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At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
USGS1996

Silver Hazards to Fish, Wildlife, and Invertebrates: A Synoptic Review

Ecological and toxicological aspects of silver (Ag) in the environment are briefly summarized with an emphasis on natural resources. Elevated silver concentrations in biota occur in the vicinities of sewage outfalls, electroplating plants, mine waste sites, and silver-iodide seeded areas; in the United States, the photography industry is the major source of anthropogenic silver discharges into the biosphere. Silver and its compounds are not known to be mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic. Under normal routes of exposure, silver does not pose serious environmental health problems to humans at less than 50.0 ug total Ag/L drinking water or 10.0 ug per cubic meter air. Free silver ion, however, was lethal to representative species of sensitive aquatic plants, invertebrates, and teleosts at nominal water concentrations of 1.2 to 4.9 ug/L; sublethal effects were significant between 0.17 and 0.6 ug/L. Silver was harmful to poultry at concentrations as low as 1.8 mg total Ag/kg whole egg fresh weight by way of injection, 100.0 mg total Ag/L in drinking water, or 200.0 mg total Ag/kg in diets; sensitive mammals were adversely affected at total silver concentrations as low as 250.0 ug/L in drinking water, 6.0 mg/kg in diets, or 13.9 mg/kg whole body.

Contaminant Hazard Reviews↗
USGS1998

Copper hazards to fish, wildlife and invertebrates: a synoptic review

Selective review and synthesis of the technical literature on copper and copper salts in the environment and their effects primarily on fishes, birds, mammals, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, and other natural resources. The subtopics include copper sources and uses; chemical and biochemical properties; concentrations of copper in field collections of abiotic materials and living organisms; effects of copper deficiency; lethal and sublethal effects on terrestrial plants and invertebrates, aquatic organisms, birds and mammals, including effects on survival, growth, reproduction, behavior, metabolism, carcinogenicity, matagenicity, and teratogenicity; proposed criteria for the protection of human health and sensitive natural resources; and recommendations for additional research.

Contaminant Hazard Reviews↗
USGS1991

[Book review] Birds of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

Although John Warham has worked for at least 40 years on procellariids, this book is much more than just a summary of a distinguished research career. It is a useful synthesis of the vast and often obscure literature on the more than 100 species of shearwaters, petrels, albatrosses, and fulmars that comprise the avian order with the widest range of body mass (19.5 g to 8.7 kg) and widest distribution, throughout the world's oceans, from the tropics to open leads in polar ice packs. The order's literary credentials are also impressive, with contributions from Dionysus (200 AD), St. Augustine, and Cole- ridge (not cited). Warham has also unearthed useful references from journals not examined by many ornithologists, such as Bocagiana , Il-Merill , and the Journal of the Manx Museum . He also appears to have done a good job of covering the Japanese-language literature.

The Auk↗
USGS2019

Recreational impacts to wildlife: Managing visitors and resources to protect wildlife

Publication Abstract: Visitor use management is essential for maximizing benefits for visitors while achieving and maintaining desired resource conditions and visitor experiences on federally managed lands and waters. Visitor capacity, a component of visitor use management, is defined as the maximum amounts and types of visitor use that an area can accommodate while achieving and maintaining the desired resource conditions and visitor experiences that are consistent with the purposes for which the area was established. This visitor capacity guidebook, in combination with the “Visitor Use Management Framework” (the framework), provides managers with processes to collaboratively develop long-term strategies to manage the amounts and types of visitor use to protect resources, improve access, connect visitors to key experiences, and achieve desired conditions. The purpose of this guidebook is to provide cohesive guidance on identifying and implementing visitor capacity on federally managed lands and waters. Similar to the framework, the sliding scale of analysis is discussed throughout this guidebook to ensure the investment of time, money, and other resources for a project is commensurate with the complexity of the project and the consequences of the decision. Overall, this guidebook is meant to expand on the framework and guide a professional and consistent approach to identifying and implementing visitor capacity. Paper Abstract: Most protected natural areas, including parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, are managed under a dual mandate to preserve predominantly natural settings and processes while also accommodating recreational visitation. Visitor activities can have deleterious impacts to protected area vegetation, soil, water, wildlife, and cultural resources. The term impact denotes undesirable visitor-related effects to natural resources and/or wildlife. This paper reviews the management of recreation impacts to wildlife, including discussions of influential factors, impact indicators, and the range of management responses. This information is provided to assist recreation and land managers in avoiding or minimizing visitor impact to wildlife, particularly related to decision-making within the new Visitor Use Management (VUM) framework. Such decision-making requires a thorough understanding of the different types of wildlife impact and the use-related, environmental, and managerial factors that influence them.

