Meeting on Bison Ecological Restoration. March 23-25, 2011 Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills Tulsa, Oklahoma

Transcription

1 Meeting on Bison Ecological Restoration March 23-25, 2011 Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills Tulsa, Oklahoma

2 This meeting was made possible thanks to the generous support of:

3 AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY MISSION To work with a broad range of stakeholders to build the social and scientific bases for the ecological restoration of bison in North America ABS ADVISORY COUNCIL Keith Aune, Senior Conservationist, Wildlife Conservation Society Dave Carter, Executive Director, National Bison Association Peter Dratch, Supervisory Biologist, US Fish & Wildlife Service Inventory and Monitoring Initiative Steve Forrest, Senior Program Officer, Northern Great Plains Program, World Wildlife Fund Mike Fox, Fort Belknap Jodi Hilty, Director, North America Program, Wildlife Conservation Society Harold Picton, Historian and Retired from Montana State University Kent Redford, Vice President for Conservation Strategy, Wildlife Conservation Society Stephen Woodley, Chief Scientist, Parks Canada

4 WELCOME! Dear Conference Participants: It is our pleasure to welcome you to the American Bison Society s third meeting on Bison Ecological Restoration. Since the re-inauguration of the American Bison Society in 2005, we have held workshops and conferences with diverse experts to define the facets of ecological restoration. At our 2006 conference, The Ecological Future of the North American Bison, leaders from government agencies, conservation organizations, Native American groups, and producer groups mapped out short- and long-term goals for bison ecological restoration. At our 2008 conference, Building Blocks for Bison Ecological Restoration, experts presented lessons learned and best practices for a set of challenges facing bison restoration. ABS and partners also have continued to support policy and outreach and an array of projects to (1) develop techniques and information, (2) build and leverage communities of practice, and (3) strengthen constituencies and communication. The purpose of this year s conference is to connect diverse stakeholders and provide an opportunity to address a set of three focal issues facing bison restoration today. Our panels of experts from the US and Canada will explore the following topics: Panel I: Techniques for Bison Genetic Evaluation Recent developments in testing technology for bison genetic evaluation have created important opportunities and challenges. George Amato, Director of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at American Museum of Natural History, will lead a panel addressing these topics. Panel II: Guidelines for Managing Bison Genetics Management decisions within and across bison herds should be informed by genetic assessment. Keith Aune, Senior Conservationist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Tom Jung, Senior Biologist with the Yukon Provincial Government, will lead a panel addressing these management challenges. Panel III: Documenting Bison Ecological Interactions Bison are reported to play important ecological roles as they move and graze. Joseph Craine, Kansas State University; Sam Fuhlendorf, Oklahoma State University; and Pete Gogan, US Geological Survey, will lead a panel exploring this topic. We hope you enjoy the conference and we look forward to a robust discussion. Sincerely, The American Bison Society Advisory Council

5 ABOUT THE AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY Two hundred years ago, more than 40 million bison roamed the grasslands and shrub steppes of North America. These grand herds influenced grasslands, nutrient cycling, natural fire regimes, and habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals. By 1905, bison had been hunted to near extinction, and approximately 1,000 bison remained on the continent. The original American Bison Society was formed in 1905 to preserve the bison. Led by William Hornaday, the Wildlife Conservation Society s first director, and Theodore Roosevelt, the ABS helped save bison by lobbying for reserves and reintroducing captive bison to areas in Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Montana. Today, bison numbers have rebounded, but the species has not been ecologically restored. Bison are absent from much of their former range, over 90 percent of bison exist on ranches, and scientists and managers grapple with bison disease and genetics. The re-established American Bison Society brings together diverse stakeholders to pursue the ecological restoration of bison. The long-term goal is to have larger herds moving freely across extensive landscapes within major habitats of historic range, interacting in ecologically significant ways with other native species, sustaining and connecting human cultures. Please visit us at

6 GENERAL INFORMATION CONFERENCE REGISTRATION DESK The conference registration desk is located in the Sequoia Room on the hotel s second floor. It will be open from 4:00 P.M. 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday, March 23 rd, and from 7:00 A.M. 8:00 A.M. on Thursday, March 24 th. PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS Should others need to reach you, they may contact: Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills 1902 East 71 st Tulsa, Oklahoma Phone: (918) Fax: (918) HOTEL AMENITIES Free wireless high-speed internet access throughout the hotel Full-service business center Indoor swimming pool and sauna Exercise facility On-site guest laundry NAME BADGE Please wear your name badge to all program functions. This badge identifies you to staff, hotel personnel, and others who are providing services for you. It will also help you recognize and meet others in your group and will be your means of identification for participating in the group activities. GROUND TRANSPORTATION The Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills provides complimentary airport shuttle service. A reservation is required. Please speak with the front desk to make arrangements.

7 HOTEL FLOOR PLAN

8 AGENDA Meeting on Bison Ecological Restoration Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills March 23-25, 2011 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23 rd 4:00-6:00pm Conference registration open at Tulsa Marriott Southern Hills (Room: Sequoia) Opportunity to set up poster and information tables 6:00-7:30pm Hosted opening reception with speakers (Room: Sequoia) Victor Roubidoux, Wildlife Manager, Iowa Tribe Jim Shaw, Professor, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University 7:30pm Dinner on your own THURSDAY, MARCH 24 th 7:00-8:00am Conference registration open (Room: Sequoia) **All poster and information tables must be set up by 8:30am (Room: Sequoia)** 7:30-8:30am Breakfast (Room: Sequoia) 8:30-9:00am Introduction to the day (Room: Silver Oak) Kent Redford, Wildlife Conservation Society Jeff Rupert, US Fish & Wildlife Service 9:00-9:15am Panel I: Techniques for Bison Genetic Evaluation (Room: Silver Oak) Introduction to panel George Amato, Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History 9:15-10:30am Consecutive presentations by invited panelists: Matthew Cronin, University of Alaska, Fairbanks: Bison subspecies Gisella Caccone, Yale University s Molecular Systematics Conservation Genetics Laboratory: Giant Gálapagos tortoises: What have we learned that can provide insights for managing the American bison? Phil Hedrick, Arizona State University: Bison conservation genetics Robert Wayne, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA: Admixture and adaptation: Lessons from study on North American gray wolves Robert Schnabel, University of Missouri: High-throughput genomics in bison

