Crotalus aquilus in the Mexican state of Mexico consumes a diverse summer diet
E. Mocino-deloya, K. Setser, S.C. Peurach, J.M. Meik
2008, Herpetological Bulletin (No. 105) 10-12
We report observations of the summer diet of Crotalus aquilus (Queretaro dusky rattlesnake) from an agricultural region near San Pedro de los Metates, municipality of Acambay, state of Mexico, Mexico. We recovered the remains of 12 individual prey items from 11 different snakes. Eleven of 38 (29%) snakes observed contained...
Field Marks of a Celebration: Roger Tory Peterson's Centennial Birthday
J. Dunlap, C.S. Robbins
2008, Audubon Naturalist News (34) 4-6
A red letter day in my life was April 27, 1934, the day I first met Roger. A birding friend, Elisha Atkins, had invited Clinton Reynolds and me to dinner to meet a famous ornithologist. We would all be going on a field trip to Newburyport on the...
The evolution of wildlife conservation: The science that supported the conservation movement
Matthew C. Perry
2008, INformation 8-11
Importance of sampling design and analysis in animal population studies: a comment on Sergio et al
M. Kery, J. Andrew Royle, Hans Schmid
2008, Journal of Applied Ecology (45) 981-986
1. The use of predators as indicators and umbrellas in conservation has been criticized. In the Trentino region, Sergio et al. (2006; hereafter SEA) counted almost twice as many bird species in quadrats located in raptor territories than in controls. However, SEA detected astonishingly few species. We...
Migration of Florida sub-adult Bald Eagles
E.K. Mojica, J.M. Meyers, B.A. Millsap, K.L. Haley
2008, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (120) 304-310
We used satellite telemetry locations accurate within 1 km to identify migration routes and stopover sites of 54 migratory sub-adult Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) hatched in Florida from 1997 to 2001. We measured number of days traveled during migration, path of migration, stopover time and locations, and distance traveled...
Potential environmental contaminant risks to avian species at important bird areas in the northeastern United States
Barnett A. Rattner, B.K. Ackerson
2008, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (4) 344-357
Environmental contaminants can have profound effects on birds, acting from the molecular through population levels of biological organization. An analysis of potential contaminant threats was undertaken at 52 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) within the northeastern Atlantic coast drainage. Using geographic information system methodology, data layers describing or integrating...
Annual recapture and survival rates of two non-breeding adult populations of Roseate Terns Stema dougallii captured on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and estimates of their population sizes
P. O’Neill, C.D.T. Minton, I.C.T. Nisbet, J.E. Hines
2008, Waterbirds (31) 338-345
Capture-recapture data from two disparate breeding populations of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) captured together as non-breeding individuals from 2002 to 2007 in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Australia were analyzed for both survival rate and recapture rate. The average annual survival rate for the birds from the Asian...
Management concerns about known and potential impacts of lead use in shooting and in fishing activities
C.I. Goddard, N.J. Leonard, D.L. Stang, P.J. Wingate, Barnett A. Rattner, J. C. Franson, S.R. Sheffield
2008, Fisheries (33) 228-236
We present a summary of the technical review, jointly requested by the American Fisheries Society and The Wildlife Society, addressing the hazards to wildlife resulting from lead objects or fragments introduced into aquatic and terrestrial environments from the use of ammunition and fishing tackle. Impacts from lead are well documented...
Anatomy of a bottleneck: diagnosing factors limiting population growth in the Puerto Rican parrot
S.R. Beissenger, J.M. Wunderle Jr., J.M. Meyers, B.-E. Saether, S. Engen
2008, Ecological Monographs (78) 185-203
The relative importance of genetic, demographic, environmental, and catastrophic processes that maintain population bottlenecks has received little consideration. We evaluate the role of these factors in maintaining the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata) in a prolonged bottleneck from 1973 through 2000 despite intensive conservation efforts. We first conduct...
Element patterns in feathers of nestling Black-Crowned Night-Herons, Nycticorax nycticorax L., from four colonies in Delaware, Maryland, and Minnesota
Thomas W. Custer, Nancy H. Golden, Barnett A. Rattner
2008, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (81) 147-151
The pattern of elements in nestling black-crowned night-heron feathers from a rural Minnesota colony differed from colonies in industrialized regions of Maryland and Delaware. Except for chromium, however, the differences did not reflect the elements associated with waters and sediments of the Maryland and Delaware colonies. Therefore, elements...
Long-term trends in breeding birds in an old-growth Adirondack forest and the surrounding region
S.A. McNulty, Sam Droege, R.D. Masters
2008, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (120) 153-158
Breeding bird populations were sampled between 1954 and 1963, and 1990 and 2000 in an old-growth forest, the Natural Area of Huntington Wildlife Forest (HWF), in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Trends were compared with data from regional North American Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) and from a forest...
Visual implant elastomer mark retention through metamorphosis in amphibian larvae
Evan H. Campbell Grant
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 1247-1252
Questions in population ecology require the study of marked animals, and marks are assumed to be permanent and not overlooked by observers. I evaluated retention through metamorphosis of visual implant elastomer marks in larval salamanders and frogs and assessed error in observer identification of these marks. I found 1) individual...
