Wildlife Management Flashcards
define wildlife management
science of reaching goals by manipulating and/or maintaining wildlife habitats and populations (fish and game species not technically included)
WM approaches
preservation - nature takes it course without human intervention
direct manipulation - animal pops are trapped, shot, poisoned and stocks
indirect manipulation - vegetation, water, other key components of wildlife habitat are altered
WM goals
- increase pop of endangered species
- decrease pop of nuisance species
- harvest game species
- monitor non-game species
estimating wildlife populations
research (pop dynamics, climate change)
conservation (protecting endangered species)
management (browsing pressure, human/wildlife interactions, traffic collisions)
habitat modification
supplementary feeding
*can use direct or indirect methods to estimate pop
direct methods for est. populations
involves observing, counting, or classifying animals
weaknesses: the assumption all animals are counted within the sampled area. all direct count methods need to be tested with capture-mark-recapture techniques like ear tagging. may think they are reliable, but not always
can use:
drive counts (ground counts in open range often used for ungulates in forested areas - N=DxA)
block counts (total counts - above tree line)
vantage point counts (artificial feeding sites, mating grounds, salt licks)
distance sampling (survey not census)
Distance sampling
set of randomly placed lines or points then distances are measured to the detected individuals (acknowledges some individuals are missed and establishes a method to control for them)
3 assumptions:
I. g(0) = 1:objects directly on the line or point are always detected
II. objects are detected at their initial location before a movement in response to the observer
III. distances are measured accurately (ungrouped data) or objects are correctly counted in proper distance category (grouped data)
- in practice, detection will decrease with further distance from the center line or point - the task is to estimate the undetected objects for a more accurate number
indirect methods for estimating wildlife populations
relate to the presence of signs of animals to animal density:
fecal pellet group count (count, clear, come back, and count again)
snow tracking
*lots of assumptions - are the fecal pellets from the same animal?
hot topics in wildlife management
population size estimates (different goals for different species)
habitat management/human disturbance management *habitat fragmentation, roads, connectivity corridors)
climate change (protection of hotspots where species distribution is expected to shift bc of global warming)
human harvest and game species (evolutionary consequences)
management of large predators (ex. re-reintroductions)
human-wildlife interactions (ex. feeding wildlife, human-wildlife conflicts)
how does oil fracking affect wildlife?
effect on predator-prey interactions and prey population dynamics
case study: north dakota badlands
ways human-dominated landscapes affect wildlife
climate change and habitat change/loss
pollution
human harvest (overfishing, poaching, human selection)
human-mediated spread of diseases
invasive species
fossil fuels/oil fracking (wolves and other animals following seismic lines used for natural gas in winter)
how do roads impact wildlife
direct effects: mortality and injury caused by traffic collisions or construction
indirect effects: habitat loss and fragmentation, alteration of ecosystem processes)
case study: elk, wolf, grizzly bear, and people in the Rockies —> elk more vigilant when closer to roads (50% when 12+ cars a day. grizzly bears use areas near roads when traffic is lower and avoid roads with high traffic –> changes in movement and behavior
animals waste time trying to avoid roads that they could use to forage
*These changes can influence the behavior, survival, growth, and reproductive success of animals leading to population-level consequences (ex. trophic cascade)
monitoring techniques in studies
aerial survey data (ex. drones/helicopters) - expensive, not enviro-friendly, and can be dangerous
road counters
motion sensor activated cameras
apps
satellite telemetry
behavioral observations
how does hunting/human selection affect wildlife?
human selection for specific morphological traits such as weight and horn size (trophy hunting for more “impressive” individuals) –> can reduce the amount of these traits in a species and change the phenotype and also the mating/breeding dynamics
selection of behavioral traits –> shy hiders are more likely to survive. bold runners more likely to be harvested (shy trait may be favored in natural selection)
non-hunting human-wildlife interactions
feeding, petting, and interacting with wildlife –> disruption of natural foraging behavior, rumination cycle/digestion and physiology
study - fallow deer in Phoenix Park: 1/3 of pop chooses to interact w/ humans for food. can cause artificial selection of aggressive/begging behavior, fawns of begging mothers are bigger at birth, survive better and grow faster). different impacts on males and females
ways of modeling animal presence/movement
GPS/VHF telemetry, survey/census data, citizen data, harvest data
species reintroduction programs
examples:
wolves in Yellowstone: all wolves killed - elk population boomed, wolves reintroduced - caused trophic cascade through entire ecosystem (wolves are a keystone species)
orangutans in sumatra: trade-off in training for survival skills for longer and dependence on humans (animals trained longer were more independent) - can have multiple steps of reintroduction “weaning off” and release animals in areas where other individuals are
alpine ibex reintroduced in europe - success
*most harmful thing to successful reintroduction is human development and interaction (ex. killing large mammals after hurting humans - bears in northern italy)
reintroduction programs should asses and remove causes leading to local species extinction first
trophic cascade
ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators resulting in changes in the populations of other predator and prey species through a food change –> often causes big changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling
applications of animal movement data
identification of conservation hotspots (measure temp and track population movement - ex. ibex stay by rocks w/low-quality vegetation when hot and grasslands w/high-quality vegetation when it’s cold)
connectivity corridors
modeling disease spread (resource selection function used to predict disease spread based on movement data - can help plan early management data ex. chronic wasting disease in deer)
decision-making in reintroduction programs (ex. orangutans in sumatra)
connectivity corridors
connect areas of habitats that animals use to move from one to another
can support natural processes that occur in healthy environment
visualize where species move due to climate change
use vs. availability of space
