Download or read book Disease Invasion in Yellowstone written by Ellen Brandell and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is a tension between pathogen persistence and the potential for transmission among social, group-living hosts. Social species have high rates of contact within groups and lower contact rates among members of different groups; this poses a challenge for pathogen transmission such that a pathogen must survive within a group until an inter-group interaction occurs. In this dissertation, I explored the spatial and metapopulation dynamics of groups infected with pathogens spanning biological scales: within-groups, groups comprising a population, and across populations. Additionally, I examined the tritrophic interactions of predators, prey, and pathogens. The gray wolf (Canis lupus) and elk (Cervus canadensis) populations residing in Yellowstone National Park were the genesis of this research, yet I expanded beyond Yellowstone in order to comprehensively address the dissertation objectives. In particular, I focused on the invasion of canine distemper and the consequences of distemper outbreaks on host populations. The dynamics and consequences of pathogen infections in social groups are not fully understood. I first developed mathematical models that elucidate infection host demographics and infection dynamics at three nested scales: within groups, among groups, and all groups comprising a population (Chapter 2). Incorporating pathogens into the models reduced the size of the host population by reducing the number of social groups; average group size responded in more subtle ways (e.g., group size can increase when a reduction in the number of groups leads to decreases in rates of intraspecific aggression). I then assessed how viral epidemics influence the space use and spatial connectivity of territorial, social carnivores by comparing and contrasting Serengeti lions with Yellowstone wolves (Chapter 3). Generalized additive models identified significant predictors of group territory size and overlap and helped elucidate that lions constrict their territory size and reduce overlap with neighboring prides, following canine distemper epidemics. Together, these two chapters emphasize how social organization influences pathogen transmission, as well as how pathogen infection influences spatial organization. In Chapter 4, I broadened the scope of my work from Yellowstone National Park to the North American continent and identified the drivers and patterns of pathogen exposure in wolves. Even as one of the most widely distributed carnivores, little is known about the distribution of pathogens infecting wolves, pathogen prevalence, or temporal and spatial dynamics. I compiled a serological database of 17 wolf populations, and wolf samples were screened for six common pathogens: canine adenovirus, canine parvovirus, canine distemper virus, canine herpesvirus, Neospora caninum, and Toxoplasma gondii. Using these data, I tested the hypothesis that there is a latitudinal gradient of pathogen exposure in North American wolves. I constructed and analyzed generalized linear mixed models and found that latitude was only a strong predictor of N. caninum exposure, and instead, probability of exposure varied predictably by region: Great Lakes populations had a higher risk of parasite infection, whereas Rocky Mountain populations had a higher risk of viral infection. Wolf age, wolf density, and human density were positive predictors of infection, the latter suggesting that synanthropic species or dogs may host pathogens affecting wildlife. This project demonstrates that individual host characteristics as well as inherent features of ecosystems determine pathogen infection risk. While Chapters 2-4 focused mainly on wolf hosts and the pathogens infecting wolves, Chapter 5 has a multi-species trophic approach where I assessed how predators may control a newly introduced pathogen in a prey population. Here I constructed a tritrophic model: predator-host-chronic wasting disease. The predator-prey systems modeled include cougar-deer and wolf-elk, mimicking predation dynamics in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Importantly, I found that predators were able to reduce chronic wasting disease (CWD) outbreak size appreciably, and in certain plausible circumstances, extirpate CWD. The ability of predators to remove infected adult prey was crucial in reducing CWD infections because adults are responsible for the vast majority of new CWD transmission events. My results highlight the need for integrating ecology into predator management. This dissertation advances our understanding of the relationship between social living and infectious disease transmission and subsequent consequences. These results and implications are both system-specific and applicable to many species and social organizations. Additionally, I concluded by identifying future areas of disease ecology research that would help untangle the complexities of social living, infectious disease transmission, biological scale, and trophic relationships.
Download or read book The Invasion Dynamics and Impacts of Infectious Disease in Yellowstone s Wolf Population written by Emily Almberg and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My research seeks to address the broad questions of how parasites invade, their individual and population-level impacts on their hosts, and the drivers of heterogeneity observed in infection risk, severity, and outcome within the system of reintroduced gray wolves of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Using a long-term dataset on wolf demographics, serology, infection status with mange, and several indices of immune function, I address the following specific questions: (1) What are the spatial and temporal dynamics and the biological impacts of parasite invasion on a reintroduced host? (2) Does infection risk and cost scale with social group size? And (3) Do indices of immune responsiveness help explain some of the variation we see in infection risk and survival? Chapter 1 documents the invasion of several important pathogens within the Yellowstone wolf population, establishing a baseline for the dynamics and impacts of infectious disease within this population. Chapter 2 details how the risk of infection with sarcoptic mange appears to be independent of wolf social group size, but that the costs associated with infection can be completely offset by living in a large social group, presumably as a result of cooperative care, food acquisition, and territory defense. Chapter 3 presents evidence that several indices of innate immune responsiveness are related to survival given infection with either canine distemper virus or sarcoptic mange. I conclude with an overview and synthesis of my work as well as a discussion of future research avenues.
