Life Sciences Commons^™

Quantifying Undisturbed (Native) Lands In Eastern South Dakota: 2013, Pete Bauman, Benjamin Carlson, Tanner Butler

Quantifying Undisturbed (Native) Lands in Eastern South Dakota: 2013

We employed simple GIS methods primarily utilizing the South Dakota Farm Service Agency’s Common Land Unit (CLU) data layers from 2013, along with 2012 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) county mosaic aerial imagery, to evaluate approximately 22.6 million acres of land in the 44 counties that comprise eastern South Dakota. Mapping of this total project area was done in three distinct project phases from 2014 through 2016. We utilized the CLU data layer, queried to show current and former cropland, to first identify and remove any areas with a cropping history, regardless of current land …

Research Update: Bud Bank Ecology For Understanding Perennial Grass Persistence, Lan Xu

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Grassland ecosystems often demonstrate very remarkable resiliency to severe natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Such resiliency following disturbances comes from either seed banks (germinable seeds in the soil) or bud banks (meristems or buds, such as bulbs, bulbils, and buds on rhizomes, corms, and tubers, that generate vegetative tissues). Although seeds are important for dispersal, initial colonization, and maintenance of genetic diversity; few grass seeds persist in the soil more than five years, plus seed production often is unreliable under grazing. Recent studies have demonstrated that >99% of aboveground stems in undisturbed tallgrass prairie were recruited from the bud bank while <1% were recruited from the seed bank. Even under grazed or disturbed sites in tallgrass prairie, belowground buds make a significantly larger contribution (80%) to plant recruitment than do seeds (20%).

Mapping Temperate Vegetation Climate Adaptation Variability Using Normalized Land Surface Phenology, Liang Liang, Mark D. Schwartz, Xiaoyang Zhang

GSCE Faculty Publications

Climate influences geographic differences of vegetation phenology through both contemporary and historical variability. The latter effect is embodied in vegetation heterogeneity underlain by spatially varied genotype and species compositions tied to climatic adaptation. Such long-term climatic effects are difficult to map and therefore often neglected in evaluating spatially explicit phenological responses to climate change. In this study we demonstrate a way to indirectly infer the portion of land surface phenology variation that is potentially contributed by underlying genotypic differences across space. The method undertaken normalized remotely sensed vegetation start-of-season (or greenup onset) with a cloned plants-based phenological model. As the …

Effects Of Short-Term Cattle Exclusion On Plant Community Composition: Prairie Dog And Ecological Site Influences, Aaron Field, Kevin Sedivec, John Hendrickson, Patricia Johnson, Benjamin Geaumont, Lan Xu, Roger N. Gates, Ryan Limb

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

On the Ground

• Maintaining cattle and prairie dogs on rangelands is important ecologically, economically, and culturally. However, competition between these species, both actual and perceived, has led to conflict.
• We explored the effects of short-term (2-year) cattle exclusion on plant communities both on and off prairie dog towns and among three common ecological sites.
• Plant communities were different between on-town and off-town plots and among ecological sites but were similar between cattle-excluded and nonexcluded plots.
• Plant community composition did not differ between rangeland targeted for moderate forage utilization and that in which cattle had been excluded for 2 years.

Effect Of Grazing Prairie Dog—Colonized Rangeland On Cattle Nutrition And Performance: A Progress Report, Kenneth C. Olson, Christopher Schauer, Chanda Engel, Janna J. Kincheloe, Jameson R. Brennan, Ben L. Hauptman

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

On the Ground

• One objective of the ongoing Renewal on Standing Rock Reservation project is to evaluate the response of grazing steers to the level of prairie dog colonization on Northern Mixed Grass Prairie.
• We fenced four pastures to create an increasing gradient of a proportion of the pasture area colonized by prairie dogs. Pastures are stocked with yearling steers during each growing season.
• Comparing steer performance, Global Positioning System (GPS) locations of grazing, diet samples, and ingestive behavior at each proportion of the prairie dog colony per pasture allows prediction of the optimal proportion of colonization, which enables selection …

