Digital Commons Network^™

Tracking Large Carnivore Dispersal Using Isotopic Clues In Claws: An Application To Cougars Across The Great Plains, Viviane Hénaux, Larkin A. Powell, Keith A. Hobson, Clayton Kent Nielsen, Michelle A. Larue

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

1. Cougar (Puma concolor) populations, like other large carnivores, have increased during recent decades and may be recolonizing their former ranges in Midwestern North America. The dispersal routes taken by these animals from established populations are unknown and insight into these movements would facilitate their conservation and management.

2. We inferred the origin and migration route of four dispersing cougars using stable hydrogen (δD) and carbon (δ¹³C) isotope values along one of their claws. We compared isotopic variations within claws to regional and large-scale isoscapes of δD and δ¹³C values in prey species. Using …

River Geomorphology And Fish Barriers Affect On Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Fish Assemblages In The Niobrara River, Nebraska, Greg A. Wanner, Mark A. Pegg, Steven Schainost, Robert A. Klumb, Dane A. Shuman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Niobrara River in northern Nebraska traverses the heart of the Great Plains with portions of the river protected under the National Wild and Scenic River system managed by the National Park Service. The Niobrara River changes from a narrow, entrenched stream to a wide, highly braided river with four fish barriers and 36 distinct geomorphic segments in the lower 531 river kilometers (rkm). Our objectives were to examine the spatial and temporal patterns of fish assemblages in the Niobrara River related to environmental variables, fish barriers, and river geomorphology. Tote-barge electrofishing occurred monthly from June to September in 2009 …

Review Of Mammalian Teeth: Origin, Evolution, And Diversity By Peter S. Ungar, Patricia W. Freeman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Peter Ungar has written a book on mammalian teeth, a topic close to the heart of mammalogy itself and most mammalogists. His distillation of the massive literature on teeth into a succinct whole will appeal to scientists and professionals across disciplines. With paleontological and extant dental research in one place I no longer have to search these areas separately to find what I want. Ungar’s broad background includes physical anthropology, anatomy, and paleontology. Further, he has been one of the pioneers using dental microwear to analyze diets in primates and geographic information systems (GISs) on a microscale to study cusps …