A probabilistic model for designing and assessing the performance of eDNA sampling protocols.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling, the detection of species-specific genetic material in water samples, is an emerging tool for monitoring aquatic invasive species. Optimizing eDNA sampling protocols can be challenging because there is imperfect understanding of how each step of the protocol influences its sensitivity. This paper develops a probabilistic model that characterizes each step of an eDNA sampling protocol to evaluate the protocol's overall detection sensitivity for one sample.

Sampling Designs for Landscape-level eDNA Monitoring Programs.

Effective natural resources management requires accurate information about species distributions. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is a commonly used method to determine species presence and distribution. However, when understanding eDNA-based distribution data, managers must contend with imperfect detection in collection samples and subsamples (i.

FLEAS OF BLACK-FOOTED FERRETS (MUSTELA NIGRIPES) AND THEIR POTENTIAL ROLE IN THE MOVEMENT OF PLAGUE.

Sylvatic plague is one of the major impediments to the recovery of the black-footed ferret ( Mustela nigripes ) because it decimates their primary prey species, prairie dogs ( Cynomys spp.), and directly causes mortality in ferrets. Fleas are the primary vector of Yersinia pestis , the causative agent of sylvatic plague.

Detections of Yersinia pestis East of the Known Distribution of Active Plague in the United States.

We examined fleas collected from black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) burrows from 2009 through 2011 in five national park units east of the known distribution of active plague across the northern Great Plains for the presence of Yersinia pestis. Across all national park units, Oropsylla tuberculata and Oropsylla hirsuta were the most common fleas collected from prairie dog burrows, 42.4% and 56.

Habitat correlates with the spatial distribution of ectoparasites on Peromyscus leucopus in southern Michigan.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of habitat in determining ectoparasite distribution of Peromyscus leucopus. We tested the hypothesis that ectoparasite occurrence is associated with particular host environments and this association is stronger for ectoparasites with limited interactions (i.e.