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Feral Pigs Sus scrofa. How They Came to Be. USA Specific. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/wildlife_damage/content/printable_version/feral%20pigs.pdf. Diet. Opportunistic omnivores Green vegetation Fruits and grain
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USA Specific http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/wildlife_damage/content/printable_version/feral%20pigs.pdf
Diet • Opportunistic omnivores • Green vegetation • Fruits and grain • Roots and bulbs (Rooting) can make up the majority of the diet in the areas studied.
Problems Observed • Rooting/ Grubbing • Potentially preventing native plants from out competing exotic/invasive ones.
Rooting/Grubbing Before • Destroys native young plants • Rips up native grasses After
Study 1 • Responses of vegetation to a changing regime of disturbance: effects of feral pigs in a Californian coastal prairie
Methods • Areas with in the prairies or meadows of interest were chosen at random in three different meadows. • In some cases they were fenced off to study the plant diversity in areas unaffected by grubbing (controls). • In the other study they were simply monitored in attempts to find a pattern to the grubbing.
Findings • In some cases, grubbing was associated with some physical feature (usually damp ground or seeping water), or with the presence of a plant (e g bulb-beaning species such as Brodiaea, Dtchelostemma, Triteliaea, and Zigadenus)
Results • Transects indicated that pigs annually grubbed an average of 7 4% of the area of the five study meadows (mean calculated by pooling all data. • In contrast, all native animals together (including moles, pocket gophers, ground squirrels, skunks, and ants) annually disturbed much <1%.
Study 2 • Temporal changes in native and exotic vegetation and soil characteristics following disturbances by feral pigs in a California grassland.
Methods • Patches were chosen which had known disturbance ages. • The species richness was then observed in these plots which had not been disturbed since. • Short/ Tall patches
Proposal • Standard experiment for each area
References • Ditchkoff, S. S., & West, B. C. (2007). Ecology and management of feral hogs. Human-Wildlife Conflicts, 1(2), 149-151. • Engeman, R. M., Woolard, J., Smith, H. T., Bourassa, J., Constantin, B. U., & Griffin, D. (2007). An extraordinary patch of feral hog damage in florida before and after initiating hog removal. Human-Wildlife Conflicts, 1(2), 271-275. • Forrester, D. (1992). Parasites and diseases of wild mammals in florida. GAINESVILLE, FL (USA): UNIVERSITY PRESS OF FLORIDA. • KOTANEN, . (1995). RESPONSES OF VEGETATION TO A CHANGING REGIME OF DISTURBANCE - EFFECTS OF FERAL PIGS IN A CALIFORNIAN COASTAL PRAIRIE. Ecography, 18(2), 190. • Tierney, T. A., & Cushman, J. H. (2006). Temporal changes in native and exotic vegetation and soil characteristics following disturbances by feral pigs in a california grassland. Biological Invasions, 8(5), 1073-1089. • Barrett, Reginald H., Birmingham, Grant H. (2008). WILD PIGS. ICWDM Handbook. D65-D70 • Choquenot, D., McIlroy, J. and Korn, T. 1996. Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs. Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra. • Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (2008). http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org • http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/wildlife_damage/content/printable_version/feral%20pigs.pdf • http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Technology/story?id=599913