9 10:30-11:00am Coffee break (Room: Sequoia) 11:00-11:30am Panel discussion (Room: Silver Oak) 11:30am-12:15pm Panel open to questions from audience (Kent Redford moderates) 12:15pm End of morning session 12:30-1:45pm Lunch provided; opportunity for participants to gather at tables based on themes (Room: Sequoia) 2:00-2:30pm Panel II: Guidelines for Managing Bison Genetics (Room: Silver Oak) Introduction to panel Keith Aune, Wildlife Conservation Society: Survey of bison managers: Genetic issues and concerns 2:30-3:30pm Consecutive presentations by invited panelists: Oliver Ryder, Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, San Diego Zoo: Management for population persistence: Developing guidelines for managed populations for which introgression is a concern Rich Reading, Denver Zoological Foundation: Managing the genetic integrity of bison in the field: Lessons from Mongolia Greg Wilson, Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Wood-plains bison hybridization and the loss of genetic diversity in small herds Peter Dratch, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Inventory and Monitoring Division, Management of bison conservation herds with historic cattle ancestry 3:30-4:00pm Coffee break (Room: Sequoia) 4:00-4:30pm Panel discussion (Room: Silver Oak) 4:30-5:15pm Panel open to questions from audience (Kent Redford moderating) 5:15-5:20pm Kent Redford closes the day 5:20-6:00pm Poster and information tables remain open (Room: Sequoia) 6:00-7:00pm Hosted reception (Room: First Floor Atrium) 7:00-9:00pm Dinner provided (Room: Salon D & E) Keynote speaker: Ken Zontek, author of Buffalo Nation: American Indian Efforts to Restore the Bison, and Professor, Yakima Valley Community College FRIDAY, MARCH 25 th 7:30-8:30am Breakfast (Room: Sequoia) 8:30-9:00am Introduction to the Day (Room: Silver Oak) Kent Redford, Wildlife Conservation Society Dave Carter, National Bison Association 9:00-9:15am Panel III: Documenting Bison Ecological Interactions (Room: Silver Oak) Introduction to panel Sam Fuhlendorf, Oklahoma State University, and Pete Gogan, US Geological Survey

10 9:15-10:30am Consecutive presentations by invited panelists: Cormack Gates, University of Calgary, IUCN Bison Specialist Group: From the ground up: Cascading ecological effects of bison Kate Schoenecker, USGS-Fort Collins Science Center, and Natural Resources Ecology Lab, Colorado State University: Bison-elk niche overlap in an arid habitat Steve Zack, Wildlife Conservation Society: Grassland birds as indicators of the ecological recovery of bison Michel Kohl, Boone and Crockett Program in Wildlife Conservation, University of Montana, and Kyran Kunkel, WWF-US: Ecological monitoring of bison with telemetry data Joseph Craine, Kansas State University: Climate change and the climate-nutrition-performance cascade for bison 10:30-11:00am Coffee break (Room: Sequoia) 11:00-11:30am Panel discussion (Room: Silver Oak) 11:30am-12:00pm Panel open to questions from audience (Kent Redford moderating) 12:00-12:15pm Closing remarks Kent Redford 12:15pm End of conference 12:15-12:45pm Break down information/poster tables (Room: Sequoia)

11 SPEAKER BIOS George Amato is the Director of the Sackler Institute of Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History. In addition to administering this interdepartmental scientific program of more than 80 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students, George continues to conduct research in conservation genetics of endangered species. He also serves as an Affiliated Professor in the Richard Gilder Graduate School and is an adjunct professor at Columbia and Fordham Universities. Previous to joining the Museum, George spent 17 years conducting conservation research and programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society. He has lectured and published extensively on conservation strategies for endangered species, concentrating much of his work on the use of molecular analysis to determine conservation priorities and in developing forensic tools for monitoring the illegal trade in wildlife. Additionally, he is the chairman of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life Conservation Committee and is also a Trustee of the Lemur Conservation Foundation and Rare Species Conservatory Foundation. He received his B.S. from the University of Connecticut and M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University. Keith Aune is a Senior Conservation Scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Senior Advisor for the Wildlife Action Opportunities Fund. Keith received his bachelor s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana and his master s degree in fish and wildlife management from Montana State University. Keith comes to WCS from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP), where he served for 31 years in various capacities. He has conducted field or laboratory research on black and grizzly bears, wildlife diseases, wolverine, lions, and bison. In his most recent position at MFWP he served as the Chief of Wildlife Research and directed multiple research projects across Montana as well as supervising the annual harvest survey and the Wildlife Research Laboratory staff. He has authored or coauthored over 40 scientific and popular articles. At WCS, Keith is working on several issues including the WCS Corridor Initiative and manages WCS s work on the American bison. Gisella Caccone is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Director of the Molecular Systematics and Conservation Genetic Center in the Yale Institute of Biospheric Studies. Her research interests are in the broad area of molecular evolution, phylogeography, and conservation. Her interests range from understanding the evolutionary processes in small isolated populations to the use of molecular markers to infer current and historical population processes at various spatial and temporal scales. Currently Gisella is involved in two general research areas: conservation genetics and phylogeography of Giant Gálapagos tortoises and marine iguanas, and evolutionary genetics of disease vectors (Anopheles mosquitoes and tsetse flies) and introduced pests (hemlock wolly adelgids). Dave Carter has served part-time as the Executive Director of the 1,000-member National Bison Association since In this capacity, he works to strengthen the marketing systems for North American Buffalo. He has also led the association s efforts in the public policy arena, and has worked to strengthen the industry s position in the retail and restaurant marketplace. In recent years, Dave has also worked with cooperatives and other producer-owned businesses throughout the US in marketing projects involving meat, fresh vegetables, organic products, and processed foods. A long-time advocate of organic agriculture, Dave served on the US Department of Agriculture s National Organic Standards Board from , and chaired the board from From , Dave served as President of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, a general organization representing independent agricultural producers in Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico. As president of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, he initiated a regional Cooperative Development Center that has worked directly with growers involved in establishing producer-owned marketing systems throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Dave and his wife, Sue, have a small herd of bison that they keep on pasture in eastern Colorado.

