No abstract

Estimates of species' vital rates and an understanding of the factors affecting those parameters over time and space can provide crucial information for management and conservation. We used mark-recapture, reproductive output, and territory occupancy data collected during 1985-2013 to evaluate population processes of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) in 11 study areas in Washington, Oregon, and northern California, USA. We estimated apparent survival, fecundity, recruitment, rate of population change, and local extinction and colonization rates, and investigated relationships between these parameters and the amount of suitable habitat, local and regional variation in meteorological conditions, and competition with Barred Owls (Strix varia). Data were analyzed for each area separately and in a meta-analysis of all areas combined, following a strict protocol for data collection, preparation, and analysis. We used mixed effects linear models for analyses of fecundity, Cormack-Jolly-Seber open population models for analyses of apparent annual survival (/), and a reparameterization of the Jolly-Seber capture-recapture model (i.e. reverse Jolly-Seber; RJS) to estimate annual rates of population change (k RJS ) and recruitment. We also modeled territory occupancy dynamics of Northern Spotted Owls and Barred Owls in each study area using 2-species occupancy models. Estimated mean annual rates of population change (k) suggested that Spotted Owl populations declined from 1.2% to 8.4% per year depending on the study area. The weighted mean estimate of k for all study areas was 0.962 (6 0.019 SE; 95% CI: 0.925-0.999), indicating an estimated range-wide decline of 3.8% per year from 1985 to 2013. Variation in recruitment rates across the range of the Spotted Owl was best explained by an interaction between total winter precipitation and mean minimum winter temperature. Thus, recruitment rates were highest when both total precipitation (29 cm) and minimum winter temperature (À9.58C) were lowest. Barred Owl presence was associated with increased local extinction rates of Spotted Owl pairs for all 11 study areas. Habitat covariates were related to extinction rates for Spotted Owl pairs in 8 of 11 study areas, and a greater amount of suitable owl habitat was generally associated with decreased extinction rates. We observed negative effects of Barred Owl presence on colonization rates of Spotted Owl pairs in 5 of 11 study areas. The total amount of suitable Spotted Owl habitat was positively associated with colonization rates in 5 areas, and more habitat disturbance was associated with lower colonization rates in 2 areas. We observed strong declines in derived estimates of occupancy in all study areas. Mean fecundity of females was highest for adults (0.309 6 0.027 SE), intermediate for 2-yr-olds (0.179 6 0.040 SE), and lowest for 1-yr-olds (0.065 6 0.022 SE). The presence of Barred Owls and habitat covariates explained little of the temporal variation in fecundity in most study areas. Climate covariates ...

Satellite telemetry was used to identify the foraging distributions of three congeneric species of albatrosses that nest in the tropics/subtropics. Breeding waved albatrosses Phoebastria irrorata from the Gala Âpagos Islands travelled to the productive upwelling near the Peruvian coast and nearby areas during the rearing period in 1996. Black-footed albatrosses P. nigripes and Laysan albatrosses P. immutabilis nesting in the Hawaiian Islands and tracked during the 1997±98 and 1998±99 breeding seasons also performed long foraging trips, to continental shelf areas of North America. In both years, breeding black-footed albatrosses made long trips to the west coast of North America (British Columbia to California). In 1997±98, breeding Laysan albatrosses travelled primarily to the north of the Hawaiian Islands and reached the waters of the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska. In 1998±99, Laysan albatrosses had a complete breeding failure, and no long trips by breeders were tracked as a result. These three species mixed short and long trips during the chick-rearing period, but not the brooding period nor incubation period. Waved albatrosses made only long trips during the incubation period. Analysis of movement patterns showed that the core feeding areas during long trips were located over the continental shelves of North and South America. The data on foraging biology of these species have implications for assessing bycatch risk in commercial ®sheries.

