adoption of survey protocols for the Devils Hole Pupfish that resulted from our experimental dive, and recommended strategies for mitigating the loss of farmed wetlands in Iowa.
Publications
- Blanchong, J. A., D. A. Grear, B. V. Weckworth, D. P. Keane, K. T. Scribner, and M. D. Samuel. 2012. Effects of chronic wasting disease on reproduction and fawn harvest vulnerability in Wisconsin white-tailed deer. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:361-370.
- Christoffel, R. A. 2012. Value orientations and conservation of massasauga rattlesnakes. In Decker, D. J., S. J. Riley, and W. F. Siemer [Eds]. Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
- Christoffel, R. A., and A. Carter. 2012. Strategizing Partnerships for Managing Natural Resources. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, PM 3030A, Ames, Iowa.
- Christoffel, R. A. and C. A. Lepczyk. 2012. Representation of Herpetofauna in Wildlife Research Literature. Journal of Wildlife Management 76:661-669.
- Dzul, M. C., P. M. Dixon, M. C. Quist, S. J. Dinsmore, M. R. Bower, K. P. Wilson, and D. B. Gaines. 2013. Using variance components to estimate power in a hierarchical sampling design: improving monitoring of larval Devils Hole pupfish. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 185:405-414.
- Gregory, C. J., S. J. Dinsmore, L. A. Powell, and J. G. Jorgensen. 2012. Estimating the abundance of Long-billed Curlews in Nebraska. Journal of Field Ornithology 83:122-129.
- Harms, T. M., and S. J. Dinsmore. 2012. Density and abundance of secretive marsh-birds in Iowa. Waterbirds 35:208-216.
- Harms, T. M., R. D. Rasmussen, K. E. Kinkead, C. L. Bergthold, P. Frese, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2012. New additions to Iowa Odonata. Argia 24:30-31.
- Hovick, T. J., J. R. Miller, S. J. Dinsmore, D. M. Engle, D. M. Debinski, and S. D. Fuhlendorf. 2012. Effects of fire and grazing on Grasshopper Sparrow nest survival in a fragmented landscape. Journal of Wildlife Management 76:19-27.
- Pearse, A. T., R. M. Kaminski, K. J. Reinecke, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2012. Local and landscape associations between wintering dabbling ducks and wetland complexes in Mississippi. Wetlands 32:859-869.
- Randall, N. J., B. J. Blitvich, and J. A. Blanchong. 2012. The efficacy of wildlife rehabilitation centers in the surveillance and monitoring of pathogen activity: A case study with West Nile virus. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:648-653.
- Skrade, P. D. B., and S. J. Dinsmore. 2012. Incubation patterns of a shorebird with rapid multiple clutches, the Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus). Canadian Journal of Zoology 90:257-266.
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In the area of landscape impacts on wildlife, we studied the possible impacts of wind energy development on bird density and reproductive success in Iowa, measured possible displacement of bats by wind turbines in Iowa, assessed potential impacts of woody feedstock supply development for bioenergy to wildlife, measured effects of shed bison hair on post-dispersal seed removal by granivores in tall grass prairie, characterized the role of bison on seed dispersal and small-scale disturbance in a tall grass prairie reconstruction, and provided revised survey recommendations and an interactive population model for the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish. In the area of characterizing the roles of genetic diversity and behavior on wildlife populations we examined the ecology of Campylobacter strains in wild animals, assessed responses of small mammals and Ixodes scapularis to prescribed fire, and measured deer population genetics in the context of chronic wasting disease susceptibility and transmission. In the area of understanding relationships between demography, behavior, disease, and genetics and the distribution, abundance, and richness of wildlife populations we measured secondary impacts of sylvatic plague in black-tailed prairie dogs and its effects on dispersal, survival, and nesting success of Mountain Plovers and studied the relationship between chronic wasting disease infection and reproduction and recruitment in white-tailed deer. In the area of disease transmission and distribution we continued work toward determining the genome sequence of the bison as a first step to identifying genetic markers associated with disease susceptibility, examined the efficacy of providing public outreach about