Download or read book Effects of Management and Climate on Elk Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem written by Paul C. Cross and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every winter, government agencies feed ~6000 metric tons (6 ? 10^6 kg) of hay to elk in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to limit transmission of Brucella abortus, the causative agent of brucellosis, from elk to cattle. Supplemental feeding, however, is likely to increase the transmission of brucellosis in elk, and may be affected by climatic factors, such as snowpack. We assessed these possibilities using snowpack and feeding data from 1952 to 2006 and disease testing data from 1993 to 2006. Brucellosis seroprevalence was strongly correlated with the timing of the feeding season. Longer feeding seasons were associated with higher seroprevalence, but elk population size and density had only minor effects. In other words, the duration of host aggregation and whether it coincided with peak transmission periods was more important than just the host population size. Accurate modeling of disease transmission depends upon incorporating information on how host contact rates fluctuate over time relative to peak transmission periods. We also found that supplemental feeding seasons lasted longer during years with deeper snowpack. Therefore, milder winters and/or management strategies that reduce the length of the feeding season may reduce the seroprevalence of brucellosis in the elk populations of the southern GYE.
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 The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem written by Robert B. Keiter and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1994-04-05 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1872, Congress designated Yellowstone National Park as the world's first National Park. In this book, various experts in science, economics and law discuss key resource management issues in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and how humans should interact with the environment of this area.
Download or read book Winter Feeding of Elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Its Effects on Disease Dynamics written by Gavin G. Cotterill and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing food to wildlife during periods when natural food is limited results in aggregations that may facilitate disease transmission. This is exemplified in western Wyoming where institutional feeding over the past century has aimed to mitigate wildlife?livestock conflict and minimize winter mortality of elk (Cervus canadensis). Here we review research across 23 winter feedgrounds where the most studied disease is brucellosis, caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus. Traditional veterinary practices (vaccination, test-and-slaughter) have thus far been unable to control this disease in elk, which can spill over to cattle. Current disease-reduction efforts are being guided by ecological research on elk movement and density, reproduction, stress, co-infections and scavengers. Given the right tools, feedgrounds could provide opportunities for adaptive management of brucellosis through regular animal testing and populationlevel manipulations. Our analyses of several such manipulations highlight the value of a research?management partnership guided by hypothesis testing, despite the constraints of the sociopolitical environment. However, brucellosis is now spreading in unfed elk herds, while other diseases (e.g. chronic wasting disease) are of increasing concern at feedgrounds. Therefore experimental closures of feedgrounds, reduced feeding and lower elk populations merit consideration. This article is part of the theme issue ?Anthropogenic resource subsidies and host ?parasite dynamics in wildlife?.
Download or read book The Ecology of Large Mammals in Central Yellowstone written by Robert A. Garrott and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2008-11-25 with total page 712 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an authoritative work on the ecology of some of America’s most iconic large mammals in a natural environment - and of the interplay between climate, landscape, and animals in the interior of the world’s first and most famous national park.Central Yellowstone includes the range of one of the largest migratory populations of bison in North America as well as a unique elk herd that remains in the park year round. These populations live in a varied landscape with seasonal and often extreme patterns of climate and food abundance. The reintroduction of wolves into the park a decade ago resulted in scientific and public controversy about the effect of large predators on their prey, a debate closely examined in the book. Introductory chapters describe the geography, geology and vegetation of the ecosystem. The elk and bison are then introduced and their population ecology described both pre- and post– wolf introduction, enabling valuable insights into the demographic and behavioral consequences for their ungulate prey. Subsequent chapters describe the wildlife-human interactions and show how scientific research can inform the debate and policy issues surrounding winter recreation in Yellowstone. The book closes with a discussion of how this ecological knowledge can be used to educate the public, both about Yellowstone itself and about science, ecology and the environment in general. Yellowstone National Park exemplifies some of the currently most hotly debated and high-profile ecological, wildlife management, and environmental policy issues and this book will have broad appeal not only to academic ecologists, but also to natural resource students, managers, biologists, policy makers, administrators and the general public. Unrivalled descriptions of ecological processes in a world famous ecosystem, based on information from 16 years of painstaking field work and collaborations among 66 scientists and technical experts and 15 graduate studies Detailed studies of two charismatic North American herbivore species – elk and bison Description of the restoration of wolves into central Yellowstone and their ecological interactions with their elk and bison prey Illustrated with numerous evocative colour photographs and stunning maps
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: Wagner, one of our most distinguished wildlife biologists, is a strong critic of ecological practices in the national parks. This book provides an assessment of the ecological history of Yellowstone's northern range, since before the park existed, showing the impact of US Park Service policies on the health of the areas they oversee. He demonstrates that elk had been historically rare throughout the region and that overgrazing by elk has seriously degraded the landscape and altered the structure of the area. This is a major contribution to reconstructing the ecology of this region over the course of the past 500 years. It is also a critique of US Park Service management policies and their stewardship of the nation's most cherished natural areas. Wagner's book will generate substantial attention and debate both in the scientific and policy/management communities.
