DENIX
Other Mammals

Other Mammals

Fact Sheets

Reports and Materials

Interactions between density, home range behaviors, and contact rates in the Channel Island fox - Report (Legacy 08-308) pdf [859 KB]

This study explores how local density affects contact rates among Channel Island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) through two pathways: changes in home range size and changes in home range overlap. This study was motivated by concerns about how best to manage disease risk for canine distemper virus (CDV) after an 85% decline of the closely related Channel Island fox population on Santa Catalina Island, California, due to a CDV epidemic.

Spatial Ecology of the Island Fox - Final Report, July 2011 (Legacy 08-308) pdf [709 KB]

Fox densities on San Clemente and San Nicolas Island are unusually high, making this population particularly susceptible to the spread of a novel virulent disease. Furthermore, fox densities vary among habitats within each island in ways that influence home range behaviors, making it difficult to predict the outcome of a disease introduction. By use of radio collars, the goals of this project were to determine how density mediated changes in fox behaviors affect disease spread through changes in the frequency of contact among neighboring foxes, and 2) to use that information to inform a spatially explicit epidemic model which can then be used to evaluate effective monitoring, vaccination, and response strategies to minimize the impact of diseases likely to infect island foxes.

Digital Radio Telemetry Monitoring of San Nicolas Island Foxes - Final Report, December 2008 (Legacy 07-308)

This report details the second year of a project demonstrating an efficient method for tracking daily survival of a large number of island foxes on San Nicolas Island, CA. The first goal of this project was to demonstrate a labor-saving novel technology to efficiently monitor the daily survival of a large sample of island foxes. The second goal was to develop mortality thresholds which trigger increasingly intensive management response when natural mortality rates are exceeded.

Remote Monitoring of Island Foxes (Legacy 06-308)

This report details an innovative radio-telemetry system for monitoring San Nicolas Island foxes through a DoD Legacy funded research and demonstration project on San Nicolas Island off the coast of California. It describes monitoring efforts and accomplishments using this system, summarize the results of the first year of intensively monitoring fox survival, and develop a preliminary set of monitoring-based criteria to trigger management actions based on these results. Includes a discussion of ways in which the system can be improved and new developments to be implemented in the second year of this project.

Island Fox Management Guidelines For Species At Risk On Department Of Defense September 2004 Report (Legacy 03-154)

This report characterizes the Island fox, Urocyon littoralis, A Species at Risk and how to manage for it.