Genetic Re-assessment of Population Subdivision in Yellowstone National Park Bison.

Yellowstone National Park is home to the only plains bison population that has continually existed as wildlife, on the same landscape, through the population bottleneck of the late 19th century. Nevertheless, by the early 1900s, only 23 wild bison were known to have survived poaching. Salvation efforts included the addition of 18 females from Montana and 3 bulls from Texas to augment this population.

More than an anthropogenic phenomenon: Antimicrobial resistance in ungulates from natural and agricultural environments.

Widely considered an anthropogenic phenomenon, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a naturally occurring mechanism that microorganisms use to gain competitive advantage. AMR represents a significant threat to public health and has generated criticism towards the overuse of antimicrobial drugs. Livestock have been proposed as important reservoirs for AMR accumulation.

Migrating bison engineer the green wave.

Newly emerging plants provide the best forage for herbivores. To exploit this fleeting resource, migrating herbivores align their movements to surf the wave of spring green-up. With new technology to track migrating animals, the Green Wave Hypothesis has steadily gained empirical support across a diversity of migratory taxa.

Evaluation of fecal samples as a valid source of DNA by comparing paired blood and fecal samples from American bison (Bison bison).

Background: The collection and analysis of fecal DNA is a common practice, especially when dealing with wildlife species that are difficult to track or capture. While fecal DNA is known to be lower quality than traditional sources of DNA, such as blood or other tissues, few investigations have verified fecal samples as a valid source of DNA by directly comparing the results to high quality DNA samples from the same individuals. Our goal was to compare DNA from fecal and blood samples from the same 50 American plains bison (Bison bison) from Yellowstone National Park, analyze 35 short tandem repeat (STR) loci for genotyping efficiency, and compare heterozygosity estimates.

Risk-enhancing behaviors associated with human injuries from bison encounters at Yellowstone National Park, 2000-2015.

Yellowstone National Park is home to the largest bison population on public land in the United States. Although Yellowstone regulations require visitors to remain at least 23 m from bison, since 1980, bison have injured more visitors to Yellowstone than any other animal. We examined a series of bison-related injuries at Yellowstone to evaluate the circumstances of these injuries and to identify common risk-enhancing behaviors that lead to injury.

Brucellosis Transmission between Wildlife and Livestock in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Inferences from DNA Genotyping.

The wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem carries brucellosis, which was first introduced to the area by cattle in the 19th century. Brucellosis transmission between wildlife and livestock has been difficult to study due to challenges in culturing the causative agent, Brucella abortus . We examined B.

Mitochondrial Genome Analysis Reveals Historical Lineages in Yellowstone Bison.

Yellowstone National Park is home to one of the only plains bison populations that have continuously existed on their present landscape since prehistoric times without evidence of domestic cattle introgression. Previous studies characterized the relatively high levels of nuclear genetic diversity in these bison, but little is known about their mitochondrial haplotype diversity. This study assessed mitochondrial genomes from 25 randomly selected Yellowstone bison and found 10 different mitochondrial haplotypes with a haplotype diversity of 0.

Genomics reveals historic and contemporary transmission dynamics of a bacterial disease among wildlife and livestock.

Whole-genome sequencing has provided fundamental insights into infectious disease epidemiology, but has rarely been used for examining transmission dynamics of a bacterial pathogen in wildlife. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), outbreaks of brucellosis have increased in cattle along with rising seroprevalence in elk. Here we use a genomic approach to examine Brucella abortus evolution, cross-species transmission and spatial spread in the GYE.

Notes from the Field: Injuries Associated with Bison Encounters - Yellowstone National Park, 2015.

Since 1980, bison have injured more pedestrian visitors to Yellowstone National Park (Yellowstone) than any other animal (1). After the occurrence of 33 bison-related injuries during 1983-1985 (range = 10-13/year), the park implemented successful outreach campaigns (1) to reduce the average number of injuries to 0.8/year (range = 0-2/year) during 2010-2014 (unpublished data, National Park Service, September 2015).

Yersinia enterocolitica: an unlikely cause of positive brucellosis tests in greater yellowstone ecosystem bison (Bison bison).

Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:9 has identical O-antigens to those of Brucella abortus and has apparently caused false-positive reactions in numerous brucellosis serologic tests in elk (Cervus canadensis) from southwest Montana. We investigated whether a similar phenomenon was occurring in brucellosis antibody-positive bison (Bison bison) using Y. enterocolitica culturing techniques and multiplex PCR of four diagnostic loci.

Predicting bison migration out of Yellowstone National Park using bayesian models.

Long distance migrations by ungulate species often surpass the boundaries of preservation areas where conflicts with various publics lead to management actions that can threaten populations. We chose the partially migratory bison (Bison bison) population in Yellowstone National Park as an example of integrating science into management policies to better conserve migratory ungulates. Approximately 60% of these bison have been exposed to bovine brucellosis and thousands of migrants exiting the park boundary have been culled during the past two decades to reduce the risk of disease transmission to cattle.

Vaccination strategies for managing brucellosis in Yellowstone bison.

Concerns over migratory bison (Bison bison) at Yellowstone National Park transmitting brucellosis (Brucella abortus) to cattle herds on adjacent lands led to proposals for bison vaccination. We developed an individual-based model to evaluate how brucellosis infection might respond under alternate vaccination strategies, including: (1) vaccination of female calves and yearlings captured at the park boundary when bison move outside the primary conservation area; (2) combining boundary vaccination with the remote delivery of vaccine to female calves and yearlings distributed throughout the park; and (3) vaccinating all female bison (including adults) during boundary capture and throughout the park using remote delivery of vaccine. Simulations suggested Alternative 3 would be most effective, with brucellosis seroprevalence decreasing by 66% (from 0.

Covariates affecting spatial variability in bison travel behavior in Yellowstone National Park.

Understanding mechanisms influencing the movement paths of animals is essential for comprehending behavior and accurately predicting use of travel corridors. In Yellowstone National Park (USA), the effects of roads and winter road grooming on bison (Bison bison) travel routes and spatial dynamics have been debated for more than a decade. However, no rigorous studies have been conducted on bison spatial movement patterns.