American Society of Mammalogists
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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS 94th ANNUAL MEETING Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel and Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ABSTRACT BOOK The 2014 American Society of Mammalogists Annual Meeting logo features a Pronghorn (symbol of the ASM) with an abstracted Oklahoma City skyline, and water representing the Oklahoma River and Bricktown Canal. The arrangement suggests OKC’s historic Art Deco architecture and new architecture like the Devon Tower, Scissortail Bridge, and Oklahoma River boathouses. The logo was designed by Hadley Jerman, Graphic Designer at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman, Oklahoma. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS 94th ANNUAL MEETING Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel and Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma TABLE OF CONTENTS Sponsor List ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Abstracts ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Author Index ............................................................................................................................................... 83 2015 Meeting Announcement ........................................................................................... Inside Back Cover 3 SPONSOR LIST DIAMOND SPONSORS University of Oklahoma SILVER SPONSORS BRONZE SPONSORS Anonymous Association Book Exhibit 4 Louis Collins Rare Books 5 The Johns Hopkins University Press CONTRIBUTOR Anonymous LITERATURE 6 American Society of Mammalogists 94th Annual Meeting—Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ABSTRACTS E = Evaluated oral or poster presentation; TA = Student travel award; ECT = Early career travel award; **Research funded by the ASM; C = Cancelled presentation 1 (E,**) ANNA M. JACKSON AWARD, Plenary I, Great Halls D & E, Saturday 7 June 2014 Johanna Varner1, Mallory S. Lambert1, Joshua J. Horns1, Erik A. Beever2, M. Denise Dearing1 1Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA; 2Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, U. S. Geological Survey, Bozeman, MT 59715 USA Too Hot to Trot? Pika Survival in a Time of Disturbance and Global Change Wildfires have increased in frequency and severity due to climate change, but little is known about the potential threat of altered fire regimes to mammals, particularly those with limited dispersal ability. Here, we leverage an unexpected opportunity to investigate the impact of a severe wildfire on a climate-sensitive lagomorph, the American pika (Ochotona princeps). Despite widespread recent interest in climate-mediated pika extirpations, little is known about how this species responds to disturbances like wildfire. In August 2011, we surveyed for pikas at several sites in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Shortly thereafter, a large forest fire burned many of these field sites, including 2 sites where data loggers were collecting temperature data in the talus interstices. In the post-fire years (2012 and 2013), we returned to measure vegetation availability and pika abundance at 24 sites on Mt. Hood. During the fire, temperatures remained cool in the talus interstices, suggesting that pikas could have survived in situ. Indeed, pikas quickly occupied all sites, even those with few food resources. However, pika abundance did not increase until a threshold of vegetation was reached. Defining these thresholds can improve distributional predictions under environmental change and identify conservation targets. Studies of this nature are impossible to plan, but may be extremely informative. This research was supported by an ASM Grants-in-Aid of Research awarded to Johanna Varner in 2011. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 (E,**) ELMER C. BIRNEY AWARD, Plenary I, Great Halls D & E, Saturday 7 June 2014 Jennifer M. Schieltz, Daniel I. Rubenstein Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA Cattle-wildlife Coexistence: How Body Size and Digestion Affect the Response of Wild Grazers to Cattle Grazing Forty percent of Earth’s land surface is used for grazing domestic animals. Grasslands and savannahs also support many of the world’s wild large mammals. Consequently, conservation efforts are increasingly aimed at managing land for wildlife-livestock coexistence. Understanding the effect of cattle on different wild species could allow ranchers to adjust management plans to promote coexistence. Cattle could even be used as a tool to manage rangelands for wildlife. I investigated how body size and digestion (ruminant/non-ruminant) affected wild grazer responses to cattle grazing in Kenya. Five focal species were studied: 3 ruminants (Thomson’s gazelle, hartebeest, buffalo) and 2 non- ruminants (warthog, plains zebra) spanning a range of body sizes. Results show that cattle not only change the quantity of grass but the quality of it as well, and may actually improve vegetation for several species. Small species preferred low biomass areas grazed more by cattle, while buffalo were found mostly in high biomass areas away from cattle. When grass is not limiting, zebra also are drawn to areas of high cattle use with shorter, and likely more nutritious grass. Non-ruminant species were more evenly distributed than their similar-sized ruminant counterparts. Most ruminants were found at a small number of sites while non-ruminants utilized more of the total available habitats. This research was supported by an ASM Grants-in-Aid of Research awarded to Jennifer Schieltz in 2012. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 (**) A. BRAZIER HOWELL AWARD, Plenary I, Great Halls D & E, Saturday 7 June 2014 John W. Doudna, Brent J. Danielson Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 USA Rapid Morphological Change in the Masticatory Structures of an Important Ecosystem Service Provider Humans have altered the biotic and abiotic environmental conditions of most organisms. In some cases, such as intensive agriculture, an organism’s entire ecosystem is converted to novel conditions. Thus, it is striking that some species continue to thrive under such conditions. The prairie deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii) is an example of such an organism, and so we sought to understand what role evolutionary adaptation played in the success of this species, with particular interest in adaptations to novel foods. In order to understand the evolutionary history of this species’ masticatory structures, we examined the maxilla, zygomatic plate, and mandible of historic specimens collected prior to 1910 to specimens collected after 2010. We found that mandibles, zygomatic plates, and maxilla have all changed since 1910 and that morphological development within time has shifted. We present compelling evidence that these differences are due to natural selection as a response to a novel and ubiquitous food source, waste grain (corn—Zea mays, and soybean—Glycine max). This research was supported by an ASM Grants- in-Aid of Research awarded to John Doudna in 2012. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 7 American Society of Mammalogists 94th Annual Meeting—Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 4 (**) WILLIAM T. HORNADAY AWARD, Plenary I, Great Halls D & E, Saturday 7 June 2014 Abdullahi H. Ali Program in Ecology and Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82091 USA; National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya; Hirola Conservation Program, Garissa, Kenya Range Collapse, Demography and Habitat Selection of the Critically Endangered Hirola Antelope (Beatragus hunteri) in Kenya With a global population size of < 500 individuals, the hirola, Beatragus hunteri, is the world’s most endangered antelope. Its extinction would constitute the 1st loss of a mammalian genus since that of the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) in 1936. Ecological knowledge gaps, weak local involvement, and political turmoil on the Kenya- Somali border have hindered hirola conservation since the 1970s. Unlike many endangered species, the historic range of hirola occurs entirely outside national parks and other formally protected areas, so its fate hinges on an ability to understand and manage jointly for conservation and human livelihoods. In 2010, I initiated a collaborative effort, the Hirola Conservation Program, to understand the reasons underlying hirola declines and to work with Somali communities and other stakeholders to curb these declines. Currently, I am assessing the importance of predation and deteriorating range quality for hirola demography, movements, and habitat selection. Through a combination of GPS telemetry, analysis of long-term satellite imagery, a large-scale predator exclusion zone, and sustained community outreach, the Hirola Conservation Program is informing national policy on this little-known species. In this presentation, I will discuss factors driving historic and contemporary declines of hirola and viable management options to curtail these declines. This research was supported by the ASM William T. Hornaday Award gven to Abdullahi Ali in 2013. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 (E,**) ALBERT R. AND ALMA SHADLE AWARD, Plenary I, Great Halls D & E, Saturday 7 June 2014 Joseph R. Burger