Some of the biggest challenges facing wildlife today are changes to their environment from both natural and anthropogenic causes. Natural resource managers, planners, policy makers, industry and private landowners must make informed decisions and policies regarding management, conservation, and restoration of species, habitats, and ecosystem function in response to these changes.
The United States is undergoing ecological change that is increasing the interface between wildlife, humans, and disease. Such changes are resulting in unpredictable shifts in the balances of disease cycles in natural hosts and humans, with consequences to many imperiled species. In addition to population declines, the loss of wildlife from disease contributes to a corresponding decline in ecosystem services that benefit human health and economies. TSH scientists collaborate with researchers and resource managers around the world to gain better scientifi c understanding of the ecological factors involved in the transmission and epidemiology of infectious diseases in wildlife, as well as contributing to the development of tools and techniques to help understand and manage disease in wildlife populations.
In North America, the flea transmitted plague bacterium (Yersinia pestis) has colonized and altered native animal communities and ecosystems since its invasion a little more than a century ago. Many species have suffered adverse consequences from plague, perhaps none more than the endangered black-footed ferret. Plague has established within the ranges of all North American prairie dog species, which collectively serve as the sole habitat and predominant prey base for the endangered black-footed ferret. This disease causes periodic and sometimes dramatic die-offs of both prairie dogs and ferrets.
The initial objectives of this study are to assess efficacy, longevity, and cost of flea control using deltamethrin delivered as dust within burrows and measure population responses of prairie dogs and associated mammals. Research, development, and field trials of vaccines against sylvatic plague in prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets are also underway.
Ecological Investigations of White-Nose Syndrome in Bats
White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a devastating disease that threatens the survival of hibernating bats in North America. Since first documented in the winter of 2005/2006, WNS has spread from a very small area of New York across at least two thousand kilometers in 25 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Over five million bats are estimated to have died during the past 7 winters after contact with WNS, and all four federally listed endangered species and subspecies of hibernating cave bats are in harm’s way.
There are three primary objectives to this project as follows: continue to help coordinate research efforts directed toward white-nose syndrome at a national level and provide technical support on aspects of bat ecology to USGS researchers and others in the scientific and resource management community; assess the possible behavioral mechanisms by which skin infection from the causative fungus specifically acts to cause bat mortality; and assess the possible physiological mechanisms by which skin infection from the causative fungus specifically acts to cause bat mortality.
WNS is named for the ubiquitous presence of a newly identified species of cold-loving fungus (Pseudogynmnoascus destructans) that is capable of penetrating and infecting the skin and wing membranes of bats during hibernation. It is critical that research efforts directed toward WNS incorporate the expertise of scientists familiar with the ecology of bats and hibernation physiology.
The objectives of this project are to better understand bat hibernation and to assess the possible behavioral mechanisms by which skin infection from the associated fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) may act to cause bat mortality. We are using new methods for observing natural behaviors of hibernating bats by building and deploying remote video surveillance systems inside caves and mines where bats hibernate. After successfully monitoring the in situ behaviors of hibernating bats over as many as six winters, we are now in the process of interpreting these new observations.
Grassland Ecology and Conservation
Grasslands are arguably one of the most anthropogenically stressed ecosystems of the western United States. The highly endangered black-footed ferret and prairie dogs epitomize grassland mammals of high conservation concern. The Utah prairie dog is a federally listed species, while black-tailed prairie dogs, white-tailed prairie dogs, and Gunnison's prairie dogs all have received attention in the form of listing proposals. Research conducted within this project will focus on these imperiled prairie dog communities and their vertebrate and invertebrate associates, but will not necessarily be limited to those communities. Studies will be driven by the need to better understand ecological relationships among grassland animals, interactions of these animals with their environments, and anthropogenic influences affecting these systems.
Transmission of Plague by Small Mammals at Badlands National Park
Plague was first detected in the southwest corner of Badlands National Park (BADL), and spread northeastward, reaching the northeast corner in 2011. Plague is now common throughout BADL (NPS and USFS, unpublished data), and threatens efforts to preserve and manage the federally endangered black-footed ferret in BADL, which were reintroduced into the park in 1994.
This study will serve as an exploratory effort to gain insight into which species of small mammals and their fleas are primary participants in the plague cycle; which are secondary participants, and which are bystanders. We will conduct a field experiment based on a randomized complete block design to investigate whether small mammals are chronically affected by enzootic levels of plague and which are potential hosts that may function as short-term reservoirs in the flea-borne transmission of plague in black-tailed prairie dog colonies and surrounding environments in BADL.
North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)
Despite their importance and the many threats facing their populations [e.g., white-nose syndrome (WNS), climate change, wind energy development, habitat loss and fragmentation, there are currently no national programs to monitor and track bat populations in North America.
A statistically rigorous and nationally coordinated bat monitoring program is critical for determining the impacts of the many stressors on bat populations, as well as for determining the efficacy of management actions taken to conserve bat populations. The objectives of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (or NABat) are to provide the architecture for coordinated bat monitoring to support local, regional and range-wide inferences about trends in bat populations and abundances in response to WNS, climate, wind energy, and habitat loss, and provide managers and policy makers with the information they need on bat population trends to effectively manage bat populations, detect early warning signs of population declines, and estimate extinction risk. Additional Information: Bat Population Database, https://my.usgs.gov/bpd/
Some of the biggest challenges facing wildlife today are changes to their environment from both natural and anthropogenic causes. Natural resource managers, planners, policy makers, industry and private landowners must make informed decisions and policies regarding management, conservation, and restoration of species, habitats, and ecosystem function in response to these changes.
