Spatial genetic structure and landscape connectivity in black bears: Investigating the significance of using different land cover datasets and classifications in landscape genetics analyses.

Landscape genetic analyses allow detection of fine-scale spatial genetic structure (SGS) and quantification of effects of landscape features on gene flow and connectivity. Typically, analyses require generation of resistance surfaces. These surfaces characteristically take the form of a grid with cells that are coded to represent the degree to which landscape or environmental features promote or inhibit animal movement.

Detecting black bear source-sink dynamics using individual-based genetic graphs.

Source-sink dynamics affects population connectivity, spatial genetic structure and population viability for many species. We introduce a novel approach that uses individual-based genetic graphs to identify source-sink areas within a continuously distributed population of black bears (Ursus americanus) in the northern lower peninsula (NLP) of Michigan, USA. Black bear harvest samples (n = 569, from 2002, 2006 and 2010) were genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci and locations were compared across years to identify areas of consistent occupancy over time.

An Effort to Isolate Mycobacterium bovis from Environmental Substrates during Investigations of Bovine Tuberculosis Transmission Sites (Cattle Farms and Wildlife Areas) in Michigan, USA.

Deer movements on cattle farms, wildlife feeding, and livestock management practices in Michigan are thought to create opportunities for indirect transmission of Mycobacterium bovis via environmental substrates. To confirm the presence of viable M. bovis in the environment, substrates were collected from 13 farms with culture-confirmed M.

Residues in Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti) exposed to bromadiolone-impregnated baits in Mongolia.

In 2002, hundreds of non-target wildlife deaths occurred in Mongolia following aerial applications of bromadiolone, an anticoagulant rodenticide, to control eruptive Brandt's vole (Microtus brandti) populations. To clarify whether secondary poisoning could have contributed to these deaths, a field study was undertaken in Mongolia to measure bromadiolone residues in voles following exposure to two concentrations (50 and 500 mg/kg) of bromadiolone-treated wheat. The two treatments produced different total burdens (2.

TB-infected deer are more closely related than non-infected deer.

Identifying mechanisms of pathogen transmission is critical to controlling disease. Social organization should influence contacts among individuals and thus the distribution and spread of disease within a population. Molecular genetic markers can be used to elucidate mechanisms of disease transmission in wildlife populations without undertaking detailed observational studies to determine probable contact rates.

Epidemiology of Mycobacterium bovis in free-ranging white-tailed deer, Michigan, USA, 1995-2000.

An endemic area of bovine tuberculosis (TB) (Mycobacterium bovis) currently affecting wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northern lower Michigan, USA, constitutes the first self-sustaining outbreak of the infection in free-ranging North American cervids. Given this precedent, epidemiologic insights gained from the outbreak afford the opportunity to guide not only current surveillance and intervention but also control efforts for future outbreaks involving wildlife reservoirs. Our specific objectives were to evaluate retrospective data from field surveillance conducted from 1995 to 2000 to determine apparent prevalence, trends in apparent prevalence, and the effects of various factors on the odds of being M.