Download or read book Yellowstone s Wildlife in Transition written by P. J. White and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world's first national park, Yellowstone is a symbol of nature's enduring majesty and the paradigm of protected areas across the globe. But Yellowstone is constantly changing. How we understand and respond to events that are putting species under stress, say the authors of Yellowstone's Wildlife in Transition, will determine the future of ecosystems that were millions of years in the making. With a foreword by the renowned naturalist E. O. Wilson, this is the most comprehensive survey of research on North America's flagship national park available today. Marshaling the expertise of over thirty contributors, Yellowstone's Wildlife in Transition examines the diverse changes to the park's ecology in recent decades. Since its creation in the 1870s, the priorities governing Yellowstone have evolved, from intensive management designed to protect and propagate depleted large-bodied mammals to an approach focused on restoration and preservation of ecological processes. Recognizing the importance of natural occurrences such as fires and predation, this more ecologically informed oversight has achieved notable successes, including the recovery of threatened native species of wolves, bald eagles, and grizzly bears. Nevertheless, these experts detect worrying signs of a system under strain. They identify three overriding stressors: invasive species, private-sector development of unprotected lands, and a warming climate. Their concluding recommendations will shape the twenty-first-century discussion over how to confront these challenges, not only in American parks but for conservation areas worldwide. Highly readable and fully illustrated, Yellowstone's Wildlife in Transition will be welcomed by ecologists and nature enthusiasts alike.
Download or read book Parasite Invasion Following Host Reintroduction written by Emily Staggs Almberg and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildlife reintroductions select or treat individuals for good health with the expectation that these individuals will fare better than infected animals. However, these individuals, new to their environment, may also be particularly susceptible to circulating infections and this may result in high morbidity and mortality, potentially jeopardizing the goals of recovery. Here, using the reintroduction of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) into Yellowstone National Park as a case study, we address the question of how parasites invade a reintroduced population and consider the impact of these invasions on population performance. We find that several viral parasites rapidly invaded the population inside the park, likely via spillover from resident canid species, and we contrast these with the slower invasion of sarcoptic mange, caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. The spatio-temporal patterns of mange invasion were largely consistent with patterns of host connectivity and density, and we demonstrate that the area of highest resource quality, supporting the greatest density of wolves, is also the region that appears most susceptible to repeated disease invasion and parasite-induced declines. The success of wolf reintroduction appears not to have been jeopardized by infectious disease, but now shows signs of regulation or limitation modulated by parasites.
Download or read book Revisiting Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2021-01-30 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brucellosis is a nationally and internationally regulated disease of livestock with significant consequences for animal health, public health, and international trade. In cattle, the primary cause of brucellosis is Brucella abortus, a zoonotic bacterial pathogen that also affects wildlife, including bison and elk. As a result of the Brucellosis Eradication Program that began in 1934, most of the country is now free of bovine brucellosis. The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), where brucellosis is endemic in bison and elk, is the last known B. abortus reservoir in the United States. The GYA is home to more than 5,500 bison that are the genetic descendants of the original free-ranging bison herds that survived in the early 1900s, and home to more than 125,000 elk whose habitats are managed through interagency efforts, including the National Elk Refuge and 22 supplemental winter feedgrounds maintained in Wyoming. In 1998 the National Research Council (NRC) issued a report, Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area, that reviewed the scientific knowledge regarding B. abortus transmission among wildlifeâ€"particularly bison and elkâ€"and cattle in the GYA. Since the release of the 1998 report, brucellosis has re-emerged in domestic cattle and bison herds in that area. Given the scientific and technological advances in two decades since that first report, Revisiting Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area explores the factors associated with the increased transmission of brucellosis from wildlife to livestock, the recent apparent expansion of brucellosis in non-feedground elk, and the desire to have science inform the course of any future actions in addressing brucellosis in the GYA.
Download or read book Yellowstone Wolves written by Douglas W. Smith and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2020-12-28 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This beautifully illustrated volume on the Yellowstone Wolf Project includes an introduction by Jane Goodall and an exclusive online documentary. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park was one of the greatest wildlife conservation achievements of the twentieth century. Eradicated after the park was first established, these iconic carnivores returned in 1995 when the US government reversed its century-old policy of extermination. In the intervening decades, scientists have built a one-of-a-kind field study of these wolves, their behaviors, and their influence on the entire ecosystem. Yellowstone Wolves tells the incredible story of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, as told by the people behind it. This wide-ranging volume highlights what has been learned in the decades since reintroduction, as well as the unique blend of research techniques used to gain this knowledge. We learn about individual wolves, population dynamics, wolf-prey relationships, genetics, disease, management and policy, and the rippling ecosystem effects wolves have had on Yellowstone’s wild and rare landscape. Featuring a foreword by Jane Goodall, beautiful images, a companion online documentary by celebrated filmmaker Bob Landis, and contributions from more than seventy wolf and wildlife conservation luminaries from Yellowstone and around the world, Yellowstone Wolves is an informative and beautifully realized celebration of the extraordinary Yellowstone Wolf Project.
