Phylogeography of three heteromyid taxa: Insight on the evolution of a North American arid grassland rodent guild

Revealing how communities are shaped by abiotic and biotic factors plays a central role in biogeographic and comparative phylogeographic studies. The biogeography of North American arid grasslands is explored using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from three groups of heteromyid rodents that are broadly sympatric in aridlands across western North America. Phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses are used to estimate the timing of divergences within each group. A general pattern of late Miocene divergence and expansion of lineages in each of the groups that is coincident with the rapid expansion of arid grasslands at the time. The initial divergence is followed by temporally and spatially concordant geographic diversification in recognized biogeographic and physiographic regions that corresponds to major climatic and tectonic events during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. The similarities and differences in the response of each taxon to proposed phylogeographic barriers are discussed

Testing Protocols for Surveying Captive Limulus polyphemus Microbiomes

Limulus polyphemus, the Atlantic horseshoe crab, is a marine arthropod that primarily resides in the shallow intertidal zone of brackish water, water where high salinity seawater meets fresh water. The ecological niche that horseshoe crabs reside in makes them an ideal animal to be placed in an aquarium touch-tank, only needing a shallow pool of water to live comfortably as well as having a tough chitin carapace that won’t be easily damaged by visitors touching them. However, the implications of these human-animal interactions are severely unexplored with limited research being conducted regarding touch-tanks. In contrast, the consequences and hygienic practices of human-animal interactions for vertebrates in petting zoos is very well understood. In this study, we attempted to lay the groundwork for future research that will aspire to do a more thorough analysis of what microbes reside in aquarium touch tanks and how those microbes could affect both the animals and the people touching them. The efficiency of a potential DNA sequencing protocol is tested in this study; horseshoe crabs residing in the touch-tank exhibit in the Shark Reef Aquarium had their carapace sampled for microbes with sterile swabs which transferred to agar plates in an attempt to isolate pure colonies. Four samples were successfully isolated from the initial sampling in pure cultures using the streak plate method. DNA extraction was successfully performed on all four samples using both SDS lysis buffer and a “DNeasy Blood & Tissue kit.” PCR is not known to have worked for any samples as of yet. Ultimately, it was decided that the low amount of unique species isolated along with lack of success with PCR suggests that an alternative method should be utilized for any further work

Carnivore Use of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are one of the most well-known carnivorous species on the planet. Despite our familiarity with them, their effects on native fauna in protected areas is still unclear; however, many studies warn that dogs are a potential threat to wildlife. To understand the relationships between domestic dogs and native species, we conducted a preliminary carnivore survey at the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Camera traps were placed in 14 different locations for an average of 28 trap nights. They were affixed to approximately 50 cm above the ground and were adjusted parallel to the ground. The cameras were programmed to run continuously for 24 hours/day and captured three photos every minute when triggered. 44,294 images were recorded across the cameras. The most dominant species recorded were humans (155 sightings), followed by domestic dogs (61 sightings), black-tailed jackrabbits (58 sightings), coyotes (46 sightings), and a few other desert species. Results reveal coyotes and jackrabbits were largely present in areas where both domestic dogs and/or humans were seen, and domestic dogs and coyotes were located at sites near residential areas. Our study indicates that coyotes do not respond negatively to the presence of domestic dogs. This is a preliminary survey, so more deployments are needed to form more definitive conclusions regarding the relationships between domestic dogs and native fauna.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_posters/1035/thumbnail.jp

Lead Levels in Rodents Residing on Shooting Ranges

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects that lead left at shooting ranges have on local rodent populations. Shooting ranges have been shown by previous research to have a great influence on the level of lead present in nearby soils and plants. This lead contamination has also been shown to have serious consequences for fauna residing near these ranges, ranging from lead toxicity to death. Many shooting ranges exist in Southern Nevada, and we have sampled a small number of these ranges to explore the possible effects they have on nearby rodent populations. The livers of Dipodomys merriami were sampled. We intend to sample additional species and consider life histories in relation to levels of lead toxicity.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_posters/1071/thumbnail.jp

SNAPSHOT USA 2019 : a coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.With the accelerating pace of global change, it is imperative that we obtain rapid inventories of the status and distribution of wildlife for ecological inferences and conservation planning. To address this challenge, we launched the SNAPSHOT USA project, a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife populations using camera traps across the United States. For our first annual survey, we compiled data across all 50 states during a 14-week period (17 August - 24 November of 2019). We sampled wildlife at 1509 camera trap sites from 110 camera trap arrays covering 12 different ecoregions across four development zones. This effort resulted in 166,036 unique detections of 83 species of mammals and 17 species of birds. All images were processed through the Smithsonian's eMammal camera trap data repository and included an expert review phase to ensure taxonomic accuracy of data, resulting in each picture being reviewed at least twice. The results represent a timely and standardized camera trap survey of the USA. All of the 2019 survey data are made available herein. We are currently repeating surveys in fall 2020, opening up the opportunity to other institutions and cooperators to expand coverage of all the urban-wild gradients and ecophysiographic regions of the country. Future data will be available as the database is updated at eMammal.si.edu/snapshot-usa, as well as future data paper submissions. These data will be useful for local and macroecological research including the examination of community assembly, effects of environmental and anthropogenic landscape variables, effects of fragmentation and extinction debt dynamics, as well as species-specific population dynamics and conservation action plans. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this paper when using the data for publication.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe