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Potential Factors Driving Sandberg’s Bluegrass Growth In Relation to Sagebrush Cover
Get PDFSandberg’s bluegrass (Poa secunda) is a native perennial bunchgrass found throughout most of the Intermountain West. Like many other cool season bunchgrass species, Sandberg’s bluegrass is a valuable and readily attainable forage as winter snowpack thaws and recedes. Because a large percent of Western North American rangeland is co-dominated by shrubs, it is paramount that land managers have an adequate and increasingly broad understanding of the biology and relationship between grasses and shrubs. With this in mind, we measured water availability, soil temperature, and basal area of Sandberg’s bluegrass plants inside and outside of the sagebrush canopy as well as a simple plant count with the purpose of evaluating potential drivers behind growth and success of this species. Basal areas were significantly greater inside the canopy versus outside (P = 0.033) which was consistent with our hypothesis. Soil temperature was significantly lower inside the canopy versus outside (P = 0.049) while soil water content was not significantly different. However, there was no significant correlation between basal area and soil water content or soil temperature. We infer from the data collected that Sandberg’s bluegrass is indeed more robust and numerous within the canopy of sagebrush compared to outside the canopy; however, the primary driver for this is still unclear. It is our conclusion that future research is needed in order to evaluate and identify the reason for this occurrence
High Saturated Fat-Enriched Diet Evokes Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Consequently Increases ?- Site App Cleaving Enzyme 1 Activity in Amyloid-Beta Engenderment in the Brain
Get PDFAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly that is histo-pathologically characterized by extracellular accumulation of aggregated Amyloid-? (A?) peptide as neuritic senile plaques and the intracellular accumulation of aggregated hyperphosphorylated protein tau (?) as neurofibrillary tangles. The aspartyl protease BACE1 is indispensable for the engenderment of A? and catalyzes the rate-limiting step in A? genesis from A?PP. The expression of BACE1 protein as well as its enzymatic activity is significantly augmented in the AD brain. The etiology of AD is multifactorial and egregiously comprehended, but epidemiological studies have implicated a diet rich in saturated free fatty acids (sFFA) as a significant risk factor for developing AD. Palmitic acid (palmitate) is the most abundant long-chain free saturated fatty acid in the brain and the diet and higher palmitate levels in the plasma, as observed in obesity and diabetes, inversely correlate with cognitive function. Recent cogent evidence has implicated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress as one of the culpable factors in initiating and fostering the deleterious neurodegenerative changes in AD. A multitude of studies have cogently demonstrated that sFFA such as palmitic acid evoke ER stress. In this study we demonstrate that palmitate evokes ER stress leading to the induction of CHOP expression which indispensably mediates the up-regulation in BACE1 expression and A? engenderment via the NF-?B signaling pathway. Our study unveils a novel ER stress/CHOP/NF-?B signaling pathway and delineates the molecular mechanism thereof that mediate the palmitate-induced up-regulation of BACE1 expression
Occupancy Modeling of Hunter Sightings for Monitoring Moose in Montana
Get PDFMoose (Alces alces) are widely distributed across >100,000 km2 of Montana yet occur at low densities and garner minimal funding. Traditional monitoring methods present challenges of low precision and high cost. During 2012–2015, we tested the efficacy of applying patch occupancy modeling to moose sightings made by hunters of other cervids for cost-effective statewide monitoring. We used phone surveys to collect sightings and allocated each spatially to grid cells and temporally to 1-week sessions within a 5-week hunting season. For each cell we estimated covariates with hypothesized relevance to occupancy by moose or detectability by hunters, including characterization of vegetation, topography, accessibility by humans, hunter effort, and spatial correlation. We sampled ?45,500 hunters per year at a cost of 15,000. Of responding hunters, 14% reported ?1 moose sighting which accumulated to 4,800–6,800 sightings annually. Statewide occupancy estimates were robust and consistent across years of sampling, averaging ? = 0.30 (SE=0.005, range=0.30–0.31). Forested vegetation types reduced the probability of detection but increased the probability of occupancy, while shrub and riparian vegetation types increased both detection and occupancy rates. The amount of sampling effort expended affected detection rates but did not affect occupancy estimates. We expect occupancy estimates to be less sensitive to population changes in areas with higher abundance, making this approach better suited for monitoring change at the range periphery. Alternate count-based analysis techniques such as n-mixture models may offer an alternative to make best use of hunter sightings for monitoring statewide moose populations
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks – A Wildlife Habitat Conservation Heritage
