Evaluating Ungulate Mortality Associated With Helicopter Net-Gun Captures in the Northern Great Plains

ABSTRACT Ungulate mortality from capture-related injuries is a recurring concern for researchers and game managers throughout North America and elsewhere. We evaluated effects of 7 variables to determine whether ungulate mortality could be reduced by modifying capture and handling procedures during helicopter net-gunning. During winter 2001–2006, we captured 208 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and 281 pronghorn (Antilocapra Americana) by helicopter net-gunning throughout the Northern Great Plains. Of 281 pronghorn, 25 (8.9%) died from capture-related injuries; 12 were from direct injuries during capture, and 13 occurred postrelease. Of 208 deer, 3 (1.4%) died from injuries sustained during helicopter captures, with no mortalities documented postrelease. We used logistic regression to evaluate the probability that ungulates would die of injuries associated with helicopter net-gun captures by analyzing effects of snow depth, transport distance, ambient and rectal temperatures, pursuit and handling times, and whether individuals were transported to processing sites. The probability of capture-related mortality postrelease decreased 58% when transport distance was reduced from 14.5 km to 0 km and by 69% when pursuit time decreased from 9 minutes to <1 minute. Wildlife managers and researchers using helicopter capture services in landscapes of the Midwest should limit pursuit time and eliminate animal transport during pronghorn and white-tailed deer capture operations to minimize mortality rates postrelease.     

Node‐based measures of connectivity in genetic networks

At‐site environmental conditions can have strong influences on genetic connectivity, and in particular on the immigration and settlement phases of dispersal. However, at‐site processes are rarely explored in landscape genetic analyses. Networks can facilitate the study of at‐site processes, where network nodes are used to model site‐level effects. We used simulated genetic networks to compare and contrast the performance of 7 node‐based (as opposed to edge‐based) genetic connectivity metrics. We simulated increasing node connectivity by varying migration in two ways: we increased the number of migrants moving between a focal node and a set number of recipient nodes, and we increased the number of recipient nodes receiving a set number of migrants. We found that two metrics in particular, the average edge weight and the average inverse edge weight, varied linearly with simulated connectivity. Conversely, node degree was not a good measure of connectivity. We demonstrated the use of average inverse edge weight to describe the influence of at‐site habitat characteristics on genetic connectivity of 653 American martens (Martes americana) in Ontario, Canada. We found that highly connected nodes had high habitat quality for marten (deep snow and high proportions of coniferous and mature forest) and were farther from the range edge. We recommend the use of node‐based genetic connectivity metrics, in particular, average edge weight or average inverse edge weight, to model the influences of at‐site habitat conditions on the immigration and settlement phases of dispersal.     

紫貂冬季生境的偏好

采用无线电跟踪技术和全球定位系统对大兴安岭阿巴河流域紫貂冬季的生境选择进行了研究。结果表明,紫貂偏好成熟林地和老龄林地。（１）紫貂冬季栖息地主要的优势树种是落叶松林,对中等盖度的林地选择性强,而开阔地带和特别高盖度地区。（２）主要栖息中,下坡位,而对上坡位选择性不强。（３）对小树密度,大树密度,乔木胸径,倒木长度,倒木密度,倒木直径等有正选择性。     