White Nose Syndrome, and initiated surveillance for black-legged ticks and Borrelia burgdorferi in an Iowa community. The group mentored 15 graduate and 12 undergraduate students and attended meetings of The Wildlife Society, The American Fisheries Society, Wildlife Disease Association, American Ornithologists' Union, Midwest PARC, Cooper Ornithological Society, International Wader Study Group, and Ecological Society of America, Iowa DNR Wildlife Bureau meetings, Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference, and Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference. Collaborators and funding partners included ISU, Iowa DNR, NPS, NRCS, USDA-NADC, US-EPA, USFWS, USGS, UW-Madison, and Puerto Rico DNER. We also continued work on the Wildlife Domestic Animal Disease (WIDAD) research initiative. We graduated six M.S. students (five in Wildlife Ecology and one in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). The group hosted a workshop on the chemical immobilization of animals. Important products included an interpretive display at Neal Smith NWR and a news article about our work with bison seed dispersal. We disseminated research findings to a variety of local, state, regional, and national entities and the general public; one undergraduate researcher presented findings at the National Sigma Xi meeting. Important outreach and participatory research activities included a White-nose Syndrome Initiative and an assessment of Iowans' wildlife value orientations. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals working on this project included Julie A. Blanchong, Stephen J. Dinsmore, W. Sue Fairbanks, and Rebecca Christoffel (PIs); Angela Carter, Maria Dzul, Peter Eyheralde, Haley Frater, Lynne Gardner, Molly Gillespie, Cory Gregory, Tyler Harms, Kevin Murphy, Natalie Randall, Billy Reiter-Marolf, Paul Skrade, Andrew Stephenson, and Amber Wiewel (graduate students); and Emily Artz, Joe Lambert, Corey Lange, Craig Marshall, Alejandra Navarro, Jacob Newton, Trang Nguyen, Claudette Sandoval-Green, Kelly Siebert, Brandon Waltz, and Brandon Woods (undergraduate workers and field technicians). Partner organizations included the American Garden Society, Humboldt State University, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Native Plant Society, Iowa Science Foundation, Konza Prairie Biological Station, Michigan State University, National Park Service, Neal Smith NWR, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nextera Energy, North Carolina State University, Oregon Biodiversity Information Center, Prairie Biotic Research, Inc., Puerto Rico DNER, South Dakota State University, Texas A&M University, University of Hawaii-Manoa, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDA-National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and World Wildlife Federation. The group's collaborators included David Alt, Paul Barrett, Brad Blitvich, Todd Bogenschutz, Michael Bower, John Briggs, Robert Briggs, Kimran Buckholz, Jaime Collazo, Mark Colwell, James Derr, Philip Dixon, Ben Dodd, Vince Evelsizer, Johanna Foster, Peter Fritzell, Eleanor Gaines, Alan Hancock, Doug Helmers, Karlo Hock, Skelly Holmbeck, Robert Holt, Daryl Howell, Jonathan Jenks, Anthony Joern, Joel Jorgensen, Karen Kinkead, Tricia Knoot, Christopher Lepczyk, Lois Morton, Steven Olsen, David Otis, Paul Plummer, Larkin Powell, Michael Quist, Jesse Randall, James Reecy, Steve Roberts, Orhan Sahin, Michael Samuel, Keith Schilling, Kim Scribner, Tim Smith, John Tyndall, Carol Vleck, John Wullschlager, Guy Zenner, Qijing Zhang, and Aleksey Zimin. Training and professional development activities included participation in the Symbi/GK-12 fellowship program and teaching program MARK workshops at Clemson University and as part of the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences of this project include diverse local, regional, and national wildlife scientists, managers, and veterinarians, Iowa citizens, and local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers. Specific target audiences covered by this report include U.S. high school students involved in the AgDiscovery Program, graduate students attending Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference, Iowa County Conservation Boards, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers, regional, national, and international mammalogists, visitors to Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, National Park Service, nuisance wildlife control operators, prairie