Keeping ahead of chronic wasting disease : an assessment of trans-boundary cervid movement in British Columbia
department or school: Science, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)
department or school: Biology, Department of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Hubner, Jacob
issued: 2023-06-14T17:55:04Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Fatal and difficult to monitor, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) continues to spread throughout cervid populations in North America. British Columbia (BC) is one of the few remaining provinces/states without a confirmed CWD case; however, the disease has been detected less than 40 kilometers away from the BC border in both Montana and Alberta. Some of these cases are approaching the remnant herd ranges of BC’s endangered mountain caribou – a species that is also vulnerable to CWD infection. BC has a robust pre-emptive monitoring program, though it does not currently cover the full extent of the border with other infected areas. To improve detection of CWD-infected animals in BC and assess vulnerability to non-detection of infected animals, we developed connectivity models to identify areas where cervids are likely to cross the border. Using archived telemetry data for mule deer, white-tailed deer, moose, and elk, we built summer and winter resource selection functions. Seasonal migration patterns were simulated using circuit theory-based connectivity analyses (Circuitscape and Omniscape). By simulating movement from CWD-positive locations towards British Columbia, key movement corridors with a higher probability were identified for use by infected cervids, as well as likely routes towards extant caribou populations. It was found that the current west end of the monitoring area (MU 4-07) has poor relative connectivity and extending the testing area further west may enhance CWD management in BC. In addition, several key corridors used by multiple species were identified, most within the Rocky Mountain range. Identifying these CWD ‘hotspot’ corridors can assist managers in more efficient testing or public education initiatives. The same telemetry data was also used to quantify how the probability of an infected animal entering BC may change with distance to the border. Considering both current prevalence and seasonal movement distances, it was found to be unlikely (< 1%) …
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/84950
note: Keeping Ahead of Chronic Wasting Disease: An Assessment of Trans-Boundary Cervid Movement in British Columbia by Jacob Hubner B.Sc., Dalhousie University, 2018 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Biology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) May 2023 © Jacob Hubner, 2023 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Keeping Ahead of Chronic Wasting Disease: An Assessment of Trans-Boundary Cervid Movement in British Columbia Submitted by Jacob Hubner in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science . Dr. Adam T. Ford, Biology Department, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Supervisor Dr. Jason Pither, Biology Department, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Michael Noonan, Biology/Mathematics Department, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Frederic Menard, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/Chemistry Department, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science University Examiner Dr. Marie Auger-Méthé, Statistics Department, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (University of British Columbia) External Examiner iii Abstract Fatal and difficult to monitor, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) continues to spread throughout cervid populations in North America. British Columbia (BC) is one of the few remaining provinces/states without a confirmed CWD case; however, the disease has been detected less than 40 kilometers away from the BC border in both Montana and Alberta. Some of these cases are approaching the remnant herd ranges of BC’s endangered mountain caribou – a species that is also vulnerable to CWD infection. BC has a robust pre-emptive monitoring program, though it does not currently cover the full extent of the border with other infected areas. To improve detection of CWD-i…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2023-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0433217
language: eng
degree discipline: Biology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Ford, Adam
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/84950