Research Topics

[mej4219]

Howdy guys!

I'm about to start a non-thesis masters program at Texas A&M in Natural Resource Development where I'll have to write a few publications. These won't be as long as a thesis, but are supposed to be professional papers.

So my question is what should I write about. As of now I'm probably going to start with Axis deer impacts on grazing and looking into how to attract Nilgai to some sort of bait so that they could be vaccinated against cattle ticks.

I'm going to try to do at least one more, but am out of ideas, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I'll be sure to post links to articles here once they're finished.

Thanks in advance for your input!

[BlackHogDown]

Very interesting. I dont have any ideas but I'm interested in responses.

They've began testing the "nematode spritz" method of vaccinating Nilgai against cattle fever ticks. Not a bait, per se, but are instead dosing them at "communal latrines" they visit regularly. Or something like that. You'd know better than I would, given your area of study. Curious to see how that turns out.

https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2019/02/04/six-ranches-testing-antitick-method-on-nilgai/

[MLank]

I've heard this somewhere on a podcast, so maybe the paper has been done, but:

An analysis on fawn survival rate when coyotes are heavily killed in the spring, vs casually shooting yotes throughout the year.

[brokeno]

Hog eradication and then send it to Tpwd.

[mej4219]

Yep I've seen that. I've also seen some rollers that go on fences that nilgai frequently go under to roll a treatment on their backs. Lots of research being done on it now, so I would just be trying to consolidate and weigh pros and cons of some of the more proven methods.

[bklem]

Effects or non-effects of cottonseed in controlled and non-controlled environments.

[mej4219]

The coyote issue is such a hot button issue with a lot of people on either side it would be hard to summarize it all. I personally think a lot of the effects of coyotes are regionally dependent on a number of factors, but that could be interesting to propose...

Agrilife Extension has a lot of good material on hogs as of now, and they're working with TPWD and other state agencies to try to figure out a good method of eradicating hogs with as little non target death as possible. They should be wrapping up a few of those studies soon, so we'll have to see what comes out soon.

Oooh, I like the cottonseed idea. I haven't personally looked too deep into that so I'll have to...

[westtexducks]

Maybe do a study on the impact of pheasant competition on native bird species such as the prairie chicken which is threatened and directly shares habitat with the prairie chicken.


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[Stoof]

High fences and effects of habitat fragmentation.

[Txhuntr2]

Anthrax transmission vectors. Huge outbreak in SW Texas right now so its timely. There also seems to be an incomplete understanding of the way it is acquired. Some research seems to indicate the spores are carried up from the soil mechanically by plants then eaten by herbivores while others seem to think its spread by biting flies. Maybe a combination of both.

[Hooverfb]

Heavy metal samples in produce/livestock where lead shot is used vs steel vs "hevi shot" variants. Or maybe same thing but by air quality/distance to cities. Just first things off top of my head.

[flywise]

Alge bloom toxins

[Txhuntr2]

Accumulation of persistent environmental toxins in the flesh of herbivores living near polluted waterways. We know many persistent toxins bioaccumulate and biomagnify up the food chain with fish and predatory birds, but how are deer and cattle affected if they consume the water and grass/forbes/browse in those areas. I have a buddy who has some land near Houston with a creek that has a ban on eating the fish due to pollution but we've wondered whether his cattle or the deer are affected too.

[Hoggslayer]

Anthrax transmission vectors. Huge outbreak in SW Texas right now so its timely. There also seems to be an incomplete understanding of the way it is acquired. Some research seems to indicate the spores are carried up from the soil mechanically by plants then eaten by herbivores while others seem to think its spread by biting flies. Maybe a combination of both.

There is a vaccination for Cattle but no reliable way to introduce this vaccine to a wild deer population. A paper on this subject with possible ideas on how the distribute the vaccine to deer in the wild would probably be a good subject.

[mej4219]

Figuring out how to get the vaccine to deer would be an interesting subject.

The anthrax vectors is a bit outside of my wheelhouse (I'm more into the management side of everything rather than the biology side). I'm trying to focus on consolidating new scientific methods/discoveries into accessible and understandable practices that can be implemented by people who may not have the scientific or management background in the area.

Accumulation of toxins in plants near polluted water could be a good topic but might already have some research into it, I'd have to look. It would probably end up being a joint paper with an ecohydrologist but could have some pretty far reaching impacts.


Keep the ideas coming these are great!