Wildlife Ecology
Wildlife Ecology
The Wildlife Ecology program provides scientific information to UMESC's partners to support the conservation and management of terrestrial (primarily amphibian and reptile) and aerial (birds and bat) species.
Filter Total Items: 34
A continental-scale study of acoustic phenology to improve population monitoring and inform management of hibernating bats
Bat Research Research collaboration: Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Theodore Weller (U.S. Forest Service), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Craig Willis (University of Winnipeg), and Brian Reichert (FORT) White-nose Syndrome (WNS) has caused severe declines in bat populations over the past 10 years and colony sizes at winter hibernacula have decreased on average by >90% for three...
Integrating colony counts with NABat acoustic data to reveal the true impacts of White-Nose Syndrome on northern long-eared bats
Bat Research Research collaboration: Brian Reichert (FORT), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Tina Cheng (Bat Conservation International) The northern long-eared bat ( Myotis septentrionalis ) was listed as Threatened on the Endangered Species Act in 2014 due to rapid declines in numbers of observed hibernating bats at winter roosting sites after the...
Developing online integrated data visualization tools for WNS and NABat
Bat Research Research collaboration: Brian Reichert (FORT), Anne Ballmann (NWHC), Jeremy Coleman (USFWS), Paul Cryan (FORT), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), and Katherine Irvine (NOROCK) White-nose syndrome is caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), which has decimated hibernating bat populations across North America since it emerged 10 years ago in New York. While diagnostic...
Modeling the response of cave hibernating Myotis species to white-nose syndrome mitigation tactics
Bat Research Research collaboration: Robin Russell (NWHC), Tonie Rocke (NWHC), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC), Evan Grant (PWRC) White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease devastating cave-hibernating bat species ( Myotis spp.) in the eastern United States. Several mitigation tactics have been proposed to alleviate the effects of white-nose syndrome on bats including probiotics and vaccination. Questions...
Quantifying vulnerability of bat species to White-nose Syndrome across North America
Bat Research Research collaboration: Winifred Frick (Bat Conservation International), Brian Reichert (FORT), Theodore Weller (US Forest Service), Wayne Thogmartin (UMESC) and the North American Bat Colony Count Consortium We quantify vulnerability of bat species in North America to target and prioritize management actions toward species and habitats that are most at risk from impacts from White...
Wildlife Toxicology
The team's long term goal is: Examine the causes, fates, exposures, biological accumulation, and adverse effects (including sublethal effects) of environmental contaminants on animal (largely bird) populations.
Assessing contaminant exposure and effects at Areas of Concern across the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement designated 31 Areas of Concern (AOCs) across the Great Lakes. The AOCs are geographical areas where significant beneficial use impairment has occurred as a result of human activities. A beneficial use impairment (BUI) relates to a change in the chemical, physical, or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause any of the 14 conditions...
Assessing contaminant exposure and effects of contaminants of emerging concern in the Great Lakes Basin
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, in addition to designating 31 Areas of Concern (AOCs) across the Great Lakes, also identified contaminants of emerging (CECs) and mutual concern (CMCs) that warranted additional work not only at AOCs but elsewhere within the Great Lakes Basin.
Common Loon Migration Study
Common loons often migrate several hundred miles to reach coastal waters during fall migration. Information about this part of the loon's life history is not well known. The use of satellite telemetry allows biologists to track loon movements through distant migrations and during winter. A transmitter attached to a radiomarked loon periodically sends a signal which is detected by a satellite-based...
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been entrusted to manage our nation’s critical wetland resources. Due to conversion in industrial, residential, and agricultural uses, these wetlands have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the last one-hundred years. In order to better care for these resources, all of the refuges are developing long-term Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCP).
Waterbird Distribution and Foraging Patterns on the Great Lakes with Respect to Avian Botulism
The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Crosse, Wisconsin is studying the distribution and foraging patterns of sentinel fish-eating waterbirds through aerial surveys, and by tracking migration movements coupled with foraging depth profiles of common loons equipped with archival geo-locator tags and satellite transmitters. The results of this work are expected to elucidate...
Boater Compliance with Established Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Areas on the Upper Mississippi River
Disturbance to resting and feeding waterfowl on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) is of utmost concern to refuge managers. Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Areas (VWAA) have been established to reduce boating disturbance to migratory waterfowl on Navigation Pools 7 and 8 of the Upper Mississippi River. Ongoing boater compliance with the VWAA programs has been...