Get PDFThe course of wildlife habitat conservation in Montana was set in 1940, with the initial purchase of 1,000 acres, the “Judith River Game Range”. This was the start of extensive investment in wildlife habitat conservation across the state. Hunting license, PittmanRobertson Federal Aide, USDA Forest Legacy, and funds from many partners have helped to conserve and manage nearly 890,000 acres of high priority wildlife habitats across Montana. I used historical records, program database queries, interviews, and popular articles from the Montana Outdoors publication to summarize conservation highlights from over the past 80 years. Two programs have been instrumental in accomplishing perpetual conservation in recent history. Since 1987, Habitat Montana has invested over 66 million in partner funds. Since 2001, the Forest Legacy Program has invested nearly 60 million of partner funding, specifically for forest land conservation. In total, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) and partners have invested 42 million of donated value by landowners. FWP currently owns 385,000 acres, managed as wildlife management areas. Wildlife habitat conservation easements total 448,000 acres, making FWP the 10th largest holder of conservation easements in the nation. Conserved habitats span coniferous forest, intermountain grasslands, riparian bottomlands, wetlands, prairie, and shrub grasslands, benefitting many species. These lands substantially overlap with mapped priority habitats, involving hunted game and species of concern. Broad public support is essential to program survival. Such support appears to hinge on various project outcomes, including conservation benefits, compatible recreation, economic benefits, managing land as a good neighbor, and tapping local producers to assist with management
Resource Selection, Predation Risk, and Underestimates of Refuge Habitat for an Alpine Obligate
Get PDFUnderstanding relationships between animals and their habitat is a central goal in ecology with important implications for conservation. Misidentified habitat requirements, however, can have serious repercussions because land protections or reintroductions might occur in areas of less than optimal habitat. Studies of resource selection have greatly facilitated an understanding of relationships but suffer because rarely used, but vital habitat features may be insufficiently described. A critical element for many prey species is escape terrain or some form of refuge. Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) are a species well known for their use of cliffs to escape predation, but a survey of the literature reveals at least twelve different approximations of goat escape terrain. Here, we sought to 1) optimize mountain goat escape terrain estimates, and 2) highlight the assumption that the time an animal spends in an area is proportional to importance. We experimentally exposed mountain goats to grizzly bear (predation risk) and ungulate (control) imitations and recorded subsequent escape locations in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Through a used-unused resource selection function we tested 21 landscape variables for explaining goat escape terrain. We found that distance to slopes greater then 60o best explained where mountain goats fled. Additionally, we identified the need to incorporate behavior and predator interactions into resource selection studies. With 27 failed mountain goats reintroductions these results have consequences on habitat characterization and considerations for species restoration. Managers should consider the availability of escape habitat when protecting land or reintroducing prey species
Analysis of Spiny Softshell Turtle Distribution and Abundance in Four Rivers Systems in Eastern Montana
Get PDFThe spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) is designated as a species of concern in the state of Montana due to a lack of knowledge regarding their conservation status, loss of habitat connectivity and anthropogenic changes in hydrology. Information on population abundance, and basic population structure for these turtle species is necessary to better understand how climatic changes, human responses to these changes, and other disturbances influence this neglected faunal component of freshwater ecosystems. To examine differences in subpopulations exposed to different environmental factors, spiny softshell turtles were studied in four river systems in south eastern Montana. Over two years a total of 328 spiny softshell turtles (283 females, 41 males and four juveniles) were captured and tagged in the Bighorn, Clarks Fork, Musselshell and Yellowstone Rivers. The proportion of males to females across all four rivers was 86.28% females and 12.5% males. Based on a method adapted from the von Bertalanffy growth model by Plummer and Mills (2015), the length of the female spiny softshell turtles were correlated to known ages from other studies and broken into four age cohorts (juvenile, subadult, reproductive adult, mature adult). Numbers of turtles in each cohort were found to be significantly different between the four rivers p < 0.00001. The Musselshell and Yellowstone Rivers had a more even distribution of age classes with the Musselshell having notably less mature adult turtles. Differences in hydrology, such as temperature, and the timing and magnitude of spring pulse flows on these four rivers may explain the observed spiny softshell turtle demographic structures
