Estimating migratory game-bird productivity by integrating age ratio and banding data

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 612 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Zimmerman ◽  
W. A. Link ◽  
M. J. Conroy ◽  
J. R. Sauer ◽  
K. D. Richkus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
American Woodcock ◽  
Game Bird ◽  
Relative Recovery ◽  
Game Birds ◽  
Age Ratio ◽  
Relative Vulnerability

Context Reproduction is a critical component of fitness, and understanding factors that influence temporal and spatial dynamics in reproductive output is important for effective management and conservation. Although several indices of reproductive output for wide-ranging species, such as migratory birds, exist, there has been no theoretical justification for their estimators or associated measures of variance. Aims The aims of our research were to develop statistical justification for an estimator of reproduction and associated variances on the basis of an existing national wing-collection survey and banding data, and to demonstrate the applicability of this estimator to a migratory game bird. Methods We used a Bayesian hierarchical modelling approach to integrate wing-collection data, which provides information on population age ratios, and band-recovery data, which provides information on recovery probabilities of various age classes, for American woodcock (Scolopax minor) to estimate productivity and associated measures of variance. We present two models of relative vulnerability between age classes: one model assumed that adult recovery probabilities were higher, but that annual fluctuations were synchronous between the two age classes (i.e. an additive effect of age and year). The second model assumed that adults, on average, had higher recovery probabilities than did juveniles and that annual fluctuations were asynchronous through time (i.e. an interaction between age and year). Key results Fitting our models within a hierarchical Bayesian framework efficiently incorporates the two data types into a single estimator and derives appropriate variances for the productivity estimator. Further, use of Bayesian methods enabled us to derive credible intervals that avoid the reliance on asymptotic assumptions. When applied to American woodcock data, the additive model resulted in biologically realistic and more precise age-ratio estimates each year and is adequate when the relative vulnerability to sampling only slightly varies or does not vary among components of a population (e.g. age, sex class) among years. Therefore, we recommend using woodcock indices from our analysis based on this model. Conclusions We provide a flexible modelling framework for estimating productivity and associated variances that can incorporate ecological covariates to explore various factors that could drive annual dynamics in productivity. Applying our model to the American woodcock data indicated that assumptions about the variability in relative recovery probabilities could greatly influence the precision of our productivity estimator. Therefore, researchers should carefully consider the assumption of temporally variable relative recovery probabilities (i.e. ratio of juvenile to adults’ recovery probability) for different age classes when applying this estimator. Implications Several national and international management strategies for migratory game birds in North America rely on measures of productivity from harvest survey parts collections, without a justification of the estimator or providing estimates of precision. We derive an estimator of productivity with realistic measures of uncertainty that can be directly incorporated into management plans or ecological studies across large spatial scales.

scholarly journals Extending U.S. Biodiversity Collections to Address National Challenges

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Thiers ◽  
Paula Mabee ◽  
Anna Monfils
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Tracking System ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Data Repository ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Voucher Specimen ◽  
Core Data ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

The U.S. national heritage of approximately one billion biodiversity specimens, once digitized, can be linked to emerging digital data sources to form an information-rich network for exploring earth’s biota across taxonomic, temporal and spatial scales. A workshop held 30 October - 1 November 2018 at Oak Spring Garden in Upperville, VA under the leadership of the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) developed a plan for maximizing the value of our collections resource for research and education. In their deliberations, participants drew heavily on recent literature as well as surveys, and meetings and workshops held over the past year with the primary stakeholder community of collections professionals, researchers, and educators. We propose to focus future biodiversity infrastructure and digital resources on building a network of extended specimen data that encompasses the depth and breadth of biodiversity specimens and data held in U.S. collections institutions (BCoN 2019). The extended specimen network (ESN) includes the physical voucher specimen curated and housed in a collection and its associated genetic, phenotypic and environmental data. These core data types, selected because they are key to answering driving research questions, include physical preparations such as tissue samples and their derivative products such as gene sequences or metagenomes, digitized media and annotations, and taxon- or locality-specific data such as occurrence observations, phylogenies and species distributions. Existing voucher specimens will be extended both manually and through new automated methods, and data will be linked through unique identifiers, taxon name and location across collections, across disciplines and to outside sources of data. As we continue our documentation of earth’s biota, new collections will be enhanced from the outset, i.e., accessioned with a full suite of data. We envision the ESN proposed here will be the gold standard for the structured cloud of integrated data associated with all vouchered specimens. Collectively, data linked through the ESN will enhance the capacity to explore research questions across taxonomic, temporal and spatial scales. The ESN will allow researchers to explore the rules that govern how organisms, grow, diversify and interact, and enable scientists to ask more nuanced research questions specific to how environmental change and human activities may affect those rules. The specimen, coupled with the open access ESN, and immediate and relevant science resulting from the ESN, can play a unique role in promoting STEM education, involving citizen scientists, and empowering a scientifically literate society. The specimen and the associated data provide a relatable and engaging entry point to participate in iterative data driven science, learn core data literacy skills, and build open, transdisciplinary collaboration. Creating the ESN requires new infrastructure to provide the linkages between the specimen and data derived from it. On the established foundation of existing digital data from collections it will require the development of new standards, connections, and resources such as ontologies to facilitate discovery, and implementation of a robust identifier tracking system. Finally, continued digitization of established, as well as new collections, is necessary to ensure the grounding of extended specimen data in the framework of when and where it was collected. The ESN will also require new approaches to data sharing and collaboration, partnerships with national and international data providers, computer and data scientists, educators and industry. The ESN will benefit from research-driven episodic funding for the collection of new specimens, which in turn will require digitization and curation. For the ESN to function as envisaged above, it will require long-term support for a central organizing unit with responsibility for community coordination, education and outreach, data mobilization, and maintenance of the central data repository and the network infrastructure.

