Wyoming’s big game just joined the 21^st century.

Last week, the Wyoming Migration Initiative and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department began reporting about eight animal captures and studies on newly created Facebook and Twitter accounts — an effort that will continue through March 21. In a similar social media initiative earlier this winter, the WMI and WGFD tweeted and posted about scientists’ deer captures in order to learn more about the state’s struggling mule deer populations.

The agencies are hoping to raise public awareness about big game animals by posting about big game studies and research online. Researchers from the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Geological Survey and other partners are conducting eight studies, of which two have already begun, by capturing big game in western and southern Wyoming including moose, elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep. The first study — led by Arthur Middleton, research associate with Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies — involved an elk capture in Northwest Wyoming as part as an effort to map elk migrations in Yellowstone National Park. WMI Director Matt Kauffman, who is tweeting about the research, tweeted:

Capture is on! Off goes our 4th #wyoelk elk of today. Conditions superb.

Through similar tweets and Facebook posts, agency officials hope to cover a diverse range of research topics including deer migration, fat levels in deer, and nutrition and disease in bighorn sheep.

WMI and WGFD are live-tweeting and creating Facebook posts following the researchers as they capture animals for their studies. Kauffman will be behind many of the tweets from the Twitter handle @wgfd, and also is tweeting from his own account @wyokauffman.

“Wyomingites care deeply about these herds and the habitats they occupy, so it’s a great opportunity for us to give them, and people beyond Wyoming, a closer view of how and why we are doing this research,” Kauffman said in a press release.

Other individuals including state biologists and wardens also will be live-tweeting the captures from @wgfd. Hashtags #wyodeer, #wyomoose, #wyoelk and #wyosheep will be used so users can search and find studies they are interested in. The USGS also will be tweeting about the research from the handle @usgs and @USGSCoopUnits to bring in more national interest.

WMI also will frequently update its Facebook page at www.facebook.com\migrationinitiative with posts of status updates, videos and photos. WGFD’s Facebook Page is www.facebook.com/WyoGFD and also will include updates on the research. Aside from reporting the captures, tweets and Facebook posts will include photos, short video interviews, maps and graphics. They also will include links to related material including existing papers, reports, news articles, interviews and YouTube videos.

“Many of these studies have been ongoing for several years in remote and hard-to-access areas of Wyoming. They are used to make important decisions about wildlife management,” said Wyoming Game and Fish Department Communications Director Renny MacKay in a press release. “Social media allow us to give the public a new look at this valuable research.”

The studies are funded by state and federal managers, sportsmen’s groups, nongovernmental organizations and private foundations. To stay up to date about the rest of the eight studies in Wyoming, individuals can keep track of WMI’s tweets and Facebook posts. The public also is encouraged to join the conversation by adding comments during the three week social media and research event.

The history and origins of the fungus killing vast populations of amphibians is becoming increasingly complex as researchers discover evidence of the chytrid disease in old museum samples in Illinois and Korea.

“We use this technique where we’re able to go back through museum collections and take a look at this,” said Vance Vredenburg, an associate professor of ecology at San Francisco State University and co-author of two studies recently released trying to understand the history of the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus that causes the chytrid disease. “We’re able to detect the DNA around 100 years ago.”

Researchers studied three specimens of this species of frog – the Rugosa emeljanovi – that were collected in 1911 from Wonsan, North Korea and tested positive for the chytrid fungus.
Image Credit: Jon Fong

The implications of the findings mean that amphibians in Illinois have been coexisting with the disease for more than 100 years. The study released earlier this year in Biological Conservation dated the fungus back at least 126 years in Illinois with a high prevalence among samples and gives researchers some hope that some amphibians may be capable of surviving the disease. In another study released earlier this month in PLOS ONE, Vredenburg and others dated museum specimens with the fungus back to 1911.

“Over time you have a dynamic where the pathogen and the host coexist,” Vredenburg said. If the pathogen drives the species to extinction, the pathogen will die as well — it needs amphibians to survive. “When a pathogen gets into naïve families of hosts, that’s where it has major effects,” he added.

But the disease appeared to act different in the Illinois and Korea samples, with different levels of prevalence. If researchers tap into the reasons that have allowed amphibians to survive the disease in areas, they may be able to develop vaccines for other amphibians that are currently less equipped to fight the chytrid disease.

“We need to go to Illinois and figure out how they are dealing with it,” Vredenburg said, adding that samples in that state show that certain periods in the past, such as in the 1940s and 1950s, have showed an uptick in prevalence. In Korea, however, they discovered a few positives in the early samples and then nothing over subsequent years, which could mean there was a quick invasion that later died out.

Vredenburg said the key step now is to discover why. There are two theories about the disease’s age currently — one that the chytrid disease is due to the invasive nature of the fungus, and another that disease has always been there but has increased in prevalence due to some unknown factor.

