#muledeer — Public Fediverse posts

Predicting Disease Spread From Host Movement Data - Chronic Wasting Disease In North America As A Case Study
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https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70310 <-- shared paper
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https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70278253 <-- shared USGS publication
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[animation: An animated map of the distribution of chronic wasting disease in the U.S. and Canada from 2007-2024.]
H/T @USGS
“Does host movement play a role in the spread of chronic wasting disease?🦌
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurodegenerative prion disease affecting deer, elk, and other cervids, has now been detected in 37 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces. Understanding how the disease spreads across landscapes is critical to managing it, and one hypothesis is that regions where deer move long distances, as with seasonal migrations, there should be faster disease spread.
A new USGS study tests this hypothesis. Using published GPS deer movement and CWD spread data, scientists built statistical models predicting how fast CWD should spread based on the migration and dispersal patterns of mule deer and white-tailed deer. They then compared these predictions to two decades of observed CWD detection data across North America (2005 to 2022).
The results were only partially consistent with expectations:
💠Western epicenters with highly mobile mule deer did have faster CWD spread rates than regions with only white-tailed deer.
💠In the Canadian Prairie Provinces (Alberta/Saskatchewan), deer movements were shorter than in Colorado or Wyoming, yet CWD spread faster there.
💠Predicted CWD spread based on deer movement resulted in slower rates than the observed CWD rates showing that accounting for migration or juvenile dispersal did not fully explain the observed CWD rate estimates.
This study provides the first estimates of CWD spread rates across the U.S. and Canada. These results help to inform an important management tradeoff: deer movements can contribute to disease spread, but migration may also help support resilient and healthy wildlife populations…”
#ChronicWastingDisease #CWD #host #movement #spatial #mapping #GIS #NorthAmerica #Canada #USA #wildlife #neurodegenerative #prion #disease #deer #GPS #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #seasonal #migration #literaturereview #opendata #USGS #muledeer #whitetaildeer #spread #rate #prairie #openrange #pasture #grassland #montane #riverine #animal #animalmovement #anthropogenic #humaninpacts
@USGS

More #DataCenters, more #environmental problems?

As #AI’s reach grows, the need for data centers multiplies. So, too, could the #EcologicalImpacts without hands-on mitigation.

By Ambika Kandasamy, Sep 24, 2025

Excerpt: "A December 2024 preprint of a study from researchers at the University of California, Riverside, and California Institute of Technology outlined the toll of AI-related #AirPollution. 'AI contributes substantially to air quality degradation and public health costs through the emission of various criteria #AirPollutants,' the authors wrote.

"Other forms of #pollution, such as light and noise, also could be problematic. Neil Carter, an associate professor at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, has studied the links between #SensoryPollution and conservation. While he hasn’t researched #AIDatacenters’ impact on #wildlife specifically, he says AI data centers potentially could be '#SensoryDangerZones.'

" 'Sensory danger zones are basically where we have reason to believe that the amount of light and the amount of noise is exceeding thresholds by which you can imagine there being a fitness consequence for species,' Carter says. 'And they may not be able to carry out the necessary functions that they normally would.' Research by Carter and his colleagues has explored how #LightPollution, for example, could disrupt the dynamics between predator and prey species, such as #cougars and #MuleDeer. Their research also has looked into how #AnthropogenicSounds could affect reproduction in #birds including the #NorthernCardinal, #OakTitmouse and #BarnSwallow.

"To address some of these issues, experts recommend adopting sustainable strategies when building and operating AI data centers and when using AI. The decisions 'we make today will be having an impact on the public health for many years to come, due to the long life span for data center projects,' says Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside, and an author of the #AirPollution study."

Read more:
https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2025/Fall/Conservation/AI-Data-Centers

#Datacenters #EnvironmentalImpact #NoisePollution #EndangeredSpecies
#DataCenterMoratorium #AISucks
#NoDatacenters
#HyperscaleDatacenters #ResistDatacenters #Resistance
#FightBack #DatacentersSuck
#AIResistance #AISucks
#AIDataCenters