A Physiological Assessment Of Wetland Habitats For Spring-Migrating Ducks In The Agricultural Landscapes Of The Southern Prairie Pothole Region, Adam K. Janke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The conversion of grassland and wetland ecosystems in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) has been a pervasive challenge for conservationists dating back to the early 1900s. The legacy of ever-increasing agricultural intensity in the southern portions of the PPR, including eastern South Dakota, has left many wetland ecosystems in a matrix of intensive agricultural production. With little surrounding nesting cover, these wetlands are thought to have limited potential for waterfowl reproduction but may still play an important role facilitating migration of waterfowl en route to northern breeding areas during spring. My research sought to understand the contributions of wetlands in …

Changes In Wetland Conditions And Wetland Plant Communities In The Prairie Pothole Region After 50 Years, Ryann Cressey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands in Stutsman County, North Dakota were revisited after 50 years to assess changes in wetland conditions and plant communities within wetland zones in the Prairie Pothole Region. In 1961-1966, Robert E. Stewart and Harold A. Kantrud conducted a study to investigate the relationship of wetland plant communities to variations of water permanence and chemistry on three study areas: Crystal Springs, Cottonwood, and Mt. Moriah. Within in this region, a severe drought occurred in 1988- 1992 followed by the longest deluge starting in 1993 with wetlands still impacted today. In 2013 and 2014, I revisited 80 of the original wetlands …

Effect Of Oil And Natural Gas Development On Survival And Health Of White-Tailed Deer In The Western Dakotas, Katherine L. Moratz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oil and gas development in North Dakota has resulted in the need for information regarding how increased activity has affected white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations. We evaluated white-tailed deer ecology in response to energy development and hypothesized that oil and gas development would negatively affect adult and neonate white-tailed deer due to increased vehicle traffic and human-related effects. We captured and radio-collared adult female and neonate white-tailed deer across three study areas: Dunn County, North Dakota, an area influenced by energy development, and Grant County, North Dakota, and Perkins County, South Dakota, areas not impacted by energy development at this …

Current Status Of Falcon Populations In Saudi Arabia, Albara M. Binothman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Falcons (Falco spp.) are widely used for falconry in the countries of the Middle East. During the 2015 breeding season, we surveyed historic and active nest sites of Barbary (Falco pelegrinoides pelegrinoides) and Lanner (F. biarmicus) Falcons in Saudi Arabia. Field and questionnaire surveys were conducted and personal contact with falconers was made to document the current distribution and price changes for Lanner Falcons, Barbary Falcons, Saker Falcons (F. cherrug), Peregrine Falcons (F. peregrinus), Gyrfalcons (F. rusticolus), and Hybrid Falcons in Saudi Arabia. We categorized our survey into three geographic groups; southwest (A), northwest (B), and central (C) regions of …

Ecology Of Largemouth Bass In An Aging Reservoir: Implications For Creating A Trophy Largemouth Bass Fishery, Jason Breeggemann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are an estimated 3-9 million small reservoirs and nearly 1,000 large reservoirs in the United States. Most of these reservoirs were built several decades ago and are experiencing symptoms of reservoir aging, including loss of habitat, sedimentation, and decreased fishery production. Furthermore, over the last several decades, there has been an increasing interest among anglers for high quality, trophy fisheries. However, little is known about exactly how the reservoir aging process affects the ecology and especially growth potential of Largemouth Bass, particularly under potential climate change scenarios. Grand Lake in TX is a 45ha ageing reservoir that was built …

Raptors In Temperate Grasslands: Ecology Of Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, And Northern Harrier In The Northern Great Plains, Shubham Datta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis) are a grassland and shrubland obligate nesting raptor and prefer lightly grazed pasture or idle areas for nesting. Their population reportedly declines in number if more than 30% of an area is cultivated and they rarely nest in areas dominated by croplands. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are long-lived raptors with high nest-site fidelity and relatively low reproductive success. Population trends of golden eagles in western United States are unclear although long-term monitoring of populations shows declines in occupancy and breeding performance. Northern harriers (Circus cyaneus) prefer relatively open grasslands and …

Financial Investment Management For Forest Sustainability, Zarina Ismailova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is paper is discussion about main problems of forest management, whether financial investment has a substantial impact on the long term perspective of forest landscape restoration and, more specifically, what strategy and what financial options are available to make the forest projects more sustainable. A few relevant questions to ask are: who are the main actors in the implementation of FLR projects; which steps have to be taken; and, which financial options would more suitable and would be feasible to implement. There are three main parts of this research to be investigated:

1. forest issues along with their respective solutions, …