Assessing Habitat Quality for Four Grassland Songbird Species of Concern in Northern Philips County Montana
Get PDFOver the last 40 years, grassland bird populations have declined faster than any other avian guild in North America. In northern Montana, four species are experiencing particularly dramatic population decline, Baird’s Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii), Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii), Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus), and McCown’s Longspur (Rynchophanes mccownii), all four are classified as species of concern in Montana. The primary threat to grassland birds is thought to be habitat degradation and fragmentation due to conversion of native prairie to farmland, energy development, and exurban development. The majority of the remaining native prairie is maintained for cattle grazing, either on private ranches or on public land that is then leased out to private ranchers. Informed management on native prairie has the potential to maximize habitat value for vulnerable species, however, currently we are still lacking the necessary information to design management strategies. Previous studies have attempted to describe quality habitat for grassland songbirds, defining quality, as conditions supporting a high density of adults successfully producing offspring. However these studies typically focus at the individual nest scale, habitat quality definitions at a scale useful to management are still poorly described. This study will attempt to fill this gap in knowledge, its objectives are 1) evaluate how local and pasture-level vegetation conditions affect nest survival for our focal species, 2) evaluate the effects of vegetation composition and structure on bird abundance and nest density, and 3) Evaluate the functional relationships among abundance, nest density, and nest survival
Sportsmen’s Engagement in Conservation in Montana
Get PDFMontana represents a very successful and effective model of conservation relative to its fish, wildlife and habitat resources. It is nationally recognized as such. Foundational to this model of conservation is the public trust doctrine and the premise that these resources are to be managed in perpetuity for the benefit of all. It includes an underpinning of rigorous science to guide management decisions and actions and a democratic opportunity for the citizens of this state and our guests to participate in a variety of regulated recreational opportunities. Montana provides a blend of public and private lands including the presence of two significant national parks, several major wilderness areas and working landscapes that contribute to the physical and economic well being of this state. Most importantly, the people of Montana have been committed to the support of this model, uniquely so when it comes to local and statewide engagement. Montana hunters, anglers and conservationists have a history of participation in decisions relative to population management, habitat conservation and access issues
The Ludite and The Technophile
No full textA bookish Luddite such as I, in tartan waistcoat and Fez, would be foolish to think a society could prevent the onslaught of the future. Change is con-stant, and like the winds of time, always eroding the physically present into a gelatinous and myste-rious tomorrow. My ilk does not FEAR the future; we modern Luddites simply find the conveniences of new technologies to be irksome, intrusive into our soul’s core, and distracting from the immedi-ate world around
The Importance of Establishing Assistance Animal Policies for Your Library
Get PDFMany library employees do not understand fully the laws and rules regarding service animals and the rights of persons with disabilities who work with service animals. Employees do not necessarily know the differences between service animals, therapy animals, and emotional support animals. It is im-portant for employees of all public accommodations, such as libraries, to understand the differences and the rules that govern each category of animal, and when and if each category is allowed into the library. Employees need to know how to accommodate persons with disabilities and what questions they can ask legally, if they have reason to believe an animal in the library is not a service animal. It is also important for libraries to develop clear policies regarding animals in the library that adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal and state rules. Ultimately, there is no easy answer, but employees who know the laws, and libraries that have clear animal policies, are more like-ly to be successful adhering to the ADA and ensuring equal access for patrons with disabilities. This paper will review the distinction between service animals, therapy animals, and emotional support ani-mals. It will delineate the federal, state, and local regulations that affect academic library animal poli-cy. It will examine how individual academic libraries are currently addressing the issue. The authors also make recommendations on best practices for effectively creating and enforcing such policies. One case study highlights an instance in which university policy is being revised to meet current regulations while simultaneously providing for specific programming involving non-service dogs