Download or read book Probable Causes of Increasing Brucellosis in Free ranging Elk of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem written by Paul C. Cross and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While many wildlife species are threatened, some populations have recovered from previous overexploitation, and data linking these population increases with disease dynamics are limited. We present data suggesting that free-ranging elk (Cervus elaphus) are a maintenance host for Brucella abortus in new areas of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Brucellosis seroprevalence in free-ranging elk increased from 0-7% in 1991-1992 to 8-20% in 2006-2007 in four of six herd units around the GYE. These levels of brucellosis are comparable to some herd units where elk are artificially aggregated on supplemental feeding grounds. There are several possible mechanisms for this increase that we evaluated using statistical and population modeling approaches. Simulations of an age-structured population model suggest that the observed levels of seroprevalence are unlikely to be sustained by dispersal from supplemental feeding areas with relatively high seroprevalence or an older age structure. Increases in brucellosis seroprevalence and the total elk population size in areas with feeding grounds have not been statistically detectable. Meanwhile, the rate of seroprevalence increase outside the feeding grounds was related to the population size and density of each herd unit. Therefore, the data suggest that enhanced elk-to-elk transmission in free-ranging populations may be occurring due to larger winter elk aggregations. Elk populations inside and outside of the GYE that traditionally did not maintain brucellosis may now be at risk due to recent population increases. In particular, some neighboring populations of Montana elk were 5-9 times larger in 2007 than in the 1970s, with some aggregations comparable to the Wyoming feeding-ground populations. Addressing the unintended consequences of these increasing populations is complicated by limited hunter access to private lands, which places many ungulate populations out of administrative control. Agency-landowner hunting access partnerships and the protection of large predators are two management strategies that may be used to target high ungulate densities in private refuges and reduce the current and future burden of disease.
Download or read book Ecological Dynamics on Yellowstone s Northern Range written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-02-01 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecological Dynamics on Yellowstone's Northern Range discusses the complex management challenges in Yellowstone National Park. Controversy over the National Park Service's approach of "natural regulation" has heightened in recent years because of changes in vegetation and other ecosystem components in Yellowstone's northern range. Natural regulation minimizes human impacts, including management intervention by the National Park Service, on the park ecosystem. Many have attributed these changes to increased size of elk and other ungulate herds. This report examines the evidence that increased ungulate populations are responsible for the changes in vegetation and that the changes represent a major and serious change in the Yellowstone ecosystem. According to the authors, any human intervention to protect species such as the aspen and those that depend on them should be prudently localized rather than ecosystem-wide. An ecosystem-wide approach, such as reducing ungulate populations, could be more disruptive. The report concludes that although dramatic ecological change does not appear to be imminent, approaches to dealing with potential human-caused changes in the ecosystem, including those related to climate change, should be considered now. The need for research and public education is also compelling.
Download or read book Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1998-07-13 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brucellosis, a bacterial disease, was first noted in the Greater Yellowstone Area in 1917 and has been a chronic presence there since then. This book reviews existing scientific knowledge regarding brucellosis transmission among wildlife, particularly bison, elk, and cattle, in the Greater Yellowstone Area. It examines the mechanisms of transmission, risk of infection, and vaccination strategies. The book also assesses the actual infection rate among bison and elk and describes what is known about the prevalence of Brucella abortus among other wildlife.
Download or read book Yellowstone National Park N P Brucellosis Remote Vaccination Program for Bison written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wildlife Disease and Health in Conservation written by David A. Jessup and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2023-08-15 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This title explores the origins, impacts and responses to diseases that are particularly damaging, persistent and/or are currently threatening wildlife conservation"--
Download or read book Hidden Cost of Disease in a Free ranging Ungulate Brucellosis Reduces Mid winter Pregnancy in Elk written by Gavin G. Cotterill and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrating disease impacts on the vital rates of free-ranging mammalian hosts typically requires intensive, long-term study. Evidence for chronic pathogens affecting reproduction but not survival is rare, but has the potential for wide-ranging effects. Accurately quantifying disease-associated reductions in fecundity is important for advancing theory, generating accurate predictive models, and achieving effective management. We investigated the impacts of brucellosis (Brucella abortus) on elk (Cervuscanadensis) productivity using serological data from over 6,000 captures since 1990 in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA. Over 1,000 of these records included known age and pregnancy status. Using Bayesian multilevel models, we estimated the age-specific pregnancy probabilities of exposed and naïve elk. We then used repeat-capture data to investigate the full effects of the disease on life history. Brucellosis exposure reduced pregnancy rates of elk captured in mid-and late-winter. In an average year, we found 60% of exposed 2-year-old elk were pregnant compared to 91% of their naïve counterparts (a 31 percentage point reduction, 89% HPDI = 20%?42%), whereas exposed 3-to 9-year- olds were 7 percentage points less likely to be pregnant than naïve elk of their same age (89% HPDI = 2%?11%). We found these reduced rates of pregnancy to be independent from disease-induced abortions, which afflict a portion of exposed elk. We estimate that the combination of reduced pregnancy by mid-winter and the abortions following mid-winter reduces the reproductive output of exposed female elk by 24%, which affects population dynamics to a similar extent as severe winters or droughts. Exposing hidden reproductive costs of disease is essential to avoid conflating them with the effects of climate and predation. Such reproductive costs cause complex population dynamics, and the magnitude of the effect we found should drive a strong selection gradient if there is heritable resistance.
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 Cost benefit Analysis of Elk Brucellosis Prevalence Reduction in the Southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem written by Kari L. Boroff and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent cases of bovine brucellosis in cattle and domestic bison have been traced back to free-ranging elk. This raises questions about the most cost-effective means of reducing transmission risk from infected elk to livestock. Some management activities (e.g. elk test-and-slaughter, low-density feeding at elk winter feedgrounds, elk vaccination) are implemented in an attempt to reduce seroprevalence (a marker for prevalence) in elk. Others (e.g. hazing of elk from private property, fencing haystacks, cattle vaccination) are designed to reduce the risk of cattle encountering sources of infection, or the risk of transmission during an encounter. We lack a solid understanding of which activities are most cost-effective at preventing cases of brucellosis in cattle. It is especially difficult to determine the cost-effectiveness of reducing elk seroprevalence because we typically do not understand the extent to which it translates into fewer infected cattle herds. Recently, however, a stochastic risk model was developed that estimates the current level of risk to cattle and determines the extent to which reduced seroprevalence in elk would reduce the risk of cattle contracting brucellosis (Kauffman et al., 2013). Using this risk model, I estimate the expected economic benefits of reducing seroprevalence in elk. I then calculate the cost of reducing seroprevalence in elk using various management activities. Finally, I combine these expected benefit and cost estimates to determine circumstances in which individual management activities may be economically justifiable (i.e., generate positive expected net benefit). Results indicate that primary elk management activities (i.e., strain-19 vaccination of elk, low-density feeding of elk, and test-and-slaughter of elk) yield negative expected net benefits, which range from a maximum of -$2,913 per year for low-density feeding to a minimum of -$598,163 per year for test-and-slaughter. I also develop budgets for contraception, habitat improvement, and fencing winter cattle pastures. These secondary activities, like the primary activities, will likely result in a negative net benefit. Society's risk preference will determine whether strategies that generate small negative net benefit, such as low-density feeding, are worth considering. However, activities with large negative net benefits, such as test-and-slaughter and strain 19 vaccination, are unlikely to be economically worthwhile.