The United States is undergoing ecological change that is increasing the interface between wildlife, humans, and disease. Such changes are resulting in unpredictable shifts in the balances of disease cycles in natural hosts and humans, with consequences to many imperiled species. In addition to population declines, the loss of wildlife from disease contributes to a corresponding decline in ecosystem services that benefit human health and economies. TSH scientists collaborate with researchers and resource managers around the world to gain better scientifi c understanding of the ecological factors involved in the transmission and epidemiology of infectious diseases in wildlife, as well as contributing to the development of tools and techniques to help understand and manage disease in wildlife populations.
In North America, the flea transmitted plague bacterium (Yersinia pestis) has colonized and altered native animal communities and ecosystems since its invasion a little more than a century ago. Many species have suffered adverse consequences from plague, perhaps none more than the endangered black-footed ferret. Plague has established within the ranges of all North American prairie dog species, which collectively serve as the sole habitat and predominant prey base for the endangered black-footed ferret. This disease causes periodic and sometimes dramatic die-offs of both prairie dogs and ferrets.
The initial objectives of this study are to assess efficacy, longevity, and cost of flea control using deltamethrin delivered as dust within burrows and measure population responses of prairie dogs and associated mammals. Research, development, and field trials of vaccines against sylvatic plague in prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets are also underway.
Ecological Investigations of White-Nose Syndrome in Bats
White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a devastating disease that threatens the survival of hibernating bats in North America. Since first documented in the winter of 2005/2006, WNS has spread from a very small area of New York across at least two thousand kilometers in 25 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Over five million bats are estimated to have died during the past 7 winters after contact with WNS, and all four federally listed endangered species and subspecies of hibernating cave bats are in harm’s way.
There are three primary objectives to this project as follows: continue to help coordinate research efforts directed toward white-nose syndrome at a national level and provide technical support on aspects of bat ecology to USGS researchers and others in the scientific and resource management community; assess the possible behavioral mechanisms by which skin infection from the causative fungus specifically acts to cause bat mortality; and assess the possible physiological mechanisms by which skin infection from the causative fungus specifically acts to cause bat mortality.
WNS is named for the ubiquitous presence of a newly identified species of cold-loving fungus (Pseudogynmnoascus destructans) that is capable of penetrating and infecting the skin and wing membranes of bats during hibernation. It is critical that research efforts directed toward WNS incorporate the expertise of scientists familiar with the ecology of bats and hibernation physiology.
The objectives of this project are to better understand bat hibernation and to assess the possible behavioral mechanisms by which skin infection from the associated fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) may act to cause bat mortality. We are using new methods for observing natural behaviors of hibernating bats by building and deploying remote video surveillance systems inside caves and mines where bats hibernate. After successfully monitoring the in situ behaviors of hibernating bats over as many as six winters, we are now in the process of interpreting these new observations.
Grassland Ecology and Conservation
Grasslands are arguably one of the most anthropogenically stressed ecosystems of the western United States. The highly endangered black-footed ferret and prairie dogs epitomize grassland mammals of high conservation concern. The Utah prairie dog is a federally listed species, while black-tailed prairie dogs, white-tailed prairie dogs, and Gunnison's prairie dogs all have received attention in the form of listing proposals. Research conducted within this project will focus on these imperiled prairie dog communities and their vertebrate and invertebrate associates, but will not necessarily be limited to those communities. Studies will be driven by the need to better understand ecological relationships among grassland animals, interactions of these animals with their environments, and anthropogenic influences affecting these systems.
Transmission of Plague by Small Mammals at Badlands National Park
Plague was first detected in the southwest corner of Badlands National Park (BADL), and spread northeastward, reaching the northeast corner in 2011. Plague is now common throughout BADL (NPS and USFS, unpublished data), and threatens efforts to preserve and manage the federally endangered black-footed ferret in BADL, which were reintroduced into the park in 1994.
This study will serve as an exploratory effort to gain insight into which species of small mammals and their fleas are primary participants in the plague cycle; which are secondary participants, and which are bystanders. We will conduct a field experiment based on a randomized complete block design to investigate whether small mammals are chronically affected by enzootic levels of plague and which are potential hosts that may function as short-term reservoirs in the flea-borne transmission of plague in black-tailed prairie dog colonies and surrounding environments in BADL.
North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)
Despite their importance and the many threats facing their populations [e.g., white-nose syndrome (WNS), climate change, wind energy development, habitat loss and fragmentation, there are currently no national programs to monitor and track bat populations in North America.
A statistically rigorous and nationally coordinated bat monitoring program is critical for determining the impacts of the many stressors on bat populations, as well as for determining the efficacy of management actions taken to conserve bat populations. The objectives of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (or NABat) are to provide the architecture for coordinated bat monitoring to support local, regional and range-wide inferences about trends in bat populations and abundances in response to WNS, climate, wind energy, and habitat loss, and provide managers and policy makers with the information they need on bat population trends to effectively manage bat populations, detect early warning signs of population declines, and estimate extinction risk. Additional Information: Bat Population Database, https://my.usgs.gov/bpd/