NDLI: Evaluation of nutria (Myocastor coypus) detection methods in Maryland, USA

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Pepper, Margaret A. Herrmann, Valentine Hines, James E. Nichols, James D. Kendrot, Stephen R.
Copyright Year	2016
Abstract	Nutria (Myocaster coypus), invasive, semi-aquatic rodents native to South America, were introduced into Maryland near Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (BNWR) in 1943. Irruptive population growth, expansion, and destructive feeding habits resulted in the destruction of thousands of acres of emergent marshes at and surrounding BNWR. In 2002, a partnership of federal, state and private entities initiated an eradication campaign to protect remaining wetlands from further damage and facilitate the restoration of coastal wetlands throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. Program staff removed nearly 14,000 nutria from five infested watersheds in a systematic trapping and hunting program between 2002 and 2014. As part of ongoing surveillance activities, the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project uses a variety of tools to detect and remove nutria. Project staff developed a floating raft, or monitoring platform, to determine site occupancy. These platforms are placed along waterways and checked periodically for evidence of nutria visitation. We evaluated the effectiveness of monitoring platforms and three associated detection methods: hair snares, presence of scat, and trail cameras. Our objectives were to (1) determine if platform placement on land or water influenced nutria visitation rates, (2) determine if the presence of hair snares influenced visitation rates, and (3) determine method-specific detection probabilities. Our analyses indicated that platforms placed on land were 1.5–3.0 times more likely to be visited than those placed in water and that platforms without snares were an estimated 1.7–3.7 times more likely to be visited than those with snares. Although the presence of snares appears to have discouraged visitation, seasonal variation may confound interpretation of these results. Scat was the least effective method of determining nutria visitation, while hair snares were as effective as cameras. Estimated detection probabilities provided by occupancy modeling were 0.73 for hair snares, 0.71 for cameras and 0.40 for scat. We recommend the use of hair snares on monitoring platforms as they are the most cost-effective and reliable detection method available at this time. Future research should focus on determining the cause for the observed decrease in nutria visits after snares were applied.
Starting Page	831
Ending Page	841
Page Count	11
File Format	PDF
ISSN	13873547
Journal	Biological Invasions
Volume Number	19
Issue Number	3
e-ISSN	15731464
Language	English
Publisher	Springer International Publishing
Publisher Date	2016-11-07
Publisher Place	Cham
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Detection probability Invasive species Maryland Nutria Ecology Freshwater & Marine Ecology Plant Sciences Developmental Biology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Distribution, spread and habitat preferences of nutria (Myocastor coypus) invading the lower Nakdong River, South Korea

Long-term cost-effectiveness of coypu (Myocastor coypus) control in Piedmont (Italy)

Genetic population structure of invasive nutria (Myocastor coypus) in Louisiana, USA: is it sufficient for the development of eradication units?

Rats are not the only introduced rodents producing ecosystem impacts on islands

Myrmica specioides Bondroit: a new invasive ant species in the USA?

Evaluating management options for aquatic invasive species: concepts and methods

Data for: Validation of a nutria (Myocastor coypus) environmental DNA assay highlights considerations for sampling methodology (Dataset)

Introduction: genetic biocontrol of invasive fish species

Modeling the effects of nutria(Myocastor coypus) on wetland loss

Evaluation of nutria (Myocastor coypus) detection methods in Maryland, USA

Similar Documents

Distribution, spread and habitat preferences of nutria (Myocastor coypus) invading the lower Nakdong River, South Korea

Long-term cost-effectiveness of coypu (Myocastor coypus) control in Piedmont (Italy)

Genetic population structure of invasive nutria (Myocastor coypus) in Louisiana, USA: is it sufficient for the development of eradication units?

Rats are not the only introduced rodents producing ecosystem impacts on islands

Myrmica specioides Bondroit: a new invasive ant species in the USA?

Evaluating management options for aquatic invasive species: concepts and methods

Data for: Validation of a nutria (Myocastor coypus) environmental DNA assay highlights considerations for sampling methodology (Dataset)

Introduction: genetic biocontrol of invasive fish species

Modeling the effects of nutria(Myocastor coypus) on wetland loss

Evaluation of nutria (Myocastor coypus) detection methods in Maryland, USA