Wild Pig Impacts on Water Quality with Dr. John Brooks

Field, Lab, Earth

“A preliminary investigation of wild pig (Sus scrofa ) impacts in water quality” with Dr. John Brooks.

Wild pigs are an invasive species that impact at least thirty-five states in the United States with a population of approximately six million and growing. With few natural predators and a high reproduction rate, they are a highly mobile species that can contaminate local waters with soil, fecal materials, and even disease. But can they carry antimicrobial resistance as well? Dr. John Brooks and his team worked with other researchers who are modeling pig behaviors and ecology in order to help quantify just how big of an impact these wild pigs might have.

Listen in to learn:

• How researchers go about capturing wild pigs
• What attributes make wild pigs well suited to rapid movement and growth
• What kinds of microbes wild pigs may carry
• What local landowners can do to help combat the spread of wild pigs

If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20036

It will be freely available from 17 July to 31 July, 2020.

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If you would like to reach out to John, you can find him here: [e-mail] https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person/?person-id=40050

Resources

CEU Quiz: http://www.agronomy.org/education/classroom/classes/848

Wild Pig Infor site from Mississippi State University: https://www.wildpiginfo.msstate.edu/

CDC site on Antimicrobial Resistance: https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/index.html

WHO site on Antimicrobial Resistance: https://www.who.int/health-topics/antimicrobial-resistance

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