Life Sciences Commons^™

Slides: Water Needs And Strategies For A Sustainable Future, Shaun Mcgrath

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Shaun McGrath, Program Director, Western Governors’ Association

25 slides

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Whatever Happened To The Public Interest?, Mark Squillace

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

15 slides

Slides: "Mitaku Oyasin" Means "We Are All Related", Bob Gough

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Bob Gough, NativeEnergy, Inc.

72 slides

Hybrid Zones, Genetic Isolation, And Systematics Of Pocket Gophers (Genus Geomys) In Nebraska., Hugh H. Genoways, Meredith J. Hamilton, Darin M. Bell, Ryan R. Chambers, Robert T. Bradley

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Pocket gophers of the genus Geomys are common inhabitants of many habitats throughout most of the state of Nebraska. Because the taxonomic history of Geomys has undergone numerous changes through the years, these pocket gophers have been the subjects of ongoing taxonomic and distributional studies and in more recent years genetic studies to understand relationships among populations. In order to gain deeper insight into the relationships among these taxa of Geomys, we intensively collected specimens from areas where chromosomal races were thought to form contact zones. Results from examination of genetic (chromosomes, mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene sequences, and nuclear interphotoreceptor …

Management Of Lands Along The Platte River Fromelmcreek To Lexington, Nebraska, As Crane Habitat, James J. Jenniges, Mark M. Peyton

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

To meet Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license requirements for the operation of 5 hydroelectric power plants on the North Platte and Platte Rivers in Nebraska, the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) and The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (Central) together have become the second largest owners and managers of lands for the conservation of endangered species and migratory waterbirds along the central reach of the Platte River. We describe here the management activities on the properties, success of the management in achieving objectives, and the response of sandhill (Grus canadensis) and whooping cranes (G. …

Is Magnitude Of Fat Storage By Spring-Staging Sandhill Cranes Declining In The Central Platte River Valley , Nebraska?, David A. Brandt, Gary L. Krapu

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Proximate analyses of carcasses of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) collected in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV), Nebraska, during spring 1999 indicated a marked decline in fat levels from springs 1978 and 1979. Concern that amounts of fat cranes stored by their spring departures from the CPRV may have further declined prompted this evaluation. For our assessment, we made use of morphological measurements (culmen post nares, tarsus, flattened wing chord) along with body mass on each of 810 sandhill cranes that were collected for proximate analysis or captured with rocket nets at widely distributed sites in the CPRV during 1978-1979 …

Temporal Dynamics And Flock Characteristics Of Sandhill Cranes In The Platte River Valley , Nebraska, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

I gathered information on crane flocks in the Platte River Valley during spring staging of 2002-2004. The objective of
this work was to evaluate hypotheses regarding flock size and formation using sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) flocks observed in
the Platte River Valley. Specifically, I wanted to: (a) evaluate the effect of period of migration, geographical location, and habitat
type on flock size, and (b) evaluate predictions regarding ecological theories of flock formation and behavior based on concentrated
resources, accessibility, social facilitation, and potential predation response. Flock size overall was influenced negatively by period
of migration (P < 0.001) and positively by geographical location (P < 0.01). Total crane abundance (55%) of flocks were located
in corn fields, but …

Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, 1819-1820: America's First Biodiversity Ineventory, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

It is our thesis that members of the Stephen Long Expedition of 1819-20 completed the first biodiversity inventory undertaken in the United States at their winter quarters, Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, in the modern state of Nebraska. This accomplishment has been overlooked both by biologists and historians, but it should rank among the most significant accomplishments of the expedition. The results of this inventory allow us to evaluate the environmental, faunal, and floral changes along the Missouri River in the intervening nearly 190 years. The historical records form a visual image of a dynamic riverine system in which a highly …

Is The Annual March Survey Of The Midcontinental San Dhill Crane Population Appropriately Timed To Reliably Estimate Population Size?, Gary L. Krapu, David A. Brandt

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relies on an annual aerial photo-corrected survey conducted on the fourth Tuesday of March each year in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) and North Platte River Valley (NPRV) of Nebraska to estimate size of the midcontinental population (MCP) of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) to help guide population management. Wide unaccounted for annual fluctuations in survey counts over the past 25 years have raised concerns that many cranes either have left the Platte before the survey, have not yet arrived, or over fly the Platte entirely in some years. As a result, …

Characterization Of A Contact Zone Between Two Subspecies Of The Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus Fuscus) In Nebraska, Justin D. Hoffman, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Two subspecies of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) are reported to occur in Nebraska. The eastern race, E. f. fuscus, is reportedly bigger and darker than its western counterpart E. f. pallidus. Where these 2 subspecies come in contact is the subject of debate. We used external, cranial, and colorimetric data to investigate geographic variation among populations of E. fuscus in Nebraska to determine the location of the zone of contact between E. f. fuscus and E. f. pallidus. We discovered significant variation in external, cranial, and colorimetric data, suggesting that E. fuscus is …

A Landscape Perspective Of Whooping Crane Migration Through Nebraska: Conservation And Management Implications, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, Chris Helzer, Paul Tebbel

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Past and current discussions of conservation of whooping crane (Grus americana) stopover habitat in Nebraska have long been focused on the Platte River. We evaluated the distribution of whooping crane stopover sites in Nebraska in a broader context to (a) determine the distribution of whooping crane stopover sites on the Platte River relative to other landscapes and (b) use whooping migratory behavior data to systematically define and explain patterns of stopover clusters. The distribution of stopover clusters suggests rainwater basin wetlands and the Platte River may be used interchangeably by migrating whooping cranes. The Rainwater Basin and Platte River appear …

Historic And Recent Distributions Of Elk In Nebraska, Kent A. Fricke, Michael A. Cover, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Scott R. Groepper, Hugh H. Genoways, Kit M. Hams, Kurt C. Vercauteren

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Elk (Cervus elaphus) were historically found throughout North America but were extirpated from Nebraska and much of the Great Plains in the 1880s due to consumptive uses by settlers, miners, market hunters, and others. Elk began to reappear in Nebraska in the 1950s and 1960s, and established a stable, nonmigratory population that currently consists of seven herds and an estimated 1,400 individuals throughout western and central Nebraska. The reappearance and subsequent persistence of elk in Nebraska suggests there is adequate habitat to support a self-sustaining population. The general movement of elk eastward may lead to an eventual statewide …