A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundance
ABSTRACT Monitoring wolf abundance is important for recovery efforts of Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in Arizona and New Mexico, USA. Although radiotelemetry has been a reliable method, collaring and tracking wolves in an expanding population will be prohi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2016-06-01
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| Series: | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.659 |
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| author | Antoinette J. Piaggio Chip A. Cariappa Dyan J. Straughan Melissa A. Neubaum Margaret Dwire Paul R. Krausman Warren B. Ballard David L. Bergman Stewart W. Breck |
| author_facet | Antoinette J. Piaggio Chip A. Cariappa Dyan J. Straughan Melissa A. Neubaum Margaret Dwire Paul R. Krausman Warren B. Ballard David L. Bergman Stewart W. Breck |
| author_sort | Antoinette J. Piaggio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Monitoring wolf abundance is important for recovery efforts of Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in Arizona and New Mexico, USA. Although radiotelemetry has been a reliable method, collaring and tracking wolves in an expanding population will be prohibitively expensive and alternative methods to estimate abundance will become necessary. We applied 10 canid microsatellite loci to 235 Mexican wolf samples, 48 coyote (C. latrans) samples, and 14 domestic dog (C. lupus familiaris) samples to identify alleles that provide reliable separation of these species. We then evaluated an approach for prescreening, noninvasively collected DNA obtained from fecal samples to identify Mexican wolves. We generated complete genotypes for only those samples identified as probable Mexican wolves. We used these genotypes to estimate mark–recapture population estimates of Mexican wolves and compared these to known numbers of wolves in the study area. We collected fecal samples during 3 sampling periods in 2007–2008 and used Huggins‐type mark–recapture models to estimate Mexican wolf abundance. We were able to generate abundance estimates with 95% confidence for 2 of 3 sampling periods. We estimated abundance to be 10 (95% CI = 6–34) during one sampling period when the known abundance was 10 and we estimated abundance to be 9 (95% CI = 6–30) during the other sampling period when the known abundance was 10. The application of this noninvasive method to estimate Mexican wolf abundance provides an alternative monitoring tool that could be useful for long‐term monitoring of this and other recovering populations. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e4f6f5e91a6f4ed7aa484d9747f8feea |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2328-5540 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wildlife Society Bulletin |
| spelling | doaj-art-e4f6f5e91a6f4ed7aa484d9747f8feea2024-12-16T12:40:53ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402016-06-0140232133010.1002/wsb.659A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundanceAntoinette J. Piaggio0Chip A. Cariappa1Dyan J. Straughan2Melissa A. Neubaum3Margaret Dwire4Paul R. Krausman5Warren B. Ballard6David L. Bergman7Stewart W. Breck8United States Department of AgricultureAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research CenterFort CollinsCO80521USADepartment of Natural Resources ManagementTexas Tech UniversityLubbockTX79409‐2125USAUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceNational Forensics LaboratoryAshlandOR97520USAUnited States Department of AgricultureAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research CenterFort CollinsCO80521USAUnited States Fish and Wildlife ServiceAlbuquerqueNM87113USABoone and Crockett Program in Wildlife ConservationUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMT59812USADepartment of Natural Resources ManagementTexas Tech UniversityLubbockTX79409‐2125USAUnited States Department of AgricultureAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife ServicesPhoenixAZ85021USAUnited States Department of AgricultureAnimal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research CenterFort CollinsCO80521USAABSTRACT Monitoring wolf abundance is important for recovery efforts of Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in Arizona and New Mexico, USA. Although radiotelemetry has been a reliable method, collaring and tracking wolves in an expanding population will be prohibitively expensive and alternative methods to estimate abundance will become necessary. We applied 10 canid microsatellite loci to 235 Mexican wolf samples, 48 coyote (C. latrans) samples, and 14 domestic dog (C. lupus familiaris) samples to identify alleles that provide reliable separation of these species. We then evaluated an approach for prescreening, noninvasively collected DNA obtained from fecal samples to identify Mexican wolves. We generated complete genotypes for only those samples identified as probable Mexican wolves. We used these genotypes to estimate mark–recapture population estimates of Mexican wolves and compared these to known numbers of wolves in the study area. We collected fecal samples during 3 sampling periods in 2007–2008 and used Huggins‐type mark–recapture models to estimate Mexican wolf abundance. We were able to generate abundance estimates with 95% confidence for 2 of 3 sampling periods. We estimated abundance to be 10 (95% CI = 6–34) during one sampling period when the known abundance was 10 and we estimated abundance to be 9 (95% CI = 6–30) during the other sampling period when the known abundance was 10. The application of this noninvasive method to estimate Mexican wolf abundance provides an alternative monitoring tool that could be useful for long‐term monitoring of this and other recovering populations. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.659allelesArizonaBlue Range Wolf Recovery AreaCanis lupus baileyifecal noninvasive DNAmark–recapture |
| spellingShingle | Antoinette J. Piaggio Chip A. Cariappa Dyan J. Straughan Melissa A. Neubaum Margaret Dwire Paul R. Krausman Warren B. Ballard David L. Bergman Stewart W. Breck A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundance Wildlife Society Bulletin alleles Arizona Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area Canis lupus baileyi fecal noninvasive DNA mark–recapture |
| title | A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundance |
| title_full | A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundance |
| title_fullStr | A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundance |
| title_full_unstemmed | A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundance |
| title_short | A noninvasive method to detect Mexican wolves and estimate abundance |
| title_sort | noninvasive method to detect mexican wolves and estimate abundance |
| topic | alleles Arizona Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area Canis lupus baileyi fecal noninvasive DNA mark–recapture |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.659 |
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