基于MaxEnt模型的北极村国家级自然保护区紫貂栖息地适宜性评价

在人类支配的景观中,生境退化已经导致多个物种种群数量不断减少,分布范围不断缩减。紫貂（Martes zibellina）为国家Ⅰ级重点保护动物,种群数量稀少,开展栖息地适宜性研究工作对制定科学的栖息地保护计划至关重要。于2021年1月-2022年8月在黑龙江省北极村国家级自然保护区采用样线调查法、足迹链跟踪、远红外相机监测综合收集到紫貂和猎物（雪兔）活动点信息。利用最大熵（MaxEnt）栖息地建模分析方法,首次在多个分辨率尺度背景下对紫貂种群的栖息地适宜性进行评价,研究结果表明：（1）利用ArcGIS 10.4重采样后在6个分辨率尺度（30m、60m、120m、240m、480m、960m）进行栖息地建模分析,基于主要栖息地变量因子对模型的贡献率及稳定性影响,并综合考虑研究区域面积,最终选定30m分辨率尺度作为紫貂栖息地最佳分析建模尺度,在30m分辨率尺度栖息地预测模型的曲线下面积（AUC）值为0.881;（2）研究发现猎物资源、植被类型和地形变量是影响紫貂栖息地适宜性的主要变量因子：雪兔出现概率较高、距草地与河流较近、海拔约400-600m、距常绿针叶林1.5km、距落叶针叶林约200m、坡向为50-250°的区域为紫貂的适宜栖息地;（3）栖息地适宜性分析表明,北极村国家级自然保护区紫貂适宜栖息地和次适宜栖息地面积共计23.66km²,约占保护区的17.2%,主要集中在保护区中部,而东部和西北部区域,栖息地破碎化较严重。基于模型结果与野外调查,提出了三条建议：（1）应严格控制人为活动,避免因人类干扰造成不适宜栖息地面积的持续扩大;（2）建立生态廊道促进保护区西部与中部紫貂种群进行个体交流,降低紫貂种群局部区域灭绝概率;（3）对东部地区破碎化的栖息地进行修复,扩大东部适宜栖息地面积,使破碎化的栖息地连接为整体。为分布于我国最北端的紫貂种群恢复创造条件,这对于构建该地区相对稳定的生物多样性保护空间格局有着重要意义。     

Phylogeography of a Holarctic nematode, Soboliphyme baturini, among mustelids: climate change, episodic colonization, and diversification in a complex host–parasite system

Phylogeography of Soboliphyme baturini , a nematode parasite in mustelids, is explored across Beringia. Sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 4 genes were evaluated from 37 S. baturini , representing 19 localities throughout Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. A total of 30 haplotypes was recovered and maximum parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses support the recognition of a single species with a distribution extending from the Palearctic to the Nearctic. Within S. baturini , a host-specific partition in North America between Martes caurina and Martes americana was not identified. Instead, substantial geographic structure within S. baturini relates to the dynamic geological history of this northern region and especially the North Pacific Coast. Beringia and other coastal refugia along the western margin of North America played a large role during stadial maxima in the persistence and divergence of the parasite. Repeated events for biotic expansion and geographic colonization across the Bering Land Bridge and the Holarctic during glacial maxima in the Pleistocene appear to have facilitated at least two episodes of host-switching of this nematode among mustelids in populations now distributed in eastern Beringia.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 96 , 651–663.     

Sex‐specific graphs: Relating group‐specific topology to demographic and landscape data

Sex‐specific genetic structure is a commonly observed pattern among vertebrate species. Facing differential selective pressures, individuals may adopt sex‐specific life history traits that ultimately shape genetic variation among populations. Although differential dispersal dynamics are commonly detected in the literature, few studies have used genetic structure to investigate sex‐specific functional connectivity. The recent use of graph theoretic approaches in landscape genetics has demonstrated network capacities to describe complex system behaviours where network topology represents genetic interaction among subunits. Here, we partition the overall genetic structure into sex‐specific graphs, revealing different male and female dispersal dynamics of a fisher (Pekania [Martes] pennanti) metapopulation in southern Ontario. Our analyses based on network topologies supported the hypothesis of male‐biased dispersal. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the effect of the landscape, identified at the population level, could be partitioned among sex‐specific strata. We found that female connectivity was negatively correlated with snow depth, whereas connectivity among males was not. Our findings underscore the potential of conducting sex‐specific analysis by identifying landscape elements or configuration that differentially promotes or impedes functional connectivity between sexes, revealing processes that may otherwise remain cryptic. We propose that the sex‐specific graph approach would be applicable to other vagile species where differential sex‐specific processes are expected to occur.     

Fatty acid composition in the central and peripheral adipose tissues of the sable (Martes zibellina)

Fatty acid composition was examined in the total lipids of the intraabdominal, subcutaneous and peripheral (paws, tail, nose) adipose tissues of a terrestrial mustelid, the sable Martes zibellina. The species inhabits the Palearctic taiga and is exposed to extreme cold during the winter. Although the paw pads and nose of the sable had higher proportions of total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) compared to the adipose tissues of the trunk, the location of fat had only a little influence on the total percentages of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in the species. In this respect, the sable differs from its relative, the semiaquatic American mink Mustela vison, which has pronounced unsaturation of lipids towards the periphery. As observed previously in the mink, the sable deposits preferentially n-3 PUFAs in the appendages. The gradient of unsaturation is more modest in the sable possibly due to its terrestrial lifestyle. The results of the present study demonstrate that the average unsaturation of adipose tissue fatty acids does not increase towards the periphery in all northern mammals.