Evaluation of Transmitter Attachment Techniques on Growth of Wild Turkey Poults

We compared the effects on growth of backpack-mounted and surgically implanted radiotransmitters used as marking techniques in studies of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) poult survival. We applied repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bayesian analysis to evaluate the null hypothesis...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of wildlife management 1998-10, Vol.62 (4), p.1574-1578
Main Authors: Hubbard, Michael W., Tsao, Ling-Ling C., Klaas, Erwin E., Kaiser, Mark, Jackson, Dewaine H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Average linear density
Backpacks
Biological and medical sciences
Control groups
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects. Techniques
Latex
Marking techniques
Meleagris gallopavo
Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...)
Mortality
Poults
Radio transmitters
Transmitters
Turkeys
Wildfowl
Wildlife management
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We compared the effects on growth of backpack-mounted and surgically implanted radiotransmitters used as marking techniques in studies of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) poult survival. We applied repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bayesian analysis to evaluate the null hypothesis that marking technique did not affect growth. Growth in body mass was similar among treatment groups. We did, however, find differences in wing-growth rates among treatment groups. The control group had the highest wing-growth rate, the backpack group had the lowest growth rate, and the surgical implant group was intermediate. Latex backpack harnesses also caused physical developmental problems that would have negatively biased wild poult survival estimates in the field. Surgically implanted transmitters affected wing growth less than the backpack harnesses and are therefore recommended for attaching transmitters to wild turkey poults.
ISSN:0022-541X
1937-2817
DOI:10.2307/3802024