Intrinsic and environmental drivers of pairwise cohesion in wild Canis social groups.

Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission-fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals.

Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns.

COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions.

Genetic architecture and evolution of color variation in American black bears.

Color variation is a frequent evolutionary substrate for camouflage in small mammals, but the underlying genetics and evolutionary forces that drive color variation in natural populations of large mammals are mostly unexplained. The American black bear, Ursus americanus (U. americanus), exhibits a range of colors including the cinnamon morph, which has a similar color to the brown bear, U.

Evaluating expert-based habitat suitability information of terrestrial mammals with GPS-tracking data.

Aim: Macroecological studies that require habitat suitability data for many species often derive this information from expert opinion. However, expert-based information is inherently subjective and thus prone to errors. The increasing availability of GPS tracking data offers opportunities to evaluate and supplement expert-based information with detailed empirical evidence.

White-tailed deer exploit temporal refuge from multi-predator and human risks on roads.

Although most prey have multiple predator species, few studies have quantified how prey respond to the temporal niches of multiple predators which pose different levels of danger. For example, intraspecific variation in diel activity allows white-tailed deer () to reduce fawn activity overlap with coyotes ) but finding safe times of day may be more difficult for fawns in a multi-predator context. We hypothesized that within a multi-predator system, deer would allocate antipredation behavior optimally based on combined mortality risk from multiple sources, which would vary depending on fawn presence.

SNAPSHOT USA 2020: A second coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Managing wildlife populations in the face of global change requires regular data on the abundance and distribution of wild animals, but acquiring these over appropriate spatial scales in a sustainable way has proven challenging. Here we present the data from Snapshot USA 2020, a second annual national mammal survey of the USA. This project involved 152 scientists setting camera traps in a standardized protocol at 1485 locations across 103 arrays in 43 states for a total of 52,710 trap-nights of survey effort.

Variable effects of wolves on niche breadth and density of intraguild competitors.

The parallel niche release hypothesis (PNR) indicates that reduced competition with dominant competitors results in greater density and niche breadth of subordinate competitors and which may support an adaptive advantage.We assessed support for the PNR by evaluating relationships between variation in niche breadth and intra- and interspecific density (an index of competition) of wolves () coyotes (), and bobcats ().We estimated population density (wolf track surveys, coyote howl surveys, and bobcat hair snare surveys) and variability in space use (50% core autocorrelated kernel density home range estimators), temporal activity (hourly and overnight speed), and dietary (isotopic δC and δN) niche breadth of each species across three areas of varying wolf density in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, 2010-2019.

FOOT INJURIES IN MICHIGAN, USA, GRAY WOLVES (CANIS LUPUS), 1992-2014.

The range of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the contiguous US is expanding. Research and monitoring to support population recovery and management often involves capture via foothold traps. A population-level epidemiologic assessment of the effect of trap injuries on wolf survival remains needed to inform management.

Marginal support for a trophic cascade among sympatric canids in peripheral wolf range.

Trophic cascades reportedly structure ecological communities through indirect species interactions. Though the predator-herbivore-autotroph relationship has received much attention, mechanistic evidence supporting intraguild trophic cascades is rare. We established 348 remote camera sites (1 August-5 September 2019) across seven study areas of varying wolf (Canis lupus) density including one study area where wolves were absent in northern Michigan, USA.

American martens use vigilance and short-term avoidance to navigate a landscape of fear from fishers at artificial scavenging sites.

Where two sympatric species compete for the same resource and one species is dominant, there is potential for the subordinate species to be affected through interference competition or energetic costs of avoiding predation. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) and American martens (Martes americana) often have high niche overlap, but fishers are considered dominant and potentially limiting to martens. We observed presence and vigilance of fishers and martens at winter carcass sites using remote cameras in Michigan, USA, to test the hypothesis that interference competition from fishers creates a landscape of fear for martens.

SNAPSHOT USA 2019: a coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States.

With the accelerating pace of global change, it is imperative that we obtain rapid inventories of the status and distribution of wildlife for ecological inferences and conservation planning. To address this challenge, we launched the SNAPSHOT USA project, a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife populations using camera traps across the United States. For our first annual survey, we compiled data across all 50 states during a 14-week period (17 August-24 November of 2019).

Interference competition between wolves and coyotes during variable prey abundance.