And answers are important. While Vredenburg said that the amphibians in North America east of the Rockies have shown relative resilience to the chytrid disease, frogs and salamanders in many other parts of the world are being decimated. Another recent study showed that the disease has also just been identified in Madagascar amphibians for the first time, where it could affect 290 known unique species.

“It’s the worst case in recorded history of a single pathogen affecting vertebrates,” Vredenburg said of the chytrid disease.

Vredenburg also said that these studies highlight the importance that museums continue to collect samples, which are “absolute treasure troves” of information for future studies.

“In many areas we had people with foresight that collected many of these specimens.”

The Ontario Legislature is considering Bill 37, Invasive Species Act, 2014, which, if passed, would be Canada’s first law specifically targeted at controlling invasive species. The bill was first introduced during a previous session of the Legislature.

The legislation defines invasive species as species that are nonnative to all or part of Ontario and are either harmful to Ontario’s natural environment or likely to harm Ontario’s natural environment regardless of whether or not the species is currently present.

If passed, the bill would allow authorities to pass regulations, such as the prohibition of possession, release, transportation, or propagation, for invasive species. It would also enable the passage of regulations on carriers, such as plants, animals, or other organisms, that may harbor invasive species.

Notably, the bill includes provisions that would allow the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to temporarily designate invasive species in order to take more immediate action if it poses a significant threat. The Ministry would also be able to employ rapid response activities to prevent the spread of invasive species to mitigate the impact of a potential invasion on natural systems and the economy.

Currently, the bill is in its second reading by Ontario Legislature. After debate, the bill enters the Committee stage where the Legislature may call witness for testimony to potentially amend the bill before a third reading and a vote for passage.

Source: Environmental Law and Litigation (February 18, 2015)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) declared four nonnative constrictor snakes as injurious species under the Lacey Act. Injurious species cannot be imported or transported over state lines without FWS-issued permits. The reticulated python (Python reticulus), DeSchauensee’s anaconda (Eunectes deschauenseei), green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), and Beni anaconda (Eunectes beniensis) were included in this ruling.

Four other species of snakes, the Burmese python (Python bivittatus), yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus), northern African python (Python sebae), and southern African python (Python natalensis) were listed as injurious species in 2012. FWS reopened public comment in 2014, which lead to the development of this final rule.

FWS Director Dan Ashe made the announcement at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. He stated, “Large constrictor snakes are costing the American public millions of dollars in damage and placing at risk 41 federally and state-listed threatened or endangered species in Florida alone. Today’s action will help prevent humans from contributing to the spread of these snakes.”

Currently, none of the four listed species in this new ruling are confirmed to be breeding in the wild within the United States or its territories. The purpose of the listing is primarily to prevent the establishment of populations in the wild, as the four species share traits with the previously listed Burmese python, which threatens small and medium-sized mammals as well as the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow, Florida panther, and American crocodile.

FWS considers peer-reviewed scientific documentation from the U.S. Geological Survey and other independent sources to evaluate likelihood of escape and wild establishment as well as potential risk of a species’ impact on wildlife, forest, agriculture, and human health and welfare.

The boa constrictor was also considered for listing as an injurious species but was not included in this ruling. FWS is currently allowing the pet industry to coordinate with states and FWS to voluntarily address prevention of boa constrictor release as an alternative to Lacey Act restriction.

The ruling was included in the Federal Register on March 10^th and will take effect 30 days after.

Source: FWS Press Release (March 6, 2015), FWS Lacey Act Injurious Species Fact Sheet

Idaho is working on a new draft conservation plan for the sage-grouse in an effort to keep the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from potentially listing the species under the Endangered Species Act this fall.

“We are hopeful that the effort that’s put forth by Idaho and other western states is considered by the FWS, and that ultimately they can see that there is enough rigor in those plans that they decide the listing of the species will not be necessary,” said Tom Schultz, director of Idaho Department of Lands (IDL), in a phone interview.

“We have been working here diligently in the last three to four months to come up with a plan for state lands,” Schultz continued. The draft plan will look at conservation strategies and include specific criteria for development such as the need for a one-kilometer buffer zone around greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) leks.

One the biggest factors affecting the sagebrush habitat that grouse live in are invasive species. Currently, species like medusahead rye (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) make sagebrush habitat more fire prone and dangerous for grouse, and the plan looks to put money towards controlling this issue.

The plan also explores ways in which the state agency can collaborate with other regulatory commissions in the state to develop provisions that consider sage-grouse habitat when evaluating development proposals.

The FWS is legally bound to make a decision on the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) this September but many western states are pushing back against a potential listing of the species as it could impact energy development, ranching and other human activities.

“That decision is coming, we know that,” Schultz said. In Idaho, he said 10.5 million acres — both private and public — have been identified as sage-grouse habitat. If the bird is listed on the ESA, the development of this land could be affected by new regulations.

