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Seasonal Resource Selection by Introduced Mountain Goats in the Southwest Greater Yellowstone Area
Get PDFMountain ungulates, although regarded as iconic and charismatic wildlife species, are the least studied and understood large mammals in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA). Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) are considered non-native in the GYA according to reviews of archeological, paleontological, and historical records, and have been steadily expanding their range since their initial introduction in the 1940s. Because of the general propensity of mountain goats to inhabit high elevation, mountainous terrain, there is significant potential for range overlap with native bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and the possibility that competition and disease transfer will be detrimental to sympatric bighorn populations. I will broadly discuss mountain goat seasonal resource selection modeled from 15 (11 females and 4 males) allopatric mountain goats representing the sole established population in the southwest GYA. These efforts produce the first spatial predictions of seasonal habitat use by mountain goats in the GYA using GPS data, and provide regional managers with important insights regarding the current and future distribution of mountain goats. Of particular interest are areas where mountain goats are in the early stages of colonization, such as Grand Teton National Park. Building seasonal resource selection models for mountain goats in the GYA is the first step needed to better understand their biological needs, ecological role, and potential to negatively impact native communities and species
Age Determination of Live-Captured Beavers by Weight in Southwest Montana (Poster)
Get PDFStudies evaluating demography and age specific space use of beavers (Castor canadensis) require accurate methods for aging live captured individuals in the field. Unfortunately, techniques for aging live captured beavers in the field are often unreliable and can require previous experience in handling beavers. Previous age weight relationships developed in other regions (e.g., Midwest) may not be suitable, because differences in diets, seasonal behavior, and selection for life history traits likely results in significant regional variation in age weight relationships. Thus, regional assessments of age -weight relationships are necessary for accurate inference. In the fall of 2015, we began a two -year study with the goal of developing accurate growth curves for beavers occurring in southwestern Montana. We are collecting beaver carcasses from local trappers and animal control experts. Carcasses are weighed and the molar teeth extracted for laboratory analysis of cementum annuli which provide an accurate age for each beaver. Regression analysis will be used to model age weight relationships for beavers, and model predictions will be tested using a hold out dataset and cross validation. We expect our results to provide useful information for researchers in forested headwater habitats of Montana, and provide baseline data for calibrations for broader scale assessments in the region. Please contact us if you can provide whole beaver carcasses
Grizzly Bear Use of Forest Service Grazing Allotments in The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Poster)
Get PDFRange expansion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) population has led to increased human-bear conflicts, including livestock depredation. In 2015, we began a study to evaluate spatio-temporal patterns between public land livestock grazing, grizzly bear habitat use and livestock depredations. In collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, we will obtain 25 years (1989-2014) of data related to Forest Service grazing allotments, including livestock stocking and on-off dates, locations of individual collared bears, grizzly bear depredations and management removals, bear density and habitat characteristics pertinent to bear space use (e.g. landcover, elevation, human activity) within the GYE. Bear and conflict locations will be related to allotment information, habitat characteristics, and bear density using generalized linear models to evaluate what factors are influencing grizzly bear space use and depredation events, and how they have changed across seasons and years. Habitat selection by individual bears will be evaluated at two scales, home range selection within the landscape and selection within the home range, to give more insight into factors affecting space use and how they differ among individual bears. Our results should facilitate the development of adaptive approaches to conserve grizzly bears while also conserving the economic viability of livestock operations, and should have utility for bear and land management in the GYE
Characterization of the Effects of Small Molecules on Mountain Pine Bark Better Fungal Symbionts (Poster)
Get PDFSeveral species of the bark beetle, in particular the Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), are responsible for killing large numbers of trees over vast areas in western North America, including over 31 million trees in Montana. Most or all of these bark beetle species are host to a variety of ophiostomatoid fungi. Many of these fungi are carried in the mycangia, a specialized structure of the exoskeleton, and are critical nutritional mutualists to the beetle’s life cycle. Thus, one possible means of controlling or managing a beetle outbreak is to inhibit the growth of their associated fungi. These fungal spores are also indirectly introduced to the tree interior where they invade the phloem and sometimes the xylem of the tree that can possibly disrupt the water flow. Therefore, another possible prevention method might be inhibiting the fungi from mycelial growth on the tree itself. The first stage of this research is to test whether small molecule inhibitors are able to prevent growth for the fungal species associated with mountain pine beetles, (Grosmannia clavigera and Ophiostoma montium). The fungal species have shown sensitivity to the small molecule inhibitor, BH3I, especially G. clavigera. Because BH3I has potent antifungal activity, we will test its derivatives in hopes of finding additional small inhibitor molecules to effectively obstruct fungal growth. We can then begin testing different concentrations of the effective small molecules on the fungi, and furthermore, we can develop a tree-like environment to begin examining the effects of the inhibitors on the xylem and phloem of trees
Embracing Change When it’s Happening to You!
