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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Effects Of Habitat Management Treatments On Plant Community Composition And Biomass In A Montane Wetland, Jane E. Austin, Janet R. Keough, William H. Pyle
Effects Of Habitat Management Treatments On Plant Community Composition And Biomass In A Montane Wetland, Jane E. Austin, Janet R. Keough, William H. Pyle
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Grazing and burning are commonly applied practices that can impact the diversity and biomass of wetland plant communities. We evaluated the vegetative response of wetlands and adjacent upland grasslands to four treatment regimes (continuous idle, fall prescribed burning followed by idle, annual fall cattle grazing, and rotation of summer grazing and idle) commonly used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our study area was Grays Lake, a large, montane wetland in southeastern Idaho that is bordered by extensive wet meadows. We identified seven plant cover types, representing the transition from dry meadow to deep wetland habitats: mixed deep marsh, …
Protocol For Investigating Displacement Effects Of Wind Facilities On Grassland Songbirds, Wallace Erickson, Dale Strickland, Jill A. Shaffer, Douglas H. Johnson
Protocol For Investigating Displacement Effects Of Wind Facilities On Grassland Songbirds, Wallace Erickson, Dale Strickland, Jill A. Shaffer, Douglas H. Johnson
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Populations of grassland and shrub-steppe bird species are declining more precipitously than any other group of North American bird species (Peterjohn and Sauer 1999). Much of the decline appears associated with habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation of grassland and shrub-steppe habitats. Agricultural development is the greatest cause of grassland loss (Knopf 1994). Urban development and range management practices also contribute to loss of grasslands and biodiversity within remaining grasslands (Vickery et al. 1999, Fuhlendorf and Engle 2001). Because of the permanence and fragmenting nature of urban development, this form of grassland conversion may have more severe and longer-term negative effects …
Sandhill Crane Abundance And Nesting Ecology At Grays Lake, Idaho, Jane Austin, Adonia Henry, I. Joseph Hall
Sandhill Crane Abundance And Nesting Ecology At Grays Lake, Idaho, Jane Austin, Adonia Henry, I. Joseph Hall
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
We examined population size and factors influencing nest survival of greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) at Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Idaho, USA, during 1997–2000. Average local population of cranes from late April to early May, 1998–2000, was 735 cranes, 34% higher than that reported for May 1970–1971. We estimated 228 (SE = 30) nests in the basin core (excluding renests), 14% higher than a 1971 estimate. Apparent nest success in our study (x = 60%, n = 519 nests) was lower than reported for Grays Lake 30–50 years earlier. Daily survival rates (DSRs) of all nests …
Review Of Waterfowl Ecology And Management By Guy A. Baldassarre And Eric G. Bolen, Gary Krapu
Review Of Waterfowl Ecology And Management By Guy A. Baldassarre And Eric G. Bolen, Gary Krapu
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Waterfowl are among the most studied groups of birds, in part because many species are widely hunted. In recent decades, waterfowl researchers have provided a wealth of new findings related to population ecology and management. Baldassarre and Bolen, recognizing the rapid growth of valuable new information since their book was first published in 1994 and the emergence of numerous new issues confronting waterfowl conservation, have prepared a new edition of their book.
