Life Sciences Commons^™

Simulating Detection-Censored Movement Records For Home Range Analysis Planning, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Victoria L. Simonsen, Lucía Corral, Christopher J. Chizinski, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Home range estimation is an important analytical method in applied spatial ecology, yet best practices for addressing the effects of spatial variation in detection probability on home range estimates remain elusive. We introduce the R package “DiagnoseHR,” simulation tools for assessing how variation in detection probability arising from landscape, animal behavior, and methodological processes affects home range inference. We demonstrate the utility of simulation methods for home range analysis planning by comparing bias arising from three home range estimation methods under multiple detection scenarios. We simulated correlated random walks in three landscapes that varied in detection probability and constructed home …

Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a multi-dimensional concept that can be decomposed to measure information about taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional variation within communities. Although the dimensions of biodiversity are interrelated, the assumption that measuring one dimension of diversity can inform about patterns in another dimension does not necessarily follow from theory or empirical study. The relationships among biodiversity dimensions is not well understood, nor how differences among dimensions could influence conservation decision making. Using the avian community as a study system, we explored the relationships of breadth metrics from the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions among each other and across …

The Biological Significance And Utility Of Feeding By Dermestes Maculatus, Braymond Adams

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With their efficient feeding habits and tolerance to very low moisture and humidity, beetles in the Family Dermestidae are especially adapted to variable environments and habitats. Dermestid cultures have been in use since 1922 in cleaning tissue and flesh from bones, and proven benefit in multiple fields, including zoology, ornithology, and forensics. Dermestid feeding behaviors when coupled with known life stage and insect succession information aids in providing significant entomological evidence. However, the feeding activities of insects, like those of vertebrate scavengers and predators, change remains and may leave artifacts that can be sometimes be difficult to assign to a …

Notes: Two-Headed White-Tailed Deer Fetus, William F. Jensen, Daniel M. Grove, Ryan J. Herigstad, William J. Haase

The Prairie Naturalist

On 6 April 2018 a female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus dakotensis) was hit and killed by a vehicle along HWY 1806 in rural Morton County, North Dakota, USA (N46o 38.617; W100o 42.901). Based upon dental eruption and wear (Severinghaus 1949), the female was estimated to be a >4.5 years-of-age. A male fetus with parapagus diprosopus (i.e., shared face) apparently was expelled from the adult female, and a domestic canine (Canis lupus familiaris) carried the fetus to a private residence. The resident contacted the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGFD) to turn in the fetus. On 10 April 2018, NDGFD …

Review: Canids Of The World: Wolves, Wild Dogs, Foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, And Their Relatives. José R. Castelló., Jonathan (Jon) Way

The Prairie Naturalist

Canids of the World is one of those reads where just when you think that something cannot be beat, this book comes out. What I mean by that is that I have read many works on wolves and other canids, most recently Nate Blakeslee’s American Wolf (Way 2017), and I have enjoyed and been enthralled with many of them. But Canids of the World may take the cake for being the most impressive book available on canids. For a modest price of just under $30.00, you can own a book that has over 600 amazing high-resolution glossy photographs of every …

Edges And Rushes Of Minnesota: The Completeguidetospeciesidentification. Welby R. Smith; Photography By Richard Haug., Edward S. Dekeyser

The Prairie Naturalist

Even the most seasoned individual with a plant identification background can relate to the difficulty of identifying sedges and rushes to the species level. Historically, one has had to rely on dichotomous keys to identify a sedge or rush species in the field. After hours of frustration, a person ends up collecting the plant and, if lucky, bringing the collection back to a herbarium where it can be compared to known specimens. I have been collecting and identifying sedge and rush species for over 25 years, and author Welby Smith along with photographer Richard Haug have published what I believe …

Review: Behavior Of The Golden Eagle: An Illustrated Ethogram. David H. Ellis (Illustrated By N. John Schmitt)., Jeremy E. Guinn

