Vegetation is a key component of salt marsh monitoring programs, but different methods can make comparing datasets difficult. We compared data on vegetation composition and cover collected with 3 methods (point-intercept, Braun-Blanquet visual, and floristic quality assessment [FQA]) in 3 Rhode Island salt marshes. No significant differences in plant community composition were found among the methods, and differences in individual species cover in a marsh never exceeded 6% between methods. All methods were highly repeatable, with no differences in data collected by different people. However, FQA was less effective at identifying temporal changes at the plot scale. If data are collected from many plots in a marsh, any of the methods are appropriate, but if plot-scale patterns are of interest, we recommend point-intercept.

Lyme disease is an emerging infectious disease of public health concern in the northeastern United States. The disease's vector, (Say) (Blacklegged Tick), has increased its range in the past twenty years. In its newly endemic northern range there have been few studies of the Blacklegged Tick's habitat associations. From 2016-2018, we sampled for nymphal Blacklegged Ticks in the Champlain Valley and Green Mountains of Addison County, Vermont, and tested them for , the Lyme disease agent. We found 10 times more ticks in the Champlain Valley than in the Green Mountains. Nymphal infection prevalence was 0.21 and did not vary by year or region. The difference in tick density reported has public health consequences, as Vermont has one of the highest rates of Lyme disease in the United States.

Prairie vole males typically display robust preferences for affiliation with their respective mates that indicate the expression of a pair-bond. However, it recently has been shown that the strength of a male vole's pair-bond can differ depending on the reproductive status of his mate. In the present study, we examined the possibility that female-controlled pacing of the mating sequence could alter males' affiliative behaviors in a partner-preference test by affecting reproductive success. We expected an earlier onset of mating and thus earlier onset of pregnancy would occur if females controlled the pace of mating, in turn, reinforcing males' preference for their familiar mates vs for a stranger. We found that female-pacing did not affect latency to mating, mating duration, or any of our other measures of social or mating behaviors. Further, female paced-mating did not alter reproductive success as indicated by litter size. We conclude that female-paced mating in prairie voles does not impact the formation, consolidation and/or expression of a pair-bond, either directly or indirectly, by their male partners.

(Black-legged Tick) has expanded its range in recent decades. To establish baseline data on the abundance of the Black-legged Tick and (causative agent of Lyme disease) at the edge of a putative range expansion we collected 1398 ticks from five locations along the Connecticut River in Vermont. Collection locations were approximately evenly distributed between the villages of Ascutney and Guildhall. Relative abundance and distribution by species varied across sites. Black-legged Ticks dominated our collections ( = 1348, 96%), followed by (Rabbit Tick, = 45, 3%) and (American Dog Tick, = 5, <1%). Black-legged Tick abundance ranged from 6198 ticks per survey hectare (all life stages combined) at the Thetford site to zero at the Guildhall site. There was little to no overlap of tick species across sites. Phenology of Black-legged Ticks matched published information from other regions of the northeastern USA. Prevalence of in adult Black-legged Ticks was 8.9% ( = 112).

Reduced populations of (Little Brown Myotis) devastated by white-nose syndrome (WNS) persist in eastern North America. Between 2009 and 2013, we recaptured 113 marked individuals that survived between 1 and 6 winters in New England since the arrival of WNS. We also observed signs of reproductive success in 57 recaptured bats.