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Optimal Use of Wildlife Monitoring Resources
No full textResources for monitoring wildlife populations are limited and their availability changes over time. The data collected using these resources is critical for making good conservation and management decisions. Determining the optimal way to allocate monitoring resources for data collection based on the amount of information the data provides for conservation and management is a responsible and efficient use of public resources. We develop a method for determining the most optimal scenarios for data collection which simultaneously minimizes cost and maximizes the precision of the abundance estimate. To accomplish this, we developed a new metric which describes the relationship between data collection cost and estimate precision in a single value, the information gain ratio. We used data collected by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game on the statewide mule deer population of Idaho to develop our method for determining the optimal allocation of monitoring resources. Using the information gain ratio, we characterize the relationship between cost and precision relative to the specific attributes of each mule deer population management unit. Our method allowed us to generate a set of data collection scenarios that were adapted to the specific characteristics of each unit, changed with the availability of monitoring resources, and are easily comparable via the predicted values of the information gain ratio. The collection scenarios detail the type and amount of each data type to collect for the optimal use of monitoring resources. Our optimization method is adaptable across species, scales, data types, and population models
Seasonal Movements and Angler Exploitation of an Adfluvial Walleye Population in the Missouri River, Montana
Get PDFAn unauthorized introduction of walleye in Canyon Ferry Reservoir (CFR) challenges fisheries managers as the population pioneers new habitat upstream in the Missouri River. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MFWP) confirmed walleye in the river upstream of CFR in 2007. Angler tag returns suggested walleye were abundant in the river. It was unknown if these were adfluvial walleye originating in CFR, or a discrete fluvial population. Understanding seasonal movements and ecology of walleye in the river will allow managers to effectively monitor and manage these fish. The objectives of this study were to monitor radio and anchor-tagged walleye movements to quantify movements and determine if two distinct populations exist, establish spatial and temporal densities within the river, and calculate exploitation rates of walleye by anglers in the river. Overall, most radio-tagged walleye relocated in the river, 88 percent river and 100 percent CFR implanted fish, exhibited seasonal adfluvial movements suggesting, similar to other studies, that two distinct walleye populations are not present. Adfluvial walleye were concentrated in the lower 6.4 km of the river during the annual ascending hydrograph, maintained maximum upstream extent throughout the summer, and out-migrated into CFR by late fall. Radio-tagged walleye only used the river between 17 March and 27 November. We estimated walleye exploitation rates were 21 percent for CFR-tagged walleye and 13 percent for river-tagged walleye. Exploitation rates for anchor-tagged walleye in this study reflect CFR exploitation rates (18% from 20102014) just prior to this study. These results suggest that adfluvial Missouri River walleye are seasonally abundant and exploited at similar rates as lacustrine CFR walleye, but no changes to current river walleye management strategies are recommended. In addition, routine walleye population monitoring surveys and a creel survey are warranted as the adfluvial CFR walleye population continues to adapt, expand, and establish
Age-Mass Relationships for Beavers in Montana
Get PDFBeavers (Castor spp.) are receiving increased attention due to their impact on ecosystems and potential for use in stream restoration. Beaver research and relocation projects are especially common in the western United States, and professionals using live-captured animals for projects will benefit from a reliable technique for aging live-caught beavers. The only reliable technique for aging live beavers without sedation is to estimate age based on mass, but estimates of the age-mass relationship for beavers vary regionally and are not adequately quantified in the western United States. We collected beaver carcasses and skulls from trappers throughout southwest Montana to estimate the age-mass relationship using a robust sample collected from a large geographic area. We weighed beaver carcasses and extracted molar teeth from the mandibles to estimate age by counting cementum annuli on cross-sections of the teeth. We collected 193 beaver carcasses and hanging weights from nine major river drainages in Montana. Multiple regression analysis indicated the top prediction equation was mass = 9.4611 + 8.2234 x log(age) + drainage, indicating drainage-level differences in the average mass of beavers. Beavers from the Ruby, Jefferson, and Yellowstone River drainages were larger than those from the other river drainages in Montana. We could reliably separate beavers into four age classes: kits, yearlings, two-year-olds, and adults (>3 years). Our results are useful for researchers who need to estimate beaver age to understand population dynamics and age-specific life history characteristics, as well as restoration practitioners who need to determine colony compositions and recruitment rates to evaluate the success of restoration projects