The 2006 edition of Waterfowl Ecology and Management represents a major revision of the authors’ original work. The handsome new front cover contains an inset of a Mallard …
Short-Term Disruption Of A Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia Esula) Biocontrol Program Following Herbicide Application, Diane L. Larson, James B. Grace, Paul A. Rabie, Paula Andersen
Short-Term Disruption Of A Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia Esula) Biocontrol Program Following Herbicide Application, Diane L. Larson, James B. Grace, Paul A. Rabie, Paula Andersen
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Integrated pest management (IPM) for invasive plant species is being advocated by researchers and implemented by land managers, but few studies have evaluated the success of IPM programs in natural areas. We assessed the relative effects of components of an IPM program for leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula), an invasive plant, at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. Effects of herbicides on leafy spurge abundance and on dynamics of flea beetles (Aphthona spp.) used to control leafy spurge were evaluated over three field seasons following herbicide application. We monitored leafy spurge-infested plots with established flea beetle populations that …
Survey Of Selected Pathogens And Blood Parameters Of Northern Yellowstone Elk: Wolf Sanitation Effect Implications, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, P. J. White, L. David Mech
Survey Of Selected Pathogens And Blood Parameters Of Northern Yellowstone Elk: Wolf Sanitation Effect Implications, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, P. J. White, L. David Mech
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
The restoration or conservation of predators could reduce seroprevalences of certain diseases in prey if predation selectively removes animals exhibiting clinical signs. We assessed disease seroprevalences and blood parameters of 115 adult female elk (Cervus elaphus) wintering on the northern range of Yellowstone National Park [YNP] during 2000– 2005 and compared them to data collected prior to wolf (Canis lupus) restoration (WR) in 1995 and to two other herds in Montana to assess this prediction. Blood parameters were generally within two standard deviations of the means observed in other Montana herds (Gravelly-Snowcrest [GS] and Garnet Mountain …
Defining Space Use And Movements Of Canada Lynx With Global Positioning System Telemetry, Christopher Burdett, Ron Moen, Gerald J. Niemi, L. David Mech
Defining Space Use And Movements Of Canada Lynx With Global Positioning System Telemetry, Christopher Burdett, Ron Moen, Gerald J. Niemi, L. David Mech
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Space use and movements of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) are difficult to study with very-high-frequency radiocollars. We deployed global positioning system (GPS) collars on 11 lynx in Minnesota to study their seasonal space-use patterns. We estimated home ranges with minimum-convex-polygon and fixed-kernel methods and estimated core areas with area/probability curves. Fixed-kernel home ranges of males (range = 29–522 km2) were significantly larger than those of females (range = 5–95 km2) annually and during the denning season. Some male lynx increased movements during March, the month most influenced by breeding activity. Lynx core areas were …
Testing Global Positioning System Telemetry To Study Wolf Predation On Deer Fawns, Dominic Demma, Shannon Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech
Testing Global Positioning System Telemetry To Study Wolf Predation On Deer Fawns, Dominic Demma, Shannon Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
We conducted a pilot study to test the usefulness of Global Positioning System (GPS) collars for investigating wolf (Canis lupus) predation on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns. Using GPS collars with short location-attempt intervals on 5 wolves and 5 deer during summers 2002–2004 in northeastern Minnesota, USA, demonstrated how this approach could provide new insights into wolf hunting behavior of fawns. For example, a wolf traveled ≥1.5–3.0 km and spent 20–22 hours in the immediate vicinity of known fawn kill sites and ≥0.7 km and 8.3 hours at scavenging sites. Wolf travel paths indicated that wolves …
Influence Of Wind Generators On Grassland-Breeding Birds, Douglas H. Johnson, Jill A. Shaffer
Influence Of Wind Generators On Grassland-Breeding Birds, Douglas H. Johnson, Jill A. Shaffer
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
As the Nation strives for energy independence, interest in renewable energy sources intensifies. Wind energy is one such source, and North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana are ranked among the top five states for wind potential by the Department of Energy. The Missouri Coteau is especially rich in wind energy potential. With its hilly topography and rocky soils, the Coteau also contains large tracts of unplowed grasslands and undrained wetlands. Accordingly, the Coteau is a prime area for nesting waterfowl and other grassland birds, many of which have suffered marked population declines in recent decades. To help maintain breeding populations …
Estimating Water Storage Capacity Of Existing And Potentially Restorable Wetland Depressions In A Subbasin Of The Red River Of The North, Robert A. Gleason, Brian A. Tangen, Murray K. Laubhan, Kevin E. Kermes, Ned H. Euliss Jr.
