Interactions between intraguild species that act as both competitors and predator-prey can be esp... more Interactions between intraguild species that act as both competitors and predator-prey can be especially complex. We studied patterns of space use by the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), a prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) specialist, and the American badger (Taxidea taxus), a larger generalist carnivore that competes for prairie dogs and is known to kill ferrets. We expected that ferrets would spatially avoid badgers because of the risk of predation, that these patterns of avoidance might differ between sexes and age classes, and that the availability of food and space might influence these relationships. We used location data from 60 ferrets and 15 badgers to model the influence of extrinsic factors (prairie dog density and colony size) and intrinsic factors (sex, age) on patterns of space use by ferrets in relation to space use by different sex and age categories of badgers. We documented asymmetric patterns of avoidance of badgers by ferrets based on the sex of both species. Female ferrets avoided adult female badgers, but not male badgers, and male ferrets exhibited less avoidance than female ferrets. Additionally, avoidance decreased with increasing densities of prairie dogs. We suggest that intersexual differences in space use by badgers create varying distributions of predation risk that are perceived by the smaller carnivore (ferrets) and that females respond more sensitively than males to that risk. This work advances understanding about how competing species coexist and suggests that including information on both intrinsic and extrinsic factors might improve our understanding of behavioral interactions between sympatric species.
United States recovery plans contain biological information for a species listed under the Endang... more United States recovery plans contain biological information for a species listed under the Endangered Species Act and specify recovery criteria to provide basis for species recovery. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether recovery plans provide uncertainty (e.g., variance) with estimates of population size. We reviewed all finalized recovery plans for listed terrestrial vertebrate species to record the following data: (1) if a current population size was given, (2) if a measure of uncertainty or variance was associated with current estimates of population size and (3) if population size was stipulated for recovery. We found that 59% of completed recovery plans specified a current population size, 14.5% specified a variance for the current population size estimate and 43% specified population size as a recovery criterion. More recent recovery plans reported more estimates of current population size, uncertainty and population size as a recovery criterion. Also, bird and mammal recovery plans reported more estimates of population size and uncertainty compared to reptiles and amphibians. We suggest the use of calculating minimum detectable differences to improve confidence when delisting endangered animals and we identified incentives for individuals to get involved in recovery planning to improve access to quantitative data.
ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Ecuador is one of the world’s megabiodiverse countries, with... more ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Ecuador is one of the world’s megabiodiverse countries, with a dynamic culture rooted in a vibrant range of indigenous communities. As with many neotropical countries, Ecuador’s natural and human heritage is threatened by processes ranging from land conversion to climate change. These threats are exacerbated by a lack of basic data about many systems and taxa within Ecuador, coupled with limited in-country research capacity. Although the Ecuadorian government is working proactively to rectify this deficiency, partnerships with international collaborators will be key, especially in the short term. We describe success and challenges related to a National Science Foundation funded partnership between the University of Idaho (UI) and the Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), dedicated to building conservation research and educational capacity at both institutions, but focused on UTPL’s evolution towards international status as a center for research in conservation biology. Regionally, the collaboration is focused on promoting conservation through partnerships with regional indigenous groups (the Shuar and Saraguro, as two examples), with a particular focus on threats to ecosystem integrity within the páramo, a high altitude, shrub-steppe community with a complex hydrology, increasing human encroachment, and high levels of threat from climate change. Results/Conclusions Since 2011, 24 students from UI (18 undergraduates, 6 graduates) have travelled to UTPL to conduct summer research. These students have worked in interdisciplinary teams with ten UTPL faculty and ten UI faculty on three areas of investigation: population ecology and genetics of plants and animals in the Southern Ecuadorian páramo, ecology and hydrology of páramo watersheds, and stakeholder attitudes towards conservation in communities ecologically linked with Podocarpus National Park and surrounding region. This collaborative effort will enhance progressive management of a linked system of parks, protected areas, and multi-use regions in Southern Ecuador, and will directly contribute to conservation education and capacity building at both UI and UTPL. We have successfully formed partnerships with regional indigenous stakeholders- some of our collaborative results include an ecological profiling of an undisturbed stream within a Shuar reservation and a comprehensive survey of public-lands attitudes within a Saraguro-dominated community. We will describe a range of clear challenges to such collaborations (ranging from overlapping land tenure designations to limited baseline biological information), but will also highlight the importance of such efforts to research capacity building and landscape-scale conservation in Ecuador.
