Current Research 2019–2020 This Year’S Cover Features a Photograph of Gulf Cordgrass Being Treated with Prescribed Fire
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© Jose S. Avila-Sanchez Current Research 2019–2020 This year’s cover features a photograph of gulf cordgrass being treated with prescribed fire. When mature, gulf cordgrass is considered poor forage for livestock and fair for wildlife. Prescribed burning improves the nutritional quality of gulf cordgrass and allows room for other grasses and forbs to grow. Editors Alan M. Fedynich, Ph.D. and Sandra Rideout-Hanzak, Ph.D. Reports in this issue of Current Research often represent preliminary analyses, and interpretations may be modified once additional data are collected and examined. Therefore, these reports should not be cited in published or non-published works without the approval of the appropriate investigator. Use of trade names does not infer endorsement of product by Texas A&M University-Kingsville. December 2020 Report of Current Research September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020 Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Texas A&M University-Kingsville Kingsville, Texas Dr. Mark A. Hussey Dr. Lou Reinisch President Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Allen Rasmussen Dr. Shad D. Nelson Vice President for Research and Graduate Dean Studies Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dr. David G. Hewitt Leroy G. Denman, Jr. Endowed Director of Wildlife Research CKWRI Advisory Board Chad Auler David W. Killam* Ellen B. Randall Gus T. Canales Mason D. King Barry Coates Roberts T. Dan Friedkin Chris C. Kleberg Stuart W. Stedman Henry R. Hamman Tio Kleberg Ben F. Vaughan, III Jeff Hildebrand C. Berdon Lawrence Bryan Wagner Karen Hunke Tim Leach Charles A. Williams Kenneth E. Leonard *Chairman Emeritus CKWRI Advisory Board Members A. C. “Dick” Jones, IV James A. McAllen A Member of the Texas A&M University System 1 FOREWORD Dear Friends of the CKWRI, Second, I was excited to be supporting a graduate student and knowing that this student would soon be CKWRI scientists and students working on behalf of wildlife conservation. Third, I have dream jobs. We get to spend was rewarded with the opportunity to spend time with time outside, and we get to study Matti and her fellow students while they captured, the wildlife and habitat that have marked, and measured the pair enthralled us all our lives. We of whistling ducks incubating immerse ourselves in learning all the nest. Finally, I now have we can about a wildlife species, the a whole new way to enjoy the ecology of a region, and the challenges of managing time I spend outside in my yard, wildlife and its habitat. We are able to pose questions knowing what the ducks are up and then do the research to answer those questions. We to and being able to watch for know countless people, including those of you reading the marked birds. our Current Research report, appreciate our work. Private lands are critical for However, there is an aspect of the research process that wildlife conservation and Graduate student many of us at the CKWRI are rarely able enjoy. We access to private lands is critical Matti Bradshaw are rarely on the landowner side of a research project. for wildlife research. These with a black-bellied That changed for me this summer when Matti Bradshaw, lands not only provide habitat whistling duck. one of Dr. Ballard’s graduate students studying black- for wildlife, but they provide bellied whistling ducks, chose a nesting box in my yard the stage on which wildlife research is conducted. Few to include in her research. Ever since being granted of the projects in this edition of Current Research could access to private properties in western Virginia 30 years have been done without the support of landowners and ago to study ruffed grouse, I have been amazed (and access to their land. As stated before, allowing wildlife thankful!) that landowners would open their gates for research on your property is a personal, trusting, and students and scientists to conduct research. It is akin gracious act. But, as I now know, it is also a rewarding to letting someone into your living room. Opening the act that pays forward to promote wildlife conservation. gate is a personal, trusting, and gracious act. Please enjoy this issue of Current Research and give a nod to the private landowners who made much of this Now that I have been on the landowner side of the research possible. research process, I understand why so many landowners are supportive of wildlife research. First, I enjoyed All the Best, knowing I was supporting a project on a species of wildlife I see regularly in my yard. The nesting David Hewitt box on my property often Leroy G. Denman, Jr. Endowed had 20 or more eggs in Director of Wildlife Research it, and I had seen up to six whistling ducks at a time vying to get into the box. Clearly, something interesting was happening but without the research expertise and ecological knowledge of Dr. Ballard and his students, I could only guess at what was happening. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................2 Ocelot Landscape Ecology and Conservation Related to Roadways ....................................................22 TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................3 Fine-Scale Assessment of Felid Highway SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS .................7 Crossings, Cattle Guards, and Fencing ........................23 NEW ENDOWMENTS AND IN MEMORY Bobcat Movements and Activity Patterns AND HONOR ...............................................................8 on Livestock Ranches ..................................................23 OUR STUDENTS ........................................................9 Wild Felid Health and Disease Assessment on El Sauz Ranch .........................................................23 OUR SCIENCE TEAM ..............................................11 Ocelot Population Density and Occupancy NEW INITIATIVES ....................................................12 in the Sierra Tamaulipas ...............................................24 CKWRI PERSONNEL ..............................................13 Bobcat Spatial Ecology and Wildlife Highway Crossings ......................................................24 EXTERNAL PROJECT SPONSORS AND COOPERATORS .............................................14 Spatial Ecology of Ocelots in the Rio Grande Valley ...............................................................25 IN-PROGRESS RESEARCH Consequences of Road Density and Activity on Ocelots ....................................................................25 BOBWHITES AND OTHER QUAIL Large Carnivore Activity and Time Analyses of Quail Hunting Variables in Partitioning in Mexico .................................................26 South Texas ..................................................................16 Ecology and Behavior of Bobcats at Natal California Quail Productivity and Weight Dens in South Texas .....................................................26 from Baja California Norte, Mexico ............................16 Evaluation of Ocelot Home Range Using Testing Sustainable Harvest Prescriptions LiDAR..........................................................................27 for Northern Bobwhites in South Texas .......................16 HotSpotter: A Machine Learning Approach Assessing Distance Sampling for Northern to Identify Ocelots and Bobcats ...................................28 Bobwhite Density .........................................................17 Ocelot Survey and Evaluation of Woody Evaluating Dog-based Estimates of Cover Types .................................................................28 Northern Bobwhite Density .........................................17 Circuit Theory Estimation of Road California Quail Hunting Metrics from Crossings for Ocelots ...................................................28 Baja California Norte, Mexico .....................................18 Wild Cat Use of Highway 77 Wildlife Brush and Bobwhite Densities in Areas Crossing Structures ......................................................29 Selected by Quail Hunters ...........................................19 Use of Irrigation Canal Bridges by Bobcats Bobwhite Response to Cattle Grazing on and Ocelots ...................................................................29 the Sweden Ranch ........................................................19 Influence of ExtremeTemperature on Ocelot Habitat Use .......................................................30 WILD CATS Monitoring Changes in Habitat for Ocelots Assessing the Conservation Status of the from 1982–2017 ...........................................................30 Endangered Ocelot .......................................................20 Ocelot Habitat Restoration Acceleration in Determining Ocelot and Bobcat Home Southern Texas .............................................................31 Ranges in South Texas .................................................20 Temporal and Spatial Partitioning by Effects of Habitat Restoration on Bobcat Ocelots, Bobcats, and Coyotes .....................................32 Spatial Ecology ............................................................20 Monitoring Ocelot Mortalities Associated Long-term Study of Ocelot Spatial Patterns with Roadways .............................................................32 in Two Different Landscapes .......................................21 Predicting Spatial Distribution of Ocelots: Moon Phase, Habitat Selection, and the Do Time