Elk movement and predicted number of brucellosis-induced abortion events in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (1993-2015)
Dates
Publication Date
2017-10-17
Start Date
1993
End Date
2015
Citation
Merkle, J.A., Cross, P.C., Scurlock, B.M., Cole, E.K., Courtemanch, A.B., Dewey, S.R., Kauffman, M.J., and Szcodronski, K.E., 2017, Elk movement and predicted number of brucellosis-induced abortion events in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (1993-2015): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7474803.
Summary
Using data from 288 adult and yearling female elk that were captured on 22 winter supplemental elk feedgrounds in Wyoming and monitored with GPS collars from 2007 - 2015, we fit Step Selection Functions (SSFs) during the spring abortion season and then implemented a master equation approach to translate SSFs into predictions of daily elk distribution for five plausible winter weather scenarios (from a heavy snow, to an extreme winter drought year). We predicted elk abortion events by combining elk distributions with empirical estimates of daily abortion rates, spatially varying elk seroprevalence, and elk population counts. Here we provide 1) the adult and yearling female elk GPS collar data used to fit SSFs, 2) the predictions of [...]
Summary
Using data from 288 adult and yearling female elk that were captured on 22 winter supplemental elk feedgrounds in Wyoming and monitored with GPS collars from 2007 - 2015, we fit Step Selection Functions (SSFs) during the spring abortion season and then implemented a master equation approach to translate SSFs into predictions of daily elk distribution for five plausible winter weather scenarios (from a heavy snow, to an extreme winter drought year). We predicted elk abortion events by combining elk distributions with empirical estimates of daily abortion rates, spatially varying elk seroprevalence, and elk population counts. Here we provide 1) the adult and yearling female elk GPS collar data used to fit SSFs, 2) the predictions of elk space use on a daily basis at a 500m resolution for the five different weather scenarios, 3) the predictions of abortion events on a daily basis at a 500m resolution for the five different weather scenarios, and 4) the mean abundance and seroprevalence of adult and yearling elk sampled on winter supplemental feedgrounds.
