Best fit univariate term among competing variables in the Northwest Great Plains (NWGP) and Wyoming Basin (WYB), and coefficient estimate.

<p>m—mean;</p><p>sd-standard deviation;</p><p>²-quadratic term;</p><p>cur—current year; lag– 1 year lagged</p><p>* Correlated variable removed for inclusion in multivariate model</p><p>Asterisks denote correlated variables removed from multivariate RSF models.</p

Spatial delineation of overlay between seven NREL wind power classes (WPC; 1-low wind value, 7-high wind value) and regional resource selection function maps grouped into seven geometric bins (see Fig 4 for color legend).

<p>Hatched areas are predicted low value for golden eagle nesting and wind development.</p

Resource selection function (RSF) probability grids across the Northwest Great Plains (NWGP) and Wyoming Basin (WYB) regions in Wyoming, USA.

<p>RSF values represent the probability proportion to use of golden eagle nest site. Predictions are based on a global model for each region.</p

Coefficient estimates and standard errors for global RSF models in the Northwest Great Plains (NWGP) and the Wyoming Basin (WYB).

<p>Coefficient estimates and standard errors for global RSF models in the Northwest Great Plains (NWGP) and the Wyoming Basin (WYB).</p

Pairwise correlation values between variables used in global RSF models and best fit term associated with oil and gas development (producing wells within 5km).

<p>Pairwise correlation values between variables used in global RSF models and best fit term associated with oil and gas development (producing wells within 5km).</p

Area (km²) and the known number of nests (in parentheses) found overlapping cells between golden eagle RSF and NREL wind power class (WPC) map in the Northwest Great Plains (NWGP) and the Wyoming Basin (WYB).

<p>Values on outside of tables represent the number of wind turbines in each category as of 2009. Cell colors correspond to map in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0134781#pone.0134781.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3</a>.</p

Adult moquito species.

<p>Distribution of the 1,399 individual adult mosquitoes captured using CO₂ traps across all study reservoirs in 2013. <i>Culex tarsalis</i>, an important vector for the transmission of West Nile virus, accounted for 38% of all individuals.</p

Minnow and mosquito larva isotopes.

<p>Biplot representing δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotope values (mean <b>±</b> SD) for minnows and mosquitos at each treatment reservoir. The Hatchery group is from minnows sampled directly from the hatchery that supplied the introduced minnows. T7 indicates one of the treatment ponds that was an outlier in both pond morphology and in the efficacy of minnows for mosquito larvae control.</p

Assessing the efficacy of fathead minnows (<i>Pimephales promelas</i>) for mosquito control

<div><p>Mosquitoes function as important vectors for many diseases globally and can have substantial negative economic, environmental, and health impacts. Specifically, West Nile virus (WNv) is a significant and increasing threat to wildlife populations and human health throughout North America. Mosquito control is an important means of controlling the spread of WNv, as the virus is primarily spread between avian and mosquito vectors. This is of particular concern for avian host species such as the Greater sage-grouse (<i>Centrocercus urophasianus</i>), in which WNv negatively impacts fitness parameters. Most mosquito control methods focus on the larval stages. In North America, control efforts are largely limited to larvicides, which require repeated application and have potentially negative ecological impacts. There are multiple potential advantages to using indigenous fish species as an alternative for larval control including lowered environmental impact, decreased costs in terms of time and financial inputs, and the potential for the establishment of self-sustaining fish populations. We tested the efficacy of using fathead minnows (<i>Pimephales promelas</i>) as biological control for mosquito populations in livestock reservoirs of semiarid rangelands. We introduced minnows into 10 treatment reservoirs and monitored an additional 6 non-treated reservoirs as controls over 3 years. Adult mosquitoes of species known to transmit WNv (e.g., <i>Culex tarsalis</i>) were captured at each site and mosquito larvae were also present at all sites. Stable isotope analysis confirmed that introduced fathead minnows were feeding at the mosquito larvae trophic level in all but one treatment pond. Treatment ponds demonstrated suppressed levels of mosquito larva over each season compared to controls with a model-predicted 114% decrease in larva density within treatment ponds. Minnows established self-sustaining populations throughout the study in all reservoirs that maintained sufficient water levels. Minnow survival was not influenced by water quality. Though minnows did not completely eradicate mosquito larvae, minnows are a promising alternative to controlling mosquito larvae density within reservoirs. We caution that careful site selection is critical to avoid potential negative impacts, but suggest the introduction of fathead minnows in reservoirs can dramatically reduce mosquito larva abundance and potentially help mitigate vector-borne disease transmission.</p></div

Scaled model predicted values.

<p>Predicted values from the top linear mixed effects model predicting the proportion of samples (i.e., dips) that contained either a live mosquito larva or an exoskeleton. Data were collected from 2013–2015. The black line represents the predicted values for reservoirs in which minnows were introduced (i.e., Minnows). The grey line represents reservoirs that did not contain minnows (i.e., Control). The dotted blue line represents the predicted values for the minnow-treated reservoirs scaled to have the same (higher) starting value as the Control reservoirs. The starting difference is indicated by <b><i>δ</i></b>. This reveals a hypothetical decrease of larva abundance of 114% if minnow-treated reservoirs had started at larva densities similar to the Control reservoirs.</p