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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Captive Ring-Necked Pheasant Response To Very High Experimental Doses Of Lead, Travis J. Runia, Alex J. Solem Jan 2020

Captive Ring-Necked Pheasant Response To Very High Experimental Doses Of Lead, Travis J. Runia, Alex J. Solem

The Prairie Naturalist

Ingestion of spent lead pellets is a well-documented source of lead exposure in free-ranging birds, although the consequence of lead ingestion varies widely among avian guilds. Ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) appear to be less susceptible to lead poisoning than other game birds. Our objectives were to determine survival, liver lead accumulation, and body mass change of 129 captive-raised pheasants in response to being gavage-fed 5, 10, 20, or 40 lead pellets. All pheasants survived the 21-day experiment. Liver-lead levels were positively correlated with the number of lead pellets retained and negatively correlated with beginning body mass. Change in percent body …


Public Access For Pheasant Hunters: Understanding An Emerging Need, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Anastasia E. Madsen, Erica F. Stuber, Christopher J. Chizinski, Jeffrey J. Lusk, J. Scott Taylor, Kevin L. Pope, Joseph J. Fontaine Sep 2019

Public Access For Pheasant Hunters: Understanding An Emerging Need, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Anastasia E. Madsen, Erica F. Stuber, Christopher J. Chizinski, Jeffrey J. Lusk, J. Scott Taylor, Kevin L. Pope, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Ring‐necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus; i.e., pheasant) hunting participation is declining across North America, reflecting a larger downward trend in American hunting participation and threatening benefits to grassland conservation and rural economies. To stabilize and expand the pheasant hunting population, we must first identify factors that influence pheasant hunter participation. We used an extensive in‐person hunter survey to test the hypothesis that hunter demographics interact with social‐ecological traits of hunting locations to affect hunter decisions, outcomes, and perceptions. We built a series of Bayesian mixed effects models to parse variation in demographics, perceptions, and hunt outcomes of pheasant hunters interviewed at …


Severe Drought Impacts Female Pheasant Physiology In Southwest Nebraska, Jessica A. Laskowski, Gwen C. Bachman, Joseph J. Fontaine Dec 2017

Severe Drought Impacts Female Pheasant Physiology In Southwest Nebraska, Jessica A. Laskowski, Gwen C. Bachman, Joseph J. Fontaine

The Prairie Naturalist

In 2012, Nebraska experienced one of the worst droughts since the 1930s, accompanied by abnormally high temperatures. We studied the impacts of the 2012 summer drought on female ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) body condition and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations (CORT). We hypothesized that drought conditions would reduce pheasant body condition, increase chronic stress resulting in elevated baseline CORT levels, and down-regulate pheasant stress response to acute stressors, resulting in reduced stress-induced CORT concentrations. In southwestern Nebraska, we captured female pheasants in 2012 (pre-drought) and 2013 (post-drought). Pheasants had poorer body condition after the drought. Although female CORT measures were …


Pheasant Response To Lead Ingestion, Travis J. Runia, Alex J. Solem Jun 2017

Pheasant Response To Lead Ingestion, Travis J. Runia, Alex J. Solem

The Prairie Naturalist

Lead is toxic to all vertebrate species and ingestion of spent lead pellets from hunting is the primary method of exposure in birds. Both acute and chronic effects occur in response to lead ingestion including death, weight loss, and reduced body function, but the effect is highly variable among species. Most research has focused on lead ingestion impacts on waterfowl, but less is known about the effects of lead ingestion by upland game such as ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). We gavage- fed zero, one, or three lead pellets to 90 (n = 30/group) captive-raised adult hen pheasants and monitored survival …


Species Distributions Models In Wildlife Planning: Agricultural Policy And Wildlife Management In The Great Plains, Joseph J. Fontaine, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Erica F. Stuber, Lutz F. Gruber, Andrew A. Bishop, Jeffrey J. Lusk, Eric S. Zach, Karie L. Decker Jan 2017

Species Distributions Models In Wildlife Planning: Agricultural Policy And Wildlife Management In The Great Plains, Joseph J. Fontaine, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Erica F. Stuber, Lutz F. Gruber, Andrew A. Bishop, Jeffrey J. Lusk, Eric S. Zach, Karie L. Decker

