Puma Dispersal Ecology in the Central Rocky Mountains

The structuring of populations within a metapopulation, connected through dispersal, is important to basic and applied ecology. However, a considerable gap exists in our knowledge of the influence landscape heterogeneity has on dispersal and its consequences. We examined landscape effects on dispersal and its consequences for puma (Puma concolor) populations using data from three separate populations in the Central Rocky Mountains including the Northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (NGYE), the Southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (SGYE) and the Garnet Mountains of Montana. We found human-induced mortality reduced inter-population vital rates with population consequences. The NGYE population was dependent largely on immigration for its own growth and emigration for its overall contribution to the metapopulation. The Garnet population, subject to high human induced mortality, was a population sink until a 915 km2 area was closed to hunting, after which that area became a source, largely from a 16x emigration increase. Human-induced mortality affected emigration, dispersal distance, and establishment success. Effective dispersal of subadult males (n=59) was reduced primarily through direct mortality, whereas females (n=67) were more influenced by indirect effects reflected in reduced emigration and dispersal distances. We further examined dispersal-landscape relationships through disperser habitat preferences. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were constructed from a priori models of disperser habitat to test the importance of forest cover, topographic cover, suitable hunting habitat, and anthropogenic disturbance. Models were fit to location data from GPS-marked (n=11) and VHF-marked (n=123) dispersers from all three study areas. Model selection, using Akaike’s Information Criterion, found landscape characteristics associated with successful hunting of ungulate prey combined with anthropogenic disturbance parsimoniously explained locations of GPS-marked individuals. For VHF-marked dispersers the hunting habitat model ranked highest with the combined hunting habitat and anthropogenic disturbance model second. Model fitting from both datasets indicate habitat characteristics important to dispersers is similar to resident adults. A resource selection function estimated from the top GPS model was highly predictive of disperser locations from the independent VHF dataset. This model can identify areas important to dispersing individuals and suggests adult habitat is a useful surrogate for landscape connectivity

Assessing Age Structure, Winter Ticks and Nutritional Condition as Potential Drivers of Fecundity in Montana Moose

Fecundity in ungulates is an important component of population dynamics, and itself can be driven by differences in the age and nutritional condition of females.  As one element of a larger research project focused on moose (Alces alces) population dynamics and ecology, we examined nutritional condition, pregnancy rates, and litter sizes for moose in three Montana moose populations.  During the winters of 2013–2015 we captured 100 female moose ? 1 year old and assessed pregnancy status using assays of both serum (pregnancy specific protein B [PSPB]) and feces (fecal progesterone).  After calibrating the relationship between these two assays, we subsequently monitored pregnancy with feces alone for additional winters following capture.  Coincident with captures, animals were aged using tooth extraction and cementum analysis, nutritional condition was assessed using ultrasonography of rump fat thickness, and winter tick loads were estimated by counting ticks along transects of the rump and shoulder.  Additionally, the concentrations of nitrogen and neutral detergent fiber of winter pellets were measured during each winter as indices of dietary quality.  Here, we assess the importance of environmental and demographic factors in limiting moose productivity in Montana by examining the interdependence of forage, parasites, nutritional condition, age structure, and ultimately fecundity for female moose.  We then place these findings in context of fecundity rates observed for moose elsewhere within neighboring US Rocky Mountain populations and across North America

A Review of Parasites and Disease Impacting Moose in North America

Moose (Alces alces) are relative newcomers to North America, believed to have crossed the Beringian land bridge during the late Pleistocene, 10,000–15,000 years ago.  Their evolution in Asia may have left them relatively ill-prepared to cope with a suite of North American parasites that have proportionately greater impacts on moose than other cervids.  We review the current state of knowledge regarding impacts of parasites on North American moose populations, including brainworm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis), arterial worm (Elaeophora schneideri), giant liver fluke (Fascioloides magna), winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus), and others.  We then pay specific attention to recent research and monitoring of moose, parasites, and disease, in the context of potentially declining moose populations in Montana and elsewhere. Notably we have preliminary evidence suggesting minimal impacts of winter ticks in Montana relative to the eastern US, but also a separate and poorly understood parasite- or disease-induced reduction of adult female moose survival in a southwest Montana population.  These results are preliminary and we discuss them as yielding more questions than answers thus far

Occupancy Modeling of Hunter Sightings for Monitoring Moose in Montana

Moose (Alces alces) are widely distributed across >100,000 km2 of Montana yet occur at low densities and garner minimal funding.  Traditional monitoring methods present challenges of low precision and high cost.  During 2012–2015, we tested the efficacy of applying patch occupancy modeling to moose sightings made by hunters of other cervids for cost-effective statewide monitoring.  We used phone surveys to collect sightings and allocated each spatially to grid cells and temporally to 1-week sessions within a 5-week hunting season.  For each cell we estimated covariates with hypothesized relevance to occupancy by moose or detectability by hunters, including characterization of vegetation, topography, accessibility by humans, hunter effort, and spatial correlation.  We sampled ?45,500 hunters per year at a cost of $12,000–$15,000.  Of responding hunters, 14% reported ?1 moose sighting which accumulated to 4,800–6,800 sightings annually.  Statewide occupancy estimates were robust and consistent across years of sampling, averaging ? = 0.30 (SE=0.005, range=0.30–0.31).  Forested vegetation types reduced the probability of detection but increased the probability of occupancy, while shrub and riparian vegetation types increased both detection and occupancy rates.  The amount of sampling effort expended affected detection rates but did not affect occupancy estimates.  We expect occupancy estimates to be less sensitive to population changes in areas with higher abundance, making this approach better suited for monitoring change at the range periphery.  Alternate count-based analysis techniques such as n-mixture models may offer an alternative to make best use of hunter sightings for monitoring statewide moose populations