12 Joseph Craine is Research Assistant Professor at the Kansas State University. He graduated from Ohio State University (B.S.) and the University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.). Joe is an ecosystem ecologist and has worked on grasslands in North America, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. His work on bison has largely focused on understanding the climatic determinants of bison performance. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and a book, Resource Strategies of Wild Plants, with Princeton University Press. Matthew Cronin is Research Associate Professor of Animal Genetics in the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences at University of Alaska, Fairbanks. His current research focuses on animal genetics with molecular genetics methods. Matthew works with the natural resource industries in Alaska and serves on the Alaska Board of Forestry. He provides information on science and management to government and private sector constituents, including the governor s office, with a focus on endangered species issues. Previously he worked as Senior Project Scientist for the consulting firm Entrix, Inc., Senior Scientist and Managing Director for LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc., and Research Geneticist for the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Matthew received his M.S. in biology from Montana State University in 1986 and his Ph.D. in biology from Yale University in He has many scientific publications on caribou, polar bears, cattle, and other wildlife and livestock. Peter Dratch is the Chief Biologist of the new Inventory and Monitoring Program of the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) which is collocated with the National Park Service (NPS) I&M Program. Until January he managed the NPS Endangered Species Program. He also works on the Department of Interior Bison Conservation initiative, and was one of the scientists who established the FWS National Wildlife Forensics Laboratory. During a career focusing on the ecology and genetics of small or rare populations, Peter has also worked for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Cancer Institute Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, and the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. He did his undergraduate degree at Washington University and the Evergreen State College and his Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh. Sam Fuhlendorf is Sarkeys Distinguished Professor in Rangeland Ecology and Management at Oklahoma State University (OSU). He has received the Outstanding Young Professional Award for the Society for Range Management in 2002, the James A. Whatley Award of Merit for Research from OSU in 2001, and the Outstanding Achievement Award for Research from the Society for Range Management in Sam s current research is generally focused on conservation of grassland landscapes, with particular attention to 1) understanding the role of disturbance-driven heterogeneity in the structure and function of grasslands; 2) investigating vegetation dynamics of rangelands across multiple scales; 3) integrating a landscape perspective into rangeland ecology; 4) fire ecology; and 5) understanding how herbivores use landscapes. Sam actively participates in the Ecological Society of America, Society for Range Management, International Association of Vegetation Science, and International Association for Landscape Ecology. He received his M.S. at Texas A&M University in 1992 where he studied the community relationships of Juniperus ashei expansion on the Edward s Plateau of Texas. He completed his Ph.D. at Texas A&M in 1996 with research on the long-term effects of altered fire and grazing regimes on a semi-arid Quercus-Juniperus savanna. He has published 63 peerreviewed articles in international journals, such as Bioscience, Ecosphere, Journal of Applied Ecology, Conservation Biology, Ecological Applications, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Cormack Gates is Professor of Environmental Science and Planning at the University of Calgary. He has worked in applied conservation biology since 1971 and on bison ecology and conservation since Cormack was the lead editor and author of several chapters of the 2010 IUCN publication American bison status survey and conservation guidelines. He sees the integration of natural and social sciences as essential for understanding ecological phenomena involving humans, and for developing effective policies to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services. His current research focuses on grassland ecosystems and species ecology and regional land use planning in cooperation with government agencies, the energy and agriculture industries, and NGOs.

