Impacts from control operations on a recreationally hunted feral swine population at a large military installation in Florida

Feral swine were targeted for control at Avon Park Air Force Range in south-central Florida to avert damage to sensitive wetland habitats on the 40,000-ha base. We conducted a 5-year study to assess impacts from control to this population that had been recreationally hunted for many years. Control w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science and pollution research international 2014-06, Vol.21 (12), p.7689-7697
Main Authors: Engeman, Richard, Hershberger, Troy, Orzell, Steve, Felix, Rodney, Killian, Gary, Woolard, John, Cornman, Jon, Romano, David, Huddleston, Chet, Zimmerman, Pat, Barre, Chris, Tillman, Eric, Avery, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Animals
Animals, Wild
Aquatic habitats
Aquatic Pollution
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Bears
Canis latrans
Conservation of Natural Resources
Coyotes
Cultural heritage
Dry season
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecosystem
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental Chemistry
Environmental Health
Feral populations
Florida
Habitats
Introduced species
Invasive species
Military Facilities
military lands
Native species
Natural resources
Nonnative species
Population
Population Control - methods
Population decline
Population studies
Puma concolor
Rainy season
Recreation
Research Article
Seasons
Swine
Trends
Ursus
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Wetlands
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Feral swine were targeted for control at Avon Park Air Force Range in south-central Florida to avert damage to sensitive wetland habitats on the 40,000-ha base. We conducted a 5-year study to assess impacts from control to this population that had been recreationally hunted for many years. Control was initiated in early 2009. The feral swine population was monitored from 2008 to 2012 using a passive tracking index (PTI) during the dry and wet seasons and using recreational hunter take rates from the dry season. All three indices showed substantial feral swine declines after implementing control, with indices leveling for the final two study years. Military missions and recreational hunting seasons impacted temporal and spatial consistency of control application, thereby limiting further impacts of control efforts on the feral swine population. The PTI was also able to monitor coyotes, another invasive species on the base, and detect Florida black bear and Florida panther, species of particular concern.
ISSN:0944-1344
1614-7499
DOI:10.1007/s11356-014-2727-9