scholarly journals Effects of supplementary feed for game birds on activity of brown rats Rattus norvegicus on arable farms

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Md Saad ◽  
Roy Sanderson ◽  
Peter Robertson ◽  
Mark Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Linear Models ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Game Bird ◽  
Game Birds ◽  
Bird Feeders ◽  
Brown Rat ◽  
Supplementary Feed

Abstract Brown rats are widespread in agroecosystems, but our understanding of factors affecting their activity is incomplete due to cryptic, nocturnal behaviours. Indirect monitoring methods include tracking plates and camera traps. Supplementary feeding of game birds may provide resources for rats away from farm buildings, allowing them to persist in winter when there is little other food available. Developing reliable methods to monitor such populations will facilitate landscape-scale studies of rat populations in farm environments and aid ecologically based approaches for controlling rats on farms. We compared camera traps and tracking plates to monitor brown rat activity near game bird feeders at a mixed farm in Northumberland, UK. Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to compare rat incidence estimated from camera traps and tracking plates. A strong positive relationship was found between the two methods, although tracking plate estimates were less reliable when rat activity was very low. Factors that affected populations of brown rats near game bird feeders were assessed via linear mixed-effect models (LMM) of monthly tracking plate data (October 2017 to September 2018). Populations were highest at the feeders (0 m) compared with further away (10 m, 20 m) and were also higher in periods of cold, wet weather and when more food was available from the feeders. Rodenticide application near feeders did not significantly affect activity, nor did land cover 100 m around each feeder. A highly significant relationship was detected with food supply, suggesting that the use of game bird feeders could potentially have major impacts on rat population dynamics.

Sex and age differences in distribution, abundance, and habitat preferences of wintering Harlequin Ducks: implications for conservation and estimating recruitment rates

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 492-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S Rodway ◽  
Heidi M Regehr ◽  
Fred Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Intertidal Habitat ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Specific Distribution ◽  
Age Ratio ◽  
Harlequin Ducks ◽  
Sex And Age Differences

We determined the sex- and age-specific distribution, abundance, and habitat preferences of wintering Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) and evaluated potential biases in measuring ratios of immature males to adult males to estimate recruitment rates. A comparison of the occurrence of birds with habitat availability at the 1-km scale indicated a preference for wide intertidal habitat with cobble–gravel or bedrock–boulder substrate, small offshore islets and shoreline with attached or nearby reefs and islets, areas without streams, and areas with a greater historical abundance of herring spawn. Where the substrate was bedrock–boulder, birds preferred areas with tidal rapids. Densities of birds were highest along linear and complex shorelines with reefs or islets where intertidal habitat was >100 m wide and substrate was cobble–gravel or bedrock–boulder. Patterns of habitat use among sex and age classes were the same at the 1-km scale but differed at smaller scales, with adult and immature males occurring farther offshore than females. Age ratios varied among areas and were biased by survey method and misidentification of distant birds. Correcting for detected biases gave an estimated male age ratio of 9.8%. Calculated estimates of female recruitment suggest a declining population, but it is necessary to incorporate emigration in estimates of adult survival before demographic trends can be confidently inferred.

Depth-dependent vertebral number of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) on the Magdalen Shallows and Scotian Shelf: stock mixing or microgeographic trends within populations?

