Using Anthropogenic Parameters at Multiple Scales to Inform Conservation and Management of a Large Carnivore

Human influence on the environment is becoming increasingly pervasive across the globe, and can drastically impact ecological patterns and processes. For many terrestrial wildlife species, human influence can fragment critical habitat, increase mortality, and threaten habitat connectivity and ultimately the persistence of wildlife populations. This dissertation aims to use multiple conservation ecology methods and tools to test the impact of human influence on the population dynamics of a large carnivore in a human-dominated landscape. To assess the impact of human activity on carnivore ecology, a series of empirical studies were conducted on a small population of American black bear (Ursus americanus) in the Western Great Basin, USA. A long-term dataset including geographic locations of animal habitat choices as well as mortality locations were used in multiple statistical models that tested the response of black bears to human activity. These analyses were conducted at multiple spatial and temporal resolutions to reveal nuances potentially overlooked if analyses were limited to a single resolution. Individual studies, presented as dissertation chapters, examine the relationships between human activity and carnivore ecology. Collectively, the results of these studies find black bear ecology to be highly sensitive to the magnitude and spatial composition of human activity in the Lake Tahoe Basin, observable at both coarse and fine spatial resolutions. The results presented in this study on the influence of human activity on large carnivore population dynamics allow for a more thorough understanding of the various ways common conservation ecology methods and tools can be used to evaluate human-wildlife relationships

On the need for rigorous welfare and methodological reporting for the live capture of large carnivores: A response to de Araujo et al. (2021)

1.De Araujo et al. (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13516) described the development and application of a wire foot snare trap for the capture of jaguars Panthera onca and cougars Puma concolor. Snares are a commonly used and effective means of studying large carnivores. However, the article presented insufficient information to replicate the work and inadequate consideration and description of animal welfare considerations, thereby risking the perpetuation of poor standards of reporting. 2.Appropriate animal welfare assessments are essential in studies that collect data from animals, especially those that use invasive techniques, and are key in assisting researchers to choose the most appropriate capture method. It is critical that authors detail all possible associated harms and benefits to support thorough review, including equipment composition, intervention processes, general body assessments, injuries (i.e. cause, type, severity) and post-release behaviour. We offer a detailed discussion of these shortcomings. 3.We also discuss broader but highly relevant issues, including the capture of non-target animals and the omission of key methodological details. The level of detail provided by authors should allow the method to be properly assessed and replicated, including those that improve trap selectivity and minimize or eliminate the capture of non-target animals. 4.Finally, we discuss the central role that journals must play in ensuring that published research conforms to ethical, animal welfare and reporting standards. Scientific studies are subject to ever-increasing scrutiny by peers and the public, making it more important than ever that standards are upheld and reviewed. 5. We conclude that the proposal of a new or refined method must be supported by substantial contextual discussion, a robust rationale and analyses and comprehensive documentation

Risky business: Modeling mortality risk near the urban-wildland interface for a large carnivore

We examined the spatial distribution of 382 black bear (Ursus americanus) mortalities in the Lake Tahoe Basin and Western Great Basin Desert (WGB) in Nevada, USA from 1997 to 2013. Of the 364 mortalities for which we could determine cause of death, vehicle collisions (n = 160) and direct removal of bears by management personnel (n = 132) were the two largest sources of mortality for bears in our study area at the confluence of the Sierra-Nevada Mountains and the Great Basin Desert. Here we use logistic regression and resource selection probability functions (RSPF) to model probability of mortality in the WGB based on anthropogenic and landscape variables. Further, we assessed the impact of spatial resolution on our analyses and resulting probability of mortality models. Human-induced mortalities of black bears were overwhelmingly concentrated near major roads (defined in our analyses as paved roads with two lanes or more), in the town of Incline Village, Nevada, and along the foothills of the Carson Range east of Lake Tahoe. Our results suggest mortality risk is associated with density of and distance to multiple forest types, human population density, landcover, recreation site density and distance, road density and distance, stream distance, hiking trail density, and waterbody distance. Our model results found environmental variables measured at coarse spatial resolutions such as distance to and density of forest best predicted black bear mortality risk, while anthropogenic variables measured at fine spatial resolutions like distance to and density of recreation site best predicted black bear mortality risk in our study area. Our results demonstrate that carnivore mortality as a phenomenon likely operates at multiple spatial resolutions and thus considering scale is important for modeling mortality risk on the landscape. Keywords: Carnivore, Black bear, Mortality, RSPF, Scale, Human-wildlife conflic