The Prairie Naturalist

Author David H. Ellis and illustrator N. John Schmitt deliver precisely what is promised in Behavior of the Golden Eagle: An Illustrated Ethogram. This “little volume,” as the author coins it, represents a single source for defining, identifying, and describing behaviors of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). With the inclusion of Schmitt’s exceptional drawings, the book is a piece of art, as well as the most useful manual describing Golden Eagle behaviors. Nearly four decades earlier, Ellis (1979) authored the very first Golden Eagle ethogram—the set of repeated standard behaviors for a species called action patterns—and in his new book, …

The Prairie Naturalist: The Journal Of The Great Plains Natural Science Society Volume 50 No. 2

The Prairie Naturalist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

43 EDITOR’S NOTE

RESEARCH ARTICLES

46 Metabolic Gas Emissions from Prairie Soil Containing Foraging Termites Charles E. Konemann, B. M. Kard, Tom A. Royer, and Mark. E. Payton

59 Comparison of northern flying and red squirrel phylogenies with focus on the insular United States Alyssa M. Kiesow, and Hugh B. Britten

NOTES

70 Two-Headed White-Tailed Deer Fetus

72 Red-Bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomacilata) Copulation in South Dakota

74 New Breeding Record and Location for Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) in the Nebraska Great Plains, USA

BOOK REVIEWS

76 Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota: The Complete Guide to Species Identification. …

Metabolic Gas Emissions From Prairie Soil Containing Foraging Termites, Charles E. Konemann, B.M. Kard, Tom A. Royer, Mark E. Payton

The Prairie Naturalist

Differences in subterranean termite metabolic gas emissions are readily observed in laboratory experiments. However, in natural field ecosystems a primary difficulty in measuring subterranean termite gases is non-homogeneous distribution of foraging termites in soil. Our field experiment was designed to aggregate foragers of the 'eastern subterranean termite', Reticulitermes flavipes Kollar (EST), in one of four flux chamber configurations placed on a tallgrass prairie throughout 2014 and 2015. We used differently configured flux chambers to measure metabolic gas emissions from soil with or without foraging termites on The Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (TGPP) in north-central Oklahoma. Foraging termitesaggregated in …

Review: North American Ducks, Geese & Swans: Identification Guide. Frank S. Todd., Kevin M. Ringelman

The Prairie Naturalist

The North American Duck, Geese & Swans: Identification Guide, released in 2018, is the culmination of a lifetime of waterfowl photography by the late Frank Todd. Indeed, this book stands apart from other identification guides as being entirely photo-driven, with minimal introductory material, notations of field marks, or descriptions of the various waterfowl species. It is small enough to be carried in the field (6.5” × 9” × 0.5”), but most readers will find it less useful than a standard bird identification book (Sibley 2014), even for waterfowl. As the title suggests, the Todd guide focuses on North American species, …

New Breeding Record And Location For Wilson’S Phalarope (Phalaropus Tricolor) In The Nebraska Great Plains, Usa, Madison O. Sutton, Nico Arcilla

The Prairie Naturalist

Wilson’s phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor; Scolopacidae) is a migratory shorebird that relies on interior wetlands for foraging and breeding (Colwell and Jehl 1994, van Gils et al. 2018). Its global population status is unclear (Colwell and Jehl 1994, Lesterhuis and Clay 2010), and is variously listed as declining (Morrison et al. 2006, van Gils et al. 2018), increasing (Andres 2009, BirdLife International 2018), and exhibiting a long-term decline but recent stability (Sauer et al. 2011, Andres et al. 2012). Its global population estimate of 1.5 million birds has not been updated for 30 years, since 1988 (Colwell and Jehl 1994, Lesterhuis …

Comparison Of Northern Flying And Red Squirrel Phylogenies With Focus On The Insular United States, Alyssa M. Kiesow, Hugh B. Britten