13 Peter Gogan is Research Wildlife Biologist, US Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center. His interests focus on multi-disciplinary studies of large mammal populations that include the interactions of demographics, conservation genetics, and disease epidemiology and that have implications for the successful management of these populations. He has been involved in studies of the demographics of Yellowstone bison and the conservation genetics and management of bison throughout North America, with an emphasis on those herds managed by the US Department of Interior. Peter has contributed to plans to reintroduce European bison to portions of their native range in Poland, Romania, and Russia, and maintains a long-standing interest in the biology and management of non-native ungulate species on public lands, particularly in California. He received his Ph.D. in wildland resource sciences from University of California, Berkeley, in Phil Hedrick s main research interests are population and conservation genetics. He has made contributions to theoretical population genetics, using genetic tools to better our understanding of the concepts of genetic health and restoration, and evolutionary genetics of natural populations. In recent years, Phil has worked extensively on the conservation genetics of Florida panthers, Mexican wolves, winter run Chinook salmon, desert bighorn sheep, and Gila topminnows. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics in1968 from the University of Minnesota. Phil has been a faculty member at the University of Kansas, Pennsylvania State University, and is currently Ullman Professor of Biology at Arizona State University. He has served as a president of the American Society for Naturalists and the American Genetics Association. He has published more that 200 research articles, several books, and the fourth edition of his book Genetics of Populations was recently published. Michel Kohl received his B.S. in wildlife biology from the University if Montana in During his undergraduate studies, Michel initiated an ongoing vegetation study examining the influence of Rocky Mountain elk herbivory on invasion rates of exotic forbs and the interrelated resource use changes of elk in a montane grassland. In 2009, Michel entered the Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program at the University of Montana as an Alfred P. Sloan Scholar for Indigenous Graduate Students. His M.S. thesis is titled Habitat use and the importance of water for bison and cattle. Michel continues to pursue management based research focused on large mammals and their interrelated large-scale ecological questions. Kyran Kunkel began working with bison as a senior biologist with the Turner Endangered Species Fund in He has led the bison reintroduction on the American Prairie Reserve in northern Montana with World Wildlife Fund and American Prairie Foundation since Kyran completed his Ph.D. on wolf restoration in Glacier National Park in 1997 and currently leads conservation and research projects on swift and island foxes, pronghorn, cougars, and wolverine in western North America. He is an affiliate professor in the Wildlife Biology program at the University of Montana. Rich Reading is the Vice President for Conservation and founder of the Department of Conservation Biology at the Denver Zoological Foundation. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver and Adjoint Senior Research Professor at the University of Colorado Denver, where he teaches and advises graduate students. Rich earned his Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from Yale University in He serves on the boards of directors or advisors for several organizations. He has published >140 technical publications in several journals and books; written or edited 10 books, dissertations, or special issues of journals; and produced dozens of popular articles, abstracts, and book reviews. Rich has conducted research or consulted on conservation projects in several countries on five continents, primarily the Great Plains of the US and the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. A major focus of Rich's research has been on developing interdisciplinary approaches to conservation. Kent Redford is Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Institute and Vice President of Conservation Strategy, where his work has included production of the biennial publication State of the Wild, helping the creation of the Karukinka Reserve in Chile, and reestablishment of the American Bison Society. He obtained his bachelor s degree at the University of California, and his doctorate at Harvard

14 University. Kent held post-doctoral fellowship and faculty appointments at the University of Florida, in the Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. From 1993 to 1997, he directed the Parks in Peril program and ran the conservation science department in the Latin American Division at The Nature Conservancy. While there, he helped develop guidelines for ecoregionbased conservation in the US and abroad. Kent also worked with Goldman Sachs to establish a private protected area centered on a 680,000-acre property on Tierra del Fuego that was donated to WCS. Victor Roubidoux, an Ioway member, was born in Perkins, Oklahoma, where he lived until joining the US Army in He served in the Army for four years, during which time he fought in Vietnam. When Victor returned, he began working for the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma. He served the tribe by representing them as their Treasurer for 13 years, was the Chairman for the Repatriation and Sacred Sites Committee for the National Congress of American Indians, and the Treasurer for Keeper of the Treasures. During this time he developed the idea for an eagle sanctuary after viewing a news clip about an eagle injured in Oklahoma; the bird was transferred to New Mexico because there was no place for it in Oklahoma. Victor began gathering information and support from the Iowa Nation to begin the project. The tribe asked Victor to run the facility, which he has been doing for more than five years now. He has completed 8 eagle releases, saved the lives of 27 resident eagles, and educated more than 5,000 people about eagles. Jeff Rupert is the new Chief of the Division of Natural Resources and Conservation Planning for the National Wildlife Refuge System. After receiving his bachelor s degree in biology from Baker University in 1991, Jeff joined the Service as a biological technician at the National Ecology Research Center (NERC) in Fort Collins, Colorado. While there, he conducted bird research on eight National Wildlife Refuges. In 1998, a year after receiving his master s in biology from the University Texas-Pan American, he was hired as refuge biologist at the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, along the border with Mexico. Two years later, he became the refuge s manager. In 2006, he was named manager of Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation s most heavily visited refuges, averaging 1.5 million visitors per year. Oliver Ryder serves the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research as Director of Genetics and Kleberg Chair. Oliver received his B.A. from University of California, Riverside, and his Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. He joined the San Diego Zoo in 1975 as a research fellow. In 1979, he joined the staff permanently as a geneticist. In 1986, he was awarded the Kleberg Chair in Genetics. Oliver directs a highly productive scientific team that has made significant contributions to both ex situ and in situ conservation efforts for orangutans, gorillas, Przewalski's horses, African rhinos, Caribbean iguanas, California condors, and many others. He is a Fellow of AAAS, a recipient of American Association of Zoo Veterinarian s Duane E. Ullrey Achievement Award, and was recently recognized by the American Genetic Association for his formative contributions to the field of Conservation Genetics. He has authored over 270 scientific and popular articles, oversees San Diego Zoo s Frozen Zoo TM, has served as Species Coordinator for Przewalski s horse, and on other national and international conservation committees and advisory groups. Robert Schnabel is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Animal Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is a member of the ibmc Consortium which developed the Illumina BovineSNP50 assay for which the team won the 2008 USDA Technology Transfer Award, the 2009 Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer, and the 2010 USDA Secretary s Group Honor Award for Excellence. He is also a member of the consortia which developed the Illumina BovineHD beadchip and the Affymetrix Bovine Axiom array, each of which assay >600k snps. Along with his coinvestigators and graduate students he has authored 47 peer reviewed research publications. His postdoctoral research was in the Bovine Functional Genomics group at the USDA in Beltsville, MD. Bob received his B.S. and M.S. degree in Biology from the University of Akron and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Texas A&M University.

