{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/88029"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/88029","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Habitat selection, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals in a highly altered landscape","abstract":"Landscape change in the Midwest, USA has resulted in drainage of most wetlands and isolated those that remain. Semiaquatic species occurring in this region must adapt to novel landscapes and mortality risks and variable environmental conditions. I used 6 years of presence-absence data and information from radiomarked individuals to evaluate habitat selection, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals in east-central, Illinois. Annual model-averaged occupancy estimates of stream sites were correlated positively to summer precipitation for both American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) suggesting a possible climate-change effect. Factors interplaying across multiple scales influenced occupancy dynamics of mink in stream habitats. Stream sites closer to permanent wetlands had lower occupancy and colonization rates for mink. Occupancy and colonization rates for mink were higher at sites with deeper water, and colonization rates were related negatively to urban land cover. Additionally, mink were more likely to leave stream habitat if muskrats were not present and permanent wetlands were nearby, highlighting the importance of supplementary habitats and prey availability. As predicted, male mink were more likely to use terrestrial habitat than female mink. When integrating habitat use and known-fate survival analysis, I demonstrated that use of terrestrial habitat exposes mink to elevated risk of mortality. Weekly survival rates of mink were lower when using terrestrial habitat. Mink also had reduced survival during the mating season, males had lower weekly survival rates than females, and subadults had lower weekly survival rates than adults. My results also revealed that exposure risk of semiaquatic mammals to the parasite Toxoplasma gondii is likely facilitated by modified drainage practices common in agricultural and urban landscapes. My studies highlight how environmental change has affected habitat use, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals occurring in a human-dominated landscape.","abstract_html":"Landscape change in the Midwest, USA has resulted in drainage of most wetlands and isolated those that remain. Semiaquatic species occurring in this region must adapt to novel landscapes and mortality risks and variable environmental conditions. I used 6 years of presence-absence data and information from radiomarked individuals to evaluate habitat selection, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals in east-central, Illinois. Annual model-averaged occupancy estimates of stream sites were correlated positively to summer precipitation for both American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) suggesting a possible climate-change effect. Factors interplaying across multiple scales influenced occupancy dynamics of mink in stream habitats. Stream sites closer to permanent wetlands had lower occupancy and colonization rates for mink. Occupancy and colonization rates for mink were higher at sites with deeper water, and colonization rates were related negatively to urban land cover. Additionally, mink were more likely to leave stream habitat if muskrats were not present and permanent wetlands were nearby, highlighting the importance of supplementary habitats and prey availability. As predicted, male mink were more likely to use terrestrial habitat than female mink. When integrating habitat use and known-fate survival analysis, I demonstrated that use of terrestrial habitat exposes mink to elevated risk of mortality. Weekly survival rates of mink were lower when using terrestrial habitat. Mink also had reduced survival during the mating season, males had lower weekly survival rates than females, and subadults had lower weekly survival rates than adults. My results also revealed that exposure risk of semiaquatic mammals to the parasite Toxoplasma gondii is likely facilitated by modified drainage practices common in agricultural and urban landscapes. My studies highlight how environmental change has affected habitat use, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals occurring in a human-dominated landscape.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ahlers, Adam Albert"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Natural Res & Env Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Schooley, Robert L.","Heske, Edward J.","Miller, James R.","Zollner, Patrick A"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-09-29T20:38:21Z","date_published":"2015-09-29T20:38:21Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:31Z","subjects":["American mink","climate change","disease risk","habitat selection","muskrat","survival"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2015 Adam Ahlers"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88029","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Schooley, Robert L.","Heske, Edward J.","Miller, James R.","Zollner, Patrick A"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ahlers, Adam Albert"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-09-29T20:38:21Z","2015-08","2015-07-13","2015-8"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Natural Res & Env Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American mink","climate change","disease risk","habitat selection","muskrat","survival"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2015 Adam Ahlers"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88029"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Landscape change in the Midwest, USA has resulted in drainage of most wetlands and isolated those that remain. Semiaquatic species occurring in this region must adapt to novel landscapes and mortality risks and variable environmental conditions. I used 6 years of presence-absence data and information from radiomarked individuals to evaluate habitat selection, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals in east-central, Illinois. Annual model-averaged occupancy estimates of stream sites were correlated positively to summer precipitation for both American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) suggesting a possible climate-change effect. Factors interplaying across multiple scales influenced occupancy dynamics of mink in stream habitats. Stream sites closer to permanent wetlands had lower occupancy and colonization rates for mink. Occupancy and colonization rates for mink were higher at sites with deeper water, and colonization rates were related negatively to urban land cover. Additionally, mink were more likely to leave stream habitat if muskrats were not present and permanent wetlands were nearby, highlighting the importance of supplementary habitats and prey availability. As predicted, male mink were more likely to use terrestrial habitat than female mink. When integrating habitat use and known-fate survival analysis, I demonstrated that use of terrestrial habitat exposes mink to elevated risk of mortality. Weekly survival rates of mink were lower when using terrestrial habitat. Mink also had reduced survival during the mating season, males had lower weekly survival rates than females, and subadults had lower weekly survival rates than adults. My results also revealed that exposure risk of semiaquatic mammals to the parasite Toxoplasma gondii is likely facilitated by modified drainage practices common in agricultural and urban landscapes. My studies highlight how environmental change has affected habitat use, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals occurring in a human-dominated landscape.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2015-09-29 without embargo terms","The student, Adam Ahlers, accepted the attached license on 2015-07-13 at 13:48.","The student, Adam Ahlers, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-07-13 at 13:54.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2015-07-13 at 15:46.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #8428 on 2015-09-29 at 13:22:41","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-29T20:38:21Z (GMT). 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I used 6 years of presence-absence data and information from radiomarked individuals to evaluate habitat selection, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals in east-central, Illinois. Annual model-averaged occupancy estimates of stream sites were correlated positively to summer precipitation for both American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) suggesting a possible climate-change effect. Factors interplaying across multiple scales influenced occupancy dynamics of mink in stream habitats. Stream sites closer to permanent wetlands had lower occupancy and colonization rates for mink. Occupancy and colonization rates for mink were higher at sites with deeper water, and colonization rates were related negatively to urban land cover. Additionally, mink were more likely to leave stream habitat if muskrats were not present and permanent wetlands were nearby, highlighting the importance of supplementary habitats and prey availability. As predicted, male mink were more likely to use terrestrial habitat than female mink. When integrating habitat use and known-fate survival analysis, I demonstrated that use of terrestrial habitat exposes mink to elevated risk of mortality. Weekly survival rates of mink were lower when using terrestrial habitat. Mink also had reduced survival during the mating season, males had lower weekly survival rates than females, and subadults had lower weekly survival rates than adults. My results also revealed that exposure risk of semiaquatic mammals to the parasite Toxoplasma gondii is likely facilitated by modified drainage practices common in agricultural and urban landscapes. My studies highlight how environmental change has affected habitat use, survival, and disease risk of semiaquatic mammals occurring in a human-dominated landscape.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2015-09-29 without embargo terms","The student, Adam Ahlers, accepted the attached license on 2015-07-13 at 13:48.","The student, Adam Ahlers, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-07-13 at 13:54.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2015-07-13 at 15:46.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #8428 on 2015-09-29 at 13:22:41","Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-29T20:38:21Z (GMT). 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