Download or read book Emerging Zoonotic and Wildlife Pathogens written by Dan Salkeld and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-03-21 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first textbook to describe the ecology and epidemiology of wildlife and zoonotic (animal-to-human) infectious diseases and the applications to conservation biology and public health. Examples of disease agents enliven the text and illustrate many of the theories presented.
Download or read book Yellowstone s Destabilized Ecosystem written by Frederic H. Wagner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-05-25 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The beloved Yellowstone National Park underwent a management shift in 1969 that drastically altered its landscape. This book comes at a time when scientific results are sometimes withheld so that they do not challenge policy positions. The author charges that Yellowstone-supported research has produced a faulty ecological paradigm, whether consciously or not, in order to maintain status quo of the Park's "natural-regulation" policy." "Wagner's ecosystem model of the Park's northern range focuses on a low-elevation region of the Park where a large herd of Rocky Mountain elk winters. His study spans 132 years of ecological, hydrologic, archaeological, photographic, and historic evidence and synthesizes the herd's impact over time."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Disease Emergence and Resurgence written by Milton Friend and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Management of Disease in Wild Mammals written by Richard Delahay and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-12-11 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years nobody could have failed to notice the frequent and often sensati- alist media headlines warning of the latest global disease threat to humankind. But behind all the hyperbole lie real challenges related to dealing with the increasing incidence of emerging zoonotic disease events, the majority of which are thought to originate in wildlife (Jones et al. 2008). There are also many important diseases of domestic livestock which also occur in wildlife (e. g. foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever in wild boar, bovine tuberculosis in deer, badgers or possums), some of which can have a devastating impact on the farming industry, the wider rural economy and ultimately the public purse. But we should also not forget that wildlife diseases may have serious implications for the conservation of biodiversity. For some of the rarest, most endangered species (such as the Ethiopian wolf) d- ease may pose the greatest threat to their survival. If we are to avoid or reduce these impacts then we must improve our ability to detect and manage the risks associated with disease in wildlife populations. This is a challenge that will require expertise from many different disciplines: veterinary, ecological, medical, economic, poli- cal and zoological. In such an interdisciplinary field it is difficult to stay up to date with contemporary ideas and with techniques that may be rapidly evolving.
Download or read book News Release written by United States. National Park Service and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 1 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Forest Insect and Disease Conditions in the United States written by and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Forest Insect and Disease Conditions in the United States written by United States. Forest Service and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Report written by Montana. State Entomologist and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 896 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Infectious Disease in Yellowstone National Park s Canid Community written by Emily Staggs Almberg and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Serological Survey of Infectious Disease in Yellowstone National Park s Canid Community written by Emily Staggs Almberg and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We analyzed sympatric wolf, coyote (Canis latrans), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) serologic data from YNP, spanning 1991?2007, to identify long-term patterns of pathogen exposure, identify associated risk factors, and examine evidence for disease-induced mortality among wolves for which there were survival data. We found high, constant exposure to canine parvovirus (wolf seroprevalence: 100%; coyote: 94%), canine adenovirus-1 (wolf pups [0.5?0.9 yr]: 91%, adults [?1 yr]: 96%; coyote juveniles [0.5?1.5 yrs]: 18%, adults [?1.6 yrs]: 83%), and canine herpesvirus (wolf: 87%; coyote juveniles: 23%, young adults [1.6?4.9 yrs]: 51%, old adults [?5 yrs]: 87%) suggesting that these pathogens were enzootic within YNP wolves and coyotes. An average of 50% of wolves exhibited exposure to the protozoan parasite, Neospora caninum, although individuals? odds of exposure tended to increase with age and was temporally variable. Wolf, coyote, and fox exposure to canine distemper virus (CDV) was temporally variable, with evidence for distinct multi-host outbreaks in 1999 and 2005, and perhaps a smaller, isolated outbreak among wolves in the interior of YNP in 2002. The years of high wolf-pup mortality in 1999 and 2005 in the northern region of the park were correlated with peaks in CDV seroprevalence, suggesting that CDV contributed to the observed mortality. -- Methodology/Principal Findings.
Download or read book Wildlife Disease Ecology written by Kenneth Wilson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-11-14 with total page 693 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduces readers to key case studies that illustrate how theory and data can be integrated to understand wildlife disease ecology.