Interference competition occurs when two species have similar resource requirements and one species is dominant and can suppress or exclude the subordinate species. Wolves () and coyotes () are sympatric across much of their range in North America where white-tailed deer () can be an important prey species. We assessed the extent of niche overlap between wolves and coyotes using activity, diet, and space use as evidence for interference competition during three periods related to the availability of white-tailed deer fawns in the Upper Great Lakes region of the USA.

A Translational Model for Venous Thromboembolism: MicroRNA Expression in Hibernating Black Bears.

Background: Hibernating American black bears have significantly different clotting parameters than their summer active counterparts, affording them protection against venous thromboembolism during prolonged periods of immobility. We sought to evaluate if significant differences exist between the expression of microRNAs in the plasma of hibernating black bears compared with their summer active counterparts, potentially contributing to differences in hemostasis during hibernation.

Materials And Methods: MicroRNA sequencing was assessed in plasma from 21 American black bears in summer active (n = 11) and hibernating states (n = 10), and microRNA signatures during hibernating and active state were established using both bear and human genome.

Effects of body size on estimation of mammalian area requirements.

Accurately quantifying species' area requirements is a prerequisite for effective area-based conservation. This typically involves collecting tracking data on species of interest and then conducting home-range analyses. Problematically, autocorrelation in tracking data can result in space needs being severely underestimated.

Territoriality drives preemptive habitat selection in recovering wolves: Implications for carnivore conservation.

According to the ideal-free distribution (IFD), individuals within a population are free to select habitats that maximize their chances of success. Assuming knowledge of habitat quality, the IFD predicts that average fitness will be approximately equal among individuals and between habitats, while density varies, implying that habitat selection will be density dependent. Populations are often assumed to follow an IFD, although this assumption is rarely tested with empirical data, and may be incorrect when territoriality indicates habitat selection tactics that deviate from the IFD (e.

Influence of body mass and environmental conditions on winter mortality risk of a northern ungulate: Evidence for a late-winter survival bottleneck.

A relationship between winter weather and survival of northern ungulates has long been established, yet the possible roles of biological (e.g., nutritional status) and environmental (e.

Territorial landscapes: incorporating density-dependence into wolf habitat selection studies.

Habitat selection is a process that spans space, time and individual life histories. Ecological analyses of animal distributions and preferences are most accurate when they account for inherent dynamics of the habitat selection process. Strong territoriality can constrain perception of habitat availability by individual animals or groups attempting to colonize or establish new territory.

Subsidies from anthropogenic resources alter diet, activity, and ranging behavior of an apex predator (Canis lupus).

Acquisition of resources can be costly and individuals are predicted to optimize foraging strategies to maximize net energy gain. Wolves (Canis lupus) would be expected to scavenge on subsidies from anthropogenic resources when these resources provide an energetic benefit over the capture of wild prey. We examined the effects of subsidies from anthropogenic resources in the form of livestock carcass dumps (LCDs) on wolf space use, activity, tortuosity, and diet in portions of North America's northern hardwood/boreal ecosystem.

American marten and fisher do not segregate in space and time during winter in a mixed-forest system.

Understanding the mechanisms of coexistence between ecologically similar species is an important issue in ecology. Carnivore coexistence may be facilitated by spatial segregation, temporal avoidance, and differential habitat selection. American martens and fishers are medium-sized mustelids that occur sympatrically across portions of North America, yet mechanisms of coexistence between the two species are not fully understood.

Habitat suitability does not capture the essence of animal-defined corridors.

Background: Increases in landscape connectivity can improve a species' ability to cope with habitat fragmentation and degradation. Wildlife corridors increase landscape connectivity and it is therefore important to identify and maintain them. Currently, corridors are mostly identified using methods that rely on generic habitat suitability measures.

Female American black bears do not alter space use or movements to reduce infanticide risk.

Infanticide occurs in a variety of animal species and infanticide risk has large implications for the evolution of behavior. Further, the sex hypothesis of sexual segregation predicts that for species in which infanticide occurs, females with dependent young will avoid males to reduce risk of sexually-selected infanticide. Infanticide risk-avoidance behavior has been studied primarily in social species, but also occurs in some solitary species.

Spatially varying density dependence drives a shifting mosaic of survival in a recovering apex predator ().

Understanding landscape patterns in mortality risk is crucial for promoting recovery of threatened and endangered species. Humans affect mortality risk in large carnivores such as wolves (), but spatiotemporally varying density dependence can significantly influence the landscape of survival. This potentially occurs when density varies spatially and risk is unevenly distributed.