The comment period for the first draft plan closed on Monday, and Schultz said that the IDL will review the plan and stakeholder comments before releasing another draft.

“Initial indications have been positive that they are willing to work with us,” he said of stakeholders.

Once that’s done, another comment round will likely open up and the plan will be finalized.

“We fully expect to get our plan out there by [the listing decision],” Schultz said.

Idaho is working to produce a conservation plan for the greater sage-grouse in order to counter the need for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species on the federal Endangered Species Act when they make a decision come September.

In the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, 90 volunteers recently counted over 400 eagles in the annual midwinter bald eagle survey conducted by the Bureau of Land Management’s Buffalo Field Office.

The results of the survey showed an increase in bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) since last year and no major change in the number of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), according to the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM said the reason for the shift in population numbers is unknown.

However, the survey totals change every year, according to the BLM. This year, an increase in the distribution of bald eagles could be due to changes in weather to the north, food availability, prey species population cycles, increased nest success and recruitment as well as other factors, according to Charlotte Darling, rangeland management specialist for the BLM’s Buffalo Field Office.

During the survey, volunteers noted eagles in large groups — likely because of cold weather at the time that might have caused the eagles to stick together. Also, volunteers counted a number of eagles along new survey routes that were added so more people could be involved in the count.

According to the BLM, although many eagles are spotted in the winter months, many don’t stick around. The majority of eagles migrate north in the spring months to Canada and Alaska.

The midwinter survey — which takes place nationally — relies primarily on volunteers, who survey standardized survey routes on more or less the same day to avoid duplicating counts of individual eagles. The survey started in 1979 when eagle populations were struggling in the United States.

In the Powder River Basin, this past winter, volunteers drove along public roadways looking for eagles while recording weather information, habitat data and species and age class information. They sighted and counted 288 bald eagles, 95 golden eagles and 24 eagles of undetermined species. The birds were counted along over 1,400 miles of public roads including 70 survey routes.

Volunteers of many different ages and backgrounds participated in the count, Darling said.

“Some are lifelong bird watchers or biologists, but most are from a wide variety of backgrounds,” she said. “This includes teachers, oil and gas industry workers, public speakers, office professionals, and more. However, they all share an interest observing the nature and environment around them.”

Other birds were sighted as well. The most common sightings were rough-legged hawks (Buteo lagopus) and red-tail hawks (Buteo jamaicensis).

Data from the survey is compiled and reported to the National Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey program through an online database, and wildlife managers and researchers use that information to monitor the species’ health and habitat and to conduct trend analyses of eagle populations across the U.S. The BLM also uses the data to help determine important habitats in the area as well as to complete environmental analyses for local projects that affect public lands and resources. “Survey data is reviewed to determine whether an area provides important habitat, allowing us to make the best management decisions for the project,” Darling said.

Which is riskier for airports— a solar array or a grassy field? To better understand how the land around airports might affect the risk of bird-aircraft collisions, USDA Wildlife Services’ National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) researchers and partners recently compared bird use at solar arrays and grasslands at airports in Arizona, Colorado, and Ohio.

The average commercial airport in the contiguous United States is approximately 2,000 acres. About 39 percent of that area is covered by grasses. However, few studies have evaluated the economics and safety of these grasses relative to other types of land cover. Managed turf grasses are expensive to maintain and can attract wildlife hazardous to aircraft, such as Cana­da geese, gulls, and large flocks of European starlings. An attractive alternative to turf grasses on some portions of airport properties is land cover that attracts fewer wildlife and generates income instead of consuming airport resources. Installing sets of solar panels (solar arrays) is one alternative land cover option.

Although study results showed higher numbers of birds in the areas with solar arrays than in the grasslands, those birds seen (such as horned larks, house finches, and mourning doves) represented fewer and less hazardous species than those in the grasslands. Overall, researchers observed 37 species of birds in the areas with solar arrays compared to 46 in the grasslands. The results suggest that even though birds were found in areas with solar arrays, the number and type of birds there do not necessarily increase the risk of bird-aircraft collisions and the species observed do not conflict with safety regulations concerning wildlife at airports. Solar arrays could play a major role in efforts to design and operate “greener”—and safer—airports.

“Converting airport grasslands to solar, biofuel, or wind production may not only provide more environmentally sound alternative energy sources for our country, but also increase revenue for airports and reduce the local abundance of potentially hazardous wildlife to aircraft,” says NWRC supervisory research wildlife biologist Dr. Travis DeVault. “Such efforts may be particularly beneficial for rural economic development, as many rural airport properties contain expansive grasslands that potentially could be converted to biofuel crops or other renewable energy sources.”

Wildlife Services is a Strategic Partner of The Wildlife Society.