Get PDFWe live in a world of rapid change and increasing complexity. Libraries are no exception. Each of us has a choice of how to respond to these changes, either proactively or reactively. This article is a write-up of our session at the 2015 PNLA Conference: Pushing the Boundaries. At the session, we introduced change concepts, provided opportunities for participants to explore change in their own lives, gave a few examples of how libraries and staff have responded proactively to change, and introduced concepts for participants tobuild resiliency in themselves and their staff
Rainbow Round My Shelves
Get PDFFor years the Blackfoot Public Library lay buried under ground. Yet the ghosts thathaunted our shelves and aisles were blithe spirits and they dispensed gaiety throughoutthe community. How could they help it? The floor was orange, the walls primrose,the chairs vermilion, the tables topped with jade green. I think that many patrons stillthink regretfully of those days when we could reach right out from the desk and picka book asked for, or by rising reach in behind the doubled row to get out an obscurevolume that we had fondly hoped no one would be demanding for ages
The Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area: 30 Years of Vegetation Monitoring
Get PDFChanges in native plant community cover and composition are generally gradual and affected by multiple environmental factors. Detection of vegetative trend can be difficult without long-term data collection efforts. Management of the Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area includes emphasizing the occurrence of highly productive, diverse plant communities that provide the best possible forage and cover for native wildlife species. To help accomplish this management goal, a range condition and trend survey was initiated shortly after purchase of the property to establish baseline vegetative condition. Fourteen permanently marked transects were established and species’ cover values monitored every four years from 1979 - 2009. The area was rested from livestock grazing from 1979 - 1989; a non-traditional rotational grazing system was initiated in 1990. Rough fescue (Festuca scabrella), Hood’s phlox (Phlox hoodii) horizontal juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) and shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruiticosa) were selected as indicator species that reflect overall plant community trend. Response of grasses, forbs and shrubs over the 30 year period are discussed, as well as individual species’ trends. In general, while total plant cover remains static, grasses are increasing, forbs are declining. Vegetative response to a long-term rest livestock grazing system is presented as well
Developing Priorities for the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative: State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAP) as One Piece of Information
Get PDFLandscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are public-private partnerships that focus on natural resource challenges which transcend political and jurisdictional boundaries and require a more holistic, collaborative, and adaptive approach to conservation that is firmly grounded in science and strives to ensure the sustainability of land, water, wildlife and cultural resources. The Great Northern LCC, covering Western Montana and parts of several other states and provinces, is nearing completion of a process that synthesizes conservation priorities among the 25 organizations represented on the Steering Committee and their partners. This Strategic Conservation Framework identifies priority species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes across the landscape represented by the Great Northern LCC based on synthetic summarizations of five state-based Wildlife Action Plans, 40 other regional conservation planning documents, and focused interviews with key personnel across the region. Here we report on the process by which we analyzed data from the State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) of ID, MT, OR, WA, and WY and from Strategic Habitat Conservation as one piece of information for strategic planning. Thirty-five species of greatest conservation need (as defined in the SWAPs) were identified as having commonality across the five states. The ranges of these species were then overlain and a map of areas with the greatest number of species of conservation need can be visualized across the Great Northern LCC
The Effects of Special Mule Deer Buck Regulations on Mule Deer Populations and Harvest
Get PDFWe evaluated the effects of 3 restrictive season types on mule deer population and harvest characteristics in 41 Montana hunting districts (HDs). Using a mixed-effects, before-after-control-impact modeling framework, we analyzed 6 harvest and hunter use response variables, and 4 population response variables. Buck : doe ratios increased by 0.42 bucks:100 does and 0.33 bucks :100 does per year, following changes to a shortened season and limited permits, respectively. We found no significant change in buck : doe ratios in unlimited permit HDs. All restrictive season types resulted in declines in hunter numbers and days. HDs with no restrictions, with limited permits and with unlimited permits also showed a downward annual trend in hunter numbers. In shortened season HDs, a significant loss in hunter numbers was followed by a slow return of hunters back to those HDs. Limited permit HDs had a statistically greater proportion of bucks with ?4 points on at least one antler, a lower number of bucks harvested annually, and a smaller total number of ?4 point bucks harvested than in HDs with no buck restrictions. For those same 3 response variables, unlimited and shortened season HDs were not different than HDs without restrictions. In all three restricted regulation HDs there was an annual increase in the observed spring fawn : adult ratios even though the general trend was for a decreasing fawn : adult ratio of 0.83 fawns:100 adults per year in HDs with no restrictions
Occupancy Dynamics, Roost Habitat and Prey of Mexican Spotted Owls in Utah
Get PDFMexican spotted owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) occupy canyon habitats that have received less attention than owls in forested environments, and yet canyon environments represent a significant portion of the owl’s range. In Utah, the owls occupy narrow and steep-walled canyons that attract high levels of human use, including climbing and hiking through nest areas, and human use levels have strongly increased in the canyons, for example, permits for access to popular climbs and hikes increased over 1700% during 1998 to 2002 in Zion National Park. To examine potential effects of recreation on the owls, we studied temporal variability of detection, occupancy, local extinction, and colonization probabilities. Our study sites included several National Parks and BLM resource areas. Our primary objective was to examine effects of recreation on site occupancy dynamics. We also investigated reproductive success, roost habitat, and prey selection. The analysis of detection rate showed strong support for constant detection probability of 89% for spotted owls among 47 sites. For both single owls and owl pairs we estimated initial occupancy rate of 83% for mesic sites and 43% for relatively xeric sites. We found that recreation was not associated with occupancy, detection, nor extinction and recolonization probabilities. Although reproductive rates varied by year, recreation was not negatively associated with production of fledgling owls per site. We also studied prey selection and roost habitat in the canyon environments. Roosts were placed on steep-walled cliffs with greater number of perches than adjacent habitats, and roosts possessed relatively high overhead tree cover, cool daytime temperatures, and thus a suitable thermal environment in the arid canyons. Pellets collected at roosts sites, upon dissection, indicated that rodents were primary prey, but also included birds, bats, and various anthropods. Woodrats (Neotoma sp.) dominated the prey frequency and biomass