The Prairie Naturalist

Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) and red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) populations are endemic to northern North America, including the Black Hills. The Black Hills populations are considered disjunct from other populations within their range. We examined insular populations to determine whether arboreal squirrels in the Black Hills each represent a unique population. We trapped and collected ear samples from northern flying and red squirrels in the Black Hills and in areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to infer population phylogenies with special consideration of the Black Hills population. Microsatellite loci and two mtDNA sequences were used for …

Preparing An Effective Poster Presentation, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! By the time you read this editorial, many of have been experiencing the fury unleashed by ‘Old Man Winter’ and may find yourself counting the days until warmer spring temperatures return once again to the Great Plains. Until then, just a couple more months of bitter cold temperatures, strong winds, and blowing and drifting snow. But not to worry, winter also provides the cold weather enthusiasts among us a chance to enjoy a range of outdoor recreational opportunities, a chance to reflect on the previous year in review, exciting professional and personal opportunities ushered in by the …

Red-Bellied Snake (Storeria Occipitomaculata) Copulation In South Dakota, Drew R. Davis

The Prairie Naturalist

Storeria occipitomaculata is a small, terrestrial species of snake that occurs across much of eastern North America (Ernst and Barbour 1989, Ernst 2002, Ernst and Ernst 2003). Due to this widespread distribution, S. occipitomaculata faces varied climates that likely result in regional differences in reproductive phenology. Much of what is known about the reproductive ecology of S. occipitomaculata has been documented from the southeastern portion of its range in North America (South Carolina: Semlitsch and Moran 1984, North Carolina: Willson and Dorcas 2004), though Blanchard (1937) studied a population from northern Michigan. The exact reproductive timing in this species has …

Energy And Water Assessment And Plausibility Of Reuse Of Spent Caustic Solution In A Midwest Fluid Milk Processing Plant, Carly Rain Adams

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Food Energy and Water Nexus (FEW Nexus) is the inseparable connection linking these resources. The concept of the FEW Nexus within the food industry addresses the connection of water and energy as key members of food production. The steady increase in population and the increase in food demand are directly related, therefore, the need for water and energy. Immediately taking on this critical challenge will lead to tangible impacts on the water and energy crisis facing the food system. To reduce the distance between process productivity and resource efficiency it must first be determined, within food processing, where water …

Examining Patterns In Nest Predation Using Artificial Nests, Victoria L. Simonsen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The use of artificial nests to study the predation of avian nests has faced disregard by ecologists due to inconsistencies found between the survival rates of real and artificial nests across studies and reviews. The negative perception of artificial nests providing an inconsistent assessment of survival has thus fostered the perception that artificial nests are a secondary option to be used to overcome logistical hurdles associated with achieving sufficient sample sizes in systems where study species are rare or elusive, or as merely a preliminary method to study predation across gradients. We argue that the greatest mistake ecologists have made …

Quantitative Appraisal Of Non-Irrigated Cropland In South Dakota, Shelby Riggs

Honors Theses

This appraisal attempts to remove subjectivity from the appraisal process and replace it with quantitative analysis of known data to generate a fair market value of the subject property. Two methods of appraisal were used, the income approach and the comparable sales approach. For the income approach, I used the average cash rent for the region, the current property taxes for the subject property, and a capitalization rate based on Stokes' (2018) capitalization rate formula to arrive at my income-based valuation. For the comparable sales approach, I utilized Stokes' (2018) research in optimization modeling to estimate a market value for …

Spatial Analysis Of Borrow Pits Along The Platte River In South-Central Nebraska, Usa, In 1957 And 2016, Nicole M. Pauley, Mary J. Harner, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Paul R. Burger, Keith Geluso