15 Kate Schoenecker is an Ecologist with the Ungulate Ecology Program at USGS, and is currently completing her Ph.D. at Colorado State University on elk and bison grazing ecology in the Great Sand Dunes ecosystem. She received her master s degree from the University of Arizona on human disturbance in bighorn sheep habitat. She is also currently conducting research in Rocky Mountain National Park on elk census techniques, and on bighorn sheep population estimation using fecal DNA. Her previous work includes studies of bighorn sheep survivorship in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, elk herbivory in Rocky Mountain National Park, and wild horse ecology in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, Montana. James Shaw is a professor in the Natural Resource Ecology and Management Division of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where he teaches courses in conservation biology and wildlife management. He received his M.F.S. and Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from Yale University. Jim s research interests include ecology, behavior, and conservation of large mammals, especially ungulates and carnivores. Robert Wayne s research focuses on the population and conservation genetics of vertebrates, especially wolf-like carnivores. He received his Ph.D. from the John Hopkins University in 1984 and thereafter did a post-doc under Stephen O'Brien at the National Cancer Institute. He was Head of Conservation Genetics at the Institute of Zoology in London from 1990 to He is now a Professor of Evolutionary Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. He has published over 200 scientific articles, and a book specifically about the application of molecular genetic techniques to conservation. He is an editor of Molecular Ecology, the leading journal in the field. Greg Wilson is a wildlife biologist for the Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada). He is the mammal specialist for species at risk in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Some of the species he is currently working on include wood bison, boreal caribou, Ord s kangaroo rat, and western harvest mouse. Greg started working on population genetics of wood and plains bison during his undergraduate degree, and received his Ph.D. on the subject in 2001 from the University of Alberta. Since then, he has continued to be involved in projects to aid in the recovery of wood and plains bison in Canada. Steve Zack is a Conservation Scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he is in charge of studies of wildlife and conservation in Arctic Alaska, a program that began in 2001, and of a new project concerning the conservation of grassland birds in association with the ecological recovery of bison. In recent years, Steve has also led projects that evaluated forest management with fire and wildlife responses, and riparian restoration and wildlife response. He earned his B.S. from Oregon State University (1978) and his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico (1985). He was on the Biology faculty at Yale University prior to joining WCS in He has also done extensive studies of birds in Kenya, Venezuela, Madagascar, and in the western US. He lives in Portland, OR, and migrates with the birds to his various projects. Ken Zontek teaches history full-time at Yakima Valley Community College in Yakima, WA, and serves as adjunct professor at Heritage University on the Yakama Reservation. His 2007 monograph, Buffalo Nation: The American Indian Effort to Restore the Bison (University of Nebraska Press), won the American Library Association Best of the Best University Press Award in He considers himself both an environmental historian and ethno-historian with his most recent work analyzing various aspects of the fur trade. He also is working on a project following in the footsteps of hunter-naturalist Charles Sheldon s early twentieth century quest for the desert bighorn of northern Mexico and Arizona. Zontek is a veteran and humanitarian with two deployments to Afghanistan and the initiator of the Yakima Valley Community College Foundation s Afghan Women s Education Project.

16 ABSTRACTS Panel I: Techniques for Bison Genetic Evaluation Bison subspecies Matthew A. Cronin, University of Alaska, Fairbanks Subspecies is a commonly used taxon in systematics, ecology, evolutionary biology, conservation, and management. Subspecies designations are subjective and frequently based on qualitative judgments, not firm criteria and quantitative data. However, subspecies can be useful for describing patterns of intra-specific variation and evolutionary processes. Because subspecies are a category within the Linnaean trinomen taxonomic hierarchy, they should be designated based on phylogeny. That is, we classify organisms according to historical relatedness and genealogy, those with more recent common ancestry being classified together in groups separate from groups with different common ancestries. Animal subspecies have been traditionally based on morphological variation including size and pelage color, although morphology may not reflect phylogeny due to environmental variance and homoplasy. Molecular genetic data can be useful for phylogenetic assessment of subspecies. However, gene flow (interbreeding over geography and time) between geographic populations may prevent phylogenetic differentiation of morphological characters and genes. That is, the inherent subspecies characteristic of being members of the same species (with potential or realized gene flow) prevents subspecies from having the basic criterion used for taxonomic classification: monophyly. Giant Gálapagos tortoises: What have we learned that can provide insights for managing the American bison? Gisella Caccone, Yale University s Molecular Syatematics Conservation Genetics Laboratory We have been working for the past twenty years on Giant Galápagos tortoises to understand their evolutionary history and help in their conservation. Tortoises are highly endangered because of past human exploitation and habitat degradation. They are the only native, large-bodied herbivore in Gálapagos and play an important role engineering the islands ecosystems. The group includes 11 extant and 3 extinct species displaying genetic, morphological, and behavioral differentiation. Genetic data coupled with 3D imaging and morphometric studies have integrated the evolutionary history of extinct and extant species and informed conservation strategies. In this contribution I will concentrate on two case studies: (1) analyses of museum samples can provide information to manage nearly extinct taxa and insights on the likelihood of rescuing extinct ones; (2) genetic data can be helpful in managing an ex situ conservation program. Bison conservation genetics Phil Hedrick, Arizona State University Reducing cattle ancestry in bison is the major conservation genetics issue in bison today, although preventing inbreeding depression and preserving overall genetic variation should also be of concern. Genetic variation can be partitioned into advantageous, neutral, and detrimental variation. Putative neutral variants, such as mtdna sequences, microsatellite loci, and SNPs, have been used to identify cattle ancestry in conservation bison herds. Cattle ancestry estimated from maternally inherited mtdna is often much higher, and variable over herds, than estimates for autosomal microsatellite and SNP markers. Estimated cattle ancestry in using microsatellite loci and SNPs generally appears to be less than 1%. There is some evidence that cattle mtdna in bison has detrimental effects. The effects in bison of autosomal cattle genetic regions identified by microsatellite loci or SNPs are not known but it is possible that they may also have detrimental effects. It is also possible that many of these regions may have neutral effects or, in some

17 cases, have advantageous effects. Management actions to reduce the frequencies of these cattle regions in bison may also reduce genetic variation at other correlated loci so recommendations for eliminating cattle ancestry should be carefully undertaken. Bison conservation genetics Robert Wayne, University of California, Los Angeles Cattle ancestry in bison is a cause for concern because cattle derived genes may be expressed on an appropriate genomic background and consequently, can be detrimental. I describe an example of historic admixture between dogs and North American gray wolves as a possible analogy for cattle-bison admixture and show that a gene for black coat color that originated in dogs has been swept to high frequency in gray wolves across a large geographic area. Other examples of such differential introgression of positively selected alleles exist. However, in North American wolves, a genome wide study suggests such differential introgression of gene segments was very limited implying that backcrossing of admixed individuals to pure wolf populations eliminated all traces of dog ancestry except for the positively selected black coat color gene. I discuss implications of this finding for management and selective breeding. High-throughput genomics in bison Robert Schnabel, University of Missouri, Division of Animal Sciences Advances in technology driven by the Human Genome Project have now made it possible to conduct genome-wide analyses on virtually any organism. Only a few years ago the standard marker of choice for population-based analyses in cattle and bison was the microsatellite. However, the completion of the draft bovine genome sequence in 2009 combined with the emergence of next-generation sequencing and genotyping technologies has created opportunities for genomic analyses in closely related species of Bos that were never thought possible. There are currently three genotyping assays commercially available for cattle that are capable of genotyping 50k, 660k, and 777k single nucleotide polymorphism markers. These assays have great utility for population-based analyses as well as for the evaluation of the extent and distribution of domestic cattle introgression within the genomes of individual bison. It is now possible to evaluate cattle introgression using markers 10,000 more dense than the currently used microsatellite-based assays. We have genotyped 479 bison from 10 populations across the US and Canada using the BovineSNP50 genotyping assay which interrogates >50k markers. Evidence of introgression was detected in 65% (313/479) of the tested animals. Animals detected to have introgression contained, on average, 4.7 introgressed blocks of cow DNA that each averaged 4.5 Mb in size. The average Mb of introgressed cattle DNA represents 0.38% of the diploid genome. The distribution of chromosomal locations of introgressed cattle segments appears to be non-random suggesting that forces other than chance are responsible for the location and frequency of introgression. The only populations in which introgression was not identified were from Yellowstone National Park and Hook Lake, although sample sizes were very limited (19 and 5, respectively). Technology has now advanced to the point where it is possible to use existing tools to answer most research questions related to bison genetics. Furthermore, it is also now possible to develop and cost-effectively deploy custom built assays to address bison genetic management priorities. Panel II: Guidelines for Managing Bison Genetics Survey of bison managers: Genetic issues and concerns Keith Aune, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Tom Jung, Department of Environment, Yukon Government We administered an online survey to the managers of conservation herds in North America. The survey focused on the current genetic status, issues, and recommendations as perceived by the managers of bison.

18 The list of conservation herds surveyed followed the IUCN status survey and conservation guidelines (Gates et al 2010). Sixty-nine managers were sent an request to complete the survey online. The survey included 57 questions stratified into 9 sections. We included questions about cattle gene introgression, genetic lineage of herds, mixing of wild and domestic herds, hybridization of subspecies, current management challenges, population and genetic management, research needs and recommendations. We received 42 responses (61%) from various agencies and organizations. The majority (85.4%) of the responses came from managers of plains bison herds. Over 90% of the responses were from Federal and State bison managers with the remaining responses split among NGOs, tribes, and private individuals/organizations. Most (78%) of the herds are managed as a single population with no satellite herds. We discuss the implications of the survey responses to long-term conservation of the American bison genome. The survey will be extended to those who wish to participate during this conference and to additional tribal herd managers through the Intertribal Buffalo Council. Management for population persistence: Developing guidelines for managed populations for which introgression is a concern Oliver Ryder, Director of Genetics and Kleberg Chair, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research It is not uncommon for managed populations to confront the issue of hybridization as inappropriate gene flow. Concern exists for protecting the vitality and evolutionary trajectory of the gene pool of populations managed with conservation intent. Skilled observation frequently (but not assuredly) identifies F1 hybrids, but F2 or backcross hybrids are notoriously difficult to recognize in variety of species. Far more cases of suspected hybridization exist than could be documented with tools of genetic analysis, until relatively recently. As more powerful tools for evaluating genetic diversity have become available, detection of rare events of gene flow has become feasible and increasingly documented. Furthermore, such events have been demonstrated to be part of the evolutionary process of small populations acquiring genetic diversity, e.g., within Galápagos finches. Principal among the concerns regarding the impacts of hybridization is the possibility of outbreeding depression. However, relatively few examples have been noted and the recent evaluations have suggested that outbreeding depression may be an overrated concern. Managers faced with conservation of the genetic resources of the populations they manage are drawn to consider the sources of the genetic variation comprising their managed gene pool. For some species, retention of the greatest amount of genetic diversity of the managed species may require inclusion of individuals with some degree of hybrid ancestry. A key consideration in developing a genetic management strategy involves evaluating the impact of alternative management strategies. Since it may be impossible to eliminate hybrid ancestry without curtailing the available genetic diversity of the species under conservation management with accompanying impacts on population sustainability and viability careful definition of management program goals in the context of species survival need to be addressed and accepted by stakeholders. As knowledge of genome structure and variation becomes available for an increasing number of species managed for conservation purposes, methods for genetic evaluation and application to population sustainability will be promulagated. In this context, it is important to incorporate a realization of the chimeric construction of individual genomes, the retention of ancestral genetic material, and the importance of genetic variability to the survival of populations. Managing the genetic integrity of bison in the field: Lessons from Mongolia Rich Reading, Denver Zoological Foundation Managing the genetic integrity of small populations presents managers with a difficult challenge, as most bison (Bison bison) retain some cattle genes from historical attempts to improve the marketability of cattle by inter-breeding livestock with bison. Most conservationists, myself included, agree that preventing further genetic introgression of cattle genes into conservation herds of bison represents a laudable goal. Similarly, most conservationists hope to re-establish large, free-ranging herds of bison across portions of their historical range. However, as we re-establish herds, genetic management becomes significantly more

