e-obs Stories & Publications

@article{koch_risk_2026,

title = {Risk Factors and Coinfection Dynamics of Pathogens in Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) From Pennsylvania, USA},

author = {Ryan W. Koch and Axel O. G. Hoarau and Tryssa Ruyter and Caitlin Duffy and Lucie Pascarosa and Kerry A. Campbell and Casey L. Maynard and Andrew Cushman and Heather Flick and Anthony Musselman and Julianna Patsko and Rachel Bealer and Graham Rhone and Mary Jo Casalena and Andrew Di Salvo and Ken Duren and Jay T. Armstrong and Frances E. Buderman and R. Scott Larsen and Caroline Sobotyk and Erica A. Miller and Kevin D. Niedringhaus and Brock Geary and Eman Anis and Roderick B. Gagne},

url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ece3.73079},

doi = {10.1002/ece3.73079},

issn = {2045-7758},

year  = {2026},

date = {2026-01-01},

urldate = {2026-02-17},

journal = {Ecology and Evolution},

volume = {16},

number = {2},

pages = {e73079},

abstract = {Interactions between co-occurring pathogens can have complex and significant impacts on host survival, fitness, and population dynamics. While common in wildlife, coinfections are often overlooked, and research may create biased management perspectives when individual pathogens are assessed in isolation. Recent work has found that wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are affected by various pathogens, but it is unknown how infections and coinfections are spatially structured or interact with each other. Here, we determined the associations and risk factors of infection by lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV), reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), three avian Mycoplasma species, and internal parasites in Pennsylvania wild turkeys. Our results indicate varying prevalences: LPDV (70%), REV (1%), Mycoplasma gallisepticum (0%), Mycoplasma meleagridis (4%), Mycoplasma synoviae (2%), and internal parasites (63%). The prevalence of LPDV was greater in adults than juveniles but did not vary with year, sex, study area, or landscape type. Parasite species richness was greater in juveniles than adults, greater in males than females, varied by year and study area, but did not vary with landscape type. Coinfections with LPDV and parasites were more common (41%) than infections with only LPDV (26%) or only parasites (22%). All other coinfection prevalences involving viruses, Mycoplasma species, and parasites were low (0%\textendash3%). Finally, infection with LPDV did not differ with overall parasite species richness but was negatively associated with infection with parasitic nematodes. These results reveal high rates of coinfections with LPDV and parasites in turkeys but suggest that parasite infections are independent of LPDV infections. Ongoing work is currently investigating the sublethal effects of these coinfections on wild turkey populations.},

note = {_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.73079},

keywords = {disease, disease surveillance, Ecology, ground, ground dwelling, human conflict, infectious diseases, LPDV, Mycoplasma, nest success, Nesting Disease, parasite, social, telemetry, terrestrial, turkey, Turkey Movement, turky, Wild Turkey, wildlife, Wildlife Management},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{butler_vital_2025,

title = {Vital rates and population trajectory of a declining eastern wild turkey population in southeastern Oklahoma},

author = {Nicolle Butler and R. Dwayne Elmore and Cody Griffin and Kent Andersson and Michael Barrett and Cyrena Bedoian and Craig A. Davis and Samuel D. Fuhlendorf and Evan P. Tanner and M. Colter Chitwood},

url = {https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wsb.70002},

doi = {10.1002/wsb.70002},

issn = {2328-5540, 2328-5540},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-12-01},

urldate = {2025-12-17},

journal = {Wildlife Society Bulletin},

volume = {49},

number = {S1},

pages = {e70002},

abstract = {Abstract 

 The eastern wild turkey ( 

 Meleagris gallopavo silvestris 

 ; hereafter, wild turkey) is a culturally and economically important game species in North America, yet populations have shown apparent declines across their distribution. Oklahoma, USA, has not been immune to declines, with several indices of abundance and recruitment (e.g., poults per female) trending downward in recent years. To investigate underlying demographic rates driving apparent declines in Oklahoma, we quantified current stage‐specific survival and reproductive rates. Our objective was to determine the current population trajectory using field‐derived vital rates and identify which demographic factors had the greatest influence on the asymptotic population growth rate (λ). In 2022 and 2023, we captured 28 and 33 female wild turkeys, respectively, during winter (January\textendashMarch) using rocket nets in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Overall annual survival was low (0.40; 95% CI: 0.27\textendash0.59, 

 n = 48), with higher survival in after‐second‐year females (0.55; 95% CI: 0.37\textendash0.82) than second‐year females (0.30; 95% CI: 0.16\textendash0.58); mammalian predation was the leading cause of mortality. Additionally, reproductive output was low, with only 17% of incubated nests (5 of 28) successfully hatching poults and no observed poults survived until independence. A stage‐structured projection matrix parameterized with our field‐derived estimates predicted a 45% annual population decline under current estimated demographic rates. Sensitivity and elasticity analyses corroborated previous work that determined adult female survival as the most influential vital rate driving population dynamics. However, the lack of any poults achieving independence indicates concern regarding the lack of recruitment. Our results underscore the importance of understanding and managing factors that influence adult female survival and reproduction to address wild turkey population declines. Our findings also highlight the necessity of sustained, long‐term monitoring to better understand population dynamics across time and variable environmental conditions. Additionally, while our work provides insights into a local population, there is a need for continued distribution‐wide efforts to identify broad‐scale drivers of population change.},

keywords = {bird, Bird‐2A‐IMU, matrix models, Meleagris gallopavo, nest success, Oklahoma, survival, telemetry, Wild Turkey},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}