Download or read book Bovine Brucellosis in Elk written by E. Tom Thorne and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bovine brucellosis is prevalent in elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) of northwestern Wyoming and occurs rarely in elk of northern Yellowstone National Park and some neighboring parts of Montana. Occurrence of brucellosis in Wyoming is a consequence of supplemental winter feeding as a substitute for natural winter ranges, to control depredation, and reduce winter mortalities. Presence of the disease in elk of northern Yellowstone may reflect their association with infected bison and interchange with fed elk populations. A cooperative brucellosis eradication program has made considerable progress toward eliminating the causative organism from the United States; cattle in all three states surrounding the Greater Yellowstone Area are now free of the disease. With eradication possible in the not too distant future, wildlife populations harboring brucellosis are being placed on a bio-political collision course with the brucellolsis eradication program, state and Federal livestock industries, and western grazing practices. Extreme solutions are depopulation of elk and bison (Bison bison) within the Greater Yellowstone Area on one hand and elimination of cattle grazing from the ecosystem on the other, neither being acceptable. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has chosen more moderate, yet effective, methods of dealing with the problem including vaccination of fed elk, attempting to reduce reliance of elk on supplemental feed through habitat improvement and acquisition, and maintaining separation between cattle and elk during high risk transmission periods. However, cooperative efforts by all involved parties throughout the Greater Yellowstone Area will be required to minimize impacts to all affected resources and interest groups.
Download or read book Effects of Elk Density on Elk Aggregation Patterns and Exposure to Brucellosis written by Kelly M. Proffitt and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 11 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increasing elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) populations across the West in response to increased demand for recreational and hunting opportunities may have negative, unintended consequences for disease transmission risk. Historically, free-ranging elk populations were not thought to sustain brucellosis (Brucella abortus), but recent studies suggest increasing elk densities may result in free-ranging elk serving as maintenance hosts for the disease. We evaluated spatial variation in elk density, group sizes, and adult female brucellosis seroprevalence in 39 elk management districts in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem using a Bayesian approach. We used modeled relationships to estimate the effects of reducing elk density by 10?90% on grouping patterns and seroprevalence rates. Reducing the density of the 3 highest density elk herds by 10%, 50%, and 90% was predicted to result in a 9%, 39%, and 59% decrease in mean group size, whereas reducing the density of the 3 lowest density elk herds was predicted to result in only a 0%, 0.7%, and 1.3% decrease in mean group size. We estimated seroprevalence rates of 0.01?0.27 across management districts, and seroprevalence increased as elk density increased. For the 7 of 39 management districts with >10% estimated seroprevalence, 10%, 50%, and 90% reductions in elk density resulted in predicted mean seroprevalence reductions of 2%, 7%, and 9%, respectively. For the 14 management districts with ?1% estimated seroprevalence, 10%, 50%, and 90% reductions in elk density resulted in no measurable change in predicted mean seroprevalence. Our results suggest that elk density has an important effect on elk group sizes, which may influence the risk of brucellosis transmission and resultant exposure rates. Manipulating elk density may in turn affect brucellosis seroprevalence rates. However, debate among the diverse stakeholders involved in elk management on the effectiveness of reducing density, group sizes, and brucellosis exposure rates in elk, relative to other interests and objectives, is necessary prior to manipulation of elk density for this purpose.
Download or read book Yellowstone Bison written by Patrick James White and published by . This book was released on 2015-05 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
