Snowpack Affects Wildlife Disease in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
In the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, state and federal managers feed more than 6,000 metric tons of hay to elk and bison every year. USGS researcher Paul Cross, in collaboration with colleagues at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, recently found that increased snowpack results in longer feeding seasons, and sites with longer feeding periods had a greater presence of brucellosis - a bacterial disease that infects elk, bison and cattle in the region. The results suggest that reducing the feeding season by a month may reduce the prevalence of brucellosis in elk by up to two-thirds. Cross is now using satellite imagery and GPS collars to identify the locations and times when cattle are at the greatest risk of infection from elk
In the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, state and federal managers feed more than 6,000 metric tons of hay to elk and bison every year. USGS researcher Paul Cross, in collaboration with colleagues at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, recently found that increased snowpack results in longer feeding seasons, and sites with longer feeding periods had a greater presence of brucellosis - a bacterial disease that infects elk, bison and cattle in the region. The results suggest that reducing the feeding season by a month may reduce the prevalence of brucellosis in elk by up to two-thirds. Cross is now using satellite imagery and GPS collars to identify the locations and times when cattle are at the greatest risk of infection from elk