Despite calls for improved responses to emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, management is seldom considered until a disease has been detected in affected populations. Reactive approaches may limit the potential for control and increase total response costs. An alternative, proactive management framework can identify immediate actions that reduce future impacts even before a disease is detected, and plan subsequent actions that are conditional on disease emergence. We identify four main obstacles to developing proactive management strategies for the newly discovered salamander pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). Given that uncertainty is a hallmark of wildlife disease management and that associated decisions are often complicated by multiple competing objectives, we advocate using decision analysis to create and evaluate trade-offs between proactive (pre-emergence) and reactive (post-emergence) management options. Policy makers and natural resource agency personnel can apply principles from decision analysis to improve strategies for countering emerging infectious diseases.

The One Health initiative is a global effort fostering interdisciplinary collaborations to address challenges in human, animal, and environmental health. While One Health has received considerable press, its benefits remain unclear because its effects have not been quantitatively described. We systematically surveyed the published literature and used social network analysis to measure interdisciplinarity in One Health studies constructing dynamic pathogen transmission models. The number of publications fulfilling our search criteria increased by 14.6% per year, which is faster than growth rates for life sciences as a whole and for most biology subdisciplines. Surveyed publications clustered into three communities: one used by ecologists, one used by veterinarians, and a third diverse-authorship community used by population biologists, mathematicians, epidemiologists, and experts in human health. Overlap between these communities increased through time in terms of author number, diversity of co-author affiliations, and diversity of citations. However, communities continue to differ in the systems studied, questions asked, and methods employed. While the infectious disease research community has made significant progress toward integrating its participating disciplines, some segregation—especially along the veterinary/ecological research interface—remains.

Understanding the differences in efficiencies of various methods to concentrate, extract, and amplify environmental DNA (eDNA) is vital for best performance of eDNA detection. Aquatic systems vary in characteristics such as turbidity, eDNA concentration, and inhibitor load, thus affecting eDNA capture efficiency. Application of eDNA techniques to the detection of terrestrial invasive or endangered species may require sampling at intermittent water sources that are used for drinking and cooling; these water bodies may often be stagnant and turbid. We present our best practices technique for the detection of wild pig eDNA in water samples, a protocol that will have wide applicability to the detection of elusive vertebrate species. We determined the best practice for eDNA capture in a turbid water system was to concentrate DNA from a 15 mL water sample via centrifugation, purify DNA with the DNeasy mericon Food kit, and remove inhibitors with Zymo Inhibitor Removal Technology columns. Further, we compared the sensitivity of conventional PCR to quantitative PCR and found that quantitative PCR was more sensitive in detecting lower concentrations of eDNA. We show significant differences in efficiencies among methods in each step of eDNA capture, emphasizing the importance of optimizing best practices for the system of interest.

2004. Limited dispersal by Nazca boobies Sula granti. -J. Avian Biol. 35: 46 -53.We documented natal and breeding dispersal at several spatial scales by Galápagos Nazca boobies Sula granti, a wide-ranging pelagic seabird. We found exceptionally low degrees of both types of dispersal despite these birds' vagility. Median natal dispersal distances were 26 m and 105 m for males and females, respectively. Median breeding dispersal distances for both sexes were 0 m. No natal or breeding dispersals occurred from our study site at Punta Cevallos, Isla Españ ola to six other colonies in the Galápagos, but we did document four long-distance natal dispersals from Punta Cevallos to islands near the South American coast. Recaptures and dead recoveries of ringed birds showed long distance non-breeding movements to the Central American coast and elsewhere in the eastern Pacific, contrasting with the very limited dispersal to breeding sites.

Invasive Sus scrofa, a species commonly referred to as wild pig or feral swine, is a destructive invasive species with a rapidly expanding distribution across the United States. We used artificial wallows and small waterers to determine the minimum amount of time needed for pig eDNA to accumulate in the water source to a detectable level. We removed water from the artificial wallows and tested eDNA detection over the course of 2 weeks to understand eDNA persistence. We show that our method is sensitive enough to detect very low quantities of eDNA shed by a terrestrial mammal that has limited interaction with water. Our experiments suggest that the number of individuals shedding into a water system can affect persistence of eDNA. Use of an eDNA detection technique can benefit management efforts by providing a sensitive method for finding even small numbers of individuals that may be elusive using other methods.