Study of an Atomic Compressive Material Behavior at High Strain Rate Compression in a Simple Aluminum System
No full textAluminum alloys are one of the structural materials with novel properties for building functional parts. Aluminum alloys are light metal alloys which have high demand in aerospace and automotive industries. In structural applications, functional parts are designed for over a broad range of strain rates and temperatures. A numerical simulation was performed to characterize an aluminum (Al) system at high strain rate uniaxial compressive loading conditions. We deformed the Al system at room temperature to higher temperatures with zero pressure. Al has face-centered cubic structure and we use four thousand atoms in periodic boundary conditions to perform the analysis. We used a modified embedded atom method, a widely used atomic level semi-empirical model for metals and impurities, for many-body interatomic potentials for monoatomic metal. We found characteristic material behavior for the Al system at different temperature at high strain rate compressive loading
Comparing the Habitat Connectivity of American Marten and Fisher in the Northern Rocky Mountains, USA
No full textThe connectivity of a species is the ability of its individuals to move, and importantly, to move between populations. This project predicts and compares the connectivity of American marten (Martes americana), as well as fisher (Pekania pennanti) in western Montana and northern Idaho, to determine the presence of wildlife corridors that facilitate the connectivity of both. MaxEnt was used to construct a niche-model for American marten using marten location data coupled with environmental covariates (topography, precipitation, snow, temperature, vegetation). Based on the assumption that identified areas of use also serve to facilitate connectivity, this niche model was transformed into a resistance surface. Connectivity models were then derived from this. This same process was followed using a published niche-model for fisher. Assuming that both fisher and marten might travel between areas of the highest quality habitat, connectivity nodes were located randomly within areas of high quality habitat and Circuitscape was used to infer connectivity paths. To compare these connectivity maps they were then quantiled into ten grading on the value of connectivity, and added together for a total quantile value of twenty. Areas with the top two quantiles of connectivity were define as mutual connectivity. This study identified seven mutual wildlife corridors for these two species, and three areas of high mutual use. These findings may not only advise land management regarding how to better preserve the connectivities of American marten and fisher, but also the connectivities of other similar specie
Electrical Properties of Carbon Nanofluids
No full textElectrically conductive inks have wide applications in wearable electronics, sensors, and inkjet printed circuits. The goal of this project was to make quantitative measurements on the electrical properties of aqueous suspensions of carbon nanomaterials. To create the electrically conductive ink, Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) was used to stabilize the MWNTs in solution. Coats of ink were applied to standard printer paper to measure the sheet resistance of the ink using a Signatone S-302 4-point probe. The resistivity of the ink was determined with an apparatus that I designed and built, it used a series of inter-locking vinyl tubes and solid copper rods as the electrodes. An Agilent 3458A 81/2 Digital Multimeter was used to capture a resistance measurement which was then used along with the dimensions of the vinyl tubes to calculate the resistivity of the ink. By measuring the resistivity of a 5 wt% sample of saltwater and then comparing it to the values found in a table, it was concluded that the apparatus was accurate within a reasonable margin of error
Identification of Cellulolytic Hot Spring Organisms Through Bioorthogonal Labeling
No full textBioprocessing of cellulose from plant waste into ethanol has been a focus of the renewable energy field for several decades. The recent developments of genome sequencing technologies have reinvigorated the topic. Identification of genes and the potential to degrade cellulose has been the major outcome thus far. High-throughput techniques to link taxonomy and in situ function of the organisms responsible for these processes have, however, been lacking. Bioorthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging is a nondestructive method to fluorescently label active, protein-synthesizing cells that can later be separated from a community using fluorescent activated cell sorting (BONCAT-FACS). Biomass collected from a Yellowstone National Park hot spring was incubated with four cellulose substrates to identify organisms that were preferentially active in the presence, but not the absence of cellulose substrates. A short timeframe (2 weeks) bioorthogonal labeling incubation and a longer enrichment (6 weeks) incubation were compared for differences in community composition to highlight the competition of an incubation that is typically missed with enrichment schemes. Over 14 days of incubation the community began to shift to a simplified population comprised of Aquificae, Deinococcus-Thermus, or Chloroflexi. However, at early time points, the active community was comprised by a multitude of uncultured and cultured organisms including Fervidibacteria, Aigarchaeota, or Thermotogae which were eventually outcompeted by dominating organisms in the later time points. BONCAT-FACS outlines a novel approach of using single-cell bioorthogonal labeling to profile a microbial community’s activity regarding biotechnology industry interest