National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and IFCC Committee for Standardization of Markers of Cardiac Damage Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines: Analytical Issues for Biochemical Markers of Acute Coronary Syndromes

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SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL HETEROGENEITY IN THERMAL CONDITIONS FOR WILDLIFE

Temperature is an important component of climatic conditions that drive animal evolution, niche space, and life history traits. We used field-deployed temperature sensors and generalized linear mixed-effects models to quantify the spatiotemporal variation of ambient temperatures in three study areas of western Montana, in support of concurrent studies of moose ecology and population dynamics. We found substantial potential for thermal refuge for moose; temperature ranges observed simultaneously among sites within study areas averaged 7.0°C during summer and 6.1°C during winter. We considered 6 site variables hypothesized to affect local temperatures (elevation, topographic position, aspect, land cover type, forest canopy cover, and the interaction of land cover and solar radiation), and all contributed to model performance. However, the direction and magnitude of effects varied in a cyclic fashion during the 24-hour diel cycle, and in many cases, exhibited reversed effects between day and night. Although spatial heterogeneity in temperature during summer was only slightly higher than during winter, our ability to explain such pattern was much better during summer (average R2 = 0.51–0.56) than during winter (average R2 = 0.09–0.23). We encourage researchers and managers to explore field collection and spatiotemporal modeling of temperature sensor data for cost-effect description of thermal environments for wildlife in local settings

Human-caused mortality influences spatial population dynamics: Pumas in landscapes with varying mortality risks

An understanding of how stressors affect dispersal attributes and the contribution of local populations to multi-population dynamics are of immediate value to basic and applied ecology. Puma (Puma concolor) populations are expected to be influenced by inter-population movements and susceptible to human induced source–sink dynamics. Using long-term datasets we quantified the contribution of two puma populations to operationally define them as sources or sinks. The puma population in the Northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (NGYE) was largely insulated from human-induced mortality by Yellowstone National Park. Pumas in the western Montana Garnet Mountain system were exposed to greater human-induced mortality, which changed over the study due to the closure of a 915 km2 area to hunting. The NGYE’s population growth depended on inter-population movements, as did its ability to act as a source to the larger region. The heavily hunted Garnet area was a sink with a declining population until the hunting closure, after which it became a source with positive intrinsic growth and a 16× increase in emigration. We also examined the spatial and temporal characteristics of individual dispersal attributes (emigration, dispersal distance, establishment success) of subadult pumas (N = 126). Human-caused mortality was found to negatively impact all three dispersal components. Our results demonstrate the influence of human-induced mortality on not only within population vital rates, but also inter-population vital rates, affecting the magnitude and mechanisms of local population’s contribution to the larger metapopulation

Peripheral blood proteomic profiling of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis biomarkers in the multicentre IPF-PRO Registry

Abstract Background Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive lung disease for which diagnosis and management remain challenging. Defining the circulating proteome in IPF may identify targets for biomarker development. We sought to quantify the circulating proteome in IPF, determine differential protein expression between subjects with IPF and controls, and examine relationships between protein expression and markers of disease severity. Methods This study involved 300 patients with IPF from the IPF-PRO Registry and 100 participants without known lung disease. Plasma collected at enrolment was analysed using aptamer-based proteomics (1305 proteins). Linear regression was used to determine differential protein expression between participants with IPF and controls and associations between protein expression and disease severity measures (percent predicted values for forced vital capacity [FVC] and diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide [DLco]; composite physiologic index [CPI]). Multivariable models were fit to select proteins that best distinguished IPF from controls. Results Five hundred fifty one proteins had significantly different levels between IPF and controls, of which 47 showed a |log2(fold-change)| > 0.585 (i.e. > 1.5-fold difference). Among the proteins with the greatest difference in levels in patients with IPF versus controls were the glycoproteins thrombospondin 1 and von Willebrand factor and immune-related proteins C-C motif chemokine ligand 17 and bactericidal permeability-increasing protein. Multivariable classification modelling identified nine proteins that, when considered together, distinguished IPF versus control status with high accuracy (area under receiver operating curve = 0.99). Among participants with IPF, 14 proteins were significantly associated with FVC % predicted, 23 with DLco % predicted, 14 with CPI. Four proteins (roundabout homolog-2, spondin-1, polymeric immunoglobulin receptor, intercellular adhesion molecule 5) demonstrated the expected relationship across all three disease severity measures. When considered in pathways analyses, proteins associated with the presence or severity of IPF were enriched in pathways involved in platelet and haemostatic responses, vascular or platelet derived growth factor signalling, immune activation, and extracellular matrix organisation. Conclusions Patients with IPF have a distinct circulating proteome and can be distinguished using a nine-protein profile. Several proteins strongly associate with disease severity. The proteins identified may represent biomarker candidates and implicate pathways for further investigation. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01915511).https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152150/1/12931_2019_Article_1190.pd