Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Historic Distribution And Ecology Of Tall-Grass Prairie In Western Canada, Darcy C. Henderson, Nicola Koper
Historic Distribution And Ecology Of Tall-Grass Prairie In Western Canada, Darcy C. Henderson, Nicola Koper
The Prairie Naturalist
Rapid settlement and agricultural development of western Canada in the late 1800s and early 1900s nearly eliminated the tall-grass prairie, and pre-empted a detailed description by ecologists. A combination of literature review and historical ecological analysis of soils, climate, and composition data are applied to estimate the historic distribution, and area occupied by tall-grass prairie in southern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. The resulting area estimate of 20,830 km2 is more than three times any previously reported value. Some confusion of terms from the first half of the 1900s, and the impact of invasive species on vegetation patterns observed …
Burrowing Owl Associations With Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colonies In Southwestern Kansas And Southeastern Colorado, Stephen L. Winter, Jack F. Cully Jr.
Burrowing Owl Associations With Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colonies In Southwestern Kansas And Southeastern Colorado, Stephen L. Winter, Jack F. Cully Jr.
The Prairie Naturalist
We quantified the use of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies as habitat for the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) in southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado. We used incidental sightings and breeding season avifauna surveys to document the presence of the burrowing owl on black-tailed prairie dog colonies, non-colonized rangeland, and cropland during the spring and early summer. Burrowing owl rarely was observed on noncolonized rangeland and cropland sites, and black-tailed prairie dog colonies appear to be used substantially as a habitat type for the burrowing owl in the region encompassing Cimarron and Commanche National Grasslands in …