Ecology and Control of Wildlife Damage to Electric Substations

This study addresses several aspects of the ecology and control of wildlife damage to electric substations because the amount of existing research is not sufficient to make informed decisions about how best to minimize that damage. Records of 121 incidents of animal-caused faults showed that 78% of the faults were caused by squirrels and raccoons and an average of 2,511 customers lost service during the outage caused by such a fault. Animal damage control measures were evaluated by observing challenges to control measures by raccoons and squirrels at a substation. The control measures were breached twice because they had not been properly applied. In 1994, 301 transmission and distribution substations in Michigan were sampled and categorized based on various structural and habitat characteristics. Significant relationships (p \u3c 0.10) were found between faulted substations and the number of nests in the substation, the distance of water from the substation, and the beam type used in the substation

Multi-scale Cover Selection by White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, in an Agro-forested Landscape

Resource selection studies are commonly conducted at a single spatial scale, but this likely does not fully or accurately assess the hierarchical selection process used by animals. We used a multi-spatial scale approach to quantify White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) cover selection in south-central Michigan during 2004–2006 by varying definitions of use and availability and ranking the relative importance of cover types under each study design. The number of cover types assigned as selected (proportional use > proportional availability) decreased from coarse (landscape level) to fine (within home range) scales, although at finer scales, selection seemed to be more consistent. Although the relative importance changed substantially across spatial scales, two cover types (conifers, upland deciduous forests) were consistently ranked as the two most important, providing strong evidence of their value to deer in the study area. Testing for resource selection patterns using a multi-spatial scale approach would provide additional insight into the ecology and behavior of a particular species

Kenya model: Development and implementation of an overseas study course on African wildlife ecology and management

The brochure declares: What better place to study a diversity of wildlife species and ecosystems than Kenya\u27s spectacular National Parks and Conservation Areas? Enticing! Exhilarating! A once in a life time experience! African Wildlife Ecology and Management in Kenya is an intensive two and a half week overseas study program offered by Michigan State University\u27s (MSU) Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Through this hands-on experience, students apply wildlife management principles to issues in Kenya\u27s National Parks and Conservation Areas. Planning and coordination of this course requires a year\u27s worth of thoughtful preparation in order to provide students with a dynamic yet placid in-country experience. To better aid other educators and coordinators in development and implementation of similar courses, we present a detailed account of the history and evolution of African Wildlife Ecology and Management in Kenya. How was this course conceived? How was support garnered from the University? What is required for developing such a course? Furthermore, we present information on why different sites within Kenya were selected and how the order of visitation to these sites allows for a logical progression and increasingly more elaborate acquisition of knowledge of course material. Finally, we describe the various projects assigned to students and the rational for assigning them; the basis for using student groups throughout the in-country experience; the use of alternative forms of assessment to evaluate student learning; assigned readings and course packet development and contents; and implications of limited time and lack of technology while in-country

ASSESSMENT OF GNAWING BEHAVIOR OF THREE RODENT SPECIES ON AUTOMATIC SPEED CONTROL MECHANISM DIAPHRAGMS FROM GM AUTOMOBILES

General Motors and the A C. Rochester Company, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM), has found that the robber diaphragms on automatic speed control mechanisms (servos) were gnawed by unknown rodents. House mice (Mus musculus), Peromyscus spp., and eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) were used to test gnawing behavior on 4 kinds of diaphragms. Diaphragms with or without a rodent proof cure formula, which are used by GM, did not influence the gnawing of all test rodent species. Diaphragms with a lubricant (Paricin) were more attractive to gnawing by house mice than diaphragms without a lubricant. Five objects with different texture were used to detect gnawing preference of house mice and 3 objects were used on Peromyscus. The textures of diaphragms and nylon discs were not significantly preferred by house mice compared to the textures of corks and wood blocks. Rubber stoppers were gnawed less than wood blocks and corks by house mice and Peromyscus, but the differences were not significant. Results indicate that the presence of a rigid and protective edge on the diaphragms was a critical factor in attracting rodent gnawing. To test this possibility, diaphragms on servos supported by aluminum piston heads with 3 different beveled edges were presented to captive Peromyscus. The amount of gnawing was not significantly different among the diaphragms supported by the different piston heads. Once the gnawing was initiated, continued gnawing was thought to be dependent on the texture of objects