19 difficult, as attempts to conserve wild Bactrian camels (Camelus ferus) and Przewalski s horses (P-horse; Equus ferus przewalski) in Mongolia demonstrate. Both species interbreed with similar domestic taxa, threatening the genetic integrity of the wild populations. Both species also inhabit vast landscapes reminiscent of the large landscapes wild bison require. Wild camels in Mongolia persist in the 35,000 km 2 Region A of Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area, a vast area with just a few 2-track roads and no human habitations. Within this area, camels travel over home ranges than extend over 17,000 km 2 in a year. We often find domestic Bactrian camels (C. bactrianus) traveling with their wild relatives and we know that local people like to interbreed their domestic cows with wild bulls to produce stronger, faster animals. Finding and removing domestic animals and F1 hybrids presents huge logistical challenges. Being able to even identify F2 and further generation animals is almost impossible. Similarly, genetic introgression in re-introduced populations of P-horses presents a formidable and growing challenge in Mongolia as the three newly established populations grow and expand their ranges into terrain inhabited by hundreds of thousands of domestic horses. As with camels, many domestic horse owners hope to breed their mares with P-horse stallions to obtain stronger, faster offspring. Given these realities, I believe that managers and conservationists carefully consider the practical limitations to genetic management of free-ranging populations of bison inhabiting vast landscapes. In all likelihood, we will likely face some level of genetic introgression into wild bison populations despite our best management efforts. Given his likelihood, can we as conservation ecologists and conservation geneticists develop more realistic genetic goals for free-ranging conservation herds? Wood-plains bison hybridization and the loss of genetic diversity in small herds Greg Wilson, Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Wood and plains bison have only existed as separate subspecies for 4,000-5,000 years. However, enough morphological and genetic differences exist between these groups to ensure that they should be managed separately, and the hybridization of these subspecies should be avoided whenever possible. This remains true despite the fact that no truly pure wood bison exist today, as a result of the introduction of a large number of plains bison into Wood Buffalo National Park in the 1920s, which at the time was home to the last remaining wood bison population. A recent attempt to conserve wood bison involved the establishment of a captive herd in Hook Lake, Northwest Territories. Sixty-two calves were captured from the large, freeranging herd in the region, 57 of which reached maturity. Genetic drift, primarily through differential reproductive success and inbreeding, can accelerate the loss of genetic diversity in small, recently founded populations like this one. To examine the effects of differential reproductive success, we monitored the parentage of calves born into this population for three years. We noted a significant decrease in genetic diversity in the calves born into this population when compared to the original founders, primarily because two of the male founders sired over 90% of the offspring born into this population. This study highlights the importance of monitoring reproductive success in recently established bison populations and incorporating selective breeding strategies where appropriate. Management of bison conservation herds with historic cattle ancestry Peter A. Dratch, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Inventory and Monitoring Initiative As the resolution of molecular methods has increased, cattle ancestry has been detected in an increasing number of bison herds, particularly herds in national parks and wildlife refuges that have conservation of bison among their goals. This introgression follows logically from what is known of the origins of the five private herds, which along with the remnant Yellowstone herd, were responsible for saving the plains bison from extinction. The analyses utilizing mitochondrial DNA, microsatellites, and single nucleotide polymorphisms have consistently shown low levels of cattle introgression in these park and refuge herds. The question as to whether individual animals with historic hybridization are less valuable as founders in new conservation herds is highly contentious. Because cattle genes can now be identified and isolated, scientists and managers are faced with potential decisions based on the genetic composition of individual animals. This raises the issue as to whether that variation associated with cattle should be selected against, as free-ranging bison face an era of rapid environmental change.

