Guidelines for Telemetry Studies on Snow Leopards

Simple Summary Satellite collars and other tracking (telemetry) devices fitted on wild animals can provide insights into species' habitat requirements, movements, space and resource use, thermoregulation, life history, and demographics. Such information is particularly important for the conservation and management of elusive and threatened species like the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). Deploying tracking devices, however, exposes targeted and non-targeted animals to non-trivial risks-for example, trapping-induced injuries or death, adverse reactions to immobilizing drugs, and physiological and behavioral impacts from inappropriately-sized collars. The implicit ethical considerations and tradeoffs are not always obvious, and are often underappreciated by researchers and managers responsible for conducting or approving proposed telemetry projects. Here, we aim to (1) help researchers, managers, and permitting agencies better understand if and when the risks inherent in telemetry studies are ethically justifiable; and (2) help researchers develop efficient and ethical procedures for planning telemetry studies and associated capturing and handling protocols for snow leopards. Telemetry studies that are undertaken with clearly-articulated purpose, well-vetted and comprehensive protocols, and a sustained commitment of resources can play a vital role in conservation. Animal-borne tracking devices have generated a wealth of new knowledge, allowing us to better understand, manage and conserve species. Fitting such tracking devices requires that animals are captured and often chemically immobilized. Such procedures cause stress and involve the risk of injuries and loss of life even in healthy individuals. For telemetry studies to be justifiable, it is vital that capture operations are planned and executed in an efficient and ethical way. Project objectives must be clearly articulated to address well-defined knowledge gaps, and studies designed to maximize the probability of achieving those goals. We provide guidelines for how to plan, design, and implement telemetry studies with a special emphasis on snow leopards that are typically captured using foot snares. We also describe the necessary steps to ensure that captures are conducted safely, and with minimal stress to animals

The timing of breeding and independence for snow leopard females and their cubs

Significant knowledge gaps persist on snow leopard demography and reproductive behavior. From a GPS-collared population in Mongolia, we estimated the timing of mating, parturition and independence. Based on three mother-cub pairs, we describe the separation phase of the cub from its mother as it gains independence. Snow leopards mated from January-March and gave birth from April-June. Cubs remained with their mother until their second winter (20-22 months of age) when cubs started showing movements away from their mother for days at a time. This initiation of independence appeared to coincide with their mother mating with the territorial male. Two female cubs remained in their mothers' territory for several months after initial separation, whereas the male cub quickly dispersed. By comparing the relationship between body size and age of independence across 11 solitary, medium-to-large felid species, it was clear that snow leopards have a delayed timing of separation compared to other species. We suggest this may be related to their mating behavior and the difficulty of the habitat and prey capture for juvenile snow leopards. Our results, while limited, provide empirical estimates for understanding snow leopard ecology and for parameterizing population models

Effects of Chronic Wasting Disease on Reproduction and Fawn Harvest Vulnerability in Wisconsin White-Tailed Deer

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects free-ranging and captive North American cervids. Although the impacts of CWD on cervid survival have been documented, little is known about the disease impacts on reproduction and recruitment. We used genetic methods and harvest data (2002–04) to reconstruct parentage for a cohort of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns born in spring 2002 and evaluate the effects of CWD infection on reproduction and fawn harvest vulnerability. There was no difference between CWD-positive and CWD-negative male deer in the probability of being a parent. However, CWD-positive females were more likely to be parents than CWD-negative females. Because our results are based on harvested animals, we evaluated the hypothesis that higher parentage rates occurred because fawns with CWD-positive mothers were more vulnerable to harvest. Male fawns with CWD-positive mothers were harvested earlier (.1 mo relative to their mother’s date of harvest) and farther away from their mothers than male fawns with CWDnegative mothers. Male fawns with CWD-positive mothers were also harvested much earlier and farther away than female fawns from CWD-positive mothers. Most female fawns (86%) with CWD-positive mothers were harvested from the same section as their mothers, while almost half of male and female fawns with CWD-negative mothers were farther away. We conclude that preclinical stages of CWD infection do not prohibit white-tailed deer from successfully reproducing. However, apparently higher harvest vulnerability of male fawns with CWD-positive mothers suggests that CWD infection may make females less capable of providing adequate parental care to ensure the survival and recruitment of their fawns

Going Coastal: Shared Evolutionary History between Coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska Wolves (Canis lupus)

Many coastal species occupying the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest in North America comprise endemic populations genetically and ecologically distinct from interior continental conspecifics. Morphological variation previously identified among wolf populations resulted in recognition of multiple subspecies of wolves in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, separate genetic studies have identified diverged populations of wolves in coastal British Columbia and coastal Southeast Alaska, providing support for hypotheses of distinct coastal subspecies. These two regions are geographically and ecologically contiguous, however, there is no comprehensive analysis across all wolf populations in this coastal rainforest.By combining mitochondrial DNA datasets from throughout the Pacific Northwest, we examined the genetic relationship between coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska wolf populations and compared them with adjacent continental populations. Phylogenetic analysis indicates complete overlap in the genetic diversity of coastal British Columbia and Southeast Alaska wolves, but these populations are distinct from interior continental wolves. Analyses of molecular variation support the separation of all coastal wolves in a group divergent from continental populations, as predicted based on hypothesized subspecies designations. Two novel haplotypes also were uncovered in a newly assayed continental population of interior Alaska wolves.We found evidence that coastal wolves endemic to these temperate rainforests are diverged from neighbouring, interior continental wolves; a finding that necessitates new international strategies associated with the management of this species

