Lead exposure of a fossorial rodent varies with the use of ammunition across the landscape.

Exposure to heavy metals has been documented in a wide range of wildlife species, but infrequently in ground squirrels. This is despite their tendency to be targets of recreational shooters and the accumulation of lead ammunition in the soil environments they inhabit. We analyzed lead and copper concentrations in liver (n = 116, n = 101) and femur (n = 116, n = 116) of Piute ground squirrels (Urocitellus mollis) and in soil (n = 75) on public lands in southwestern Idaho to understand how lead exposure may vary across a gradient of intensities and histories of shooting activity.

Lead poisoning of raptors: state of the science and cross-discipline mitigation options for a global problem.

Lead poisoning is an important global conservation problem for many species of wildlife, especially raptors. Despite the increasing number of individual studies and regional reviews of lead poisoning of raptors, it has been over a decade since this information has been compiled into a comprehensive global review. Here, we summarize the state of knowledge of lead poisoning of raptors, we review developments in manufacturing of non-lead ammunition, the use of which can reduce the most pervasive source of lead these birds encounter, and we compile data on voluntary and regulatory mitigation options and their associated sociological context.

Predicting the spatial distribution of wintering golden eagles to inform full annual cycle conservation in western North America.

Wildlife conservation strategies focused on one season or population segment may fail to adequately protect populations, especially when a species' habitat preferences vary among seasons, age-classes, geographic regions, or other factors. Conservation of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) is an example of such a complex scenario, in which the distribution, habitat use, and migratory strategies of this species of conservation concern vary by age-class, reproductive status, region, and season. Nonetheless, research aimed at mapping priority use areas to inform management of golden eagles in western North America has typically focused on territory-holding adults during the breeding period, largely to the exclusion of other seasons and life-history groups.

The geographic extent of bird populations affected by renewable-energy development.

Bird populations are declining globally. Wind and solar energy can reduce emissions of fossil fuels that drive anthropogenic climate change, yet renewable-energy production represents a potential threat to bird species. Surveys to assess potential effects at renewable-energy facilities are exclusively local, and the geographic extent encompassed by birds killed at these facilities is largely unknown, which creates challenges for minimizing and mitigating the population-level and cumulative effects of these fatalities.

Numbers of wildlife fatalities at renewable energy facilities in a targeted development region.

Increased interest in renewable energy has fostered development of wind and solar energy facilities globally. However, energy development sometimes has negative environmental impacts, such as wildlife fatalities. Efforts by regional land managers to balance energy potential while minimizing fatality risk currently rely on datasets that are aggregated at continental, but not regional scales, that focus on single species, or that implement meta-analyses that inappropriately use inferential statistics.

Understanding fatality patterns and sex ratios of Brazilian free-tailed bats () at wind energy facilities in western California and Texas.

Background: Operation of wind turbines has resulted in collision fatalities for several bat species, and one proven method to reduce these fatalities is to limit wind turbine blade rotation (., curtail turbines) when fatalities are expected to be highest. Implementation of curtailment can potentially be optimized by targeting times when females are most at risk, as the proportion of females limits the growth and stability of many bat populations.

Illegal shooting is now a leading cause of death of birds along power lines in the western USA.

Human actions, both legal and illegal, affect wildlife in many ways. Inaccurate diagnosis of cause of death undermines law enforcement, management, threat assessment, and mitigation. We found 410 dead birds collected along 196 km of power lines in four western USA states during 2019-2022.

Supervised versus unsupervised approaches to classification of accelerometry data.

Sophisticated animal-borne sensor systems are increasingly providing novel insight into how animals behave and move. Despite their widespread use in ecology, the diversity and expanding quality and quantity of data they produce have created a need for robust analytical methods for biological interpretation. Machine learning tools are often used to meet this need.

Selecting auditory alerting stimuli for eagles on the basis of auditory evoked potentials.

Development of wind energy facilities results in interactions between wildlife and wind turbines. Raptors, including bald and golden eagles, are among the species known to incur mortality from these interactions. Several alerting technologies have been proposed to mitigate this mortality by increasing eagle avoidance of wind energy facilities.

Open-source intelligence for conservation biology.

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) evolved in spy agencies but now is rapidly changing many fields of study, from anthropology to zoology. Despite the fact that OSINT occasionally is used in conservation biology, there is little recognition that some tools and frameworks used by conservation professionals are drawn from this well-established field. In conservation biology, OSINT is sometimes used to evaluate wildlife crime, human-wildlife and human-environment interactions, animal behavior, and questions of distribution and abundance.

Vulnerability of avian populations to renewable energy production.

Renewable energy production can kill individual birds, but little is known about how it affects avian populations. We assessed the vulnerability of populations for 23 priority bird species killed at wind and solar facilities in California, USA. Bayesian hierarchical models suggested that 48% of these species were vulnerable to population-level effects from added fatalities caused by renewables and other sources.