Report↗
USGS2020

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units program—2019 year in review postcard

Acting Chief’s Message Dear friends, I invite you to take a look at U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1463, “Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program—2019 Year in Review,” now available at https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1463 . In this report, you will find details about the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units (CRU) program concerning fish and wildlife science, students, staffing, vacancies, research funding, outreach and training, awards, accolades, and professional services. You will also see examples of unit projects with information on how results have been or are being applied by our cooperators. Throughout the year, keep up with our research projects at https://www1.usgs.gov/coopunits/Headquarters/ . Regards, John D. Thompson

General Information Product↗
USGS1957

Chemicals and wildlife

Short paper that reviews some of the facts about effects of insecticides on wildlife and states principles that should be followed for maximum safety in treatment. These principles include minimal doses, good ground-to-plane control to avoid overdoses, and least possible pollution of water areas.

National Agricultural Chemicals Association News a↗
USGS1958

Chemicals and wildlife

Short paper that reviews some of the facts about effects of insecticides on wildlife and states principles that should be followed for maximum safety in treatment. These principles include minimal doses, good ground-to-plane control to avoid overdoses, and least possible pollution of water areas.

Alabama Conservation↗
USGS2023

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program—2022 year in review

Established in 1935, the CRU program is a unique cooperative partnership among State Fish and Wildlife agencies, host universities, Wildlife Management Institute, U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Designed to meet the scientific needs of natural resource management agencies and to produce trained wildlife management professionals, the program has grown from the original 9 wildlife-only units to a program that today includes 42 units located on university campuses in 40 States.

Circular↗
USGS1999

Cumulative Index to Chemicals and to Common and Scientific Names of Species Listed in Contaminant Hazard Reviews 1 through 34

The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Contaminant Hazard Reviews (CHR) series synthesizes ecotoxicological data of selected environmental contaminants, with emphasis on hazards to native species of flora and fauna. From 1985 through 1998 a total of 34 reviews were published in various Reports series of the U.S. Department of the Interior on agricultural pesticides (carbofuran, chlordane, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, diflubenzuron, fenvalerate, mirex, paraquat, toxaphene), herbicides (acrolein, atrazine), metals and metalloids (arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, tin, zinc), predacides (sodium monofluoroacetate), organic industrial wastes (dioxins, pentachlorophenol), veterinary chemicals (famphur), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, mining wastes (cyanide), and ionizing radiations. This report is a cumulative index to the common and scientific names of all biological species listed in the first 34 reports in the CHR series, with individual species cross-referenced by contaminant and corresponding page numbers. A similar index is shown for chemicals.

Contaminant Hazard Reviews↗
USGS2005

General constraints on sampling wildlife on FIA plots

This paper reviews the constraints to sampling wildlife populations at FIA points. Wildlife sampling programs must have well-defined goals and provide information adequate to meet those goals. Investigators should choose a State variable based on information needs and the spatial sampling scale. We discuss estimation-based methods for three State variables: species richness, abundance, and patch occupancy. All methods incorporate two essential sources of variation: detectability estimation and spatial variation. FIA sampling imposes specific space and time criteria that may need to be adjusted to meet local wildlife objectives.

Book chapter↗
USGS2025

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program—2023 Year-in-Review

Introduction Established in 1935, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program is a unique cooperative partnership among State fish and wildlife agencies, host universities, the Wildlife Management Institute, USGS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Designed to meet the scientific needs of natural resource management agencies and to produce trained wildlife management professionals, the program has grown from the original nine wildlife-only Units to a program that, as of 2024, includes 43 Units located on university campuses in 41 States.

Circular↗
USGS2019

Communication strategies for reducing lead poisoning in wildlife and human health risks

Although lead poisoning in North American waterfowl has been reduced, it persists among other wildlife. To address this issue, we review lead poisoning in wildlife and threats to human health, describe the recent socio-political landscape, and develop a framework for reducing lead exposure related to hunting ammunition and fishing tackle. Despite substantial information about lead poisoning in wildlife, an explicit and strategic plan for using existing information to develop an effective communication program is lacking. Local and regional efforts encouraging hunters and anglers to voluntarily use nonlead alternatives could benefit from a nationally coordinated and strategic focus. We propose that the diffusion of innovation theory provides a useful framework for developing and implementing voluntary nonlead hunting ammunition and fishing tackle programs. Further, it can help communicators refine messages, increase efficiencies in developing communication materials, and monitor adoption of nonlead alternatives. The initial step in this process, however, is to engage stakeholders about the importance of the issue and leverage that concern as a catalyst for positive change. Published 2019. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Wildlife Society Bulletin↗
USGS2016

