Research to support wildlife management programs has traditionally been conducted by scientists in education and research institutions. Much of this work has resulted from state and federal agency program needs or has been funded by state or federal agencies upon solicitation from scientists at these institutions. Regardless of the origin of the research, these institutions have primarily provided the investigators and staff for conducting research on animal damage problems. The priorities, duration and depth of the efforts have been dependent upon the committment to damage control research by the investigator and the quality of funding support

McAninch, Jay B.

English

Research to support wildlife management programs has traditionally been conducted by scientists in education and research institutions. Much of this work has resulted from state and federal agency program needs or has been funded by state or federal agencies upon solicitation from scientists at these institutions. Regardless of the origin of the research, these institutions have primarily provided the investigators and staff for conducting research on animal damage problems. The priorities, duration and depth of the efforts have been dependent upon the commitment to damage control research by the investigator and the quality of funding support

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 3 - Third Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conference (1987) Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences October 1987 RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS Jay B. McAninch Institute of Ecosystem Studies, The New York Botanical Garden, Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum, Millbrook, New York Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc3  Part of the Environmental Health and Protection Commons McAninch, Jay B., "RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS" (1987). 3 - Third Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conference (1987). 38. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc3/38 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in 3 - Third Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conference (1987) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONSby Jay B. McAninch 1/Research to support wildlifemanagement programs has traditionallybeen conducted by scientists ineducation and research institutions.Much of this work has resulted fromstate and federal agency program needsor has been funded by state or federalagencies upon solicitation fromscientists at these institutions.Regardless of the origin of theresearch, these institutions haveprimarily provided the investigators andstaff for conducting research on animaldamage problems. The priorities,duration and depth of the efforts havebeen dependent upon the committment todamage control research by theinvestigator and the quality of fundingsupport.Wildlife scientists, in general, needto consider animal damage control as animportant research and education topic.The general perception of damage controlas a nuisance problem has left the topicin a "second-class" position in relationto traditional wildlife issues or newareas such as endangered species. Atainted perception of animal damagecontrol has led to poor recruitment ofnew scientists into this research areawhich has slowed the improvement ofmethods and limited the depth of theproblems addressed. When a criticalmass of active scientists has evolved,competition for resources, the exchangeof information and the accumulatedexperience will result in a degree ofmaturity in the science of animal damagecontrol. The rate at which the criticalmass of researchers is accumulated willbe a direct function of agency andinstitutional priorities and fundinglevels.Researchers also lack the time orsufficient staff to interact with groupssuffering damage. This problem hasoften led to research concerned withquestions tangential to current issues.^/Wildlife Ecologist, Institute of Eco-system Studies, The New York BotanicalGarden, Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum,Millbrook, New York.This, in turn, has led to a smallnumber of quality publications onanimal damage control and few that havebeen considered "major" contributionsto the field. The final result of thisscenario is a lack of confidence on thepart of consumers and, further, ageneral suspicion of the sincerity ofwildlife scientists and managers inimproving animal population controlprograms.Funding for animal damage controlresearch has been available onlyperiodically and has generally not beenallocated on an open, competitivebasis. This approach has resulted inshort-term, low funding levels that, inturn, has led to too much superficialresearch. Shortages of money havecommonly been met with the use ofgraduate students as inexpensiveresearch staff. The rapid turnover ofgraduate students, the need to focustheir research on a good "thesisproblem" and the inexperience of thestudents has severely limited theutility of these studies.Low funding levels of short-duration have also limited evaluationof seasonal and annual variation incrops and animal populations. Inaddition, achieving adequatereplication of field sites to provide arigorous basis for comparative testshas been hampered by funding levels.When funding is low, studies thatinvolve single sites, pens orenclosures, small plots, short durationexperiments or, worse, are not directedto address the target problem, oftenproliferate. A progressive sequence ofinvestigations from controlledexperiments, to comparative fieldtrials to in situ management researchshould lead to better results but willrequire better funding levels.Increased support in the near futurecould happen if industry and foundationfunding were substantially improved.329

RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

DigitalCommons@USU

RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS by Jay B. McAninch l/ Research to support wildlife management programs has traditionally been conducted by scientists in education and research institutions. Much of this work has resulted from state and federal agency program needs or has been funded by state or federal agencies upon solicitation from scientists at these institutions. Regardless of the origin of the research, these institutions have primarily provided the investigators and staff for conducting research on animal damage problems. The priorities, duration and depth of the efforts have been dependent upon the committment to damage control research by the investigator and the quality of funding support. Wildlife scientists, in general, need to consider animal damage control as an important research and education topic. The general perception of damage control as a nuisance problem has left the topic in a "second-class" position in relation to traditional wildlife issues or new areas such as endangered species. A tainted perception of animal damage control has led to poor recruitment of new scientists into this research area which has slowed the improvement of methods and limited the depth of the problems addressed. When a critical mass of active scientists has evolved, competition for resources, the exchange of information and the accumulated experience will result in a degree of maturity in the science of animal damage control. The rate at which the critical mass of researchers is accumulated will be a direct function of agency and institutional priorities and funding levels. Researchers also lack the time or sufficient staff to interact with groups suffering damage. This problem has often led to research concerned with questions tangential to current issues. _!_/Wildlife Ecologist, Institute of Eco-system Studies, The New York Botanical Garden, Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum, Millbrook, New York. 329 This, in turn, has led to a small number of quality publications on animal damage control and few that have been considered "ma jor" contrf.but.ions to the fi e ld. The final result of this scenario is a lack of confidence on the part of consumers and, further, a general suspicion of the sincerity of wildlife scientists and managers in improving animal population control programs. Funding for animal damage control research has been available only periodically and has generally not been allocated on an open, competitive basis. This approach has resulted .in short-term, low funding levels that, in turn, has led to too much superficial research. Shortages of money have commonly been met with the use of graduate students as inexpensive research staff. The rapid turnover of graduate students, the need to focus their research on a good "thesis problem" and the inexperience of the students has severely limited the utility of these studies. Low funding levels of short-duration have also limited evaluation of seasonal and annual variation in crops and animal populations. In addition, achieving adequate replication of field sites to provide a rigorous basis for comparative tests has been hampered by funding levels. When funding is low, studies that involve single sites, pens or enclosures, small plots, short duration experiments or, worse, are not directed to address the target problem, often proliferate. A progressive sequence of investigations from controlled experiments, to comparative field trials to in situ management research should lead to better results but will require better funding levels. Increased support in the near future could happen if industry and foundation funding were substantially improved. 1--

Research Needs in Education and Research Institutions

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
3 - Third Eastern Wildlife Damage Control 
Conference (1987) Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences 
October 1987 
RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH 
INSTITUTIONS 
Jay B. McAninch 
Institute of Ecosystem Studies, The New York Botanical Garden, Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum, Millbrook, 
New York 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc3 
 Part of the Environmental Health and Protection Commons 
McAninch, Jay B., "RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS" (1987). 3 - Third 
Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conference (1987). 38. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc3/38 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in 3 - Third Eastern Wildlife 
Damage Control Conference (1987) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - 
Lincoln. 
RESEARCH NEEDS IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
by Jay B. McAninch 1/
Research to support wildlife
management programs has traditionally
been conducted by scientists in
education and research institutions.
Much of this work has resulted from
state and federal agency program needs
or has been funded by state or federal
agencies upon solicitation from
scientists at these institutions.
Regardless of the origin of the
research, these institutions have
primarily provided the investigators and
staff for conducting research on animal
damage problems. The priorities,
duration and depth of the efforts have
been dependent upon the committment to
damage control research by the
investigator and the quality of funding
support.
Wildlife scientists, in general, need
to consider animal damage control as an
important research and education topic.
The general perception of damage control
as a nuisance problem has left the topic
in a "second-class" position in relation
to traditional wildlife issues or new
areas such as endangered species. A
tainted perception of animal damage
control has led to poor recruitment of
new scientists into this research area
which has slowed the improvement of
methods and limited the depth of the
problems addressed. When a critical
mass of active scientists has evolved,
competition for resources, the exchange
of information and the accumulated
experience will result in a degree of
maturity in the science of animal damage
control. The rate at which the critical
mass of researchers is accumulated will
be a direct function of agency and
institutional priorities and funding
levels.
Researchers also lack the time or
sufficient staff to interact with groups
suffering damage. This problem has
often led to research concerned with
questions tangential to current issues.
^/Wildlife Ecologist, Institute of Eco-
system Studies, The New York Botanical
Garden, Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum,
Millbrook, New York.
This, in turn, has led to a small
number of quality publications on
animal damage control and few that have
been considered "major" contributions
to the field. The final result of this
scenario is a lack of confidence on the
part of consumers and, further, a
general suspicion of the sincerity of
wildlife scientists and managers in
improving animal population control
programs.
Funding for animal damage control
research has been available only
periodically and has generally not been
allocated on an open, competitive
basis. This approach has resulted in
short-term, low funding levels that, in
turn, has led to too much superficial
research. Shortages of money have
commonly been met with the use of
graduate students as inexpensive
research staff. The rapid turnover of
graduate students, the need to focus
their research on a good "thesis
problem" and the inexperience of the
students has severely limited the
utility of these studies.
Low funding levels of short-
duration have also limited evaluation
of seasonal and annual variation in
crops and animal populations. In
addition, achieving adequate
replication of field sites to provide a
rigorous basis for comparative tests
has been hampered by funding levels.
When funding is low, studies that
involve single sites, pens or
enclosures, small plots, short duration
experiments or, worse, are not directed
to address the target problem, often
proliferate. A progressive sequence of
investigations from controlled
experiments, to comparative field
trials to in situ management research
should lead to better results but will
require better funding levels.
Increased support in the near future
could happen if industry and foundation
funding were substantially improved.
329


https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&amp;context=ewdcc3

Research Needs in Education and Research Institutions

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

DigitalCommons@USU

UNL | Libraries