Estimating Water Storage Capacity Of Existing And Potentially Restorable Wetland Depressions In A Subbasin Of The Red River Of The North, Robert A. Gleason, Brian A. Tangen, Murray K. Laubhan, Kevin E. Kermes, Ned H. Euliss Jr.
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Concern over flooding along rivers in the Prairie Pothole Region has stimulated interest in developing spatially distributed hydrologic models to simulate the effects of wet¬land water storage on peak river flows. Such models require spatial data on the storage volume and interception area of existing and restorable wetlands in the watershed of interest. In most cases, information on these model inputs is lacking because resolution of existing topographic maps is inadequate to estimate volume and areas of existing and restorable wetlands. Consequently, most studies have relied on wetland area to volume or interception area relationships to estimate wetland basin storage …
Grassland Establishment For Wildlife Conservation, D. Todd Jones-Farrand, Loren W. Burger Jr., Douglas H. Johnson, Mark R. Ryan
Grassland Establishment For Wildlife Conservation, D. Todd Jones-Farrand, Loren W. Burger Jr., Douglas H. Johnson, Mark R. Ryan
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Establishing grasslands has important implications for wildlife, especially in areas historically rich in grasslands that have since been converted to row crop agriculture. Most grasslands established under farm conservation programs have replaced annual crops with perennial cover that provides year-round resources for wildlife. This change in land use has had a huge influence on grassland bird populations; little is known about its impacts on other terrestrial wildlife species. Wildlife response to grassland establishment is a multi-scale phenomenon dependent upon vegetation structure and composition within the planting, practice-level factors such as size and shape of the field, and its landscape context, …
Femur-Marrow Fat Of White-Tailed Deer Fawns Killed By Wolves, L. David Mech
Femur-Marrow Fat Of White-Tailed Deer Fawns Killed By Wolves, L. David Mech
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
I present marrow fat (MF) data from a large sample of white-tailed deer fawns killed by wolves and a sample of fawns that died by accident in a single area, and I use these data to explore the extent that poor nutritional condition may have predisposed fawns to wolf predation. Percent MF of 110 5–10-month-old white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns killed by wolves (Canis lupus) from November through April 1984–2002 in northeastern Minnesota, USA, was lower than MF for 23 fawns killed by accidents in the same area and period. The MF of both male and …
A Proposed Ethogram Of Large-Carnivore Predatory Behavior, Exemplified By The Wolf, Daniel Macnulty, L. David Mech, Douglas Smith
A Proposed Ethogram Of Large-Carnivore Predatory Behavior, Exemplified By The Wolf, Daniel Macnulty, L. David Mech, Douglas Smith
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Although predatory behavior is traditionally described by a basic ethogram composed of 3 phases (search, pursue, and capture), behavioral studies of large terrestrial carnivores generally use the concept of a ‘‘hunt’’ to classify and measure foraging. This approach is problematic because there is no consensus on what behaviors constitute a hunt. We therefore examined how the basic ethogram could be used as a common framework for classifying large carnivore behavior. We used >2,150 h of observed wolf (Canis lupus) behavior in Yellowstone National Park, including 517 and 134 encounters with elk (Cervus elaphus) and American bison …
Interleukin-6 And Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Values In Elk Neonates, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, Craig R. Johnson, Michael P. Murtaugh, L. David Mech, P. J. White
Interleukin-6 And Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Values In Elk Neonates, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, Craig R. Johnson, Michael P. Murtaugh, L. David Mech, P. J. White
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Serological indicators of general condition would be helpful for monitoring or assessing ungulate wildlife. Toward that end, we report the 1st reference values for 2 cytokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), in neonatal elk (Cervus elaphus). We obtained blood samples from 140 calves ≤ 6 days old in Yellowstone National Park during summer 2003–2005. IL-6 values ranged from 0 to 1.21 pg/ml with a median of 0.03 pg/ml. TNF-α values ranged from 0 to 225.43 pg/ml with a median of 1.85 pg/ml. IL-6 and TNF-α concentrations were not significant predictors of elk calf survival through 21 …