2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (12) ◽  
pp. 2393-2401 ◽  
Author(s):  
D P Swain ◽  
K T Frank
Keyword(s):  
Gadus Morhua ◽  
Atlantic Cod ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Relative Length ◽  
Scotian Shelf ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Vertebral Number ◽  
Size At Age ◽  
Stock Mixing ◽  
Summer Feeding

We examined spatial variation in the vertebral number of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) during the summer feeding season in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the Scotian Shelf. Mean vertebral number increased significantly with depth in the southern Gulf and on the northeastern Scotian Shelf but not on the southwestern Scotian Shelf. In the southern Gulf, where sampling was most extensive, mean vertebral number increased steadily as depth increased from 25 m to over 175 m. Mean vertebral number was also strongly related to relative length within age-classes, with the larger fish at age having more vertebrae. However, the association between vertebral number and depth could not be attributed to confounding between depth and size at age. These results indicate either unexpected mixing between neighbouring cod populations or unexpected structure at fine spatial scales within cod populations.

scholarly journals Trends and gaps in the use of citizen science derived data as input for species distribution models: A quantitative review

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0234587
Author(s):  
Mariano J. Feldman ◽  
Louis Imbeau ◽  
Philippe Marchand ◽  
Marc J. Mazerolle ◽  
Marcel Darveau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Species Distribution Models ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Digital Platforms

Citizen science (CS) currently refers to the participation of non-scientist volunteers in any discipline of conventional scientific research. Over the last two decades, nature-based CS has flourished due to innovative technology, novel devices, and widespread digital platforms used to collect and classify species occurrence data. For scientists, CS offers a low-cost approach of collecting species occurrence information at large spatial scales that otherwise would be prohibitively expensive. We examined the trends and gaps linked to the use of CS as a source of data for species distribution models (SDMs), in order to propose guidelines and highlight solutions. We conducted a quantitative literature review of 207 peer-reviewed articles to measure how the representation of different taxa, regions, and data types have changed in SDM publications since the 2010s. Our review shows that the number of papers using CS for SDMs has increased at approximately double the rate of the overall number of SDM papers. However, disparities in taxonomic and geographic coverage remain in studies using CS. Western Europe and North America were the regions with the most coverage (73%). Papers on birds (49%) and mammals (19.3%) outnumbered other taxa. Among invertebrates, flying insects including Lepidoptera, Odonata and Hymenoptera received the most attention. Discrepancies between research interest and availability of data were as especially important for amphibians, reptiles and fishes. Compared to studies on animal taxa, papers on plants using CS data remain rare. Although the aims and scope of papers are diverse, species conservation remained the central theme of SDM using CS data. We present examples of the use of CS and highlight recommendations to motivate further research, such as combining multiple data sources and promoting local and traditional knowledge. We hope our findings will strengthen citizen-researchers partnerships to better inform SDMs, especially for less-studied taxa and regions. Researchers stand to benefit from the large quantity of data available from CS sources to improve global predictions of species distributions.

scholarly journals A large-scale forest fragmentation experiment: the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems Project

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1582) ◽  
pp. 3292-3302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Ewers ◽  
Raphael K. Didham ◽  
Lenore Fahrig ◽  
Gonçalo Ferraz ◽  
Andy Hector ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fragmentation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Stability

Opportunities to conduct large-scale field experiments are rare, but provide a unique opportunity to reveal the complex processes that operate within natural ecosystems. Here, we review the design of existing, large-scale forest fragmentation experiments. Based on this review, we develop a design for the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Project, a new forest fragmentation experiment to be located in the lowland tropical forests of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia). The SAFE Project represents an advance on existing experiments in that it: (i) allows discrimination of the effects of landscape-level forest cover from patch-level processes; (ii) is designed to facilitate the unification of a wide range of data types on ecological patterns and processes that operate over a wide range of spatial scales; (iii) has greater replication than existing experiments; (iv) incorporates an experimental manipulation of riparian corridors; and (v) embeds the experimentally fragmented landscape within a wider gradient of land-use intensity than do existing projects. The SAFE Project represents an opportunity for ecologists across disciplines to participate in a large initiative designed to generate a broad understanding of the ecological impacts of tropical forest modification.

scholarly journals Mechanism Across Scales: A Holistic Modeling Framework Integrating Laboratory and Field Studies for Microbial Ecology

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren M. Lui ◽  
Erica L.-W. Majumder ◽  
Heidi J. Smith ◽  
Hans K. Carlson ◽  
Frederick von Netzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Microbial Ecology ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Rapid Acquisition ◽  
Mechanistic Understanding ◽  
And Function