Application of genetics and genomics to wildlife epidemiology

Wildlife diseases can have significant impacts on wildlife conservation and management. Many of the pathogens that affect wildlife also have important implications for domestic animal and human health. However, management interventions to prevent or control wildlife disease are hampered by uncertainties about the complex interactions between pathogens and free-ranging wildlife. We often lack crucial knowledge about host ecology, pathogen characteristics, and host–pathogen dynamics. The purpose of this review is to familiarize wildlife biologists and managers with the application of genetic and genomic methodologies for investigating pathogen and host biology to better understand and manage wildlife diseases. The genesis of this review was a symposium at the 2013 annual Wildlife Society Conference. We reviewed the scientific literature and used our personal experiences to identify studies that illustrate the application of genetic and genomic methods to advance our understanding of wildlife epidemiology, focusing on recent research, new techniques, and innovative approaches. Using examples from a variety of pathogen types and a broad array of vertebrate taxa, we describe how genetics and genomics can provide tools to detect and characterize pathogens, uncover routes of disease transmission and spread, shed light on the ways that disease susceptibility is influenced by both host and pathogen attributes, and elucidate the impacts of disease on wildlife populations. Genetic and increasingly genomic methodologies will continue to contribute important insights into pathogen and host biology that will aid efforts to assess and mitigate the impacts of wildlife diseases on global health and conservation of biodiversity.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗
USGS2023

A coupled human and natural systems framework to characterize emerging infectious diseases: The case of fibropapillomatosis in marine turtles

Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife have markedly increased in the last few decades. Unsustainable, continuous, and rapid alterations within and between coupled human and natural systems have significantly disrupted wildlife disease dynamics. Direct and indirect anthropogenic effects, such as climate change, pollution, encroachment, urbanization, travel, and trade, can promote outbreaks of infectious diseases in wildlife. We constructed a coupled human and natural systems framework identifying three main wildlife disease risk factors behind these anthropogenic effects: (i) immune suppression, (ii) viral spillover, and (iii) disease propagation. Through complex and convoluted dynamics, each of the anthropogenic effect listed in our framework can lead, to some extent, to one or more of the identified risk factors accelerating disease outbreaks in wildlife. In this review, we present a novel framework to study anthropogenic impacts within coupled human and natural systems that facilitate emergence of infectious disease involving wildlife. We demonstrate the utility of the framework by applying it to Fibropapillomatosis disease of marine turtles. We aim to articulate the intricate and complex nature of anthropogenically-exacerbated wildlife infectious diseases as multifactorial. This paper supports the adoption of a One Health approach and invites the collaboration of multiple disciplines for the achievement of effective and long-lasting conservation and wildlife emerging diseases mitigation outcomes.

Animals↗
USGS2020

Validation of laboratory tests for infectious diseases in wild mammals: Review and recommendations

Evaluation of the diagnostic sensitivity (DSe) and specificity (DSp) of tests for infectious diseases in wild animals is challenging, and some of the limitations may affect compliance with the OIE-recommended test validation pathway. We conducted a methodologic review of test validation studies for OIE-listed diseases in wild mammals published between 2008 and 2017 and focused on study design, statistical analysis, and reporting of results. Most published papers addressed Mycobacterium bovis infection in one or more wildlife species. Our review revealed limitations or missing information about sampled animals, identification criteria for positive and negative samples (case definition), representativeness of source and target populations, and species in the study, as well as information identifying animals sampled for calculations of DSe and DSp as naturally infected captive, free-ranging, or experimentally challenged animals. The deficiencies may have reflected omissions in reporting rather than design flaws, although lack of random sampling might have induced bias in estimates of DSe and DSp. We used case studies of validation of tests for hemorrhagic diseases in deer and white-nose syndrome in hibernating bats to demonstrate approaches for validation when new pathogen serotypes or genotypes are detected and diagnostic algorithms are changed, and how purposes of tests evolve together with the evolution of the pathogen after identification. We describe potential benefits of experimental challenge studies for obtaining DSe and DSp estimates, methods to maintain sample integrity, and Bayesian latent class models for statistical analysis. We make recommendations for improvements in future studies of detection test accuracy in wild mammals.

Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation↗