enthusiasts and managers, upland game biologists and researchers, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, veterinarians, waterfowl hunters, and wildlife rehabilitators. We engaged in several efforts to deliver science-based knowledge to people. Formal classroom instruction activities included eight undergraduate courses (Ecological Methods, Genetics for Natural Resource Managers, Mammalogy, Natural Resource Interpretation, Ornithology, Principles of Wildlife Disease, Vertebrate Biology lab, and Wildlife Management) and participation in the USDA AgDiscovery Program. In addition, the group gave talks to local Audubon chapters and state organizations including the Iowa Chapters of AFS and TWS annual meetings and the Iowa Ornithologists' Union, interacted with the Iowa State Preserves Board, gave guest lectures in relevant courses at Iowa State University, and provided wildlife disease training to new Iowa DNR staff. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Findings of the group's activities formed a basis for several outcomes that impacted target audiences. Our work had change in knowledge implications for PIs, graduate students, and undergraduate mentees in these areas: engaged in outreach activities at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge to increase awareness by visitors and prairie enthusiasts to ecological processes involving animal dispersal of plant seeds, measured bird responses to habitat features in southwestern Puerto Rico as part of a regional strategic habitat planning effort, completed surveys to better understand the distribution of Ixodes scapularis in Iowa, recommended and implemented revised survey recommendations for the critically endangered Devils Hole Pupfish, learned about the influence of land use on West Nile virus exposure in birds, provided advice on management practices for the Mountain Plover, new knowledge of the role of wildlife in the ecology of Campylobacter, completed a statewide assessment of Long-billed Curlew abundance and reproductive success in Nebraska to link with the state's Wildlife Action Plan, developed new knowledge on the impacts of chronic wasting disease on reproduction and recruitment in white-tailed deer, new knowledge of the genetic diversity and connectivity of white-tailed jackrabbits in Iowa and South Dakota, worked with a local Deer Task Force to measure deer abundance in urban public lands, developed new knowledge on the risk of chronic wasting disease spreading from Wisconsin to Iowa, developed new skills in disease sampling and testing techniques and genetic techniques for undergraduate and graduate students and wildlife professionals, and through hands-on activities generated an interest in agriculture and natural resource careers in high school-aged attendees of AgDiscovery days. The group's work resulted in a change in action in these areas: involvement with Iowa Department of Natural Resources committees (Implementation Committee, Wildlife Working group, Wildlife Habitat Working Group, Bird sub-group) that will re-shape the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan to guide long-term management of Iowa's natural resources, continued development of the WIDAD initiative to foster research collaborations among scientists studying wildlife and domestic animal health at ISU and the USDA-NADC, the adoption of survey protocols for the Devils Hole Pupfish that resulted from our experimental dive, and a change in action by local residents to be more vigilant of ticks on themselves and their pets and to deter rodent activity on their properties.
Publications
- Konrady, S., R. Christoffel, and A. M. Vanderzanden. 2011. Living around an urban pond. Iowa State University Extension Publication, Ames, Iowa.
- Barbknecht, A. E., W. S. Fairbanks, J. D. Rogerson, E. J. Maichak, B. M. Scurlock, and L. L. Linn. 2011. Elk parturition site selection at local and landscape scales in western Wyoming. Journal of Wildlife Management 75:646-654.
- Bower, M. R., D. B. Gaines, K. P. Wilson, M. C. Dzul, M. C. Quist, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2011. Accuracy and precision of visual estimates and photogrammetric measurements of the length of a small-bodied fish. North American Journal of Fish Management 31:138-143.
- Brown, M. B., S. J. Dinsmore, and C. R. Brown. 2012. Birds of southwestern Nebraska: An annotated check-list of species in the North and South Platte River Valleys and at Lake McConaughy. University of Nebraska Press.