Decoding Avian Migration: Cold Fronts and Their Influence on Nocturnal Flight Calls (Poster)
No full textPasserines respond to a variety of environmental cues during migration. Some research suggests that passerine migration may be influenced by weather variables such as the passage of cold fronts. During fall 2017, we used acoustic recorders at 23 stations to document the nocturnal flight calls (NFCs) of migrating passerines in the Bitterroot Valley. We looked at correlations between the number of NFCs and the daily change of two weather variables that may indicate an oncoming cold front: temperature and barometric pressure. Cold fronts tend to correlate with migration waves and an increase in nocturnal flights calls. In the future, we intend to include other environmental variables including light pollution, cloud cover, wind direction and precipitation
Influence of Pre-Breeding Body Condition on Reproductive Metrics of Greater Sage-Grouse
No full textMany species are subject to carry-over effects, where habitat quality experienced long before breeding may influence subsequent performance and overall fitness of an individual. Pre-breeding body condition has been shown to affect reproductive metrics including: breeding propensity, timing of nest initiation, clutch size, and offspring quality. Although the effects of pre-breeding body condition on reproduction have been well-studied in waterfowl, we know little about carry-over effects for gallinaceous birds. During on-going research in the Centennial Valley in southwestern Montana, we tracked 237 female Sage-grouse for 5 years and monitored nesting activity and broods until 30 days of age. Based on preliminary regression analyses, we did not detect an influence of pre-breeding body condition on breeding propensity, given that most individuals nested (91%, 187/206) if they survived long enough to breed. We did not observe differences in timing of nest initiation based on variation in pre-breeding body condition, but this timing differed substantially among years. We found pre-breeding body condition positively influenced clutch size and offspring weight, however there was substantial unexplained variation. Although we did not find pre-breeding body condition strongly influenced reproduction in this population, other metrics, such as habitat characteristics and the previous season’s weather events, may provide insights about the role of carry-over effects in sage-grouse. We are currently investigating other drivers to understand the importance of winter habitat quality on reproduction and subsequently help guide management decisions
Is Habitat Constraining Bighorn Sheep Distributions and Restoration: A Case Study in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
No full textWe used GPS location data from 65 bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) in the Madison Mountain Range, located in the northwestern extent of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), to develop and validate winter and summer resource selection function (RSF) habitat models. Two isolated populations of bighorn sheep occurred within the range, but had demonstrated little expansion into apparent habitat even during years of population growth. We hypothesized that habitat was not the primary factor limiting these populations and that the Madison Range could support a substantially higher abundance and broader distribution of bighorn sheep. We evaluated remotely-sensed landscape covariates expected to influence bighorn sheep resource selection and compared sets of biologically-plausible seasonal models with AICc. We validated our results using temporally- and spatially-independent GPS data and predicted potential habitat throughout the Madison Range. Our results indicate that approximately 82% of winter and 42% of summer habitat was unoccupied. Predicted winter habitat occurred in a non-contiguous distribution primarily along the low-elevation, southwest-facing aspects within the Madison Valley, and predicted summer habitat was concentrated along the high elevation ridgelines associated with steep slopes and reduced canopy cover. By linking our winter RSF to population estimates for the Taylor-Hilgard, we predicted the Madison Range may be capable of supporting 2 to 4 times the number of bighorn sheep currently estimated within the range. Our results support our hypothesis and suggest that a strategy focused on systematically restoring a metapopulation may greatly enhance the potential for bighorn sheep restoration within the Madison Mountain Range