Spatiotemporal distributions of mammals occurring in an agro-prairie ecosystem.

Anthropogenic activities since the European colonization of the North American Great Plains have drastically altered landscape composition and configuration, subsequently affecting native biodiversity. These contemporary human-modified landscapes may affect mammal species' distributions, diel activity patterns, habitat use, and interspecific interactions, though a better understanding of these effects on mammals occurring in remaining prairie landscapes is needed. To fill this gap, we surveyed 381 randomly selected sites in 2018, 2019, and 2020 using motion-sensing camera traps across the western part of the US state of Kansas (7,160,077 ha).

Demographic effects of a megafire on a declining prairie grouse in the mixed-grass prairie.

Recent studies have documented benefits of small, prescribed fire and wildfire for grassland-dependent wildlife, such as lesser prairie-chickens (), but wildlife demographic response to the scale and intensity of megafire (wildfire >40,000 ha) in modern, fragmented grasslands remains unknown. Limited available grassland habitat makes it imperative to understand if increasing frequency of megafires could further reduce already declining lesser prairie-chicken populations, or if historical evolutionary interactions with fire make lesser prairie-chickens resilient. To evaluate lesser prairie-chicken demographic response to megafires, we compared lek counts, nest density, and survival rates of adults, nests, and chicks before (2014-2016) and after (2018-2020) a 2017 megafire in the mixed-grass prairie of Kansas, USA (Starbuck fire ~254,000 ha).

Net Conversion of Human-Edible Vitamins and Minerals in the U.S. Southern Great Plains Beef Production System.

Beef is a good source of several vitamins and minerals but data on the net contribution to the human diet is lacking. The objective was to quantify the net nutrient contribution of the beef supply chain to provide vitamins and minerals to the human diet. Beef cattle production parameters for the beef supply chain were as described by Baber et al.

Mammals adjust diel activity across gradients of urbanization.

Time is a fundamental component of ecological processes. How animal behavior changes over time has been explored through well-known ecological theories like niche partitioning and predator-prey dynamics. Yet, changes in animal behavior within the shorter 24-hr light-dark cycle have largely gone unstudied.

Wealth and urbanization shape medium and large terrestrial mammal communities.

Urban biodiversity provides critical ecosystem services and is a key component to environmentally and socially sustainable cities. However, biodiversity varies greatly within and among cities, leading to human communities with changing and unequal experiences with nature. The "luxury effect," a hypothesis that predicts a positive correlation between wealth, typically measured by per capita income, and species richness may be one indication of these inequities.

BASELINE PHYSIOLOGIC AND HEMATOLOGIC HEALTH IN WILD-CAUGHT MUSKRATS () FROM A NEAR-PRISTINE ECOSYSTEM IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA.

Muskrat () populations show long-term and widespread declines across North America, necessitating research into potential mechanistic explanations, including population health. Previous research established reference hematology values, a proxy of individual health, of muskrats occurring in highly modified ecosystems. However, our knowledge of hematology metrics in muskrat populations occurring in more natural ecosystems is limited.

Landscape-scale differences among cities alter common species' responses to urbanization.

Understanding how biodiversity responds to urbanization is challenging, due in part to the single-city focus of most urban ecological research. Here, we delineate continent-scale patterns in urban species assemblages by leveraging data from a multi-city camera trap survey and quantify how differences in greenspace availability and average housing density among 10 North American cities relate to the distribution of eight widespread North American mammals. To do so, we deployed camera traps at 569 sites across these ten cities between 18 June and 14 August.

Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals.

Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of droughts and intensity of seasonal precipitation in many regions. Semiaquatic mammals should be vulnerable to this increased variability in precipitation, especially in human-modified landscapes where dispersal to suitable habitat or temporary refugia may be limited. Using six years of presence-absence data (2007-2012) spanning years of record-breaking drought and flood conditions, we evaluated regional occupancy dynamics of American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) in a highly altered agroecosystem in Illinois, USA.

Risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii exposure in semiaquatic mammals in a freshwater ecosystem.

We assessed risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii exposure in semiaquatic mammals in east-central Illinois, US. This agricultural region has extensive drainage systems that could potentially transport T. gondii oocysts into the watershed.

Hematologic and blood chemistry reference values for free-ranging muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus).

Baseline hematologic and serum chemistry values are used by veterinarians and wildlife biologists to identify abnormally high or low levels of particular blood parameters in a target species. This vital information can assist animal care providers in making informed decisions on the care of wildlife and help to determine diagnoses for certain illnesses. Published blood parameter values are not available for wild-caught muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus).