Jessica L. McGuire

Georgia Department of Natural Resources · Wildlife Resources- Private Lands

Abstract From 2011-2012, we studied a gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) population with a historically high prevalence of antibodies to Mycoplasma agassizii to assess long-term effects of upper-respiratory-tract disease (URTD) on tortoise behavior. We radiotracked 30 adult tortoises (16 males, 14 females) from a long-term study site with the us...

Abstract Upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) in the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is highly contagious and has been implicated in the reduction of populations throughout the range. With the exception of a few limited studies, the prevalence of URTD in Georgia, USA tortoise populations is poorly known. We found that exposure to Mycoplasma...

Adult gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) are difficult to physically restrain, particularly for examination of the upper respiratory tract and oral cavity-areas important for biological sample collection during disease surveillance studies. Collection of nasal lavage is required for determining the status of Mycoplasma infection in tortoises. A...

The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), one of five tortoise species endemic in the USA, was recently classified as a candidate for federal listing as a threatened species. Fecal samples collected from 117 tortoises from eight sites in Georgia were examined for endoparasites using a combination of sedimentation and flotation. Samples from an isl...

Background/Question/Methods: Ticks are primarily, known to be an obligated external parasite on vertebrate hosts, which suggests that their distribution is restricted by the specific habitat requirements of the host organism. They not only damage the skin of the host organism during feeding but can also transmit disease-causing pathogens to the o...

The interactive effects of environmental stressors and emerging infectious disease pose potential threats to stream salamander communities and their headwater stream ecosystems. To begin assessing these threats, we conducted occupancy surveys and pathogen screening of stream salamanders (Family Pletho-dontidae) in a protected southern Appalachians...

The interactive effects of environmental stressors and emerging infectious disease pose potential threats to stream salamander communities and their headwater stream ecosystems. To begin assessing these threats, we conducted occupancy surveys and pathogen screening of stream salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) in a protected southern Appalachians w...

The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) is an Old World dipteran ectoparasite of moose (Alces alces) and other Cervidae. It has undergone significant expansion in distribution on moose of Scan-dinavia in recent decades. This has been accompanied by much published research dealing with the range expansion and possible factors involved, problems for moose, ex...