A Triennial Symposium Focusing on Animal Mortality Management
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Alan Franklin
Tuesday, June 30th
Biography:
Dr. Alan Franklin recently retired as Supervisory Research Biologist and Leader of the Wildlife Pathogens, Agriculture and One Health Project at the USDA-APHIS-WS National Wildlife Research Center where he led a team conducting research on the effect of wildlife pathogens on agricultural and human health. He currently is a Faculty Affiliate at Colorado State University. He received his B.S. in wildlife science from Cornell University, his M.S in wildlife at Humboldt State University, and his Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from Colorado State University. Dr. Franklin's expertise is primarily on the ecology and dynamics of wildlife populations, particularly in integrating wildlife population ecology with wildlife disease ecology. He currently conducts research on the ecology of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in wildlife populations at the agricultural-wildlife interface, as well as other pathogens in wildlife that affect agricultural and human health.
Presentation Title: Wildlife Mortality and Conservation: Are Emerging Diseases an Increasing Threat to Wildlife Populations
Abstract: Although disease has been long recognized as one factor affecting wildlife populations, it is only until in recent decades that disease has become increasingly important in causing wide-spread mortality in wildlife populations. Diseases causing recent large-scale mortality in wildlife include West Nile viral disease in birds, white-nosed syndrome in bats, and highly-pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in wild birds and mammals. Mechanisms that help us understand the impacts of these diseases include tipping points, density dependence, social structure, and population characteristics, such as distribution, abundance, and reproductive potential. Under excessive mortality, these mechanisms can dictate whether wildlife populations will recover, face extirpation or ultimately face extinction. The problem is that disease may now become an unpredictable factor in conserving wildlife populations because of the potential for more numerous and larger mortality events. I will try to integrate these mechanisms and issues with recent major mortality events in wildlife from emerging diseases to provide a process for understanding the effects of large-scale mortality on wildlife populations and the implications for wildlife conservation.