20 Panel III: Documenting Bison Ecological Interactions From the ground up: Cascading ecological effects of bison C. Cormack Gates and Chris Hugenholtz, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary; William Ripple, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University A cascade effect is a sequence of events in which each produces the circumstances necessary for the initiation of the next. In geomorphology, a cascade effect results from the transfer of mass and energy through a chain of component subsystems, the output from one subsystem becoming the input for the next. Similarly, in ecology a trophic cascade occurs when a top predator substantially affects consumer (herbivore) behavior or population size, thereby influencing producer (plant) abundance, structure, or spatial distribution. The bison has been described as a foundation or keystone species, one that has disproportionate effects on its ecosystem. In this presentation we will review two cascade effects of bison, one geomorphological and the other a secondary trophic cascade. Evidence indicates that disturbance by bison was a key factor in maintaining active erosion in sandhills of the Canadian prairies. Restoring bison may be important for restoring and sustaining active sand dune habitat and an assemblage of dependent threatened and endangered plant and animal species representing nearly one quarter of prairie species listed as at risk in Canada. In a second case, wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995/96, likely reestablishing a trophic cascade involving wolves, elk, and woody browse species. The return of wolves may have also triggered a secondary trophic cascade involving bison. This secondary cascade, whereby wolf predation may have indirectly allowed bison numbers to increase through a reduction in interspecific competition with elk, may represent an example of an alternative top-down pathway by which predators can influence multiple trophic levels through mediating the competitive interaction between prey species. Bison-elk niche overlap in an arid habitat Kate Schoenecker, USGS-Fort Collins Science Center, and Natural Resources Ecology Lab, Colorado State University; Marian Talbert and Colin Talbert, USGS-Fort Collins Science Center Although the highest densities of North American plains bison (Bison bison) occurred on the Great Plains, the historical range of bison includes many areas outside prairie habitat. The role of bison in these other ecological niches is important to understand for both the establishment of new conservation herds and the recovery of existing herds. We studied bison in their native habitat of southern Colorado and evaluated their ecological niche in relation to elk inhabiting the same arid landscape. We investigated the influence of bison presence on elk distribution, habitat niche overlap between the two species, and resource selection using logistic regression models. Results suggest that elk are potentially partially excluded from the bison range by a semi-permeable fence, fall/winter elk hunting season on the bison range, and by interspecific competition with bison. Both species selected for similar habitat types, but only 1.5% of elk locations were found 1,500 meters from a radio-collared bison within a 24-hour time window. If the distance is reduced to 1,000 meters, only 0.8% of elk locations were near a radio-collared bison. Anecdotal evidence from this area (observed report) suggests bison chase elk out of their core habitat. This account is supported by the lack of timespace overlap we found in three years of monitoring with both GPS and VHF radio-collars on both species. Resource selection model results will also be presented. Grassland birds as indicators of the ecological recovery of bison Steve Zack and Kevin Ellison, Wildlife Conservation Society The collective effort of the American Bison Society (ABS), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and partners to jointly engage in the ecological recovery of bison is a powerful and evocative challenge. Yet, as an operational statement ecological recovery requires clarity, definitions, and measurable outcomes. How do practitioners/managers know that their herds are being managed in ways that reflect ecological

21 recovery? Our approach is to identify different grassland bird species as viable indicators of bison grazing management, as different bird species respond to different levels of grazing intensity, and presumably did so historically in association with the millions of bison grazing in time and space across the Great Plains. Grassland bird species, as a group, are now the most imperiled of all North American birds. Habitat loss and degradation are key forces in their decline. There seems to be great potential to manage bison so as to help restore heterogeneity in grassland habitats essential to Great Plains wildlife. We at WCS are using grassland birds as indicators of the ecological recovery of bison, and bison grazing management as a tool in grassland bird conservation (we are also engaging private ranchers and their cattle for a parallel effort in grazing management for avian conservation). Through active grazing management of bison with the ABS, we are attempting to re-create the kind of habitat heterogeneity that will allow re-establishment of specific grassland bird species through adaptive management feedback. We then will briefly discuss how bison wallowing, prairie dog towns, fire, and native predators are also necessary elements toward a full ecological recovery of the Great Plains with bison. Ecological monitoring of bison with telemetry data Michel T. Kohl, Kenneth B. Plourde, and Paul. R. Krausman, Boone and Crockett Program in Wildlife Conservation, University of Montana; Kyran Kunkel, World Wildlife Fund and American Prairie Foundation The recovery of bison is considered one of the most successful conservation stories in history; however, that understanding is rapidly changing as we expand our knowledge of the ecological importance of bison at a landscape level in terms of species protection and prairie conservation. As accessibility to remotely sensed landscape data (i.e., climatic variables, abiotic features, vegetation communities) expands and is combined with GPS telemetry data, we are able to quantify resources at a fine scale. Most commonly, this involves Resource Selection Functions (RSF) that identify the proportional use and timing of resource acquisition as a function of availability. These data are important in making management decisions for habitat and species. RSF s fall short, however, in identifying the scale of a species specific landscape. First Passage Time analysis (FPT) is the next step in answering these questions. Using telemetry data and landscape covariates, FPT quantifies the scale at which a consumer perceives heterogeneous resources on the landscape. As a result, we may begin to identify a bison specific landscape which allows us to adjust our management strategies to conserve landscape from species perspective. We reintroduced bison into northern Montana in 2005 with the goal of restoring an ecologically effective population. We are examining bison use of the landscape over time as we simultaneously increase the scale of habitat available to bison. Our analysis helps us to determine how large a landscape and how many bison are required to restore an ecologically effective population. Climate change and the climate-nutrition-performance cascade for bison Joseph Craine, Kansas State University How disease and genetics impact bison performance has been the key focus of recent research, as has how bison impact different parts of ecosystems in different places. Yet, we know little about how the performance of bison is impacted by environmental factors, which turns out to be a key part of understanding the role of bison in ecosystems. First, I will explore how interannual variation in climate affects bison weight gain and calving with records from two tallgrass prairies, which include the longest continuous records of native ungulate performance in the world. Second, I will present preliminary data that compare the weights of bison across Great Plains herds to explore how geographic variation in climate controls bison weights. The plains bison (Bison bison bison) and wood bison (B. b. athabascae) subspecies have morphological differences that may be due to environmental variance or local adaptation, but have not necessarily been genetically isolated from plains bison during geological or historical time periods. The subspecies are not characterized by monophyletic mitochondrial DNA (mtdna). If strict monophyly based on molecular genetic information is a valid criterion for subspecies designation, wood bison and plains bison are not legitimate subspecies, although additional genetic study is warranted in this regard. Genetic variation among herds of both subspecies probably reflect a combination of original patterns, population bottlenecks and

22 founder events, genetic drift, mutation, and human-mediated gene flow following translocations that facilitated hybridization. Uncertain subspecies designations should not distract from the informed body of research that is contributing to effective herd management and conservation of bison.