Integral Ecology Research Center

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF ILLICIT CANNABIS CULTIVATION HAVE JUST RECENTLY BEGUN TO BE UNDERSTOOD. THE FISHER, A SPECIES RECENTLY LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN THE ISOLATED SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA POPULATION, IS KNOWN TO BE SUBJECT TO THE THREATS FROM PESTICIDES AND OTHER POISONS USED AT CULTIVATION SITES THROUGHOUT THEIR RANGE IN CALIFORNIA. THE SUBLETHAL THREATS, HOWEVER, ARE LESS UNDERSTOOD. HOW THESE SITES AFFECT FISHER SPACE USE, BEHAVIOR, AND REPRODUCTION ARE NECESSARY PIECES OF INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP QUANTIFY THE CUMULATIVE IMPACTS THESE SITES HAVE ON FISHER POPULATION VIABILITY. IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL INVESTIGATE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF FISHERS KNOWN TO USE CULTIVATION SITES WITH ASSOCIATED PESTICIDES AND HABITAT DESTRUCTION IN COMPARISON TO FISHERS OUTSIDE OF CULTIVATION-IMPACTED AREAS. WE WILL ALSO TRACK FISHER MOVEMENT AND USE OF THE RISKY FEATURES OF CULTIVATION SITES USING REMOTE CAMERAS AND GPS-COLLARED FISHERS, BOTH BEFORE THE SITES ARE RECLAIMED (CLEANED-UP) AND AFTER RECLAMATION. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF HOW THESE SITES AND THEIR ASSOCIATED ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS AFFECT THE NORMAL ACTIVITY PATTERNS AND MOVEMENT BEHAVIOR OF FISHERS. BY CONTINUING TO TRACK THEM AFTER RECLAMATION, WE CAN IDENTIFY IF RECLAMATION ALLOWS FISHERS TO RESUME NORMAL ACTIVITY PATTERNS THROUGH THE COMPARISON OF PRE- AND POST-RECLAMATION HOME RANGES, MOVEMENT, AND SPACE USE.

P17AC01658

COMMUNITY DYNAMICS

DISEASE AND THE PATHOGENS THAT CAUSE THEM ARE A FUNDAMENTAL DRIVER OF POPULATION VIABILITY IN IMPERILED WILDLIFE SPECIES AS THEY CAN REDUCE BOTH SURVIVAL AND RECRUITMENT. BECAUSE SPECIES AND POPULATIONS GAIN LISTING UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (ESA) PRIMARILY DUE TO SMALL AND DIMINISHING POPULATION SIZE, KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR EXPOSURE TO, OR ACTIVE INFECTIONS BY, POPULATION-LIMITING PATHOGENS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE DISEASES IS OF CRITICAL CONCERN TO WILDLIFE MANAGERS. THE PACIFIC FISHER (PEKANIA PENNANTI PF) IS A SENSITIVE FOREST PREDATOR WITH THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FISHER POPULATION SEGMENT LISTED AS ENDANGERED AND THROUGHOUT NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA FORESTS WHERE POPULATION STATUS IS UNKNOWN AND OF CONCERN. WHILE THERE ARE SEVERAL THREATS TO THE PACIFIC FISHER, INCLUDING THREATS FROM TREE MORTALITY, WILDFIRE, ILLEGAL CANNABIS ACTIVITY AND RODENTICIDES, INFORMATION ABOUT SPECIFIC DISEASES AFFECTING THIS SPECIES IS LIMITED AND CONTINUED DISEASE SURVEILLANCE IS NEEDED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND POPULATION LIMITING FACTORS. IN ADDITION, BOTH THE FISHER AND THE NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL (STRIX OCCIDENTALIS CAURINA NSO) SHOW EVIDENCE THAT SUGGESTS THAT EXPOSURE TO RODENTICIDES IS AN EMERGING THREAT TO BOTH TAXA. FOR NSO, 70 OF NSO LIVERS TESTED POSITIVE FOR SEVERAL NON-INFECTIOUS ANTICOAGULANT RODENTICIDE AGENTS (ARS), LIKELY LINKED TO PERVASIVE TRESPASS CANNABIS CULTIVATION. THE BARRED OWL (STRIX VARIA BO), A SPECIES USED AS A SURROGATE FOR NSO, ALSO INDICATED HIGH RATES OF EXPOSURE (40 ) IN TISSUES OF INDIVIDUALS LETHALLY REMOVED FOR NSO CONSERVATION PURPOSES.THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR PF POPULATION HEALTH BY CONTINUING TO SCREEN PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED SAMPLES AND SAMPLES COLLECTED DURING THE 2023-2024 SEASON. HERE, WE PROPOSE TESTING 40 ADDITIONAL BLOOD AND FECAL SAMPLE PAIRS FROM THESE PROJECTS FOR 6 POPULATION- LIMITING PATHOGENS, INCLUDING SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM ANTIBODY RESPONSES, AS WELL AS ACTIVE INFECTIONS FOR THE MOST SEVERE OF THOSE. FURTHERMORE, WE PLAN TO LEVERAGE A RARE LONG-TERM REPOSITORY OF EXISTING PATHOGEN EXPOSURE DATA AND UNTESTED BLOOD SAMPLES TO DETERMINE PREVALENCE EXPOSURE TO SELECTED MUSTELID POPULATION LIMITING PATHOGENS IN PF POPULATIONS THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO TEST NON-LETHAL SAMPLES (FEATHERS AND BLOOD) FOR PESTICIDE EXPOSURES IN NSO AND BO SAMPLES.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, TOXICOLOGICAL SAMPLING, AND RECLAMATION PLANNING OF CANNABIS GROW SITES WITHIN DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

MOD 1 2011-FISHER-02

ENDANGERED FISHER SURVEYS IN SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS

NEW CA P17AC01674

INTEGRAL ECOLOGY RESEARCH CENTER

F18AP00425