Greater sage-grouse respond positively to intensive post-fire restoration treatments.

Habitat loss is the most prevalent threat to biodiversity in North America. One of the most threatened landscapes in the United States is the sagebrush ( spp.) ecosystem, much of which has been fragmented or converted to non-native grasslands via the cheatgrass-fire cycle.

Demographic implications of lead poisoning for eagles across North America.

Lead poisoning occurs worldwide in populations of predatory birds, but exposure rates and population impacts are known only from regional studies. We evaluated the lead exposure of 1210 bald and golden eagles from 38 US states across North America, including 620 live eagles. We detected unexpectedly high frequencies of lead poisoning of eagles, both chronic (46 to 47% of bald and golden eagles, as measured in bone) and acute (27 to 33% of bald eagles and 7 to 35% of golden eagles, as measured in liver, blood, and feathers).

Classifying behavior from short-interval biologging data: An example with GPS tracking of birds.

Recent advances in digital data collection have spurred accumulation of immense quantities of data that have potential to lead to remarkable ecological insight, but that also present analytic challenges. In the case of biologging data from birds, common analytical approaches to classifying movement behaviors are largely inappropriate for these massive data sets.We apply a framework for using -means clustering to classify bird behavior using points from short time interval GPS tracks.

Age-specific survival rates, causes of death, and allowable take of golden eagles in the western United States.

In the United States, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibits take of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) unless authorized by permit, and stipulates that all permitted take must be sustainable. Golden eagles are unintentionally killed in conjunction with many lawful activities (e.g.

Eagles enter rotor-swept zones of wind turbines at rates that vary per turbine.

There is increasing pressure on wind energy facilities to manage or mitigate for wildlife collisions. However, little information exists regarding spatial and temporal variation in collision rates, meaning that mitigation is most often a blanket prescription. To address this knowledge gap, we evaluated variation among turbines and months in an aspect of collision risk-probability of entry by an eagle into a rotor-swept zone (hereafter, "probability of entry").

Linking behavioral states to landscape features for improved conservation management.

A central theme for conservation is understanding how animals differentially use, and are affected by change in, the landscapes they inhabit. However, it has been challenging to develop conservation schemes for habitat-specific behaviors.Here we use behavioral change point analysis to identify behavioral states of golden eagles ( ) in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the southwestern United States, and we identify, for each behavioral state, conservation-relevant habitat associations.

Endangered Australian top predator is frequently exposed to anticoagulant rodenticides.

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) used to control mammalian pest populations cause secondary exposure of predatory species throughout much of the world. It is important to understand the drivers of non-target AR exposure patterns as context for assessing long-term effects and developing effective mitigation for these toxicants. In Australia, however, little is known about exposure and effects of ARs on predators.

Predicted climate-induced reductions in scavenging in eastern North America.

Scavenging is an important function within ecosystems where scavengers remove organic matter, reduce disease, stabilize food webs, and generally make ecosystems more resilient to environmental changes. Global change (i.e.

Evaluating a Rapid Field Assessment System for Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure of Raptors.

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are commonly used to control rodent pests. However, worldwide, their use is associated with secondary and tertiary poisoning of nontarget species, especially predatory and scavenging birds. No medical device can rapidly test for AR exposure of avian wildlife.

High Frequency of Lead Exposure in the Population of an Endangered Australian Top Predator, the Tasmanian Wedge-Tailed Eagle (Aquila audax fleayi).

Lead poisoning, mainly through incidental ingestion of lead ammunition in carcasses, is a threat to scavenging and predatory bird species worldwide. In Australia, shooting for animal control is widespread, and a range of native scavenging species are susceptible to lead exposure. However, the prevalence of lead exposure in Australia's scavenging and predatory birds is largely unknown.

Feeding Ecology Drives Lead Exposure of Facultative and Obligate Avian Scavengers in the Eastern United States.

Lead poisoning of scavenging birds is a global issue. However, the drivers of lead exposure of avian scavengers have been understood from the perspective of individual species, not cross-taxa assemblages. We analyzed blood (n = 285) and liver (n = 226) lead concentrations of 5 facultative (American crows [Corvus brachyrhynchos], bald eagles [Haliaeetus leucocephalus], golden eagles [Aquila chrysaetos], red-shouldered hawks [Buteo lineatus], and red-tailed hawks [Buteo jamaicensis]) and 2 obligate (black vultures [Coragyps atratus] and turkey vultures [Cathartes aura] avian scavenger species to identify lead exposure patterns.

Limitations, lack of standardization, and recommended best practices in studies of renewable energy effects on birds and bats.

Increasing global energy demand is fostering the development of renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. However, renewable energy facilities may adversely affect wildlife. Facility siting guidelines recommend or require project developers complete pre- and postconstruction wildlife surveys to predict risk and estimate effects of proposed projects.