- Christoffel, R., and K. Siebert. 2011. Stopping the Spread of White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in Bats. Iowa State University Extension Publication, Ames, Iowa.
- Colwell, M. A., J. J. Meyer, M. A. Hardy, S. McAllister, A. Transou, R. LeValley, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2011. Western Snowy Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus select nesting substrates that enhance egg crypsis and improve nest survival. Ibis 153:303-311.
- Conover, R. R., S. J. Dinsmore, and L. W. Burger, Jr. 2011. Effects of conservation practices on bird nest density and survival in intensive agriculture. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and the Environment 141:126-132.
- Dinsmore, S. J., and T. M. Harms. 2011. First record of a Comb Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos sylvicola) for Costa Rica. North American Birds 65:362-363.
- Lang, K. R., and J. A. Blanchong. 2012. Population genetic structure of white-tailed deer: understanding risk of chronic wasting disease spread. Journal of Wildlife Management, online early, DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.292.
- Sippy, R., C. Sandoval-Green, O. Sahin, P. Plummer, W. S. Fairbanks, Q. Zhang, and J. A. Blanchong. 2012. Occurrence and molecular analysis of Campylobacter in wildlife on livestock farms. Veterinary Microbiology (online early DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2011.12.026).
- Dzul, M. C., M. C. Quist, S. J. Dinsmore, P. M. Dixon, M. R. Bower, K. P. Wilson, and D. B. Gaines. 2012. Identifying sources of error in surveys of Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). Southwestern Naturalist 57:44-50.
- Gregory, C. J., S. J. Dinsmore, L. A. Powell, and J. G. Jorgensen. 2011. Nest survival of Long-billed Curlew in Nebraska. Wader Study Group Bulletin 118:109-113.
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In the area of landscape impacts on wildlife, we studied the effects of prescribed fire (for oak regeneration) on the abundance of hosts and prevalence of bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, the influence of landuse on West Nile virus activity in birds, modeled reproductive responses of birds to habitat alterations in Nebraska and Puerto Rico, refined survey methods for secretive marsh-birds in Iowa, characterized the role of bison on seed dispersal and small-scale disturbance in a tallgrass prairie reconstruction, and studied survey methodology and population biology of the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish. In the area of characterizing the roles of genetic diversity and behavior on wildlife populations we investigated whether farm-associated wildlife were infected with Campylobacter strains observed in domestic animals, we identified and used genetic markers to assay diversity and connectivity in Ring-necked Pheasants, we worked to understand deer population genetics in the context of chronic wasting disease susceptibility and transmission, and we measured habitat selection, genetic diversity, home ranges, and landscape connectivity in white-tailed jackrabbits in central Iowa. In the area of understanding relationships between demography, behavior, disease, and genetics and the distribution, abundance, and richness of wildlife populations we modeled the secondary impacts of sylvatic plague on dispersal and survival of Mountain Plovers in Montana. In the area of disease transmission and distribution we studied West Nile Virus in central Iowa birds, began sequencing the bison genome to understand mechanisms of susceptibility and resistance to diseases shared with domestic animals, examined the efficacy of providing public outreach about White Nose Syndrome, and are developing a PCR method to detect Pasteurellaceae bacteria in wild ruminant feces. The group mentored 13 graduate and 17 undergraduate students and attended The Wildlife Society state and national conferences, annual meetings of the American Fisheries Society, American Ornithologists' Union, American Society of Mammalogists, North American Prairie Conference, Central Plains Society of Mammalogists, and Desert Fishes Council, numerous Iowa County Conservation Boards, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Bureau meetings, Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference, Iowa State University's One Health Symposium, Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, Wildlife and Domestic Animal Disease Research Initiative Symposium, and the ISU AgDiscovery Field Day at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Collaborators and funding partners included ISU, Iowa DNR, NPS, NRCS, USDA-NADC, USFWS, USGS, UW-Madison, Puerto Rico DNER, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department. We also continued work on the Wildlife Domestic Animal Disease (WIDAD) research initiative (including development of a project web site). We also graduated four M.S. students (two in Wildlife Ecology and two in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). The group also helped coordinate the ISU AgDiscovery Program. We disseminate research findings to a variety of local, state, regional, and national entities and the general public. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals working on this project included Julie A. Blanchong, Stephen J. Dinsmore, W. Sue Fairbanks, and Rebecca Christoffel (PIs); Maria Dzul, Peter Eyheralde, Haley Frater, Cory Gregory, Tyler Harms, Natalie Randall, Paul Skrade, Irma Tapia, and Amber Wiewel (graduate students); and Emily Artz, Sarah Bastarache, Ashley Casey, Luke Ford, Jordan Gilmore, Phillip Harmon, Sarah Harvey, Karen Hotopp, Angela Kemsley, Eric Kilburg, Jessica Kissner, Alan Kneidel, Travis Kornegay, Jonathan Lautenbach, Craig Marshall, Alcides Morales-Perez, Alejandra Navarro, Christopher Nytch, Tim Paulsen, Evan Rehm, Mariel Rivera, Kim Romano, Claudette Sandoval, Elizabeth Spinney, Mary (Edye) Strickland, Jose Vargas-Santiago, Lucas Wagner, Brandon Waltz, and Holly Wilkens (undergraduate workers and field technicians). Partner organizations included Colorado State University, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Science Foundation, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State University, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, National Park Service, Neal Smith NWR, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, North Carolina State University, Prairie Biotic Research, Inc., Puerto Rico DNER, Texas A&M University, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDA-National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The group's collaborators included Paul Barrett, Brad Blitvich, Todd Bogenschutz, Michael Bower, Robert Briggs, Jaime Collazo, James Derr, Philip Dixon, Ben Dodd, Victoria Dreitz, Mike Drezlik, Jaime Edwards, Peter Fritzell, Barb Gigar, Alan Hancock, Doug Harr, Dennis Heisey, Daryl Howell, Kathryn Huyvaert, Daria Hyde, Jonathan Jenks, Joel Jorgensen, Joe Kath, Steve Kilpatrick, Karen Kinkead, Kristopher Lah, Yu Man Lee , Christopher Lepczyk, Mark McInroy, Steven Olsen, David Otis, Barb Perry, Paul Plummer, Larkin Powell, Michael Quist, Jesse Randall, Mike Redmer, James Reecy, Mark Ridgley, Steve Roberts, Orhan Sahin, Michael Samuel, Lori Sargent, Kim Scribner, Steve Sullivan, John Tyndall, Carol Vleck, John Wullschlager, Guy Zenner, Qijing Zhang, and Aleksey Zimin. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences of this project include diverse local, regional, and national wildlife scientists, managers, and veterinarians, Iowa citizens, and local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers. Specific target audiences covered by this report include forest landowners in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin via Tri-State Forestry Conference presentations, high school students from across the U.S. through the AgDiscovery Program, Iowa County Conservation Boards, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Regional, national, and international mammalogists, visitors to Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, National Park Service, nuisance wildlife control operators, upland game biologists and researchers, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitators, Western Wyoming ranchers and conservation organizations, and Wyoming Game and Fish Agency wildlife biologists and managers. We engaged in several efforts to deliver science-based knowledge to people. Formal classroom instruction activities included eight undergraduate courses (Ecological Methods, Genetics for Natural Resource Managers, Mammalogy, Natural History of Costa Rica, Ornithology, Principles of Wildlife Disease, Vertebrate Biology lab, and Wildlife Management) and two graduate courses (Directed Readings in Population Genetics, Disease at the Wildlife Domestic Animal Interface) plus participation in the USDA Ag Discovery Program. In addition, the group gave talks to local Audubon chapters and state organizations including the joint Iowa Chapter of TWS/AFS meeting, Iowa County Conservation Board Employees' Winterfest, and Iowa Ornithologists' Union, interacted with the Iowa State Preserves Board, gave guest lectures in relevant courses at Iowa State University, gave an invited seminar at Southern Illinois University, and provided technical advice to national panels (Shorebird Population Size and Trend Evaluation Team). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Findings of the group's activities formed a basis for several outcomes that impacted target audiences. Our work had change in knowledge implications for PIs, graduate students, and undergraduate mentees in these areas: new knowledge of the risk of chronic wasting disease (CWD) entering eastern Iowa from Wisconsin to inform the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' surveillance program, new knowledge of white-tailed deer population structure and dispersal patterns in eastern Iowa to aid the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' deer management program, new knowledge of the genetic diversity and connectivity of white-tailed jackrabbits in Iowa and South Dakota, educated the public and maintained awareness of chronic wasting disease and feral hogs through talks to forest landowners at the Tri-State Forestry Conference and Iowa county Conservation Board, engaged in outreach activities at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge to increase awareness by visitors and prairie enthusiasts to ecological processes involving animal dispersal of plant seeds, completed a statewide assessment of Long-billed Curlew abundance in Nebraska, illustrated how the white-tailed jackrabbit adjusts space use with farming activities in the intensive, row-crop landscape in Iowa, provided advice on management practices for the Mountain Plover, a species proposed for federal listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, measured bird responses to habitat features in southwestern Puerto Rico as part of a regional strategic habitat planning effort, worked with the critically endangered Devils Hole Pupfish to provide important survey recommendations for long-term monitoring efforts, conducted a pilot study to develop detection techniques for Pasteurellaceae bacteria in ruminants with captive bighorn sheep, conducted a pilot study of seeds dispersal by shed bison hair that led to a larger study investigating seed dispersal by bison in a tallgrass prairie restoration, and new knowledge of outreach effectiveness and stakeholder acceptance as it relates to our research. The group's work resulted in a change in action in these areas: involvement with Iowa Department of Natural Resources committees (Implementation Committee, Wildlife Working group, Wildlife Habitat Working Group, Bird sub-group) that will re-shape the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan that guides long-term management of Iowa's natural resources, continuation of the WIDAD initiative has resulted in additional research collaborations among scientists studying wildlife and domestic animal health at ISU and the USDA-NADC, and the adoption of survey protocols for the Devils Hole Pupfish that resulted from our experimental dives.
Publications
- Christoffel, R., Y. Lee, and D. Hyde. 2010. Michigans Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake outreach initiative: Rattlin an image. Reptiles and Amphibians, Conservation and Natural History 17(3):130-135.
- Dinsmore, S. J., and M. D. Smith. 2010. Mountain Plover responses to plague in Montana. Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 10:37-45.
- Dinsmore, S. J., M. B. Wunder, V. J. Dreitz, and F. L. Knopf. 2010. An assessment of factors affecting population growth of the Mountain Plover. Avian Conservation and Ecology 5(1):5 [on-line] URL: http://www.ace-eco.org/vol5/iss1/art5/
- Hanson, K. C., T. L. DeVault, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2010. Increased abundance of Neotropic Cormorants on the Alluvial Plain of Mississippi. Southeastern Naturalist 9:385-394.
- Mullin, S. M., M. A. Colwell, S. A. McAllister, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2010. Apparent survival and population growth of Snowy Plovers in coastal northern California. Journal of Wildlife Management 74:1792-1798.
- Skrade, P. D. B., and S. J. Dinsmore. 2010. Dispersal patterns in the Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus). Auk 127:671-677.
