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Publications

These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16785

Objectives and metrics for wildlife monitoring

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 integrate the information into an appropriate e
Authors
J.R. Sauer, M. G. Knutson

Potential effects of mixed infections in ticks on transmission dynamics of pathogens: comparative analysis of published records

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 levels of coinfection than would be expected due to chance alone,
Authors
Howard S. Ginsberg

Forty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American birds

This is the eighth Supplement since the publication of the 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists’ Union [AOU] 1998). It summarizes decisions made by the AOU’s Committee on Classification and Nomenclature-North and Middle America between 1 January and 31 December 2007.
Authors
Richard C. Banks, R. Terry Chesser, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, Kevin Winker

Monitoring in the context of structured decision-making and adaptive management

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 to know the system state before deciding on the appropriate cours
Authors
J. E. Lyons, M.C. Runge, H. P. Laskowski, W. L. Kendall

Sources of variation in detection of wading birds from aerial surveys in the Florida Everglades

We conducted dual-observer trials to estimate detection probabilities (probability that a group that is present and available is detected) for fixed-wing aerial surveys of wading birds in the Everglades system, Florida. Detection probability ranged from
Authors
M.J. Conroy, J.T. Peterson, O.L. Bass, C.J. Fonnesbeck, J.E. Howell, C. T. Moore, J.P. Runge

Methods for estimating the amount of vernal pool habitat in the northeastern United States

The loss of small, seasonal wetlands is a major concern for a variety of state, local, and federal organizations in the northeastern U.S. Identifying and estimating the number of vernal pools within a given region is critical to developing long-term conservation and management strategies for these unique habitats and their faunal communities. We use three probabilistic sampling methods (simple ra
Authors
R. Van Meter, L.L. Bailey, E.H.C. Grant

Conserving waste rice for wintering waterfowl in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

Rice lost before or during harvest operations (hereafter waste rice) provides important food for waterfowl in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA, but >70% of waste rice is lost during autumn. We conducted experiments in 19 production rice fields in Arkansas and Mississippi during autumns 2003 and 2004 to evaluate the ability of common postharvest practices (i.e., burn, mow, roll, disk, or stand
Authors
J.P. Kross, R.M. Kaminski, K. J. Reinecke, A.T. Pearse

Juvenile survival in a tropical population of roseate terns: Interannual variation and effect of tick parasitism

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 2005 on Aride Island, Seychelles, and recaptured/resighted at the same colony si
Authors
David Monticelli, Jaime A. Ramos, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Jeffrey A. Spendelow

Effects of methylmercury exposure on glutathione metabolism, oxidative stress, and chromosomal damage in captive-reared common loon (Gavia immer) chicks

We quantified the level of dietary mercury (Hg), delivered as methylmercury chloride (CH3HgCl), associated with negative effects on organ and plasma biochemistries related to glutathione (GSH) metabolism and oxidative stress, and chromosomal damage in captive-reared common loon (Gavia immer) chicks reared from hatch to 105 days. Mercury-associated effects related to oxidative stress and altered gl
Authors
K.P. Kenow, D. J. Hoffman, R. K. Hines, M.W. Meyer, J. W. Bickham, C. W. Matson, K.R. Stebbins, P. Montagna, A. Elfessi

Mercury and other element exposure to tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting on Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota

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) eggs and nestlings were collected from nest
Authors
T. W. Custer, Christine M. Custer, K. M. Johnson, D. J. Hoffman

A hierarchical model for spatial capture-recapture data

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 because the effec
Authors
J. Andrew Royle, K.V. Young

Multi-scale occupancy estimation and modelling using multiple detection methods

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 of multiple detection methods. When multiple methods or de
Authors
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