Molecular ecology and conservation of caribou (rangifer tarandus) in western North America

Bibliography: p. 122-139Some pages are in colour.As the scale and intensity of human-mediated impacts on the planet reaches unprecedented levels, there is a need for evaluating and describing the repercussions of these changes on the planet's flora and fauna. Woodland caribou are a threatened species that exemplify the challenge of protecting widespread, large species with expansive habitat requirements. Woodland caribou declines relate to habitat destruction and the consequent changes in predator-prey dynamics. Hindering conservation and management efforts is a lack of understanding the distribution of caribou diversity and the relationship of changes in habitat and environmental variables on caribou movements. Here I use a multiple methods, emphasizing molecular tools, to evaluate these knowledge gaps. First, I reconstruct the evolutionary history of caribou in Western North America, clarifying phylogeographic and broad patterns of diversity that inform delineation of conservation units. Next, I focus on west-central Alberta to evaluate landscape genetics perspectives on environmental and demographic variables that influence caribou population dynamics. Finally, I review current federal conservation policy and actions in the context of genetic variability, with a closing chapter emphasizing conservation challenges posed with ongoing climate change. Phylogenetic results demonstrate a new understanding of caribou evolution requiring the restructuring of the taxonomic identities of caribou ecotypes, a more widespread region of post-glacial "hybrid swarm," and clearer delineation of meta-populations of threatened Mountain and Boreal ecotypes. Landscape genetics show that preferred habitat and effective population size are the best predictors of genetic relationships of west-central populations, and that effective population sizes are at alarmingly low levels, emphasizing the need for management to focus on bolstering population numbers and maintaining habitat connectivity. The newly defined Designatable Units represent another version of Evolutionary Significant Units with similar limitations, particularly on the description of Boreal caribou. The proposed management recovery strategy for Boreal populations is fraught with seeming subjective criteria and emphasizes a scale of conservation unit (local population) that fails to ensure the protection of Boreal evolutionary and ecological integrity. Incorporation of the new genetic and population results detailed here offer information that can improve management and conservation objectives and promote a scientifically rigorous catalyst for policy change

The demographic consequences of partial migration among woodland caribou in fragmented landscapes

Partial migration behavior is common across taxa despite evolutionary logic that differential demographic consequences could fix for particular strategies in each system. Woodland caribou in the Canadian Rockies exhibit genetic evidence of mixed lineages of diverged Beringian-Eurasian migratory caribou and North American sedentary caribou subspecies. While both behaviors remain in Canadian Rockies populations, the selective balance between sedentary and migratory strategies may be subject to recent alteration by anthropogenic habitat fragmentation, as mediated by predation. We used Cox proportional hazards modeling to assess the relative impact of migratory behavior, genetic signature, and habitat fragmentation on survival of a sample of >300 radio-marked caribou from 1998-2008

Data from: Reconstruction of caribou evolutionary history in Western North America and its implications for conservation

The role of Beringia as a refugium and route for trans-continental exchange of fauna during glacial cycles of the past 2 million years are well documented; less apparent is its contribution as a significant reservoir of genetic diversity. Using mitochondrial DNA sequences and 14 microsatellite loci, we investigate the phylogeographic history of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in western North America. Patterns of genetic diversity reveal two distinct groups of caribou. Caribou classified as a Northern group, of Beringian origin, exhibited greater number and variability in mtDNA haplotypes compared to a Southern group originating from refugia south of glacial ice. Results indicate that subspecies R. t. granti of Alaska and R. t. groenlandicus of northern Canada do not constitute distinguishable units at mtDNA or microsatellites, belying their current status as separate subspecies. Additionally, the Northern Mountain ecotype of woodland caribou (presently R. t. caribou) has closer kinship to caribou classified as granti or groenlandicus. Comparisons of mtDNA and microsatellite data suggest that behavioural and ecological specialization is a more recently derived life history characteristic. Notably, microsatellite differentiation among Southern herds is significantly greater, most likely as a result of human-induced landscape fragmentation and genetic drift due to smaller population sizes. These results not only provide important insight into the evolutionary history of northern species such as caribou, but also are important indicators for managers evaluating conservation measures for this threatened species

Weckworth_Dryad2

Excel file with three worksheets. First is microsatellite data; first column is individual number, second column is population ID, next 28 columns are the allele sets for each of the 14 loci used. Second worksheet is the mtDNA haplotype frequency per population. Third worksheet provides GenBank accession number for each haplotype

Landscape Genetics and the Spatial Distribution of Chronic Wasting Disease

Predicting the spread of wildlife disease is critical for identifying populations at risk, targeting surveillance and designing proactive management programmes. We used a landscape genetics approach to identify landscape features that influenced gene flow and the distribution of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Wisconsin white-tailed deer. CWD prevalence was negatively correlated with genetic differentiation of study area deer from deer in the area of disease origin (core-area). Genetic differentiation was greatest, and CWD prevalence lowest, in areas separated from the core-area by the Wisconsin River, indicating that this river reduced deer gene flow and probably disease spread. Features of the landscape that influence host dispersal and spatial patterns of disease can be identified based on host spatial genetic structure. Landscape genetics may be used to predict high-risk populations based on their genetic connection to infected populations and to target disease surveillance, control and preventative activities.This article is from Biology Letters 4 (2008): 130, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2007.0523.</p