For herbivores, nutrient intake is limited by the relatively low nutritional quality of plants an... more For herbivores, nutrient intake is limited by the relatively low nutritional quality of plants and high concentrations of potentially toxic defensive compounds (plant secondary metabolites, PSMs) produced by many plants. In response to phytochemical challenges, some herbivores selectively forage on plants with higher nutrient and lower PSM concentrations relative to other plants. Pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) are dietary specialists that feed on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and forage on specific plants more than others within a foraging patch. We predicted that the plants with evidence of heavy foraging (browsed plants) would be of higher dietary quality than plants that were not browsed (unbrowsed). We used model selection to determine which phytochemical variables best explained the difference between browsed and unbrowsed plants. Higher crude protein increased the odds that plants would be browsed by pygmy rabbits and the opposite was the case for certain PSMs. Additionally, because pygmy rabbits can occupy foraging patches (burrows) for consecutive years, their browsing may influence the nutritional and PSM constituents of plants at the burrows. In a post hoc analysis, we did not find a significant relationship between phytochemical concentrations, browse status and burrow occupancy length. We concluded that pygmy rabbits use nutritional and chemical cues while making foraging decisions.
... Journal of Zoology 262:197206. CrossRef. O'Donoghue, M. and CM Bergman. ... Amanda J. P... more ... Journal of Zoology 262:197206. CrossRef. O'Donoghue, M. and CM Bergman. ... Amanda J. Price a, , Wendy Estes-Zumpf b, , and Janet Rachlow c . (2010) Survival of Juvenile Pygmy Rabbits. Journal of Wildlife Management 74:1, 43-47 Online publication date: 1-Jan-2010. ...
Interactions between intraguild species that act as both competitors and predator-prey can be esp... more Interactions between intraguild species that act as both competitors and predator-prey can be especially complex. We studied patterns of space use by the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), a prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) specialist, and the American badger (Taxidea taxus), a larger generalist carnivore that competes for prairie dogs and is known to kill ferrets. We expected that ferrets would spatially avoid badgers because of the risk of predation, that these patterns of avoidance might differ between sexes and age classes, and that the availability of food and space might influence these relationships. We used location data from 60 ferrets and 15 badgers to model the influence of extrinsic factors (prairie dog density and colony size) and intrinsic factors (sex, age) on patterns of space use by ferrets in relation to space use by different sex and age categories of badgers. We documented asymmetric patterns of avoidance of badgers by ferrets based on the sex of both species. Female ferrets avoided adult female badgers, but not male badgers, and male ferrets exhibited less avoidance than female ferrets. Additionally, avoidance decreased with increasing densities of prairie dogs. We suggest that intersexual differences in space use by badgers create varying distributions of predation risk that are perceived by the smaller carnivore (ferrets) and that females respond more sensitively than males to that risk. This work advances understanding about how competing species coexist and suggests that including information on both intrinsic and extrinsic factors might improve our understanding of behavioral interactions between sympatric species.
United States recovery plans contain biological information for a species listed under the Endang... more United States recovery plans contain biological information for a species listed under the Endangered Species Act and specify recovery criteria to provide basis for species recovery. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether recovery plans provide uncertainty (e.g., variance) with estimates of population size. We reviewed all finalized recovery plans for listed terrestrial vertebrate species to record the following data: (1) if a current population size was given, (2) if a measure of uncertainty or variance was associated with current estimates of population size and (3) if population size was stipulated for recovery. We found that 59% of completed recovery plans specified a current population size, 14.5% specified a variance for the current population size estimate and 43% specified population size as a recovery criterion. More recent recovery plans reported more estimates of current population size, uncertainty and population size as a recovery criterion. Also, bird and mammal recovery plans reported more estimates of population size and uncertainty compared to reptiles and amphibians. We suggest the use of calculating minimum detectable differences to improve confidence when delisting endangered animals and we identified incentives for individuals to get involved in recovery planning to improve access to quantitative data.
ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Ecuador is one of the world’s megabiodiverse countries, with... more ABSTRACT Background/Question/Methods Ecuador is one of the world’s megabiodiverse countries, with a dynamic culture rooted in a vibrant range of indigenous communities. As with many neotropical countries, Ecuador’s natural and human heritage is threatened by processes ranging from land conversion to climate change. These threats are exacerbated by a lack of basic data about many systems and taxa within Ecuador, coupled with limited in-country research capacity. Although the Ecuadorian government is working proactively to rectify this deficiency, partnerships with international collaborators will be key, especially in the short term. We describe success and challenges related to a National Science Foundation funded partnership between the University of Idaho (UI) and the Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), dedicated to building conservation research and educational capacity at both institutions, but focused on UTPL’s evolution towards international status as a center for research in conservation biology. Regionally, the collaboration is focused on promoting conservation through partnerships with regional indigenous groups (the Shuar and Saraguro, as two examples), with a particular focus on threats to ecosystem integrity within the páramo, a high altitude, shrub-steppe community with a complex hydrology, increasing human encroachment, and high levels of threat from climate change. Results/Conclusions Since 2011, 24 students from UI (18 undergraduates, 6 graduates) have travelled to UTPL to conduct summer research. These students have worked in interdisciplinary teams with ten UTPL faculty and ten UI faculty on three areas of investigation: population ecology and genetics of plants and animals in the Southern Ecuadorian páramo, ecology and hydrology of páramo watersheds, and stakeholder attitudes towards conservation in communities ecologically linked with Podocarpus National Park and surrounding region. This collaborative effort will enhance progressive management of a linked system of parks, protected areas, and multi-use regions in Southern Ecuador, and will directly contribute to conservation education and capacity building at both UI and UTPL. We have successfully formed partnerships with regional indigenous stakeholders- some of our collaborative results include an ecological profiling of an undisturbed stream within a Shuar reservation and a comprehensive survey of public-lands attitudes within a Saraguro-dominated community. We will describe a range of clear challenges to such collaborations (ranging from overlapping land tenure designations to limited baseline biological information), but will also highlight the importance of such efforts to research capacity building and landscape-scale conservation in Ecuador.
For herbivores, nutrient intake is limited by the relatively low nutritional quality of plants an... more For herbivores, nutrient intake is limited by the relatively low nutritional quality of plants and high concentrations of potentially toxic defensive compounds (plant secondary metabolites, PSMs) produced by many plants. In response to phytochemical challenges, some herbivores selectively forage on plants with higher nutrient and lower PSM concentrations relative to other plants. Pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) are dietary specialists that feed on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and forage on specific plants more than others within a foraging patch. We predicted that the plants with evidence of heavy foraging (browsed plants) would be of higher dietary quality than plants that were not browsed (unbrowsed). We used model selection to determine which phytochemical variables best explained the difference between browsed and unbrowsed plants. Higher crude protein increased the odds that plants would be browsed by pygmy rabbits and the opposite was the case for certain PSMs. Additionally, because pygmy rabbits can occupy foraging patches (burrows) for consecutive years, their browsing may influence the nutritional and PSM constituents of plants at the burrows. In a post hoc analysis, we did not find a significant relationship between phytochemical concentrations, browse status and burrow occupancy length. We concluded that pygmy rabbits use nutritional and chemical cues while making foraging decisions.
... Journal of Zoology 262:197206. CrossRef. O'Donoghue, M. and CM Bergman. ... Amanda J. P... more ... Journal of Zoology 262:197206. CrossRef. O'Donoghue, M. and CM Bergman. ... Amanda J. Price a, , Wendy Estes-Zumpf b, , and Janet Rachlow c . (2010) Survival of Juvenile Pygmy Rabbits. Journal of Wildlife Management 74:1, 43-47 Online publication date: 1-Jan-2010. ...
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