On the need for rigorous welfare and methodological reporting for the live capture of large carnivores: A response to de Araujo et al. (2021)

Abstract De Araujo et al. (Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1111/2041‐210X.13516) described the development and application of a wire foot snare trap for the capture of jaguars Panthera onca and cougars Puma concolor. Snares are a commonly used and effective means of studying large carnivores. However, the article presented insufficient information to replicate the work and inadequate consideration and description of animal welfare considerations, thereby risking the perpetuation of poor standards of reporting. Appropriate animal welfare assessments are essential in studies that collect data from animals, especially those that use invasive techniques, and are key in assisting researchers to choose the most appropriate capture method. It is critical that authors detail all possible associated harms and benefits to support thorough review, including equipment composition, intervention processes, general body assessments, injuries (i.e. cause, type, severity) and post‐release behaviour. We offer a detailed discussion of these shortcomings. We also discuss broader but highly relevant issues, including the capture of non‐target animals and the omission of key methodological details. The level of detail provided by authors should allow the method to be properly assessed and replicated, including those that improve trap selectivity and minimize or eliminate the capture of non‐target animals. Finally, we discuss the central role that journals must play in ensuring that published research conforms to ethical, animal welfare and reporting standards. Scientific studies are subject to ever‐increasing scrutiny by peers and the public, making it more important than ever that standards are upheld and reviewed. We conclude that the proposal of a new or refined method must be supported by substantial contextual discussion, a robust rationale and analyses and comprehensive documentation

Macrophage polarization in pathology

Macrophages are cells of the innate immunity constituting the mononuclear phagocyte system and endowed with remarkable different roles essential for defense mechanisms, development of tissues, and homeostasis. They derive from hematopoietic precursors and since the early steps of fetal life populate peripheral tissues, a process continuing throughout adult life. Although present essentially in every organ/tissue, macrophages are more abundant in the gastro-intestinal tract, liver, spleen, upper airways, and brain. They have phagocytic and bactericidal activity and produce inflammatory cytokines that are important to drive adaptive immune responses. Macrophage functions are settled in response to microenvironmental signals, which drive the acquisition of polarized programs, whose extremes are simplified in the M1 and M2 dichotomy. Functional skewing of monocyte/macrophage polarization occurs in physiological conditions (e.g., ontogenesis and pregnancy), as well as in pathology (allergic and chronic inflammation, tissue repair, infection, and cancer) and is now considered a key determinant of disease development and/or regression. Here, we will review evidence supporting a dynamic skewing of macrophage functions in disease, which may provide a basis for macrophage-centered therapeutic strategies

Catalysing Latin American identities: Alejo Carpentier’s music criticism as a Cuban case study

Despite the rich diversity of cultures, language and musical tradition in the Latin American world, the vast lands of Central and South America have often been considered a monolithic cultural area when viewed from a European perspective. While some scholars have suggested that concepts of Latin American identity remain fluid, others have observed that the fascination for European culture generated anxiety about the perceived cultural and historical gap between the Old continent and the New, a tension which resulted in the pendular movement between servile imitation and militant rejection of European influences that has become a feature of the Latin American cultural consciousness since the early twentieth century. Exploring a range of European musical influences, this essay considers issues of identity through a Cuban lens by investigating the music criticism of Alejo Carpentier who was not only one of the most influential writers of twentieth-century Latin America and uniquely placed through birth, education and up-bringing to question the European-Latin American dichotomy, but also a vigorous champion of European modernism, this providing a paradoxical catalyst for his advocacy of a distinctive Latin American identity