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

The Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) of Nebraska provides critical habitat for wildlife, while serving agricultural, indus­trial, and other human uses. Mining of sand and gravel from the floodplain of the Platte River has supported construction of roads and other uses, and this extraction has created many borrow-pit ponds, lakes, and other small bodies of standing water (hereafter borrow-pits), further transforming riparian and prairie habitats. The objective of this study was to compare the abundance, size, and distribution of borrow pits before construction of Interstate 80 (1957) and at present (2016) from Lexington to Chapman, Nebraska, a length of river …

Amino Acid Pop-Set: Model File Name: Amino-Acid-Wgrp-Pop_Sc3.Stl, Michelle Howell, Rebecca Roston

3-D Printed Model Structural Files

This is a teaching model for protein primary structure. It consists of four amino acids (tryptophan, proline, arginine, and glycine) depicted in stick and space-fill representations, five peptide bonds depicted in space-fill, and an N-terminus and a C-terminus depicted in space-fill. It is designed so that students can make various peptides to explore the amount of space of the electron clouds of the amino acids and bonds, and explore the psi and phi angles for the peptides. The printable model is already uploaded to Shapeways.com in the MacroMolecules shop under the name “Amino acid pop-set”. This model has …

Lipoprotein Signal Peptidase Ii: Model File Name: 5dir-Lipoii-Reps_Sc1-5.Stl, Michelle Howell, Rebecca Roston

3-D Printed Model Structural Files

This is a teaching model of lipoprotein signal peptidase II (PDB: 5DIR). It is designed with different regions of the protein depicted in space-filling, ribbon, stick, and backbone-only representations to explore protein secondary structure and illustrate how much space the protein takes up. The printable model is already uploaded to Shapeways.com in the MacroMolecules shop under the name “Lipoprotein signal peptidase II” and is intended to accompany the “Crambin”, “Cytochrome c” and “3 water molecules” models. This model has been printed successfully using these parameters on Shapeways’ laser sintering printer in …

3 Water Molecules: Model File Name: 3hoh-Final.Stl, Michelle Howell, Rebecca Roston

3-D Printed Model Structural Files

This is a teaching model of 3 water molecules depicted in space-fill. It is designed to the same scale as the “Lipoprotein signal peptidase II”, “Crambin”, and “Cytochrome c” models to illustrate the amount of space taken up by proteins. The printable model is already uploaded to Shapeways.com in the MacroMolecules shop under the name “3 water molecules” and is intended to accompany the “Lipoprotein signal peptidase II”, “Crambin”, and “Cytochrome c” models. This model has been printed successfully using these parameters on Shapeways’ laser sintering …

Crambin: Model File Name: 2fd7-Crambin-Stick_Sc1-5.Stl, Michelle Howell, Rebecca Roston

3-D Printed Model Structural Files

This is a teaching model of cytochrome c (PDB: 2FD7). It is designed in a stick representation to explore protein secondary structure and how much space the protein takes up. The printable model is already uploaded to Shapeways.com in the MacroMolecules shop under the name “Crambin” and is intended to accompany the “Lipoprotein signal peptidase II”, “Cytochrome c”, and “3 water molecules” models. This model has been printed successfully using these parameters on Shapeways’ laser sintering printer in the following material: Processed Versatile Plastic (Strong & Flexible Plastic).

Cytochrome C: Model File Name: 1b7v-Cytc-Stick_Sc1-5.Stl, Michelle Howell, Rebecca Roston

3-D Printed Model Structural Files

This is a teaching model of cytochrome c (PDB: 1B7V). It is designed in a stick representation to explore protein secondary structure and how much space the protein takes up. The printable model is already uploaded to Shapeways.com in the MacroMolecules shop under the name “Cytochrome c” and is intended to accompany the “Lipoprotein signal peptidase II”, “Crambin”, and “3 water molecules” models. This model has been printed successfully using these parameters on Shapeways’ laser sintering printer in the following material: Processed Versatile Plastic (Strong & Flexible Plastic).

