EFFECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON SONORAN PRONGHORN â¿¿ A NONINVASIVE APPROACH

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1001257
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2013
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2018
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
888 N EUCLID AVE
TUCSON,AZ 85719-4824

Performing Department
Natural Resources & the Environment

Non Technical Summary
Sonoran pronghorn (SOPH) (Antelocapra americana sonoriensis) are one of the most highly endangered mammalian subspecies in the world. Fewer than 200 exist in the United States, all in Arizona. Efforts to recover SOPH include substantial protection, mitigation, and habitat enhancement efforts that influence public and private lands in the SOPH's range that are managed for diverse use, including National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, BLM grazing allotments, Department of Defense Tactical ranges, and private inholdings. Additionally, border activity including immigration, smuggling, and enforcement operations occur throughout these lands, and the impact of these various sources of human activity on recovering SOPH is unknown. This project will examine the impact of human activity on SOPH behavior, nutrition, and demography.

Animal Health Component

0%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

100%

Applied

0%

Developmental

0%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
135	0830	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife;

Subject Of Investigation
0830 - Wild animals;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

pronghorn

sonoran desert

border

anthropogenic effects

behavior

Goals / Objectives
The major goal of this project is to relate several aspects of sonoran pronghorn ecology, including foraging behavior, vigilance, movement patterns, diet, and endocrine responses to spatio-temporal variation in human activity along the U.S. Mexico border.

Project Methods
Our data collection efforts will be structured around the assumptions that the following parameters are (1) significantly variable (statistically and biologically), (2) potentially sensitive to human activity, and (3) may contribute to recovering Sonoran pronghorn population growth rates: pronghorn activity-budgets pronghorn occupancy at pronghorn recovery projects (waters, and forage enhancements) pronghorn selection for preferred forage pronghorn fecal glucocorticoid levels seasonal pronghorn movements seasonal pronghorn selection for preferred habitat pronghorn pregnancy, fawn production, and fawn survival adult pronghorn survival (in drought years) All images from cameras will be examined and the location, date, and time of each image will be entered into a database. The group composition of any species or humans detected in an image will also be recorded. Using program UNMARKED in R (R Core Development Team, 2013) we will use camera-trap detections to build dynamic multi-season, single-species occupancy models (MacKenzie et al. 2005) to examine spatial and temporal variation in occupancy of humans and pronghorn both within zones and at water points and other SOPH enhancements. We will also explore the use of multi-species occupancy models that will allow for estimates of human occupancy at water holes to serve as independent variables in estimating SOPH occupancy (i.e., this approach will allow us to estimate the degree to which the probability of SOPH use of water hole is increased or decreased by human use of that water hole). For traffic cameras, 12-hour blocks (0600-1759, 1800-0559) will serve as our sampling interval (or sampling occasion) so that variation in day vs night human activity can be quantified. We will match data on pronghorn distributions, behavior, fecal chlorophyll, fecal glucocorticoids, fecal progesterone, and demographics with our final estimates of human activity within each of the three zones to estimate responses in each of these dependent variables using a GIS. In our analysis and final report we will describe gradients of human activity (if any) at multiple spatio-temporal scales across the study area and how this gradient explains variation in pronghorn behavior and ecology. The complexity and strength of analysis will be strongly dependent on final sample sizes. Over the course of the project we ascertain collecting data at the following rates: collect ≥1 behavioral observation of SOPH herd from each zone every 2 weeks collect ≥ 5 (but ≤ 10) fecal samples from each zone every 2 weeks maintain traffic cameras, water-hole cameras and any other cameras throughout the study area, throughout the year assist in radio-telemetry flights with AZGF, ideally ≥ 2 flights each month maintain any additional equipment (e.g., weather stations) installed as part of the human impacts study, throughout the year once a month, transport fecal samples to UA regularly digitize field data and update collaborators on progress

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? PI is no longer at the University of Arizona.

Publications

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I plan to continue to monitor Sonoran pronghorn ecology, including foraging behavior, vigilance, movement patterns, diet, and endocrine responses to spatio-temporal variation in human activity along the U.S. Mexico border.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? I continued monitoring of Sonoran pronghorn ecology, including foraging behavior, vigilance, movement patterns, diet, and endocrine responses to spatio-temporal variation in human activity along the U.S. Mexico border.

Publications

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We provided education materials and training opportunities for ~40 undergraduate students and 1 graduate student. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We attended quarterly Sonoran Pronghorn Recovery Team Meetings and provided updates to partners in DOD, DOI, DHS, and non-profit organizations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We collected 9 months of data on several aspects of Sonoran pronghorn ecology, including foraging behavior, vigilance, movement patterns, diet, and endocrine responses to spatio-temporal variation in human activity along the U.S. Mexico border.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Woodruff S, Waits L, Lukacs P, Christianson D. 2016. Estimating endangered Sonoran pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis) abundance and survival using faecal DNA and capture-recapture methods. Conservation Biology

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Data collected on sonoran pronghorn ecology, including foraging behavior, vigilance, movement patterns, diet, and endocrine responses to spatio-temporal variation in human activity along the U.S. Mexico border throughout the year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Data collected on sonoran pronghorn ecology, including foraging behavior, vigilance, movement patterns, diet, and endocrine responses to spatio-temporal variation in human activity along the U.S. Mexico border throughout the year.

Publications