A hierarchical model for spatial capture-recapture data
J. Andrew Royle, K.V. Young
2008, Ecology (89) 2281-2289
Estimating density is a fundamental objective of many animal population studies. Application of methods for estimating population size from ostensibly closed populations is widespread, but ineffective for estimating absolute density because most populations are subject to short-term movements or so-called temporary emigration. This phenomenon invalidates the resulting estimates...
Effects of human activity of breeding American Oystercatchers, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, USA
J. B. Sabine, J.M. Meyers, C. T. Moore, Sara H. Schweitzer
2008, Waterbirds (31) 70-82
Abstract.-Increased human use of coastal areas threatens the United States population of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus), a species of special concern. Biologists often attribute its low numbers and reproductive success to human disturbance, but the mechanism by which human presence reduces reproductive success is not well understood. During...
Evaluation of specimen preservatives for DNA analyses of bees
M. Frampton, Sam Droege, T. Conrad, S. Prager, M.H. Richards
2008, Journal of Hymenoptera Research (17) 195-200
Large-scale insect collecting efforts that are facilitated by the use of pan traps result in large numbers of specimens being collected. Storage of these specimens can be problematic if space and equipment are limited. In this study, we investigated the effects of various preservatives (alcohol solutions and DMSO)...
Mercury and other element exposure to tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting on Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota
T. W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, K. M. Johnson, D. J. Hoffman
2008, Environmental Pollution (155) 217-226
Elevated mercury concentrations in water were reported in the prairie wetlands at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, ND. In order to determine whether wildlife associated with these wetlands was exposed to and then accumulated higher mercury concentrations than wildlife living near more permanent wetlands (e.g. lakes), tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)...
Endocrine effects of the herbicide linuron on the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
K.M. Sughrue, M.C. Brittingham, J.B. French
2008, The Auk (125) 411-419
Certain contaminants alter normal physiological function, morphology, and behavior of exposed organisms through an endocrine mechanism. We evaluated how the herbicide linuron, an endocrine-active compound, affects physiological parameters and secondary sex characteristics of the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis). When administered at relatively low doses (control, 1.0, 4.0, and 16.0 μg...
Potential effects of mixed infections in ticks on transmission dynamics of pathogens: comparative analysis of published records
Howard S. Ginsberg
2008, Experimental and Applied Acarology (46) 29-41
Ticks are often infected with more than one pathogen, and several field surveys have documented nonrandom levels of coinfection. Levels of coinfection by pathogens in four tick species were analyzed using published infection data. Coinfection patterns of pathogens in field-collected ticks include numerous cases of higher or lower...
Temporal variation in adult survival rates of Roseate Terns during periods of increasing and declining populations
J. A. Spendelow, J.E. Hines, J.D. Nichols, I.C.T. Nisbet, G. Cormons, H. Hays, J.J. Hatch, C.S. Mostello
2008, Waterbirds (31) 309-319
We used 19 years of mark-recapture/resighting data collected on 11, 020 birds from 1988-2006 at five colony sites in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, USA, to examine temporal variation in the survival rates of adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) during periods of overall population increase (1988-2000) and decline (2000-2006)....
Movement of reservoir-stocked riverine fish between tailwaters and rivers
J.A. Spoelstra, R.A. Stein, J. Andrew Royle, E.A. Marschall
2008, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (137) 1530-1542
The movement of fish from onstream impoundments into connected streams and rivers has traditionally been overlooked in fish stocking decisions but is critical to the ultimate impact of stocking riverine species into reservoirs. Hybrid saugeyes (female walleye Sander vitreus x male sauger S. canadensis) stocked into Deer Creek Reservoir,...
Multi-scale occupancy estimation and modelling using multiple detection methods
James D. Nichols, Larissa L. Bailey, Allan F. O’Connell, Neil W. Talancy, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Andrew T. Gilbert, Elizabeth M. Annand, Thomas P. Husband, James E. Hines
2008, Journal of Applied Ecology (45) 1321-1329
Occupancy estimation and modelling based on detection–nondetection data provide an effective way of exploring change in a species’ distribution across time and space in cases where the species is not always detected with certainty. Today, many monitoring programmes target multiple species, or life stages within a species, requiring the use...
Rachel Carson's legacy for research and monitoring at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
J.R. Sauer
2008, INformation 32-33
Monitoring in the context of structured decision-making and adaptive management
J. E. Lyons, M.C. Runge, H. P. Laskowski, W. L. Kendall
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 1683-1692
In a natural resource management setting, monitoring is a crucial component of an informed process for making decisions, and monitoring design should be driven by the decision context and associated uncertainties. Monitoring itself can play >3 roles. First, it is important for state-dependent decision-making, as when managers need...
Objectives and metrics for wildlife monitoring
J.R. Sauer, M. G. Knutson
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 1663-1664
Monitoring surveys allow managers to document system status and provide the quantitative basis for management decision-making, and large amounts of effort and funding are devoted to monitoring. Still, monitoring surveys often fall short of providing required information; inadequacies exist in survey designs, analyses procedures, or in the ability to...
Juvenile survival in a tropical population of roseate terns: Interannual variation and effect of tick parasitism
David Monticelli, Jaime A. Ramos, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Jeffrey A. Spendelow
2008, Marine Ecology Progress Series (365) 277-287
Many demographic studies on long-lived seabirds have focused on the estimation of adult survival, but much less is known about survival during the early years of life, especially in tropical species. We report analyses of a capture–recapture dataset of 685 roseate terns ringed as fledglings and adults between 1998 and...