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our interdisciplinary group brings together a diverse set of skills necessary to assess responses of terrestrial wildlife to ecological and environmental factors in native and human-altered landscapes. Group activities involved the initiation of new research projects to disseminate research findings to target audiences. In the area of landscape impacts on wildlife, we modeled wildlife (four taxa plus species of conservation need) responses to predicted landscape changes resulting from the conversion of Conservation Reserve Program lands to row-crop agriculture, studied responses of birds to USDA Conservation Buffer programs, measured winter habitat selection by elk in the brucellosis endemic area of Wyoming, examined seed dispersal in shed hair by bison in an ongoing tall-grass prairie reconstruction in Iowa, and modeled reproductive responses of birds to habitat alterations in Nebraska and Puerto Rico. In the area of characterizing the roles of genetic diversity and behavior on wildlife populations we continued work to understand deer population genetics in the context of chronic wasting disease susceptibility and transmission and genetic structure, diversity, and connectivity in white-tailed jackrabbits in Iowa with notes on home ranges. In the area of understanding relationships between demography, behavior, disease, and genetics and the distribution, abundance, and richness of wildlife populations we modeled the secondary impacts of sylvatic plague on dispersal and survival of Mountain Plovers in Montana. In the area of disease transmission and distribution we studied West Nile Virus activity in central Iowa birds, the ecology of Campylobacter in wildlife associated with domestic animals, and development of a PCR method to detect Pasteurellaceae bacteria in ruminant feces. The group mentored ten graduate and 13 undergraduate students and attended events including Research in the Capitol, The Wildlife Society annual conference, the International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium, the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Conference, Wildlife and Domestic Animal Disease Research Initiative Symposium and Research Field Day at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Collaborators and funding partners included ISU, NPS, NRCS, USDA-NADC, USFWS, USGS, UW-Madison, Puerto Rico DNER, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Group outputs included a range of activities intended to reach target audiences. A major product was development of the Wildlife Domestic Animal Disease (WIDAD) research initiative, a collaborative group of researchers focused on wildlife and domestic animal health. WIDAD assembled researchers from Iowa State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other institutions to conduct innovative disease research at the wildlife/domestic animal interface. Other products included graduating two students in Wildlife Ecology (1 M.S., 1 Ph.D.) and two USDA-NRCS Technical Notes (bird responses to conservation buffers). We disseminate research findings to a variety of local, state, regional, and national entities and the general public. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals working on this project included Julie A. Blanchong, Stephen J. Dinsmore, and W. Sue Fairbanks (PIs); Ross Conover, Maria Dzul, Cory Gregory, Tyler Harms, F. Drew Henry, Krista Lang, Natalie Randall, Paul Skrade, Irma Tapia, Haley Underberg, and Amber Wiewel (graduate students); and Emily Artz, Tim Baerwald, Stacy Beyer, Ashley Casey, Ilma Dancourt, Luke Ford, Todd Forsgren, Timothy Guida, Kelsey Hoeppner, Julissa Irizarry, Eric Kilburg, Christopher Nytch, Tim Paulsen, Katie Patrick, Mary (Edye) Strickland, Maureen Thompson, and Holly Wilkens (undergraduate workers and field technicians). Partner organizations included Colorado State University, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Science Foundation, National Park Service, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, North Carolina State University, Prairie Biotic, Inc., USDA-National Animal Disease Center, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The group's collaborators included Paul Barrett, Brad Blitvich, Todd Bogenschutz, Michael Bower, Robert Briggs, L. Wes Burger, Jaime Collazo, Victoria Dreitz, Doug Harr, Dennis Heisey, Kathryn Huyvaert, Joel Jorgensen, Steve Kilpatrick, Karen Kinkead, Steve Lewis, Mark McInroy, David Otis, Paul Plummer, Larkin Powell, Michael Quist, Jesse Randall, Orhan Sahin, Michael Samuel, Kim Scribner, John Tyndall, Carol Vleck, John Wullschlager, and Qijing Zhang. The project provided training and professional development through a Faculty Professional Development Leave and Program MARK workshop training for one PI. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences of this project include diverse local, regional, and national wildlife scientists, managers, and veterinarians, Iowa citizens, and local, regional, and national animal health and disease researchers. Specific target audiences covered by this report include the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, National Park Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Western Wyoming ranchers and conservation organizations, and Wyoming Game and Fish Agency wildlife biologists and managers. We engaged in several efforts to deliver science-based knowledge to people. Formal classroom instruction activities included six undergraduate courses (Ecological Methods, Mammalogy, Ornithology, Principles of Wildlife Disease, Vertebrate Biology lab, and Wildlife Management) and two graduate courses (Directed Readings in Population Genetics, Disease at the Wildlife Domestic Animal Interface). In addition, the group gave talks to local Audubon chapters and state organizations including the Iowa Ornithologists' Union and Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, interacted with the Iowa State Preserves Board, gave guest lectures in relevant courses at Iowa State University and North Carolina State University, delivered a seminar at North Carolina State University, and provided technical advice to national panels (Shorebird Population Size and Trend Evaluation Team). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Findings of the group's activities formed a basis for several outcomes that impacted target audiences. Our work had change in knowledge implications for PIs, graduate students, and undergraduate mentees in these areas: 1) New knowledge on the role of complement genes in susceptibility of deer to chronic wasting disease, 2) New skills in disease sampling and testing, 3) New skills in genetic techniques, 4) Results of our elk studies in western Wyoming led to new studies of elk feed-ground management, 5) Results of our elk studies in Wyoming contributed to overall knowledge base of risk of brucellosis transmission between wildlife and domestic animals in the Greater Yellowstone Area, 6) Consulted with researchers in New Mexico about our methods of elk vaginal implant transmitters to locate elk parturition sites, 7) Raising awareness of the general public about the status of the white-tailed jackrabbit in Iowa, 8) Understanding habitat use by Cerulean Warblers as part of a national species status assessment, 9) Measuring bird responses to habitat features in southwestern Puerto Rico as part of a regional strategic habitat planning effort, and 10) Our work with the critically endangered Devils Hole Pupfish provided important survey recommendations for long-term monitoring efforts. The group's work resulted in a change in action in these areas: 1) Involvement with Iowa Department of Natural Resources committees (Implementation Committee, Wildlife Working group, Wildlife Habitat Working Group, Bird sub-group) that will re-shape the Iowa Wildlife Action Plan that guides long-term management of Iowa's natural resources, 2) Generated increased reports of feral hog sightings by the Iowa public as a result of the Keokuk Bald Eagle Days public talk, 3) Formation of the WIDAD initiative has resulted in new research collaborations among scientists studying wildlife and domestic animal health across colleges at ISU and with the USDA-NADC, 4) The adoption of survey protocols for the Devils Hole Pupfish that resulted from our experimental dives. Our work contributed to a change in condition by providing USDA-NRCS with two Technical Notes outlining bird responses to conservation buffer practices and offering recommendations for future policy changes to benefit birds and other wildlife.
Publications
- Blanchong, J. A., D. M. Heisey, K. T. Scribner, S. V. Libants, C. Johnson, J. M. Aiken, J. A. Langenberg, and M. D. Samuel. 2009. Genetic susceptibility to chronic wasting disease in free-ranging white-tailed deer: Complement component C1q and Prnp polymorphisms. Infection, Genetics and Evolution 9:1329-1335.
- Holt, R. D., L. W. Burger, Jr., S. J. Dinsmore, M. D. Smith, S. J. Szukaitis, and K. D. Godwin. 2009. Estimating duration of short-term acute effects of capture, handling and radiomarking. Journal of Wildlife Management 73:989-995.
- Pearse, A. T., K. J. Reinecke, R. M. Kaminski, and S. J. Dinsmore. 2009. Using simulation to improve wildlife surveys: wintering mallards in Mississippi, USA. Wildlife Research 36:279-288.
- Barbknecht, A. E., W. S. Fairbanks, J. D. Rogerson, E. J. Maichak, and L. L. Linn. 2009. Effectiveness of vaginal implant transmitters for locating elk parturition sites. Journal of Wildlife Management 73:144-148.
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