Seminar: From skunks and rabies to flycatchers and drought, how ecology informs disease management and conservation

Abstract:

Two areas of wildlife management that will continue to grow in importance are understanding the dynamics of zoonotic diseases and managing for the effects of climate change, especially for vulnerable or threatened populations. In this talk, I first highlight how studies of rabies in striped skunks in suburban Flagstaff, Arizona have generated new insights into disease transmission and potential management approaches, including the potential for scavenging dead bats to act as an alternate mode of disease transmission and how bird feeders could act as foci for oral vaccine distribution. I then highlight how studies of endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatchers in central Arizona illustrate the challenges of managing for disturbance-dependent species and how this species responded to a record drought representative of those likely to become increasingly common under climate change. Both cases demonstrate the importance of understanding the ecology of the organism through extensive field monitoring and experiments in developing potential management approaches.

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