Nebraska’S Wildlife Club; Nebraska Honors Program Clc Expanded Learning Opportunity Clubs, Alexandrea E. Otto

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

The goal of the club is to educate and explore with students the wildlife and nature that surrounds them every day. The main focus was to educate students on wildlife native to Nebraska; ranging all the way from West Nebraska to the wildlife found in cities such as Lincoln.

Human Hexokinase I - Allosteric Regulation: Model File Name: 1dgk-Editb22-Allostery_Sc06.Stl, Michelle Howell, Rebecca Roston

3-D Printed Model Structural Files

This is a teaching model of human Hexokinase I in a surface representation with small molecules ADP and G6P included (PDB: 1DGK). It is designed to be hollow with a lever to mimic allosteric regulation. The printable model is already uploaded to Shapeways.com in the MacroMolecules shop under the name “Human Hexokinase I - Allosteric regulation model”. This model has been printed successfully using these parameters on Shapeways’ laser sintering printer in the following material: Processed Versatile Plastic (Strong & Flexible Plastic).

Crop Pests And Predators Exhibit Inconsistent Responses To Surrounding Landscape Composition, Daniel S. Karp, Julie A. Peterson, 155 Other Co-Authors

Faculty Publications: Department of Entomology

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop …

Cover Crops Have Negligible Impact On Soil Water In Nebraska Maize–Soybean Rotation, J. Burdette Barker, Derek M. Heeren, Katja Koehler-Cole, Charles Shapiro, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Roger W. Elmore, Christopher A. Proctor, Suat Irmak, Charles A. Francis, Tim M. Shaver, Ali T. Mohammed

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

One perceived cost of integrating winter cover cropping in maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation systems is the potential negative impact on soil water storage available for primary crop production. The objective of this 3-year study was to evaluate the effects of winter cover crops on soil water storage and cover crop biomass production following no-till maize and soybean rotations. Locations were near Brule (west-central), Clay Center (south-central), Concord (northeast), and Mead (east-central), Nebraska, United States. Treatments included crop residue only (no cover crop) and a multi-species cover crop mix, both broadcast-seeded before …

Irrigation Management, Environment, And Profits: Who Wins?, Emily O'Donnell

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The impact of irrigation technology on farmers’ management strategies and resulting environmental benefits depends upon agronomic properties and market forces. We evaluate the role of deficit irrigation using soil moisture probe technology on corn yield and evapotranspiration, which is a measure of water use efficiency. Evapotranspiration represents the water that transits through the plant during planting to harvest (transpiration) and the evaporation from the soil into the environment, or the displaced water in the production process. We develop yield and evapotranspiration response functions to inform a constrained profit maximization model used to identify the optimal irrigation level across a variety …

Assessment Of The Ponderosa Woodlands In Nebraska's Wildcat Hills: Implications For Juniperus Encroachment And Management, Allie Victoria Schiltmeyer

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) is a dominant tree species across western North America. Its eastern distribution includes three populations in western Nebraska. This study assesses the distribution, structure and age of ponderosa pine woodlands in one of those regions, the Wildcat Hills. The Wildcat Hills have escaped severe wildfires seen in recent decades in other ponderosa pine regions. Nevertheless, the Wildcat Hills woodlands face multiple threats including climate change, wildfire, drought, pine beetles, and invasive species. Key to these threats is the stand structure of pine woodlands, which have increased in density across much of ponderosa pine’s range. …

A Short Narrative For Writing For The Prairie Naturalist, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

The abstract should be written upon completion of the paper. A well-written abstract is a single short (≤1 line/page of text), concise, and includes 1) an introductory sentence justifying why the study was conducted, 2) a statement of the principal objectives or hypotheses tested during the study, 3) a brief description of pertinent methods, 4) a summary of significant results, 5) a punchy conclusion, and 6) management implications (i.e., utility of results explaining how, when, where, and by whom data or interpretations can be applied; Krausman and Cox 2017). Keep in mind that abstracts are read more than authors than …