Over the last century, leaps in technology for imaging, sampling, detection, high-throughput sequencing, and -omics analyses have revolutionized microbial ecology to enable rapid acquisition of extensive datasets for microbial communities across the ever-increasing temporal and spatial scales. The present challenge is capitalizing on our enhanced abilities of observation and integrating diverse data types from different scales, resolutions, and disciplines to reach a causal and mechanistic understanding of how microbial communities transform and respond to perturbations in the environment. This type of causal and mechanistic understanding will make predictions of microbial community behavior more robust and actionable in addressing microbially mediated global problems. To discern drivers of microbial community assembly and function, we recognize the need for a conceptual, quantitative framework that connects measurements of genomic potential, the environment, and ecological and physical forces to rates of microbial growth at specific locations. We describe the Framework for Integrated, Conceptual, and Systematic Microbial Ecology (FICSME), an experimental design framework for conducting process-focused microbial ecology studies that incorporates biological, chemical, and physical drivers of a microbial system into a conceptual model. Through iterative cycles that advance our understanding of the coupling across scales and processes, we can reliably predict how perturbations to microbial systems impact ecosystem-scale processes or vice versa. We describe an approach and potential applications for using the FICSME to elucidate the mechanisms of globally important ecological and physical processes, toward attaining the goal of predicting the structure and function of microbial communities in chemically complex natural environments.

scholarly journals Relating Ocean Condition Forecasts to the Process of End-User Decision Making: A Case Study of the Oregon Commercial Fishing Community

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Kuonen ◽  
Flaxen Conway ◽  
Ted Strub
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Forecast Lead Time ◽  
Improving Accuracy

AbstractThis case study is in response to a recognized need to transform short-term regional ocean condition forecast information into useful data products for a range of end users, considering their perceptions of uncertainty and risk associated with these forecasts. It demonstrates the value of user engagement in achieving long-term goals for data providers. Commercial fishermen from Oregon are selected as key information users due to the physically risky and economically uncertain nature of their profession, their expertise at navigating the marine environment, and their important economic and cultural role at the Oregon coast. Semistructured interviews (n = 16) are used to clarify the processes that govern decision making, in terms of risk perception and comfort with uncertainty. The results characterize a community “mental model” in regard to ocean use and ocean forecasts. Findings reveal that commercial fishermen consume and interpret forecast data in a nonlinear fashion by combining multiple sources and data types and with a heavy reliance on real-time data. Our assessment is that improving accuracy at temporal and spatial scales that are relevant to decision making, improving the accessibility of forecasts, and increasing forecast lead time could potentially add more value to forecasts than quantifying and communicating the types of uncertainty metrics used within the scientific community.

scholarly journals Survey of Haemosporidian Parasites in Resident and Migrant Game Birds of Illinois

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 661-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendall L. Annetti ◽  
Nelda A. Rivera ◽  
John E. Andrews ◽  
Nohra Mateus-Pinilla
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Avian Species ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Canada Geese ◽  
Aggregation Index ◽  
Game Bird ◽  
Haemosporidian Parasites ◽  
Game Birds ◽  
Age And Sex

Abstract Haemosporidian parasites are globally distributed in avian species, and are capable of leading to decreased reproductive success, weakness, and mortality. Bird conservation groups and organizations concerned with the health and immunological status of avian populations are interested in haemosporidian parasites that affect reproduction and population growth. Haemosporidian infection data are not yet always available for some avian species in specific regions. These data provide the starting points for researchers to evaluate geographical and temporal changes in the patterns of infection and prevalence across populations. We examined haemoparasite infections in four game bird species commonly hunted in Illinois. We calculated prevalence, mean intensity, median intensity, and mean abundance of haemosporidians, and evaluated the relation of these infection measures associated with age and sex of the avian hosts. Game species sampled (N = 237) included migrants such as mourning doves Zenaida macroura, wood ducks Aix sponsa, and Canada geese Branta canadensis, as well as resident birds such as wild turkeys Meleagris gallopavo. We identified only Haemoproteus, Plasmodium, and Leucocytozoon species. Haemoproteus was the most prevalent haemosporidian (46/237), followed by Plasmodium (11/237). Furthermore, Haemoproteus was the most persistent haemosporidian, as it was the only parasite genera that we found in all four avian species. We found coinfections in 55% of turkeys, but found no significant correlations between the genera of haemosporidinan coinfections and a host species. Moreover, no significant differences in the proportion of infected individuals (prevalence) and haemosporidian quantities (levels of intensity and abundance) were related to biotic factors such as age and sex of the host. However, parasite aggregation (distribution of parasites among hosts) was affected by age, as adult turkeys and juvenile doves showed the highest aggregation index (Poulin's index of discrepancy) for Haemoproteus spp. This study reveals patterns of infection and parasite aggregations that vary widely among different game bird species and provides baseline data on avian haemosporidians that, to the best of our knowledge, is not currently available in the state of Illinois for these avian species. Finally, wildlife biologists can use these patterns for management of landscape or host species to support conservation efforts.

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