Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Avian Diversity And Habitat Use On Wetland Reserve Program Lands In The Lower Missouri River Valley, Eric C. Hopps

The Prairie Naturalist

A primary objective of the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) is to provide habitat for migratory birds throughout all seasons of the year. Comprehensive avian assessments are lacking and limit our ability to evaluate the benefits of the WRP to continental bird populations. I investigated avian species occurrence on WRP lands within the Lower Missouri River Valley (LMRV), Nebraska, USA, from March 2010 to February 2011. Ten WRP habitat types are described based on plant community assemblages and observed hydrological regimes. Estimates of avian species richness were greatest in lowland forest (n = 115), lowland woodland (n = 83) and upland …

River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Home Range, Habitat Use, Overnight Movement, And Survival In The Platte River Of Nebraska, Samuel P. Wilson

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

River otters (Lontra canadensis) are native to Nebraska but were extirpated by the early 1900s. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) reintroduced river otters during 1986­–1991 to restore the species in the state but little is known regarding the habitat needs and status of this high profile threatened species. To provide information for management I conducted research to determine home range, habitat use, overnight movement distance, and annual survival of river otters in the central Platte River of Nebraska.

I trapped, implanted telemetry transmitters, and tracked 18 river otters during 2006–2009. I obtained 996 locations and constructed …