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We know economic and social policy has implications for ecosystems at large, but the consequences for a given geographic area or specific wildlife population are more difficult to conceptualize and communicate. Species distribution models, which extrapolate species-habitat relationships across ecological scales, are capable of predicting population changes in distribution and abundance in response to management and policy, and thus, are an ideal means for facilitating proactive management within a larger policy framework. To illustrate the capabilities of species distribution modeling in scenario planning for wildlife populations, we projected an existing distribution model for ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) onto …


Severe Drought Impacts Female Pheasant Physiology In Southwest Nebraska, Jessica A. Laskowski, Gwendolyn C. Bachman, Joseph J. Fontaine Jan 2017

Severe Drought Impacts Female Pheasant Physiology In Southwest Nebraska, Jessica A. Laskowski, Gwendolyn C. Bachman, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In 2012, Nebraska experienced one of the worst droughts since the 1930s, accompanied by abnormally high temperatures. We studied the impacts of the 2012 summer drought on female ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) body condition and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations (CORT). We hypothesized that drought conditions would reduce pheasant body condition, increase chronic stress resulting in elevated baseline CORT levels, and down-regulate pheasant stress response to acute stressors, resulting in reduced stress-induced CORT concentrations. In southwestern Nebraska, we captured female pheasants in 2012 (pre-drought) and 2013 (post-drought). Pheasants had poorer body condition after the drought. Although female CORT …


Mid-Contract Management Of Conservation Reserve Program Grasslands Provides Benefits For Ring-Necked Pheasant Nest And Brood Survival, Ty W. Matthews, J. Scott Taylor, Larkin A. Powell Jan 2012

Mid-Contract Management Of Conservation Reserve Program Grasslands Provides Benefits For Ring-Necked Pheasant Nest And Brood Survival, Ty W. Matthews, J. Scott Taylor, Larkin A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields may provide good habitat for nesting and brood-rearing ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) during early stages of succession. But, the success of hens in early successional CRP, relative to late successional CRP and other grassland habitats, has yet to be evaluated. The reproductive period is especially critical for populations of pheasants, and CRP’s benefits to hens and chicks may decrease as fields age because of loss of vegetative diversity, decrease in vegetation density, and accumulation of residual litter. During 2005– 2006, we evaluated spatial and temporal variation in nest and brood survival for radio-marked hen pheasants …


Effects Of Spring Supplementary Feeding On Population Density And Breeding Success Of Released Pheasants Phasianus Colchicus In Britain, Roger A. H. Draycott, Maureen I. A. Woodburn, John P. Carroll, Rufus B. Sage Jan 2005

Effects Of Spring Supplementary Feeding On Population Density And Breeding Success Of Released Pheasants Phasianus Colchicus In Britain, Roger A. H. Draycott, Maureen I. A. Woodburn, John P. Carroll, Rufus B. Sage

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The release of hand-reared ring-necked pheasants Phasianus colchicus in summer is a common practice in Britain to increase the number of birds available to hunters in winter. The breeding success of the birds which survive the shooting season is poor. Traditionally, birds are provided with supplementary wheat grain from release until the end of the shooting season (1 February) to maintain body condition and to help hold birds in areas for hunting. During 1997- 2000 we assessed the effect of continuing supplementary feeding into spring on pheasant density and breeding success on seven private shooting estates. On each estate we …


Wattle Size Is Correlated With Male Territorial Rank In Juvenile Ring-Necked Pheasants, Anna Papeschi, John P. Carroll, Francesco Dessi-Fulgheri Jan 2003

Wattle Size Is Correlated With Male Territorial Rank In Juvenile Ring-Necked Pheasants, Anna Papeschi, John P. Carroll, Francesco Dessi-Fulgheri

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We used morphological measurements and behavioral observations to investigate the relationship between male ornaments and male social rank during the breeding season in a free-ranging population of one-year-old Ring-necked Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). The sample was of birds of the same age class to avoid the confounding effect of age differences. Tail length, used by females in mate choice, and tarsal spur length, used by males as a weapon in fights, were not correlated with male rank, whereas the size of the wattle was the most important trait. This combined with recent studies showing that wattle size reliably indicates …