scholarly journals Factors influencing perceived appropriateness of concessioner activity in Grand Teton National Park

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Pitas
Author(s):  
Cory A. Toth ◽  
Jesse R. Barber

Bats are often useful bioindicators for ecosystem health and are disproportionately affected by sources of night light. Changes in bat behavior may manifest in two different ways: 1) some bats are light-exploiting and therefore attracted to areas with light sources, and 2) some are light-shy, traveling far out of their way to avoid lit areas. Grand Teton National Park provides an excellent natural system to study the effects of lights on bat behavior, as the park supports a large community of over a dozen species, as well as sizeable human infrastructure that generates night light. From June to August 2018 we used passive acoustic monitoring and radiotelemetry to study the activity and space use of bats in Colter Bay Village, specifically in the large parking lot at the center of the village and the adjacent naturally dark areas. We recorded 98,238 echolocation call sequences from 11 species, with the vast majority (~69,000) occurring in lit areas. Further, we recorded 4,665 location fixes from 32 tagged individuals from three species and, similarly, most location fixes (2,970) were in lit areas. All day roosts were found within buildings. We discuss the importance of these results and our work moving forward.   Featured photo by Shawna Wolf, taken from the AMK Ranch photo collection.


Parasitology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (5) ◽  
pp. 670-677
Author(s):  
Fernando Aguilar Montiel ◽  
Arturo Estrada-Torres ◽  
Roxana Acosta ◽  
Miguel Rubio-Godoy ◽  
Jorge Vázquez

AbstractStudies of abundance and distribution of organisms are fundamental to ecology. The identity of host species is known to be one of the major factors influencing ectoparasitic flea abundance, but explanations are still needed regarding how host taxa influence abundance parameters of different flea species. This study was carried out at La Malinche National Park (LMNP), Tlaxcala, Mexico, where previously 11 flea species had been recorded on 8 host species. Our aims were to list micromammal flea species, to determine flea infection parameters [flea prevalence (FP) and flea mean abundance (FMA)] and to analyse the influence of host species on these parameters. A total of 16 species of fleas were identified from 1178 fleas collected from 14 species of 1274 micromammals captured with Sherman®traps from March 2014 to December 2015 in 18 sites at LMNP. Some host species influence FP and FMA, in particular,Microtus mexicanusandPeromyscus melanotisshowed particularly higher infection values than other host species.Plusaetis aztecusandPlusaetis sibynuswere identified as the most abundant flea species.


Author(s):  
David Harwood ◽  
Kyle Thompson

Eight in-service teachers and two instructors engaged in an inquiry-based geology field course from June 14 to 29, 2014 through Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska. This team of learners spent three days in mid-June working in the Grand Teton National Park area. The UW-NPS facilities provide an excellent opportunity for participants to discover the natural history of the Teton Range, as well as close-out a few projects while sitting in a real chair, at a real table, a welcome change from our usual campground setting.


Author(s):  
Kelly Pearce ◽  
Tom Serfass

Grand Teton National Park is part of the known range of the North American river otter, however not much is known about this semi-aquatic mammal within the park. The results presented here are part of a larger project to investigate the potential of the river otter (Lontra canadensis) to serve as an aquatic flagship (species that engender public support and action) for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. River otters, known for their charismatic behavior have the potential to serve as an aquatic flagship species to promote conservation of aquatic ecosystems. The primary objective of this portion of the study was to identify river otter latrines on portions of the Snake River, between Flagg Ranch and Jackson Lake, and between Jackson Lake Dam and Pacific Creek, collect river otter scats to determine diet of the river otter, and employ remote cameras to determine activity patterns of the river otters. Between 20 June and 1 July 2015, 26 river otter latrines were identified during shoreline surveys, 186 river otter scats were collected, and cameras were deployed at 6 latrines between 7 July and 24 August 2015. River otter scats have been cleaned and prepared for analysis, but have not all been processed to date. Camera traps recorded 222 images, of which 7% (n = 14) were of carnivores, 70% (n = 155) were of non-carnivore mammals, and 9% (n = 22) were of birds. River otters were detected at 1 of the 6 latrines, a total of 5 independent times during the study.


Author(s):  
William Gribb ◽  
Henry Harlow

This project had two components, with the first component providing a background for the second component. Water resources in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) are both unregulated and regulated by human management. The Jackson Lake Dam and the ponds scattered across the park influence the flow of water. In the process of managing the water it is important to have knowledge of the different components of the streams through which the water flows. One component of this project was to examine the different segments of the major rivers in GTNP and identify the river forms that are displayed by the different reaches of the Snake River above and below Jackson Lake, Buffalo Fork and Pacific Creek. The river form can be segregated into three main categories; the single channel, the meandering channel and the braided channel (Knighton 1984). The different river forms are part of the overall structural composition of the river and can be used to delineate the segments or reaches of the river. The river continuum concept presented by Vannote et al. (1980) provides a theoretical background upon which to construct the river reach system. In 2007, Nelson (2007) completed a reach system project while investigating the fluvial geomorphology of the Snake River below Jackson Lake Dam (Figure 1.). His 20 river reaches provided a zonation of the river that incorporated a range of geomorphic features. This same type of system can be used throughout the GTNP so that researchers have a common spatial unit designation when referencing portions of the Snake River and its tributaries. Ackers (1988) in his work on alluvial channel hydraulics identified three dimensions of meanders that should be considered; width, depth and slope. He further agreed with Hey (1978) that there are nine factors that define river geometry and that these should be considered as well: average bank full velocity, hydraulic mean depth, maximum bank full depth, slope, wave length of bed forms, their mean height, bank full wetted perimeter, channel sinuousity and arc length of meanders. Nelson’s work (Nelson 2007) added another parameter by including a braiding index into the representation of river reach designations. In a more recent work, the Livers and Wohl (2014) study confirmed Nelson’s approach by comparing reach characteristics between glacial and fluvial process domains using similar reach designation characteristics to determine reach differences.


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