Corridors for Coexistence

Livestock depredation by carnivores is a globally pervasive and detrimental interaction that leads to economic loss and retaliatory killings. Livestock trailed annually on US Rangelands impact wildlife communities- competing with ungulate herbivores for forage, disrupting predator-prey dynamics, and shifting community structures. In order to promote coexistence in these human-wildlife systems, a better understanding of how these processes interact is needed. However, studies on the topic fail to fully capture both the spatial and temporal signals of moving livestock herds. In this study I investigated the effects of sheep grazing on a wildlife community in the Big Wood River Valley, Idaho. I developed a grazing covariate that was temporally informed; and used a scaffolded modeling technique of single- and multi-species occupancy models to evaluate the effects of grazing and environmental factors on spatiotemporal processes of wildlife. Using an array of remote-triggered cameras, I sampled wildlife occurrence of focal carnivores including gray wolves (Canis lupus), American black bear (Ursus americanus), coyote (Canis latrans), and mountain lions (Puma concolor), along with ungulate herbivores mule deer (Odocoileus hemonius), elk (Cervus canadensis), and moose (Alces americanus). I evaluated processes of detection and occupancy using a single-species model for each species, two 2-species models including wolves and elk and wolves and coyotes, and a 5-species community model including bears, coyotes, mule deer, elk, and wolves. I found that the detection of bears, wolves, and mule deer was positively related in activity to grazing and 16-day NDVI (changing greenness), while the detection of elk was negatively related to grazing and 16-day NDVI. These results suggest a divergence in community makeup as sheep move into an area- increasing predator activity and shifting prey community structure. Furthermore, this work shows that including a temporally informed grazing covariate into a multi-species modeling structure can effectively predict changes in wildlife community activity when livestock are present. These findings have important insights for livestock and wildlife management as the livestock-carnivore human-wildlife system grows more prevalent and pertinent.

Citizen Science Data Collection for Integrated Wildlife Population Analyses

Citizen science, or community science, has emerged as a cost-efficient method to collect data for wildlife monitoring. To inform research and conservation, citizen science sampling designs should collect data that match the robust statistical analyses needed to quantify species and population patterns. Further increasing the contributions of citizen science, integrating citizen science data with other datasets and datatypes can improve population estimates and expand the spatiotemporal extent of inference. We demonstrate these points with a citizen science program called iSeeMammals developed in New York state in 2017 to supplement costly systematic spatial capture-recapture sampling by collecting opportunistic data from one-off observations, hikes, and camera traps. iSeeMammals has initially focused on the growing population of American black bear (Ursus americanus), with integrated analysis of iSeeMammals camera trap data with systematic data for a region with a growing bear population. The triumvirate of increased spatial and temporal coverage by at least twofold compared to systematic sampling, an 83% reduction in annual sampling costs, and improved density estimates when integrated with systematic data highlight the benefits of collecting presence-absence data in citizen science programs for estimating population patterns. Additional opportunities will come from applying presence-only data, which are oftentimes more prevalent than presence-absence data, to integrated models. Patterns in data submission and filtering also emphasize the importance of iteratively evaluating patterns in engagement, usability, and accessibility, especially focusing on younger adult and teenage demographics, to improve data quality and quantity. We explore how the development and use of integrated models may be paired with citizen science project design in order to facilitate repeated use of datasets in standalone and integrated analyses for supporting wildlife monitoring and informing conservation.

Temporomandibular Joint Pathology of Wild Carnivores in the Western USA

Skull specimens from: southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), Eastern Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus), walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), polar bear (Ursus maritimus), North American brown bear (Ursus arctos), American black bear (Ursus americanus), California mountain lion (Puma concolor couguar), California bobcat (Lynx rufus californicus), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), kit fox (Vulpes macrotis), and gray wolf (Canis lupus) (n = 5,011) were macroscopically examined for dental and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pathology. The presence of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) varied across species: 4.1% of southern sea otter, 34.5% of harbor seal, 85.5% of California sea lion, 20% of northern fur seal, 60.5% of walrus, 9.2% of polar bear, 13.2% of North American brown bear, 50% of American black bear, 20.9% of California mountain lion, 0% of California bobcat and gray fox, 6.3% of kit fox, and 11.6% of gray wolf specimens had lesions consistent with TMJ-OA. TMJ-OA was significantly more prevalent in males than females in walrus, North American brown bear, polar bear, American black bear, and California mountain lion (p < 0.001, p = 0.005, p = 0.005, p = 0.002, and p = 0.004, respectively). No other species showed a sex predilection. Adult specimens were significantly more affected with TMJ-OA than young adults in the harbor seal, fur seal, walrus (all p < 0.001), and kit fox (p = 0.001). Gray wolf and American black bear young adults were significantly (p = 0.047 and p < 0.001) more affected by TMJ-OA than adults. Of the 13 species analyzed, only three species, namely the harbor seal, northern fur seal, and polar bear, had a significant increase in the prevalence of TMJ-OA if their teeth had attrition and abrasion (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.033, respectively). TMJ-OA can lead to morbidity and mortality in wild animals, but its etiology is not yet fully understood.