PROJECTS COMPLETED THIS YEAR
Strategies for reducing the vulnerability of grassland birds to climate change within the Central Flyway
Investigator: Benjamin Zuckerberg, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Christine A. Ribic, USGS, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Funding: USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center
Expected Completion: September 19, 2022
Prairies were once widespread across North America, but are now one of the most endangered and least protected ecosystems in the world. Agriculture and residential development have reduced once extensive prairies into a patchwork of remnant prairies and “surrogate” grasslands (e.g., hayfields, planted pastures). Concurrent with habitat loss, rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns are disproportionately affecting temperate grasslands. The degradation of grassland ecosystems has been detrimental to its fauna, including many grassland birds that are declining faster than any other bird guild across North America. In response to the widespread population declines of many grassland birds, conservation agencies employ a number of strategies such as maintaining large grasslands, funding land acquisition, and promoting prairie restoration, but little work has addressed the importance of climate-change adaptation in the conservation of grassland birds. To incorporate climate-change adaptation into grassland conservation, we will conduct a synthesis of climate change vulnerability for grassland ecosystems and grassland-dependent birds within the Central Flyway. Our goal is to produce a synthesis of strategies for grassland managers interested in developing climate adaptation plans. In doing so, we will i) organize a steering committee to identify current strategies in grassland management and priority grassland birds of conservation concern; ii) conduct a literature review and survey of our steering committee to describe the state of scientific knowledge on climate change impacts on grassland habitats and grassland-dependent birds; and iii) organize a meeting to produce a scientific review of current and future adaptation strategies for the conservation of grassland ecosystems and grassland-dependent birds.
Understanding the Importance of the Landscape Scale for Wildlife Management in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest and Developing Best Practices for Archiving Research Data
Investigators: Christine A. Ribic, USGS, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Funding: US Forest Service
Expected Completion: July 31, 2022
We are working collaboratively with the US Forest Service Northern Research Station to (1) evaluate two long-term projects: amphibian use of ephemeral ponds and wetlands within forested systems and beaver colony activity along trout streams and (2) investigate archiving and presentation of data sets used for analysis and high impact data collections. For the long-term projects, we will evaluate the datasets and determine additional environmental and spatial variables required to address management concerns. Once evaluation is completed, we will retrieve identified environmental (e.g., water quality, climate data) and spatial (e.g., surrounding land cover/use of surrounding landscape) data and incorporate all data into a GIS. We will calculate landscape metrics identified in the conceptual model and analyze both data sets. Other areas of research of interest to the Forest will also be developed, such as Kirtland’s Warbler management and the use of fire to restore pine barrens ecosystems.
Besides the data used in the analysis, high impact USFS data collections will be archived. We will work with the US Forest Service to develop protocols and standards for archiving research data collected by the US Forest Service Research & Development branch. The primary focus of this work is on historical data collected on the Experimental Forest System, with additional sub-projects coming from any of the Research Stations or the International Institute of Tropical Forestry. We propose to process the historical record of at least seven Experimental Forests, and identify at least 15 data sets for archiving. Formal metadata will be created to document each data set, along with other descriptive material as appropriate for the particular data set. As appropriate, we will also engage in the administrative deposit activities associated with an OAIS-compliant data repository.
A bat skin model to identify therapeutic approaches that enhance fungal recognition and augment innate immune response to white-nose syndrome
Investigators: Bruce Klein, School of Veterinary Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Funding: U.S. Geological Survey (National Wildlife Health Center)
Completion: November 30, 2022
The introduced fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) infects the skin of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) of North America, killing them by the millions due to WNS1. Keratinocytes represent 95% of the epidermal cells in skin and are the first barrier against microbes in bats, secreting antifungal peptides and cytokines, recruiting leukocytes, and initiating adaptive immunity 2–5. The goal of this project is to define how keratinocytes detect Pd compared to a non-pathogenic cutaneous fungus Trichophyton rendellii (Tr) 6 in order to develop a method of topical immunization against WNS. We hypothesize that keratinocytes detect the two fungi differently, driving distinct innate immune responses that are, in part, responsible for different infection outcomes. During hibernation bats become torpid and immune quiescent with periodic arousal and immune activation 7–9. Despite such immune restriction, hibernating little brown bats do clear infection by native, Pd-like, ascomycete fungi such as Tr 6. Although innate immune response is upregulated in the skin of WNS bats, this response is insufficient to halt Pd invasion of skin. There are remarkably similar paradigms involving human fungal infections. In chromoblastomycosis, a chronic, severe skin fungal infection caused by a Pd-like ascomycete Fonsecaea pedrosoi, innate immune recognition by a pattern recognition receptor (PRR) called Mincle is weak and insufficient to clear the fungus10. Yet, engagement of a second PRR, TLR7, together with Mincle clears the fungus. Chromoblastomycosis can thus be treated successfully by cutaneous application of Imiquimod® cream, which promotes Mincle and TLR7 co-receptor engagement and resolution of infection10,11. Based on this paradigm, we propose that understanding how keratinocytes recognize and respond to Pd (as compared to non-pathogenic Tr) will enable a rational basis for developing a preventive strategy to bolster innate immunity in hibernating bats, enabling them to resist infection with Pd. We have 3 specific aims: 1) Identify the PRR(s) that recognize Pd using reporter cells and validate results with bat keratinocytes; 2) Compare the innate response of keratinocytes on interaction to Pd and Tr; 3) Test commercial PRR ligands that trigger, together with Pd, an augmented innate response in bat keratinocytes (in vitro) and on little brown bats (in vivo).