GIS: A Tool for Analyzing and Managing Deer Damage To Crops

A common problem of biologists and agriculturists trying to control white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) damage to crops is understanding the causes and alternative solutions to the damage over multi-county or state-wide areas. Deer damage a variety of crops in different ways at different times of the year. Crops damaged, types of damage, and damage severity are influenced by deer densities, distributions, movements and harvest, as well as field size and interspersion with surrounding land cover types and uses. The complexity of the interaction of these factors requires improved analysis if the most appropriate control methods are to be selected. Geographic information systems (GIS) provide an efficient method to examine these factors, analyze their interrelationships, graphically depict how they interrelate, and assist in predicting future problems. Such an analysis also suggests why certain damage patterns occur where and when they do, where additional information is needed, the best format for data collection, and which damage control strategies are most likely to be successful in given areas. The CRIES GIS was used to examine the deer damage problem in Michigan. Selected data on deer harvests, populations, and crop statistics were categorized, digitized and mapped. Data were combined in overlay maps and these provided a useful tool in examining patterns of deer damage. Various areas within the state were then delineated as separate deer damage problem areas and possible control strategies for each were proposed. Data necessary for an improved analysis of the deer damage problem were identified, as were problems in the present collection, tabulation and analysis of data. Recommendations were developed for the use of GIS in deer damage control

Nestling Growth and Development and the Breeding Ecology of the Beechey Jay

Volume: 95Start Page: 256End Page: 26

Building Professionally-Based Communities of Learning among Faculty, Students, and Practioners

Residential and non-residential “communities of learning” have been used within institutions of higher education as formal methods to enhance interactions among individuals that ultimately helps learning. Typically, these communities have included student-to-student and faculty-to-student interactions within residential living areas, teams in a core of courses, or teams of students within a course. If students are to develop into leaders within their respective disciplines an additional component that should be integrated into communities of learning is practioners. The objectives of our paper are to describe: 1) communities of learning and why they should be established for all students to enhance learning, 2) how to integrate a community of learning into its respective community of practice, 3) models of communities of learning and their characteristics, and 4) what roles natural resource practitioners, faculty, and students can play in developing and maintaining non-residential communities of learning to meet academic and professional objectives. Ultimately, the integration of faculty, students, and practioners for developing and maintaining learning communities will help create an educational culture that produces life-long learners and leaders in natural resource

Regional-Based Mitigation to Reduce Wildlife–Vehicle Collisions

Vehicular collisions with large ungulates pose serious challenges for managing and conserving large ungulates throughout the world. Despite the global frequency, mitigation efforts are mostly limited to localized hotspots and not effective on broad scales. Our goal was to determine whether dynamic, regional attributes could inform broader focus for mitigation efforts. We applied a spatiotemporal dynamic model to examine the regional influences on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)–vehicle collisions (DVCs) throughout the Midwest United States from traffic, abundance of deer, and composition and configuration of the landscape during 2000–2011. The regions included eco-zones representing landscape dominated by shelter-forage habitats with ubiquitous and abundant distribution of deer (i.e., forest-agriculture matrix), landscape dominated by agriculture with sparse refugia (i.e., agriculture), and landscape dominated by forests with seasonal migration for deer (i.e., northern forest). We found little fluctuation in the factors affecting collisions through time but substantial differences among regions. In the forest-agriculture matrix eco-zone, fragmentation of the landscape was the most important predictor of collisions. In the agriculture eco-zone, traffic and abundance of deer best predicted collisions. In the northern forest eco-zone, the predictors of collisions were variable and likely related to winter severity and deer migration. This research provides new justification for broadening the focus of current mitigation measures to regional extents. In regions dominated by forest and agriculture, new policies that reduce habitat fragmentation should be the primary focus for reducing collisions. Reducing abundance of ungulates will have the most direct effect in regions dominated by agriculture. Finally, a variety of seasonal and local mitigation measures will be most effective in northern forests where large ungulates migrate